Episode 40. Interim rating (5)
Two days before the start of round 1.
Dante called all the team members together.
“The tactic I came up with is called Project Groggy.”
“What a brush.”
“There are two guys on the opposing team who are good at reading mana. It’s a big deal with the club. That we will be read and die as a moving foot. The club complex and even the control are great, right?”
“so?”
“It drains all the mana in our bodies. Leave just enough to crawl through.”
One of the team members who couldn’t shoot magic bullets asked a question.
“Then what about us? You guys can emit mana no matter how you shoot magic bullets, but we can’t do that.”
“So you guys have to jump around and draw attention. In the meantime, we’ll sneak up and hit the opposing team’s backside.”
Claudio questioned.
“But if you go in after consuming that much mana, it seems like it would be difficult to fire the magic bullet itself?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll load up your managun before I go in.”
“It’s only one shot.”
“So you have to shoot well. i will go with you The two of you, try to catch only one of them. Your opponent doesn’t know where you are. So, approach it as boldly as possible and beat it.”
This is what we talked about before the first round.
The children held pads in their hands that were said to help dissipate mana and exhausted mana overnight.
From noble mtl dot com
And even while waiting at the booth, he continued to spurt mana using the mana gun test as an excuse.
Frankly, it wasn’t perfect.
“Still, the smaller the amount of mana, the more time it takes to figure out. At this level, even the club should be quite focused, right?”
“Can you feel it? Can you see me?”
Dante refrained from answering Claudio’s question.
“It’s just a rough feeling. I’m not the kind of person who is obtuse with mana either.”
Usually, if you are good at mana control, you are sensitive to mana. If you are sensitive to mana, the probability of reading the flow well increases. But it wasn’t always like that.
It is because the texture of mana is different.
In the first round that I entered like that, I won before I could properly stick to it.
So the semi-finals were similar, but the details were changed.
“On the opposing team, Roger Mayer will probably come out as one top. You know the abandoned building in the center of the stadium? That’s the best way to secure your eyesight. we’ll give it a go on purpose.”
“Do you think it will be taken away even if I don’t intentionally give it to you?”
“that’s right. If you stick to it, it’s obvious that you’ll fall behind… … Do you really have to break colic like that, b*tch? We might win.”
“But would a guy like Rosé be fooled?”
“Rosé Meyer is a perfectionist. Just looking at it, doesn’t the kid have no gaps?”
I heard about Roger Meyer from Ray Schultz.
「Actually, there isn’t much information about Rosé Mayer. It’s famous for not showing your face even in social circles. But on the day of the entrance exam, this happened. The exam started at 10 o’clock sharp. But it didn’t start on time. Roger Meyer protested. 」
“Isn’t that something you can protest against? 」
” no. The time Roger Meyer protested was 10:10. What do you mean you couldn’t stand those 10 seconds and protested? 」
thought Dante.
‘Rosé Meyer hates to deviate from his plans. And you must have a lot of confidence in your abilities. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been the team leader.’
My family is the 2nd in the ranking, so I’m the leader!
I wouldn’t have chosen a team leader this way.
Roger Meyer is the type who is very reluctant to step out. Nonetheless, he served as the team leader.
‘It must be the intention to read the opponent’s flow quickly and pass it on to the team members. Not to mention the attack.’
But what if you haven’t read the flow?
Everyone panics when things don’t go according to plan. However, a personality like Rosé was more likely to be embarrassed than the average person.
In the meantime, there was hardly anything that didn’t go according to plan.
It’s just speculation.
The result is only known when the lid is opened.
‘And Claudio.’
Claudio’s mana amount was low, and his magic bullet skill was at the bottom of the list. He also had a special ability.
The ability to quickly spurt mana.
One day I sat in the break room with Claudio and watched the news together. However, the mana in his body escaped all the way, and he floated around like a ghost.
I didn’t ask directly, but it seemed like a routine to discharge mana and fall asleep. The ‘Groggy Project’ was also an idea that I came up with while watching Claudio.
And so the semifinals began.
Claudio made an alter ego by shaking off mana from the entrance.
“I’ll probably last like this for 10 minutes.”
“exorcism. move over there Let us also depart.”
As soon as Dante noticed the movement of the blue team, he ran towards the enemy camp.
‘It’s worthwhile to practice hard running.’
The mana that was left as much as a rat’s tail was slapped on both legs. It wasn’t difficult to avoid the enemy’s path.
Roger Meyer sees a transparent slime and Dante sees a blue visualized figure. Even if there was no big difference in normal times, Dante had an overwhelming advantage in an urgent situation.
While Roger Meyer was wandering. Claudio and Daniel also took their places. They moved slowly as if they were crawling. There were many places to hide. Mana had nothing to hide.
Dante spoke into the headset.
“Three enemies out. Only two central buildings remain. Ben and his alter ego are sticking to their current positions. The rest slowly envelops the building.”
Rosé Meyer and Jun Mori did not give up either.
They descended to the first floor and hid themselves inside the building.
“June. There are two left on the starting line behind enemy lines. You take care of it.”
“huh.”
Dante, who caught the movement, spoke.
“One person goes to the starting line. not rosé Ben stays there until the end. Shoot if you can.”
Ben and Johnny, who were guarding the starting line, were children who could not fire magic bullets. So, before the match started, Dante filled their mana guns with his own mana. It’s only one shot, but it’s better than not getting one shot.
All of a sudden, 4 members of the RED team, excluding Ben, surrounded the building.
“Johnny and Dio. Go next to the door on the east side of the building. Daniel and I are in charge of the western gate.”
The guy who left earlier had a similar physique to Dante’s, so it’s highly likely that Roger Mayer will remain in the building.
I heard someone gagging through the headset.
“I will come. I think I’m going to vomit. Is it difficult to breathe?”
“Be patient. Just grab the rosé and you’re done. So, if you’re going to look around, at least keep an eye on it.”
“Chuck. Then I join east and open the door. Catch the rosé.”
“Signal to enter. one two. go!”
As soon as the door opened, it was a baptism of magic.
[Red team one out. ]
[Red team two out. ]
[Blue team four out. ]
By the time Daniel and Johnny are out one after another and Rosé is aiming at Claudio. Dante’s magic bullet came in from the other side and got stuck in Rose’s helmet.
It’s a cowardly excuse, but close combat wasn’t Dante’s specialty.
Anyway, so far, the red team has the upper hand.
and… … .
[Blue team powers out. Red team wins. Students move quickly out of the power arena. ]
Dante cheered and talked.
“What is it, Ben? did you catch it?”
“Even if I can’t shoot magic bullets, I can shoot some live ammunition. You little bastards!! Finals, Kazuah!”
The children of the red team who came out of the arena howled like beasts.
By the time the protective suits were all changed at the booth, members of the blue team visited the booth of the red team.
Junmori first congratulated me.
“Congratulations, Dante.”
Even Rose Meyer, who hadn’t said that, opened her mouth.
“We lost. No, I lost.”
The blue team members, including Jun Mori, encouraged Rosé.
“Where is that word? We lost.”
“that’s right. We didn’t do well because we were careless. No one is to blame.”
Rosé looked at Claudio and Danielle spread out on the floor.
“Kids who don’t even have mana. I didn’t expect it to come out completely empty. Congratulations. If possible, get 1st place. Losing to first place is less embarrassing than losing to second place.”
Rosé offered to shake Dante’s hand.
Dante said, holding her hand.
“thanks. It was fun today.”
It is natural to want to use one’s strengths in a situation ahead of an important game.
Roger Meyer knew how to read the flow of mana, and Dante was sure that she would make use of that ability.
The members of the blue team naturally depended on Rosé. ‘Cause I’ve been doing that all along and I’ve won.
[Leave it to Rosé to figure out the opponent’s movements. ]
It was a fatal mistake.
If they didn’t depend on Rosé and moved with sufficient vigilance, the result might have been different.
Dormitory the same night.
Junmori opened the lid of the sleeping capsule and talked while lying down.
“okay. Something was weird this morning. You’ve never woken up later than me. But today you were in a sleeping capsule until I left, right? I’m afraid I’ll find out the amount of mana.”
“I bet he did?”
“The kids on our team say they’re talking about you. My thoughts are the same. How do you think about emptying your mana while taking a test and coming out?”
It was an extremely out of common sense and stupid act.
Dante also lay down in the capsule early today. The seniors were all exams, so there was no basketball practice.
Dante asked.
“But how did you get out at the end?”
Jun Mori is not only good at magic bullets, but also at a high level in melee combat. It was strange to lose in a one-on-one match with Ben, who could only shoot one magic bullet.
“I don’t want to talk.”
It was because of the fart.
Due to physical training, there is a lot of exercise. Most students took protein capsules along with energy capsules.
When Junmori arrives, Ben farts on the spot. Pooh! It was loud enough to pierce through the helmet.
I was disgusted at the moment and vomited, but while hesitating, a magic bullet flew. Jun Mori was out because of farting like that.
The midterm exam period is 10 days.
The children who were eliminated early were in the middle of preparing for the theory test. However, Dante’s team, who reached the final, had no time to rest.
‘Was Alicia’s theory grade so low?’
Credits are assigned separately for theory and practice.
Alicia’s theoretical GPA in the first semester of her freshman year was 3.6.
In some ways, students who made it to the finals are at a disadvantage. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce sleep on weekdays or to study theory on weekends.
Still, Dante was a little anxious when he saw the children studying all day in the library.
Day 7 of the test.
After the semi-finals, a day’s rest was given and the finals were held.
The opponent’s team composition was similar to this one.
Three Matansa and two non-persons.
“Let’s not use Operation Groggy this time.”
Operation Groggy is an operation to deceive opponents who are excellent at reading mana, such as Gudanji and Rosé. So this time, there was no reason to play without mana.
“Let’s go with the method of holding back like in the 3rd and 4th rounds.”
I decided to apply the tactics from the genealogy I received from Fabio. There was not a single son of a prestigious family on the other side.
“2-2-1 tail catch. Ben and Johnny act as decoys, while Dio and Daniel move sideways to ambush. I’ll jump and catch the enemy team’s tail.”
“I also caught Rose. Will it be easy this time?”
“The opposing team’s skills will be similar to ours. But I made it to the finals. There must be something, so don’t underestimate it.”
Daniel asked Claudio.
“right. Wasn’t there a rumor that there was a defense mage on that team?”
“uh. It’s called Freesia Carol. I heard he seems to be writing?”
“Maybe another bastard put a shield on him.”
“right. So I’m not sure.”
Dante asked everyone.
“Does anyone take classes with Phrygia and Matan?”
Johnny answered.
“me.”
“How is his magic bullet?”
“Just normal? In the target class, if you shoot 10 shots, you can hit three or four. But if we put on a shield and smash it, we have no answer either.”
This time, Claudio opened his mouth.
“I take the CQC class together, and I’m good at it. The body is very light and fast. It seems pretty difficult to deal with.”
Until now, he was a child who had almost no presence.
In the end, Dante’s team was unfortunately defeated in the finals.
And Dante discovered the first sorcerer among his motives.
Freesia Carol.