"Ten meters . . . Eleven meters . . . Twelve meters . . ."

The measuring tape kept going up and up and up, displaying the progress of Atsuko Kagari, who was currently straddling a broom with a reddening forehead and multiple beads of sweat forming on her brow.

In one hand, she held the broom to steady herself, in the other, she gripped the end of the tape measure, which was being held at the bottom by Amanda.

She continued verbalizing the brunette's progress.

"Fifteen . . . and a half . . . Ye're slowin' up up there, Akko! Just concentrate!"

The witch in question grumbled something very impolite under her breath.

"What is it you think I'm trying to do?!"

"C'mon! I promise that it's not nearly as hard as you're making it out to be! Just relax! 'Sides, Constanze will be back any second now!"

As Akko's progress continually stagnated, Amanda looked to her left and gazed at her teammate Jasminka, who was currently doing her best to empty the contents of a potato chip bag, making audible "Ohm nom" noises while doing so.

To Amanda's right were Sucy and Lotte, gazing up at their friend with hope and pride (and a twinge of pity from Sucy) glistening in their eyes.

"That's a whole two meters more than yesterday Akko! Good job!" Lotte commended her friend.

Sucy didn't share her teammate's enthusiasm. Although she was admittedly impressed with the baby steps Akko has taken when it came to riding her broom, she could think of a solid twenty three things she would rather be doing on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, most of them having to do with what kinds of fungus are growing around town; especially after the rainy season.

Amanda looked left and right.

"What the heck is taking Constanze so long? At this point, Akko might not even need those stabilizers."

"I wouldn't say that quite yet," Sucy warned, pointing up at Akko, diverting everyone's attention back to the struggling witch.

A slight gust of wind severed Akko's concentration, causing the broom to dip beneath her violently. Panicked, Akko dropped her end of the measuring tape and attempted to regain her balance. The spastic movements of her body accompanied by the undulation of the now uncontrollable broom made it appear as if she were attempting to tame a bucking bronco.

With a few dramatic wails of dread, her fingers failed to grip the broom, sending her in a downward spiral to the freshly cut Luna Nova lawn. With death imminent, she covered her eyes and awaited the bone shattering impact.

"Amirae Voltolub."

The moment Akko heard the spell, she suddenly felt a weightless sensation in the pit of her gut. Her rapid descent slowed exponentially. Daring to take a peak, Akko lowered her hands from her eyes, coming face to face with the upside down image of Diana, wand in hand held in front of her. At first, Akko merely let her arms fall limp below her in exasperation, then she let out a squeal of embarrassment as her hands shot up to prevent her skirt from falling down any further.

With a simple flick of her wrist, Diana let Akko fall face first into the grass with an unceremonious "oof". She crawled onto her hands and knees, dusting off the grass stains from her uniform moments before the broom fell flat on top of her, smarting the small of her back.

Sheathing her wand, Diana flicked her hair out of her field of vision and looked down at the girl, though not without a friendly glint in her eye. "I do believe you owe me an iced tea, Akko."

Rubbing the sore spot on her back, Akko tilted her head up confusedly at the prodigy. "Eh? What're you talking about?"

"Surely you hadn't forgotten the wager that you had offered me before this endeavor?"

Akko shot straight back to her feet in a nanosecond. "I remember the bet! But you're all sorts of crazy if you think I owe you anything!" She waved an accusatory finger in front of Diana's face. "I totally got over twenty meters this time!"

Diana tapped a thoughtful finger to her chin. "Amanda?"

Craning her neck to look behind Diana, Akko found Amanda holding the base of the measuring tape, the excess measurements coiling at her feet

"You know how much I hate agreeing with Cavendish," Amanda started, "but you only got to seventeen meters this time." With the click of a button, the tape retracted beck into its case with a whiz.

Akko's shoulders slumped. "But I was so certain this time . . ." she trailed off, lower lip quivering visibly.

She perked up once she felt a hand on her shoulder from behind. She turned and saw the comforting smile of Lotte. "There's nothing to be ashamed of Akko. Just because you didn't reach your goal today doesn't mean you haven't come closer to it."

"Lotte is correct," Diana agreed. "You mustn't allow your mind to dwell on the negative outcomes of every attempt you make, that will only lead to meaningless self-deprecation. But rather use your failures as a starting point to carry you to future success."

Akko raised a confused brow.

Diana sighed. "Just keep practicing and you'll soon attain what it is you desire."

Akko let out a dramatically long breath. "I feel like I could make more progress if Constanze would hurry it up with those cabalizers!"

"Stabilizers," Sucy corrected.

"Those too!"

"Akko, those are basically the equivalent of training wheels for a toddler. Are they something you really think you should be looking forward to?" Sucy's usual skepticism was something she never failed to voice whenever it came to Akko.

"Before one can begin flying by their own free will, you must first experience the sensation of solo flight in a safe way. And given the events of this last year, we must recognize that all witches learn and grow in different ways. I find no reason for shame in these stabilizers, and neither should Akko," Diana said as she crossed her arms.

Sucy merely snorted in reply.

"See, Diana gets it! Now where is sh- BWAH!"

Turning on her heel to start up a session of impatient pacing, Akko was suddenly sputtering and attempting to catch her footing as she almost walked straight into the German inventor.

Said inventor, not so much as flinching at Akko's outburst, had silently made her way behind her, two items resembling miniature bracelets resting in her gloved hands. She stared unblinkingly at Akko and held out the stabilizers, opting the taller girl to take them.

Akko graciously took them from her hands after she had recomposed herself, then eyed Constanze up and down suspiciously. "We should really get you a bell or something, you know?"

Constanze said nothing in reply, not that that surprised Akko in the slightest.

Stabilizers in hand, Akko made her way to her fallen broom. Leaning down, Akko started to install the stabilizers on the broom . . . Until she realized she had no idea how to do so.

"Hmm. Say Constanze, could you- GAH!"

Constanze once again silently appeared at her side. Taking the stabilizers from her hands without question, she bent down and slid the bracelets into place, one closer to the bristles, the other a few spaces in front, as to allow a seat for its rider. Leaning forward, the inventor flipped a nearly imperceptible switch in the first bracelet. A tiny blue light blinked several times before it finally glowed a consistent green.

Akko excitedly watched the inventor at work over her shoulder like a curious hummingbird until she stood upright from her kneeling position. Broom in hand, Constanze held it out to Akko.

With a squeal of delight, Akko excitedly bounced on her feet before engulfing the shorter girl in a massive hug. After a few twirls, she finally set Constanze down and took the broom from her hands.

Straddling it between her legs, she looked up and saw the looks on all of her friends' faces: The confident smirk of Amanda, the hopeful eyes of Lotte, the somewhat amused gaze of Sucy, the soft smile of Jasminka, the silent determination of Constanze, and the proud smile of Diana.

Surrounded by her closest friends, Akko felt virtually no possibility of failure.

Tightening her grip, adjusting her seat on her broom, and setting her eyes to the cloudless sky, Akko let out a determined breath. "Tia Freyre!"

With a whoosh, Akko ascended . . .

. . . Much more quickly than what she was used to.

"HYAAAHH!"

It was as if she had hopped off of a trampoline while operating a pogo stick on the moon. She gained about nine feet of altitude before she reached her peak. Slowly, she lowered herself back to the ground, but not without the unwelcome feeling of her stomach lurching upwards into her throat.

She managed to hover at a manageable height of four feet off the ground.

Letting up on her grip and releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding, Akko popped one eye open, then the other, looking at her friends' stunned faces. Recomposing herself, Akko squared her shoulders and raised her chin and chest confidently. "Hmm, it seems I'll be able to challenge you to another bet before long, Diana," she gloated.

Diana crossed her arms, unimpressed. "Despite the progress you can most undoubtedly gain, I believe that our previous terms would be nulled in the event of the use of performance enhancers."

Pouting, Akko tightened her grip on her broom.

"B-besides!" Lotte attempted to distract Akko's mind from attempting something that's well beyond her set of skills, "you don't have that much flying experience just yet. Why don't you just . . . try something out first?"

Akko pondered her suggestion for a moment.

"Alright!"

Hunching her shoulders and crouching so her chest just barely hovered over the broom, Akko set her gaze in front of her. A tree off in the distance came into view and an idea instantly formed in her head.

Grinning wickedly and white knuckling her hold on the broom, Akko was about to set off as fast as she could and make her way back to her awaiting group of friends . . .

Until she looked up.

Inside the school, up in one of the highest towers, she could see a figure standing in front of the window, her hands folded in front of her and her glasses glistening in the sunlight.

Akko rethought her actions once she felt Professor Ursula's eyes gazing down on her.

Taking a deep, calming breath, the brunette formed a new plan.

Ok, what would she say if she were down here right now . . . ? Probable something like, 'Akko, it's good to set goals for yourself, but they must also be . . .' what's the word she would use . . . ? Attainable! That's it! 'You can't push yourself in something that you have limited experience in. That's how failures are formed.'

With those mental words of wisdom fresh in her mind, Akko looked forward, ignoring the tree (which she now realized was much farther away than she had previously seen) in the distance and looked for a new destination.

Scanning the field in front of her, Akko's eyes eventually came across a shrub that was a much more doable distance from her.

Gotcha.

With control, Akko lurched the broom forward. Unlike multiple times in the past, the broom did exactly as she willed it to. Without any trouble, the broom continued to go forward, albeit at a slower speed than what Akko would have preferred, but it was still a refreshing experience to be in full command over her own broom.

Before she knew it, she had reached the shrub.

Leaning to the left, Akko banked around the shrub with relative ease and made her way back to her cheering group of friends.

She dismounted the broom and accepted the embraces of Lotte, Amanda and Jasminka.

Looking past the shoulders of her friends, Akko caught the image of Ursula, whose hands were clasped together in front of her with glee.

The brunette closed her eyes in delight and returned the embrace she was currently being held in.

"How fascinating," Diana observed after offering Akko a polite golf clap. "Those stabilizers appear to compensate for any lack of proper weight distribution. Am I correct in assuming so?"

Constanze gave Diana a thumbs up.

"Ooooohhhh, that was so awesome!" The excited witch gushed as soon as she was released from her three friends. "Didja see when I made it to the bush?! I feel like the old me would've freaked out if I had that coming at me!"

"You did so well, Akko!" Lotte praised. "Keep this up and you won't even need those stabilizers to fly!"

After accepting more words of praise from her friends, an idea sprung into her head.

"Hey Amanda, wanna race?!"

Everyone's jaws simultaneously came unhinged and fell open.

"Whoa there, Akko. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. What you just did was passable, but to go up against me?" The tomboy put a hand against her chest. "I don't think you're ready for that just yet."

"Oh it doesn't have to be an intense, fully physical thingy like whatever it is you're used to. I was just thinking like three laps around the school or something."

Amanda shifted her gaze to the school, considering the idea.

"Huh, well-"

She was cut off by Akko. "Lately, Professor Ursula has been talking about setting goals for myself when it comes to magic. She always says that as long as I can pass one of my goals, then I'm ready for the next one! So that's what I think the next step for me is!"

The group remained silent, considering the idea.

"I agree with Akko."

All eyes turned to Diana.

"One cannot advance if they aren't able to push through their barriers. I will moderate the race, should you choose to accept it, Amanda." Diana added that last part as if she were the one challenging her instead of Akko.

Amanda turned back to Akko, who had her hand stretched out in front of her, waiting eagerly for Amanda to take it. Her eyes narrowed in determination and a smirk formed on her mouth.

"Duh."

Later,

It was as if they had wandered in on an actual racetrack. There were two opponents, side by side, on their brooms, awaiting for the word to go. And there was Diana, standing several feet in front of them with a white handkerchief hoisted in the air. Lotte stood next to Sucy, a twinge of worry in her heart for her friend.

She shook away the negative thoughts when she reminded herself that it was all so that Akko could further improve her skills as a witch.

Little plumes of dust billowed underneath their brooms from anticipation, like anxious cars revving their engines.

Their eyes were locked forward in determination, not even allowing a single blowing leaf to disrupt their concentration.

Finally, Diana dropped the handkerchief.

As foreseen, Amanda was the first to speed off, though Akko was not far in tow.

Diana turned around and watched as the witches disappeared behind the first turn, a smile forming at the sight.

She turned on her heels and made her way over to the makeshift peanut gallery, joining her friends. Looking to the side, Diana noticed that Jasminka had switched out her bag of chips for a small carton of popcorn (where she had attained it, she wasn't sure). Beside the pink haired girl was Constanze, who held a high visibility telescope and at the ready.

Turning, she also observed Lotte's trembling fingers entwined in front of her, which contradicted the bored expression that Sucy currently wore.

"She will be just fine, you know," Diana comforted. "She is going to become an exceptional witch once she has mastered the basics."

Lotte gave a small, shy smile in return. "I know she will. I just . . . don't want anything bad to happen right now. She's still so new to flying."

"I'm willing to bet a few weeks' worth of chores that Akko's clumsiness is going to bite her in the butt within the next few minutes," Sucy grinned.

Diana and Lotte shot her disapproving glances, but neither chose to address her.

"Unfortunately, big mistakes like that are one of the best ways any student can learn. They can often offer more guidance than any seasoned instructor ever could." After she saw that this offered little to appease the shy girl's muddled thoughts, she switched her approach. "Akko has done nothing but improve and grow within these past few weeks since the new year started. She will be just fine."

Meanwhile,

There were very few things that Amanda loved doing more than flying. One of them included bugging that Cavendish girl with her (ahem), 'absurd table manners and complete disregard of personal space.'

She enjoys flying so much that she nearly forgot that this was not to be treated as an official race, but merely as a training exercise for her friend.

Looking back, she could see Akko hunched over and gripping her broom with almost every ounce of strength that she had. Amanda chuckled to herself, making a mental note to inform her she'll have better mobility if she were loose.

Letting up, Amanda trailed back until she was adjacent with the brunette. She looked over her shoulder and yelled over the wind. "Nice job! But watch yourself on those turns! You'll lose more ground if you go too wide!"

She could see Akko nod, soaking in the advice.

As Akko flew, she wondered if Professor Ursula was still watching and what she'd be thinking if she saw her flying around the school with minimal experience. Hopefully she wouldn't be scolded too badly if she explained her reasoning to her idol.

To her right hand side, she saw the forms of their audience cheering and waving excitedly, indicating that the first lap had been completed, and she hadn't gained much ground on her opponent.

She intended on changing that this lap.

Focusing even harder, Akko sped up, coming up side to side with the red head, slightly startling the girl.

"Nice work! But try not to push too hard!"

They rounded the next corner and continued on the straightaway, the thick of the forest directly in front of them as they approached the upcoming turn.

Akko shrugged off her concern.

"Man, I didn't think you were the worrying type, Amanda!" She teased. "Maybe I could give you a run for your money after all!"

Flip.

In the midst of her taunt, the brunette unknowingly switched her grip, which incidentally led her to flipping the small switch on her front stabilizer.

The two girls eyed it cautiously before exchanging a glance between themselves.

Akko's fear was confirmed when the steady green light turned back into the blinking blue.

"Uh oh."

The broom, having seemingly grown a mind of its own, did a complete nose dive into the dirt. The tip of the broom digging into the soil and acting as a makeshift catapult to Akko, flinging her head over heels deep into the forest entrance.

Amanda brought her broom to a skidding stop right next to the brunette's fallen broom.

"Akko!"

The young witch wasn't even able to hear the startled shriek of her friend as the wind flew by her ears at a deafening volume. The broom had flung her off so quick that her mind hasn't even yet comprehended that its body had been ejected from it, her arms and legs limp and at the mercy of gravity and inertia.

In what seemed to be less than a second, Luna Nova disappeared behind the thick foliage of the forest.

Eyes squeezed shut out of fear, the young girl awaited the hard impact, preparing for any broken bones or possible concussion she may endure.

She waited for even longer . . . and longer . . .

Huh, I must be really up higher than I thought! Man, this is gonna suck . . .

It wasn't until after she had finished the thought that she realized that the roar of the wind in her ears had subsided, and that her hair was hanging over her face.

Her body was still.

"Eh?"

Peeping one eye open, the bravely prying the other one open as well, Akko found herself suspended in midair, a few yards off of the ground.

The initial feeling of panic overtaking her yet again, she thrashed and flailed her arms spastically, but made no progress in getting herself lowered to the ground.

Gazing at herself after she had calmed down, she finally realized that her body was encompassed by a strange sort of green aura, blinking like a slow heartbeat.

Blinking to get herself back into reality, the young witch crossed her arms somewhat triumphantly.

"Heheh. Guess my magical instincts really do work."

Then she felt herself being lowered gently to the ground.

"Ok, but I'm pretty sure I'm not doing this . . ."

After both feet touched the soil and she had a firm standing stance, the green aura faded. Akko looked her body up and down, wondering what could've been responsible for saving her from a very painful reentry.

Her curiosity was put to rest when her eyes skimmed downward.

Eyes ready to burst from their sockets and jaw understandably slack, Akko looked down at the small woodland creature.

Literally, a woodland creature.

That was the only way Akko could describe the thing standing just mere yards away from her. It looked as if it had the body of a tree with twigs acting as its arms and legs, and leaves serving as its fingers and toes. A small bush made up its cranium, giving it the appearance of a well-kept afro. But the most startling feature was its face.

Its eyes and mouth were nothing but mere slits carved into the bark. The eyes were thinned to slits in concentration and its tiny arms were stretched out in front of it, and it appeared to be breathing heavily, as if it had just got done performing a strenuous exercise.

Realization dawned on Akko.

Lifting a shaky finger, Akko pointed at the small creature.

"Did . . . you just . . ."

"Akko!"

The creature twitched in surprise, its tiny mouth forming into an o and looking past the brunette witch at the sound of where the voice came from.

Amanda's voice was heard calling her name in the distance, and several pairs of footsteps could be heard disturbing the peaceful forest floor.

She turned her head. "Amanda! Everyone! I'm over here! Look at- . . . huh?"

After having given her location away to her friends, she looked back to discover the creature had up and vanished, leaving a few falling leaves in its wake.

The rustling of bushes and the snapping of twigs could be heard ahead of her though.

"Wait! Come back!"

Arms outstretched in front of her, Akko gave chase to the creature, running and skipping over various roots and bushes as she ran, keeping her eyes peeled for anything that seemed remotely out of place.

Keeping her gaze glued to the ground, she failed to anticipate the perfectly placed branch sticking out in front of her, which just so happened to be positioned perfectly in front of her face.

THWAK!

The blunt force swept her clean off of her feet, sending her sprawling onto her backside within the blink of an eye.

Groaning, Akko rubbed her sore forehead. Pulling her hand away, she saw a small trickle of crimson traced on her finger.

She propped herself up on her elbows, ignoring the vertigo and scanning left to right, but she let out a defeated sigh when she had to admit to herself that she had lost sight of the creature.

"Akko! Guys! I found her!"

"Eh?"

Craning her head to the side, she caught sight of a worried Amanda and Diana, who hurriedly made their way to both sides of Akko.

"She may be concussed," Diana observed. "Amanda, please lend me assistance."

Amanda was not about to argue.

Leaning down, the two of them draped Akko's arms around their shoulders, hefting the delirious girl to her feet.

Lotte, Sucy, Constanze and Jasminka were not far behind them, all of them with equal looks of concern on their faces.

A still dazed Akko paid them no mind for the time being, and instead did her best to look over her shoulder, trying to see if she could spot the small walking tree.

"Wh-where'd you go? Come back!"

"Great, now she's hallucinating," Amanda muttered in frustration. "We've gotta get her to the nurse, pronto."

Later,

The click of Professor Ursula's` heels against the tiles of the Luna Nova was the only thing audible on the school grounds as students and faculty slowly began retiring to their beds for the evening, leaving the red haired instructor alone with her thoughts as she patrolled the barren hallways of the school.

Most of the teachers detested patrol duty, as they found it affected their performances as instructors the following day.

Ursula was often the one to volunteer.

She always appreciated spending time alone with her thoughts as she patrolled her usual route (she always passed by the Sorcerer's Stone at specific times as to catch the rising moon), and tonight, her thoughts were especially occupied by her young pupil.

She had observed it all: Akko measuring her distance from the ground, making a successful lap around a shrub, and the race she had with Amanda which resulted in her trip to the infirmary with a miraculously minor concussion.

After watching the young girl fling herself into the woods, Ursula wasted no time in making her way to the nurse's office, rendezvousing with Akko and her usual group of friends at the entrance. Once Akko was bandaged up and secure in the bed, she ran herself breathless reassuring everyone (especially a very remorseful Constanze) that she was virtually unharmed. Though they all remained unconvinced, they decided that the best thing to do was to let the clumsy girl get her rest.

They all left the nurse's office en masse, waving and wishing Akko a speedy recovery.

As the group divided into separate directions, heading to their own quarters, Ursula was caught off guard by a passing comment from Amanda.

"Man, I'm not sure she's as ok as she says she is. She's a strong kid and all, but come on, a solid blow to the head will make anyone think that they saw tiny walking tree things, right?"

Ursula had stopped dead in her tracks, her breath hitching and her eyes bulging.

She nearly made a mad dash all the way across the school grounds to view the schools archived magical items, but decided against it in fear of looking too suspicious. Rather, she decided the best course of action was to wait for her patrol tonight, when no one else was awake.

Finally, Ursula made it to the entrance to the archives, being met with the large pillar containing the seemingly endless rows of magical items, resting dormant inside the small cavities within the concrete.

With a flick of her wrist, Ursula cast a spell that illuminated the darkness, allowing her a better visual of what lay ahead.

While the ability to fly would be useful in this scenario, she had no reason to fret.

Walking to the side of the room, she found the thing she was looking for . . . an eight foot high ladder.

Leaning it against the wall, she ascended to the third to the final step, and with another flick of her wrist, she felt the magic flow through the ladder, growing more and more feet by the second, rising her up higher like an invisible elevator.

The air rushed through her hair, but she paid it no mind.

She needed to know for sure.

Once the cavity she was looking for came into view, she slowed her ascent to a gradual stop, coming face to face with the opening.

She peeked inside . . . and let out a sigh of relief.

The three wooden coils were still there, resting.

"Oh thank goodness."

Laughing at herself for worrying over what turned out to be nothing, she commanded the ladder to lower her down.

"I guess Akko was hallucinating after all . . ."

Meanwhile,

Sparks were flying in the inventor's sealed face as she welded another piece together. Pausing, she pushed up her mask and brought her face closer to the pint sized robot, inspecting her handy work.

Nodding in approval, she swiveled in her chair to wheel across her secret lab and reach for her screwdriver, not intending to bump into the freshly concussed Akko.

"BWAH!"

Falling flat on her back, Akko offered the small girl a sheepish smile before standing back up, rubbing the back of her head.

"Don't worry, it's not as bad as it was earlier."

Constanze let out a breath, not buying it for a second.

Akko gazed around the room, a little too innocently for Constanze's liking, which was exemplified by the finger the brunette placed on her lower lip, her eyes still roaming the workshop.

"So, I was wondering, you think you could let me use those ca- stabilizers again? I promise to be veeeeeery careful this time."

After the incident in the forest, Constanze had confiscated the stabilizers and intended on modifying them so they could be powered on and off remotely rather than having the switch on them themselves, as to avoid anything like this in the future.

In short, Constanze was not yet able to relinquish the stabilizers to the girl.

She shook her head no.

Akko pouted in reply. "Ah c'mooooon! I'll help you out in here like that last time! Remember how well that all turned out?"

Constanze shuddered at the memory.

"Do you need the tools? I remember where they are! They're over here, right?"

Without waiting for an answer, she turned on her heel and began digging her way through the lab, knocking over various pieces of equipment and tools in the process.

Tightening her hands into fists, Constanze stood from her chair and marched over to where Akko was currently digging, then she felt the color drain from her face when she saw what Akko was right next to.

Immediately, Constanze threw her hands in front of her, waving them madly to gain the other girl's attention. Akko turned her head when she saw her friend waving her arms through her peripheral vision. She offered the small girl a smile. "Oh, no need to worry. I'm positive I can find them myself. I remember this place like the back of my own wand!"

To emphasize her point, Akko unsheathed her wand and thrust it out to the side . . . which was the very thing Constanze was hoping not to happen.

Without realizing it, Akko's outstretched arm activated a lever that had not entered her field of view. It fell the opposite way and stopped moving with a kechunk.

It was then Akko realized her mistake.

Moments after the lever was activated, a large door slowly opened up, allowing the moonlight to pour in, offering a chilly breeze along with it. After the doors were fully opened, the rotating floor behind Akko, which just so happened to be the resting spot of another one of Constanze's experiments, swiveled, spinning the large flying pirate ship so its bow was facing the open night sky.

Constanze's heart sank, able to do nothing but watch as her newest version of the ship be raised up onto a launching ramp, and catapult into the blackness.

Akko had her back turned the entire time, so she couldn't see what had just happened. But based off of the horrified look on Constanze's face, she quickly put two and two together.

Casually putting her wand back and taking a quick peek over her shoulder, she then offered Constanze a small smile, hoping she would be able to laugh this all off come morning.

But she knew that wouldn't be the case.

"In my defense, having a single lever for launching an entire ship is kinda dumb in the first place."

Later,

As predicted, Constanze didn't take too kindly to that explanation.

If the German inventor wasn't so hell-bent on being the strong silent type, Akko was certain she'd still be getting an earful from her.

And after having been physically tossed out of the laboratory by her small army of Stan Bots, Akko safely assumed that she would not be receiving any help from her in the near future.

"Yeah, I'm gonna really have to make it up to her about this one . . ."

Clearing her throat and recomposing her demeanor, she ignored the chilly air that surrounded her and illuminated the darkness with her wand, revealing the entrance to the forest where she had fallen in just hours ago.

"Alright," she steeled herself. "Where are you hiding, little guy?"