Chapter 45
Chapter 45
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Limitless (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Etella followed the murmuring sounds to where Shirone was. Light was flashing repeatedly from his hands.
“Shirone, it looks like your preparations are going well.”
“Yes. Actually, I just succeeded a moment ago.”
“Hehe. Is that so? It seems the sequence formula paid off.”
“I suppose so.”
Shirone, seemingly with many errors to correct, focused once more on his Photon Cannon. Etella touched her lips, observing him meticulously. In truth, she had expected active magic to be quite difficult for Shirone. His disposition was heavily skewed toward defense.
*And yet, the fact that he succeeded...*
It meant he had incorporated modularization. She had planned to advise him during their private tutoring session, but since he'd realized it on his own, the opportunity was lost. Instead, she made a suggestion.
“Shirone, you've never tried hitting targets before, have you? Would you like to go up to the Image Zone?”
“Yes, I'll try.”
The students stopped practicing and watched Shirone. What score he could achieve was a major point of interest for his competitors.
Shirone waited for the targets to appear. Although it was just practice, it was his first time with the speed gun training, so he was as tense as if it were a real test.
Etella activated the magic barrier device to prepare for any unforeseen accidents. Casting magic without a barrier, like Iruki had done before, could damage not only the equipment but also the students.
At the signal, targets rose from all directions. Shirone deployed his sequence formula, converting his omnidirectional formula to its offensive form. Countless thorns extended in all directions. A considerable number of targets were acquired in a single attempt.
Without delay, Shirone cast Photon Cannon. The moment the light flashed, the targets turned to ash and vanished.
“Whoa…”
The kids let out cries of admiration. Although it was an active magic with no physical force, it was overwhelmingly spectacular.
*Not bad.*
Shirone cast Photon Cannon in rapid succession. The targets vanished the instant the magic was cast. The lack of a time lag due to distance was a significant advantage.
*I can do this!*
Gaining confidence, Shirone fired photons in all directions. As his theories proved correct, he started getting greedy for a high score.
The current number of eliminated targets was 172. With 20 seconds still left, he could easily break 200 points.
*He really has mastered modularization.*
Etella was certain after watching the demonstration. It was a good sign that the enlightenment he'd gained on the uncrossable bridge was now connected to his sequence formula.
Currently, Shirone's sequence formula was rising in units of ten numbers at a time. At this rate, it was a speed that could go from zero to one hundred in two seconds.
After a minute, the device stopped, and Shirone descended from the Image Zone, panting. The students' gazes were fixed on the electronic scoreboard. A final total of 342 points. It meant he had eliminated 342 targets in one minute.
“How did he not miss a single one? Maybe I should use Photon Cannon for the test too.”
“You think that looks easy? It's because he mastered teleportation that Shirone can even use Photon Cannon.”
The students shared their various impressions. Nade and Iruki, sitting side-by-side near them, also discussed what they felt.
“That's Shirone for you. He specializes in defense, but his offense is incredible too. With this test, he might just break into the top group.”
“I don't know about that. A score of 342 is nothing special, is it?”
“Still, it's a decent score for his first time. He couldn't even use Photon Cannon until yesterday.”
“Whether it's his first time or not doesn't matter. What's truly important is the ability to grasp the core concept, right? That's the part you should call amazing.”
“Huh? What's this? You're praising Shirone?”
“You have to give credit where it's due. In any case, this will be a good experiment. We'll be able to see who has the upper hand in this test.”
“What are you planning?”
Instead of answering, Iruki stood up and walked toward the Image Zone.
“Ms. Etella, may I give it a try?”
“Iruki, you?”
Etella asked back, looking uneasy. Considering what happened last time, he was the kind of kid who might cause an accident if she recklessly let him demonstrate.
“I'll just practice and come right back down. The magic barrier is active, anyway.”
Since it was the exam preparation period, placing restrictions on a specific student would be an issue of fairness. Having no choice, she consented.
“Alright. Go on up. But don't cause any trouble.”
Iruki bowed his head and entered the Image Zone. His appearance drew the students' attention. Having finished his preparations, Iruki converted his omnidirectional formula to its evasive form. The kids started whispering. They never imagined he would use the evasive form in a targeting test.
Shirone was just as surprised. While the evasive form was the fastest of the omnidirectional formulas, you needed at least the offensive form to acquire the rapidly appearing targets and raise your score. The evasive form forgoes synesthesia, forcing one to track targets solely by sight. A perfect one-to-one correspondence. To put it metaphorically, it was like moving a point to catch another point.
*What on earth is he planning?*
As the targets rose, Iruki's Spirit Zone began to move. It had shrunk to about the size of a person's face. On the other hand, its speed had increased.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
It was precise. Like an elastic rubber ball, the Spirit Zone changed angles sharply, eliminating the targets. It was only natural that the students were amazed. Even Etella couldn't hide her surprise.
*Eliminating targets with the evasive form. What a unique method.*
The count was already surpassing 100 points. Shirone realized just how incredible Iruki's skill was. He was eliminating targets by sight. Considering the speed of movement, his dynamic visual acuity was astounding.
*No, it's not on that level.*
The wondrous calculation ability of Savant Syndrome. He was predicting the targets' trajectories and moving his Spirit Zone there in advance.
*It won't do to be this surprised, Shirone.*
The moment the corner of Iruki's mouth lifted, his Spirit Zone moved at a speed on a completely different level than before.
“Huh? Huh?”
The students were aghast. They couldn't follow the Spirit Zone's movements with their eyes. Every time a blurry something ricocheted through the space, targets exploded on all sides.
Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-BANG!
Thanks to minimizing the power of his Atomic Bomb, the detonation time was virtually nonexistent. While Shirone's Photon Cannon suppressed the range with high speed, Iruki's method was to move his Spirit Zone for direct impact.
The count broke 200 points. It was even faster than Shirone, who used modularization. If the visible results said so, Shirone had to accept it. But how he had enhanced his zone remained a mystery.
“Could it be the same way I did it?”
“No. It's different from yours.”
Nade had come up beside him at some point.
“Iruki sees you as a rival, you know. There's no point if he doesn't win using his Savant Syndrome. In the end, it's all about his incredibly fast calculation ability. The numbers Iruki is counting right now probably aren't in the thousands.”
“Not in the thousands? Then what?”
“A million.”
Shirone's eyes widened. Is it possible to count to a million in one minute? It was a different problem from perceiving one-ten-thousandth of a second. Modularizing numbers was possible because it was in the realm of intuition. But repeating a routine a million times left no room for imagination.
Iruki used up the given minute and came down. His final score was 548 points, far surpassing Shirone's.
The students began to murmur. It was the first time they had ever seen Iruki take a class so seriously.
“Incredible. 548 points with the evasive form. He's not human.”
“He calculated all the targets' equations of motion with his savant ability. Isn't that just overkill?”
Etella also saw Iruki in a new light. Acquiring the targets with the evasive form could be attributed to mathematical calculation. But that didn't explain the movement speed of his Spirit Zone.
*Could it be? That boy…*
Iruki came down from the Image Zone and went straight to Shirone. Then, twitching his odd eyes, he spoke.
“What did you think? It was decent enough to watch, right?”
Shirone had no choice but to admit it.
“It was an amazing demonstration. Savant Syndrome. I truly didn't know you could mathematically calculate the targets' paths.”
“Hmm, is that all? This is disappointing.”
“What?”
Shirone retorted sullenly. He felt hurt that Iruki looked displeased even after being complimented. But Iruki paid him no mind and continued.
“Grouping numbers into modules to increase the speed of the sequence formula. It's certainly a method only you could use.”
Shirone was surprised that Iruki already knew. And he felt uneasy. Because, on the other hand, he couldn't even guess what method Iruki had used.
“Shall I teach you? The method I tried?”
Shirone's pride was wounded.
“Is it okay for you to just tell me like that? From the sound of it, you seem to be very wary of me.”
“It doesn't matter. It's not something you can do just by knowing it.”
As expected of Iruki, always getting under people's skin.
“Actually, it's nothing special. I just used logarithms to reduce the units.”
“Logarithms…? Ah, I see.”
So there was such a method. And just as Iruki said, it wasn't a method one could copy just by knowing it.
“If you apply a log, even astronomical numbers can be expressed simply. I was just practicing this time. The real match is the practical evaluation, after all.”
By applying a logarithm, numbers of any magnitude can be expressed simply. A hundred million, a billion, ten billion—it was all the same.
But logarithms were originally symbols meant to simplify complex calculations. Therefore, applying them to a simple operation like a sequence formula would make it so complex that even a mathematician couldn't do it mentally.
But Iruki could. With his Savant Syndrome, he converted all the natural numbers into fractions and calculated them that way.
*A sequence formula with a logarithm applied? Is that really humanly possible?*
For the first time, Shirone felt he had been thinking too simply. Carmis Amy. The members of the Ogent family. He had met quite a few geniuses in his life, but never someone whose talents were as extremely skewed as Iruki's.
“So? Think you can still beat me now?”
“I'm not studying to beat anyone. As long as I do my best, it doesn't matter who wins.”
“A textbook answer. Doesn't matter. I'll just think of you as that kind of guy from the start. But watch your mouth from now on. Listening to an idealist with no skill is truly unpleasant.”
Shirone gritted his teeth. What on earth was he so displeased about? He had only wanted to say that life was precious. If even that was called idealism, then Shirone had no choice but to prove him wrong.
“Fine, I get it! Let's compete. I will definitely beat you in this test.”
“Haha! By all means, if you can.”
Shirone was about to retort, but he shut his mouth as their classmates, having witnessed Iruki's skill, swarmed around him.
“Iruki, that was amazing! How on earth did you do that? Can you teach me a little?”
“Why were you hiding that kind of skill? Won't you join our research society? With you, I think we could finish our project within a month.”
Every one of them was showering him with praise. Shirone thought it was only natural. That was how shocking the demonstration Iruki had put on in the Image Zone was.
“Shirone, the insight you showed on the uncrossable bridge was certainly incredible. However…”
Iruki turned around with a meaningful smile.
“My calculations are faster than insight.”
Shirone gulped. He had faced numerous competitions since enrolling in the magic academy, but this was the first time he'd met such a formidable opponent.
Nade patted Shirone's back in consolation.
“Hang in there. It might sound irresponsible, but from a spectator's point of view, it's also true that this is exciting. Since you're both my friends, I don't care who wins.”
“Competition is fine, but I don't like this. Iruki just plain hates me, doesn't he?”
“Haha! What can you do? That's just how he is. But you're pretty amazing yourself for making Iruki go all out. The only people likely to break the Class Five record are probably you two.”
“Huh? There's a high score? What is it?”
“Let's see. As far as I know, it was 987 points?”
Shirone's eyes went wide.
“987 points?”
Putting his own score aside, even Iruki, who used logarithms, had only managed to surpass 500 points. He couldn't even imagine how fast one would have to target to score 987 points in one minute.
“That's incredible. Who was it? They must have graduated already, right?”
“Huh? What are you talking about? And you two are dating? It was Senior Amy.”