The Grand Training Grounds of EINA sat next to the House Yves. Upperclassmen student assistants helped the Professors convert it into a spacious examination hall. From the humming of equipment to now, the humming of nervous energy exudes from this new cohort.
Isaac's shoes scuffed against the ground. Centuries of anxious students had walked this path before him, their sweat of fears, saliva of hope, and blood of confidence all were being trampled on by the next.
He adjusted the pin on his uniform.
Number 137 gleaming under the light.
The other examinees shuffled into their designated sections: Kynetics in the front, Concordants to the right, and Wave Binders to the left.
As Isaac took his place in line, a particular movement caught his eye. No matter how much he refused it, there, just to his right, stood Alyssa Woxen. As if Mrs Fate had made it impossible to avoid her.
To him, her black hair was as elegant as the night she died. It was a core memory for Isaac. She threw her head around instantaneously, sensing a lingering gaze, before offering a warm smile she kindly offered to everyone, with a bit less confidence from the shock.
"G-good morning," she said, startled.
Isaac swallowed hard. Ready to speak to the character he favoured second, only behind the Dramatis Personae.
"Morning. Ready? Ms...?"
"Alyssa Woxen, but please, call me just Alyssa."
She lifted her own pin, 136.
One digit apart… What a coincidence…
"It's quite a beautiful of a name. Woxen. The Meadow at the Bay."
"O-oh… F-first time someone has pointed that out…"
Alyssa blushed. Perhaps it had been the first time someone praised her humble surname rather than the gorgeous first name.
Of course, Isaac would know this detail. Other than the | Media Literacy | attribute, horrendously acting up, Isaac, as a young boy, researched her naming significance in an attempt to concoct a way to save her.
My goodness… I am a fucking simp… I don't want a dead girl clinging to me, nor do I want people to think the newly enrolled 'psychopath' is flirting with the popular girl.
How do I divert?
Easy.
"Nevertheless. All the best for the Concordance NCAT."
"You too, Isaac!" she replied immediately, then offered that same warm smile again before turning away.
Yeah, okay shes still really fucking obvious… Thank God.
He opened his mouth, then closed it.
What else could I say?
Seeing as she will have a short-lived existence with no significant consequences if she dies, but major consequences if she lives.
'I'm sorry' would be the worst thing to say to her.
That silence stretched until a grand hush fell over the students as Archivist Orlan Peña Quintana moved forward with a deliberate pace.
"Good morning, students. Examination protocol commences, Kynetics are to head forward further, Concordants to my left and Wave Binders to my right," he intoned.
Archivist Orlan explained the examination protocols for the Kynetics and Concordants before heading towards the Wave Binders.
"Wave Binders, you will demonstrate core competency through the following trials," he continued, raising a hand. The CEC along the walls flared to life as if recording every movement of everyone in the room.
"First, Out-Thread all your Thaumiton into a contained field, your Thaumitonic Zone. The requirement for a valid measurement is to hold the Out-Threading for 20 seconds. The circle's diameter and stability will be noted. Following this, you will be asked to mold and bind the shape of your Out-Thread into the 3 standard molds, all judged based on the same 20-second stability principle that you should come to familiarize yourself with as the TTT, Triple-Twenty-Test."
"Second, utilizing a standardized Beginner-Class Clause-Construct, demonstrate Noësical capacity by In-Threading your Clause-Construct at the target in front of you from a distance of 10 meters, without compromising the structural integrity of your In-Thread. If you possess more than two Module Resonance Archetypes, please use the respective Beginner-Class Clause-Construct for both Modules for us to acquire an accurate gauge of abilities."
The target in the training hall was large and centered against the wall.
"This CEC is cutting-edge technology, recently patented and enrolled for standard use across the globe. We have appropriately named it The Clause-Construct Absorption Unit, CCAU for short. You will be the first cohort in the history of EINA to be measured by this CEC down to the Newton per square centimeter."
Ooh… Cool… This wasn't in the original game, but cool.
"This is the metric on which you will be classified under:
Beginner Class: In-Threading AP ≤ 1 N/cm², 1m Out-Threading diameter.
Intermediate Class: In-Threading AP ≤ 2 N/cm², 2m Out-Threading diameter.
Apprentice Class: In-Threading AP ≤ 3 N/cm², 3m Out-Threading diameter.
Novice Class: In-Threading AP ≤ 4 N/cm², 4m Out-Threading diameter.
Adept Class: In-Threading AP ≤ 5 N/cm², 5m Out-Threading diameter.
No participants are expected to exceed Adept-Classification parameters. Should a student demonstrate capabilities beyond this range, High-Classification external assessment procedures will be implemented accordingly."
Okay… Good… Somewhat… Everything about 'Class' is the same… But thesclosers are awfully scientific…
I deadass remember the MCAT as just the generic Magic Crystal Test...
The Archivist commences the NCAT.
"Now. Student No.1: Marshal Mercier Delacroix. Begin!"
A nervous murmur rippled through the candidates.
Hm… First, Projection, the foundational act of expelling raw, unshaped Mana into the surrounding environment to create an area where Spell effectiveness is maximized.
Unlike Casting, Projection relies on talent over wisdom. It's the difference between dumping fuel onto a fire and engineering an engine. Usually, a Mage's projected Mana forms a 'lattice' that blocks incoming Spells. It was a fundamental skill required in dueling.
How does the game explain Projecting?
Hold |R2| to 'charge' the Mana bar, release to disperse energy in a radial pulse.
Yeah fuck nah…
My issue is I've got Casting down.
But Projection?
How the fuck am I supposed to use button prompts, start timing minigames, and react to flashing UI cues IRL?
The game says Projection is instinctive: 'Feel your Mana flow outward.'
What a load of horse shit.
In-game, a stamina bar drains, and a shimmering bubble shield appears.
That's it.
I've tried:
Clenching my fists like the animation suggests. Mimicking the "deep breath" sound effect. Even whispering the damned tooltip text.
Nothing.
No fucking thing came out.
As the first examinee stepped forward, their Out-Thread diameters flickered to life in bursts of innate Thaumitons, unlike Isaac's attempts, a shining shade of red.
"2 meters radius. Stable with fluctuations. Hold for 20 seconds."
20 seconds passed. No changes.
"Switch from Unmolded to Mold 1."
The boy altered his Out-Thread into a rectangular zone in front of him and held it for 20 seconds.
"Length of Mold 1 is 12.57 meters. Switch to Mold 2."
The boy altered his Out-Thread, now into a cone with a center angle of 1.57 radians.
"Radius of Mold 2 is 4 meters with an arc length of 6.28 meters. Switch to Mold 3."
Finally, the boy alters his Out-Thread into a semi-circle.
"Radius of Mold 3 is 2.83 meters with an arc length of 8.89 meters. Proceed to the In-Threading test."
Archivist Orlan, at the side, silently took down the quantitative data produced by the test. It was at that moment that Isaac realized that the walls were literally recording them, from every angle.
Marshal Mercier raised his palm toward the CCAU. He paused for a beat before a blast of fire shot out from his palm, streaking toward the CCAU in a blazing path. The moment it struck, the CEC device hummed to life, its sensors flaring as they dissected the Clause-Constructs intensity.
Oh? Incantationless casting?
Damn.
For a background character, I'd say that's impressive.
After a while, the analysis was complete. Orlan's assistant squinted at the screen and announced in a flat tone.
"1.2 pascals."
Archivist Orlan nodded, wrote it down, and shouted.
"Intermediate-Class."
The student looked thrilled, practically glowing with pride. Honestly, it was a mediocre result at best. The Incantationless In-Threading was a cherry added on the top, but the top of a mediocre pecan pie.
Such is the fate of background characters.
Isaac already knew the heroines would surpass Adept-Class without breaking a sweat. Therefore, why should he be impressed by someone who barely scraped into Intermediate? It was like clapping for a matchstick in a room full of stars.
But… Fuck me.
If I don't figure out how to project, I'll be even worse than him. It's a shot in the dark, but I have to try. I'll use some scientific knowledge to tackle this issue, after all, the game's System seems to rely on science too.
Isaac's personal interpretation of Thaumitonic Out-Threading, at least as an internal process, went something like this:
It's the act of converting internal energy into a coherent external force, not unlike how a speaker transforms electrical signals into sound waves… or how a plasma arc forms under intense voltage.
A natural reaction, focused before being released.
First, as confirmed by the game, Mana exists in a core in select individuals. Possessing it is one thing; using it is the real challenge.
Second, I imagine my mind as a central processing unit, as TAV2 treats me, responsible for regulating the flow of Mana. It must focus this energy into a precise frequency or shape, much like how a laser concentrates scattered light into a single beam.
And third, the release. My Mana will flow through a designated focal point, my feet, planted firmly into the ground. The output is controlled by intent and shaped by the intricate patterns of my own neural pathways.
I know this in theory; now I just have to try it in practice.
And the chance to do so draws ever closer.