[424] Second Headquarters (3)
Having finished undressing, Shirone walked down the long tunnel. Gas hissed from cracks in the walls, sterilizing his body.
In case anything suspicious was hidden inside, Shirone held his breath and hurried through the not-so-long passage.
When he entered the next gate, a huge cavern opened up.
Sunlight shimmered through countless holes in the ceiling, making it look like a star-strewn night sky.
Shirone looked up for a moment, then lowered his head and focused on the strange thing before him.
"What is this?"
A massive jelly-like substance sat there, solitary and pudding-like.
Before Shirone could figure out how to use it and hesitated, an old man's voice came from the ceiling.
"It's the procedure to coat a sterilized body. Just go straight through."
"Hmm."
Shirone sent a drone ahead toward the entrance, took a deep breath, and plunged into the gel.
It was genuinely slick like pudding, so walking wasn't difficult.
Still, the sensation was oddly intimate. Sensitive areas were stimulated and a faint flush spread across his face.
When he stepped into the next chamber, warm red light bathed the space.
The gel on his body dried instantly and perfectly coated Shirone from head to toe.
"Ah—so that's what it does."
99.99 percent sterilization complete.
* * *
When Shirone reached the final room, he was surprised to find so many people at work.
More than ten glass tubes held bubbling liquids of various colors, and hoses carried them everywhere.
On tables sat glass instruments for experiments and unidentified biological parts, blood still damp in places.
People in white coats moved busily, and the bald man Shirone had met at the entrance stood waiting, holding Shirone's and Plu's clothes with a scowling, almost growling expression.
Commander Reysis approached, wearing a red cloak that matched her aura and smiling seductively.
Everyone else was dressed but Shirone, so he felt a little embarrassed—though he wasn't so inexperienced as to show weakness during a mission.
"Where is this place?"
Feigning calm, he asked. Reysis smiled as if she knew exactly how he felt and shifted the subject.
"How is it—Nor sterilization system? Perfect, isn't it?"
It was, so Shirone admitted it without protest.
"Yes. Very systematic."
At that moment the opposite door opened and Plu came in.
"Ugh."
A sound nearly escaped Shirone's lips, but he swallowed it.
Plu, however, regarded the scene without discomfort, as if a crowd didn't bother her at all.
She then spotted Shirone and strode over.
"You made it. Everything okay?"
"Yes."
Plu glanced down at Shirone.
Even so, as a mage she'd kept her Cubrick on to the end.
'Well, if you can't even manage that, you're still a kid,' he thought.
Shirone himself had firmly refused when asked to remove his ring.
But he didn't check Plu's hands. He could have—it wouldn't have mattered—but he wanted to trust her.
Once Shirone's safety was confirmed, Plu looked around more carefully.
'A biology lab. What exactly are they researching here?'
Scholars hunched over unknown organs on the tables, dissecting them; the scene overlapped with the underground lab beneath the Magic Association.
If the blood scent in Reysis's perfume came from here, then Reysis herself likely spent time here as well.
If it were only to measure Spirit Force, there'd be no reason to linger until the smell of blood pervaded the place.
'Huh. Definitely suspicious.'
Reysis approached Plu.
"Sorry. You were startled, weren't you? I should have been more considerate of women. But this is the only lab connected to the sterilization room. We need uncontaminated hair and blood."
Plu set one leg cocked to the side and placed her right hand on her hip, confident.
She couldn't be unaware that the posture was deliberate.
"Body checks can't be helped. But for someone who says that, aren't you wrapped up a bit too tightly?"
Reysis laughed.
"Hohoho! I'm the commander, after all. Wait a moment. We'll be quick and give your clothes back."
A woman with a syringe approached and drew Shirone's and Plu's blood in turn. Two assistants collected their hair.
Reysis seemed pleased with how composed they were.
"I've studied your magic. It's a system mixing Nor spirituality and Mecha knowledge. But I think you lean more toward the Nor."
Plu, who had been watching the dissection of a huge chunk of flesh, turned to Reysis.
"On what basis do you say that?"
"Because you understand the meaninglessness of the body. The Nor are a people devoted to the spiritual world. Here are countless stripped, severed bodies. If you dismantle the human body, it's just a collection of functions. What really matters is contained here."
Reysis tapped her head.
"But the Mecha didn't get that. They melted iron, hammered, and made strange things. Biological experiments are the same in essence, but they hated it and rejected the Nor as primitive."
Shirone could guess where the animosity between Mecha and Nor had begun.
"The sample collection is finished."
When the procedure was over, the bald man brought back their clothes. He looked sour, as if resenting his servitude.
Shirone asked, "When do you measure the Spirit Force?"
"We'll start now. Look at this."
Nor scholars placed the blood and some hair into a blue liquid.
As bubbles boiled and the mixture turned into a viscous pale-green solution, Reysis pointed to an elixir separator and explained.
"This is a potion passed down through Nor vision. Mix the Green, Yellow, and White elixirs in specific ratios and fuse them with the creature's cellular matter, and you get a substance that reveals the biological substrate. Neutralize that in distilled water and then cast magic to determine affinity."
"I see."
Plu stepped closer, resting her chin on her hand as she watched.
Even for her, using elixirs in a biological experiment was new.
"No pressure. A low affinity doesn't mean poor skill. It's simply a measure of your magical potential."
Potential.
For newcomers to the magic world like Shirone and Plu, it was a question that never left their minds.
And because this method of measurement was impossible in the real world, they couldn't hide their curiosity beyond the mission.
"Can we do it now?"
"No. By tradition, newcomers have their affinity measured in front of the Nor. If it's done privately, rumors will follow. Your rank is determined by the percentage, and with hard training you can be promoted."
Shirone and Plu stepped outside.
Not everyone, but most of the headquarters staff had gathered in the open area.
Two drums for holding liquid stood in the center, and glass tubes connected to the floor wound underground and rose up ten meters into the air.
While they examined the apparatus, the bald man struggled in with two twenty-liter containers.
They held the liquids containing Shirone's and Plu's biological substrates.
When poured into the drums, the silver liquid in the underground glass tubes rose until it precisely matched zero.
Reysis shouted from the platform.
"From now, we begin the tradition of welcoming new members!"
All the Nor turned to her.
"I guarantee there will be no cheating in the measurement of Spirit Force. Their positions will be decided by today's results. We will now begin the affinity measurements."
"I'll go first."
Plu rolled up her sleeve and stepped up to the device. The bald man explained the procedure.
"Place both hands into the drum and get into the mental state for casting magic. The pressure will change and the level in the glass tube will rise."
"Right—so I should enter the Spirit Zone?"
The bald man, watching Plu place her hands in the liquid, suddenly pursed his lips as if remembering his own ordeal.
"By the way, my affinity is sixteen percent."
"And?"
"That puts me in the top twenty percent of the Nor. No matter how shabby your magic, rank is decided by potential. So struggle your best. Serving under me will be hard work."
The bald man leaned in and whispered, "Heh heh, I saw you earlier. You were pretty deadly."
Plu narrowed her eyes.
'You like the meaninglessness of the body, huh.'
She'd never fully believed Reysis's words; they always felt like something packaged to hide the truth.
Biological experiments, talk of the human body—reasonable enough on the surface, but humans are still humans.
'There's definitely something going on.'
Plu set the thought aside and focused on the measurement.
If her potential came back lower than this bald man's, she'd rather die.
"Start."
Plu squinted and entered her Spirit Zone. The liquid frothed and the level in the glass tube shot up.
"Waaaaah!"
A gasp ran through the crowd.
Their eyes stopped at a point over two meters high.
"Th‑thirty…."
Affinity: twenty-eight percent.
A murmur spread through the crowd.
Twenty-eight percent put her among the top commanders even within Nor headquarters.
With that talent, even if she started learning ancient magic now, she could be formidable in a few years.
The bald man, mouth agape as he stared at the tube, slowly turned to Plu.
Plu, smiling mischievously, tapped the bald man and said, "Well then, take care of me, my subordinate."
"Ah, no—this is—"
"Don't worry. I'm not curious about bald heads. Besides, there's probably nothing to see, hoho!"
Plu returned to her seat, leaving the bald man beet-red at the crown.
Shirone greeted her with a high five.
'As expected, Senior Plu.'
Top graduate of the Royal School of Magic.
At only twenty-two and already a certified Rank 8, she was a future archmage—her talent was one of the kingdom's finest.
"Good job. Show them what you've got."
When Shirone walked up to the measuring device, the murmurs that had accompanied Plu vanished instantly.
The light of District 73—the emblem of the rebels.
This was the moment his true nature would be revealed.
"Phew."
He steadied his breath and slipped both hands into the liquid.
Under the tension pressing on his chest, he focused his eyes and entered the Spirit Zone.
Puuang!
The liquid in the drum boiled and erupted like a fountain, splashing in all directions.
"Uh? Uuuuh?"
The Nor made strange noises and lifted their heads.
The level shot past four meters.
"No way…."
Affinity: forty-two percent.
No one in Nor history had seen or heard of such a number.
"What is this? Is it broken?"
No Nor believed the device could be faulty. Unlike Mecha tech, a substance's reaction didn't lie.
Still, many wanted to deny the result because Shirone's number far exceeded that of the current commander, Reysis.
Reysis frowned slightly and said nothing.
'Forty-two percent? Is that even possible?'
If you weren't going to learn ancient magic, forty-two percent might just be a number.
But in terms of magical affinity—raw talent—it was unrivaled.
The bald man burst out, "There's something wrong! How can forty-two percent come out? It's an impossible number!"
Several Nor agreed with him.
They were Reysis's aides—people who'd lose standing if her power waned.
"That's right! Even if forty-two percent is real, Shirone hasn't studied ancient magic yet. It's only potential! I won't accept it!"
"Our commander is Reysis!"
Shirone licked his lips, still with his hands in the liquid.
Honestly, he hadn't expected such a high figure either.
But he wasn't foolish enough to give up this sudden chance just to spare Reysis's pride.
When he turned as if asking for agreement, Plu curled the corner of her mouth and gave a thumbs-up.
"Go for it."
Shirone turned back and opened his Immortal Function with all his might.
The level in the glass tube began climbing fast.
Seventy percent. Eighty percent. Ninety percent.
"Whoa? Woooah?"
The Nor's heads snapped fully upright.
Then—Puuang!—the glass tube burst and the silver liquid scattered brilliantly.
Just as Shirone had expected.
The Immortal Function, which spreads the mind out across the world, could not be truly measured by mere affinity.
"Phew, is it over now?"
No one spoke.
Only one thought filled everyone's minds as they stared at him.
Nephilim.