The first half of the magic academy has ended.
Although there were many discussions and issues, the atmosphere was comforting by the end of the semester.
The teachers also joked with their students, looking forward to heading home.
In a Swordsmanship Academy that mainly focuses on physical training, it's taught that rest is as important as practice. However, even in a magic academy centered on nurturing the mind, this was not overlooked.
The mind was a function firmly linked to humans, even if it couldn't be seen. Even the most persistent students needed a break to cool down their overheated brains.
However, as they shouldn't let their guard down, the Aldeas Magic Academy demanded that students who hadn't performed a presentation write a thesis on a free topic.
Of course, this did not apply to Shirone. Having received the highest score in the "Invisible Things" presentation held in the Supernatural Psychic Sciences Research Group, he could enjoy his vacation in peace.
On the day of the holidays, as students left one by one, Shirone found the Third Training Ground completely empty.
This place, which was noisy every day with cheers and the explosion of magic, was now filled with a quiet silence.
The Third Training Center was one of the largest among the training centers. A 1,600-meter track ran along the perimeter, and in an area divided into eight equal parts, there were devices to test various magical effects.
Shirone entered the mobility magic training area. There were countless teleportation magics a mage could use, such as Teleportation, Flight, Dark Port, and Air Walk. The best environment to practice all these magics was a desolate wasteland.
Shirone recalled his achievements of half a year there.
Firstly, mobility magic.
Shirone's main Mobility Magic was teleportation. From there, it had been further developed, acquiring Rainbow Drop that allows curved movement, and Patrol that allows quick lateral movement.
Among the achievements, Photon Egress was also indispensable.
Initially, it was just magic to transmit information, but after realizing the particles of God, it transformed into a powerful offensive magic called Photon Cannon.
Thanks to this, he easily learned Flash magic that maintained light for a long time.
Shirone didn't settle for that and kept evolving. He developed a laser by mathematically reversing the Photon Cannon.
Although the individual impact of the Photon Cannon would be high, the cumulative damage of the laser was almost infinite. It was a terrifying magic that could destroy any solid object unless it was a material unaffected by the laser wave.
'Now that I think about it, I must have worked pretty hard.'
Shirone smiled happily. Above all, what made him feel good was the fact that his specialization in magic had jumped to the next level.
Shirone's current theory of photonization had risen beyond quasi-luminal speed to the area of sub-luminal speed. The reason Shirone visited the training ground was also to attempt to launch Spatial Displacement, which was said to be impossible unless one was a sub-light speed mage.
"I wonder how it feels."
It was a different dimension from teleportation. He heard that one could clearly experience the singularity of light bending space-time through Spatial Displacement.
When he expanded the spiritual zone, he clearly felt the surrounding landscape through Synesthesia. Concentrating his awareness on a single point, Shirone performed Sub-light Speed Photon Magic.
The moment he combined omniscience and omnipotence and tilted his center, his body evaporated into light. A flash soared into the sky and then crashed down to the ground in an instant.
Shirone, who had arrived at his destination, exhaled with a pale face.
"Hoo! It's working!"
His heart was pounding strongly at the sensation he experienced for the first time in his life. The landscape entering his eyes was different from teleportation.
When launching Teleportation, he had the feeling that the world was being contracted and pushed inward. But with Spatial Displacement, he felt as if the world was folding and the sky and earth were rotating.
This is Spatial Displacement. I'm insane. I can't use it in a battle like this.
I hear that even Ethella, a certified sixth-rank mage, used teleportation as the main weapon in her confrontation with Arcane. In the end, it was proof that Spatial Displacement was ineffective during combat.
Where Spatial Displacement really shines is not in combat but in movement situations.
If you move long distances, you risk hitting an obstacle if you cast Teleportation. That's why, no matter how wide the Spiritual Zone is, most use a 10-meter interval as standard.
But Spatial Displacement can literally jump over space regardless of the obstacle.
Of course, to have a visible effect, the Spiritual Zone radius had to be incomparably wider than it is now.
The current radius of Shirone's spiritual zone is about 50 meters. It was a top size among the students, but it seemed a bit insufficient to handle advanced magic like Spatial Displacement.
In the end, the level of magic was too high compared to his Spiritual Zone. Normally, magic follows one's Spiritual Zone level, but Shirone, a Unlocker, has surpassed theoretical barriers with his extraordinary insight.
'The balance has become asymmetrical. Should I be glad about this?'
Of course, the growth of his Spiritual Zone was not small either. The size may be similar to that of the start of admission, but the durability itself is different.
If asked to expand the zone to the level of six months ago, a diameter of 100 meters would be no problem.
However, if he cast high-level magic in that state, the zone would break. Therefore, it was reasonable to continue considering
the zone's radius was 50 meters.
"Haha, people will laugh at me if I say I use Spatial Displacement with this size of zone..."
By rough calculation, the zone had to be at least 200 meters in diameter for Spatial Displacement to be effective in practice.
Suppose a mage is given an urgent task and needs to move 10 kilometers. To cover that distance with Teleportation, they would have to cast it a whopping 1,000 times. However, a mage with a 200-meter zone diameter can cover the distance with only 50 instances of Spatial Displacement.
Being able to reduce the casting time by 950 times in a real combat scenario, where every fraction of a second counts, is tremendous efficiency.
"Not everything is about learning powerful magic. Without the support of the Spiritual Zone, you cannot become an excellent mage."
Furthermore, training the Spiritual Zone doesn't only mean increasing its radius.
It needs to increase in size while maintaining enough durability for the main magic to work. Additionally, to increase the magic's precision, one must also take care of density.
"Oh my God..."
Shirone was stunned. It felt like the path he was going to tread extended to the horizon.
"The radius and durability of the zone, omniscience and omnipotence, adaptability and skill, practical experience and judgment, etc. The knowledge a mage had to learn was infinite.
Above all, what excited Shirone the most was the fact that all these qualities had to rise simultaneously, achieving balance.
Realizing that fact, he began to vaguely see the shape of what kind of path he was following and what magic was.
Shirone felt excited.
It was because it was a test of growth that he could vaguely feel the reality in the nearly infinite magical world.
The same happened with Siena, Ethella, and Arcane. They all reached their positions thanks to tremendous practice. Of course, the path would be difficult, but he did not believe it was a directionless path.
"I can do it. I can go higher."
Having managed to ascend to Class 4, he could present himself to the graduation class at any time starting from the next semester. And when he finally graduated, he would become the mage he dreamed of.
"I'm going to be a mage..."
Just imagining it made Shirone's heart tremble. There was a time when he thought he would have to live in the mountains all his life. But now it was different. His cherished dream was coming true.
"Now that I think about it, so many things have happened."
When he first entered the academy, he couldn't handle any magic and was scolded by his peers. As a counterpoint, he hadn't even made an exceptional Teleportation Test?
"Hahaha! Thinking about it now, I was really pathetic."
Shirone left the Mobility Magic training field and entered the Cutting Magic training field in Sector 4.
As a place to test magical cutting power, a highly viscous cylindrical target was floating at the top of the magic circle.
Shirone approached the target and extended his hand.
"Wind Cutter."
As he chanted, a strong wind arose. The powerful wind scratched the target, and the cylinder split in half with a roar.
Students specialized in Wind Magic train by maximizing the astrological properties, but Shirone was content that the magic succeeded on his first attempt.
"Haha, this is easy."
Currently, Shirone's Omnipotence was incomparably stronger than at the beginning of his enrollment.
Since he passed all subjects with a score of 80 or higher, basic magic like Wind Cutter posed no problem.
Of course, not everyone could achieve Omnipotence just by knowing the Omniscience part. The reason he could instantly manifest the first attempt of magic was that Shirone's tendencies were closer to perspicacity than analysis.
Mages could largely be divided into theorists and sensors. Each had its strengths and weaknesses, but when trying something new, sensory learning was invariably faster than theoretical.
Especially, Shirone belonged to the group with very distinct tendencies. The reason why Arcane once said that Shirone learns from real-life experiences came from here.
Shirone, who had reviewed the results of the last six months, wore a satisfied smile. Even in his own opinion, he now felt like a full-fledged mage.
"Hey, Shirone!"
"Yes?"
When he looked back at the track, Neid and Eruki were waving at him.
As Shirone was about to run towards them, he suddenly had an interesting idea and stopped walking.
Then, he turned his Spiritual Zone into a type of target, calculated the distance to his friends, and launched Spatial Displacement.
With a grating sound, as if scratching metal, Shirone's body appeared in front of the two in an instant.
"You surprised me! What did you just do?"
Neid stepped back in surprise. Eruki also widened his eyes as if he hadn't expected it.
"Could that be Spatial Displacement? Were you practicing until the end of the semester?"
Shirone replied with an awkward smile.
"No. I won't be able to practice at the training ground for the time being, so I came here to review what I've learned one last time."
"But Spatial Displacement is something you've achieved today for the first time, right? That's amazing. Try it again."
While Neid was making gestures, Eruki clicked his tongue.
"What's so astonishing? It's not like we haven't seen it before."
"No, I think it's the first time we've seen someone our age cast it... When the teachers did it, we thought it was normal, but it seems different when Shirone does it."
"Well, Spatial Displacement is a difficult spell even for those graduating."
It wasn't called a specialty for nothing. Teleportation was a fundamental magic for mages, but Spatial Displacement was more like a specialty.
Of course, like Teleportation, Spatial Displacement was also classified as Over Power, so it was essential for those reaching a 6th rank level to learn it.
However, using sub-light magic at a student level was much more difficult than expected, even for specialists.
"But it still doesn't have a concrete use. The movement distance is too short."
"Why is there no use? At least, you surprised Neid."
"When did I surprise him? I can do Plasma too. Do you want me to show you here?"
Neid got angry, but it was already too late. Eruki, with a annoyed face, waved his hand and turned to Shirone.
"Alright. Anyway, to sum it up, this is it. You were indulging in narcissism while casting a great magic in an empty place, right?"
Shirone's face turned red. Although he was just reviewing the achievements of the last six months, in a way, Eruki's words were not wrong.
"No, that's not what I was..."
"Well, you can afford it. You're the one who has grown the most this semester. Anyway, let's say goodbye now if you're satisfied."
"Oh, sure. It's already late."
Although most of the students had gone home, some students like Shirone's group stayed at the academy to thank the teachers for their hard work during the semester.
The trio left the training ground and sought the building where the teachers stayed. All the dorm doors were open, and cleaners were cleaning each room.
Shirone found the conference room. As expected, numerous teachers were chatting while having tea, just before departing to their hometowns.