With Alpheas stepping in to drive the point home, the other teachers had nothing more to say. They had wondered if she had truly been granted full authority as a temporary principal for six months, but now there was no room for doubt.
Alpheas: "Kekeke! Well then, this old man will take his leave."
Olivia let out a scoff. But she didn't throw any more tantrums. It was something that needed to be made clear at least once.
When Olivia turned to look at Sade, he, having prepared himself mentally, bowed his head and spoke.
Sade: "I will notify the advanced class."
A notice was posted on the advanced class bulletin board. It stated that from now on, integrated training would be conducted at Training Ground 27.
The lower classes were bewildered, but the upper classes, who knew what that place was, couldn't help but tense up.
Neid and Iruki also sensed that the situation was unusual.
Neid: "Isn't that where the Icheon is? Is this really okay?"
Iruki: "We didn't expect it to end like this anyway. What does it matter? It's not like we're going to die."
As Iruki said, they weren't going to die, but it was true that it was dangerous.
Battle simulation wasn't like the war games they played as kids, making sound effects with their mouths.
Neid: "Still, I'm nervous. Are they really going to do this?"
Iruki: "Who knows? Judging by the principal's tendencies, it's possible. She did say she's a realist. Anyway, let's go tell Shirone."
Neid looked around.
Neid: "By the way, where's Shirone? He didn't even come for dinner."
Iruki: "He skipped it. He said he'd meet us at the research club tonight. He had some business at the training ground."
Neid: "At this hour?"
Iruki: "He said it's a bit awkward to do it when it's quiet. He said now's the only time to practice."
Neid: "Don't tell me… Ataraxia?"
Iruki smiled meaningfully.
Iruki: "It's the perfect time to sneak a peek. Let's go."
Shirone stood alone in the empty training ground. The reason he had come here, even skipping dinner, was to practice Ataraxia.
The one-minute preparation time was, in his opinion, casting time is ridiculously long. Since magic circles weren't bound by spatial limitations, they could be used as siege weapons, but he wasn't about to jump into a war, and actions that could cause mass casualties required extreme caution.
'If I practice hundreds or thousands of times, I'll get used to it. But at most, I can only do it once a day.'
The fact that repetitive training was difficult was also a hurdle in practicing Ataraxia. But Shirone didn't give up. When he had decided to read history books in the Ozent family library, hadn't he succeeded? Everything accelerates with effort, and if he kept walking diligently, he would eventually be running.
Shirone: "Alright! Let's do this."
Shirone cast Halo. A one-meter-diameter circle appeared before him, sucking in countless concepts.
The multicolored lights rushing toward him were always a mesmerizing sight. As he reached a certain level, a multidimensional structure beyond comprehension was engraved, and Ataraxia was born.
Shirone aimed at the target in front of him and decided on the spell. Since it was shining light and not a photon cannon, there was no physical force, so he could unleash the magic to his heart's content.
Neid: "Hey, Shirone…!"
The moment Neid and Iruki entered the training ground, a massive beam shot out from the Ataraxia magic circle.
From the sky, the training ground flashed brightly, and even students far away noticed the distant mountain lighting up and turned their heads.
Neid and Iruki's eyes widened. The sheer output of the light sent shivers down their spines.
This wasn't something a human could handle. It felt like a natural phenomenon had been brought right before their eyes. What could possibly remain in the path of that light?
Surprisingly, not a single speck of dust rose. Iruki realized that the spell Shirone had cast was shining light. Cold sweat dripped down his back. If it had been a photon cannon, the cliff blocking the training ground would have vanished.
'As expected, Shirone is amazing. Only at that level can my ultimate technique shine.'
Neid moved his legs awkwardly, as if he had forgotten how to walk.
Neid: "Hey, Shirone. This…."
Before Neid could finish, Shirone collapsed with a thud.
Normally, he would retain some consciousness, but since this was a once-a-day training session, he had poured all his energy into it.
Neid: "Shirone, Shirone! Snap out of it."
Neid lifted Shirone and patted his cheeks. There were cases where mages died from overexertion during spell demonstrations, so terrifying images flooded his mind.
Contrary to his worries, Shirone opened his eyes quickly.
Shirone: "Huh? When did you get here?"
Neid: "Are you okay? We've been here since you started casting Ataraxia or whatever."
Shirone: "Hahaha! Did you see it? I was saving it for later."
Shirone pushed himself up from the ground. He staggered but wasn't in a state where he couldn't stand.
Iruki approached, his eyes still fixed on the target area.
Iruki: "The spell you cast in Heaven was Ataraxia plus Photon Cannon, right? How destructive would that be? Now that I've seen this, I can't ask you to try it."
Shirone: "Right. There's probably almost no situation in reality where I'd need to use such a powerful force. But I still want to refine it. The problem is that it takes too much time."
Iruki: "Not necessarily. You might get a chance to use it in reality soon."
Shirone: "Huh? What do you mean? What chance?"
Iruki looked at Neid. Initially, they had come to grab Shirone and complain, but given the situation, their interest had been piqued.
Iruki: "Starting tomorrow, we'll be doing Icheon training. The principal said so."
Shirone: "Icheon? What's that?"
Iruki pointed to the sky.
Iruki: "Virtual Simulation."
Neid added.
Neid: "It's a battle simulation system for graduating students."
Ten minutes before the start of the advanced class's integrated training, the students' tension was higher than ever.
Training Ground 27 was an open area carved flat into a mountain, with the ground densely finished with small metal blocks.
Four iron towers stood along the outer edge, each about seven meters tall.
The teachers overseeing the training were Siana, Sade, and Ethela. Since they were being instructed by all the popular teachers, the students were satisfied.
Olivia stood before the students who had gathered at the training ground.
Olivia: "Since this is the first class, I'll explain it myself. I understand that the sudden change in the curriculum is confusing. But a mage must be strong. You probably know a bit about Icheon. It's a device developed by Louis Jacquin, the pioneer of magical engineering, designed to allow combat as close to real battles as possible during training."
To Neid, the name Jacquin sounded as if it had been amplified through a loudspeaker.
He was the world's greatest magical engineer, the man behind the creation of the Image Zone, a masterpiece of the ages.
With the advent of the Image Zone, the Spirit Zone became visible, and that system evolved into Icheon.
While the world praised the dazzling fame of combat mages, who was it that nurtured those combat mages?
If it weren't for the devices created by Jacquin, the level of mages would have stagnated for 30 years.
Olivia: "Teacher Sade, please bring the master bracelets."
Sade brought two bracelets. Olivia put them on her wrists and showed them to the students.
Olivia: "Here we have a red bracelet and a blue bracelet. Each bracelet has a different function, so make sure not to swap them with your friends. The red bracelet converts the mage's condition into information, and the blue bracelet converts external conditions into information. Those two pieces of information are transmitted to the tower, creating a virtual world. You'll each receive a pair of bracelets."
The students received a pair of bracelets. When they put them on, red and blue lights lit up.
Olivia: "Now, we'll activate Icheon."
The administrator activated the system, and the ground began to shake as if an earthquake had occurred. The physical blocks on the ground changed in height, creating a complex terrain that mimicked a natural environment.
As a virtual landscape was overlaid before their eyes, the students stared in awe.
They had heard about it from the graduating class seniors, but experiencing it firsthand was incomparable to what they had imagined.
The virtual landscape was the cityscape of Creas. Though no people walked the streets, the sight of hundreds of houses packed together was so realistic it could be mistaken for reality.
Olivia: "The cityscape isn't ideal. Let's change it to a different scene."
The arrangement of the blocks began to change. The blocks in the northeastern quarter of the area sank down.
Water filled the depression, forming a lake, and the surrounding scenery transformed into a forest.
It was a pristine mountain untouched by human hands.
Olivia: "As expected of a prestigious school. Even with Icheon, creating a lake is difficult. Over 80% of natural features are physical blocks, but the scenery is entirely virtual. The blue bracelet receives information and transmits it to your brain. So, if you remove the bracelet, only the physical blocks remain. Take a look around first. I'll give you about 10 minutes."
The students entered Icheon in an orderly fashion. The fact that they maintained their formation without being told was proof of their tension.
Though they were things commonly seen in the mountains, even the rolling stones felt fascinating. Shirone's group headed toward the lake to take a look.
When Neid touched a tree, the blue bracelet lit up, transmitting the texture.
Neid: "This is amazing. This isn't even a physical block, but it feels so real."
Shirone: "Even the leaves feel real."
Shirone plucked a leaf. It didn't disappear but rested on his palm like a real object.
Neid approached the lake, scooped up some water with his hand, and drank it.
Iruki: "How is it? Does it taste like water?"
Neid: "Not just that, it's completely quenching. Of course, it's an illusion. The brain has decided it's water. This is a bit dangerous."
Shirone thought the same. What if it were fire instead of water? Would the brain recognize the heat information and burn the body?
Since it wasn't real fire, it might not go that far. But it was hard to say for sure.
Shirone looked at Neid, who was knowledgeable about such things.
Shirone: "Neid, this…."
Neid: "Right! It's similar to the mechanism of the Spirit Zone! This is incredible! Louis Jacquin has simulated the human mind through a mechanical device."
If a biologist's dream is to replace human organs with artificial ones, an engineer's ultimate goal is to create a machine that thinks like a human.
Though it's still a distant dream, it seems Jacquin has succeeded in digitizing the human mind.
Iruki: "When they decided to open Icheon to the advanced class, the faculty's backlash was intense. Now I understand why. You could die if you're not careful."
Olivia: "Yes, you could die."
Olivia had approached without them noticing.
Iruki: "If you could die…."
Olivia: "But don't worry. Except for graduation exams, the synchronization rate isn't set to 100%. Right now, the filters are off for the demonstration, but when you experience it, it'll be around 50%. For the graduating class, it's 80%. It's a regulation set by the kingdom's education law."
Iruki: "Even at 50%, it's not necessarily safe, right?"
Olivia: "You're surprisingly cautious, Iruki."
Iruki: "I don't want to be the fool who dies because he didn't know what he was getting into."
Olivia stared intently at Iruki. He had once been evaluated as being on par with Dante.
But the Royal Magic School wasn't a place that tolerated students' arrogance, and in the end, he had dropped out.
'Is all that's left of him a sharp tongue? How pitiful.'
Olivia addressed the students.
Olivia: "Iruki is right. Icheon is dangerous. But it's a controllable danger. At the Royal Magic School, they freely adjust the synchronization rate from 1% to 100% based on the student's level to provide training as close to real combat as possible. I'm not saying you should take risks, but I want to emphasize that it's entirely controllable."
There was no need to apply a high synchronization rate. Since it was still education, practicing at an appropriate level would naturally enhance real combat senses.
As the students returned to their places, Olivia began the Icheon training in earnest.
Olivia: "The bracelets I'm wearing are master versions, unlike yours. They can control various functions of Icheon. Let me show you what's different."
A 60-centimeter-long red gauge appeared above Olivia's head.
Olivia: "This is a numerical representation of my mental strength as a percentage. Of course, during practice, you won't be able to see the gauge. First, let me explain its role. Teacher Sade, please summon a monster."
The master bracelets shared functions. Even if one teacher tried to put the students in danger, as long as the other teachers were wearing master bracelets, nothing dangerous would happen. It was designed that way.
Sade: "Understood. But… what should I summon?"
Faced with a situation as awkward as choosing a lunch menu, Sade decided to pass the decision-making to someone else.
Equally unsure, Olivia rested her chin on her hand and pondered.
Olivia: "Hmm, version 6.2?"
Sade: "Yes, the latest version. The information was updated 10 days ago."
Olivia: "Then the demons must have been added. Let's go with a succubus."
The students' eyes widened.
Student 1: "A succubus? You can really summon a succubus?"
Demons were a race far more powerful than monsters. They were found in ancient towers or underground labyrinths, places cut off from human contact, and such areas were off-limits unless a party of at least level 6 was present.
Given that the gods in mythology bore the characteristics of demons, it was widely believed that the collective consciousness of ancient humans had been projected onto them.
The fact that no new demons had appeared in modern times, where individuality was emphasized, also supported this theory.
In ancient times, the concepts of good and evil were ambiguous, and taboos beyond imagination were practiced.
The stimulation that people of that time enjoyed was more intense than anything felt in modern warfare, and the sublimation of that desire was what became the ancient gods, also known as demons.
Since succubi were believed to have originated from orgiastic rituals, it was only natural that the curious students were tense.
Olivia: "Then let's begin."
Sade, who had found the succubus's codename, sent the information to the central control room.
Light shot out from the four spires, and in the tranquil scenery, a translucent object shimmered before a succubus materialized.