3rd Person POV
Out of nowhere, Arto shot his hand towards Sona, catching something near her head before presenting it to her "I hope this conversation of ours is also wihtin your agreement with the Spy, Sona" He opened his palm, revealing an ear made of a foreign mana signature "Because this one is definitely listening" And surprisingly, no security protocol was triggered even when the clear sign of infiltration is out in the open.
Sona's face went pale, her composure finally shattering. She looked at the shimmering, translucent piece of mana in Arto's hand—a high-level auditory parasite—and then at the empty air where it had been perched. "Impossible. This room is shielded by three layers of Sitri-grade concealment arrays. Nothing gets in, and nothing gets out without my father's permission." She looked at her father, who had already released Rias and was now staring at Arto with a renewed sense of scrutiny.
"And yet they are here, listening in on our conversation, and now this one has all of us, especially me under their leash," Arto said, his voice dropping an octave into a professional, clinical tone. He didn't crush the mana-parasite immediately; instead, he held it up to the light, watching the way the foreign energy pulsed like a heartbeat. "Whoever this 'Spy' is, they didn't just bypass your shields, Sona. They rode them. They used the very frequency of your concealment arrays to mask their own presence."
Lord Sitri's expression shifted from warmth to a sudden, freezing intensity. He stepped away from Rias, his posture snapping back into that of a high-class devil. "A breach of this magnitude is an insult to the House of Sitri," he murmured, his eyes darting across the room as if trying to peel back the layers of reality to find the intruder. "To infiltrate a secure meeting of two Great Houses... this is not mere espionage. This is a provocation."
Arto didn't seem to faze as he held the ear closer to his mouth, a message "So it's still you, you go by Spy?" He asked not with cautions, but with a voice of someone who has known the person on the other side for a while.
Suddenly, a small mouth manifested itself on Arto's palm, close to the ear, as the translucent mana shifted shape. A voice emerged—not a sound, but a psychic vibration that bypassed the ears and echoed directly in the minds of everyone in the room.
It was a woman's voice, dripping with an amused, languid boredom. "Finally you found it, I thought I've reached perfection with that concealment, but it looked like my work hasn't been able to bypass your keen senses, Arto." It let out a chuckle "Well, more work for me to do. Things are getting bored lately."
The voice vanished as the mana-parasite suddenly expanded, twisting into a miniature vortex that sucked the auditory device back into a void before snapping out of existence. The silence that followed was deafening.
Lord Sitri looked at Arto, his face a mask of confusion and simmering indignation. "You know this... entity? This 'Spy' is the pinnacle of intel gathering, goverments, organizations, elites and nobles all have to pay her constantly to keep her mouth shut, or else their secrets will be flying to whoever pay the highest price. How on earth could a mercenary know her?"
Arto sighed "We've been in an intel war the past weeks since my arrival, she was trying to breah the ORC clubhouse where I was living, and I've been constantly reinforcing its security system of my home, she was trying to fetch the knowledge of Stablilizer core architecture and Systematic Magic, but has been hitting wall"
Lord Sitri looked at Arto, his eyes narrowing as he processed the shift in dynamic. "You've been playing a game of cat-and-mouse with the most elusive broker in the supernatural world... while attending high school?" He looked at the spot where the parasite had vanished, his indignation now colored with a grudging respect. To a man like him, power was a currency, and Arto had just demonstrated a level of situational awareness that bordered on the divine.
"She's persistent," Arto added, his gaze drifting toward the ceiling. "It seems what I made had her attention and maybe interest,, but if she's trying to ride the Sitri concealment arrays, it means she's no longer just looking for blueprints. She's looking for a reason to stay."
Lord Sitri let out a sharp, guttural exhale, his mind already calculating the fallout. To have a neutral party like The Spy involved in the negotiation of the Stabilizer shifted the stakes from a private business deal to a public interest. If the other King Houses caught wind that the Sitri and Gremory clans were monopolizing a paradigm-shifting magic-tech—and that the creator was a ghost—the pressure wouldn't just be political; it would be predatory.
"We must cleanse the room," Lord Sitri commanded, his voice regaining its authority. He snapped his fingers, and a wave of azure mana surged from the floorboards, pulsing outward in a concentric circle. The air shimmered as the Sitri arrays reset, purging any lingering psychic residue or hidden auditory anchors. He then turned back to Arto, his eyes gleaming. "You've managed to keep a predator at bay while negotiating a treaty with my house. Tell me, Abyssgard, does your 'Systematic Magic' include a way to ensure that this woman doesn't simply return with a more aggressive approach?"
Arto gave a small, knowing smile. "The more she fails, the more curious she becomes. Curiosity is a leash, Lord Sitri. As long as she believes there is a secret she hasn't uncovered, she will play the game. The moment she thinks she has the answer, she'll try to steal it. The trick is to keep the answer just out of reach, but visible enough to be tantalizing."
His face turned serious "So I propose the Systematic Magic classes will be taken inside ORC clubhouse from now on, because that's the safest place against the prying eyes of the Spy at the moment under my watch, I will continue looking for her, because I've been planting some slim mana threads into the eyes and ears she used to spy the clubhouse, they are mapping her system and from what they brought back, it was....an ocean of secrets she is using to keep the world in her leash."
Lord Sitri's doesn't get less serious "But are you sure you can find this Spy?" he asked, the answer is both expected, but also concerning "I can't, milord, the ocean is too vast and looking for the one controlling is like looking for the sunken city Acarnan" The entire room went silent to what Arto said. "He meant Atlantis" Rias corrected, coming to him "I told you not to use place name references" she whispered a tender scold "What if he found out..."
Lord Sitri's gaze sharpened, not out of suspicion, but out of a sudden, academic hunger. "Acarnan," he repeated, the word tasting like ancient dust on his tongue. "Care to elaborate this name for me, Mister Abyssgard. Because I've never heard this name sticking to any....sunken city in any record of the Underworld or the human world."
Arto caught himself, glancing at Rias, who was now giving him a look that was half-amused and half-exasperated. He realized that in his focus on the strategic board, he had accidentally let a piece of his own history slip through the cracks, a piece that tells Arto is from another world with different history and names.
To add to that pressure, Lady Sena spoke "It got me curious as well, you look a few years older than Rias and Sona, yet the way you talked, carried yourself against us in the negotiation, and the fact that you've been fighting a mental war with a legendary broker... it required....more than just a few years older than our naive daughter."
Arto felt the weight of the room shift. He had successfully navigated the politics of the nobility and the threats of a master spy, but he had forgotten the one thing a scholar like Lord Sitri could never ignore: a gap in the archives. The mention of Acarnan wasn't just a slip of the tongue; it was a coordinate to a place that didn't exist on any map in this dimension.
"It...it...quite a sensitive matter to speak of at the moment, who knows if the Spy is still watching? I will share more when it's....right" He took Rias' hand and rushed out of the room, leaving 3 curious minds behind him. He didn't wait for any response, his steps were quick and focused as he walked through the corridor of the Sitri estate.
Rias looked at him with a mixture of amusement and worry, her eyes sparkling. "Acarnan? Arto, you really can't help yourself, can you? We talked about this, you should not use place name for references that don't exist in the textbooks."
Arto didn't slow his pace until they reached the ground floor, the elevator doors sliding open with a soft chime that sounded like a reprieve. He let out a long, slow exhale, finally releasing Rias's hand. "I was focused on the Spy, Rias. When the tactical board shifts that quickly, the brain defaults to old patterns. Acarnan was... a mistake of habit."
Rias stepped in front of him, crossing her arms. A small, knowing smile played on her lips, though her eyes remained perceptive. "A mistake of habit? Arto, you've spent weeks meticulously blending in, playing the part of the quiet student and the focused mentor. Then, in the span of an hour, you outmaneuver a High-Class Devil patriarch, expose a world-class spy, and accidentally mention a city that doesn't exist in any occult record. You're becoming a very loud ghost."
"I know" Arto bowed his head, clearly dissapointed in himself for making an amateur mistake "I do need a clarifying session learn the names of things in this world. I'll make it a priority after the training sessions."
Rias laughed, the sound light and genuine as she looped her arm through his, leaning her head against his shoulder as they walked toward the waiting car. "You're the only person I know who could launder a political disaster into a strategic victory and then trip over a single word. It's almost endearing. Now, how about we go eat a pizza, you've never had one, right? Or do you have any weird name for a baked thin crusted dough topped with tomato based sauce and cheese in your world?"
Arto paused, his mind momentarily flashing back to the ration blocks and synthetic protein pastes of the Abyssgard Legion—food designed for caloric efficiency rather than pleasure. He looked at Rias, her expression warm and inviting, and felt a strange, fluttering lightness in his chest that had nothing to do with tactical victory. "We called that thing Jiga, I've never had it, but I the definition is quite the same, does it also top with sausage and basil leaves?"
Rias let out a bright laugh, the sound echoing through the quiet parking garage. "Pizza, Arto. Just pizza. And yes, you can put lots of toppings on it if you want, and I'm glad I don't need to explain to you about sausage and basil, it seems we have the same words for the same things there.....right?"
Arto paused, his gaze drifting toward the sleek black sedan waiting for them. "Well, yes, meat cured with spice inside a long tube case, right? Sausage?" His face is now one of a half curious, half confused child, a stark contrast to the cunning strategist who had just dismantled a political ambush.
Rias stopped mid-stride, her arm still looped in his. "Well, you're right, that means I don't need to clarify sausage to you when we're home, now, let us go fetch a pizza or two for us and those at home" She dragged him into the car as they went to the pizzaria.
[Timeskip: Brought to you chibi Arto and chibi Rias eating pizza together]
Arto stirred awake in his bed like usual, it's another fight in the Dark Arena like usual, but he was not alone, Rias and Akeno was there with him, 'A week of training and they grew this quickly, I don't know what to say' Arto thought to himself as he thought about how these 2 ladies fought last night.
Rias was a total storm in a girl's size, his hand-to-hand combat drills with her made her something....else. The way she coated the Power of Destruction into her own fists to puncture a hole on everything she touched from big to small, 'And that gocmin armor...' Arto shivered slightly when thinking about the armor she conjured up with her Destruction Power, anything touched it basically disappear.
Mana usage still needs more work because she could only maintain that armor for like 90 minutes in a 8-hour long battle, but mana control is what Akeno excelled at, the lessons of Naginata usage from Tsubaki along with his personal drills clearly made her a whirlwind of precision. He remembered the way Akeno had pivoted, her lightning not just striking from above, but flowing like a current through her blade to slice through the air itself.
Arto was about sit up, the weighs are on him again, Rias and Akeno, both clinging to him like 2 very possessive koala bears. One on each arm, their warmth contrasting with the clinical coldness of the memory he'd just escaped. It's been a routine that Arto had come to stop commenting about, or try to deny, it's just how things are now.
But the moment he twitched one muscle to get out of their grips, the blade of naginata is already at his throat, Akeno. 'Who the gocm taught her how to deploy naginata this quickly?' he asked himself, and answered himself 'it's gocmin you, you idiot.' Arto sighed and laid back down the bed and leave his body for the girls to do whatever they want with.
And they took that signal while sleeping for some reason, both snuggle even closer to him, the naginata clattering softly onto the floor as Akeno shifted her weight to pin his shoulder. The sheer absurdity of the situation.
He stared at the ceiling, the silence of the room punctuated only by the rhythmic breathing of the women. 'So this is my life now....I don't dislike it....' he can feel the corner of his mouth being tugged up into a smile. "While I like the intimacy, girls, we need to wake up, today is the starting day of Systematic Magic class, I need to brief everyone about the books we are going to use to study, I bet Sona and her peerage is already downstairs waiting for us."
Rias groaned, her voice muffled by his chest, sounding like a sleepy kitten. "Five more minutes, Arto... the 'books' aren't going anywhere. Besides, Sona is probably still organizing her pens in a perfect ninety-degree angle. We have time."
Akeno, however, didn't let go. Instead, she shifted, her cheek rubbing against his arm as she opened one eye, a mischievous glint dancing in the violet depths. "Oh, after that battle last night, I do desperately lack the warmth of my Darling's side. Surely the great strategist can afford a ten-minute delay for the sake of morale?" She let out a soft, melodic giggle, the sound vibrating against his skin, and tightened her hold, effectively anchoring him back into the mattress.
[Timeskip: Brought to you by Arto carrying chibi Rias and chibi Akeno clinging to him]
Arto is now standing in the middle of ORC clubhouse's living room with Rias, Sona and their peerages presenced before him, on the table of the room is a stack of 12 books. Arto took a deep breathe before starting his briefing "Alright, hello everyone, before we start talking about studying Systematic Magic, let us introduce ourselves first, especially to the members of Sona's peerage, I am Arto Abyssgard, the new ally of 2 clans Gremory and Sitri"
He placed a palm against his chest, voice decisive "From this point on, I will be your teacher in Systematic Magic, a new way to approach mana usage that I will brief with you all shortly. But before that, please, let me know who I am teaching" He turned to the members of Sona's peerage, those who have only known him via his alias as Arata Akihiko, the new transferred student of Kuoh Academy.
Sona nods "Okay, Tsubaki, you go first" Tsubaki stepped forward with a grace that mirrored Sona's own, her expression neutral but her eyes betraying a deep, analytical curiosity. She bowed formally, "Tsubaki Shinra, Lady Sona's Queen, it's a pleasure and honor to meet you, Mr. Abyssgard." Her voice was as crisp as her appearance, though she didn't miss the way Arto's eyes flickered toward her posture, likely cataloging her center of gravity and combat readiness.
One by one, the Sitri peerage introduced themselves. "Hello, sensei, my name is Tomoe Meguri, Lady Sona's Knight, I didn't know you would be our teacher, I just thought you were an extra talented new student" The energetic girl went next, this got Arto to smile "Well, I'll be that guy most of the time, but when you're in this class, you're my students, not just in magic, other things as well"
"Greetings Sensei" Another girl of Sona's peerage, the white-haired one with cold face "My name is Momo Hanakai, Lady Sona's Bishop. May I ask what else are you going to teach us?" Arto's gaze lingered on Momo for a second, noting the rigid set of her shoulders. "Well, not just magic in general, but also physical trainings, coordination trainings, tactical trainings, there are a lot of things I can and will teach you, but magic comes first because that's what the clans are demanding at the moment"
The next one came to him with softened gaze "My name is Reya Kusaka, Lady Sona's Bishop," the girl whispered, her voice barely audible. Arto gave her a reassuring nod, noting the way she shrunk slightly under the collective gaze of the room. And the last one seems to be a stronger type of girl.
"Yo, Sensei, I'm Tsubasa Yura, nice to meet you, and learn from you" She performed a fist-bump with Arto, her grin wide and reckless. She was the kind of powerhouse who lived for the adrenaline of the fight, and Arto could see the competitive fire dancing in her eyes. He returned the gesture with a firm knuckles-to-knuckles click, acknowledging the raw energy she brought to the room.
Arto stepped back, his presence shifting from that of a polite peer to a commanding instructor. "Okay, I've gotten your names, now, let us go through what we are going to learn in this....course." He gestured towards the book stack "These are the textbooks we are going to use to learn what is called Systematic Magic"
Waiting for everyone's attention and curiosity of everyone to settle on him, he continued "It's a way of using magic in the form of a science with standardized alphabets and formulas, assisting you in making spells to your desire in extremely shortened time comparing to normal spellcrafting, seconds for simple spells, and days at most for a complex spell"
Taking a book out of the stack, it's a thick tome with solid cover, on it is a simple title carved in golden shade 'Spellcrafting Formulas' "This book contains all you need to know about Systematic Magic, from the alphabet of glyphs, to the formulas used to craft spells, and the logic used to modify them" he said simply.
The whole living room drown in curiosity aside from Rias and Akeno who have seen the works of it from Arto's usage in Dark Arena, everyone seems pretty eager to see the books. Sona, however, didn't reach for a book immediately. Her eyes remained fixed on Arto, her mind already spinning through the implications.
To a scholar and a strategist, the idea of "standardized alphabets" for magic sounded like the invention of a universal language for power—a way to strip the mysticism and intuition out of spellcasting and replace it with a precise, repeatable engineering process.
"A standardized alphabet," Sona murmured, "You've essentially turned mana into a programmable language. If these formulas are truly universal, then the casting time isn't dependent on the caster's mental visualization, but on the efficiency of the formula's logic."
Arto nodded, his expression becoming that of a seasoned professor. "It's kind of both to be precise, because the mental visualization is the foundation of the craft, you need to know exactly what you want to create before creating them, if your imagination is vague and unclear, no formulas could help you. Learning this will help you visualize what you want more clearly in indexed form so that you can make spells exactly how you want"
Sona nods, the curiosity in her mind took over as she reached out to take a book, but Arto stopped her "Before you even get to read, we need to....register you to the book's authentication system" Arto took the book at the top of the stack "This one is the root book, others are the clones of it, and it will be in my possession as the teacher."
Holding the book up "It will operate as a distributed system of knowledge, all the books in this stack will be updated as the root book changes by me over time, notes, knowledge updates and bug fixings, will all be distributed to you the moment the root book is updated,"
Arto explained, his voice carrying a rhythmic, instructional weight. He looked at Sona. "Please, place your hand over the cover and channel a small pulse of your mana. The book needs to recognize the unique frequency of your soul—your mana signature—to unlock the contents for you. Without this authentication, the pages will look like this...."
He opened the book for everyone to see and they looked fazed by the fact that the book is full of distorted symbols running around in chaotic order, constantly shifting like a broken television screen. It was a visual headache, a chaotic soup of ink that refused to settle into any recognizable pattern.
"The knowledge is encrypted," Arto explained, his voice calm. "using a language that only I know the meaing of, even that it encrypted many more times with encoding methods that only I know. It's a way to ensure that if a book is stolen, it's useless. Only those whose mana signatures are registered will see the translated, readable text."
Sona's eyes shimmered with a mixture of suspicion and admiration. The concept of a "living" textbook that updated in real-time across a distributed network was a masterstroke of utility and security. She stepped forward, but Arto stopped her "But that's not all"
Arto turned the book back to him face, and started reading, all they could hear were distorted sounds like screeching, mumbling of meaningless words, Koneko instinctively cover her ears hearing those sounds while others' faces twisted in confusion.
Closing the book, Arto finally spoke a way they could understand "That's me reading the first line of the book, without authorization, that what you're hearing, whenever the content of the book is mentioned, or referred to, this is what others will hear from you, the first wall to prevent leaking"
He then placed a piece of paper on the table for everyone to see "And this my attempt of writting the content out for unauthorized people to read" Everyone turned their gaze towards the paper to see it's the same distorted letters they saw from the content of the book.
Sona stared at the paper, then at Arto, a look of genuine fascination crossing her face. "You've essentially created a conceptual lock. You aren't just encrypting the text; you're encrypting the very perception of the information. Even if we tried to transcribe it, the result would be gibberish to anyone outside the registered circle."
Arto gave a modest shrug, though his eyes held the pride of a craftsman. "It's my way of securing these knowledge because do you know how dangerous it is leaving this in wong hands? The ability to create any spell one desires in the time shortened than ever before, that's the power to rewrite reality, one formula at a time. If this leaked to a malicious entity, it wouldn't be a study guide; it would be a weapon's manual."
He stepped closer to the group, his voice dropping into a more intimate, focused tone. "But it won't stop the betrayal from within, because while the knowlege can't be shared, the applications of these knowledge can still be done for purposes that would harm our family, so I must ask the Kings, that is Rias and Sona, to keep your pieces in check."
Rias stepped forward, her eyes flashing with a protective pride. She didn't need to be reminded that the bonds of a peerage were strong, but she respected the strategic caution in Arto's voice. "You don't have to worry about loyalty, Arto. My peerage is my family. Whatever knowledge you entrust to them is safe."
Sona echoed the sentiment with a sharp, decisive nod. "The Sitri house does not tolerate betrayal, and my pieces are loyal to the end. Your precautions are noted, and appreciated."
With the diplomatic tension eased, Arto began the registration process. He called each student forward one by one. As they placed their hands on the cover of the tome, "As you register, just to be safe, say this vow for me: 'My knowledge is for the growth of my house and the protection of my allies,'" Arto instructed. It wasn't a binding magical contract—which would be overstepping—but a psychological anchor. He wanted them to internalize the weight of the secret they were about to carry.
Tsubaki was the first, her mana pulsing a steady, disciplined blue against the cover. The book shimmered, a soft golden light pulsing from the binding as it accepted her signature. "Registered," Arto murmured, handing her a copy of the book. Tsubaki opened it, and her eyes widened. Where there had been chaotic distortion, there was now a clean, structured script that looked like a fusion of ancient runes and mathematical notations. "It... it's legible. The symbols are shifting into a language my mind can actually grasp."
The process continued, the air in the clubhouse growing thick with a mixture of anticipation and reverence. Even the boisterous Tsubasa went quiet as she felt the book 'click' into her consciousness, her usual bravado replaced by a look of genuine awe. By the time Momo and Reya had their copies, the room felt less like a living room and more like a sanctuary of forbidden knowledge.
Arto stepped back, crossing his arms as he surveyed the group. "Now that you have your tools, I'll give you time to read it ahead before we actually start the lessons, I will need a day or two to set up the class and ensure the safety of this place against breaching attempts. When you're free, read Chapter 1: Intention, that's the hardest chapter to learn, but the most important"
Sona held her book with a delicate grip, her eyes already scanning the first few pages. "You mentioned that the first chapter is the hardest. If Systematic Magic is as logical as a program, why is the initial stage a struggle?"
"Because is the foundation. The very first formula ever recorded in systematic spellcrafting. It's what turns a caster's intention into actual, controllable mana flow. Without it, the rest of the book is useless. With it done wrong... dangerous."
He met their eyes—serious, almost stern. "The chapter alone takes up almost ten percent of the book. Hundreds of formulas follow, but every single one of them is built on this one. If you want to create a spell, you must know exactly what it does. You must visualize it fully—every component, every side effect, every interaction with the environment, every possible outcome. No missing pieces. No vague ideas. Because if your intention is unclear or incomplete..."
He let the silence stretch for a heartbeat. "...the spell will work beyond what you wanted. It will twist. It will grow legs of its own. And the backlash can be catastrophic for the caster. Unpredictable problems. Mana poisoning. Rebound. Permanent damage. That's what happened to spellcrafting in traditional sense; it was too intuitive, too loose. Systematic Magic eliminates that randomness, but only if your foundation is absolute."
The room remained still, the weight of his warning sinking in. The students looked at the books in their hands not as textbooks, but as volatile artifacts. Sona's gaze tightened, her analytical mind already mapping the risks. "So the difficulty isn't in the formula itself, but in the understanding of what we are trying to execute....but it would require...."
"An extensive amount of knowledge on various fields to know exactly what you need to visualize," Arto finished her sentence, nodding. "If you want to create a fireball, you can't just think 'fire.' You must understand the combustion, the expansion of gas, the oxygen requirements, and the thermal conductivity of the target. If you don't understand the physics of the effect, your intention is vague. And a vague intention in Systematic Magic is a recipe for an explosion in your own face."
A ripple of nervous energy passed through the group. The Sitri peerage, accustomed to the refined and structured magic of water, looked at their books with newfound caution. Sona, however, didn't look intimidated; she looked hungry. The challenge of mastering a system that demanded both intellectual rigor and magical precision was exactly what she lived for.
"I see," Sona said, her fingers tracing the embossed gold of the cover. "It isn't just a magic class. It's a course in comprehensive reality analysis. You're asking us to become scientists of the arcane."
"Precisely," Arto replied. "We are using magic to affect the world that follows non-magical rules, so while you can be creative, some things can't just be made out of pure mana without full understandings of how it works, that's why I call magic the 'science of utilizing other sciences'."
He stepped away from the center of the room, his posture relaxing as the formal briefing concluded. "As for how we grade this...subject, I won't be the one determining if you are good enough or not, what I do is teaching you as much and thoroughly as I could, the clans will be the one testing you. The test will be: building magic constructs to operate magic-tech machines that the clans are trying to make, you'll be working alongside the R&D divisions of Gremory and Sitri as the one who will finalize the requirements, creating magical constructs to serve those requirements"
He continued "And I can guarantee you, that job will be highly paid, meaning you've already had a job to lean back to if the career you choose didn't go the way you want because you're the only people who are taught to make a physical machine....a magical machine."
The room shifted from a state of apprehension to one of intense ambition. For the members of the peerages, the idea of being the sole architects of a new era of magical engineering was an intoxicating prospect. Sona's eyes gleamed with a calculating light; she was already imagining the logistical advantages of having a peerage capable of building specialized constructs to automate the administrative and defensive burdens of her territory.
"That's enough for today," Arto announced, waving a hand to signal the dismissal. "Go home, read, and for now, don't try to cast a spell yet, do something else for me, think of a spell, as clearly as you can, as detailed as you can, by the first lesson, I will show you the power of Systematic Magic."
As the room cleared, the air buzzing with the low hum of excited chatter, Sona lingered behind. She watched Arto with a gaze that was no longer suspicious, but deeply curious. "Arto, to create such system on your books like this..."
"It's the result of Systematic Magic, Sona, everything that you've been seeing with the books, they all traced back to the book you're reading now," Arto answered, his voice softening as the last of the students filed out of the room. He leaned against the mahogany table, the root book still resting beneath his palm. "The 'conceptual lock' and the real-time updates are in fact, spells I made to serve the safe usage of the book, it's not the even the end of it....do you know Git?"
Sona paused, her brow furrowing. "Git? As in the version control system used by software developers to track changes in source code?"
Arto's lips curved into a genuine, knowing smile. "Exactly. I've essentially applied version control to the book itself. Every time I refine a formula in the root book, it creates a 'commit.' The student books are just local branches that pull the latest updates from the master branch. It's also for the future when the students want to contribute to the growth of the book, they can make their own refinements and improvements of the formulas and send me a 'pull request' for me to review and merge into the root book."
Sona stared at him, her mind racing to bridge the gap between arcane mysticism and computer science. "You've turned a magical grimoire into a collaborative, open-source project. The sheer efficiency of that is... staggering. Most mages spend decades hoarding a single secret formula, and you've created a system where the collective intelligence of the user base actually improves the source material."
"Knowledge is a multiplier, Sona. Stagnation happens when you hoard it; evolution happens when you refine it," Arto replied, glancing over at Rias, who had stayed behind to watch the exchange.
Rias stepped closer, her expression one of amusement. "You're sounding more like a professor every minute, Arto. But don't let the Git talk fool her, Sona. He's still the same man who got confused by the difference between a pizza and a Jiga."
Arto groaned, the momentary aura of the 'Grand Master' evaporating instantly. "That was one time, Rias. And for the record, the texture is remarkably similar. Now, go read the freaking book while I reinforce this place to keep the eyes of the Spy off"
As Rias and Sona finally departed, their laughter echoing down the hallway, the silence of the clubhouse settled back around Arto. He didn't move for several minutes, his gaze swirled around the room before coming to a dark corner and caught another ear of the Spy "Another failed attempt, the furthest you could go is breaching these walls, but never the knowledge, what kept you coming back, the curiosity or the pride of a professional?"
A flicker of movement—almost imperceptible—rippled through the air, like a heat haze on a summer road. A voice, feminine and full of amusement, echoed not from a specific point, but from the very shadows of the room.
"Pride is a professional hazard, Mr. Abyssgard. And curiosity? Well, you've practically written an invitation in gold ink. But most importantly, it's nice to lose once in a while, winning too much too easily made life boring, good thing I have you, Mr Abyssgard, a worthy rival."
Arto didn't flinch, his expression remaining flat. He had expected this. The Spy was not a common thief; she was a specialist in the invisible, a ghost who lived in the gaps of perception. He didn't reach for a weapon, nor did he cast a spell. Instead, he simply leaned back against the table and sighed. "If you're so bored, you could try a career in academia. You'd make a great librarian—you're already so fond of browsing through other people's archives."
A soft, melodic chuckle resonated through the room, though there was still no visible source. "You're saying like I am not one, Arto. I am many, including the librarian of secrets. people pay to keep them archived, or else they are on the shelf for people to pay to read.~"
The air shimmered again, and for a brief second, the silhouette of a woman appeared in the dim light—a fleeting glimpse of an elegant figure draped in a cloak that seemed to absorb the room's lighting. Then, as quickly as she had manifested, she vanished. "The 'Git' concept was a touch of brilliance. I cannot read the books, of course, but the structure of the mana flow you've established is a masterpiece of architecture. It's a shame we are on opposite sides of the fence for now."
"The fence is still there for a reason," Arto replied, his voice devoid of warmth but not unkind. "If you want the knowledge, stop trying to steal it and start offering something I actually need. Until then, keep your 'browsing' to the perimeter."
Once the oppressive, yet playful, presence of the Spy had fully dissipated, Arto didn't relax. He walked to the center of the clubhouse and closed his eyes, his mind started running with calculation as glyphs started appearing around him illuminating the room in blue shade of light, spell after spell were made with one single goal, to create as much problems for the Spy as possible when infiltrating this clubhouse.
Starting with clearing any lingering traces of the Spy, 'If she could witness the process....' realization hit him, if she could witness the process of his work, how glyphs operate, how spell circles are form, a woman of that intelligence, could reverse engineer the logic.
Arto immediately ceased the visible casting. He stopped the blue lights from manifesting in a sequence, instead noting down something in his mother-tongue 'Encode the spells' with the code he used on the book, it will operate fine, but from outside looking in, it's a chaotic dance of meaningless doddles.
After clearing the traces of the Spy, Arto at down at the table of the living room and started working on a new cover over the glyphs alphabet of the book, 'The Spy wouldn't notice the pattern at first because there was no references, but if she noticed how they bent the mana flows....' she would be able to dissect the entire structure.
He spent the next few hours in a state of hyper-focus, his fingers tracing invisible patterns in the air, weaving a layer of "perceptual noise" around the clubhouse. He didn't just want to block intruders; he wanted to create a hall of mirrors where any attempt to observe the facility would return a distorted, randomized version of the truth.
[Timeskip: Brought to you by wolf Arto capturing the eye of the Spy]
"Arto Darling....." Akeno came into the room with the book in her hand, her voice a honeyed purr that carried a hint of genuine concern. "Look at the stack of paper around you, what've you been writing, hmm~?"
She sat down next to him "Is it our future together~?" She teased with a whisper in his ear, snapping the man out of his focus. Arto blinked, looking down at the mountain of discarded parchment and ink-stained drafts that surrounded him like a paper fortress. To anyone else, they looked like the scribblings of a madman—jagged, overlapping symbols that seemed to vibrate on the page. To Arto, they were the blueprints for a sensory labyrinth.
"It's an insurance policy," Arto replied, leaning back and stretching his stiff neck with a series of audible pops. "The Spy is persistent. If she can't steal the knowledge, she'll try to map the logic simply by looking at the spell operation to reverse engineer, and a person like her won't take long to figure out everything if the pattern is consistent. These papers are my way to encrypt the spells you cast, operation is normal, but to outsiders, it will me meaningless scribbles made by some kitchen's feet."
Akeno chuckled, her eyes scanning the chaotic ink patterns. She didn't try to understand them; she knew better than to compete with Arto's obsessive need for security. Instead, she leaned closer, her warmth a sharp contrast to the cold, clinical nature of the work. "You worry too much. Between your brilliance and Rias's protection, I doubt anyone could get close enough to even see your 'scribbles' without us noticing."
"She was just here with us this morning, Akeno, if it's not for the codes I made, she would have listened and known the content of the book," Arto sighed, finally setting his pen down. He looked at the woman beside him, her expression soft and indulgent. Despite the mercenary's lingering instincts to treat every room as a potential kill-zone, the warmth of Akeno's presence acted as a grounding wire. "The world is full of people who can see through walls, but very few who can see through a lie written in a language they don't know exists."
Akeno smiled, her fingers tracing the line of his shoulder. "And that is why we adore you, Arto. Your paranoia is practically a love language." She settled the book down, turned side way and pulled Arto down the couch, pressing his face into her chest as she leaned back to lying state, resting her head on the soft pillow on the couch "Take a little nap, my brilliant Darling, lunch will be ready in a bit"
For a few minutes, the tactical calculations and the phantom presence of the Spy vanished. The only thing that existed was the rhythmic beat of Akeno's heart and the scent of sandalwood and lightning. Arto's muscles, usually coiled like a spring ready to snap, finally surrendered. He let out a long, shuddering breath, allowing the silence of the clubhouse to wrap around him. It was a rare luxury—to be the one protected, to let someone else hold the perimeter while he drifted into a heavy, dreamless sleep.
[Timeskip: Brought to you by an eye following chibi Arto around]
The following morning arrived with a level of domestic chaos that contrasted sharply with the previous night's covert war. Arto was barely halfway through his first cup of coffee when the doors of the ORC clubhouse swung open, and the combined peerages of Rias and Sona surged in. They didn't look like students coming to a class; they looked like addicts returning to a source. Tsubaki was clutching her book to her chest, her expression one of intense concentration, while Tsubasa was practically vibrating with energy, her eyes wide and bloodshot.
"The first chapter!" Tsubasa shouted, slamming her book onto the table. "Arto, this is insane! I spent three hours trying to visualize a simple spark, and I realized I didn't even know how to describe the exact temperature of a flame relative to the air around it. I had to look up the ignition point of methane!"
Arto took a slow sip of his coffee, his gaze scanning the group. The frustration on their faces wasn't the kind that led to quitting; it was the frustration of a puzzle that was just barely solvable. Sona was the only one who looked composed, though the slight tremor in her fingers as she held her book betrayed her. She had clearly spent the night in a deep-dive of theoretical physics to bridge the gaps in her own understanding.
"Welcome to the wall," Arto said, his voice dry. "The gap between 'knowing' a spell and 'understanding' the reality it manipulates is where most mages spend their entire lives. Most just ignore it and call it 'talent' or 'intuition.' But Systematic Magic doesn't care about your talent. It cares about your data. If the data is incomplete, the formula is a lie."
He stepped away from the coffee pot and gestured toward the center of the room. "I see most of you have attempted to visualize. Tell me, who among you managed to maintain a stable image of a simple sphere of light for more than ten seconds without the image flickering or distorting?"
A heavy silence fell over the room. Tsubaki looked down, her disciplined expression softening into a frown. Sona sighed, admitting, "I could maintain it for twelve seconds, but the moment I tried to define the luminosity, the sphere collapsed."
"I see, then let us start" He raised his right hand. A small, simple orb of silver-blue light formed above his palm—basic illumination spell, nothing flashy. "Take this light orb. Most casters think: 'I want light.' Mana flows, the spell forms, and maybe it works... or maybe it blinds you, or drains you dry, or flickers out in two seconds because they didn't define duration. But we define everything first."
The orb pulsed once—steady, soft. "Power index: 0.8 lumens. Stability: 99.7%. Duration: 300 seconds. Mana cost: 20 mana units. Rebound risk: 0.001%. Environmental interaction: neutral in air, dims 20% underwater. Secondary effects: none."
The orb brightened slightly, then dimmed again—perfectly controlled. "When you can analyze vague thoughts into precise numbers like this, you save years of imagining, testing, and failing. You know exactly how it will turn out before you even process the intention into a complete spell. What's left is simply using the formulas to shape the mana flow."
He let the orb fade. "All that time saved... it can reduce the creation of a spell from years to hours. From hours to minutes. From minutes to... seconds for simple spells. Meaning in battle, you can craft and deploy something perfectly suited to the situation in real time—without anyone being able to predict what you're going to do next."
The room was silent, the students staring at the space where the light had been. It wasn't just the efficiency that intimidated them; it was the sheer clarity. For a demon, magic was often a matter of bloodline, will, and a certain degree of guesswork. To see it stripped down to a set of variables—almost like a budget sheet for reality—was jarring.
"Wait," Tsubasa interjected, her brow furrowed. "If it's that fast, does that mean we don't need to memorize long incantations anymore? Because honestly, the chanting part is the most annoying bit."
"Chanting is a trope I've never liked in spellcasting, but it's a thing for a reason," Arto replied, a small, knowing smirk playing on his lips. "Incantations are basically just auditory training wheels. They give the mind a rhythmic structure to hold the intention while the mana builds. They are a mental crutch for those who can't keep their mind clear on what they are wanting to make, or a decoy to distract the opponent."
He stepped toward the center of the room, his presence commanding their attention. "In Systematic Magic, the 'chant' is replaced by the internal processing of the formula. The moment you can visualize the variables—the luminosity, the duration, the thermal output—the formula acts as the trigger. You don't need to shout into the air to tell the world what you are going to launch a light spear, you just need to.... you know, shoot. Even the trope of showing the spell circle before casting is....lame"
To demonstrate, the spell circle that created the light orb was shrunk into the shape of a tiny pea, but it can still be casted normally "Size doesn't matter as long as the logic of the spell is intact, in fact, silent casting and small circles make the spell completely invisible to your opponents" Arto's eyes scanned the room. "If you can't see the circle, you can't predict the element. If you can't hear the chant, you can't prepare a counter-spell. You become a ghost in the machine."
Sona's expression shifted from curiosity to a deep, analytical hunger. "The strategic advantage is immense. We could engage an enemy and they wouldn't even know they were under attack until the spell actually materialized. But Arto, if the formula replaces the chant, the mental load must be staggering. We have to hold all those variables—the temperature, the physics, the duration—simultaneously in our mind before the cast. That's not magic; that's a supercomputer's workload."
"Not quite, the strain you're talking about only applies for grand spells, which would contain a lot of elements to remember, it would require preparations and you can always solve it by writing it down instead of keeping them in your head. For the common spells, the gap between your thoughts and executions can be almost zero when you're familiar with the formulas. Think of it like driving a car. The first time you do it, you have to consciously think about the pedals, the mirror, the gear shift. After a year, you just drive. You don't think 'I will now apply 20% pressure to the brake pedal to decelerate at a rate of 2 meters per second squared'; you just stop the car."
Arto stepped closer to Sona, his expression shifting to one of a seasoned mentor. "The goal isn't to turn your brain into a processor, but to turn your habits into an operating system. Once the logic of the first chapter is ingrained, you don't 'calculate' the temperature of a flame—you just 'know' it as a fundamental constant of the spell. The mental load doesn't disappear, but it becomes subconscious."
The students looked at their books with a mixture of dread and fascination. The realization that they were essentially learning to rewrite the way their brains interfaced with mana was overwhelming. Tsubasa looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown, while Kiba, who had been quietly observing from the back, let out a low whistle of appreciation.
"It's an overhaul of the caster's consciousness," Kiba noted, his voice thoughtful. "You're not just teaching us a new way to cast; you're teaching us a new way to think."
"Exactly," Arto replied. "Now, since you've all spent the last few days staring at the 'Intention' chapter, it's time to put the theory into practice. We are going to start with something that will help you visualize your spells more clearly and that is Magical Indexes"
Arto started writing the board behind him
Magical Indexes of a Spell
Power index: raw energy output.
Stability index: how likely the spell is to hold its form without collapsing or rebounding.
Rebound index: risk of backlash to the caster.
Mana efficiency: how much power you waste (calculated in mana flow unit).
Environmental interaction: how the spell behaves in different conditions—air, water, confinement, high mana density.
Duration decay rate: how quickly the effect fades.
Secondary effect: what happen as a side consequence.
And more—specific to spell type."
Arto stepped back from the board, the chalk dust still clinging to his fingers. He looked at the sea of bewildered faces and let out a short, dry chuckle. "I can see the look on your faces. You're thinking, I just wanted to throw a fireball, why do I need to know the decay rate? The answer is simple: because that's the difference between a tactical strike and a clumsy explosion. If you don't know the decay rate of your heat, you don't know exactly when your spell stops being a weapon and starts being a waste of energy."
Sona was already scribbling notes, her pen moving with a frantic, precise rhythm. "The index allows for a standardized measurement of magical output. If we can quantify the power index, we can actually calculate the exact amount of mana needed for a specific result, eliminating the 'over-casting' that plagues most mages."
"Correct, Sona," Arto nodded, then turned his gaze to the rest of the group. "Now, we aren't going to just talk about these indexes. We are going to feel them. Your goal for today is not to cast a spell, but to create a 'static intention.'"
He handed each of them a sheet of paper, inside it's an indexes list of a spell "Now, I want you to visualize what these spells would look like in your mind. Don't cast them, just hold the image. And when doing so, I will use this" He handed each student a small circular disk "Put it on your temple and it will show your visualization for me to see"
The students exchanged glances of uncertainty before following his instructions. As they pressed the cold metal disks against their skin, Arto activated the central receiver. Suddenly, a series of holographic projections shimmered into existence before the face of each student, they are blank at the moment "Now, let us visualize"
The request is simple; a ball made of iron. That was the prompt Arto had given them. For a moment, the holographic screens remained empty, then slowly, blurred shapes began to coalesce, but the structure of each ball told the teacher about his students
Sona and Tsubaki went on prestige route with their balls polished and smooth, nearly perfect spheres that mirrored the cold geometry of an architect's blueprint. Momo and Reya are different, there are patterns on their visualizations—comforting patterns that are comfortable to touch and hold.
Tsubasa's one was still a ball, but it's more jagged and rough on the surface, reflecting the personality of the one who's visualizing it. He turned to Rias' peerage, Rias' ball was the largest, its surface glowing with a faint, shimmering heat that suggested she wasn't just visualizing iron, but the raw power that forged it.
Akeno's one is the dreamiest out of everyone with drawings and laces on the ball, as if it's a piece of jewelry, still fitting the requirement of a ball of iron, but had her touches. Kiba had a more interesting creativity because from the look of it, Arto can see it's clearly not iron, it's like an iron compound Kiba came up from reading Edward Elric's alchemic book "I can't help but ask, Kiba, what is this iron?"
Kiba blinked, his gaze shifting from the holographic projection to Arto. He looked slightly sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck. "I... I might have overthought the prompt. I was reading about molecular bonding and the concept of transmutation. I didn't just visualize a ball of iron; I tried to visualize the iron atoms interlocking in a specific crystalline lattice to maximize the density. It's more of a reinforced steel alloy, technically."
Arto let out a soft hum of approval "I see, I love that personal touch, Kiba, can you change it a bit more....like this?" Arto took a pen and started writing new requirements on Kiba's requirement sheet. This got Kiba to tilt his head before shifting his imagination.
As Kiba focused, the holographic projection of the iron sphere began to ripple. The dense, crystalline lattice didn't just shift; it started to weave itself into a series of interlocking rings, a geometric flower of reinforced steel that pulsed with a steady, rhythmic light. It was no longer just a ball, but a complex structure of concentric circles that seemed to breathe.
"There it is," Arto said, his voice carrying a note of genuine satisfaction. "You didn't just visualize the material; you visualized the tension. That's the secret to the Stability Index. Most people think stability is about making something rigid, but true stability is about managing the internal stress of the spell. Kiba, by imagining the iron as a series of interlocking supports, you've essentially created a spell that can withstand immense external pressure without collapsing."
The other students crowded around Kiba's projection, their eyes wide. The difference between their smooth, simple spheres and Kiba's architectural marvel was staggering. It was the first time they saw that "precision" didn't just mean following a rulebook—it meant using their own knowledge of the world to enhance the logic of the magic.
"Wait, if we can change the structure of the material in the visualization phase," Sona mused, her eyes narrowing as she looked at her own perfect sphere, "does that mean we can apply this to elemental spells? If I can visualize the molecular vibration of water instead of just 'a wave,' I could theoretically create a flash-freeze or a high-pressure jet by simply altering the internal index."
"Like this?" Arto's hand started weaving before shooting a ray of water toward a small target. It didn't splash; it pierced through the target like a needle, leaving a perfectly circular hole before it froze into a cube of ice instantly. "We have secondary effect index for a reason"
The room went dead silent. The target—a reinforced training dummy—didn't just have a hole in it; the ice cube remaining in the center was so precise it looked like a laboratory specimen. Arto didn't use a freezing spell and a water spell. He had simply defined the transition state of the water to occur the millisecond it hit the target, using the secondary effect index to trigger a phase change.
"That... that was one spell," Tsubasa whispered, her voice barely audible. "You didn't cast a second one to freeze it."
"One intention, one formula, multiple states," Arto explained, stepping back to let them see the wreckage. "In traditional magic, you'd cast a water bolt, then a freeze spell. That's two sets of circles, two chants, and twice the mana waste. In Systematic Magic, you simply define the 'end-state' as part of the initial formula. You aren't just throwing water; you're throwing a process."
Rias stepped forward, her eyes burning with a mixture of ambition and curiosity. "If we can chain effects like that, the versatility in a fight becomes limitless. We could launch a fireball that turns into a vacuum on impact to pull enemies in, or a wind gust that crystallizes into needles mid-air."
"Exactly. But remember," Arto warned, his voice regaining that strict, military edge, "the more complex the chain, the higher the Rebound Index. If your math is off by a decimal point in a simple light orb, you get a flicker. If your math is off by a decimal point in a phase-shifting piercing bolt, the 'end-state' might happen inside your own arm instead of the target."
[Timeskip: Brought to you by chibi Arto casting firework with magic]
For the rest of the lesson, the students focus on visualizing the spells via the indexes handed out by Arto, the process is slow, but expected because visualizing something clearly out of sheer numbers and words are better said and done, it's a process requires extreme precision and understanding of the effect they want for their spells, that would require lots of knowledge, thing that they haven't been able to attain yet.
"Don't feel disappointed, this chapter is the hardest to learn for a reason," Arto said, noticing the slumped shoulders of a few students. He walked among them, his footsteps echoing softly on the clubhouse floor. "You are trying to bridge the gap between your imagination and a mathematical certainty. That is an evolutionary leap for your brain. That's why from now on, we will reduce the time of learning from this book and march into something more....familiar with you, that is natural world knowledge."
He gestured toward the board, erasing the complex indices with a single sweep of his arm. "We will continue to learn this, but the lessons from now on will be me teaching you natural world's knowledge to assist your spells visualization. Since you are demons, your intuition for the natural world is often filtered through the lens of 'magic' or 'mystery.' To master Systematic Magic, you need to stop seeing the world as a place of wonder and start seeing it as a collection of laws."
He paused, a small, thoughtful expression on his face. "For example, most of you visualize fire as a 'hungry entity' or a 'burst of heat.' That is why your fireballs are inconsistent. Tomorrow, we will discuss the chemistry of combustion—specifically, the relationship between fuel, oxygen, and heat. Once you understand that fire is not an element, but a chemical reaction, you will stop trying to 'summon' fire and start 'creating' the conditions for it to exist. Your efficiency will skyrocket because you'll stop fighting the atmosphere and start using it."
The shift in approach seemed to breathe new life into the room. The daunting weight of the mathematical formulas felt less oppressive when framed as a study of the world around them. Sona looked intrigued; she had always been a student of logic, and the idea of treating magic as a branch of applied science appealed to her deeply. Rias, meanwhile, looked at her own hands, perhaps imagining the Power of Destruction not as a chaotic force, but as a defined process of molecular disassembly.
"Dismissed for today," Arto announced, leaning back against the desk. "Go home, continue to read the first chapter, do the homework..." he handed each of them a tablet "These modified tablets is similar to the book in term of security and authentication, unlock it by your mana signature, I will send your homework via these tablets, you will visualize spells based on the requirements using the device I just handed you. They can be converted to a new type of file, '.vis' files, you can submit them to the tablet to check the indexes of your '.vis' files"
He started demonstrating the process of submitting a '.vis' file, explaining that the tablet would act as a diagnostic tool, comparing their mental projection against the theoretical ideal. The whole class focused intensely on the process with fascination, "So this is magic-tech" Rias murmured, her eyes tracing the sleek lines of the tablet. "Modern technology...runs on magic?"
"Indeed," Arto confirmed "It might look like a normal tablet, but the OS running is a single multimlayered spell I made to not only do normal tasks that a tablet could do, but also do tasks where magic is involved like Spell Simulation, transferring from thoughts to .vis files, communiation via a network of mana threads and etc."
He watched as Rias carefully traced the screen with her finger, her expression one of quiet wonder. This is what magic-tech looks like, not simple like machines running on mana batteries, but a conceptual fusion where the hardware is merely a vessel for a permanent, self-sustaining spell.
"What you just said about communication," Tsubaki raised her hand "was it...Internet? Or it's something else entirely?" Arto let out a short, amused huff as he leaned back. "It is Internet, but it runs on mana threads connecting tablets together into a network, or as I call it....ManaNet."
"Is it faster than Internet?" Momo raised her hand as well, the idea is clearly competing with the homework for her attention. Arto nods "It is, because while the fiber cable transfers via countless reflection inside the glass strand, ManaNet transfers directly as mana flow can bend, unlike light, meaing it can transfer information at near speed light."
But that's not all "It also doesn't need grand infrastructures or wires to connect, it's connected to mana flows in the air via the assistant of Stabilizer. The connections are heavily enforced to withstand almost every catastrophic mana disruption events, so even in disaster, you can still connect me and each other via the tablets"
He gestured at the books "In fact, the books you're studying with are parts of the ManaNet as well, that's why I can update the root book and everyone can see it right the way, it's also serving future project like Simulation Facility for Sitri and Gremory clan, there are things that will be buit on ManaNet like a Git-like system, extended communications, data access, and a central server for research. That's the power of magic-tech, it was never just machines running on mana, it's actual technology using magic as the logic layer."
The students stared at the tablets in their hands, the weight of the device suddenly feeling much heavier. They weren't just holding a study aid; they were holding the terminal to a revolutionary infrastructure. Sona's eyes flickered with a strategist's intensity, already imagining the possibilities of a secure, instantaneous communication network that bypassed traditional demonic detection methods. The tactical implications were staggering.
"May I ask, Sensei" Rias raised her hand, her expression shifting from wonder to a more cautious curiosity, "Where do you store the data of....all these? If the tablets are terminals, there must be a server. A physical location where the core of the ManaNet resides."
"An interesting question, Rias, let me just show you" Arto smiled before pulling out a small mana crystal from his pocket, it's a blue gem no bigger than a fingernail. He held it up for everyone to see, the crystal pulsing with a soft, rhythmic light that seemed to breathe in sync with the room's ambient mana. "This is the server. Yep, the system is quite small, so we only need this small pal right here to store the data. If it's not scaling up, this gem can store all the data made by this class comfortably for a few decades."
The silence that followed was heavy. To the students, a server was a room full of humming black boxes and tangled cables, a monolithic structure of steel and silicon. To see the entire infrastructure of a revolutionary network condensed into a piece of jewelry felt like a glitch in reality.
"A single crystal?" Sona whispered, her analytical mind trying to reconcile the scale. "The data compression must be astronomical. But how do you handle the processing? A server isn't just storage; it's the brain that handles the requests and the logic."
"You'll love this, turned out, there is a particular mana flow strucutre that works perfectly for data storing and processing," Arto explained, holding the crystal between his thumb and forefinger. "Think of it as a multi-dimensional filing cabinet. In a normal computer, you have bits—ones and zeros. Here, I use mana-frequency. A single 'pulse' of mana can represent a thousand different values depending on its vibration. The processing is in the crystal's lattice, in something that I call the Anchor"
He paused, seeing the gears turning in Sona's head. "To create this crystal is not hard as long as you have Stabilizer, all you need is an anchor for the mana flow bend uniformly by Stabilizer to build itself around, and that Anchor, can anyone guess what that does?"
Sona frowned, her eyes scanning the crystal's rhythmic pulse. "It's the CPU of the entire system" She looked at the tablet as she realized she was holding the answer in her hand "It's the magical construct that manages the storation and extraction of data around the mana construct made for that process by Stabilizer. The Anchor is the core that ensures the data doesn't drift or degrade as the crystal pulses."
Arto beamed, a look of genuine pride crossing his face. "Spot on, Sona. That's how the magic crystal server works, but it will be more interesting when you learn about the transfer of data, however, it's for another time when you're truly into it. One more thing before you go, all the marvelous thing I showed you, they are all made by using Systematic Magic, by the book I've just given you, so please don't be too stressed with the first chapter, it's the key to all this."
As the students began to pack their things, the atmosphere in the room had shifted from one of academic dread to a humming current of excitement. They weren't just studying a textbook anymore; they were learning the blueprints of a new world. When everyone is gone, only Rias' peerage remain, the heiress of Gremory clan came to Arto
"Arto, you...built all this? In like, a few weeks arriving in this world?" Rias asked, her voice trailing off as she looked at the blue crystal still resting in his palm. There was a mixture of awe and a slight, lingering disbelief in her eyes. For her, the world of magic was one of lineage, heritage, and centuries of established dogma. To see someone treat it like a software rollout was jarring.
Arto let out a quiet laugh, slipping the crystal back into his pocket. "Well, when you had too much time inside the Void with nothing to do, your mind tended to work more efficiently, From the moment I made Stabilizer when wandering through the Void, took me about a thousand years or so, I thought of countless way of using it as both a preparation for a new life if I had any chance at it, and a way to keep my sanity intact."
He turned to erase the board "And when I arrived in this world, knowing your current state of technology, all I needed to do was pulling out the blueprints I had in my head with a few adjustments in numbers. And everything fell into place naturally, so you're not looking at a few weeks of work, it's the work of a man trying not to go insane in thousands of years inside the Void."
Rias stood silent for a moment, the weight of his words sinking in. She had always viewed Arto as a seasoned soldier, a man of discipline and strategy, but the scale of his isolation was something she could barely conceive. To spend a millennium refining a single system, iterating over a thousand years of mental solitude, transformed his "magic-tech" from a mere invention into a lifelong obsession—a survival mechanism that had become a legacy.
"Sensei, wait, Senpai, how can I call you now..." Kiba cupped his chin, which earned a wave from Arto's hand, signalling he could call Arto by whatever "Okay, Senpai, you arrived in this age, but if you were in...another time period like medieval or Renaissance, do you have plans to fit those times, or you're just gonna pull advance tech out?"
Arto turned back from the erased board, faced confused "Here we go again" Rias rubbed the bridge of her nose, knowing exactly what's coming "What is a Renaissance?"
Arto blinked, the question hanging in the air like a misplaced variable in a complex equation. He looked at Kiba, then at Rias, his expression one of genuine, blank curiosity. "The Renaissance? Is that a specific magical era? Or perhaps a regional political shift in the Underworld that happened while I was... not here?"
Kiba paused, his hand still cupped under his chin, his eyes widening. "Wait, you don't know what the Renaissance was? It was the great rebirth of art and science in human history! Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, the shift from the Dark Ages into the era of enlightenment!"
Arto leaned against the desk, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. "I am still not following you, Kiba, who the hell is Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo? Seriously, I am from another world, don't bring historical figures from your history to force me to make references"
A heavy silence settled over the room. Kiba opened his mouth, closed it, and then looked at Rias, who looked equally perplexed. It was a strange realization; for all the sophisticated, near-future technological leaps Arto had introduced in a matter of weeks, the man had a complete void where basic human history should be.
He had spent thousands of years calculating the vibration of mana frequencies and the structural integrity of iron spheres, but he had never once read a history book about the planet he had landed on.
"You're telling me you can build a magical internet from a fingernail-sized crystal," Rias said, her voice tilting upward in amusement, "but you've never heard of the era that gave us the printing press and the Mona Lisa?"
"Like I said, I am from another reality with different history and names, so when you're telling me about an era of your world, you need to be specific about the general events so that I can find my own references to understand what you're talking about," Arto replied, his tone dry but not unkind. He began stacking the remaining materials, his movements efficient and rhythmic. "Now, tell me, what generally happened in the Renaissance?"
Kiba beamed, his eyes lighting up at the opportunity to be the teacher for once. "Essentially, it was a period where humanity stopped relying solely on faith and tradition and started looking at the world through the lens of observation and logic. They rediscovered the mathematics of the ancients, began studying anatomy, and learned how to paint perspectives that made a flat canvas look like a window into another world. It was the birth of the scientific method!"
Arto stopped mid-motion, a stray piece of chalk held between his fingers. He stared at Kiba for a long moment, then slowly looked down at the tablets he had just distributed and the blue crystal in his pocket. A small, ironic smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Ohhh, we...never had any age like that, faith and science in my world kind of.....grew with each other because unlike you all trying to hide supernatural things from humanity, gods in my world managed the world directly"
Rias tilted her head, her curiosity piqued by the casual way he mentioned the divine. "Managed the world directly? That sounds like a logistical nightmare. Did they handle the taxes and the plumbing too?"
Arto let out a short, genuine laugh, the kind that reached his eyes. "Not quite, they managed via kingdoms, countries of leaders they crowned and protets, my world was kind of divided into territories of gods ruling over an array of countries, kingdom in somekind of federal states. But to answer your question, yes, the divine laws were the laws of the land.
But there are some gods who have no territory of their own like God of Knowledge, her territory is inside every contry's schools, institutes, and people's head, or I could mention the God of Medicine, his ground is inside the hospitals of every country."
Rias blinked, her mind trying to grasp the sheer scale of such a society. To her, the relationship between the divine and the mortal was one of distance and reverence, or in the case of the Three Factions, a complex political dance of power. The idea of a god being a localized administrator—a divine bureaucrat—was an alien concept. "It sounds... strangely organized. Almost like a corporation," she noted, a smirk playing on her lips.
"In some ways, it was," Arto replied, his expression softening as he looked at his students. "But it's really unstable because in a world where the society was divided by the gods who exist in plain sight to govern the world, it's hard not to put faith in them, and that's the problem with the world of the devout, it's orgainzed within each territory, but incredibly fractured in global relationships because they all based on the mood of their gods, faithfuls woulds stand for their gods and would wage wars in their names just because their gods had a disagreement. There were wars like that, you know...."
Hearing that, no one knew how to react, and the entire room fell into silence because of Arto's little brief of his world's history. "Alright, that's enough for today, Kiba, Koneko, I've kept you here long enough" He pulled out his wallet and handed them both some money
"Go fetch something to eat before going home and do your homework, remember, don't need to finish it, just do it with all your effort, if you have any questions, ask me via the tablets, got that?" Kiba grinned, pocketing the money with a quick flick of his wrist. "Crystal clear, Senpai. I think Koneko and I could go for some high-calorie sweets from the district center."
Beside him, Koneko gave a small, affirmative nod, her expression neutral as always, though the slight twitch of her nose suggested she was already smelling the nearby bakery. With a wave, the two of them exited the clubhouse, their footsteps fading into the quiet evening air.
As the door clicked shut, the silence that returned to the room was different—softer, more intimate. Akeno came to Arto who just finished clearing the board "Darling~" She leaned her face closer to him, smiling mischievously "Can you tell me more about your world when we cuddle~?"
Arto felt the familiar heat of her breath against his neck and the subtle scent of lilies that always seemed to follow her. He didn't pull away; instead, he let out a soft sigh, the tension of the day's lecturing finally bleeding out of his shoulders. "I'll have to disappoint you, Akeno. I remember almost nothing about my original world aside from some general information to remind me where I was born."
He picked up a small cloth to wipe his hands and continued, "After all, what use is preserving the history of a place no one knows or cares about? It would only turn me into a rambling old fool spouting nonsense. I let the Void swallow most of those memories to safeguard what truly matters—my knowledge, my experience, and, of course... the very things you are learning now."
Akeno pouted, her eyes shimmering with a playful disappointment, but she didn't pull away. She shifted her weight, sliding her arm around his waist in a casual, affectionate claim. "A shame. I think the 'rambling old fool' version of you would be quite charming. Besides, you can't possibly have forgotten everything. There must be a few stories—small ones—that didn't get swallowed by the Void."
Arto scratched his face sheepishly "Anyway, look at the clock, it's 7 p.m and we're not having anything for dinner yet!" Arto quickly gather his stuffs, clearly trying to avoid talking about his past "Go wash yourselved before having dinner, you have homework to do, right? So chop chop" He rushed into the kitchen with a determined look on his face, leaving Rias and Akeno to exchange a knowing glance.