Episode 111. growing pains (1)
Early June, when the air was hot.
From June, regional preliminary rounds for the academy will be held. The students devoted themselves to training.
Interest in the new sleeping plant has faded to some extent. It was because of the appearance of new monsters, including Magma Cerberus.
Intermediate student dormitory.
Dante said to Chris as he straightened his hair in front of the mirror.
“But aren’t you a bit confused? Strictly speaking, Magma Cerberus is not a new species.”
“I know. Just because it was first discovered on Earth. Wouldn’t it be described as a new species based on the Earth?”
“Anyway, I’m glad you came back safely, brother.”
Chris smiled broadly and tapped Dante on the shoulder.
“You too, man. But I had fun.”
“Really?”
“To be honest, I have never felt my heart flutter except when I was playing games. But it was very exciting. Then go first.”
“yes.”
Chris’ expression has brightened up a lot lately. As if the dark clouds had cleared, his complexion improved.
‘Was it fun and thrilling to fight monsters?’
Dante was taken aback by Chris’ remarks.
I thought that he might be a better match for Choin than a pro gamer.
same time.
Claudio was training alone in the indoor swimming pool in the basement of the dormitory.
“Uh-poo!”
Breathing heavily, he rose to the surface and sat down on the railing of the starting line.
“Whoa… … .”
The period of treatment at Choin Central Hospital was four days. Even though I was discharged from the hospital, the nightmares of that day would still come to my mind.
Dio took a starting position and jumped into the water again. This time it’s breaststroke.
‘Because there are no fantasy monsters on low-level planets. So it will be fine.’
He pointed the gun at his colleague and pulled the trigger. Even to my dearest friend, Dante.
‘If it were real… … no. let’s focus Concentration!’
After one lap of the 25m lane, Dante was standing at the starting line.
“How are you?”
“uh. Are you here?”
“Is it tomorrow? 1st qualifying round. did you grow a lot? body.”
Dante threw a towel at Dio, who got out of the water. D.O. wiped off the water with a towel and headed to the bench.
The two sat side by side.
Claudio asked Dante back.
“What is your body? Are you okay?”
“Honestly, it was a bit shocking. But it will get better after a while.”
“right? Will it get better with time? uhh… … . right. Can you take a look at this while you’re here?”
“What.”
“Terrible.”
D.O stretched both legs forward. Mana flowed through his toes.
Dante laughed loudly for a long time.
D.O asked with a puzzled expression.
“what. Why are you laughing so much?”
“It’s so ingenious to see something like this.”
The reason Dante laughed was because of the mana webs on Dio’s toes. I was worried that this bastard might have suffered a fatal mental injury. Seeing him focus on Daejeon made me feel relieved on the one hand.
Dante continued.
“Shall we compete as Manabu?”
“To try both. Cross-entry is possible within the same event.”
Daejeon is largely divided into Manabu and General.
The difference was that the general division proceeded separately for men and women, and the mana division competed together regardless of gender.
“But webbed feet are for catching water, right? Since mana is not a real substance, can it play the same role as webbing?”
“Would you like to see it?”
with a plop.
D.O. swam away at an incredible speed.
Dante carefully observed Dio as he crossed the current.
[ Detect Mana Pattern ]
‘Certainly, the ability to distribute mana to the body is lacking. however… … what? What is this again?’
Superhumans usually strengthen their abilities by distributing mana throughout their bodies. However, rather than handling mana inside his body, D.O. had a special ability to spurt it out of his body and shape it.
Mana is the source of all magic, but mana alone can’t do anything. That means something has to be added.
For example, when acceleration is added to mana, it becomes magic bullet, and when patterns are added to mana, it becomes magic.
The mana sculptures that D.O had created so far were colorless and odorless. It was nothing more than a pretty lump of mana.
However, that mana lump pushed the current. It worked in the real world as if it were a tangible object.
Dante only realized why when Dio was right in front of him.
‘pattern. I see a pattern.’
I saw a pattern in the webbed that D.O made. A weak pattern that even Dante would have to carefully observe.
The blue mana pattern repeated forming and disappearing as if it would break at any moment.
‘Is this the beginning of magic? Then D.O… … Are you saying there’s a possibility of becoming a wizard?’
It was an unbelievable sight to see.
Same with Dante and Alicia.
As a child, I suddenly realized magic, but I couldn’t remember exactly how it started.
What if this moment is the starting point for the manifestation of magic?
D.O came out of the water with a happy expression.
“how is it? Isn’t it worth using?”
“Is it really great? Try making it again. web.”
At Dante’s words, Dio created webbed feet. However, he couldn’t find any pattern in the mana webs he could see now.
Dio looked at Dante blankly.
“why?”
“No, nothing. do well tomorrow I have to go practice too.”
“okay. effort!”
Dante turned around, leaving Dio behind. I heard the sound of water dripping lightly behind my back.
‘I don’t know what will happen. It would be better to keep your mouth shut for now.’
Although there was a faint magic pattern, you can grow as a wizard only if you can use it continuously when you want.
At this point, it was a hasty judgment to conclude that Dio was a wizard.
‘It’s fine though. really.’
How many people in the world are not desperate? Isn’t D.O the closest friend you watched?
It wouldn’t matter if the person I didn’t know did well, but it’s different with D.O. It seemed that Dante would be truly happy if Dio became a wizard.
Dante headed straight to the basketball court.
It wasn’t a day of formal training, but most of the students were out on the court.
As soon as Alicia saw Dante, she threw a fastball. It was so fast that it was hard to see with the naked eye.
Dante gathered mana in both arms and lightly received the basketball.
Alicia moved towards Dante. It seemed like everyone was going to pick a fight.
“Why did you wax on the way to work out?”
“I was originally going to rest, but suddenly I started working out… … no. No excuses. Then why do you wear makeup? Your mascara smeared and your eyes are dark. Panda is perfect.”
“what? Give me like a panda! Are you cute?”
“go away.”
“I came first, so you’re gone.”
Fabio shook his head and raised his voice.
From noble mtl dot com
“How are you getting childish day by day? Let’s practice.”
5 vs 5 practice game.
When practicing, Jia Han always put Dante and Alicia on different teams. It was because the scene of them grinning and rushing at each other to kill each other was reminiscent of a real battle.
Today, the two voluntarily split into different teams.
“Be prepared. Dante, you little bastard.”
“You always play basketball with your snout?”
“Come here!”
After a brisk battle, the students gathered at the hideout. The cool and refreshing scent of soap filled the hideout.
A freshman stretched out on the sofa and lay down.
“But isn’t that a bit unfair? Most of the superhuman academies are concentrated in our Central. I think there are too few tickets to qualify for the finals.”
Alicia nodded.
“That’s true.”
Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo.
There are 30 superhuman academies, 6 for each city-state.
So what about Central Agras?
There were as many as 55 superhuman academies.
To put it simply, Central Agras should be given 10 times the ticket to the finals of any other country. However, the level of tickets for the basketball finals alone was three times higher than that of other regions.
“Two for each of the other regions, and six for Central. That’s how a total of 16 teams advance to the finals, right?”
“that’s right.”
At that time, Jia Han entered the hideout.
Everyone got up and greeted Jia Han.
“Director, loyalty!”
“What about the bracket? How did it go?”
This was the reason why the students gathered at the hideout. Matches are determined by drawing lots.
Jia Han found a file on her phone and displayed it on the screen.
“ruler. Eight teams are in Group C. The 1st place team in each group goes straight to the finals, and the 2nd place team proceeds to the knockout match.”
A total of 40 teams applied for the Mixed Division, divided into five groups of eight teams each.
After the 1st place in Groups A~E goes directly to the finals, there is only one ticket left. The five second-place teams in each group will advance to the finals through a knockout match.
The faces of the students who saw the competition table were dark.
“Professor, you’re an asshole!”
“Why stick with GG… … .”
From the standpoint of the students, the most vigilant team was bound to be the top 5 prestigious schools. Moreover, GG was also a strong team that won two gold medals in a row in mixed basketball.
Ji-ah Han’s eyes were filled with life.
“why. Could it be that you’re scared?”
The students also looked carefully at the matchups of other teams.
Agras National Academy and Ares Academy (BB) belonged to Group A, and Solomon Academy belonged to Group E.
On the other hand, Group B and Group D did not include the top five prestigious schools.
Alicia stepped out to help Jia Han.
“hey. Anyway, the winning member of the last round has already graduated. Why are you estimating your strength without even looking at it?”
“sorry.”
After the bracket, Jia Han displayed the schedule on the screen.
“ruler. Our first opponent is Brion Academy.”
Brion Academy.
As the top 50 in Central Agras and the lowest academy, it wasn’t something to be wary of.
“Before Brion, all 20 players will participate while warming up. Until then, take good care of your condition. more.”
* * *
On the day of the 1st qualifying round.
The mixed basketball team, including Dante, headed to the Agras Stadium.
The Agras Stadium was 25 floors above ground and 20 floors below ground, and was a comprehensive sports space equipped with a hotel as well as a stadium where all events could be played.
The basketball team headed to the basketball court on the 7th floor. It seemed that the opposing team hadn’t arrived yet.
Dante spoke as he ran his fingertips across the transparent walls surrounding the arena.
“oh… … . Isn’t this Neo Stone? Are there any transparent Neo Stones?”
Jia Han gave a short explanation for the students.
“It is true that this wall is made of Neostone. After all, using mana could endanger the audience.”
how much time has passed
A staff member came in.
“This is the Stella mixed basketball team, right? There will be doping and mana tests prior to the start of the match. Please follow me this way.”
The students moved to the test room prepared right next to the stadium.
“Everyone knows about doping tests. The Mana Test is limited to Mana contestants. It’s a simple test to see if you can handle mana properly.”
Individual sports like shooting are done alone, but team games are different. Inexperienced mana control could lead to a major accident.
This means that it could endanger someone’s life.
As the staff explained, the test was simple. The staff demonstrated first.
“Inject mana into a basketball, move it to points A, B, and C, and then score a goal. Is it easy?”
In the first place, students whose control is messed up do not apply for mana events.
All 20 members of the Stellar team passed the test.
A student asked a staff member.
“But is there anyone who fails this test?”
“Quite a lot. Stellar is the world’s best, right? You shouldn’t think that all lower-tier schools are at the same level.”
It’s the world’s best… … .
I knew it, but after being praised by an outsider, I felt better.
After completing the test, the students moved to the waiting room. After the Brion team test results came out, he said he would proceed with the game.
way to the waiting room.
Dante quietly questioned Fabio.
“But can you pick 20 students from a low-ranking school like Brion? They have far fewer gardens than we do.”
“20 people is the maximum number. Maybe Brion will come out with only the minimum number of people. 7 people.”
A basketball team entry can consist of a minimum of 7 players and a maximum of 20 players. Stella Academy had come out with the maximum number of people.
“ah… … . I guess so. Great nonetheless. 7 vs. 20? I don’t think it will be easy.”
The moment I was about to enter the waiting room, Brion players walked out from the next room.
The number of people was just 7 as Fabio predicted.
Dante found a familiar face among them.
‘… … Hamel?’