Seriana casually lifted the 【Floating Orb】, swung it behind her, and seated herself on it.
Then, as it gently floated upward, she made a full lap around the room before descending gracefully in front of me.

“This is no different from usual when I handle it. It’s just as it always is.”

What on earth is she doing? I couldn’t help but wonder if she was testing the enhancements made to the 【Floating Orb】.
But what if it had suddenly blasted off like a rocket? What was she planning to do then?
Maybe she was just bored from watching me fiddle with the 【Floating Orb】.

“Please, don’t do anything dangerous, okay?”

“I’m more capable than you, aren’t I?”

I tried to issue a warning, but it was met with complete indifference.
In fact, she even countered me.

Well… she probably is more athletic than me, I admit.

“……”

When I glanced at Elena, she was smiling wryly.
Judging by her expression, it seemed Seriana’s seemingly considerate words toward me were just an excuse for her restlessness.

“What’s the holdup? Get on with it already.”

Well, whatever.

I sat down on the 【Floating Orb】 that had been handed to me.

“Alright, here goes!”

As I activated it and began to float, nothing seemed particularly different—it felt like the same old 【Floating Orb】.
I tried spinning horizontally and vertically, but I couldn’t tell if anything had changed.

Maybe its speed or maneuverability had improved?

As I was pondering this, Seriana noticed something and raised her voice.

“Oh? Sera, your arm…?”

“My arm?”

I looked at my right arm—nothing unusual there. But on my left…

“Ah… there’s some kind of pattern here.”

On the underside of my left wrist, in a spot you’d notice if you were checking the time, a design resembling vines wrapped around a sphere had appeared.

“This wasn’t here before, was it?”

It shouldn’t have been. Just to be sure, I showed it to Seriana, who was right in front of me.

“No, it wasn’t. Right?”

Seriana grasped my wrist and traced the design with her finger, but it didn’t change. She then turned to the others for confirmation.

“Right. While 【Snake’s Tail】 shows a snake pattern on the waist when idle, we’ve never seen anything else like this.”

“Yes, this is new.”

Teresa and Elena answered Seriana’s question.

“I didn’t see anything like that when I used it. Maybe it only appears for the owner?”

While the three of them were discussing it, Fiora, who had been silently observing the pattern on my wrist, seemed to realize something.

“This is linked to the 【Floating Orb】. It might function similarly to your 【Snake’s Tail】. Sera, try getting off the 【Floating Orb】 once.”

“Okay.”

Following Fiora’s instruction, I dismounted the 【Floating Orb】.
As soon as I did, the pattern on my left wrist vanished without a trace.

“Now, sit back on it and activate it again, imagining that the pattern is part of its features.”

“Huh?”

I did as she said, and suddenly, a sphere roughly the size of a volleyball appeared on my lap.

“Whoa…”

Its color was a dull gray, lighter and smaller than the original 【Floating Orb】, but its texture was identical.

Its weight was… indeterminate.

“Is this also a 【Floating Orb】?”

Seriana looked at the sphere I was holding with great interest.
Elena and Teresa also appeared curious, but Seriana seemed particularly fascinated.
She must really like this kind of thing.

“It should be. However, while it’s connected, it feels weaker than the main body. Why don’t we test it out?”

“Then I will! Sera!”

Before anyone else could volunteer, Seriana eagerly offered to test the smaller orb.
I’ll call it 【Small Orb】 for now. She held out her hands expectantly, her gaze fixed on it.

Though she’s usually cautious, she seemed confident. Well, it didn’t seem dangerous, so it was probably fine.

“Alright. Be careful.”

“Of course.”

Seriana hugged the 【Small Orb】 to her chest instead of placing it beneath her. Then, she floated upwards.
At least we confirmed it could float.

She seemed to keep it against her chest initially, perhaps to avoid falling if it failed to support her weight.
After confirming it worked, she shifted the 【Small Orb】 behind her and sat on it.

She made it look effortless. While I might manage in combat situations, Seriana clearly outclassed me in finesse and technique for handling such tools.

◇

After some testing, we confirmed that anyone capable of using the original 【Floating Orb】 could also operate the 【Small Orb】. It could float and move just like the original but had lower performance—it couldn’t lift heavy objects.

Despite their differing physical strengths, Seriana, Elena, and Teresa all failed to lift me while using it. Within the confines of the room, we couldn’t conduct exhaustive tests, but it seemed mainly intended for transportation.

Interestingly, the 【Small Orb】 could remain active even after deactivating the 【Floating Orb】, as long as I focused on it. I could also dismiss it at will. This meant it was possible to use both orbs simultaneously to allow two people to travel together.

Now, the question was how far apart they could function.

It felt a bit like a parent and child telephone system.

This was definitely going to come in handy.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Sera・【Hideout】+1 【Prayer】 【Mira’s Blessing】 ・【Floating Orb】+1 【Shadow Sword】 【Crimson Bee’s Sting】 【Fairy’s Eye】 【Dragon’s Lung】 【Amber Sword】 【Danrem’s Thread】 【Snake’s Tail】 【Ankle Bracelet】 【Amber Shield】 ・41 cards

Seriana・【Area Identification】 ・【】 ・28 cards
Elena・【】 ・【Green Fang】 ・3 cards
Alec・【Strong Strike】 ・【Red Shield】 【Fierce Horned Trumpet】 ・5 cards