Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 03 - Nine Schools Competition (I) (11 page)

"The subject of the homework involves how to solve the bottlenecks of the 'Three Great Puzzles'.
The first two I get, but I am unable to explain the reason why Generalized Flying-Type Magic hasn't been successfully developed.
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Hearing this, Suzune nodded with an "I understand" expression on her face.

"In other words, Azusa-kun is unable to accept the currently proposed concepts."

"Exactly!"

With Suzune able to express her inner thoughts for her, Azusa nodded vigorously.

"The foundation for magic that can defy gravity and allow the physical body to float into the air has already been laid down by the Four Great Systemic and the Eight Major Types of Modern Magic and has already entered the practical phase."

"Yes, though injury caused by free fall remains one of the major dangers for Magicians."

Azusa shifted her gaze to Mayumi, who supported her argument.

"Magicians adept in Speed and Weight Magics are already capable of leaping dozens of yards at a time, and the world record is held by a Magician who leapt over 100 yards in one try.
The record for landing is even greater, with some Magicians able to drop 2000 meters successfully without any equipment."

"If that's the case, why is Flying-Type Magic.
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Free movement in the sky still elusive.
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Right?"

"To be precise, Generalized Flying-Type Magic that anyone can use remains elusive.
There are a handful of Ancient Magic users that can freely fly through the sky."

Suzune added a few details to Mayumi's explanation.

Hearing this, Azusa shook her head, though this was probably an involuntary action.

"That type of magic approaches the unique abilities of BS Magicians.
Since it can't be shared, it can't really be called a technique.

Theoretically, you can use Speed and Weight Systemic Magic to nullify the effect of gravity and soar into the sky.
In reality, long jump and floating magic have already been developed, so why can't we fly.
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"Wouldn't higher level reference tomes contain the answer to this question?"

Mayumi visually interrogated Azusa as to why she couldn't accept the answer chronicled in the books.

"Magic Sequences must include an end point, as the effect of overwriting reality is sustained until the ending conditions are met.
While a target object is under the effect of magic, if you want to cause a different type of magic to manifest on the target, you need to use magic that has superior phenomena interference ability.

When using Flying-Type Magic, every time you adjust speed or height, you aren't just overwriting the original magic with a new one, you also need a stronger phenomena interference ability.
A single Magician is only able to separate the phenomena rewriting ability into ten segments, so he or she can only adjust the flying status ten times before hitting their limit.

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This is the publicly acknowledged hurdle to why there's no practical solution to Flying-Type Magic, right?"

Mayumi didn't ruminate very long before nodding her assent to Azusa's long-winded explanation.

"What, A-chan, you've done your research.
You've organized all your arguments, so what's the problem?"

"According to this line of thinking, the problem lies in the fact that new magic needs to constantly overwrite the currently active magic, correct?
If that's the case, I think that it would be easier to cancel the current magic than activate the new magic."

By now, Azusa had completely shaken off the earlier tearful expression, and was now plunging ahead at a feverish pace.
Suzune calmly asked Azusa the next question:

"The theory is sound, but from a practical standpoint how would you cancel the active magic?"

"Why don't you insert a condition for ending the magic during the design of the Magic Sequence?
In other words, by preemptively entering a small Magic Sequence into the active Magic Sequence, this can be turned into the ending condition for the magic."

Azusa was immersed in her theory while, conversely, Suzune was calmly stating her counter argument.

"Unfortunately, Magic Sequences are unable to affect other Magic Sequences.
Magic Sequences can only be used to affect the Information Body, even if two types of magic are both trying to influence the same Information Body, only the one with the stronger interference strength would actually manifest, as Magic Sequences don't possess a strong versus weak relationship.

Counter magic that can dissolve Magic Sequences do exist, but that's high level magic that directly influences the Information Body.
This would be okay at the experimental level, currently there are no Magicians who can freely wield practical levels of Counter Magic."

"Is that so.
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By the time students reached the second semester of their second year, Foundations of Magic class would progress to Applications of Magic.
This class started with concepts surrounding "Counter Magic" — magic that nullifies opposing magic — which was what Suzune was explaining right now.
Normally, this was something that was taught during the first semester of 3rd Year, which was why Azusa wasn't familiar with the subject.
That being said, to hear the term "Counter Magic" and not be hopelessly lost, Azusa's knowledge was broad indeed.

"However, this is still a worthwhile theory."

Azusa's emotions bounced between zealous and gloomy.
Suzune smiled at her in a gentle and comforting manner.

"To cancel magic the moment its effects manifest, I believe this is the correct approach."

"That's true.
Because of the need to rewrite the activated magic, the necessary interference strength becomes a vicious cycle."

Following Suzune, Mayumi also supported Azusa's theory.

"No one has proposed this until this point, but if a new magic can be activated the moment the currently active magic is stopped from affecting the phenomenon, then there shouldn't be a need for stronger interference strength.
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Given that the target is flying in the air, the delay between magics must be reduced to zero, so if a Specialized CAD was used, then in theory the next magic should be activated before the target starts dropping.
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Mayumi seemed to be muttering to herself, then abruptly made an "Eh?"
sound as she turned her head.

"But if it's just removing the effects of magic, shouldn't someone have attempted this long ago?
In the end, this is like working with 'Zone Interference' after the fact."

At Mayumi's question, Suzune pulled up the search function on the public workstation located in the Student Council Room.

"Give me a second.
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Last year, England attempted a massive experiment based on the same conceptual design the President spoke of.
They wanted to use 'Post-Event Zone Interference' to create a practical Flying-Type Magic."

Suzune swiftly located the news articles on magic that contained the information she wanted.

"Then, the result was?"

The inquiring voice was a little high pitched — likely caused by the excitement bubbling out of her, which proved that Mayumi was still a high school student beyond all doubt.

"Complete failure.
According to the report, in comparison to the normal situation where magic is repeatedly used, this method only served to increase the demand for interference strength at a geometric rate."

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Is that so.
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At Suzune's report that so betrayed (?
) her hopes, Mayumi drooped in disappointment.

"Did they cite a reason?"

"No, the article wasn't that detailed.
President, why do you think it happened?"

When asked by Suzune, Mayumi pointed her index finger at her chin and let out a "Hm!"
sound as she considered this.

"The previous magic should've stopped functioning by then.
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Tatsuya-kun, what do you think?"

The reason Mayumi had asked Tatsuya was to buy time for her to organize her thoughts.

She didn't actually expect him to answer.

"The English experiment provided by Ichihara-senpai has a basic conceptual error."

Thus, Tatsuya's decisive answer completely caught Mayumi offguard.

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Where is the error?"

Astounded, Mayumi was barely able to ask her question.
Neither boastful nor proud, Tatsuya calmly began his explanation.

"Magic Sequences that have not fulfilled their ending requirements will naturally fade with time, but will remain with the target Information Body.
When a new magic nullifies the previous magic's effects, the previous magic looks to be canceled, but in reality is merely being overwritten."

Mayumi, Suzune, Azusa, and even Mari were now staring at Tatsuya outright, but Tatsuya remained unmoved by the pressure of their gaze.
He remained expressionless and his tone did not change in the slightest.

"Let's assume the previous magic is called Magic Sequence A, while Magic Sequence B is used to nullify the other one.

With the activation of Magic Sequence B, Magic Sequence A loses its phenomenon effect ability.
However, even if Magic Sequence A loses its effect, it still remains with the target's Information Body.

Both Magic Sequences A and B are still acting on the target's Information Body, it's just that only the effects of Magic Sequence B are visible.
Just as Ichihara-senpai said, Magic Sequences can only affect the Information Body and are unable to affect one another.
This is true even in Zone Interference.
Unless the original Magic Sequence is itself nullified, using Counter Magic would yield the same result."

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So the English experiment used unnecessary magic that was not part of Flying-Type Magic?"

Tatsuya nodded his assent to Mayumi's question, then continued his explanation.

"In other words, every time you make adjustments in flight, you would rewrite the Magic Sequence again.
In order to maintain flight, the extra rewrites would pile on, so of course you would rapidly hit the upper limit for phenomenon interference ability.
The English scholar who designed this experiment must have been mistaken on the nature of Counter Magic."

The portable terminal that Tatsuya wore in his breast pocket chose this moment to start vibrating, signaling the first warning bell for the end of the lunch period.

"Miyuki, let's return to class."

"Yes, Onii-sama."

Miyuki, whose back was to them the entire time, rose immediately upon being called.

Her voice, expression and movements were just as gentle and graceful as usual.

Hence Mayumi, Suzune, Mari, and Azusa hadn't noticed.

Couldn't have noticed.

When Miyuki had been seated before the workstation, her back was ramrod straight with pride, and her fingers fairly danced across the keyboard in pleasure.

The preparation meeting for the Nine Schools Competition held in the Club Management Headquarters was suffused with a nervous aura from the onset.

Students with outstanding performance in the events would receive extra credit for their classes.
Just for being one of the official participants, students would receive no homework, extra days off and guaranteed straight A's.

Not only did this apply to participants, but to the students selected as engineers as well.

Thanks to the school putting such a high emphasis on the Nine Schools Competition, the students selected as the representatives for the Nine Schools Competition received such incredible rewards.
Thus, it was unsurprising that the competition was particularly fierce for the last few slots on the official roster during this meeting.