Chapter 237
Chapter 237
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 237
Chapter Title: Combat Simulation (7)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To construct a halo, the Immortal Function must be expanded infinitely.
But now that he had grasped the concept of a perfect circle, there was plenty of room to simplify the mechanism from the second time onward.
The lifting target reacts sensitively to mental changes. Therefore, if the mind maintains absolute stability, the target will not move.
This meant he could draw a perfect circle without entering the realm of infinity.
From then on, instead of normal lifting training, Shirone tried to create a state where the target wouldn't move.
After a month, he began to see some results.
The sight of the target, with its repulsion maximized, floating serenely in his Spirit Zone was always a marvel to behold.
It was only possible for Shirone, who had awakened to the sensation of a perfect circle through the Immortal Function.
The students repeatedly exclaimed in admiration, but they didn't understand why he was doing such training.
Closer said.
"He's been doing nothing but that for a month. And he can't even last ten seconds."
Savina, not to be outdone, added her own comment.
"Is there really a need to go that far? He's not a monk. How is that supposed to help with magic?"
The target floating above Shirone was completely still. It meant that not the slightest change was occurring in his mind.
It was a mental state no different from being brain-dead, something no normal human could tolerate. Only Shirone, who had reached the state of Adamant, could achieve it.
But even Shirone couldn't hold it for more than ten seconds. Eventually, the target would shake violently and fly out of his Spirit Zone.
Dante spoke for the first time.
"It seems a little... bigger."
"Huh? What's bigger?"
"His Spirit Zone. I think it's gotten bigger than last time."
Closer and Savina looked at Shirone again. It was visibly larger than before.
"No way. If you could expand a Spirit Zone that easily, everyone in the world would be a grand mage. Usually, you have to undergo ascetic training or attain enlightenment... Huh? Enlightenment?"
Savina realized it from her own words. Mages also had awakenings, but the Spirit Zone, a purely mental construct, was more deeply related to the mind of a seeker.
This was why Etella, a bishop of the Karsis Order, was also a renowned Zoner in the kingdom.
Savina's guess was correct.
Having reached the state of Adamant, Shirone's limits on mental expansion had vanished. While continuously rotating the perfect circle, his Spirit Zone was strengthening at an incredible rate.
While Closer and Savina showered him with disparaging remarks, as if they couldn't accept it, Dante silently watched Shirone.
@
It was time for the 2000 Class.
The class was supervised by three instructors—Etella, Shina, and Thadd—and by now, the students accepted it as a matter of course.
Shina stepped forward to lead the class.
"Starting today, we will be learning interpersonal combat. It's different from tactical training, so please follow instructions carefully."
Interpersonal combat had quite a few differences from tactical training.
First, because powerful magic was exchanged, the gauge depleted much faster. In other words, the intensity of the anti-magic field increased.
Most importantly, the problem was that for passive skills, a 'push' judgment could occur even against people.
A prime example of an accident was when two mages casting teleportation collided at the midpoint.
When that happened, even in a virtual reality, it would inevitably lead to serious injury.
"The reason three instructors are observing is because of the dangers of interpersonal combat. Since today is the first day, we'll start with a practical exercise. Are there any volunteers..."
"I'll do it."
Boyle, who had been determinedly waiting for this day, raised his hand.
"Alright. Then for Boyle's opponent..."
"Teacher, may I also name my opponent?"
She was about to refuse, as personal feelings shouldn't be involved, but Boyle was already glaring at his chosen challenger.
Dante pointed at himself, bewildered.
"Me? You want to fight me right now?"
"That's right. You've been acting all high and mighty, so you won't back down, will you? If you're so great, prove it with your skills."
It wasn't that he couldn't fight if challenged, but the position of number one in the nation wasn't something you accepted challenges for from any Tom, Dick, or Harry.
"You want to beat me that badly? No matter what?"
"Don't get it twisted. I'm the clear number one of the advanced class, and you're the challenger here. So why don't you step up? I'll fix that rotten personality of yours."
"Hahaha! Big words! How about this, then? The loser kneels before the winner and admits defeat."
Etella said.
"Dante, this is strictly part of the class..."
"It's alright. Please let us, Teacher Etella. This is actually what I was hoping for."
Boyle pleaded with an earnest gaze. The memory of being beaten by Closer was a lifelong shame. He was actually grateful for the chance to make up for it.
As the duel was set, Shirone wondered how Dante would handle Boyle. The photon school had no offensive spells. Of course, someone of Dante's caliber would have learned magic from other schools, but he had clearly called himself the Shining Boy, a mage of light.
While Shirone was lost in thought, Boyle and Dante stood about fifty meters apart in the 2000 Class training hall, waiting for the duel to begin.
In interpersonal combat, the initial distance plays a crucial role.
Once the battle begins, all sorts of variables come into play, but since it always starts with the combatants facing each other, deploying a sequence formula for a preemptive strike is key.
Of course, summoners had a different disposition from other mages, so they were more flexible in their opening tactics.
The standard practice was to forgo a preemptive strike and summon their creature as quickly as possible to defend against the opponent's attack.
Dante, aware of this, declared.
"Let's start leisurely after you bring out your summon. I'm not the type to make a fuss right from the get-go either."
Boyle couldn't believe Dante's words.
But it also seemed unlikely that he would lie before the fight even started, leaving room for gossip later.
In any case, it was an advantage for a summoner, who had to be defensive at the start.
"Do as you please. I'll fight my own way."
It was a response that didn't get swayed by psychological warfare while also putting a leash on his opponent's words.
Dante didn't lose his composure, but he scratched his eyebrow in slight bewilderment. He thought the guy was a sheltered flower, but he knew how to use his head.
'Summoning magic. That's definitely tricky.'
A summoner can call forth a summoned creature through a unique and difficult process called *Sangsa*.
The first thing a mage learning summoning magic summons is themselves.
This is called a doppelgänger, and succeeding at this stage means the doppelgänger gains the potential to transform into a third entity.
To summon something is no different from knowing everything about it.
That was *Sangsa*, and it involved a three-step process.
The first is called the Imprinting Stage, a process of observing the target to be summoned with all five senses and then engraving its image into the mind.
Because they must perfectly remember the summon's appearance, a summoner's powers of observation far transcend those of an ordinary person.
A typical training exercise is called the Arrangement Method.
This training involved shuffling thirty rods, each differing in length by one millimeter, and then arranging them in order of length within one minute.
The second is the Empathy Stage, a process of studying the target's behavior to gain the conviction that one has perfectly understood it.
While some achieve this through vast knowledge, most mages tend to live with the creature to feel out its characteristics.
If you spend more than a year with any creature in an isolated place, its characteristics are bound to be imprinted on you.
The lower the creature's intelligence, the simpler its reactions, and the easier it is to complete the stage.
The third was the Annihilation Stage, the most crucial process.
It involves killing the imprinted target to erase its physical existence.
If, despite this, the target can still be seen in reality, the summoner can manifest it through their doppelgänger.
It doesn't necessarily have to be killed. The key is to create a state where 'it can never be seen again.'
The stronger this state, the clearer the summoned creature becomes.
Killing a target with which one has formed a bond over a long time is a terrible feeling, but keeping it alive is also dangerous.
For instance, a female mage tried to make a monster called an Opoi, which could cast healing magic, her summon, but she hesitated at the Annihilation Stage.
She eventually cleared the Annihilation Stage by selling the Opoi to a monster collector, but five years later, she heard through some channel that it was still alive and lost her ability to summon the Opoi.
Summons are classified from Tier 10 to Tier 1 according to the level of *Sangsa*. According to research by the Magic Association, there are 13,872 types of the lowest-ranked Tier 10 summons, but only three are registered as Tier 1.
It's a well-known fact that one of the Tier 1 summons is the Lich, a grand mage of the undead monster world.
It's a summon commanded by a female grand mage from the Middle East named Zulu, and when this fact spread, the academic world was turned upside down.
To clear the Annihilation Stage, the entity's existence must be erased, but a lich was a monster that had lost the ability to die.
Some speculate that Zulu herself became a lich and simply summons a doppelgänger, but as long as she remains silent, no one will know the exact truth.
Boyle arrogantly cracked his neck and said.
"Last semester, I was second in the advanced class. By a narrow margin. Do you know why I deliberately stayed here instead of moving to the graduate class? Because I thought I was still lacking."
"Right. Seems so."
"But not anymore. I've been working on this for four long years. And I finally succeeded during this break. My summon will tear you to shreds."
"I look forward to it. To be honest, Mercedes was a bit of a disappointment."
Boyle's lips curled into a wide grin. In this moment, he wasn't a son nestled in his mother's arms, nor was he a model student who valued principles. He was a summoner.
"Don't worry. This time will be different."
As Shina shouted for the battle to begin, Boyle and Dante simultaneously entered their Spirit Zones.
As their sequence formulas deployed, their minds were enhanced, and their Spirit Zones transformed into their respective shapes.
Boyle's was defensive, while Dante's was target-shaped.
"Come forth, Gaos."
Where Boyle extended his hand, another Boyle was born. Following the trinity principle where the mage's doppelgänger transitions into the summon's doppelgänger, it transformed into the Tier 6 summon, Gaos.
*KRAAAAAANG!*
A three-meter-long therianthropic monster assumed a quadrupedal stance. Its hairless, smooth skin was blue, and its muscles were split like rock.
Its body was similar to a human's, but it had no eyes, as if wearing a blindfold, and its entire face from the bridge of its nose to where its chin should be was a mouth.
Inside the sparse fangs, straw-like tongues were tangled, and tentacles that emitted electricity extended along its spine from the neck down.
It had four fingers, and its ten-centimeter-long claws were as hard as diamond.
"G-Gaos. He really summoned a Gaos."
The students were dumbfounded. They knew he'd done special training during the break, but they never dreamed it would be a Gaos.
Gaos was among the top-class summons listed in Tier 6, a monster whose physical abilities alone could rival a Tier 5.
The instructors were just as surprised.
There were currently no summoners in the graduate class, but the number of students who had ever reached Tier 6 before graduating from the academy could be counted on one hand.
"My goodness. When did he learn such summoning magic? There's a limit to what you can do over a school break."
At Etella's words, Thadd gave a bitter smile.
"He must have been planning it for a long time. That kid raised it with full intent."
The cunning of today's youth was enough to make one shake their head.
Whether in the advanced or graduate class, mages were vulnerable to physical force. If he could summon a Gaos, considered to be around Tier 5 in physical ability, he could pass the graduation exam much more easily.