The Colosseum of Debate
Amy Pewter, a third-year student at Benedict Academy—the finest educational institution in the Ellemental Kingdom—felt as if she wanted to die at that moment. Having assisted Professor Savage Frankhorn with his research and even presented the paper at the Magic Tower, she now sat through the merciless barrage of questions raining down on the speaker before her.
"Your presentation was excellent. However, that motor seems to have a rather short operating time relative to its impressive function. May I ask what kind of battery was used?"
"The Akalin constant in the battery formula appears somewhat unstable. What was the reason for not correcting it?"
"The idea of converting the heat generated during instability into energy is interesting, but isn't it excessively dangerous? Was this motor designed with mages in mind?"
The presentation hall, shaped like an auditorium, filled with countless people raising their hands to unleash a storm of brutal questions at the previous speaker.
So that's my future.
Humans are creatures who unconsciously yearn to know their own futures. Fortune-telling, prophetic dreams—all of it stems from that desire. Yet in this moment, Amy Pewter realized that knowing one's future wasn't always a blessing.
Ah, it's over.
A short while later, the moment she had absolutely not been waiting for finally arrived. The mage descended from the podium with a face burned white from exhaustion, trudging along. At the same time, the magician overseeing the presentation called out Amy Pewter's name.
It's my turn.
Her heart felt ready to burst. Everything before her eyes went pitch black. In contrast, her mind had bleached completely white, devoid of any coherent thought. Even as she walked toward the podium, she couldn't tell if her legs were actually moving.
"Hoo..."
She only regained her senses when she stood before the numerous mages staring at her with expressionless faces. Amy took a deep breath, desperately clinging to her reeling mind.
Just don't make any mistakes.
She abandoned any thought of doing well. She simply hoped not to mess up. With that resolve, Amy cleared her throat lightly before beginning.
"Hello, everyone."
Hiding the tremble in her voice, she bowed confidently before the entire audience.
"I am Amy Pewter, the assistant in charge of presenting the Shape Transformation of Magic Circles paper."
Her eyes met those of Professor Savage Frankhorn, seated in the front row below the podium. When he gave a calm nod as if to say do well, she drew a bit of courage from it and began, glancing at the PPT behind her.
"I will now begin the presentation."
She proceeded far more calmly than expected. Given how nervous she had been, the solid start brought a faint smile to Professor Frankhorn's lips.
She understands it well.
No matter how much Amy Pewter had helped write the paper, she couldn't possibly grasp every detail. The difficult sections had been resolved by Frankhorn himself, so it was only natural that there were parts she didn't fully understand. Even so, her explanation flowed without any noticeable stumbles. She must have studied the paper relentlessly for today's presentation. Frankhorn watched her with a proud expression.
"She looked nervous, but she's doing better than I expected."
Frankhorn wasn't the only one gazing at Amy Pewter with satisfaction. In a room infinitely narrower than the presentation hall, the Majoan also nodded with a pleased face as he listened to her. Since he made a point of meeting the most outstanding student from each grade every year, he had already known about Amy Pewter.
"It's all just content from the paper."
On the other hand, Kain couldn't suppress his boredom and let out a huge yawn. Everything Amy Pewter was presenting came straight from the paper—nothing less, nothing more.
"That makes sense. She's not the professor who conducted the research, just a student who participated as an assistant."
"Then why did that professor dump it on his assistant instead of presenting it himself?"
"He probably wanted to give her the opportunity."
"Opportunity? He just found it annoying and pushed it onto her."
For ordinary mages, it might have been a chance to make their name known, but such things meant nothing to Kain. The only thing that mattered to him was whether it was useful or not. By that standard, Amy Pewter's presentation offered him zero benefit.
"Just endure it a little longer. The important part is the Q&A session after the presentation anyway, isn't it?"
Kain surely wasn't the only one who thought so. Most of the mages sitting there had postponed their busy schedules to attend. The reason they listened quietly to Amy Pewter was precisely for the question period that would follow. In truth, that was the real purpose of holding this presentation event.
"The questioner gains the chance to resolve all their curiosities, while the one being questioned can check for any problems they might have overlooked."
Though it took the form of a presentation, this place was essentially a colosseum called a debate arena, where each side competed with their knowledge.
"That girl will probably fall short in a battle of words. At some point, Professor Frankhorn will likely step up to the podium himself."
"If that's the case, he should have done it from the beginning."
"Then he couldn't give that child the opportunity, could he?"
Putting one's own disciple on the stage first was a common method many mages used to foster their students' growth. For that reason, other mages usually overlooked it if the presenter couldn't answer questions, as long as they didn't make mistakes during the presentation itself. On the contrary, answering well would bring praise and thunderous applause, since they had performed beyond their assigned role.
"That concludes my presentation."
In other words, the real war began now. With a tense face, Amy finished her presentation, looked around at the audience, and took a deep breath through her nose.
"Does anyone have any questions?"
Hands shot up from every direction. As expected of the most talked-about paper among today's presentations, there seemed to be twice as many questioners as before.
"Hello. I am Hail Marne."
At the moderator's indication, a man rose from his seat.
"First, thank you for the excellent presentation."
The question began with praise. Yet the atmosphere didn't warm in the slightest. If anything, Amy swallowed dryly with an even more nervous expression.
"The liquefaction of magic circles is certainly a fascinating topic. However, as the shape collapses, it seems the binding force that holds the mana collapses along with it."
Spraying the liquefied magic circle onto objects to instantly create magic tools. It was undoubtedly a remarkable discovery, but the duration the tools lasted was far too short.
"If you cannot capture the sublimating mana, wouldn't it be far more practical to skip making magic tools altogether and instead create the necessary magic defense arrays on the spot using common objects found on the street? I'm curious about your thoughts on this."
It was certainly a reasonable point in its own way. The reason mages avoided magic defense arrays was precisely because they couldn't control them. It wasn't that mages were incapable of using them; rather, their familiarity with formulas often allowed them to wield them better than martial artists. In situations urgent enough to require creating an artifact on the spot, using a magic array would be more effective, wouldn't it?
To Hail's question, Amy calmly continued her response.
"You are correct. However, I would ask you to consider why we use magic circles rather than magic defense arrays. Magic circles can accomplish tasks that magic defense arrays simply cannot."
For example, navigation-type magic tools that could find the correct path inside a maze-like dungeon. That was an area freely moving magic defense arrays could never replicate.
"In such cases, wouldn't it be better to prepare the necessary magic tools in advance?"
"The aspect of our research that deserves the most attention is the reduction in volume. It can be carried with less capacity than regular magic tools, and stones or branches found on the street can be turned into magic tools. This would be an enormous advantage for explorers."
As she answered, her tension eased somewhat. With a more relaxed face than before, Amy kept speaking.
"Regarding the maintenance time you mentioned, our research is still a work in progress, not yet complete. I would appreciate it if you could focus on the fact that we have succeeded in collapsing the shape of the magic circle and the potential for future development."
"You spoke of development potential, and the paper suggests it would pair rather well with black magic. Have you considered applying black magic theory?"
She thought she had gotten through safely. But the questions weren't over yet—Hail latched onto the tail of Amy's response.
"Of course we have considered it."
At that, Amy secretly ground her teeth. The motion wasn't clearly visible from below the podium, but both the Majoan and Kain caught it.
"She's got quite the spirit."
Kain smirked and listened attentively. The previous question aligned closely with the reason he had come here.
"We have already consulted a black magic professor currently teaching at the academy regarding that aspect."
Unfortunately, he had declined due to lacking time at the moment while preparing the first-years for the Academy Tournament. He had promised to provide assistance once the tournament concluded.
"I will provide further explanation on that matter in our second paper."
"That sounds quite promising."
At Amy's answer, Hail nodded with a smile. Was it truly over now?
"Then I will ask just one final question."
Of course it wasn't. Cursing the damn bastard inwardly, Amy gripped the microphone tightly.
"Collapsing the shape of a magic circle. In a way, it feels like a lesser counterpart to spirits—created by instilling ego into the formula itself. Could you explain the differences between the spirits handled by spirit mages and the results of this research, and in what ways this research proves superior?"
It certainly could be viewed that way. At Hail's question, Kain nodded as though he hadn't considered it.
In a sense, spirits could also be called magic circles that move according to will.
It was an extremely mage-like perspective, one difficult for Kain to conceive. Would she be able to answer this as well?
"Before addressing that question, I will add the assumption that this research has advanced further and its weaknesses have been mitigated."
Everyone had expected Professor Frankhorn to step in, but Amy Pewter continued without the slightest hesitation.
"As I mentioned earlier, please remember that what mages value most is control over their own abilities. Magic utilizing spirit arts certainly exists, but it includes means by which the mage can exert control. This is the same. It can be used with whatever object the mage desires, whenever they desire, however they desire. This will grant the user tremendous freedom."
Collapsing the forms of mass-produced magic tools. Such extreme freedom would undoubtedly bring enormous benefits.
"Above all, unlike spirits which require learning spirit arts, this only requires spraying the substance onto an object. Even those without ability can use it. In a society of magic engineering where magic tools are widespread, is there any advantage more significant than this?"
There was no need to learn spirit arts separately, making it far more efficient in terms of time as well. At the flawless response, Hail clapped and set down his microphone.
"Thank you for the excellent answer. That concludes my questions."
Murmurs spread throughout the hall. The general sentiment seemed to be asking who that girl was.
Well done.
The louder the murmuring grew, the higher Professor Frankhorn's shoulders rose with pride.
"Not bad at all. That girl."
Kain let out a small sound of admiration as well. What mattered wasn't simply that she had answered the questions, but that she had done so without any hesitation. It meant she had prepared her thoughts on those points in advance.
"She's a student to be proud of. I hear she's only a third-year, yet she's already been chosen to compete in the Academy Tournament."
At Kain's praise, the Majoan's shoulders rose in the same manner as Professor Frankhorn's.
"Our kid is only a first-year, though."
"That's an exception."
"Enough of that. I have something I want to ask."
His interest in the presentation had completely vanished. By now the Majoan must have fully grasped the paper's contents as well.
"In that section, this kind of formula was used. What do you think about adding this formula?"
"Those two formulas are polar opposites. The magic probably wouldn't activate properly."
"Then what if we bridge the middle with this?"
"That's a formula I've never seen before. Is it a black magic calculation method? It looks like something used when summoning undead. Ah, are you planning to create a virtual ego to assist with the internal formula calculations?"
"Roughly speaking."
"But that would raise the difficulty too much. They say she's already struggling with understanding the formulas, so I doubt Arina could handle it."
"I see. Then we'll discard this."
The conversation with the Majoan was proving far more helpful to Kain than expected. It mainly helped with adjusting the difficulty level for Arina. Since Kain could accomplish anything with ease, he had overlooked such considerations.
"How about this instead?"
"The difficulty is still high. What do you think about making changes like this?"
"Oh, you could apply the magic formula by inverting it in that manner?"
Separate from Amy Pewter's question-and-answer session displayed on the screen, a profound discussion unfolded inside one of the rooms in the Magic Tower—one so deep that even high-ranking mages would struggle to answer. It continued for quite some time.