"Of course, it's strange. But that's just within the realm of senses. Mathematically, it's a statement that doesn't have any issue."
Eruki's pride in mathematics was enormous. How much must the humanities teachers have hated him to give him a zero on his exam?
Shirone decided to use his last resort.
"Won't they promote you?"
"Hey! Damn it!"
Eruki couldn't help but kneel at that comment. He didn't want to become Kanis' subordinate even if it killed him.
While Eruki resumed solving problems fervently, Shirone returned to his seat and sighed.
"It would be terrible if he did this in a real exam, truly."
Neid, as if remembering something, looked up from his book and asked.
"Oh, we have a practical exam next week. Have you practiced a lot?"
Shirone and Eruki asked at the same time.
"What exam?"
"Damn it, you didn't even know? It's a test of endurance. Evaluation of Spiritual Zone Endurance."
"Do we need to practice? We can easily get over 80 points, right? Why are you anxious?"
"No, but there are many variables in practical exams. It's a relative evaluation, unlike other categories. If others perform better, our score decreases. I thought we should review it once."
"It's okay, it doesn't matter. Anyway, we don't have time."
Eruki, indifferent, focused on solving the problems. How well could one manage a Spiritual Zone at the Class Five level? Eruki believed he would undoubtedly pass the practical exam.
While solving mathematical problems, Shirone said.
"I want to pass too. I simply don't have the capacity to worry about that."
Neid also had his own confidence. But it was also true that it would be very difficult for him to score higher than the first two.
"Hmm, what should I do?"
If things seemed really difficult, he could ask for help. But it would be using the rule of stealing time from friends due to his mere anxiety.
'I don't know. Anyway, I need to be among the top ten.'
Neid folded his thoughts and began to study. If each of them couldn't achieve their share of the 33.3%, the efficiency of the study group would be destroyed.
They collaborated as best they could for the benefit of all, but the result was not something the others could give anyway.
***
Practice Field of the Image Zone.
Normally, this would be the time for the advanced joint class lesson, but the only students gathered were from Class Five.
It was the infamous practical evaluation period that had cornered Shirone several times. Especially as the end of the semester approached, the tension among the students was higher than ever.
Entering the Image Zone, Ethella, as always, extended the Spiritual Zone of 20 meters in diameter and began to explain.
"The topic we'll be evaluating today is the Spiritual Zone Endurance Test. It's a test to measure how long you can maintain changes in your Spiritual Zone."
Ethella extended both hands left and right and pointed into the distance. A black rod made of unknown material stood high, with unknown characters engraved on its surface.
"The evaluation criterion is the end-to-end distance of the rod, that is, a 20-meter diameter. If your Spiritual Zone is less than that, you can't take the test. Of course, I don't think any of you can't reach the 20 meters."
Ethella contracted her Spiritual Zone. When the volume of the zone, measured by the marker, dropped below two cubic meters, a buzzer sounded from the sound device.
"When the buzzer sounds, it's a cycle. The measurement time is 30 seconds, and your score is determined by the number of Spirit Zone pulses. We haven't practiced much with the counter on, so I'll demonstrate it first."
When Ethella signaled, the pulsation mode of the Image Zone's Spiritual Zone activated. At the same time, Ethella's Spiritual Zone began pulsating like a heartbeat, expanding and contracting repeatedly.
"Wow....."
Seeing the 20-meter diameter Spiritual Zone shrink below 2 meters in diameter and then instantly expand again was a spectacle worth watching. Although the cycle wasn't particularly fast, the contraction and expansion pattern was intense and reminiscent of an explosion.
The sound machine, one of the features of the Image Zone, calculated the expansion speed and triggered explosion sounds.
It wasn't merely about making the experience more exciting by creating sound. Understanding the intangible Image Zone through the five senses provided the best efficiency in magical training.
After 30 seconds, the number '30' appeared on the notification board. Ethella had pulsed once per second.
According to the elders, at least 90 points were needed to reach the promotion cutoff line, meaning three pulses per second. The children checked the strategies they had prepared, taking Ethella's demonstration as a reference.
After the demonstration, Ethella put her hands behind her back and said, "In real situations, it's often necessary to quickly transform into various forms of zones. Spiritual Zone Pulsation is basic training that serves as a foundation for this, so it's important to keep practicing even after the practical exam. Now, we'll proceed with the evaluation.
Based on the results of the speed gun test they did last time, the students started stepping forward. As expected, most of the rankings were similar to last time, perhaps because it's difficult to improve skills in just one or two months.
One by one, the students recorded their scores, with the lowest being 48. Then came Neid's turn. Being in the mid-to-high range in the speed gun test, he had no choice but to take the test much earlier than Shirone and Eruki.
"Neid, do well."
"Phew, I'm nervous."
Encouraged by Shirone and Eruki, Neid entered the Image Zone, closed his eyes, and focused. With the starting signal, he opened his eyes and expanded his Spiritual Zone. Like the heart of a person running at full speed, the zone pulsed at an accelerated rate.
"Wow! What's this, Neid?"
The children's eyes widened. Only 10 seconds had passed, but he had already scored over 50 points. The pulse of 5 times per second came with tremendous force even to the spectators.
"Wasn't he originally in the mid-range? At this rate, will he definitely be in the upper ranks?"
"Playing with Shirone really improved his skills, right? If we had known, we would have joined the research group too."
"That's right. They've been studying intensely these days, haven't they? Even Eruki, who used to fool around every day, hasn't missed a single class."
After 30 seconds, Neid's score came out. 173 times. Accelerating in the last 10 seconds helped improve the score.
"Good job, Neid."
Ethella recorded the score with a sincere smile. Her student, for whom she was responsible, had made great progress, making her feel even better.
"I expected this from the beginning."
Neid turned back, seemingly shy, sticking out his tongue. He high-fived his friends and sat down, saying, "Phew, I thought I was going to die from tension."
"You did well. At least one of us passed. Now it's just the two of us."
Stimulated by Neid, the next participants did the test with all their might. However, no score higher than 173 points came out.
With Neid securing the top spot, Eruki, the second-to-last, entered the Image Zone. Showing no signs of nervousness, Eruki activated his sage ability right from the start.
The method of pre-designing the expansion and contraction mechanism and repeating it like a machine wouldn't be very useful in practice, but it produced the highest efficiency in the test.
The score thus obtained was 210 points.
The boys stared at the score with absurd expressions. It was a number that couldn't be achieved without mechanically marking seven pulses per second without changing speed.
"Ha, as expected, it's incredible. Is it mental arithmetic? That guy probably didn't even do it correctly."
"There's nothing we can do. He's a Sage. Even Shirone would find it difficult to beat him this time, right?"
Then, a voice poured cold water on the heated atmosphere from behind.
"Hmph, making a fuss over such a small score. I guess Class Five is a gathering of pathetic types."
The students turned around, and as soon as they saw the person, they widened their eyes as if they had seen a ghost. Kanis and Arin, who were supposed to enroll from the next semester, were observing the practical test.
Ethella, who was recording the students' grades, asked, "Eh? What's happening with you two?"
"The director said it's okay for us to make a visit, so we came to see how the exams are done."
"Ah, I see. Then come this way. From here, you'll have a good view."
Kanis frowned. Was that woman really the one who fought against his teacher? During the battle, she wasn't a threat, but she was so mild that she seemed foolish when she was teaching.
"Is she doing it on purpose? Or is she really a fool?
In any case, it was also true that she was interested in the exams. Kanis and Arin approached behind the participants.
"How's it going, Arin? What do you see?"
"I've done so many pulse exercises until I got bored. The teacher said I had to improve no matter what. I should easily surpass 250."
Arin is a mental-type magician. Especially since she had to freely manipulate the tentacle type, which was the most difficult form among the zone forms, her endurance in the Spiritual Zone was unbeatable.
'As expected from Arcane's disciples. They're in a different league from us.'
The students naturally felt intimidated by Arin's words. Although they also came from noble families, anyone aspiring to be a mage dreams of being a direct disciple of an Archmage. Although they came from the lower districts, in terms of magic, the two had been in the elite of the elite's course.
'But we also have a secret weapon.'
When it was Shirone's turn to enter the Image Zone, all the students cheered for him.
They knew Shirone had defeated Kanis after regaining his memory. Therefore, they expected him to demonstrate his skills again this time.
In the center of the Image Zone, Shirone took a deep breath. Since Eruki had scored 210 points, Shirone only needed to match that to pass.
However, Shirone's eyes were different from before. As long as he had a firm goal, he had no intention of taking the test moderately, even if it wasn't for Kanis.
When Ethella's signal came, Shirone started pulsing his Spiritual Zone to the maximum from the start.
Without precise planning like Eruki's, evenly dividing a second was difficult. However, humans have an extremely accurate internal clock known as rhythm.
Shirone accelerated the rhythm zone's pulse. A line of drums that seemed to come from a sound machine burst in rapid succession.
Popopopopong!
The children couldn't close their mouths in amazement. They watched Shirone's demonstration without blinking, but they could only properly see the Spiritual Zone once per second.
"Can he really... how many times per second is that?"
Several layers of the Spiritual Zone moved simultaneously, making it impossible to count them by eye. The students waited for the 10-second mark. Shortly after, an astonishing number, 120, appeared on the scoreboard.
"12 times per second..."
Can you imagine a 20-meter diameter sphere contracting 12 times in a second? Although they were only watching, no one could comprehend what was happening inside. The bursting pulses and the rapidly increasing count were the only proof of Shirone's mental endurance.
Even Kanis and Arin were left stunned as they watched the demonstration. Arin, in particular, had an expression of disbelief. When the heartbeat speeds up to that point, the mind collapses first, abandoning speed.
The key to pulsation was how quickly one could stretch from the smallest circle to the largest and the shock it could withstand while contracting.
In that sense, the demonstration Shirone was showing was the pinnacle, maximizing both speed and durability.
"Vajrapani."
Ethella understood Shirone's state at a glance.
'This is truly remarkable. That child's potential is immeasurable.'
Even Ethella wasn't sure where Shirone was now. When she thought he was at one point, suddenly he was much further ahead