Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Teleportation (4)
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Arriving at point B from point A took less than a second. Calculating all the variables in your head within that time was a considerable challenge. Moreover, the nature of teleportation required repeating short distances multiple times, and the confusion would only grow with each jump.
“Ah, that’s it.”
Shirone smacked his palm. He couldn't calculate it with his mind, but he could feel it with his intuition.
Just as he could count the leaves on a tree through the Spirit Zone, he could perceive the speed of light through insight.
This was exactly what Alpheas wanted. A spell that anyone could learn, but whose mastery depended entirely on talent.
Shirone gained confidence. Although he lagged in Omniscience, he had been honing his Omnipotence every day since he was twelve.
Thirty days remained until the test.
Shirone did his best to turn Kergo’s Photonization Theory into Omniscience. After class, he would bury himself in books all night in his dorm. After twenty days, he reached a point where there was nothing more to learn from reading the book on his own.
From that day on, he went to the training grounds exclusive to Class Seven. It was quiet and empty, as if all his classmates were training in private.
Shirone combined the Omniscience of the Photonization Theory with the Omnipotence of his Spirit Zone. Since it was his first attempt, finding the right sensation was difficult.
Shirone stood between Omniscience and Omnipotence. The spell would activate the moment he erased himself from that state, causing Omniscience and Omnipotence to fuse.
Shirone cast the spell in a trance-like state. He felt his body disintegrate as a flash of light erupted. The moment he nodded his head to move forward, a melting world crashed down on him.
“Aaargh!”
Shirone, who had moved five meters, hit the ground rolling the instant he arrived. It felt like every bone in his body was breaking.
“Ugh…”
As he gritted his teeth and endured the pain, the word ‘failure’ was etched into his mind. If he didn't perfectly shed his mass through photonization, the full impact of moving at near-light speed would be transferred directly to him.
It was too dangerous a spell to attempt alone.
But with no private tutor, nor even a senior to ask for advice, Shirone had no choice but to learn through trial and error, pushing his body to its limits.
‘I won’t give up. I’ll definitely do it.’
From that day on, Shirone corrected his errors through countless trials. It seemed like a brute-force method, but in the end, only the memories learned through the body would remain.
A few days later, an unknown person appeared at the training grounds and began observing Shirone. It was likely a spy sent by someone, but he paid it no mind. There was no other suitable place anyway.
Who knew how many times he had rolled on the ground, his lips hitting the dirt. His entire body was bruised, and every joint ached when he woke up in the morning.
And so, the final day arrived.
With ten minutes left until midnight, Shirone staggered back to his starting position.
“I will never… give up…”
His throat was raw from inhaling dust. With half-lidded eyes, he stood blankly in the center of the training grounds.
Most of the errors had been corrected. All that remained was the perseverance to overcome the pain and the will to conquer his fear.
Shirone couldn't move. He was terrified of casting Teleportation. His stamina was completely depleted, and now even his bones felt bruised, throbbing at the slightest touch.
“Do it… I have to do it…”
Shirone muttered, dazed. Maybe this was for the best. He could forget himself without even trying.
“Tele… port.”
At the infinitesimal tipping point where his upper body began to lean, Shirone's body shot forward ten meters. It was nothing compared to the speed of light, but to the human eye, it was as fast as a passing flash.
Upon arriving at his destination, Shirone hastily caught his upper body as it threatened to pitch forward.
“...”
He stood there for a long moment. He didn't feel it. This time, the excruciating pain didn't come.
“Heh heh, I did it.”
The bell tolling midnight rang out.
Hearing that solemn sound, Shirone collapsed to the ground just as he was. The scent of dirt tickled his nose.
In thirty days, he had only advanced ten meters with Teleportation. But it was the first ten meters he had ever leaped.
‘How far can I go with this?’
To cross the 700 meters of the uncrossable bridge, he would need to cast Teleportation at least seventy times. Furthermore, in a race, he would have to mind his stamina.
Casting Teleportation once was far less efficient than casting an attack spell once.
If one were to use Teleportation to move ten meters, it would be better to just run fast.
In the end, the key was continuity.
If he couldn't cast it without pausing, Teleportation was a spell better left unused.
When arriving at the destination in a state of perfect photonization, inertia disappears. This was what kept the mage's body from being shattered, but chaining the spell required the same concentration as the first cast.
‘There’s no time for this. I can’t just lie here. I need to practice more. At least I have to reinforce the chaining part…’
His will was strong, but he couldn't lift a single finger. His consciousness was sucked into an abyss, and Shirone's eyelids slowly closed.
And so, the next morning dawned.
* * *
Mark opened the window and greeted the refreshing morning breeze. He stretched languidly, then went into the bathroom to wash his face. A smile never left his face as he changed his clothes.
Today would be a historic day in his life.
‘A fast-track promotion from Class Seven. Heh heh. I can’t wait to see how the Class Six kids will treat me.’
Mark had a sturdy build that belied his fifteen years. While physicality wasn't very important in the world of magic, younger kids were often intimidated by sheer size. On top of that, he was gifted with magical talent, so no one in Class Seven dared to mess with him. Thanks to that, he had managed to corner Shirone and gain this opportunity, which only strengthened his pride.
“Young master, how are you feeling?”
A slender man opened the door and bowed. He was the mage who had been privately tutoring Mark in Teleportation for the past month. It was a last-minute hire for an urgent matter, but the man was a certified Grade 9 mage and a skilled strategist.
“I’m fine. How’s Shirone?”
“The same as ever. As easy as Teleportation is to learn, there’s a limit to what one can do alone. Even if he takes the promotion test, he’ll be no match for you, young master.”
“Hmm. Still, I can’t be careless. His Spirit Zone is bigger than mine, after all.”
Mark was pleased with what he had just said. Don't they say that the weakness of a genius is laziness? But he was different. He had combined his natural talent with hard work, so there was no way he could lose to Shirone.
“By the way, how many are participating in the operation?”
“As of yesterday, I heard there are four.”
“That’s quite a few. The chance to receive private tutoring from a certified mage is rare.”
“They're just being greedy and don't know their place. Or maybe it's just their pathetic pride.”
Mark scoffed as he thought of the students who had refused to join his operation. Those talentless hacks, blinded by the chance for an early promotion, had kicked away their own good fortune.
‘Let them do what they want. In the end, the promotion belongs to me, Mark Slider.’
The Slider family was of the third rank of the nobility—not a particularly high station—but since most of his family members worked for the Magic Association, they held considerable influence in magical society.
The high-and-mighty scions of the first rank might scoff, but those types didn't even enroll unless they were certain of their magic, so they wouldn't linger in a place like Class Seven for long anyway.
In any competition, if there are top ranks, there must also be bottom ranks. Mark decided to form an operation team by recruiting students with mediocre grades. When he offered to help them get jobs at the Association after graduation, a few of them came over to his side. They judged it more realistic to make a deal than to try and pass through the eye of a needle that was a single promotion spot.
“Four should be enough. We just need to crush him at the start.”
“How is your Teleportation?”
Mark gave a thumbs-up as he opened the door and walked out.
“Perfect. I could cross 700 meters with my eyes closed.”
“I wish you victory, young master.”
The Grade 9 mage showed Mark respect until the very last day. From his perspective, Mark was a junior by a long shot, but since his father, a technical advisor at the Magic Association, had hired him, Mark was also his employer's son.
Mark headed for the advanced class building. There were no classes scheduled due to the promotion test, but students not participating in the test were staying behind for self-study. Mark had also come here first to have a meeting with his operation team.
As expected, the students studying on their own looked glum. It was due to the self-loathing of not even qualifying to take the test.
Mark savored a sense of superiority as he scanned their faces. The thought that those left in the classroom today would probably end up shining his shoes even after they entered society made him laugh.
“Hey, Maria! You giving up on the test too?”
Mark raised a hand toward Maria, who was approaching from a distance. Her face turned pale. After she reported the incident of Shirone's bullying to Shina, she had become an outcast herself.
Mark looked at the flustered Maria with disgust.
‘Tch. Such a turncoat. She was all for bullying him with us, and now she’s trying to slip away by herself? She may be older, but she’s completely useless. Why is someone like that even at this school?’
A terrified Maria spoke first.
“Mark, you didn’t go to the practice grounds? Are you here for self-study too?”
“Haha! As if! I’m not you, you know. I had some time, so I came by to see some friends.”
Being talked down to by Mark, who was four years her junior, made Maria feel miserable. But her skills were lacking, so she couldn't blame anyone.
“What are *you* doing here anyway? What’s going to change with one day of studying? That’s why your grades are so bad. You should come up to the practice grounds and observe. Watching and learning from those who are good is also a form of study.”
“Yeah, you’re right…”
Maria maintained an awkward smile while listening to Mark’s lecture. She just wanted to end the conversation quickly and leave.
“W-well, do your best. I hope you pass.”
“Pfft! Do you really think so?”
Mark's snicker made Maria’s heart drop.
“I’ve been putting up with you because you’re a classmate. But if I become your senior, you’d better be prepared. I won’t forget that you tattled to the teacher.”
Maria wanted to make an excuse in her panic, but her mind went blank, and no words came. Finally, resigned, she lowered her head and scurried away.
Mark scoffed and entered the classroom where his operation team had gathered. Four of his classmates were waiting in the empty lecture hall.
Three boys and one girl. They were the students who had trained for a month to interfere with Shirone. They had particularly focused on situations that occurred within 100 meters.
Shirone would surely know he was being targeted, so he would try to pull ahead at the start. The key was to eliminate him before he could.
Intentional collisions could lead to disciplinary action, so they had to be careful, but from Mark's perspective, it didn't really matter if they just slammed into him. He could just compensate them for their sacrifice.
“So? I trust you’ve come up with a proper plan?”
“Yeah. As soon as we start, two of us will stick to Shirone first. The other two will cover you. If Shirone tries to push past that, we’ll have to use our last resort.”
They would only have two chances at most to take Shirone down. But for a showdown within the first 100 meters, it was a satisfactory number of attempts.
Shirone's jump distance was probably the standard ten meters. In that case, the operation team just needed to make him fall within the first ten jumps.
“I won’t forget your help today. When I get my early promotion, I’ll take care of you all.”
“Yeah. We’re counting on you.”
Mark was satisfied. Everything was going according to plan. He would be the proud protagonist of a two-class early promotion.
“Alright! Shall we get going?”