Magic Students' Martial World Immersion 2
The students, utterly captivated by the unfamiliar sights of this foreign land, began wandering the streets in groups, treading cautiously. For noble heirs and ladies whose heads were filled with the common knowledge of romance fantasy worlds, this martial world was a place where everything felt strange and intriguing, sparking their curiosity.
Like Vesperia and Ardelia, they too gazed around with sparkling eyes, full of wonder.
The first thing that caught the students' eyes were the peculiar groups striding boldly through the streets everywhere.
"Excuse me. Why are those people wearing such flowing clothes and carrying swords?"
Unable to contain their curiosity, one bold male student grabbed a passing pedestrian and blurted out the question.
When the 13-year-old kids in exotic attire swarmed him with questions, the pedestrian looked them up and down before bursting into hearty laughter.
"Haha! You must be those odd little ones from the Western Regions. What we're carrying aren't just hunks of metal—they're weapons symbolizing our sect. We're martial artists who cultivate martial arts."
Even though this was a figure in an illusion, his response and reaction felt utterly natural. His accent and demeanor carried the rough, weighty essence unique to this Eastern-inspired world.
"Martial arts? Martial artists? What's that? Is it like the aura our empire's knights use?"
The students' eyes sparkled at the unfamiliar terms they'd never heard before, crowding closer.
The pedestrian tilted his head at the word "aura" but tapped the hilt of his sword at his waist and replied.
"Aura? No idea what that's supposed to be, but martial arts is the technique of gathering qi in the dantian located in the lower abdomen, circulating it through the body's meridians and blood vessels to unleash superhuman power. For us martial artists, it's as natural as breathing."
It was the moment they heard that brief explanation.
The eyes of the 13-year-old genius mages from the Diamond Class sharpened in unison. In their minds, the empire's magical principles and the newly described martial arts system began breaking down and comparing at terrifying speed.
"Hold on. Unlike magic, which gathers mana in the 'circles' in the heart, they gather a form of mana called qi in the lower abdomen?"
"And they circulate it through fixed meridians throughout the body? That's fundamentally different in efficiency and structure from how our empire's knights extract mana from the heart, refine it through aura cultivation methods, and release it outward!"
"A technique to circulate mana so precisely within the body... It looks similar to aura cultivation but has a completely different underlying system!"
Though overshadowed by the catastrophic existence that even surpassed a genius like Rian, these were all prodigies and elites who had entered the empire's Royal Academy—specifically the top-tier Diamond Class.
They went beyond simply gawking at the exotic scenery. They immediately ignited with tremendous academic fervor toward this unknown knowledge of the martial world's cultivation system.
"To think a system like this exists!"
It was a completely new form of mana operation they'd never seen before—one entirely different from the magical principles they'd studied their whole lives or the knights' aura.
The boys and girls pursuing the truths of magic were inherently curious. And adventure and exploration in an unfamiliar world was a romantic thrill that stirred the hearts of children.
With fire in their eyes, the students swarmed the pedestrian and nearby martial artists like leeches.
"Excuse me! Anatomically speaking, exactly where in the intestines is the dantian located?"
"When circulating qi through the meridians, how do you prevent mana backlash or blood vessel rupture? Is there a separate blocking technique?"
"I heard each sect has different heart methods for circulating qi—could you share the formulas?"
Dozens of young foreign kids bombarded them with professional magical terms and anatomical knowledge, unleashing a barrage of ruthless questions.
Confusion spread across the martial artists' faces.
"Aigoo! Why are these Western brats so annoying?!"
"What the hell is anatomy? Scram, scram! Shoo!"
The people of this world waved them off in exasperation, stepping back in bewilderment. But to the students, even this rejection felt vividly realistic and perfect.
The interactions and depth of the world were so intricate it was impossible to believe it was an illusion. Whether martial arts were realistically possible didn't matter.
I want to know more!
Is this really an illusion? What if we've crossed into another world?
The virtual reality murim server Rian had created had immersed even the haughty prodigies of Diamond Class to the point where they began treating it as reality. They wanted to enjoy it as if it were real.
That was when the students were noisily touring the market, gathering info on the martial world.
"M-Move aside, please!"
Suddenly, one corner of the market grew rowdy with commotion. The crowd parted left and right as someone burst out in desperate flight.
It was a girl who looked about 13 years old. Her once-lavish silk clothes were torn in places, and fresh blood smeared her pale cheek. Panting heavily, she glanced back with a terror-stricken face, fleeing for her life.
"Stop right there!"
"Grab her! That's the daughter of the Moon Shadow Sect leader! Don't let her escape!"
Following her were five or six fierce-looking men radiating murderous intent, chasing mercilessly. Half their faces were masked, and they gripped sinister, gleaming crescent blades.
"Oh my!"
Vesperia gasped in surprise, clutching her black cat tightly. Her amethyst eyes, pure and brimming with justice, turned urgently to Rian.
She shook his sleeve and shouted.
"Rian! Look over there! That girl's being chased by bad guys! She's bleeding! We have to help her, right?!"
It was a desperate plea insisting they should use magic right now to punish those vicious pursuers.
The other students around them tensed, preparing to draw up their mana. They couldn't just stand by and watch a young girl get stabbed before their eyes.
Especially since it felt so real, most had forgotten they were in a virtual reality illusion.
But Rian said coolly,
"Help her? With what? Just let it be."
"Huh? But..."
"This isn't reality. It's just the virtual reality I programmed. That bleeding girl on the run and those sword-wielding chasers—they're all fakes I created."
Rian indifferently pointed at the air with his finger.
"No need for me to interfere. It's just one of the natural scenes here. Let's just watch."
Rian's response was cold. The martial world inhabitants were interacting perfectly according to the narrative of the setting he'd built. As the developer, he was satisfied with the result and had no desire to meddle personally.
Hm. The desperation in her escape is well-expressed. The pursuers' behavior is convincingly scripted too.
Even as he observed the scene, Rian crossed his arms and nodded approvingly rather than feeling pity. It was the mindset of a developer.
"But... she's so pitiful. It's hard to watch..."
Vesperia mumbled, pouting her lips. But with Rian so firm, even she hesitated to step forward.
Ardelia, clutching her skirt, watched the situation with cold eyes.
Rian's right. In this unknown world—especially when the creator says to observe—it's best to stay put.
She gently tugged Vesperia's hand and stepped back.
With even the princess and duke's daughter holding back, the other students murmured but parted the way without advancing.
"Hah... huff...!"
In the midst of this cruel inaction, the bloodied girl from Moon Shadow Sect shed desperate tears as she plunged through the students' group.
"Help me... please, someone...!"
Her legs gave out, and she stumbled, collapsing right in front of someone standing blankly in the midst of the parted crowd.
She crawled forward desperately and clutched his pant leg.
"Young master! Please, please save me!"
The pretty girl pleaded desperately, gripping his pant leg with her bloodied, slender hand. But the owner of that pant leg was suffering greater inner torment than anyone else right now.
"H-Hiiik!"
Asrion freaked out, jumping back in shock.
W-What the hell is this girl?! How dare she soil a witch—no, the successor of the Mage Tower like me with her filthy bloody hands?!
He tried to shake off her hand like dirty trash. But Asrion, still steeped in the senses of that old witch, tripped over his own feet in a comical stagger and fell flat on his back.
"A-Ack, my back! This old lady's gonna keel over! You young whippersnapper, killing an elder!"
Without realizing it, the shrill voice of the hunched granny burst out again. Even the girl, who had been begging for her life in a life-or-death crisis, stared at Asrion in dumbfounded disbelief, her face a mess of tears and snot.
"Stop right there, you wench!"
"Die!"
By now, the masked pursuers brandished their crescent blades and charged ferociously toward Asrion and the girl.
"You bastards...!"
Seeing the sight, rage boiled in Asrion's head as if blood were surging upside down. How could these young punks ignore a fallen old lady without helping?! He couldn't forgive such heartless scum.
With that thought, a fireball formed in the hand of the fallen Asrion.
"You young fools don't know how to respect your elders!"
Forgetting he was a 13-year-old boy, the romance fantasy sub-male-lead sprang into action.