"Ugh, what a piece of crap magic. I'm done learning this." Hu Daoke spat dismissively, tossing away the magic wand in his hand. Once he realized how lacking his potential was, it was hard for him to accept it.
He turned around and happened to see Cheng Ziang. He felt a rush of annoyance and marched up to him, jabbing a finger towards him, "Hey, you were the one who stole my seat earlier, weren't you?"
Cheng Ziang turned his head to give him a cold glance, a disdainful look on his face, but he remained silent.
"That seat was reserved for Sister Moumou, you sure have some thick skin." Seeing that Cheng Ziang remained silent, Hu Daoke's arrogance escalated.
Cheng Ziang still did not speak, he just gave a wave of his magic wand, indicating that he was capable of using magic.
"Stop trying to scare me with that thing. Don't think I don't know that it takes time to cast spells. Take this punch of mine, and we'll see whether your magic or my fist is stronger." Hu Daoke threw a punch at Cheng Ziang as he spoke.
Cheng Ziang did not panic but took a slight step back, waving his magic wand and muttering a spell. An invisible barrier appeared instantly between him and Hu Daoke. Hu Daoke's heavy punch hit the barrier before he could retract it. It was like he hit a hard slab of steel - it didn't hurt, but the force of the rebound sent him staggering back.
"What are you two doing?" Tangmo, as the team captain, was finally showing a sense of responsibility for his position when he saw the two team members fighting. He ran over and rebuked them loudly.
Luo'er chose not to join them. Upon seeing the magic Cheng Ziang used, he instinctively cast the same spell. It was a shield spell, which forms a robust, invisible wall around the caster to block enemy attacks. During the second Otherworld war thirty years ago, an Otherworld army that launched a surprise attack on multiple national troops used this shield magic in combination with cavalry charges, effectively breaking the defenses of the multi-national forces.
Unlike other spells, the shield spell is a commonly used magic spell. Due to its high usage frequency, mages in the Otherworld have continuously improved it, reducing the casting time far below that of other spells. Basically, an average mage can instantly cast a level one shield spell, and an adept mage could even instantly cast a level two or even level three shield spell.
Due to the lack of deep cooperation between Earth and the Otherworld, the magic that the Magic Research Center could teach to students was extremely limited and mainly consisted of supportive magic. For example, the shield magic, and the silence magic, which designates an area where one can drive magic, making it impossible for sound to travel through the air, thus creating an absolute silence.
However, despite the limited magic to learn, their magic classes were still tough because apart from spell magic, they also had to learn rune magic.
Rune magic is a branch of array magic. Those drawn on the ground, with a diameter larger than one meter are known as array magic, while those drawn on objects, with a diameter less than one meter are referred to as rune magic. Whichever the type, both drive magic through the use of special materials to draw magic gathering, flowing, and release arrays. Most rune magic circles are circular, but some rune magic does not have a specific shape.
Rune magic circles can be divided into passive and active types. Passive means the rune magic circle is activated in a non-magical way, such as collision, contact, or combustion.
Passive arrays are mostly used for trap setups, whereas passive runes are often applied to enhance weapons and equipment. For instance, drawing a passive defense rune on an armor could activate upon being hit by a sword, thereby reducing the damage caused by the sword.
Such amplification is astounding. During the second Otherworld war, armor of the main Otherworld Royal Knights, which had required continuous close-range machine gun fire to penetrate, indirectly led to the devastating defeat of the multinational Earth forces.
Active refers to array runes which can only be activated by a mage driving magic. Generally, active arrays are mostly used for summoning spells, such as the Otherworld gate that connected the two worlds, which was activated using array magic. Active runes are most often used to enhance weapons, or as active traps.
What makes rune magic circles difficult to learn is the requirement for absolute accuracy in drawing. Any flaw could have irreversible effects. Hence, even by senior high, there were only a few students capable of skillfully drawing magic circles and runes.
Watching the few arguing not far away, Luo'er suddenly had a bold idea.
"Teacher," Loki called out to Zhuyan Yu, who was floating in the air enjoying the spectacle, "Do we have any firearms available here?"
"Yes, we do. Do you need one?" After some thought, Zhuyan Yu remembered that the virtual machine was equipped with a weapons system, though it was a civilian VR game weapon system.
"Mhmm, could I have a gun?"
"Let me see," Zhuyan Yu slid a finger in the air, a weapons bar appeared in front of her, and she began to browse through it, "What type of gun do you want?"
"Any will do."
"Alright then." With a flick of her finger, Zhuyan Yu summoned an AK47 from thin air which fell to the ground.
Luo'er picked up the rifle and inspected it. It did not vary much from a real-world AK47, except for the more vivid material used.
"Teacher, can an AK47 automatic rifle shoot through a level one shield spell at close range?" Luo'er asked without looking up from the rifle.
"Theoretically, yes." Zhuyan Yu pondered. The Magic Research Center's primary task was to study the conflict between Otherworld magic and Earth weapons. Although there was not much real combat data, through supercomputer simulations, they had arrived at a rough conclusion.
"And a level two shield spell?"
"For a level two, it might be a bit tough, or rather, unlikely. Of course, this is just simulated data." Zhuyan Yu pondered before replying.
"So, in actual combat in the real world, a level one shield spell could effectively block close-range gunfire from most small-caliber weapons."
"This..." Zhuyan Yu was momentarily stunned by Luo'er's conclusion.
"But the values demonstrated in this virtual world are merely theoretical data, correct?"
"Mm." Zhuyan Yu subconsciously nodded.
"So that means, in this space, an AK47 can still penetrate a one-level shield magic, right?"
"Right..." Zhuyan Yu began to be somewhat confused.
"I understand now, thank you, Teacher Zhu." Luo'er handed the gun over to Zhuyan Yu, saluting respectfully, then turned and walked toward Tangmo and the others.
"What on Earth is this kid up to?" Zhuyan Yu casually tossed the gun aside, speaking with puzzled curiosity.
"Moumou." Arriving in front of Tangmo, Luo'er called to her as she was scolding the two others.
"What's up, Luo'er?" As soon as Tangmo saw Luo'er, her face immediately broke into a smile again.
"Could you come over here a bit? There's something I'd like to ask you about." Luo'er motioned with his hand.
"Hm..." Tangmo happily nodded and followed Luo'er away, at the last minute shouting back over her shoulder, "You two better reflect on your actions."
"This fellow..." Hu Daoke, watching the two of them leave, couldn't help but curse under his breath, fully realizing now who his enemy was.
"This half-elf really... hey buddy, we can't get to know each other without a fight, so how about we cooperate to take him down?" Hu Daoke turned to Cheng Ziang and proposed.
Cheng Ziang gave him a cold stare, maintaining his proud and aloof expression.
"Moumou, can you cast a Silence Magic spell?" At a secluded spot, Luo'er asked her.
"Huh, of course I can." Tangmo was taken aback for a moment, but quickly nodded in agreement. Then, raising her wand, she began to chant.
In an instant, it seemed as though everything around them had been enveloped, their immediate surroundings separated from the rest of the world. They couldn't hear any sounds, including each other's, and the world instantly fell eerily quiet.
Luo'er signaled her to stop the magic, and she ended the chant. The ambient noise immediately resumed around them.
"Moumou, can you create an active explosive magic array on the ground?" Luo'er continued.
"Mm-hm." Although she didn't know what Luo'er was up to, Tangmo agreed instinctively.
She squatted down, Wand in hand, and began to draw the Magic Array on the ground. She was one of the few students who could precisely draw Rune Magic Circles by hand, which was why she was always among the top scorers in theoretical magic exams.
In no time, she had drawn an explosive Magic Array on the ground. Luo'er, looking at the array, asked, "Can you activate it?"
"I can." Tangmo stood up, cautiously stepping back a few steps and also signaling Luo'er to do the same. Then, she pointed her Wand at the Magic Array on the ground and began to chant a spell.
"Boom!" The drawn Magic Array on the ground suddenly lit up faintly, followed by a loud explosion. The marble floor was shattered in an instant, leaving a not too small, not too large crater.
Luo'er looked at the pit before him, nodded his approval. He believed his ideas had been verified and could completely be put into action. Leaving Tangmo behind, he turned around and found Zhuyan Yu, asking, "Teacher, can the simulator be used normally?"
"Huh, you guys want to practice during your free time?" Zhuyan Yu was taken aback.
"Yes, we want to get used to using magic as soon as possible."
"Well, you can use it when there are no classes, but the simulator has just been put into use and often needs debugging. So if you need to use it, you can come and find me."
"Thank you, Teacher Zhu." Luo'er bowed deeply.
"You're too polite." Zhuyan Yu appeared somewhat taken aback by Luo'er's respectful attitude.
"Also, there's something else I'd like to ask of Teacher Zhu."
"Mm, what is it?"
Luo'er whispered something into her ear.
"Is that all?" Zhuyan Yu was somewhat puzzled as to what Luo'er wanted with these items he had asked her to prepare.
"Yes, thank you for your trouble, Teacher Zhu!" Luo'er slightly bent at the waist as he spoke.