I slowly retracted the wooden blade, taking a half-step back to loosen the distance between us. As soon as I felt Kanade's center of gravity was stable, I gently released the hand supporting her waist and bowed slightly.
"I sincerely apologize for the offensive action just now, Lady Kanade." I kept my tone as calm and accommodating as possible. "The ice floor earlier lost almost all its friction. If I hadn't caught you, inertia would have caused you to fall and hit your head on the ground. I hope you will generously overlook this discourtesy."
Kanade seemed to not have fully recovered from the aftershocks. Her lemon-green eyes were wide with fluster, a blush spreading all the way to her ears. The feline ears on her orange hair twitched slightly, then drooped timidly. She awkwardly clutched her arms, shaking her head slightly.
"No... it's fine. I... I understand. Sir Zero held back."
Seeing that she had calmed down somewhat, I decided to utilize the data I had just collected. A system is only perfected when you find the bugs and patch them.
"If you don't mind, could we debrief a bit about the match just now?" I smiled lightly. "You possess excellent reflexes and mana capacity. However, you are letting yourself rely too much on environmental perception. That inadvertently creates fatal blind spots when there is external interference, such as high-intensity light or temperature-altering fog."
I paused for a beat, observing Kanade's expression gradually shifting to attentiveness before continuing.
"Furthermore, I notice that noble mages seem to share a common habit. They always stand in the backline, focusing entirely on chanting. Their area-of-effect attack capability is indisputable, but their mobility is severely reduced. Hypothetically, if an assassin could bypass the frontline and close in on them at close range like just now, the consequences would be incredibly unpredictable."
Kanade blinked, her feline ears perking up slightly. The confidence of a former noble lady seemed to have returned somewhat as she looked up to answer me.
"Your analysis is very accurate, Sir Zero. But in reality, noble mages of 3-star rank and above have already anticipated this. They usually pre-cast a passive defensive magic."
"Passive?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Yes." Kanade nodded, her lemon-green eyes shining with seriousness. "For example, a Fire-element mage will set up a hidden incantation circle. Whenever a foreign creature enters a certain radius, that magic will automatically activate, creating a wall of fire to incinerate the intruder without them needing to actively chant again."
A standby loop activated by a proximity sensor condition. That thought immediately flashed through my head. Sure enough, the essence of magic and programming algorithms always had an astonishing similarity.
I placed my hand on my chest, bowing slightly. "So that is how it is. I sincerely apologize for hastily evaluating before thoroughly understanding the combat system of the nobility."
However, as soon as my brain finished running the risk analysis process of this type of "sensor," I looked straight into Kanade's eyes.
"But Lady Kanade, an automated system always has its load-bearing threshold. That defense method... I fear it is only truly effective against those with energy levels weaker than or equal to theirs. If the intruder brings a kinetic energy or magic resistance armor that exceeds the output threshold of that fire wall, that defense system will collapse before the mage even realizes it."
Kanade's feline ears tilted slightly, nodding to confirm my judgment.
"What you said is completely accurate. Because of that limit, high-tier mages rarely fight independently. Around them is always an elite squad of knights, hired or trained to act as a physical wall, providing absolute protection for the backline. Automated defensive magic is just the final, thin shield if the physical defense line is breached."
I nodded, logging this valuable information. A multi-layered security system: the hardware consists of heavily armored knights, the software is auto-activating magic. Truly, military tactics share similar core principles in any world.
Suddenly, Kanade's lemon-green eyes shone with intense curiosity. She looked at me, hesitating a bit before speaking up to ask.
"But, Sir Zero... how did you do that earlier?"
"Do what? What do you mean, My Lady?" I replied mildly.
"That magic that created the blinding light and terrible sound..." Kanade frowned slightly, trying to find words to rephrase a phenomenon beyond her understanding. "Your magic circle appeared right in front of my face, while the distance between us at that time was very far. According to common sense, a magic circle must be formed around the caster's body, taking that person's mana core as the initialization center. For you to cast a magic circle in an empty space completely separated from your body is... is impossible."
I smiled slightly. In spatial geometry, moving the origin point of a coordinate axis system to any arbitrary position is just a basic vector translation. Instead of wasting energy maintaining the stability of the magic along a long flight path from my hand to Kanade's position, I merely needed to calculate the distance, pinpoint a spatial coordinate right in front of her eyes, and supply mana for the system to auto-compile at that point.
Of course, I couldn't just dump the entire principle of three-dimensional spatial mathematics to explain it right now.
"What I used is a specific casting method I've thought of recently." I kept my tone humble, explaining gently. "And thanks to this invaluable sparring match with you, I had the opportunity to practically test whether it works or not. I tentatively call that technique... coordinate assignment magic."
Kanade's eyes widened to their limits, the two feline ears on top of her head standing straight up in surprise. She repeated my words blankly.
"Coordinate... assignment magic?"
"Yes," I nodded in confirmation. "But to establish and utilize this technique in practical combat, you will need to master the foundation of a discipline I call spatial mathematics."
Kanade's orange feline ears twitched slightly, tilting to one side.
"Spatial... mathematics? What kind of magical technique is that, sir?"
I took a few minutes to summarize the most basic concepts of a three-dimensional coordinate axis system, translations, and how to determine the absolute position of a point in space without relying on physical perception. I tried to distill the terminology to be as simple and non-technical as possible.
However, as soon as I stopped speaking, the only response I received was silence.
Kanade's lemon-green eyes blinked continuously. The expression on her face was completely blank, like a system that had just been overloaded with data and entered a frozen state. She clearly hadn't understood a single word of what I just said.
I sighed softly inwardly, quickly realizing the error in my pedagogical method.
"It seems this theoretical approach of mine is too cumbersome and not suitable for you, Lady Kanade."
The demi-human maid jolted awake. Both ears drooped entirely, her face clearly showing extreme awkwardness and guilt.
"I... I apologize, Sir Zero. Because I am so inept, I could not comprehend the knowledge you took the effort to impart..."
"Please do not mind it, that is absolutely not your fault." I smiled warmly, waving my hand slightly to soothe the rising tension within her. "This volume of knowledge inherently carries heavy, dry theory. Forcing someone to apply it to practical combat reflexes immediately is unreasonable due to my own lack of thorough consideration. Please give me some time; I will find another approach, more intuitive and easily adaptable, to help you apply it."
Kanade's eyes brightened somewhat. The worry lifted, she bowed deeply in respect.
"I am truly grateful for your tolerance and patience, Sir Zero."
Afterward, we lingered a bit longer to discuss deeper the operating mechanisms of noble magic. Correlating the information from Kanade with my previous observations, I realized quite a few blind spots in my own thinking and silently updated my entire database.
By late afternoon, I returned to my room to prepare the lesson plan. At exactly 5:36 PM, not a second off, I smoothed the lapels of my suit neatly and knocked on Lady Aiselin's door.
"Come in." The clear voice rang out from inside.
When I entered, Aiselin's sapphire blue eyes immediately noticed the very thin stack of documents in my hands. A flash of inquiry crossed the depths of her eyes.
"Why are your documents so few today?" Aiselin tilted her head slightly.
"My Lady, today we will only review the knowledge systems from the previous two sessions, and I plan to end the lecture earlier than usual." I replied unhurriedly.
Immediately, I noticed the slight frown and the less-than-pleased look from the genius lady. I understood her thirst for knowledge, but if a machine runs at full capacity continuously, it will generate heat and wear out.
"I completely understand My Lady's intense passion for these new academic concepts." I bowed my head slightly, my tone accommodating yet firm. "However, continuously taking in a large volume of complex data will cause the brain to fall into an overloaded state. Forcing yourself will not only reduce absorption efficiency but, in the long run, could also erode My Lady's initial passion. In my opinion, we should have intermittent rest periods so My Lady can take time to relax and enjoy other personal hobbies."
Hearing that highly rational explanation, Aiselin was silent for a beat, then gave a slight nod of agreement.
Everything afterward proceeded quite smoothly and quickly. At exactly 9 PM, we had completed systematizing all the knowledge. While I was carefully arranging the drafts on the table, Aiselin suddenly spoke up.
"Say, Zero, how is Kanade's situation?"
My hand movements did not stop; I replied calmly.
"Lady Kanade possesses excellent magical aptitude. However, it seems my current academic knowledge system is not truly compatible with her method of thinking. I am in the process of reviewing and seeking another, more intuitive approach, My Lady."
Aiselin nodded in understanding, then rested her chin on her hand and looked at me.
"By the way, Zero, you don't have any personal matters to attend to this Sunday, correct?"
"Yes, My Lady. My schedule is completely open."
"That is good." Aiselin smirked, forming a light smile. "I want you and Kanade to go out with me this Sunday. We need to apply the theories you have taught into practice."
I was slightly surprised but quickly regained my usual elegant demeanor.
"That is a wonderful idea, My Lady. I will prepare for that practical experiment. I wish My Lady a very good evening of rest."
Holding the stack of documents against my chest, I bowed perfectly and turned to step out the door. As the thick wooden door closed behind me, everything seemed to repeat exactly like the previous evenings. Amid the silent space of the corridor, I faintly heard a very small sound slip through the crack of the door. One had to pay close attention to catch that fragile and heavily forced frequency band.
"Goodnight, Zero."
End of Chapter 17.