Chapter 390
Chapter 390
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 390
Chapter Title: Combat Readiness (3)
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“That's incredible, Fermi. Just how much air did you have to compress to get a thousand press?”
“I know, right? Even through armor, the impact would be significant.”
Shirone was unimpressed. In the past, he might have at least clapped, but it couldn't compare to Gaold's air gun.
Fermi steadily conquered the Master-level difficulties. When he finally completed the tenth stage of Fly, an aerobatic maneuver in the Movement category, a round of applause erupted.
The feat of ascending in a spiral like a screw, drawing a large circle, then spinning sideways like a pinwheel to glide freely through the air was an acrobatic display impossible without a perfect mastery of the fundamentals of both the Press and Blow disciplines.
“Fermi, an All-Master. He's earned a hundred points.”
It was the moment Fermi reclaimed his number one spot in the graduating class.
“He's certainly impressive.”
It was rare for Iruki to acknowledge someone like that.
This time, even Shirone had no room to argue. It was, after all, an All-Master.
“Yeah. His fundamentals seem incredibly solid.”
“No, that's not what I mean. Fermi was an All-Master last year too. He just had a different major.”
Shirone's head snapped around.
“A different major?”
“That's right. He registered in Earth Magic. The year before that, he got an All-Master in Fire Magic.”
Was such a thing even possible? To not only change majors every year but to achieve an All-Master in all of them.
A high-level mage might be able to handle student-level difficulties, but that was an invalid comparison. Fermi was a student.
Shirone stared blankly at Fermi. When Fermi made a throat-slitting gesture with his thumb, the feelings from the survival evaluation resurfaced.
Fermi had achieved an All-Master and become the undisputed number one.
It was an event significant enough to tip the scales for the students who had been weighing Shirone against Fermi.
*‘Too late for regrets, kid. I won’t let you graduate until you lick my boots.’*
Reading the fury in Fermi's eyes, Shirone stood up. He spoke to his friends and headed for the training grounds.
“Iruki, Nade. I'm going up first.”
Nade and Iruki glanced at each other. Training together daily, they knew Shirone wasn't yet at a level to challenge for an All-Master.
“What's he trying to do? It's a fight with nothing to gain from a direct confrontation. He'll just expose his full strength. No, if by some chance he fails, he'll be completely crushed.”
“He must have a plan. Let's trust Shirone for now.”
The students' gazes focused on Shirone.
Amy and Arin, who were talking, turned their heads, and Canis's eyes hardened.
Dante, sitting on the ground, propped his chin on his hand and watched.
*‘Fermi achieved an All-Master. How will you respond?’*
The evaluating instructor held up the assessment sheet and asked.
“Shirone, major is God Particle. What are your challenges?”
“Power, stage seven. Projectile speed, stage eight. Firing speed, stage seven. Defense, stage seven…”
Like Fermi, Shirone rattled off a list of categories.
Until the seventh week, Shirone's average stage in his specialty evaluation was 3.6. Thus, the stages he was now reciting were more than double that.
“And finally, Movement Control, stage ten.”
The instructor's eyes flashed.
Stage ten was Master difficulty. Moreover, the standard for the God Particle's Movement Control category was much higher than that of the Photon discipline.
It seemed clear that Fermi's All-Master had influenced Shirone's decision.
However, it was also true that this was not enough to truly compare with Fermi.
In fact, Shirone had only chosen seven categories, and apart from Movement, the difficulties ranged from stage seven to eight.
“What's this? If you're going to do it, do it. If not, don't. This is so half-assed.”
“He's just being stubborn. He has to keep up to some extent so the other students will remain conflicted between him and Fermi.”
“If that's the case, he's gravely mistaken. At this rate, he can't even scratch Fermi. A typical first-year mistake. I guess a freshman is a freshman, after all.”
This was the opinion of the majority in Class Two.
Dante reserved judgment and fell into thought. After rapidly blinking and making some calculations, the corners of his mouth lifted.
*‘Hmm, so there’s a way…'*
Meanwhile, Fermi's group, watching from the hill, already wore expressions of certain victory.
“Kekeke, a last-ditch effort? He's kind of cute like this, isn't he? Right, Fermi?”
The Electric Monster, Lycan, glanced at Fermi.
Fermi was smiling. But Lycan, who had been with him for years, knew it was the smile he wore when he was most furious.
*‘That damn kid…'*
Shirone's first evaluation was in the Single-Attribute Power category.
This category didn't exist in the Photon discipline, but it had been newly established based on the fact that the God Particle was mass-based.
Closing his eyes and focusing his mind, a sphere of light was born as if pushing space aside, then compressed at a terrifying speed.
Just as the watching students' eyes were dyed gold by the suppressed vibrations, a Photon Cannon was fired with a tremendous roar.
The flash embedded in the glass orb scattered into fragments of light, and the numbers on the gauge spun, calculating the power.
2,242 crash.
It was a value that far exceeded the 1,800 crash standard for stage seven of Single-Attribute Power.
After confirming the score, Shirone glanced back at Fermi, and the students finally began to realize something and murmur amongst themselves.
When converted to energy-based units, 2,242 crash is roughly equivalent to 8,200 press.
In other words, the destructive force produced by compressing the atmosphere with 8,200 press is 2,240 crash.
This was 7.3 times higher than Fermi's record of 1,123 press, demonstrating the power of the God Particle.
Shirone's evaluation continued.
In the projectile speed category, the Photon Cannon's velocity reached a staggering 100 meters per second, another result that far surpassed Fermi's in the same category.
*Th-th-th-th-th-th-BOOM!*
Shirone fired Photon Cannons at the targets before him with incredible speed.
Even though it was broad daylight, the surroundings flashed brightly, and the students' vision was filled with the afterimages of golden lines.
“165 rounds per minute. Stage seven, passed.”
The standard for Fermi's Master-level firing speed category was 160 rounds per minute.
Having already overwhelmed Fermi in three categories, the students now saw through Shirone's intentions.
“I see. That Shirone kid...”
The seven categories Shirone had presented as his challenges were all ones that also existed in the Air discipline.
“He's surpassing all of Fermi's evaluation categories.”
When the students turned to look at Fermi, he was watching Shirone with his face buried in his palm.
Only his companions by his side knew that his eyes were burning with murderous intent.
Shirone did not achieve an All-Master.
And yet, he was scoring higher than the All-Master Fermi in the same categories.
The students all felt the same thing. Air-discipline magic could be overwhelmed by stage-seven God Particle magic.
“That son of a bitch…”
Fermi's companions flinched in surprise. It was the first time his emotions had been so blatantly exposed.
Feeling the gazes of numerous students, Fermi finally lowered his hand and smiled with his eyes.
*‘Oops, businessman's smile. Businessman's smile.’*
A businessman must be composed. Even when debt is choking you and a knife is at your back, confidence alone can open up a path—that's business.
Of course, the crisis was real. The students were effectively cutting Fermi's expected profitability in half and giving it to Shirone.
The Air discipline is at the level of a stage-seven God Particle. The strategy of raising his stock by comparing his numbers to Fermi's had worked perfectly.
“Shirone is amazing, as expected.”
Eider approached Iruki from behind. Since his major was also the Air discipline, it was only natural for him to feel bitter.
“His talent is on a different level. How can anyone beat someone like that?”
“Talent?”
“Isn't it obvious? The advantage of the Photon discipline comes from its lack of mass. But Shirone can even grant it mass. No one can beat that.”
Iruki acknowledged Shirone's magical talent. But he didn't believe that was the sole reason he had come this far.
Talent is merely a tool. The speed of a person digging with their bare hands and one digging with a shovel will inevitably be different.
If the earth is magic, the shovel is talent.
But no matter how good the shovel, if you don't use your arms, your back, your legs, the earth will never be dug.
Therefore, even a moment of enlightenment is nothing more than an explosion of accumulated daily training.
Shirone dedicated himself day after day, breaking his limits each time. It might seem insignificant at the moment, but eventually, it all accumulates and yields results.
All success in the world begins with knowing that the future will inevitably arrive.
“I don't think anyone is born empty-handed.”
“Huh?”
Eider looked down at Iruki.
“Some are born with a shovel, some with a hammer, some with a pen. The one with the shovel might dig faster, but they won't be able to write well with it. Talent isn't something you're given; it's something you find and develop yourself. The Air discipline has something only it can do. Just because you haven't found it doesn't mean you should take what others have found lightly. Talent is also effort.”
Eider mulled over those words. Although Iruki had said them out of displeasure at the dismissal of Shirone's efforts, to him, it was advice more valuable than gold.
“Yes. Thank you, Iruki.”
Iruki raised and lowered an eyebrow. Eider's gratitude, rather than offense, was just like the youngest of their group. It was why he had no enemies.
“Finally, Movement Control. Master difficulty. Reaction time of 0.8 seconds or less.”
Shirone took a deep breath and composed himself. He felt a brief wave of dizziness after going all out on the six categories, but it was nothing compared to his past combat experiences.
The evaluating instructor activated Navigation, an officially certified Red Line evaluation spell.
A small sphere materialized, and inside it, an arrow indicating direction spun like a demagnetized compass needle.
Movement Control was a category where one had to precisely replicate the movements suggested by Navigation.
The arrow's shape, length, and color indicated direction, distance, and speed, respectively, and the mage had to execute it within the required reaction time.
The Master difficulty for God Particle was a reaction time of 0.8 seconds, a full 0.2 seconds shorter than the 1-second standard for the Photon discipline.
At the neurological level, 0.2 seconds is an enormous gap.
Nevertheless, the Association had set this standard because they believed rapid acceleration and deceleration using mass would be possible.
“A reaction time of 0.8 seconds?”
The students looked dumbfounded.
Of course, Photon-discipline mages differentiate time to pre-program a series of processes. Applications like Patrol and Rainbow Drop were born from this.
But Movement Control wasn't a category where you could just move as you pleased.
Navigation would suggest completely unexpected directions, speeds, and distances, and the mage had to react instantly.
To demand a 0.8-second reaction time under such circumstances felt almost cruel.
*‘No, the Association’s judgment is correct.’*
Shirone recalled Colly's teachings. It was a standard precisely because someone, somewhere, could achieve it.
He had heard before that Etella's reaction time in Movement Control was 0.1 seconds, a speed described as superhuman.
At that level, one could traverse a densely wooded area using only teleportation. He had also heard it was possible to dodge attacks with just upper-body weaving by repeatedly teleporting in place.
Of course, the fact that a continent-renowned Monk could do it was no comfort to Shirone, a mere student.
But he understood the Association's reasoning perfectly.
Do not judge the God Particle by the standards of the Photon discipline.
It was an ability unique to Shirone, possessed by no one else.
*‘I will conquer it with my own technique.’*
Light erupted from Shirone's body like fire. The flame, which gradually grew in size, blazed up to form a pair of enormous wings.
“W-what is that?”
The students' eyes widened. It was a magic they had never seen before—no, had never even heard of.
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