"This is a world simulated by a virtual machine, not a dream. The personnel in charge of regulation are debugging it. You can wave to them," Zhuyan Yu said with a smile.
"Under surveillance?" Luo'er looked up at the sky. Though only blue sky and white clouds met his gaze, he knew someone was watching him at that moment, including the person he despised the most.
"Alright, enough chatter; it's time to start the class." Zhuyan Yu clapped her hands, cleared her throat, and said, "Today we will conduct a Magic Resistance test. The testers are on your right hands."
"On my right hand?" Tangmo wiggled his empty right wrist with a confused look on his face.
"Sorry, my mistake…" Zhuyan Yu coughed awkwardly, snapped her fingers lightly, and instantly, something similar to a wristwatch appeared on each student's right wrist.
"This is a Magic Resistance tester. When you use magic, it will automatically detect the magic flowing through your bodies and display the results in percentage form. This result is your Magic Resistance. Of course, this is just in the virtual Magic World constructed on Earth, so the data you get may not necessarily be accurate to the Otherworld. So, those of you with higher Magic Resistance, do not be disheartened."
As the name suggests, Magic Resistance works similarly to electrical resistance. The body of a person from the Otherworld can allow magical power to flow, but that flow causes some loss. Therefore, the magic power released by a mage is often less than the magic power circulating in their bodies.
According to this principle, the lower a person's Magic Resistance, the less energy they require to circulate magic through their bodies, and the magic power they release will be as close as possible to the magic power they absorb. This kind of magic check is also conducted at Magic Academies in the Otherworld. Students with Magic Resistance between 1% to 5% are considered prodigy-tier newcomers to magic. Compared to others, they lose less magic power when they circulate it, thus they can unleash more magic power. Those with Magic Resistance around 50% are considered average and usually can only use first-level magic for their entire lives. And, if the Magic Resistance exceeds 50%, they are considered unqualified to learn magic.
Such distinctions exist because the loss caused by the flow of magic power in one's body can negatively affect their physical state. Mages with lower Magic Resistance who cast large-scale spells cause less physical damage than mages with higher Magic Resistance. If a mage with around 50% Magic Resistance forcefully attempts to drive a spell above first-level, it will cause irreversible negative effects on their body. Even prodigy-tier mages with around 1% Magic Resistance can only cast Forbidden Curses a few times in their lives, each casting causing irreversible damage to their bodies.
Related to Magic Resistance is Magic Affinity, which is the ability to release magic quickly, and is also a standard for measuring excellent mages. Generally speaking, a mage with high Magic Affinity can absorb the atmospheric magical power around them faster and then release it quickly. As long as they recite the spells quickly enough, they can achieve instant-cast magic.
Overall, the Elf Race has higher Magic Affinity than the Human Race, who in turn have higher affinity than the Dwarf Race, and the Dwarves have higher affinity than the Beastman Race.
Next, Zhuyan Yu snapped her fingers again, and a commonly used Magic Wand mysteriously appeared in everyone's hands. The Magic Wand is the medium for mages to release magic. Without it, mages cannot release the magic power circulating in their bodies. In the Otherworld, Magic Wands can be in various forms, like swords or other shapes. But Magic Wands also have Magic Resistance. Generally speaking, wands made from the Otherworld's Sky Tree have lower resistance.
"You can start using magic now, and you can also direct it at your classmates. We haven't enabled damage mode yet, so your attacks on one another will not have any effect," Zhuyan Yu added with a smile.
Just as Luo'er was about to speak, he suddenly heard Tangmo's voice behind him, "Luo'er, take this!"
Before he could react, he felt something pressing down on him. His body seemed to be paralyzed, his vision blurred, and even the voices he heard became fuzzy.
Zhuyan Yu, standing nearby, looked surprised. According to the Magic Research Center's grading, the spell Tangmo used was a second-level Freeze Field Spell. This spell reduces the temperature around the caster below freezing, seriously injuring, even paralyzing enemies within the area. However, Tangmo's Freeze Field Spell affected a significantly larger area, almost reaching her, and its power seemed even more potent. Based on these factors, this power should be classified as a third-level spell, although it's indeed a second-level spell.
More importantly, according to the Magic Research Institute's research on Otherworld magic, casting a spell like this should take more than three seconds of incantation. Meanwhile, Tangmo seemed to have casted it directly, meaning she instantiated this second-level spell.
Even for mages, the time it takes to cast a spell varies depending on talent. Even excellent mages need preparatory time to cast a first-level spell. Only prodigal mages can instantly cast a first-level spell. Tangmo being able to instantly cast a second-level spell clearly indicates that her talent has hit the ceiling as defined by the Magic Research Center.
Shocked, Zhuyan Yu swung her hand to pull up the data from Tangmo's magic use, and the data further astonished her. According to the data, Tangmo's Magic Resistance is around 1% to 2%, and her Magic Affinity is a staggering 99%. Such data would mark her as a top prodigy, who would be heavily prioritized for training even in the Otherworld's Magic Academy.
This was not the first time Zhuyan Yu had been surprised. During yesterday's Magic Practice class, a girl named Baiyue from another class also had Magic Resistance below 5% and Magic Affinity as high as 95%.
These data demonstrate the initial success of the nation's Origin Project. The newly bred hybrid humans can not only adapt to the environments of both Earth and the Otherworld but also effectively use magic. And this was just the first phase; it's hard to imagine the improved breeds in the future possibly having Magic Resistance below 5% and Magic Affinity above 95% across the board.
Allegedly, to execute the Origin Project, the military has been recruiting talent from all over. The first-generation hybrid humans all died in the embryonic stage until a biochemist joined the project, facilitating progress in cultivating hybrid humans. Tangmo, being the first-born hybrid human, her survival was vital to the continuation of the Origin Project. And evidently, she not only survived and grew successfully but also exhibited exceptional potential, exceeding initial expectations.
Bringing along her thoughts, Zhuyan Yu waved her hand to close the data bar. She watched Tangmo, who was fretting around Luo'er, and sighed softly. She didn't dare to comment on whether the state's Origin Project was right or wrong. But even if Earth and Otherworld would never go to war again, they needed a hinge to communicate between the two realms. In a sense, the birth of the hybrid races could be seen as becoming the hinge between the two realms.
"Luo'er, Luo'er, are you okay?" Tangmo anxiously paced around Luo'er, about to burst into tears. She had intended to joke around, but hadn't expected to use too much force, freezing Luo'er completely. Now he stood there, emitting cold from every inch of his body, completely immobilized, even his expression was frozen.
"Use magic from the Flame System on him and he will thaw." Seeing Tangmo at a loss, Zhuyan Yu couldn't help but walk over and remind her.
"But if we do that, Luo'er will..." Tangmo said with a whimper.
"He won't. The sensory system hasn't activated yet, he won't feel a thing." Zhuyan Yu said somewhat helplessly.
"Really?"
"Feel him for yourself. Then you will know whether his body is cold."
Hearing this, Tangmo stretched out her hand and touched Luo'er's arm. She did not feel the cold, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, she was unable to feel any temperature at all.
"I'm sorry, Luo'er. I will get you out right away." Tangmo said, wiping away her tears.
Trusting Zhuyan Yu's words, Tangmo retreated a few steps and lifted her magic wand. She uttered some sounds and a giant fireball instantly appeared in front of her. It whooshed towards Luo'er and swallowed him in a blaze. Suddenly free, Luo'er collapsed onto the ground, unprepared.
"Luo'er," Tangmo ran to him gleefully. As soon as she reached him, her expression changed to one of remorse. Squatting down in front of Luo'er, tears dripping from her eyes, she apologized, "I'm sorry Luo'er. Every time, I am the one who hurts you. I did it last time, and this time too, I always act recklessly...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I...I will reflect on my actions, so... can you... forgive me?"
Luo'er had just regained his senses from the state of disarray he was in. He felt relieved upon remembering that this was only the virtual world, or else he would've almost gotten killed by Tangmo once more. However, seeing her pitiful look, Luo'er didn't know what to say. He sighed heavily and said, "You've apologized so much, what else can I say."
"So you forgave me?" Tangmo asked joyously.
"But you need to mend your rash behavior." Luo'er supplemented.
"Yes, yes, and yes," Tangmo nodded in excitement and jumped onto Luo'er, asking, "So, Luo'er, will you still leave us?"
"When did I ever say I would leave you?"
"So you are still a part of us." Tangmo hugged Luo'er's chest tightly in joy.
"Alright, don't be like this." Luo'er said helplessly. His slightly hot-headed nature seemed to have trouble handling Tangmo's enthusiasm.
After the two had resolved their conflict, Luo'er also tested his magical aptitude. His magic resistance was below 10% but no less than 6%. His magic affinity was around 90%. Although he could not compete with a prodigy like Tangmo, as a half-elf, his talents were also quite impressive.
When he learned about Tangmo's qualifications, he felt down. After all, when it came to magic, talent was the deciding factor, regardless of his efforts, he could never surpass Tangmo. However, when he saw the data for the rest of them, he felt relieved. Overall, the average resistance for the class was around 10%, the affinity around 80%. There were also people with resistance higher than 50% and affinity less than 20%.
As for the other two in the team, Cheng Ziang's magic resistance was around 15%, and his magic affinity was approximately 80%, making him of average talent. However, this guy didn't seem to feel ashamed and rather maintained his arrogant demeanor.
Compared to him, Hu Daoke, who was a half-beastman, had much worse qualifications. His resistance was as high as 45% and his affinity less than 30%, he was basically cut off from magic. Though this was not altogether surprising, after all, the magic qualifications of the Beastman Race were not very high. It would be pretty impressive if one mage emerged out of hundreds of thousands of beastmen.