[234] 4. Battle Simulation (4)
Olivia stood before the students in the training ground.
"Since this is the first lesson, I'll explain personally. The curriculum was changed suddenly, so you may be confused. But mages must be strong. You should know something about the 2000 system already. It's a device developed by the pioneer of magical engineering, Mr. Louis Jacobin, designed so you can fight battles that feel like the real thing even in training."
To Nade the name Jacobin rang out like a trumpet.
He was the world's greatest magical engineer, the creator of the masterpiece known as the Image Zone.
With the Image Zone, the Spirit Zone could be perceived visually, and that system had evolved into the 2000 system.
People praised combat mages for their dazzling reputations, but who raised those combat mages?
If it weren't for Jacobin's devices, mage development would have stagnated by at least thirty years.
"Sade, bring out the master bracelets."
Sade produced two bracelets. Olivia fitted them on her wrists, then showed them to the students.
"There is a red bracelet and a blue bracelet. Each has a different function, so do not swap bracelets with your friends. The red bracelet converts a mage's internal state into information, and the blue bracelet converts external states into information. Those two streams are transmitted to the towers to construct the virtual world. Now try them on."
The students were handed a pair of bracelets. When they put them on, red and blue lights came on around their wrists.
"All right, we will now activate the 2000 system."
When the administrator started the system, the ground trembled as if from an earthquake. The heights of the physical blocks laid on the floor shifted, forming a complex terrain that mimicked a natural environment.
When a virtual landscape none of them had ever seen was overlaid, the students gaped.
They had heard about it from seniors in the graduating class, but seeing it in person was on an entirely different level of realism.
The virtual scene was the urban district of the city of Creas. No people walked about, but the rows of hundreds of houses packed together looked believable enough to be real.
"The city scene isn't good. Change it to something else."
The arrangement of the blocks began to shift. The blocks along the northeast quarter of the area collectively sank.
Water filled the hollow and formed a lake, and the surrounding scenery turned into forest.
It became a pristine mountain area untouched by human feet.
"As expected of a prestigious school. Even for the 2000 system, making a lake is difficult. Over eighty percent of the natural features are physical blocks, but the scenery itself is entirely virtual. The blue bracelet receives information and sends it to your brain. So if you remove the bracelet, only the physical blocks remain. For now, look around. I'll give you about ten minutes."
The students entered the 2000 system in formation. Nobody had to be told to keep their ranks; their restraint betrayed their tension.
Even the rolling stones common on mountains felt novel. Shirone and his group went toward the lake to examine it.
When Nade touched a tree, the blue bracelet glowed and texture was conveyed to him.
"Amazing. This isn't a physical block, is it? It really is virtual."
"The leaves look real too."
Shirone plucked a leaf. It didn't vanish; it lay on his palm like the real thing.
Iruki approached the lake and scooped up water with his hand to drink.
"How is it? Does it taste like water?"
"Not just taste—it's actually quenching. Of course it's probably an illusion. The brain decides it's water. This is a bit dangerous."
Shirone had the same thought. What if it had been fire instead of water? If the brain perceived heat information, would the body behave as if it were burning?
It might not be the same as real fire, but there was no guarantee either way.
Shirone looked to the knowledgeable Nade.
"Nade, this..."
"It matches! It's similar to the Spirit Zone mechanism! It's incredible! Louis Jacobin managed to materialize human consciousness through machinery."
If a biologist's dream was replacing human organs with artificial ones, an engineer's ultimate goal was a machine that could think like a human.
It was still a distant prospect, but at least Jacobin seemed to have succeeded in turning human consciousness into information.
"They say there was a lot of resistance from the faculty when the 2000 system was opened to the advanced class. Now I understand why. You could die if you're reckless."
"Yes, you could die."
Olivia had already come up beside them.
"If you could die..."
"Don't worry. Outside of the graduation exam, the synchronization rate is never set to 100 percent. Right now the filter is off for demonstration, but when you experience it it'll be around fifty percent. The graduating class is set at eighty percent. It's prescribed by the kingdom's education law."
Iruki spoke up.
"Even at fifty percent, we can't say it's completely safe, right?"
"You're surprisingly cautious, Iruki."
"I don't want to be a fool who rushes in and dies without knowing what hit him."
Olivia regarded Iruki steadily. Once upon a time, this boy had been rated on par with Dante.
But the Royal Magic School was not a place that tolerated students' arrogance, and as she remembered, he had eventually dropped out.
'All that's left now is a sharp tongue? How pitiful.'
Olivia looked around at the students and said,
"Iruki is right. The 2000 system is dangerous. But it's a manageable danger. The Royal Magic School already adjusts synchronization freely from one to one hundred percent based on student level to conduct training close to real combat. I'm not telling you to take risks; I'm saying it's controllable."
There was no need to always apply high synchronization. Since this is education, training at an appropriate level will naturally improve combat senses.
After the students returned to their places, Olivia proceeded with the 2000 system lesson in earnest.
"The bracelets I'm wearing are the master versions. They can control various functions of the 2000 system. I'll show you the difference."
A sixty-centimeter-long red gauge appeared above Olivia's head.
"This displays my mental power as a percentage. Of course you won't be able to see this gauge during practical exercises. First I'll explain its role. Teacher Sade, summon a monster."
The master bracelets share functions. Even if one teacher tried to put students in danger, the system was designed so that as long as other teachers also wore master bracelets, nothing dangerously unexpected would occur.
"Understood. But uh... which one should I pick?"
Faced with a choice like picking a lunch menu, Sade shrugged and passed the decision off. Olivia, equally unsure, propped her chin on her hand in thought.
"Hmm, version 6.2?"
"Yes, the latest. Data was updated ten days ago."
"In that case, demons would be included. Let's do a succubus."
The students' eyes widened.
"Su-succubus? You can actually summon a succubus?"
Demons were a class far different from ordinary monsters. They were found in closed spaces abandoned by humans—ancient towers or underground labyrinths—and those areas were restricted by the state to parties of at least grade six.
Because gods in myth often showed demonic traits, the prevailing theory was that ancient collective consciousnesses had been projected into them.
The fact that no new demons had appeared in the modern era, where individual identity was emphasized, supported that theory.
In ancient times, with blurred notions of good and evil, unimaginable taboos had been committed.
The sensations people indulged in then were stronger than any experience of modern warfare, and those sublimated desires were what the ancient gods—demons—were born from.
The succubus was believed to have originated in orgiastic rites, so it's natural that curious students would tense up.
"Let's begin."
Sade sent the succubus' codename to the central control room.
When lights shot from the four towers, a translucent form shimmered in the tranquil scene and the succubus materialized.
The students stared without blinking. They had expected beauty from novels and myths, but the actual appearance was grotesque.
The naked woman's body was bruised and bluish, and hideous bat wings sprouted from her back.
Her eyes were narrow slits, her nose a perfect pug, and her teeth were so disorderly her lips protruded even when her mouth was closed. Her corpse-blue lips added to the horror.
"Is that... the succubus?"
The boys grimaced. No matter a figure's proportions, those other monstrous features sparked revulsion.
Olivia examined the succubus' face. As an auditor of the faculty council she had been briefed, but this was the first time she saw it up close.
When the features matched those of the succubus she had once slain, she nodded.
"Hm, this is acceptable. There's so little data on demons I half expected it to be inaccurate."
Olivia clapped to draw the students' attention.
"Everyone. This is what a succubus looks like. The monsters enacted in the 2000 system are updated based on information from countless explorers and scholars. This demon version is new even to me. Now let's see how well its ensnaring ability is implemented."
When Sade switched to test mode, the succubus' appearance began to change.
The students gaped, slack-jawed. The boys even drooled.
A succubus with long black hair and white skin, her face pure and innocent, smiled at them. She was completely naked.
"Um, Principal—there are younger students here; this kind of thing—"
Sade protested, but Olivia instead moved to give them a better view.
"Now, what do you think? Is this beautiful enough?"
A thunder of cheering erupted from the boys.
"Wow! This is the best! Really the best!"
"I could take this class all day and never get tired."
Olivia smiled prettily.
"Then all of you are dead."
The hall fell as silent as if doused with cold water.
"No matter the appearance, the essence is demon. What is a demon? They are the ugly mistakes of humans who lived long ago. When you face a demon, there's one question to answer: can you kill it or not? The moment you make any other judgment, your head will be rolling on the floor."
At Olivia's nod, the succubus reverted to her original hideous form.
The students shuddered at having felt a momentary rapture upon seeing such a monster.
"There is a saying: what you see is what your mind becomes. The succubus' appearance can shake the Spirit Zone. To face demons you need at least a grade-six party. At that level, a single moment of inattention leads to annihilation. If the swordsman looks away, or the healer rushes to a wounded comrade, or the mage loses composure—our cold-eyed supervision is what allows comrades to perform at full power. Thus the mage is the party's highest-priority to keep alive, and should be the last to die."
The students listened intently. This was the first time they had been taught so candidly about frontline realities.
This was Olivia's doctrine of practical education.
"How is it? This is the efficiency of the 2000 system. No matter how much I explain, seeing it with your own eyes is another world. Of course, you'll be fighting demons only in the distant future. But combat in the 2000 system is part of the graduation exam. If you make mistakes like this in the Colosseum, you fail. Sending such a mage into a real battlefield would only get comrades killed."