"Uh? Is the government controlling access? But the Galliant government and the Native Autonomous District have different administrative bodies. If we say we'll enter unconditionally, isn't it inevitable?"
"Of course, it is. It's just nominal control. But I think there must be a reason for blocking it until now. I'm sorry if it sounded useless."
"No, it's okay. Because even though we didn't know it, my intention to go doesn't change. Of course, Jiss, if you guide us."
"Of course! Wouldn't I be the perfect guide, Jiss?"
Jiss, who confidently beat his chest, winced in pain. His pain took a while to subside before he spoke again.
"Well, by the way, I'm not sure if I can walk properly in my current physical condition."
"Don't worry about that. Tomorrow, I'm going to visit the healing mage introduced by Mr. Freeman. Most injuries can be healed by going there."
"Wow, a healing mage? Is the treatment very expensive?"
Jiss widened his eyes in surprise, and Amy looked intensely at him and said:
"It'll be cheaper than the cost of the guide you suggested."
Jiss scratched his head. They discussed this way, and it was evident how much he was trying to peel his skin off.
"Haha, what happened suddenly? Let's forget the past."
Shirone buried himself in the soft sofa.
"Anyway, it's better for you to rest today. Mental strength will recover after sleeping, but Rian and Tess will be inconvenient until they receive recovery magic."
"Eh? No, I'm fine because the wounds are already healed."
At Tess's words, everyone in the group turned to her. Clearly, the scars on her cheeks and arms had healed.
"Wow, how did you do it? Is it similar to what Mr. Freeman did?"
"Uh-huh. I took the second scheme as mitochondria."
Mitochondria?
"It's a cellular organ that produces energy. If you use the mitochondrial scheme, basic physical abilities like speed, regeneration, and endurance increase dramatically. That's why many less talented swordsmen opt for mitochondria as their default construction. Maybe soldiers or mercenaries in the kingdom use a lot of mitochondrial constructions."
"I see. But what about the second construction or the basic construction?"
Shirone, who had been attacked numerous times by swordsmen while fighting the mercenary parrot, wanted to know a bit more about the scheme. It was definitely different from magical battles. It was better to gather as much information about battle as possible, unless you knew what dangers they would face in the ruins in the future.
"The construction is a tree of techniques. It's often said that one thinks of a virtual body when explaining a scheme, but when you really learn it, the feeling is different from that. As the cells forming the body awaken, the clarity expands. So here's the problem. How do swordsmen nest multiple constructions?"
Amy and Rian knew the answer but didn't respond. Since Tess was the person with the highest level of scheme understanding, she thought to entrust her response.
"Well. If it's a virtual scheme, wouldn't it develop by dividing it into parts like arms and legs?"
"Normally, I think so. Of course, it's not impossible. But you can't balance your body that way. For example, if only the nervous system continues to develop, muscles will explode. On the contrary, if you only develop muscle strength, your fist might break when you swing it."
"There was a big issue. Actually, I've been curious about it for a long time. I knew it strengthened the body, but not how to balance it."
"It'll be like magic. Perhaps you also have a systematic way of dealing with the mind. It must be a special pattern."
"Uh-huh. Call it in four ways. There are also things like sequence formulas."
"The same goes for swordsmen. That's what a construction is. You can think of it as making several virtual schemes and then overlaying them. For example, something like this. Put the mitochondrial scheme at the bottom, then the muscle strengthening scheme on top of that, then put the ocular technique on top of it, and so on. Since I mount on the technique tree with the complete base, the risk of the body being destroyed due to a loss of balance is significantly reduced."
"Ah! There was a way."
"The base scheme is the most efficient. If the scheme's efficiency placed at the base is 100%, the second is 50%, the third 25%, and so on. There's a significant decrease. You can change the order, but unless you're an expert in the technique tree, it's hard to apply directly in practice. However, there are some exceptions, one of them is the so-called reversal technique."
"Isn't that the technique Amy was talking about, with Mr. Freeman, using? How do you do it? Are you making a specific pattern like the four forms?"
"No, schemes don't work that way. To explain it in an easy-to-understand way, the reason why the reversal is possible is that you can change the point at which you perceive the scheme."
Tess recreated the action of reaching the table and picking up and moving the paper.
"For example, let's imagine here we have three stacked transparent sheets of paper. When looking down, our eyes will go through the sheets in order. If we call this 1, 2, 3, then a reversal would change the perspective for us to see from bottom to top. 3, 2, 1. That's it. In addition to this, there are numerous techniques in the technique tree like detachment, drilling, folding, crossing, among others. The accumulation of all this considering the scheme is called construction.
Shirone was surprised. He thought that swordsmen simply had to develop physical skills, but now that he sees it, it's technical enough to be comparable to that of wizards.
"I see. Therefore, Tess has moved the mitochondrial scheme to the second technique tree. The efficiency is half of the first."
"Yes. Indeed, the mitochondria construction is popular, but concentrating physical activity where 100% of the scheme can be used is a waste. Literally, unless it's a close combat. That's why those who handle the sword well choose the most suitable scheme for their skills. In my case, I chose the nervous system construction. Precision is the most important in sword handling."
Shirone also understood it now. If two people using the same scheme use the same techniques and fight each other, the nervous system construction would surpass the mitochondrial construction.
"The mercenaries we encountered in the achievement and sacrifice trial room are interesting too, as they didn't choose the mitochondrial construction. The warriors seem to have chosen the muscular reinforcement construction, and the archer, a sensory construction."
"Huh? Is the nervous system different from the sensory one?"
"They are similar, but they focus on different areas of strengthening. To explain it simply, one can think of the difference between the internal and external senses. The nervous system construction, like mine, focuses on the internal sense. Therefore, I can perform more precise physical movements than others. On the other hand, the sensory construction focuses on the external sense. It refers to primary senses like sight, smell, and hearing, and tactile senses like taste or touch. It's natural for archers to focus on the primary sense. Hence, their vision, smell, or hearing are much more sensitive than others. Of course, I'm also adopting the sensory construction as my third construction."
"Ah, that's why tracking an archer is difficult."
"Yes. Anyway, the key is to find the right construction for oneself. Perfecting each scheme is basic. Even if you adopt the mitochondrial construction, if you don't perform well, your physical ability could be inferior to a swordsman who chose the mitochondria in their third tree of techniques."
"I see, it's about understanding what a scheme is. Why is the body diagram called a scheme?"
"In the end, it's like another representation of oneself. For example, there's a phenomenon called phantom pain. It's when someone has lost an arm but unconsciously feels pain if an object is placed in the space where their arm used to be. That's what a scheme really is."
Listening to the conversation, Amy also had many similar perceptions to Shirone's. At first, she thought it would be easier for a swordsman, but as the conversation progressed, even she was discussing things she was unaware of.
"So, Tess, how many layers does our father's scheme have? I remember he had many abilities when he was young. If efficiency decreases with each layer, isn't it useless from the fourth layer onwards?"
"Yes, that's commonly true. But there's a way to increase the efficiency of the second tree of techniques to 100%."
Shirone, who was already completely captivated by the scheme, showed interest and asked:
"Oh, really? What is it?"
"The inspectors call it 'acquisition.' As I mentioned before, when explaining the scheme, one must evoke the shadow with the image of their own appearance. Opening the scheme means making the dark part transparent. But how many people fully understand their own body? It would be like removing all the dark parts of a scheme."
"Well, that must be difficult."
"It is. It requires extensive training and incredible talent. But there are people out there who have done it. It becomes completely transparent and finally blends with your own body. Therefore, a person who acquires a particular scheme ends up as if they don't have that field. For those who have mastered the five schemes, the efficiency of the sixth scheme becomes 100. But it's a matter of time and effort. If you have the talent, you can shorten it."
"Wow."
Shirone let out a breath he had been holding. He had dreamed of becoming a wizard since he was young, but he realized the infinity of the sword when he had a real sword fight with Rian.
Wizards and swordsmen. Spiritual Zone and Scheme. Indeed, there was a reason why the force divided this world into two halves.
"That's amazing, Tess."
Tess was embarrassed by Shirone's sincere praise.
"Oh, it's no big deal. I learned it from a young age, it's something I know. I tried to explain it in the most detailed way hoping that even you, as a wizard, could find it useful."
"Yes, it was really helpful. Now I feel like I can handle situations like today better. So, Tess, you're already recovered, and tomorrow we'll only need the recovery spell for Jiss and Rian."
Shirone mentioned this with apparent indifference, but Tess suddenly realized something, and her face tensed.
She realized that although they were talking about swordsmen and schemes, Rian had not interrupted even once.
Tess subtly glanced at Rian. Despite listening as stoically as always, his gaze was fixed on his own body.
Literally, it was a mess. Even though in their last encounter, he had overwhelmed Falkoa with his imaginary scheme, his great weakness was that he had not mastered his scheme.
Even now, instead of recovering, he felt his wounds worsening.
"Oh my, why are you…?"
Tess looked at Rian with sadness, but at the same time, her heart raced nervously. It hurt her to have inadvertently hurt Rian.
"His self-esteem must be wounded. You'd be the most affected person."
Realizing that their friends were watching, Rian quickly changed his expression, smiling brightly as if nothing had happened, and thumped his chest forcefully.
"Haha! I'm fine, I don't need healing magic. I'm strong."
Clearly, Rian hit his body with great force, showing no signs of pain, not even changing his facial expression.
But everyone knew. They were just enduring with superhuman resistance.
Of course, his mental strength was incredible, but if he didn't treat his wounds, his combat ability would be severely affected.
Despite this, no one insisted that Rian receive healing spells. Everyone understood the disgrace of having to show an inevitable weakness.
But Shironé was different. During this journey, Rian had diligently fulfilled his duty as a guardian knight. If Rian took things seriously, he also had to treat it with the same seriousness.