Prologue

Mid-Childa is a world home to a technologically advanced civilization where several of its residents are trained in the arts of magic. People trained in the arts of magic are known as mages. This planet is where the main office of the Time-Space Administration Bureau(TSAB) is located. The TSAB is an interdimensional security force formed from a union of several planets. One day, two members of the TSAB, Shiro Mayuzumi and Tsugumi Kirisaki gave birth to little girl named Miyu. From a very young age, Miyu had an immediate interest in her parents' profession and about magic in general. Miyu was homeschooled in the arts of magic after she first learned how to read. This trend continued until her ninth birthday, when she was given her very own Device. Devices are tools used by mages to assist them in casting spells. Miyu's device was created by her mother, since her mother was a Device Meister, or someone that specializes in creating Devices. Miyu's Device was named Panzerglaive and it was a Modern Belkan type. Since neither of her parents had knowledge of the use of ranged magic, Miyu's device was specifically made for close combat. Miyu's father trained her in the ways of melee combat for one more year. After that, Miyu was enrolled in St. Hilde Academy of Magic as a fourth year in Elementary School. Throughout her first few years at St. Hilde, she learned how to use mid-ranged attacks. Her mother upgraded her Device to become a hybrid of a Mid-Childan type and Modern Belkan type. Now that she has finished Middle School, her next goal… is to join the TSAB...

July 17th

TSAB Ground Forces Assessment Area

2:00PM

Mid-Childa

"Alright. You've managed to pass all of your mage tests so far with flying colors. Are you ready for your B to A test?" the voice of a female figure presented on a screen floating in front of a teenage girl was heard.

"Yeah." the girl replied with a nod. This girl was Miyu Mayuzumi, the girl with a heart so bright that it could rival the sun's light. A few weeks after she graduated from St. Hilde's Middle School, her parents recommended her to their superiors to see if she could join the TSAB. It didn't take long for her to get accepted and Miyu was quickly sent off to get registered. Even though she did not attend the Fourth Ground Forces Academy like most other mages, she was still allowed to join the Ground Forces like normal. After everything was sorted out with getting her registered in the TSAB's databases, her first mage ranking test began. She passed the F, E, D, C, and B tests, but she felt like she could do more. It was now time for her to do something that not many mages could do: attempt to become an A rank. Letting out a soft sigh, she gripped the device that hung as a necklace around her neck and gave it a tight squeeze. "Sentinel… Set up."

"Yes sir." the device flashed red as its robotic, masculine voice was heard. It was a common function among devices that they could speak to their masters. A red light briefly covered Miyu's body as her normal hoodie and black shorts she was wearing was replaced with her barrier jacket, which consisted of a short sleeved, half red and white shirt with the colors divided vertically, a belt with a skirt-like armor that has the same color scheme as her shirt, black leggings that are in the form of shorts that go up to just above her knees, black shoes with ridges wrapping around the lower part of her legs near her ankles with red gems embedded in them,. and midnight colored fingerless gloves. Her Device changed into a burgundy colored metal glove that resided on her left hand.

"Alright. Come to the center of the testing area to find out what your task is." With that said, the screen disappeared and Miyu let out a soft sigh.

"I'd better get going." Putting on a serious expression, she jogged through the magically generated area until she reached the center. There, she found the same woman who was speaking to her earlier waiting there in her barrier jacket.

"Great. You're here. Now… Your test is to…" the woman paused as her Device, a staff-like object, formed in her hand. "To go against me, Nanoha Takamachi. If you manage to deal a bit of damage, you'll pass."

Miyu went wide-eyed for a moment. "Y-You're Nanoha? But… aren't you S rank or something?" she asked quietly.

"Don't worry. I have a limiter that brings me down to AA rank. You have nothing to worry about." Nanoha said with a smile.

"If you say so…" Miyu stated as she shifted into a combat stance.

2:10PM

Center of Assessment Area

"Alright then. So if you're ready-!" Nanoha flew up into the air and fired off a magical shot at Miyu.

'She's an aerial mage… this is going to be tough.' Miyu thought to herself as she quickly moved off to the side and ran into a building to the left. She ran up a flight of stairs as her device changed into its second form, which was the shape of a small crossbow attached to the back of her hand. 'My Mid-Ranged attacks are probably my best bet right now.' Heading to the top floor of the building, she looked down to find Nanoha looking directly up at her.

"Found you." Nanoha said as she fired off another shot at her.

"Motorized Aura." Miyu whispered as a few clusters of red, magical hexagons started floating around her body. One of the clusters blocked the shot and disappeared after contact. Holding out her hand, Miyu took a deep breath. "Padlock." she stated as four red nut shaped binds, similar in appearance to the nuts used for building things, appeared around Nanoha's arms and legs, keeping her in place in the air. Miyu then pointed her device arm at Nanoha as she converted mana into wind energy and gathered it inside of Panzerglaive. "Crushing Whirlwind!" she called out as she released the energy in the form of a pressurized ball of air, sending it streaking towards Nanoha. Nanoha broke free from the binds at the last second by using a technique called Bind Break and used Flash Move, a movement-type spell, to get behind Miyu at extremely fast speeds.

"I'm not going down that easily!" Nanoha called out as she swung Raising Heart in a downward arc towards Miyu. Miyu quickly spun around and blocked it with Panzerglaive. Nanoha quickly jumped back a few feet in the air and pointed her Device at Miyu. "Axel Shooter." Raising Heart stated as pink orbs appeared in the air around Nanoha. "Shoot!" Nanoha commanded as the spheres were sent flying towards Miyu.

"Omni Bullet." Panzerglaive announced as red orbs appeared around Miyu. "Fire." she quickly mumbled as she moved her index finger of her Device hand like she was pulling a trigger of a weapon, sending the orbs flying towards Nanoha's. Both attacks collided, causing an explosion that sent a cloud of smoke up that covered the area between them. Miyu took the opportunity to rush forward. Turning Panzerglaive back into its Panzer form, she ran right towards Nanoha with her fist cocked back. Nanoha saw her burst through the smoke and aimed Raising Heart at Miyu' charging up an attack. Miyu quickly activated her Monsoon Drive spell, briefly increasing her speed to higher levels. This allowed her to get in close to Nanoha quicker than she expected. "Battler Flash!" Miyu yelled out as she delivered a powerful uppercut, making Nanoha fly into the air.

"That caught me off guard. Good job." Nanoha said with a smile as she pointed Raising Heart at Miyu again. "Short Buster," Raising Heart said as a long burst of energy was fired at Miyu. Miyu quickly covered Panzerglaive in a barrier and swung her fist at the attack, blocking it with the punch. "Oh? That's an interesting technique." Nanoha acknowleged.

Miyu smirked as her device flashed red. "Battler Cremator!" she called out, a shockwave being sent through Nanoha's attack, knocking her back slightly. Stepping forward, Miyu broke out into a sprint before springing into the air and flying towards Nanoha with a flying jump kick. Nanoha quickly blocked it with a Protection barrier. Miyu flipped off of the shield and a magic circle appeared under her feet once she touched the building's rooftop. She activated another one of her movement spells, Velocity Blazer, which launched her forward as quickly as Nanoha's Flash Move. "Accelerated Crashing!" she shouted as she connected a hard stomach punch. This made Nanoha stagger back a little.

"You really pack a punch…" Nanoha mumbled as she used a binding spell, causing pink rings to hold Miyu in place. She moved forward with Flash Move while focusing mana at Raising Heart's tip.

"Sentinel Defenser." Panzerglaive stated as a forcefield made of hexagons appeared around Miyu. Nanoha hit the forcefield with Raising Heart, an explosion occurring as the result. Nanoha flew back into the air a few feet.

"Thanks Sentinel…" Miyu mumbled to her device, calling it by its nickname.

"Protection is a priority." it replied.

Smiling slightly, Miyu jumped off of the side of the building, turning Panzerglaive back into its Discharge form. Red energy appeared at its tip. "Cluster Cannon!" she called out as she fired the energy into the air above Nanoha. It exploded into smaller orbs of energy that fell around Nanoha, detonating around her. Miyu used Velocity Blazer to launch herself into the building again while the smoke cleared.

Raising Heart raised a force field around Nanoha when the detonation happened. When the smoke cleared, she looked around left and right for Miyu. "Eh? Where'd she go…" She floated over to the side of the building and looked over at the building across from them.

Miyu ran up the fight of stairs to the roof again, letting Panzerglaive load magic-filled cartridges into itself. Bursting through the threshold, she skidded into a crouching position and used magic to create a tornado around Nanoha. "Gale Cyclone! Blow her away!" Nanoha, caught off guard, gasped as the tornado tore Raising Heart from her hands and carried it off.

"Raising Heart!" Nanoha called out as she tried to grab it again. Using the small window of opportunity she created, Miyu pointed Panzerglaive at Nanoha's back.

"Aero Torpedo!" she shouted as a green oval-shaped energy bullet streaked towards Nanoha. Nanoha tried to throw up a shield quickly, but the bullet hit her and exploded on impact, knocking her across to the roof of the other building. She landed hard on her back and slid for a couple of feet. Miyu jogged over to the side of her building and peeked over at Nanoha. Raising Heart clattered to the ground a few meters next to Nanoha. After a few seconds, Nanoha got to her feet and smiled at Miyu.

"Well then Miyu… I think we should end this battle off here. You've passed." she announced with a grin. Miyu smiled widely as Nanoha flew back over to her.

"I-I did? Yay…" she sighed with relief. "I wasn't sure if I could've lasted any longer… it's hard for me to fight aerial mages."

"I can understand that. But you have ways to cover your weaknesses right? You know how to use tactics and your environment to your advantage. You didn't hesitate to take advantage of every opportunity that came up. You have some pretty strong defensive spells too… You and Panzerglaive are tough like steel."

"T-Thank you very much." Miyu bowed politely. "I didn't want to fail… so I went all out." she stated, smiling slightly. "I'm famous around St. Hilde becaus of my defenses… They call me the Iron Princess because they're so tough."

"It really suits you!" Nanoha said happily, "Anyways. Congratulations. You are now officially an A rank! I'm sure your parents will be proud. You're dismissed."

"Thank you again…" Miyu smiled as she bowed again, heading down to ground level and started heading to the train station, deactivating her barrier jacket and un-deploying her device. It was really a happy moment for her. She couldn't wait to get home so she could contact her best friend that she met as a child and tell him about her achievement. He joined the TSAB the previous year and she guessed that he would be happy to know that they might be working side-by-side soon since he was in the Ground Forces as well. "Ethan… He's going to be so excited! I...finally… did it!"