Shirone explained by drawing on a piece of paper.
When no replies returned after hearing what he had to say, Shirone lost his confidence and hurriedly added.
"Other than this method, various traps can be installed as well. For example, if you use keywords…"
Yiruki shook his head.
"No, it'll be fine. It's not only good, but those are necessary elements."
Nade agreed.
"Yeah. This is quite subtle. You're using the presentation as a tool."
As the structure was established, the three began to plan detailed operations.
"The only problem is this. How do we present a ghost?"
The technical part was up to Nade.
He rose from the sofa and cast Lightning Shadow which created another Nade made up of electricity.
"We can make a ghost shape like this. But no one will be deceived by an unmoving ghost. That is the part I'm worried about."
Yiruki nodded.
"We can think from there. How can we make the afterimage move?"
"This is what came to mind right now. Quickly linking together Lightning Shadow…"
As Nade moved, the afterimage was taken in each frame of Nade's movement, giving the impression of walking.
"I see. So you're saying we can use optical illusion to make it look real."
"Right. However, magic has its limits. Moreover, I can't increase the number of individuals at my level."
Shirone asked.
"What if we were to use a mechanical device?"
"Easier said than done. Even if we do make a device, there is a mountain pile of stuff to consider. The biggest problem is, what if people aren't fooled even after we implemented the movements? If we really want to make them believe, we need it to be responsive to external stimuli."
Yiruki racked his brain for a while and said.
"How about… Predicting people's reactions ahead of time?"
"Predicting their reaction?"
"We will adopt the Complex System Theory. We analyze the public's behavioral patterns and program them. It's a way to create the illusion that we're actually getting feedback. Problem is that's it's a huge amount of information. We need a medium and control system to deliver the information."
"Hmm. Transmitting information. There certainly are limits to my electric ability. Then… Ah!"
Nade turned to Shirone.
"Photon Output! We have Shirone's photon output!"
"Aha! With photon output…"
Shirone thought there was a possibility. It was a magic he learned to take the Targeting exam, but in the magic society, the research on transmitting information through photon output was in full swing.
"Now it's sorted then. Nade will create a hologram device. I will make the program that will go into the device, and it will be Shirone's photon output that will send my program to the device. It probably requires a huge output, can you do it?"
"I have to. It's a one in a million opportunity."
They finally saw a ray of light in the darkness. Nade was thrilled just to have hope for something he thought was impossible.
"We can do it. We can protect our research group. Of course, assuming there will be no accidents."
"The academy will be in a fuss if we succeed, right?"
"More than that, actually. I think the academy will be in an uproar. I'll bet my money on that. Besides, I think it'll be so much fun. Kekeke. I'm already looking forward to the teachers' reactions."
Yiruki and Nade turned to look at each other and gave an evil smirk. With the existence of the Supernatural Psychic Science Research Group on the line, an unprecedented event in the history of the magic academy was occur.
Shirone spent his time increasing the effectiveness of his photon output. The key was to increase the strength of the output while increasing the retention time. Weightless photons could not inflict any physical force, meaning it could not be used as attack magic. However, this time around, that characteristic turned out to be an advantage. This was because Shirone could go and train in any storage room in Estas.
Shirone put out his two hands. He concentrated and cast Photon Output.
As the beam of light started to create a circle on the wall, Shirone began to push himself.
If he couldn't hold out like this for 10 minutes, then there was no point in attempting to increase the output.
Although the level of difficulty exceeded that of Class 5, it was the same for Nade's hologram device and Yiruki's Complex System Equation.
'I have to succeed. I…'
Shirone clenched his teeth and held out.
After three minutes, he began to lose consciousness.
He was able to withstand a minute while casting a single photon output during the Speed Gun exam, so his current progress showed remarkable growth compared to then.
"Heuk! Heuk!"
The result of 10 days of training was a record of 3 minutes and 20 seconds.
Shirone had to increase it to 10 minutes within the next 20 days.
After measuring the new record, he always had to rest for 20 minutes because he was carrying out a training that could be life threatening if recovery was neglected.
Shirone was taking a break when he heard a noise from the warehouse beyond the wall. Nade seemed to have started welding.
When Shirone entered the store room next door to figure out the situation, he saw Nade buried in mechanical parts.
"Yo, Shirone. How's the output time?"
"So-so. I increased it by about 20 seconds. What about you?'
"As you can see, I'm still working on the engine."
"Can you make it in time?"
"It's not like I have a choice. Don't worry. Prototyping usually takes time since it's hard to correct errors once I start the production process. That's why I have to be meticulous right now."
"Alright. By the way, what about the thing Yiruki talked about?"
"Oh, that? I got it yesterday. This one."
Nade threw a hose-like string at Shirone's feet.
The outer material was made of rubber, and a transparent, membrane-like quartz filled the inside.
It was an item that Yiruki specially requested from his father, the head of the King's Commission.
'Optical fiber.'
According to Yiruki, 300 holographic devices had to be set up in the academy.
However, it was impossible for Shirone to cast photon output to all the devices by himself.
In the beginning, Nade's first solution was to use a mirror.
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It was a method of transmitting the photon output to the mechanical device using the light's property of total reflection.
But the problem was that there were too many places where the light had to be bent. So Nade thought 'what if there were a lot more mirrors?' What if they attached mirrors to a small hose so light could 'bend'?
When Nade proudly proposed his idea, his eyes brimmed with excitement. This was because if this idea worked, they could commercialize it. They could sit high up on a pile of money.
However, Yiruki broke the news to them.
Yiruki received a letter from his father every month. It contained several pieces of information regarding the mage society. A letter from a few months ago wrote that the same kind of item Nade had thought of had already been introduced.
It was named the 'Optical fiber.'
Nade's disappointment could not be put into words because even the Ivory Tower, which was at the cutting edge of magic, had only recently started to make developments in the field.
However, after receiving and analyzing the optical fiber, his disappointment disappeared. At his current level, he could never make such an item that required sophisticated engineering techniques.
'But his idea was the same as the Ivory Tower's. Nade is amazing, too.'
Shirone scrutinized the optical fiber. He couldn't tell what was so great about it with his bare eyes alone.
"He really managed to acquire it."
Nade, who finished welding, stood up with red eyes.
"Performance is not guaranteed. Let's start with a demonstration. There's something I converted into a tester."
Nade handed over the optical fiber to Shirone, which was equipped with transparent beads.
"What should I do with this?"
"Keep holding and testing the photon output. I'll calculate the efficiency, so try it right now. But you really have to give it your all because measuring the maximum is important."
Shirone checked the time and found out that his break was over, so he hurriedly grabbed the crystal ball.
When he cast Photon Output, a light source formed on top of his hand, and the beads shone pale.
That light traveled through the optical fiber to the device Nade created which caused the needle in the instrument panel to shake.
Nade, who was watching the numbers in the panel until Shirone's output limit of three minutes passed, sighed and said in a sullen voice.
"Yiruki was right. This is still in its very early development. Well, I guess I shouldn't complain and be ungrateful. We should still be thankful for this alone."
"Is it that bad?"
"It is only 18% efficient. That means 82% of the amount of light you sent was lost."
"82%…"
Shirone was so very disappointed as soon as he heard the percentage.
It was hard enough for him to hold out 10 minutes, so the device having only 18% efficiency meant that he had to increase his output by 5 times to reach the desired value.
"Can you do it, Shirone? If you can't raise it, we will not succeed. Machines cannot compensate for a high output energy of magic."
Shirone's head bobbed.
"I'll try. I'm sure I'll be able to after practice."
"You can really do it?"
"Yes. Don't worry. I'll do my best. Then I'll leave to practice some more."
Nade face scrunched up, and his eyes welled up in tears.
"Really? You're really going to it? No taking back."
"Yes, I said I will!"
Shirone spoke with confidence, but only his eyes were smiling.
"Haah! Haah!"
Shirone was on the ground, his body spread out. He was gasping for air.
Training Photon Output for over half a day was affecting his mind as well as his physical body.
The time he just achieved was 3 minutes and 20 seconds.
Nothing changed much compared to the record measured in the morning.
However, he was now able to reach 3 minutes and 20 seconds despite his drainged mental strength, so he could still say there was some improvement.
Considering he fell to 2 minutes and 34 seconds an hour ago, he did pretty well for the last-minute effort.
'Even so, it's far from enough. How can I achieve 10 minutes?'
For all he knew, it might have been impossible.
Photon Output consumed mental power much faster than single-shot active magic, if he continuously cast and maintained it. Ten minutes in that state was only possible in the professional world.
"Hooh, I don't know. I'll recover first and try again tomorrow."
Nade entered the store room.
"Shirone, are you done?"
"Yeah. I can't do it anymore today, even if I die. I need to rest first."
"I'm dying of exhaustion after watching spark after spark for hours. It's past midnight. Let's head back to Yiruki."
'Has it already been that long?'
After some short calculation, Shirone realized he had been practicing photon output for more than seven hours. It was a life-threatening amount of training.
If the academy found out about it, they would definitely ban him from training.
"Urgh."
Shirone groaned as he lifted himself up from the ground with much difficulty.
Shirone wasn't the only one who looked like an undead creature of the night. Nade's eyes were sunken, and his face was blotchy red from the exposure to light for a long time.
When they returned to the research group, Yiruki was playing with a pen while viewing the academy from a bird's-eye view.
He was doing this to organize the behavioral patterns into an equation while considering the variables that could occur on the day of the operation.
Nade understood.
Like Shirone and Nade, Yiruki also seemed to have never moved from his seat ever since he sat on it.
"What do you think, Yiruki? How's the math going?"
Yiruki didn't even look up from his notebook.
"I can manage to make it on time, so lay down your worries."
Nade's heart ached as his greed seemed to only harm his friends' bodies.
In the end, the existence of the research group was one of the things the president had to be responsible for.
"Yiruki, you don't have to overdo it. In fact, calculating all the behavioral patterns of all students…"
"I can do it. I said I can do it. Don't talk to me. I'm busy right now."
With that, Yiruki shut his mouth.
He was writing formulas in his notebook at an alarming rate.