[368] Special Training (3)
Serious training had begun.
Practice focused on the Scatter Movement, and during breaks he studied the theory of laser-guidance techniques.
Thanks to an hour of private tutoring from Isabel each day, he was also beginning to get a basic grasp of radio waves.
When he finished his work and returned, Plu evaluated the day's achievements.
But from her strict mouth there was no sign of a passing grade.
"Slow. Again."
Shirone gritted his teeth and cast the Scatter Movement. Each time, Plu would appear in front of him and grab his shoulders with both hands.
He had hoped for a lucky break, but it seemed a pro mage didn't make mistakes.
How on earth did she find him? No—could a human even react that fast?
Her synesthesia was too acute to blame on his inexperience.
In any case, there was no reason to complain about receiving guidance from an outstanding mage, and so the days accumulated.
"Ugh!"
A dull thud burst out as Shirone rolled on the floor. His back arched like a bow and his face contorted in pain.
He'd been so focused on photon output that he'd missed his teleportation landing point.
Plu looked down at him sprawled at her feet.
"Again."
A firework-like flash detonated in the center of the training ground.
Photon output fanned out in seven directions and Shirone reached the target safely. Plu's face, which he'd seen until bored, was nowhere in sight.
"It worked! This time it worked!"
She clearly hadn't tracked the Scatter Movement. As expected, Plu hadn't moved from her original spot.
With her eyes closed she traced her index finger across the air.
"A—gain."
Shirone panted and answered.
"Why? The force was perfect and you couldn't catch me, senpai."
"Look where you're standing."
Shirone glanced down. The direction was right; nothing seemed unusual.
"What's wrong with here?"
"You only moved about eight meters. Didn't you set your teleportation bound at ten meters when you used it?"
"Oh…."
How could he make such a basic mistake? The fundamentals, too.
"Listen. Your teleportation bound must never waver. In real combat, hundreds of turns pass in an instant and you have to get through complicated terrain. If your bound wavers, you die. That's why even high-level mages rarely change their bound mid-battle."
"Yes, sorry."
Plu snorted and put a hand on her hip at his deflated answer.
"Weak basics just mean you've become technically skilled. But that's when you mustn't get careless. All applications ultimately come from solid fundamentals."
Shirone clenched his fist and carved her words into his heart.
Basics. Basics are everything.
The next day.
Shirone finally succeeded with the Scatter Movement.
Plu hadn't moved, his direction was exact, and his teleport distance was exactly ten meters.
"Ah… I finally did it."
He was so tense he couldn't even savor the joy of success.
Plu still didn't smile. If anything, she approached with a colder look than before, as if saying now the real work began.
"All right. Now let's get serious. Your own Scatter Movement."
Understanding what Plu meant, Shirone immediately changed his expression.
The Scatter Movement was a fine spell on its own, but among countless grimoires it had been chosen because it could be converted into an offensive spell.
Don't get nervous. It's just converting photon output into a Photon Cannon.
Three weeks had been spent so far on the Scatter Movement. If he failed here, it would delay him by days, and then there'd be far too little time to learn the advanced course: laser-guidance magic.
"Start. I'll take it for real."
Plu's eyes were completely different from when she'd been evaluating the Scatter Movement.
Unlike simple photon output, the Photon Cannon was a pure attack spell. It was also the final test, so she had a duty to be sincere.
Shirone took a deep breath and timed it. Assuming a one-second interval, he teleported at the half-second mark to break the opponent's rhythm.
His body glowed and Photon Cannons burst in all directions, and at the same time Plu moved.
Shirone arrived in the west. Therefore, what flew toward Plu, who had arrived in the south, was a Photon Cannon.
The moment the Photon Cannon registered through the Spirit Zone, Plu's head tilted back beyond her will.
When the Photon Cannon flashed past her and slammed into the wall, the training hall reverberated with a thud.
"So, how was it? Will this work in the field?"
"...."
Plu replayed the recent moment in her mind.
Catching a Photon Cannon had been far more stressful than she'd expected. The source of its impact was speed—distinct from other magics.
The quasi-light-speed standard was created to define the light-speed realized by magic.
It isn't used in physics, but to a biological eye there's no distinction between it and actual light. If you fired an arrow with a luminous body attached at night, it would look like a flash.
But the Photon Cannon he'd produced was even faster than anticipated—closer to the speed of a rifle round. That meant they'd matched mass-to-output ratio correctly.
A mass larger than a typical magic round barreled in at projectile speed. The recipient tensed.
An ordinary Scatter Movement, even if it failed to seize a target, at worst fizzles; this was a blast.
"Pass. This will work in actual combat."
A liveliness finally returned to Shirone's face.
"Phew, thank goodness. The three weeks were worth it. Thank you so much!"
There's nothing a mage enjoys more than learning a new spell, so Plu, understanding Shirone's feelings, erased her sternness and smiled.
"You should retain this sensation. Mind if you keep practicing?"
"Of course. Remembering the feeling of success is important. Just don't overdo it."
From then on, Shirone practiced the Scatter Movement until exhaustion.
After two hours, no matter which of the eight directions he teleported to, the Photon Cannon's power remained consistent.
"Ow, my back."
Plu, who'd been watching Shirone's training, rubbed her sore waist as she dodged Photon Cannons.
If she'd evaded with sheer muscle alone there might not have been such a strain, but because she'd moved using manipulation-type magic, her body felt the toll.
Once he'd mastered it, he'd reached intermediate proficiency in two hours. Talent was talent, after all.
Academic papers called Shirone's forte insight. He was a mage with an extreme tendency to probe the core rather than accumulate miscellaneous techniques.
No doubt Gaold's expectations were pinned on that very thing.
"Phew."
Having finished training, Shirone looked up at the ceiling with a sweat-soaked face.
That feeling of total immersion born from achievement is the miracle window that briefly raises skill.
Mages called it a fever.
"All done?"
Shirone wore a satisfied expression.
"Yes. I think it's starting to sink in."
"From tomorrow we'll move on to laser-guidance techniques. But there's something I need to go over first."
The joy of success drained from Shirone's eyes.
He had to listen to everything.
Living with the pro mages of the Association, their way of thinking had naturally rubbed off on him.
"I watched you for three weeks, and your balance is pretty messed up."
"Huh? Balance?"
Plu twirled her fingers and roughly outlined Shirone's Spirit Zone.
"The biggest problem is your Spirit Zone is too large. Even to the eye it feels like over eighty meters in diameter."
"Is that a problem?"
"In combat, small details decide victory or defeat. Hitting the golden balance of density, volume, specific weight, and durability is important. You tend to overplay. If an enemy has durability of 100, a power of 100 is enough. But unconsciously you pour out 120, 130."
The Spirit Zone is the materialization of the mind, so it doesn't lie. Looking back over all his past fights, Shirone felt that was true.
"You're still like that. When our Spirit Zones overlap, your tension pricks at me. I always wondered about that. Unless you'd been fighting nothing but monsters until now."
Shirone couldn't deny it.
Over the year since he'd learned magic, he hadn't faced many equal opponents. By his standards, most enemies had been monsters.
When Shirone fell silent, Plu understood. If he'd grown through such fights, it was understandable his Spirit Zone flared like a wounded beast showing off.
"Anyway, that state isn't good. I'll help you find the golden balance."
Plu went to the wall and flipped the Image Zone switch.
As Shirone's Spirit Zone materialized in a bluish glow and she turned down the lights to sharpen the display, he simply watched its beautiful luminescence.
Then Plu wrapped him from behind and pressed her body tight against his.
"U-uh…um…"
"Stay still."
Plu cut him off with a calm, low voice.
She expanded her Spirit Zone, and Shirone's reached her clearly through synesthesia.
As expected—you're really tense. Almost at a battlefield mage's level.
Plu closed her eyes, concentrated, and gave instructions.
"Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Shrink your Spirit Zone until you're in the most comfortable state."
Shirone let his body go and relaxed.
The Spirit Zone, once inflated like a balloon, began to shrink and his head felt lighter.
"Good… keep going…"
As it shrank further, a tension he'd never noticed before started to manifest.
"Yeah… a little more…"
Plu used every sense to gauge him.
"More. More… that's it. Yes, good."
Her voice gradually faded.
Shirone bowed his head and basked in an endless warmth. It felt like falling into his mother's embrace—warm and peaceful.
Plu's eyelids lifted slowly, as if waking from sleep.
"…Done?"
"Yes, it's good."
She let go of his waist and stepped back slowly, moving silently to the Image Zone device.
The dial showed a diameter of 62.8 meters.
When the lights came back on, Shirone blinked. He felt as refreshed as if he'd woken from a long sleep.
"Remember this sensation. Size, shape, feeling, density—everything. Everything contained in a 62.8-meter-diameter sphere is your current golden balance."
He could understand Plu's words. The higher density sharpened his perception of the surroundings and his durability felt markedly stronger.
Above all, his train of thought flowed without obstruction like water.
"This is really comfortable. But 62.8 meters isn't that much more than a year ago. Is this okay?"
"Yes, it's more than enough. If you're not a sniper, you don't need an enormous Spirit Zone. How often do you fight enemies you can't even see? Just learning the omnidirectional method doubles your range."
"But still…"
"Trust me. If you're a search-type Joner, your Spirit Zone diameter should be at least a kilometer. Communication mages use detached-type Spirit Zones to send information tens of kilometers away. But among combat mages there are those whose Spirit Zones are only ten meters across. They instead pour everything into density and durability."
What mattered was the mental state that could draw out a spell's efficiency to a hundred percent.
"Don't be seduced by numbers. They make your thinking rigid. Of course, quantifying an opponent's capability is necessary for combat mages. But imagining the outcome beforehand is dangerous. No trait is an absolute strength or an absolute weakness. Advantages and disadvantages vary depending on the opponent, and victory hinges on how many situations your style can handle."
Shirone nodded as if making a vow.
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind."