[235] 4. Battle Simulation (5)
Shirone listened closely. No matter what profession they chose later, a mage had to be able to protect their own body and their companions. They were assigned tasks ordinary people couldn't handle. If a mage only sat at a desk shuffling papers, it would be far more efficient to hire a scholar.
"All right, let's get started in earnest. It's a bit much to test with a succubus, so this time call up a Dragonfang."
Sade dispelled the succubus immediately, as if he'd been waiting for that cue. When he input the Dragonfang's code, a steel-gray skeleton was projected into the 2000.
The students erupted in cheers again. A Dragonfang was a magical construct made from a dragon's fang. It was so solid that physical attacks did almost nothing; unless there was a holy mage who knew Turn Undead, fleeing was the safer option—this monster was that feared.
"I'll need a teacher for the demonstration."
"I'll do it."
Sade stepped forward. He didn't want to, but he couldn't send Shiina or Etella. He didn't want to see a woman get battered by a Dragonfang.
"Although it's virtual, the information you receive is based on a real Dragonfang, so you can treat it as combat. Let's start light—set the sync rate to 50%. Is that okay?"
"Ha! Of course. Fifty percent is fine."
In truth, it wasn't fine. Even for a certified Grade 6 mage, a Dragonfang was a powerful monster. Even with the impact halved, there was no guarantee the mind would hold up.
"Then Teacher Sade will take the Dragonfang's attack."
The Dragonfang stomped closer.
'Scary. Damn it.'
Sade waited with an unwilling expression. The giant skeletal creature raised a relic-like sword right in front of him, and the students' eyes widened.
What force.
"Huh? Uh—?"
The Dragonfang's arm fell at a terrifying speed.
The phantom sword passed through Sade's body, and the percentage gauge floating above his head dropped by 50%.
Sade forced himself to keep a calm face.
"As you can see, Teacher Sade's mental gauge was cut in half. That's because being cut by the blade equals death. Since the sync rate is 50%, only half was lost. When a mage is judged dead, the hologram passes through them. We call that 'penetration.' Now I'll show a defense judgment. Teacher Sade."
As a practiced instructor, Sade immediately cast a spell. He used Air Skin; a membrane of compressed air formed around him and the gauge fell by 1%.
Because the gauge quantified mental power, it decreased both when attacked and when casting magic.
"Now, take the Dragonfang's attack."
The Dragonfang raised its arm and brought the sword down. This time it was different from the penetration judgment. The blade stopped as if driven into Sade's crown. The gauge dropped by 1.8%.
Olivia nodded with satisfaction.
"As expected. Spending 1% on Air Skin bought him 48.2% worth of defense. In practical terms, that means even after taking a full-power Dragonfang strike his mind was barely disturbed. You understand how strong Teacher Sade is, right?"
All the students answered loudly, "Yes." If a certified Grade 6 mage's mental gauge could be reduced by only 1.8% by such destructive force, the advanced-class students would die from even a graze.
Sade puffed up his shoulders with pride. There was no need to reveal that he'd deployed an elaborate sequence formula just before being hit.
"When a hologram does not pass through, we call it 'block.' Penetration and block—when these two judgments occur, antimagic and mana-control techniques are used to strip away mental power."
Mana control was a technique that cut off specific neural circuits to prevent concentration.
Spirit Zone is a state where the whole brain activates; therefore, even blocking part of the cerebral network makes concentration impossible.
When one circuit is blocked, the brain immediately reroutes information via another pathway.
But the mana-control devices also change the blocked pathways at a rate of twenty times per second, so while thought is possible, entering the Spirit Zone becomes impossible.
Of course, if you can exceed that twenty-times-per-second switching speed and bypass the irregular patterns, entering the Spirit Zone becomes possible.
However, the Association's official stance was that this was impossible unless you were an Archmage certified at Grade 2 or higher.
It was an impressive technology, but most students weren't interested in mana control.
It didn't physically injure the mind, and since it had been developed for criminals, it didn't pique curiosity unless someone dreamed of becoming an engineer.
But the word antimagic was terrifying.
"Headmistress, antimagic is—"
"Yes, I know what you're worried about. It's magic that damages the mind. But don't worry unless the sync rate is 80% or higher; there's no great danger."
Olivia cut that off decisively and moved on.
"Now we'll move to attack judgments. We call this 'pushback.' Teacher Sade."
This time it was their turn to attack the Dragonfang. But Sade could only grimace.
If he couldn't use holy magic, he needed physical strength enough to break a dragon's tooth or firepower capable of melting it.
It wasn't impossible at full strength, but he didn't want to look ridiculous straining himself in front of the students.
"Um, the Dragonfang—"
"Oh, right. I'll handle it."
Sade stepped aside and Olivia took his place.
She raised a hand lightly and cast the holy magic Holy Cross.
A radiance burst from her palm and a huge cross of light exploded in the Dragonfang's chest.
The Dragonfang staggered back from the shock.
"This is pushback. The virtual data can't actually shove your body, but holograms can. A monster's death judgment also counts as pushback. I'll demonstrate."
Olivia pursed her lips slightly. A high-frequency noise leaked from between her sensually parted lips.
When she cast Holy Cross, the cross that hit the Dragonfang was four times larger and shattered it.
Bones rained down and the students' eyes went wide.
The teachers were shocked too.
As the foremost authority on Word-Spell magic, she casually executed an advanced ultrasonic technique called monophony.
Shiina watched her with mixed feelings. She had tried to hold out until Alpheas returned, but she couldn't stop the swelling respect.
"Impressive. Judging by the amplification, that was over two thousand syllables."
"Took about 0.82 seconds. That's as much as five pages of a novel read in under a second."
Etella's vivid analogy sent a chill down the spine.
Even imagining it, nobody could grasp how fast that was.
"The basics of Word-Spell are to repeat and release. It's not just pronunciation—the speed of thought is terrifying."
"Yes, that's why for S-class criminals they fill the mind with soul-ore instead of using mana control to make thinking itself impossible. Of course, Headmistress, you're not a criminal."
What astonished everyone most was that Olivia's mental gauge hardly dropped even after casting the spell.
It had decreased by less than 0.1%. For her, smashing a Dragonfang seemed easier than breathing.
"That concludes the basic explanation of the 2000. We'll alternate Image Zone and 2000 classes, so check the timetable. Class Seven will start with a 20% sync rate and increase by 10% increments until Class Four reaches 50%. For reference, the graduating class is currently training at 80%, and their graduation exam will be at 100%. Any further questions now?"
A student from Class Four raised a hand.
"What happens if the gauge goes all the way down?"
"Good question. Look at Teacher Sade's gauge."
All eyes turned to Sade. His gauge had already refilled.
"The mental gauge reflects a mage's mind in real time. It decreases when attacked and when you cast magic. Of course, it replenishes if you rest. If it reaches 0%, both bracelets will light up and the 2000 effect disappears. Any other questions?"
"Uh… is that really all?"
Olivia gave a playful little smile.
"Yes, that's it. Through 2000 practical training you'll significantly raise your tactical and strategic understanding. Besides, the core functions of the 2000 haven't even been introduced yet, so there's no need to be tense already."
The teachers' faces darkened.
They acknowledged the 2000's efficiency but had limited it to the graduating class for a reason.
"No matter how strong the monster, it's only artificially collected dead information. If there are patterns, you can find countermeasures. The true strength of the 2000 lies elsewhere: information without patterns. The clash between living information."
The students began to stir. Having understood the 2000 system, they could guess what Olivia meant.
"The pinnacle of the 2000 is one-on-one combat."
@
The advanced-class integrated lessons split between Image Zone and the 2000. The students who adapted quickly to Olivia's policies no longer felt resistant to the 2000.
"Over there! Drive it! Catch it!"
"No, funnel it this way!"
The Class Seven kids were hunting Tycons.
They were featherless, reddish-brown big birds with long beaks and sharp claws. They weren't very large and, with only a 10% sync rate, were monsters the kids could tackle without fear.
Dozens of students cast spells skyward and a massive aerial net spread out. The Tycon, caught in concentrated fire, was pummeled by every kind of magic and fell to the ground.
"Got it! Hit by an Ice Sword!"
"No, you idiot! It was my Wind Cutter!"
"Whatever, we won! We caught the monster!"
The standard tactic for hunting flying monsters is to open a fire-net along their flight path. The Class Seven students were learning firsthand how efficient an aerial barrage is in real combat.
Shirone felt the students' change.
Since the 2000 classes began, every student had thrown themselves into magic training harder. It was the effect of Olivia's realism-first approach.
After the juniors finished their practice and it was Class Four's turn, the monsters' level rose drastically.
The Ulk they'd met in the upland settlers' village was basic; giant scorpions and harpies that used sound magic were also rampaging.
The troll with regeneration proved the trickiest. It was supposed to be weak to magic, but half-hearted attacks didn't even faze it.
"Come out, Merses."
Boil summoned a Merses from the polar sea.
A creature classified in the Echinoidea group, it was a fifty-centimeter sphere covered in bristly, thorn-like cilia.
It had no intelligence, but once it latched on it cooled its target to mirror its native environment, so summoners chose it when they needed extreme cold abilities.
Unable to survive more than a minute at room temperature, the Merses clinging to the troll instinctively spewed cold.
The troll began to freeze; its regeneration faltered and its movements slowed. Students seized the opening and poured on a focused attack that shattered the troll.
"We did it! We brought down the troll!"
"Boil, that's amazing. To raise a Merses you'd need at least two months living in extreme cold environments, right? When did you go to the pole?"
"Haha! The pole? Nah. I lived in a freezer every day."
With the introduction of the 2000, Boil's reputation rose. In prior classes there hadn't been many chances to prove the utility of summoning magic, but in real combat summoned beasts with extreme abilities that other mages couldn't deploy shone brightly.
Meanwhile, Pandora, who had been second in Class Four, grew increasingly anxious.
Her desire to stand out was strong, but overwhelming a monster with scent magic alone was impossible.