[620] Scout Reporting (1)
- Endurance Survival Assessment, Phase 1 initiated. Tier-10 creatures will be summoned at random.
The moment System 2000 activated, the students stepped into the Spirit Zone.
"Endurance survival…"
Among the students it was one of those events you either loved or hated. The Red Line Bestiary listed creatures from Tier 10 up to Tier 1, and the exam progressed through ten phases, with students forced to annihilate them all.
"Center, now!"
Without a second call, all thirty students converged on the colosseum's center. System 2000 summoned creatures adapted to harsh wilds—king tarantulas, sulfur wolves, subterranean lizards—at random coordinates.
"What—!"
The veterans in the graduating class had experienced all six disciplines before, but more than half were facing Endurance Survival for the first time.
- Tier-10 creatures summoned: 1,429 units.
Annihilating the enemies was the core task, but this was, above all, an endurance test.
Insects, predators, reptiles—every vicious thing imaginable filled the wide arena in an instant, and the students' bodies trembled.
"Here they come!"
As if the ground itself quivered, the creatures surged toward them.
"Heh heh, for the show…"
When Fermi's blizzard whipped the radius into a whiteout, the remaining students began to cast their specialty spells.
The burst of color dazzled for a moment, and then the 1,429 creatures vanished three seconds after appearing.
- Phase 1 complete. Phase 2 will commence in 30 seconds.
Each phase allowed ten minutes to eliminate the creatures.
If the ten minutes were exceeded, the next wave would arrive regardless of how many remained; if they cleared the wave within time, they received a thirty-second respite.
Scouts from around the world snapped into action, and the Tormia Mage Association scouting team—Baikal, Elizabeth, and Lara—began their work.
A retinal readout lit in Elizabeth's bracelet, linked to System 2000.
"Annihilation time: 3.24 seconds. Total magicle output: 23,409 magicles. Highest single output: Fermi, 11,000 magicles. Lowest: Eden, 0 magicles."
Lara's floating notepad unfurled and, by writing magic, her pen flew across the page.
"Hmm. Eleven thousand magicles."
Phase 1 wasn't great for distinguishing contestants, but precise magicle control was noteworthy.
"Participant No. 1, Ardino Fermi. Controlled ten-thousand-level magicle with no deviation."
"Was that intentional?"
Lara asked; Baikal nodded.
"He knows to show only the peak in Phase 1. He grabbed the scouts' attention in three seconds."
"Typical of a veteran. He gets solid results every year. Rumor has it he sometimes throws early rounds on purpose."
Evaluators combined analysts' and recorders' notes to assign overall grades.
The ratings updated in real time, but scouts were human—first impressions mattered.
"Judgment withheld."
Baikal remained unconcerned.
"We didn't come here just for that, did we?"
Phase 2 began and Tier-9 creatures appeared.
There were over a thousand individuals, and as apex predators they averaged about twice the size of the Tier-10 beasts.
"Prepare!"
From fang-toothed leopards to razor-clawed monkeys—predators ordinary people wouldn't dare hunt—rushed forward, and the potency of magic spiked.
Flame, frost, lightning, and light intertwined in a dazzling display that stretched for tens of seconds.
"Annihilation time: 46.22 seconds."
"That's fast."
Baikal's benchmark for Phase 2 was one minute thirty-two seconds.
"Total magicle output: 76,530 magicles. Top contributor: Fermi, 22,000 magicles."
"An interesting fellow."
Baikal's commentary ended there.
"Entering Phase 3. This is where things change."
From Tier 8 onward, monsters—creatures that diverged from the animal kingdom—were included.
If the first two phases were fights with stronger animals, Phase 3 gathered monsters you would rarely meet unless you went looking for them.
Kraaang!
'Wulks!'
The wulk—the monster with which Shirone first integrated the God's Particle into photon output—was among them, and their numbers exceeded two hundred.
Monstrous birds called Taikon shrieked through the sky while giant scorpions whipped two-meter tails and scuttled like cockroaches from beneath the earth.
The blizzard still blanketed the field, but it only slightly dulled their activity.
'No fool would fall at Phase 3…'
From a long-term perspective, managing one's mind became crucial as difficulty spiked, and participants' heads began to whirl.
"Saint Barrier!"
As the encirclement tightened beyond a certain threshold, Eden's shield unfurled into a hemispherical veil.
"Participant No. 25. Candler Eden. Magicle output: 30,842 magicles. Standard hardness: 307.5."
"Decent. Durability?"
"At standard strength, twenty-seven press per millimeter."
"Oh?"
Elizabeth's brow twitched.
"Increasing magicle. 38,000. 45,000. 69,000…"
As the Saint Barrier expanded to a twenty-meter diameter, the encirclement widened as if it had been pushed aside.
"Standard hardness: 1,209. Standard strength: eighty-seven press per millimeter. Magicle efficiency: 187 percent."
Nearly double the power per unit magicle—that was astonishing omnipotence.
"Omnipotence of faith, is it?"
Baikal summed up.
"Grade D. Overprotective. No matter how efficient, a wasteful mindset makes it useless."
Lara recorded Eden's real-time grade on the page.
"Hurry! Are you just going to stand there and watch?"
Eden shouted, and the participants sprang into action.
"Tch! If he pulls too far back it'll hurt his evaluation."
Some, now committed, decided to display their skill. The most spectacular act came from the mage Screamer.
"I'll smash everything to pieces!"
He teleported through the monsters, unleashing strikes; the wulks fell, spewing black blood.
"Participant No. 10, Logan Screamer!"
Elizabeth's analysis accelerated.
"Teleportation cycle: 124 RPM. Compulsion deviation: 0.9 percent. Average distance: ten meters, 3.4 centimeters."
"Grade C. Self-absorbed."
"Participant No. 4, Karmis Amy! Firepower coefficient: 2.4. Heat output: 875°C. Aim accuracy: 97 percent!"
"Participant No. 14, Victor Sabina! Rate of fire: 7.9 shots per second! Severing strength…!"
Scouts worldwide shouted analyses in their native tongues, drowning out the crowd.
"...Brutal."
Rian muttered from the VIP seats.
Reina, watching a magic academy graduation exam for the first time, was stunned by their intensity.
"So these are the people evaluating them."
It wasn't just magical skill on the line—the contestants' whole selves were being measured. That was the harsh reality of this world.
Olina covered her face with both hands and sobbed as she watched her son's fight; Vincent, hearing her, rested a hand on her shoulder.
"Honey, I think my heart might burst too."
He watched his son weave magic with fierce concentration.
What grade would these capable judges give Shirone?
At first dazed by the overwhelming scene, parents inevitably focused entirely on their children.
"Shirone, was this the world you dreamed of?"
He had never once shown a desire to be anything other than a woodsman's son.
How desperately had he wanted this? Thinking of the hardships he endured alone to reach the top of such fierce competition brought tears to her eyes.
"Gods, please let Shirone pass."
Among countless prayers rising to the heavens, whose voice would the gods heed?
"Annihilation time: 4 minutes 55 seconds. Total magicle output: 323,000 magicles."
At that scale, hundreds of magicles meant little.
"For Phase 3 that's a high total. Who's overpacing?"
Elizabeth's gaze locked on a boy.
"Highest single output: 110,000 magicles. Participant No. 27. Arian Shirone."
Baikal's brows tightened.
"I didn't think he was a fool."
He'd been introduced to Shirone by Plu and had expectations, but this behavior was unexpected.
'Now's the time to press the advantage.'
Having passed Phase 3, Shirone fully released his tactical limits.
Thirty seconds passed in an instant, and Tier-7 creatures appeared.
There were 870 units—down into the hundreds for the first time—but their abilities were a cut above Tier 8.
Harpy sound-mages, flare raptors that breathed fire—monsters with magical attributes—and, worst of all, creatures capable of solving problems intelligently.
Kieeeee!
With flare raptors leading the charge, Endurance Survival quickly devolved into chaotic close combat.
"The formation's collapsing."
Endurance Survival required that participants be both allies and rivals.
By regulation, the first test ended once half the participants—fifteen—remained, so the mind games were essential.
"Rampage!"
As his light veil shoved a massive mass aside, force cleared the field and a shrapnel movement was executed.
Spreading photon cannons in all directions and tearing across the arena, Shirone's display drew the scouts' full attention.
"Force is fast."
Elizabeth watched a different metric.
"Magicle output has exceeded 220,000 magicles."
"Excuse me? Two hundred twenty thousand?"
Lara paused mid-write and repeated.
"It's still rising. 260,000! 320,000! 440,000!"
Proving Elizabeth's analysis, photon cannons fired from the sky were turning the ground to wasteland.
"Four hundred forty thousand magicles."
It had already passed professional thresholds.
'Not enough yet!'
The number of monsters Shirone alone was taking down reached thirty-two percent of the total and kept climbing.
"What's with that student? He's hogging everything."
Even parents who'd stopped tracking their own children's positions were transfixed by Shirone's prowess.
"Hmph. There's always one like that—sprinting from the start when they can't sustain it."
Unlike most parents, Iruki's father Albino smiled.
"Magnificent. I expected something from Iruki's recommendation, but I honestly didn't think he'd be this good."
"Indeed. It's still early, but so far he stands out."
The scouts had a different take.
"Odd. What happened to make him choose that? He's listed as cautious…"
While some focused on the visible numbers, others wondered why someone would overreact and waste magicle.
Baikal was one of them.
"Why make that choice? I said wasteful behavior gets poor scores."
"Looks like a personal matter to me."
He had a vague idea of the situation Shirone might be in.
"Unfortunate."
Displaying power wasn't everything.
"If his goal was to captivate the scouts, he should have chosen another approach."
"Evaluator… it's climbing."
Elizabeth's voice trembled.
"Magicle output: 520,000. 610,000. 690,000… Immortal Function signal detected! 870,000! 940,000!"
'No one—'
Shirone clenched his teeth.
'—will decide my future for me!'
When his photon cannons—firing at a ravenous rate of three hundred shots per second—poured down, the ground monsters fell like insects smashed with hammers.
The last flare raptor gurgled and collapsed. Amy stared at Shirone, stunned.
'What on earth is he thinking?'
Baikal's expression turned grave.
"Magicle output?"
Elizabeth snapped back.
"Ah, yes. 1,630,000 magicles."
"…"
Baikal covered his face with a hand and frowned.
"That's it, Shirone."
At the same moment, high in the stands, a hooded woman's lips curled into a faint smile.