The starting lamps light up, and a clay target appears. The moment it enters the scoring zone, it shatters.
"Wow, brutal," Mizuki gasps.
"Is she setting the entire scoring zone as the magic's effect area?" she asks.
Honoka nods. "Yes. Shizuku uses a vibration wave spell to shatter solids in the zone. It generates compression waves inside the target, causing partial expansion and contraction, like weathering from rapid heating and cooling."
Miyuki elaborates, eyes fixed on the range. "More precisely, she sets multiple focal points in the zone to create virtual vibration waves. The spell doesn't directly vibrate the target but creates an interference field. When the spherical waves from the foci hit, they manifest as real vibrations, collapsing the target."
Mizuki nods repeatedly, absorbing the detailed explanation.
Nearby, Rin provides a similar breakdown to Mayumi and Mori.
"…And that's how it works," Rin concludes.
"Fascinating," Mayumi murmurs.
Rin continues, "The Speed Shooting scoring zone is a 15-meter cube. Shiba-kun's activation sequence sets a 10-meter cube inside it, with nine focal points—vertices and center. Each point is numbered, and inputting a number into the sequence triggers a spherical virtual wave from that point, with a six-meter radius, forming a spherical destruction zone."
"Seems like overkill. Is Kitayama bad at coordinate targeting?" Mori asks.
"Precision isn't her strength, but this spell sacrifices accuracy for speed," Rin replies, her poker face intact thanks to Tatsuya's prior briefing.
"So she could aim more precisely?" Mayumi asks.
"The spell's key is numbered coordinates," Rin explains, glancing at Shizuku, who continues shattering clays flawlessly. "It frees up mental processing, letting her focus entirely on casting. Continuous activation and multicasting are effortless."
The match ends—perfect score.
"The spell's called 'Active Air Mine,' Shiba-kun's original," Rin adds. "It's a large sequence, but Kitayama's processing power makes it work."
"Opposite of my magic's approach," Mayumi says, more stunned than impressed.
"How does he come up with this?" Mori muses, intrigued.
She continues, "Instead of a virtual cube, what if you set a circle around yourself with foci on its perimeter? Couldn't that be an omnidirectional Active Shield?"
"Duration's the issue," Mayumi counters. "Too short, and timing's tricky. Too long, and you risk getting caught in it."
Mori's enthusiasm doesn't waver. "That's up to the caster's skill. Shorten the duration with precise timing… I'm grabbing Tatsuya tonight to install this in my CAD."
"Don't disrupt the matches," Mayumi sighs, fully exasperated.
Third High's girls are rattled, lacking someone like Tatsuya to explain the spell.
"What was that?!" Airi exclaims.
"Calm down, Airi," Karen soothes.
"But Karen! If we don't understand it, we'll struggle in the main event!" Airi insists.
"Keiko and I are in Speed Shooting, not you," Karen points out.
"Still, that spell's trouble," Keiko admits, wary.
"Maybe Kichijouji would know," Airi suggests.
"Ask him?" Karen offers.
"No way. He's too chummy with Ichijou," Airi snaps. Despite minimal bad blood between the Ichijou and Isshiki families, Airi and Masaki's tension is palpable.
"Karen, who's First High's Speed Shooting engineer? They're skilled," Airi asks.
"Shiba Tatsuya," Karen replies.
Airi's irritation vanishes. "Tatsuya-sama? No wonder! A first-year chosen as an engineer!"
"No other school has a first-year engineer," Keiko notes.
"Didn't expect to face Tatsuya-san so soon," Karen sighs.
"We're fighting players, not Tatsuya-san," Keiko clarifies, ignored.
"That spell's completely new," Airi says.
"Maybe Tatsuya-san designed it," Karen suggests.
"It suits Kitayama perfectly," Keiko adds.
"A spell affecting the entire zone? It might be trickier than Elfin Sniper," Airi worries.
The sooner they face First High in the main event, the tougher it'll be. They watch the remaining prelims, hoping for later matchups.
Post-prelims, Shizuku sulks in the waiting room. "Kind of a letdown. Expected more fun."
"Don't say that," Tatsuya replies. "I worried about blind-spot attacks, but the setup wasn't that cruel."
"You worry too much, Tatsuya-san. The rookie matches aren't that intense," Shizuku says.
"Fair. But the main event's different. I tuned your CAD this morning, but double-check it. If anything feels off, I'll adjust it."
With all three advancing, Tatsuya's swamped. Shizuku heads to the tent to inspect her CAD.
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