It has been months since he started training with Tatsuya. At first it was just a curiosity as he had the power to defeat a course one student even though he was still a course 2 student but as he was talking with him and Leo he came to the conclusion that there is something different about them. There was also a rumour going around that Tatsuya had started a new magic training club but due to his personality there were not many people that joined the club. He had heard that his childhood friend Erika was part of it.
His name was Yoshida Mikihiko, he came from a prestigious family renowned for Ancient Magic — he was a direct descendant of the Yoshida Family.
The Yoshida Family possessed an Outer-Systematic Ancient Magic called "Spirit Magic", and it was rumoured that they passed on their traditional methods of training as well. Given that it was a traditional method of practice, arduous labour was probably at the centre of it. If so, members of that family would naturally possess highly capable physical specifications.
He had thought that he had trained hard,but since joining the club he had experienced training that pushed him to the limit and even more, he is a spirit magic user so his psion control was great he was even called the prodigy of the Yoshida but here he could only watch in shock as Erika someone who had near perfect control of her powers struggle at first it was simple expel nearly all your psion and bring it back inside he could do that since this was also a basic training in the Yoshida school but then the training began to intensify
Tatsuya told him that first he needed to overcome his internal issues with himself.
As a user of ancient magic their will and mind state play an important role in the magic.
Then he watched in awe as Tatsuya programmed a CAD that forced him to use as much of his MCA as the Dragon god ritual that happened.
"You're better than most of the people here in your control but you need to realise that you're not the problem here. "
"The problem isn't your capability, but the technique itself. This is the underlying reason why you cannot wield magic the way you desire."
"How would you know that!"
"I can comprehend any magic design that I can 'see', which allows me to read the details behind any Activation Sequence and to provide an in-depth analysis of the Magic Sequence."
Tatsuya replied with this outrageous answer.
Mikihiko's panic had hit a peak.
He had never heard of a Magician capable of such a feat and, if someone with this unique ability truly exists, then half the mysteries facing modern magic theory would be solved in an instant.
Erika stared at them with widened eyes. Next to her, Tatsuya decisively, more like ruthlessly nodded.
Mizuki covered her mouth with both hands.
Even Leo was struck speechless.
The technique that the famous line of Ancient Magic users had laboriously developed over many generations had just been judged to be a "blemished product!" Without a certain degree of confidence, no one dared to make that assessment.
Otherwise, they were fools of the highest order that believed solely in the superiority of their own techniques.
Obviously, Tatsuya did not belong in the latter category.
"The Yoshida Family's technique is too verbose"
So after that event he was forced to use a CAD that had a variant of thunder child that Tatsuya programmed.
He could feel himself getting stronger and faster with other magic as well.
After that the training went in a very different way he knew that the chiba family had few techniques that materialised the psion in the body into physical objects but as far as he knew it was one of the highest order of difficult techniques that existed.
First it was to release all the psion in the body inside a closed room with an active sensor and to control it in a way that the sensor does not pick it up they all had spent nearly a month doing that alone.
Erika Was the first one to complete that step of the training. Next it was Leo, after that it was Miyuki. Mizuki didn't try as she did not want to be a fighter.
Next it was too who formed the released psion into to a shape of a aura and use the to crush a glass
"Magic is the process of lying to the world so as long as your will is strong you could bend the world to your will"
This was what Tatsuya said
They were eventually able to break a few objects and then it was time to use that same process to make a person yield.
According to Erika this was a very difficult Technique to master called lord's haki
Training felt like he could loses life in the process as his MCA had to work non stop in order for defeat that they were discussing this also made me realise that he had not gotten slower with his activation he just started comparing is activation speed to the time when in his MCA had been working over his capacity to match with the Dragon God.
This revelation finally made him realise that he had not lost his powers.
After the end of the finals they had to prepare for the 9SC which will include Miyuki participating. Tatsuya was not going to be a participant.
"Tatsuya san sorry for the wait"
Upon hearing the voice, Tatsuya shifted his gaze over as the headlights illuminated his cousin's slim body.
Miyuki's long hair was done up in a bun while she wore a biker's suit in the same fashion as Tatsuya's own. The custom fit suit hugged her curves, hinting at the fullness of her womanly charms.
As Tatsuya put the helmet on Miyuki's head, Miyuki smoothly lifted her chin. His cousin's seemingly natural motion caused Tatsuya to wryly grin, but he still buckled on the chin strap for her.
Miyuki shrank her neck as if ticklish, to which Tatsuya responded with a smile as he put on his own helmet before climbing aboard.
He took out his goggles, then motioned Miyuki to hold on tight.
Tatsuya verified that Miyuki was holding on to his waist and that she was pressed against his back before adjusting his goggles and raising the output of the continuous motion device The electric bike that the cousins rode sped away beneath the night sky.
Their destination was Yakumo's temple.
However, the one training tonight was Miyuki and not Tatsuya.
Miyuki had already been selected as a participant in the Nine Schools Competition, so additional preparation was necessary.
The events in the Nine Schools Competition heavily emphasised the need for magic talent, but at the same time did not wholly ignore physical characteristics. In the "Battle Board" event, contestants with faster reflexes and a better sense of balance held the advantage, while the "Crowd Ball" event required a good balance between tactics and stamina.
For Miyuki, who excelled in Speed and Freezing Magics, "Icicle Destruction" was almost specifically designed to show off her talents. Forget the Newcomers Division - she could probably cruise to victory even in the Official Division.
However, with the individual contests split by gender causing the number of events to increase, Miyuki was also going to participate in the "Mirage Bat" event, where she would have to "use a bat to split open the balls of light floating in the air".
Miyuki also received martial training from Yakumo alongside Tatsuya, so her frail frame belied her superb physical status. Even so, given that there weren't many opportunities lately for her to exercise, this training served as a precaution for the main event.
Tatsuya turned off the engine near the entrance before pushing the vehicle into the temple. After leaving the vehicle in the temple garage, the two of them went to greet Yakumo.
At this hour, Yakumo should be doing night training with his disciples.
Just as they expected, as they approached the darkened dojo, they could detect various concealed presences, as well as the occasional footstep that couldn't be completely muffled and the sounds of bodies hitting the floor.
Tatsuya slowly pried open the ancient doors to avoid distracting the disciples from training.
Even though the door opened without a sound, a kunai still came flying towards them. Tatsuya used the blade-proof and bullet-proof jacket to deflect it before pulling out a lead ball concealed in his biker suit and firing back.
However, Tatsuya's "marble" didn't seem like it hit the target.
"Tatsuya, it looks like your marbles haven't improved much. Don't think magic is enough to cut it. You need to practise your projectile weapons as well. However, you made the correct decision in deflecting the kunai rather than catching it."
There was no detectable presence, only the voice.
Tatsuya didn't aim right in front of him where the voice came from, but instead fired a second marble towards the rightmost wall.
"Oh ho?"
Accompanying this surprised shout, a force rippled outwards from the spot Tatsuya aimed at.
Tatsuya quickly put an arm around Miyuki and sprang backwards.
A split second later, a pitch black sword wave slashed down vertically from the ceiling above, barely missing Tatsuya's back by a hair as he covered his cousin.
Tatsuya quickly stepped forward with one foot.
A bokken painted completely black was rendered completely still with Tatsuya firmly stamping on it.
Yakumo abandoned the idea of striking a second time as he let go of his immobile weapon.
"...Sensei, you have such an interesting way of greeting people."
"...I should be the one saying that. Wasn't your marble filled with killing intent?"
Master and disciple faced one another in the darkness, before simultaneously breaking out into evil happened a lot as both the Yakumo's students and Miyuki had come to accept that they will always have to be a second thought when the master and disciple were together.
Tucked inside Tatsuya's bosom, Miyuki was blushing furiously. Thankfully, that was difficult to discern in the surrounding darkness — at least that was what Miyuki thought, but Tatsuya had already noticed due to being in contact with her stiff body, while Yakumo had detected this through her erratic breathing.
Somewhere within the temple, illuminated by torches in the four corners, in a place usually reserved for homa ceremonies (this temple should have been under Hisanyama's jurisdiction, but Tatsuya and Miyuki had never seen Yakumo chant sutras or pray to Buddha), the area was faintly lit by blue light, with orbs glowing with a dim red light softly dancing in the sky.
Because this was a temple, any ignorant passerby may have mistaken this scene for the presence of spirits, but fortunately there was no one else around.
A slender, long shadow passed through the blue light, and one orb of light vanished into nothing.
Two orbs, three orbs; the difference in color started to increase.
That mesmerizing figure was chasing the floating orbs at an energetic and unexpected pace, then swiftly bisecting them with the short rod in her hand.
After splitting thirty orbs, Tatsuya signaled Miyuki to take a break.
The interior only contained a square barrier drawn with quicklime that measured about 11 meters on the side. The raw power necessary to form a barrier by only drawing four white lines was nothing short of astounding. Tatsuya brought a large tea cup towards where Yakumo was standing as he brought down the seals.
Normally, Miyuki was the one responsible for bringing tea to the panting Yakumo, but Tatsuya took over that duty today.
That was because tonight, Miyuki was in a similar state (to Yakumo), as she stood on the other side of the white line.
"Sensei, thank you. Not just for lending the location, but also for training my little sister as well."
After handing the tea to Yakumo, Tatsuya bowed deeply in gratitude, to which Yakumo nodded generously.
"There's a colossal difference between attacking illusions and striking actual targets. Miyuki is also one of my cute students, so there's no way I would decline to help."
There was probably too much emphasis on the word "cute", but Tatsuya decided to let it slide until after the Nine Schools Competition.
Illusion magic was one area where "ninjutsu" excelled, to the point that the speed, accuracy, and movements of the illusions surpassed those created by modern magics. Modern magic had the advantage in terms of speed of activation and variety of spells available, but within specialized parameters, there were many areas that could not compare with Ancient Magic.
Tatsuya only had access to a few magics, so he was unable to use Yakumo's illusion "Will O'wisp" to replace projectors.
"Miyuki, should we stop here?"
Tatsuya asked as he handed a drink to his sister who was still panting, but Miyuki shook her head and took a sip to wet her throat.
"If sensei is okay with it, I want to continue."
"I don't mind, though shouldn't Tatsuya also give 'Will O'wisp' a try?"
"Alright sensei"
"Then let's begin."
Just as Miyuki stood in the middle of the square anchored by bonfires and Yakumo was about to start casting illusions...
"Who's there?"
Another person's presence entered the scene.
The one who called out was Tatsuya.
No, the order was actually reversed.
To supplement the training, Tatsuya linked his sensory ability to the information dimension, allowing him to quickly catch wind of a foreign element being introduced into the area. The moment Tatsuya challenged the silent patch of darkness, another person's presence abruptly materialised.
"Ah, Haruka."
Yakumo greeted the presence in an unconcerned manner.
Tatsuya and Miyuki were both familiar with this name.
The figure that walked into the flickering light possessed a much more mature aura than Miyuki.
She was the counsellor from the Magic University affiliated First High — Ono Haruka.
Likely due to the fact that she was wearing the same dark bodysuit that Miyuki was wearing, it seemed that the curves of her chest and waist were more accentuated than usual.
As Miyuki followed the direction of Tatsuya's gaze, a trace of concern flashed across her features and swiftly regained her composure.
The reason why Tatsuya was carefully scrutinising Haruka's body was to ascertain Haruka's physical capabilities.
"Tatsuya, no need to be so wary. Haruka is also one of my students."
"But you weren't nearly as kind during my training as compared to Shiba-kun."
Haruka's voice was slightly mocking, which jarred against her dangerous appearance that could easily be swallowed in the darkness.
"That being said, I know that sensei is another story, but to think that I was discovered by Shiiba-kun, has my technique regressed so much?"
"Haruka, lying to yourself isn't a good habit. If you lie too often, you will lose track of your own thoughts as well."
"Shiiba-kun said the same thing to me."
"Oh, looks like I said something unnecessary. Anyways, let's set this aside for now. Haruka's cloaking was almost perfect, so there's no need to stress about that. If you really think that your skills have regressed, that is."
Haruka revealed a model perfunctory smile and accepted Yakumo's hinted gaze.
She shouldn't be able to get off that easily, nor should she have planned to do so in the first place.
Seeing Yakumo's smirking expression, this was probably how the two of them normally interacted.
"Tatsuya didn't detect your presence normally. He has a pair of special 'eyes' that are different from ours, so if you want to fool him, you need to disguise your presence rather than try to hide it."
"I see... I'll take that under advisement."
"It's your turn to answer my question."
The two of them were acting out a master and disciple discussion using Tatsuya as the subject. Unable to harness his irritation, Tatsuya intentionally broke in with a displeased tone.
"Hm... It is unfair to give only Haruka information. You don't mind, right, Haruka?"
Yakumo intentionally let out a "Hm..." sound to create an opening, but given his current attitude, it was obvious that he was calculating when Tatsuya would interrupt them. In response to Yakumo turning the conversation towards her, Haruka immediately shrugged her shoulders and replied,
"Even if I said no, you guys would probably discuss this when I'm not here, right?"
Essentially, Haruka had already given up on hiding.
"Since the person in question has given her consent, then I'll go ahead... Haruka is an investigator for Public Safety."
Yakumo's explanation was very simple, as just this alone would be sufficient. Even so, Tatsuya hoped that Yakumo would take it a step further.
"Hm? You don't look very surprised."
However, Yakumo posed a question of his own.
It appeared that he was expecting them to be astonished.
Not just Tatsuya, but even Miyuki accepted Haruka's real identity without batting an eyelid, which surprised Yakumo considerably, or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say that it disappointed Yakumo considerably.
"I have my own information network, so I know that Ono-sensei isn't military. Ruling that out, the only possibilities were Public Safety (Police Department of Public Safety), Internal Affairs (Cabinet Agency of Data Supervision), or foreign spy."
Tatsuya's answer caused Yakumo to furrow his brow.
"Rather than saying information network, it's more like 'he' provided you with that information. Is that okay?... Given his position, he may be dishonourably discharged for leaking confidential information to a high school student."
That being said, Yakumo's perfectly calm expression clearly showed that he wasn't overly concerned.
"In terms of position, sensei is roughly the same... So, Ono-sensei is Public Safety's undercover agent in the guise of a counsellor to investigate the anti-government activities centred around Blanche within the First High campus. Did I get that right so far?"
"No."
Tatsuya asked this to verify his hypothesis regarding Haruka.
But Haruka responded with the definite negative.
"It's true that I'm Public Safety's undercover agent, but I didn't disguise myself as a counsellor. In chronological order, my current superior approached me while I was thinking about becoming a counsellor, and I became a special investigator for Public Safety after I arrived at First High. Two years ago, I spent one year under Yakumo-sensei, so Tatsuya-kun is actually my senior."
"Even though you only studied for one year, your cloaking ability is quite proficient."
"That is my magic specialty, even if I can't use any other magic. This is also the reason why my superior rates me highly."
"...I see, you're a BS (Born Specialised) Magician?"
"I dislike that term."
Haruka pouted and turned her head like a young school girl throwing a tantrum, causing Tatsuya to break into a smile.
"Rather than being a jack of all trades, I'd rather be a master of one. However, that's a matter of Haruka-sensei's perspective."
As soon as Tatsuya said this, he realised that the student and counsellor positions had been reversed. However, given that this was off campus and they certainly weren't in class at this hour, this shouldn't have been a problem.
Probably noticing the same thing, Haruka stopped her tantrum, but she was still unhappy with the situation.
"Shiiba-kun, this was a special circumstance, but my identity as a secret investigator remains highly classified, so please don't tell anyone else."
Tatsuya's immediate reaction was that there was little meaning in doing so.
"I understand. I'll keep it under wraps. Though it might be presumptuous to ask for this in return, if something similar to what occurred in April is on the horizon, could you let me know the details ahead of time?"
"...That's fine. Let's go with that mutually beneficial relationship."
The two of them shook hands, each nursing their own agenda.
Next day at lunch
For high schools attached to magic universities, the Nine Schools Competition held in summer and the Thesis Competition held in fall were major events. The extravagance of the Nine Schools Competition largely overshadowed the Thesis Competition, making it the single greatest event on the calendar.
The Nine Schools Competition was an intramural contest based on athletic magic competitions. (Besides magic competitions, there were riddle events, table top games, timed maze challenges, and even treasure hunts.) First High also had clubs for every occasion, but since competition was fiercest around the Nine Schools Competition itself, participants were not only selected from clubs, but anyone deemed capable of winning was selected as a participant.
Thanks to this, preparations for the Nine Schools Competition passed from the Clubs Management Group to the Student Council.
"However, the engineer problem far outweighs the participant problem..."
...Or not.
"We still don't have the right headcount?"
Mayumi powerlessly nodded at Mari's inquiry.
"The majority of our students aim to be Magicians, so talented personnel generally gravitate towards technical skills... Our 3rd Year students are particularly worrisome, with our numbers in the Magic Artificer department reaching dangerous lows. In 2nd Year we have capable people in A-chan and Isori-kun, but our numbers are still insufficient..."
"Isori, eh... That guy specialises in geometry, so he's stronger in theory rather than maintenance, right?"
"We're long past the point of caring about these things."
It was extremely rare to see both Mayumi and Mari sigh, which said a lot about how serious things were — although using this to evaluate how serious the situation was would be slightly wrong.
"Even if Juumonji and I help out, there's a limit to how much we can do..."
"Aren't the two of you our primary participants as well? If you're too busy worrying about other people's CADs and allow that to affect your own events, that's not something we can joke around with."
"...If Mari could maintain her own CAD, that would lessen the burden a lot."
"...Yeah, we're in trouble."
Maybe due to exhaustion or some other reason, Mari avoided Mayumi's earnest gaze and looked elsewhere.
The atmosphere in the Student Council Room was borderline hazardous to psychological well being.
In order to return to the classroom — that is, to evacuate the premises — Tatsuya signalled Miyuki with a look, then sought a proper opening.
"Rin-chan, can you help as an engineer?"
Even with the chaos surrounding the preparations for the Nine School Competition, Suzune still hung around in the Student Council Room during lunch and was someone Mayumi never failed to invite.
"That's impossible. My skills would only hamper Nakajou and the others."
But was coldly rebuffed each time.
With apologies to the currently depressed Mayumi, but this was the perfect opportunity to beat a retreat.
"Then... How about we ask Shiiba-kun?"
"Hoh?"
Mayumi, who originally had her head slumped on the table, abruptly lifted her head and let out an unintelligible sound.
"I heard that Miyuki-chan's CAD is maintained by Shiiba-kun. I've seen it before, and its specs rival those of a first-class corporate technician."
Mayumi jumped out of her chair.
Her face was suffused with vitality, as if that earlier dejected scene never happened.
"Blind spot...!"
The gaze Mayumi directed towards Tatsuya was like a hawk eyeing its new found prey.
That alone was sufficient for Tatsuya to give up halfway but still he had to get something out of this if he had to do it.
"You're right... I can't believe I didn't think of that, how careless."
Now that Mari had joined the fray, he was up a creek without a paddle.
"Speaking of which, he also handled the reserve CADs the Committee owns... But since he's the only one using them, I never thought about it."
"Earlier I heard the Chief talk about the importance of CAD technicians, but there's no precedent for a 1st Year technician, is there?"
"Everything has to start somewhere."
"Traditions are made to be overturned."
Mayumi and Mari immediately returned fire at a furious rate.
"The two of you may be 'progressive thinkers', but won't the other participants baulk at this? I'm a 1st Year Course 2 student, this would leave a negative impression on many people."
This was a little self-deprecating coming from him, but that didn't mean it wasn't true.
"For CAD maintenance, mutual trust between Magician and Artificer is extremely important. A CAD's maximum performance is dictated by the level of the user's mental state. Using a person like me to maintain CADs would lead to severe participant backlash, so I don't think I'm a good candidate..."
Tatsuya's logic also had its own merits, causing Mayumi and Mari to exchange a glance.
However, regardless of what Tatsuya said, the two of them had already seen through his facade.
"I was hoping that you could work with my CAD while I'm participating in the Nine Schools Competition... Is that okay?"
Tatsuya froze at Miyuki's completely unexpected betrayal
In a Shakespearean drama, Tatsuya's mood would undoubtedly mirror that of Caesar as he was assassinated — "Et tu, Miyuki (Brutus)...!"
"Exactly! Having a trustworthy and competent technician nearby is absolutely integral for participants to rely on. Well said, Miyuki-chan!"
Mayumi immediately followed up on the attack.
"Yes, if you joined the Technician Team, not only I, but Mitsui-san and Kitayama-san could set our minds at ease."
This was the first time that Tatsuya learned those two were entering the Newcomers Division as participants, but he considered them to be the expected candidates.
This was also him trying to escape from reality.
Obviously, the battle had been decided.
After this Tatsuya met with Erika and Leo as of recently these two started to spend a lot of time together.
"So they are forcing you to be a engineer in the 9sc ah"
"Yes "
"Wouldn't that be great though you could represent the course 2 students and this will also make everyone of the course 1 very angry"
Erika said with her evil grin
"If I have to do this at least I should get something in return right?"
"What are you planning to ask?"
"Well we do know someone who is already more powerful than most of the
Course 1 students we know, I was hoping to rope him into this"
"Ara Tatsuya that's evil"
Erika's words may be indignant but her smile made her thoughts very clear. She was clearly enjoying all the drama that was about to happen.
Leo could only do nothing but stare at these two people who are very similar in their scheming; he had already given up on trying to keep up with them when they are like this.
The preparation meeting for the Nine Schools Competition held in the Club Management Headquarters was suffused with a nervous aura from the onset.
Students with outstanding performance in the events would receive extra credit for their classes. Just for being one of the official participants, students would receive no homework, extra days off and guaranteed straight A's.
Not only did this apply to participants, but to the students selected as engineers as well.
Thanks to the school putting such a high emphasis on the Nine Schools Competition, the students selected as the representatives for the Nine Schools Competition received such incredible rewards. Thus, it was unsurprising that the competition was particularly fierce for the last few slots on the official roster during this meeting.
"Then, let's start the selection meeting for the Nine Schools Competition roster."
The meeting for upperclassmen, club leaders for the various participating clubs, Student Council members (Miyuki remained on station in the Student Council Room) and the Club Management Group members who received the internal notification that they were possible candidates for participant or engineer slots officially began.
Tatsuya sat with the various candidates in the visitors section to the side,
Any organisation that exceeded a certain size would naturally contain bigots that swiftly identified Tatsuya as an outsider.
As expected, not long after the meeting began, someone asked what a 1st Year Course 2 student was doing here.
That certainly did not imply that no one looked upon Tatsuya kindly.
There were actually a surprising number of favourable opinions.
The upperclassmen differed from the 1st Year students in that they knew Tatsuya was a special Course 2 student in addition to being a formidable asset to the Public Morals Committee.
Despite this, there were still more opposing than supporting, often in the form of negative emotions rather than objective logic, which caused the meeting to deadlock and waste more valuable time.
"In summation..."
Suddenly, a solemn voice dominated the conference room.
The voice was not particularly loud, yet all the squabbles quickly died away as everyone focused on the speaker.
Juumonji Katsuto, who had hitherto remained silent, cast his gaze across the room before starting to speak:
"In my opinion, the problem lies in that everyone is unfamiliar with what level of skill Shiiba possesses. If so, the most efficient solution is to submit that to a live test."
The spacious room was dead silent.
This would bring about a simple and effective result that no one would bemoan, but because of the risk involved, no one had dared to propose this course of action.
"...That's not a bad suggestion, but how do we go about it in a practical manner?"
"Simply having him perform maintenance right now would suffice."
Mari broke the silence with her question, to which Katsuto provided a simple answer.
"Allow me to be the guinea pig."
"No, I was the one who recommended him, so I should take that role."
Mayumi immediately requested to take responsibility, likely out of a sense of duty, but from another perspective, this likely implied that she didn't wholly trust Tatsuya, which was something that Tatsuya easily read between the lines to his discomfort.
"Wait, please let me do it."
That being said, the fact that Kirihara was willing to pinch hit caused Tatsuya considerable shock — the mettle displayed by this man was certainly comforting.
The school's CAD maintenance facility open to faculty and students was located in the Technical Skills Building.
However, this time they weren't using the preset maintenance devices in the Practical Skills Building, but bringing the mobile maintenance devices used in the Nine Schools Competition to the conference room to conduct their test.
The CAD in question was also one that qualified under the regulations of the Nine Schools Competition.
Seeing as how the pre-competition preparations proceeded so smoothly both in materials and procedure, the continuously delayed selection process was a particularly glaring issue.
Tatsuya sat before the maintenance device with Kirihara on the other side — but the two of them couldn't see one another. The members of the Student Council and various club leaders crowded around Kirihara.
The first step involved activating the school device, a process during which many malicious gazes were focused on Tatsuya's hand movements, but Tatsuya was long accustomed to working with much more complex devices than the school device, so this was a procedure he could have completed flawlessly in his sleep. He adeptly completed the preparations and adopted a poker face to ward off the abhorring gazes.
"My task involves copying Kirihara-senpai's CAD schematics onto the competition-use CAD, making any necessary adjustments without changing the Activation Sequence, am I correct?"
Tatsuya once again verified the test's contents.
"Yes, sorry for bothering you."
Tatsuya on seeing Mayumi nodding shook his head slightly. Not nodding, shaking.
"...What is it?"
"I wouldn't advise directly copying the schematics onto a different model CAD... But there's nothing for it, so let's put safety as the first priority."
"?"
Mayumi wasn't the only one dumbfounded. "Copying CAD schematics" was a simple task that occurred when users changed machines, so many other people were also wondering why Tatsuya viewed this as a problem.
However, the Technician Team centred around Azusa knew exactly why Tatsuya asked this question. The team members either nodded slightly in agreement or smirked as they prepared to enjoy Tatsuya's performance.
Tatsuya didn't say anything else and plunged into the maintenance.
First, he connected Kirihara's CAD to the maintenance device.
The schematics replication process was semi-automatic, so there was no way to gauge the difference in skill here.
However, Tatsuya didn't just dump the schematic replica directly into the calculation device of the competition-use CAD, but stored it into the processing area of the maintenance device, a move that caused quite a few people to raise their eyebrows.
Next he measured Kirihara's personal psion oscillation nature.
Following Tatsuya's instructions, Kirihara put the headset on his head, then placed both hands on the examination board.
This was also a normal procedure. If this was an automatic maintenance device, the steps required would be to connect the CAD, then read the psion waves, and the process would automatically complete itself.
Generally, students that used the school devices for personal maintenance would adopt that precise procedure.
On the other hand, not relying on automatic maintenance and manually making minute adjustments to the CAD's OS showed an engineer's true strength.
"Thank you senpai, you can take it off now."
Tatsuya indicated that the measurements were concluded and Kirihara removed the headset.
Ordinarily, the next step involved connecting the CAD that needed to be modified, then making any adjustments beyond the automatic recommendations. This required a preset CAD to be prepared in advance, then copying all the data onto the destination CAD.
Just about everyone in the audience thought that Tatsuya messed up the procedure.
As if to prove this point, Tatsuya stared at the monitor without moving a muscle.
However, he didn't give off the air of someone who was hopelessly lost because of a misstep.
His gaze was focused to a terrifying degree without giving a hint of that unsteady feeling.
Unable to contain her curiosity, Azusa poked her head around Tatsuya's body to glance at the monitor.
"Uh?"
Her voice let out an awkward sound that was wholly incompatible with her youthful image.
Tatsuya was completely unaffected by this interruption.
Mayumi and Mari didn't dare to ask what was going on, so they both came to Azusa's side to look at the monitor — and were barely able to contain their gasps.
The monitor didn't display the expected measurement results and graphs, but was filled with character strings scrolling across at high velocity.
The two of them were only able to pick out a few numbers here and there; their eyes were wholly unable to keep up with the scrolling pace.
The numbers abruptly came to a stop.
Roughly a few dozen seconds had elapsed, which was less than 5 minutes since Tatsuya started staring at the screen.
After the character strings stopped scrolling, Tatsuya immediately plugged in the competition-use calculation device and swiftly started hitting the keyboard.
Many windows started opening and closing.
Only Azusa noticed that one of the opened windows was the original document with the recorded measurement results, while another window was the original document that contained the replicated CAD schematics on the maintenance device.
Very few people recognized how insanely advanced the procedure unfolding before their eyes truly was, since the majority of the audience was held spellbound at the unheard of speed at which Tatsuya was hitting the keyboard. Even so, Azusa believed that the truly astounding part was the technique Tatsuya displayed when he was directly reading the nature of the psion oscillations from the original document.
With that method, the engineer could perfectly allocate the resources within the parameters of the calculation device to best suit the measurement results reflected in the maintenance device. This was a completely manual process wholly independent of the automatic processes provided by the system.
Before Azusa's gaze, the settings temporarily stored in the work area were steadily being rewritten in a flash.
The original document still remained on the main screen, but Azusa was barely able to detect the modified settings.
This definitely fell within the boundaries of safety. He was really adhering to the "safety is the first priority" condition.
This way, it would lower the user's risk from relying on automatic maintenance, and provide Activation Sequences that exceeded automatic maintenance in efficiency.
There was absolutely no need for a practical test.
This 1st Year student's skill far surpassed that of anyone in the Technician Team.
Azusa made up her mind right there that she was going to drag Tatsuya onto the team no matter what, objections be damned.
Under the condition "without changing the Activation Sequence" the maintenance quickly came to an end.
He was so fast that the audience wasn't thoroughly entertained.
The next part was the actual live test.
Unnoticed by others, Kirihara's expression was slightly nervous and tense, but fell within the expected boundaries.
In reality, there was no incident, nor was there anything that could even be remotely called an accident.
The CAD Tatsuya modified was "completely the same" as Kirihara's beloved CAD.
"Kirihara, how do you feel?"
"No problem at all. It's just like I'm using my own CAD, there's no incompatible feeling at all."
Kirihara immediately answered Katsuto's question.
Everyone was perfectly clear that this was not an inflated evaluation based on friendship. Given Kirihara and Tatsuya's past history — Kirihara was forcibly subdued by Tatsuya during the kenjutsu club's performance during recruitment week in April — people who knew the particulars were aware that there's no way Kirihara would protect Tatsuya. However, even excluding this "misunderstanding", everyone who saw the way the magic was invoked knew that the CAD was functioning perfectly smoothly.
That being said, "able to smoothly invoke magic" was a fairly low criterion and it was hard to see any further results.
"...Looks like he has the fundamentals down, but this isn't enough to qualify him to be one of the school representatives."
"Time spent was pretty average, nothing special."
"He didn't follow proper procedure, but there may be some reason behind that..."
Unsurprisingly, the 2nd Year participants were the first to react negatively to this seemingly normal result.
The backlash wasn't solely from Tatsuya's unprecedented nomination, but also since he was specifically picked by the President, everyone subconsciously expected him to floor them all with some outstanding technique, so naturally higher expectations led to greater disappointment.
"I fully support bringing Shiiba-kun onto the team!"
Abandoning her usual cowed expression, Azusa furiously countered.
"What he just displayed before our eyes was a technique that far surpasses our wildest dreams as high school students. Just the very fact that he doesn't need to use automatic maintenance and is able to do this entirely manually is already a feat that I cannot accomplish."
"...Even if his technique was amazing, what's the point if it's such a mundane result...?"
"It only looks mundane, but the contents are completely different! To be able to completely abide within the safety parameters at no loss of efficiency is an incredible accomplishment!"
Tatsuya had also lost his patience.
"Nakajou senpai, As the senpai said the result was mundane so now senpai will show us how to do the same thing and give an outstanding result."
That one statement changed the tension in the room. They couldn't do anything about this.
All the upperclassmen in the room didn't know what to do. This course 2 students just challenged them all to do a better job than him.
"Or are you saying that the senpais can't do anything better than me…?"
"Shiiba that's enough"
Katsuto said
"Kirihara's personal model boasts superior performance to the competition-use models, but even with this difference, the user was still unable to detect any difference, so I believe this technique deserves high praise."
"Eh? ...Hattori-kun?"
Out of the blue, the one who came to the rescue was Hattori.
"President, I also support Shiiba joining the Technician Team."
With the opposition stunned into silence and Katsuto's public declaration of support, Tatsuya's nomination was certain.
After the meeting was over only the big 3 and Tatsuya remind
"You know that was not necessary" maiyumi said
"Well you wanted change president this is how change occurs change doesn't occur in a systematic level if you don't strike at it and break it down"
"Well anyway your nomination is all but confirmed.."
"Firstly president who is going to be the representative for icicle braking for newcomers division"
"Eh it's ikura kun i believe"
"Well if you want me as a engineer i want you to switch him with Yoshida Mikihiko form course 2"
"Why ?"
This came from katsudo
"Well he is simply better than ikura"
"How can you say that?"
"Well you could just have them go on an head to head battle if you want"
"But this will also reduce the moral of the course 1 students" katsudo said
"You just watched me humiliate a room full of them and your asking a course 2 student to be a representative of this school if you keep cudailing the course 1 students they will never win"
"Well then why don't we just try there is nothing wrong"
"Ok"
After explaining to Mikihiko and making him participate
"Do I really have to do this?" Mikihiko asked
"Yes !" came the answer from all his friends
He was just forced into participating in the 9SC by Tatsuya and Erika both of them had a way of scheming and enjoying the drama. He almost felt bad for Leo who is the main person who has always been pushed into difficult situations because of them.
But at the same time he felt immense happiness that his friends trusted in his abilities enough to stake his own position in his great competition.
And he had never seen Erika so happy like she is now.
He himself had found a girl who has the crystal eyes that the Yoshida family has been searching for generations.
He felt that his trouble with the dragon god was just a way to make him ready to meet such good friends.
His opponent has been staring daggers at him this whole time, he seems to believe that going up against Mikihiko is an insult to him.
But he did not care about that. Now he does not doubt himself, all he cares about is to prove that his friends trust and his training has not Been a waste.
It took the position of opposite each other they both started the magic the sound of the starting signal mikihiko Pushed nearly 50% of his psion to the the icicles standing before him.
Tatuya had been told by that this will act like an armour around them
"Take this you bastard" ikura cried out and fired a spell to increase the heat around the icicles.
But nothing happened
This technique makes most of the magic spells inefficient.
At the same time doing this has takes a lot of power and control so he cannot maintain this at this time for a long time
His opponent attacked with an earthquake spell.
The same thing happened and Ikura slowed down and didn't attack for a single second, but that was all that Mikihiko needed.
He released his magic "thunderchild" tour through the icicles of his opponent's side and managed to take out all of them.
All the course 1 student could do was nothing but stare at him in disbelief.
Mayumi, Mari, Katsudo all had a face that said they were not expecting this.
Now Tatsuya and Mikihiko have been confirmed to participate in 9SC.
Nighttime Shiba residence :
After they shared their customary dinner together, the telephone picked this precise moment to start ringing.
"Long time no see... Did you intend to do that?"
"...Wait a minute, I have no idea what you're talking about... Long time no see, Special Lieutenant."
Onscreen was a familiar face wearing a very surprised expression.
"It's been two months since we last spoke, but... If you're using that title, does that mean this is an encrypted transmission? I can't believe you can tap into the civilian line every time."
"It's not that easy, Special Lieutenant. Compared to the standards of an average household, isn't the security surrounding your house a little too tight?"
"That's because there are a lot of hackers active recently, and the household servers have sensitive information stored within them."
"No wonder. We were almost traced on our end."
"You deserved that. As long as you don't delve too deeply into the database, the defence system shouldn't activate."
"I think this serves as an excellent warning shot for my newest switchboard."
Onscreen, the face that had been baptised into coarse leather by long exposure to sunlight and gunpowder revealed a mischievous smile.
As he saw this smile, Tatsuya reflected that the man hadn't aged a day since three years ago.
Based on his rank and department, he must deal with a myriad of details daily, but he never betrayed any trace of exhaustion... As these thoughts chased one another around in his mind, Tatsuya suddenly recalled that the one on the other side of the line — The Army's 101 Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion CO Major Kazama Harunobu didn't like to waste unnecessary time on small talk.
"Major, what's on the agenda today?"
"That's right, let's cut the small talk. Business first."
"Please go ahead."
"Today we completed modifications on the 'Third Eye'. We upgraded some components to the latest models and updated the software, so I would like you to test it out."
The 101 was a primarily magic-based experimental detachment that was separate from the normal chain of command. In addition, the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion was also responsible for the development of cutting edge equipment.
Compared to regular military classification, the security clearance for this detachment was five to six levels higher. Accordingly, a regular high school student had no business interacting with such a division, to the point that he or she would be wholly ignorant of its existence.
However, due to certain classified events, Tatsuya was actually an official member of Kazama's division.
"Understood. I will report first thing tomorrow."
"...Wait a second, this isn't so important that you need to take a day off from school."
"No, next weekend I plan to visit the lab to test out a new calculation device."
"Although I'm in no position to say so... But ever since you entered high school, you've been leading a decisively non-student-like lifestyle."
"I dislike your impression, but there's nothing I can do about it."
"That's true... No matter how busy we get, there's nothing we can do about it. In that case, meet up at the old place tomorrow morning. I'm sorry I won't be there, but I will contact Sanada ahead of time."
"Understood."
Tatsuya saluted in acceptance, while Kazama repeated that action on the screen.
This type of salute went entirely against regulations, but since Tatsuya was irregular, the standards were slightly relaxed.
"Next subject. Special Lieutenant, rumours say that you are joining this summer's Nine Schools Competition?"
"...Affirmative."
Tatsuya hesitated for a split second, but given the circumstances, the fact that he only hesitated for a "split second" was quite an accomplishment.
It was less than three hours after he had been confirmed as a member of the Technician's Team.
Knowing that asking was fruitless, Tatsuya put a lid on his curiosity and refrained from asking how the Major got the word.
"The arena is located in the southeast sector of the Fuji Exercise Grounds, so this is only customary... That being said, Tatsuya, stay on your guard."
"There are suspicious circumstances surrounding that area, with signs that we have illegal aliens in the area."
"Did someone infiltrate the military's exercise grounds?"
"Quite lamentable indeed. Also, several witnesses claimed seeing East Asian members of an international crime syndicate in the area, which did not occur this time last year. Based on the timing, it's very likely they have something planned for the Nine Schools Competition."
It's just a high school intramural competition... Tatsuya was about to say this aloud, before switching to another tack.
"You mentioned an international crime syndicate?"
How did he figure out their identity?
"I asked Mibu to give me a hand. You probably know him."
"The father of First High's Year 2 student Mibu Sayaka?"
"Exactly. After retiring from the military, Mibu transferred to Internal Affairs (Cabinet Agency of Data Supervision). He's currently Chief of Foreign Affairs, specifically international crime syndicates."
"...I'm surprised."
Tatsuya wasn't merely parroting back, he was honestly surprised.
"Criminal syndicates and underground terrorist cells are handled by different departments. Tunnel vision on their own affairs is a common fallacy in government agencies."
The reason why Kazama was able to accurately mirror Tatsuya's thoughts, rather than due to their long friendship, was more because Kazama could also read between the lines and thus resonate with Tatsuya.
"However, information from areas within his expertise is trustworthy. According to Mibu's calculations, these might be members from the criminal syndicate based out of Hong Kong called 'No Head Dragon'. Currently, their objective remains unknown and we will let you know as soon as this changes."
"Thank you, Major."
"I won't see you tomorrow, but we may meet up at Fuji."
"I look forward to that meeting."
"Likewise... Ho, we talked too long. The new rookie is starting to panic, so it's about time for me to hang up."
The web police probably detected traces of the network invasion. Based on this assumption, it was too ambiguous for Tatsuya to tell whether he should praise the skills of the web police or lament over the skills of Kazama's subordinates.
"Make sure to greet sensei for me."
"Understood."
"Goodbye."
Tatsuya wasn't able to reply before the screen turned blank.
"That was probably a broad hint that I should make contact with sensei..."
Then, how much was he supposed to reveal? The face of his sensei who owned the title of head monk, but was more appropriately described as "imposter" floated into Tatsuya's mind as he slightly sighed.
After the call ended Tatsuya returned to the lab under the house were he had been on the end of the compilation of the a new magic spell
"Tatsuya san, this is Miyuki, I'm coming in with tea."
"Perfect, come in."
Usually Sakurai san would bring tea or coffee around this time every night but tonight Miyuki came
"I was just about to go get you—"
—He got only that far before silence forcibly swallowed the next word.
When she saw Tatsuya turn around on the chair and stare fixedly at her, Miyuki felt a small shiver of satisfaction run through her. She carried the tray with one hand while the other lightly clutched the hem of the skirt as she playfully curtseyed.
"...Ah, is this the uniform for 'Fairy Dance'?"
"Indeed"
The miniskirt was formed by layers upon layers of dazzling colours that floated together and perfectly matched the tights that covered her beautiful legs along with the bright, leather boots.
The outer garment was open down on the back, made of a translucent material whose thickness was hard to tell. The lines were not embroidered, but naturally created by the fabric itself, allowing it to perfectly complement the bosom.
Beneath the outer garment was a shirt in the same vein as the leggings. No, maybe it wasn't a shirt and pair of leggings, but an entire long-sleeved spandex. If there wasn't the outer covering, it could very well have been mistaken for a figure skater's uniform.
A pair of hair decorations with wings sprouting out the sides held her long silky hair in place, connected by a long thick band seen on most earmuffs.
Considering air resistance and chest protection, this gorgeous uniform was undoubtedly the uniform used for "Mirage Bat" — also known as "Fairy Dance", one of the most anticipated magical events in the Nine Schools Competition.
"How does it look?"
Miyuki placed the tray on a nearby table before spinning around with a smile.
Even though the softly flowing miniskirt was very short, when matched with the fluttering hair dancing in the air it created an aura of impossible grace.
"Devastatingly cute, suits you perfectly, and your timing is excellent."
Miyuki stopped twirling when she faced Tatsuya and grabbed with both hands the hem of her skirt in a deep curtsey as Tatsuya complimented her.
"Thank you Tatsuya san for your praise...?"
Miyuki was 100% certain that her elder brother would praise her, so she only prepared one response, as one response was all that was needed.
However, she was unable to comprehend what Tatsuya's last words referred to, so she altered her response to include a question mark at the end.
Miyuki straightened her legs and waist before "looking up" to the seated Tatsuya.
Just as she was about to direct her gaze towards the usual height to inquire the meaning of "your timing is perfect", Miyuki quickly realised something was wrong.
She just as quickly grasped the reason.
Even though Tatsuya was seated, his gaze was still level to his normal standing height.
Miyuki swiftly glanced downwards, then swallowed hard.
The chair that was supposed to be beneath him — was gone.
Tatsuya's right leg was crossed over his left and his right elbow was directly perpendicular atop the right knee, like he was stretching the upper half of his body forward... As he sat in mid air.
"I also wanted Miyuki to test out this calculation device."
Tatsuya maintained this position as he slid towards Miyuki until he was roughly an arm's length away before stopping. He then uncrossed his legs and straightened his feet much like how he would rise from a chair.
With this series of motions, his physical body naturally returned to earth
"...Flying-Type Magic... Sustained Gravity-Control Type Magic has been completed!"
She was only distracted for a split second.
Miyuki nearly pounced on her brother as she seized his hand in joy.
"Tatsuya san, congratulations!"
This was one of the magics that Tatsuya had been researching for some time.
Among the Four Great Systemic and the Eight Major Types of magic, the first category is the "Speed/Mass" System.
This was morphed out of the simplest of SuperPowers, commonly acknowledged to be the most basic magic in modern systemic magic.
That being said, while Flying-Type Magic is theoretically possible under the Speed/Mass Systems — Sustained Gravity-Control Magic, even though the basic proposal existed since the early days of modern magic, it was never successfully developed in official channels before this day.
Today during lunch, Flying-Type Magic was the subject of considerable debate. Modern magic's general consensus was that while the theory was sound, the practical application was impossible.
Even so, another cornerstone of modern magic laws was overturned before Miyuki's eyes.
"Once again you have made the impossible possible!"
"Thank you, Miyuki. Although they didn't intend to use it solely towards flying, Ancient Magic has already reached this level of flying capability, but today we took another big step towards realising the goal."
"The flying abilities of Ancient Magic can only be used by a small minority of Magicians and are a unique ability that depends on the subject, right? However, isn't your Flying-Type Magic usable by anyone with sufficient Magic Power?"
"At present, I have set that as the first objective. I hope you will help me test this."
"Delighted too!"
Miyuki's eyes shone as she nodded quickly.
After listening to the instructions, Miyuki looked towards the newly maintained CAD in her left hand.
Just like Miyuki's regular CAD, this was a model shaped like a mobile terminal.
However, the dimensions were much smaller than Miyuki's originally tiny model and could be comfortably obscured within her slender palm.
The only similarity was the overall shape of the mobile terminal model.
This CAD was a Specialised Calculation Device.
Miyuki wasn't familiar with Specialised models, but the operation was simple enough.
There was only a power switch and, once activated, the CAD would automatically absorb psions from the user in order to continuously fuel the Activation Sequence until the power was exhausted. On some level, this was a fairly barbaric item.
However, the psion consumption rate for the device had been lowered to the absolute minimum.
The purpose behind the design was to minimise the stress placed on the user.
"Begin test."
Her throat quivered slightly from the overwhelming nervousness she felt.
The fact that her hand wasn't trembling was enough for Miyuki to want to congratulate herself.
Even if the test failed, Tatsuya wouldn't blame her.
Rather, he would likely redesign the "Flying Calculation Device" from scratch.
Miyuki thumbed the CAD's power switch.
She knew without looking that the calculation device was currently absorbing her body's psions.
Even so, the amount was small enough that she had to pay extra attention to detect it.
It was only at a slightly elevated level compared to the normal loss of excess psions.
By the time she realised this, the Activation Sequence had already been stored into the Magic Calculation Area.
Though she was forewarned by Tatsuya's instructions, the tiny scale of the Activation Sequence still caught her by surprise.
With Miyuki's technical ability, she was able to execute dozens of copies of the same Activation Sequence with ease.
Even if the scale was tiny, every critical detail was recorded within.
Miyuki felt that this was an Activation Sequence completely stripped of anything unnecessary to boost efficiency to the max.
The variables were inputted into the Activation Sequence, beginning Magic Sequence construction.
Generally, Magicians wouldn't pay attention to these phases.
Miyuki imagined herself floating to the ceiling's height.
All of a sudden, the bounds of gravity disappeared.
Her five senses lost touch with her environment as if her body had phased out of reality, causing Miyuki to panic slightly.
That being said, Miyuki's soul was filled with a delight that far exceeded that paltry sense of panic.
She never knew flying was such a liberating experience.
She was almost envious of the astronauts that strode across the stars with 80% of this feeling.
She also pitied them for having to wear cumbersome space suits in order to enjoy such pleasure.
Miyuki earnestly wished to leave this narrow basement and freely soar through the skies.
"How is it? Is the Loop System too stressful?"
Her cousin's voice quickly pulled Miyuki's mind back to earth.
"No problems whatsoever. There are no headaches or sense of exhaustion."
"Excellent. Next is gradual parallel motion, get used to slowly accelerating yourself, then fly as you please."
"Understood."
Miyuki followed her cousin's instructions and imagined herself slowly floating parallel to the ground.
The tiny Activation Sequence automatically spread out and copied itself, constructing the Magic Sequence that changed the direction of gravity to parallel motion.
The design behind Flying-Type Magic revolved around using the Loop System to continuously invoke magic.
According to this process, as long as new conceptual ideas are not introduced into the Calculation Area, the variables would continuously mirror the original values.
Taurus Silver's magnum opus — "Loop System", was the perfect complement to the Flight Calculation Device that Tatsuya invented.
"Is the magic disjointed?"
"Not at all"
Miyuki continued to follow Tatsuya's directions and incrementally raised the spiralling speed.
She used the limited space within the basement to the maximum extent. She turned, manoeuvred, and flipped as she danced in the air.
The softly floating skirt and long, silky hair followed the outstretched body to display absolutely beautiful curves.
At some point, Tatsuya forgot to objectively analyse the situation and simply stood there mesmerised at the wholly unexpected fairy dance.
He would be the first to admit that his cousin was a beautiful girl, their relationship had been better ever since Okinawa. This was a good thing for Tatsuya who cared little for the feelings of most of his family members. The people that he could feel happy with are few within the family even now.
Their actions and tones have changed but he could not forgive them for all that they had put him through.
Four Leaves Technology (the literal translation is "Four Leaves Technology", but the official company records and brand name intentionally used only "Four Leaves") — often shortened to FLT, had a CAD development centre situated in the boondocks
Today Tatsuya was going along with Miya, Miyuki and Honami
This was the hub for all corporate related technical research, the veritable beating heart of FLT itself, with all the security that accompanied it. Not only were there cameras watching every angle, the number of deployed security personnel was also astounding.
Even so, no one halted them.
They didn't even bother to check in at the counter before walking down the window-less corridors that led to the deepest part of the facility.
Finally, all of them arrived at a room with one wall that was covered in windows from the ceiling to the floor.
On the other side of the windows, a deep chasm extended nearly half a floor beneath the earth that was large enough to house a hangar.
Across this open space was another room with the same observation area.
This was the CAD testing centre.
Over a dozen engineers and researchers were bustling about the office debating or manipulating various measuring devices.
"Ah, young master!"
Even though everyone was buried in work, someone greeted Tatsuya the moment he stepped into the observation room.
This was probably the only place in FLT where everyone's greeting was extended towards Tatsuya and not Miya.
The name "young master" was initially applied to Tatsuya because he was a relative of one of the corporate higher ups with the ability to enter as he pleased, but was now the respected title directed towards their future leader.
They all greeted them, Miya and Honami went to the boardroom for a meeting. Only Tatsuya and Miyuki reminded
and then Tatsuya asked
"Sorry for the bother, where's Director Ushiyama?"
The voice that answered this question came from far behind the crowd.
"Looking for me, Master?"
A tall but hardly fragile-looking engineer wearing grey work clothes threaded through the crowd.
"Director, my apologies for visiting when you're so busy."
"Wait, Master, please don't say that."
Tatsuya's respectful greeting caused the engineer named Ushiyama to colour and shake his head.
"It is your right to act casual, but these men are your subordinates, so there's no need to be overly humble like this."
"Not so, everyone here was recruited by my uncle, so they hardly answer me..."
"What are you saying? You are the far famed 'Mr. Silver' himself and we are honoured to serve beneath you."
Every engineer and researcher who heard Ushiyama's voice nodded in agreement.
This was Four Leaves Technology's CAD Development 3rd Division.
The development team that created what the world called the "Silver Series".
Currently, it is publicly acknowledged that the "Silver Series" is the defining work of FLT's technical abilities. Once seen as rebels and renegades, the surplus employees from the technical department that made up the 3rd Division now held considerable sway in FLT after the advent of the Silver Series.
Thus, the engineers and researchers here swore eternal loyalty to one of the core developers — Tatsuya, who was "half" of Taurus Silver.
"Seriously though, I think that you, 'Mr. Taurus', are the actual leader of this group, right? It's because you were always reluctant to accept the directorship that 3rd Division still doesn't have managers and group leaders."
"Please don't say that, I'm not capable of being ' ', I'm just an ordinary engineer who does the grunt work so that your ingenious theories can be facilitated. I'm the one who cannot stand the fact that my name is placed alongside the original developer. I'm not that brazen. It's just that the young master is still an underage student, so your patent would be a difficult issue, hence why I had to throw my name into the ring."
"...Without Ushiyama-san's skills, the 'Loop System' would be impossible to realise. I am not nearly as capable in terms of hardware knowledge, performance, and creativity, so regardless of whether it's skills or theory, the only thing that matters is that we are able to complete a model capable of mass consumption, correct?"
"Ah Stop, just stop. There's no way I can beat the young master in a debate, so let's get down to business. You didn't just pop in to see us, did you?"
As Ushiyama scratched his head in surrender, Tatsuya relaxed his solemn expression and let out a deliberate smile.
"OK, Ushiyama-san, today's test subject is this."
Tatsuya intentionally kept his tone and motions casual as he pulled out a CAD shaped like a smartphone. Ushiyama stared at it for more than 10 seconds without blinking at all.
This was the T-7 model CAD that Ushiyama prepared for Tatsuya for a specific reason.
To upload software into the test model meant that.
"Is that... the Flight Calculation Device?"
Ushiyama's hands shook as he took the CAD from Tatsuya's hands.
"Yes, the testing hardware that I had Ushiyama-san make is already loaded with the Activation Sequence for Sustained Gravity-Control Type Magic. With this test model it was easy to access and manipulate the system, making it very easy to use."
"Then the test..."
"As usual, only Miyuki and I have tested it, but we don't rate as normal Magicians."
Everyone present, and it wasn't just one or two either, who overheard them sucked in a breath and tensely stared at Ushiyama's hands.
"...Akira, how many T-7 Models do we have in the lab?"
Finally, Ushiyama used a fairly calm tone to ask his subordinate.
Upon getting the answer "ten", his half closed eyes abruptly sprang open.
"Damn! Only ten? Why weren't they replaced!
What? Order them later, grab every model we currently have plugged into the maintenance machines and copy the system the young master wrote!
Hiroshi, summon all the testers! What? Someone is on break?
I don't give a damn!
Drag them here by the neck if you have to!
Everyone else, stop whatever you're doing and prepare for precise measurement!
Do you guys understand? This is Flying-Type Magic! This will change the history of magic itself!"
He was probably using the internal broadcast.
Not just in this room, even the testing room on the opposite side burst into action as even the researchers on break started working.
This indoor CAD testing facility rivals a large gym in terms of area and height. The communication line hung down from the ceiling and was attached to the back of the testing personnel.
The line also doubled as a lifeline if needed.
Floating-Type Magic has already become widespread and this facility had also tested that before, but Flying-Type Magic was on a whole different level than Floating-Type Magic, to the extent that their actual designs were fundamentally different. It was also different from leaping and slow-motion descent, a hitherto unknown magic.
The tester's face was pale with anxiety.
New magics were usually created from already familiar magics, but no one knows where danger may be lurking.
There have been precedents where Magicians lost their lives due to tiny bugs in the Activation Sequence.
If they were using a brand new and (until now) unprecedented magic, no amount of caution was enough.
The surface changed to a shock-absorbing material and, once the suspension test was cleared, the preparations were finally complete.
"Start the test."
After evacuating to the observation room — not just for the safety of the observers, but for the testers as well — Ushiyama gave the order to begin.
From below, it was impossible to see what kind of expression the tester wore as he put on his safety helmet.
However, the tester, who had amassed extensive experience as the primary tester before reaching age 30, visibly clenched his teeth.
Even so, he thumbed the CAD's power switch without any hesitation.
"Confirm lift off."
"According to the measurements, there is no reverse force putting pressure on the ground."
Before the naked eye could make any confirmation, the personnel at the various measuring devices were already reporting in.
"Errors in upward acceleration within acceptable parameters."
"CAD performance is stable."
The tester's body was gradually rising.
Now, they could clearly see that his feet had left the ground.
The line was sagging, proving that the tester was not hanging from the suspension device.
Inside the observation room, excluding the sounds of the machines processing data and reporting back, there wasn't even the sound of clothes rustling.
Everyone forgot to move as they stared at either the scene before their eyes or the values displayed on the measuring devices.
"Upward acceleration still dropping... and zero, now maintaining rising velocity."
The tester gradually rose until he was level with the 3 metre high observation room.
"Upward acceleration entering negatives... Upward velocity has reached zero, confirmed immobile."
Up until this moment, this was still within the boundaries of what Floating-Type Magic could accomplish.
"Testing parallel acceleration."
Someone... More like everyone held their breath.
"Halt acceleration, begin 1 metre second parallel movement."
Without waiting for the measurement reports, it was obvious to the naked eye that the tester was currently moving in the air.
"It's moving..."
"He can fly..."
The incredulous words only served to confirm that the sight before everyone's eyes was reality.
"This is Tester #1 to the observation deck, I'm currently walking in the air... Belay that... I'm flying, I'm free..."
The surprising transmission from the speakers released the emotions suspended by everyone's amazement.
"Awesome!"
"We did it!"
"Congratulations, young master!"
The observers shouted in joy.
The tester was freely tracing flight paths in the sky.
Only Tatsuya remained immune to the fiery emotions of the people around him as he calmly observed the expressions around him and accepted their delirious well wishes.
"Are you all morons...?"
Ushiyama gestured helplessly at the testers that sprawled on the ground due to magic overuse.
This test ran massively over schedule and continued until all 9 testers were down and out for the count.
It wasn't that there was a problem with the process, it was because the testers didn't want to stop.
At their request, the communications line that also served as a life line was swapped for wireless communications so they could go completely off script and play hide and seek.
"How can you use Sustained-Type Magic for so long!"
"We have to streamline the design for the CAD's automatic psion absorption to make it more efficient..."
"...Let me handle that. If we rely more on the hardware portion than software, that should lessen the load somewhat. We could probably set the timing mechanism as a feedback loop as well."
Ushiyama said this after a moment's consideration, which Tatsuya responded to with a knowing smile.
"I was just about to discuss that with you."
"I'm honoured."
Both of them revealed the exact same smile.
While there were a few hardware modifications still remaining, all in all the technical portion yielded a satisfactory result. Today's most important gain was the verification that the average Magician is able to execute Flying-Type Magic with a CAD obtainable on the general market.
There was no time to waste. After organising the results of this experiment, next week he would publicise the details regarding Flying-Type Magic under the name Taurus Silver. Speed was more important than quality here, because the impacts of "first in the world" and "second in the world" were completely different. "First" was also an incredibly powerful tool for dissemination.
On the other hand, the CADs specifically designed for Flying-Type Magic would have to be objectively redesigned from scratch, so they would probably hit the market around September. With these two objectives established, the meeting adjourned.
Miya could only look at her nephew in awe. He not only saved her life and improved the chance of her guardian life after being trained in magic engineering by her, Now he had not only created the loop cast system and now he had solved one of the great puzzles of wight systematic magic. She felt genuine pride at her student's achievements. She had already been informed about his placement at the 9SC.
Chiba residence
Erika for the first time in a long while truly happy, she did not believe that she would be this happy by just going to high school,
At first she didn't even want to go but you was forced to as daughter of the chiba.
she was truly happy she had friends who never judge for birth and treated as simply and high school student
Her male friends didn't just look at her beauty but also her power.
Her female friends who didn't think she acted all high and mighty.
After training from months she was able to learn most of the techniques has she didn't have the near unlimited amount of psion that Tatsuya had she and the others picked up different ways to incorporate this method of fighting
One day while all of them were sitting in the cafe and discussing the training. Leo said it would be great if they can summon their CADS like they do in all those old movies with a simple command.
At first she thought it was an idiot and had a little spat with him but Mikihiko so that they could probably do something like that using ancient magic techniques.
So Mikihiko and Tatsuya created a new spell using both Ancient magic and modern magic techniques.
Mizuki and Mikihiko converted that into a magic seal using magic geometry that they took and Mizuki used the equipment in the arts and crafts club to encode this in all their CADS.
She even brought one of her swords so that it can be encoded.
So this was how it always was: a simple Idea or comment will be made into reality by pouring all their efforts and knowledge.
No one cared about the secrecy of Magic are anything like that this was simple development of Magic for all of them.
One day after coming home she had been training with her first brother chiba toshikazu and using all the techniques she had learnt she was even able to make him yield even after he used Tetsuzan
She was very surprised when he used it. They all taught He was a lazy person and didn't do any of the hard work. But she knew that he had blood and sweat in order to acquire that technique.
She was very happy about defeating him. He had always trained her the harshest unlike her second brother.
After that defeat he had come to her quarters and explained why he always treated her harshly
He had explained that he wanted her to be independent.
He knew that she would not be happy with the way she was and would want more power but she would never ask her father to train her and Naotsugu would be busy but even reluctant she had asked him to train her so that's why he acted that way.
He told her about how much he hates their father for what he did to her and their family
At first she didn't believe him or she didn't want to believe him but his eyes said that all of these were truths.
After that even their relationship started to improve. Just after Mikihiko's selection for the 9 school competition her father had summoned her.
"I heard that Yoshida's son was accepted as a participant in the 9SC?" Chiba Jouichirou asked
"Yes sir" She answered in a monotone voice.
"Didn't he lose his powers after that inciended?"
"He regained his powers after training with us in the magic club sir "
"So it wasn't just a bunch of children trying to play powerful magician in that club"
"No sir it was not" she answered, her voice as cold as the blade's edge.
"So have you gotten powerful as well ?"
"Yes sir"
"So you say, I want you to go and see where you're supposed to be, go to the 9SC"
"It was already my plan to go there sir"
"Is that so"
"Yes sir"
Tension in the room kept climbing up and up now all the pupils and both her brothers and her sister were watching her and their father.
Toshikazu could be seen with a mild amusement smile as if he could already see the end of this little conversation.
Naotsugu was frowning as much as possible. He was irritated at the tone her father had been using.
"Let's see how much you have grown then shall we I will be your opponent"
He said as he got up and went to the dojo with his blade.
Erika also moved to the dojo but instead of getting her sword she used her new magic
"Come to me"
As soon as she uttered those words a Swish sound could be heard and at the next instance her blade was in her hands.
All of the people were shocked to see this.
Mikihiko was the one to suggest that they use words to activate this Magic like in the ancient magic system. they had memorised the feeling of the magic activating using a CAD and replicating it by using the word association method.
This was done so that as most of the items were encoded with the magic horse CAD's they could not use this magic like in modern magic using a CAD that defects the purpose of the magic.
As soon as the starting signal was given they could only see a red wind and at the next instance the blade in Jouichirou's hands was cut and Erika's blade was in his throat.
He did yield and use the Ethereal Hidden Sword Technique - Kirikage to attack Erika but before he could reach her she disappeared.
Erika used her hidden new technique that she created after training with the club.
"The hidden blade technique 8 petal blooming"
As 7 psion blades appeared behind her and at the moment of impact
The slash appeared and severed all of Jouichirou's joints.
2 to the legs, 2 to the hands and 2 to the shoulders, 1 slash broke the psion blade in his hands and the last slash rested in his neck.
"Ehh…"
"Ahhh"
"Uhhhhh"
These three reaction came from three different people
First was Toshikazu who couldn't believe what had happened
Second was the pulps who were in utter shock as the most skilled master of the blade was defeated under a single minute.
Third was Naotsugu who was in total shock to see her defeat their father without even using Orochimaru.
"I yield"
After those words Erika put away her blade and the family healers rushed in to heal their family head. She did not wait for that and returned to her room happier than ever.
Next day he brothers told her that their father had given her permission to do whatever she wanted.
They both even said that their father had been in his room for the evening and didn't even come out for the whole day.
