Miini was already confident of her victory from the start of the duel.
“First Years probably don’t even know about the [Structure and Understanding of Magic] lecture. They can only take that in the second semester!”
Students who only learned the first semester’s required course, [Fundamentals and Understanding of Mana Usage], didn’t know about the existence of similar magic formulas that interconnected parts of a spell or the variety of them.
While there was a slim chance they might have prepared intensely before entering the academy, the academy professors’ spell miniaturization was the best in the world.
The spell optimization and miniaturization learned from anyone who wasn’t the world’s best professor would inevitably have some fluff remaining.
“Even with natural talent, you cannot overcome the difference in mentorship.”
I can defeat Oknodie.
I can surpass the top first-year student.
Miini was filled with excitement at her own confidence!
“Go, Rolls-Royce No. 1!”
With the instructor’s signal, the duel commenced.
The Rolls-Royce No. 1, which Miini thought had turned out well, activated its spells as soon as it started.
[Mana Booster]
[Stability Maintenance]
[Altitude Maintenance]
It flew through the wind, maintaining its height, not too high or too low, and without tilting to either side.
This combo allowed it to theoretically fly an infinite distance, far beyond what an ordinary paper airplane could achieve!
As long as there was Nature Mana in the atmosphere, Miini’s paper airplane could advance anywhere based on that mana.
[Jacob’s Paper Airplane]
[Bartholomew’s Paper Airplane]
Moreover, on either side of Miini’s Rolls-Royce No. 1, second-year students, who had bet first-place points on her, were forming squads to escort and fly alongside her.
“Go, Hyundai Gura! Smash all those annoying brats’ planes!”
Jeras’s shout could be heard behind their planes.
Being quick-tempered, Jeras packed in a hefty number of aggressive spells.
[Countering]
[Multi-Magic Missile]
[Guided Missile]
[Reverse Wind Call]
There are numerous “applications” for magic spells, and Jeras particularly enjoyed using “reverse manifestation.”
Typically, spells related to wind are arranged for a forward flow, summoning a tailwind, but he arranged his spells backward to create a headwind.
When the planes flying 100m ahead lost their momentum from the headwind, it closed the gap with the lead. This was a kind of area weather debuff!
Meanwhile, his own plane could accelerate using the countering spell, defying the flow opposite to his plane.
While diminishing the power of the other planes, his own strength was boosted as he unleashed a flurry of magic missiles to track and shoot down enemy planes!
“Ugh!”
“What if you hit ours too!”
The students assisting Jeras screamed in panic.
“Dominique’s plane destroyed! Automatic disqualification!”
“Luden’s plane destroyed! Automatic disqualification!”
With no friendly fire detection on the magic missiles, Jeras inadvertently shot down his allies’ planes, but he shamelessly told the eliminated students,
“I allowed you to observe my spells, yet you couldn’t inscribe a non-disruptive spell to fly alongside me? That’s your mistake. Do I really need to waste a spell inscribing something for friendly identification because of you?”
“Well, that’s true…”
“Urgh. How unfair…”
Having first taken down his own supporters, Jeras made Miini inwardly scoff at his arrogance.
“How foolish. If used correctly, I could utilize the helper’s planes like [External Storage].”
The helper’s planes, equipped with the [Push] spell, could boost the flying speed simply by forming squads.
While Miini cleverly utilized her helpers, Jeras was so consumed by his talent that he treated them as burdensome.
With this, the chance of him stealing first place evaporated.
Oknodie was only a first-year after all.
He would surely lag behind and be the first to drop out.
To confirm her unwavering first place, Miini glanced back and witnessed a shocking scene.
Slowly… too slowly…
Oknodie’s plane had only moved a tiny bit forward from the start line, and it was so slow it made even a turtle seem fast!
Isabel’s plane, assisting her, was just as sluggish.
“Oknodie, are you really okay with this?”
“My spells are already active. We win!”
…Suspicious.
I have no idea what they’re plotting.
And something definitely feels very wrong.
“Something’s stuck.”
Miini realized it.
The plane had slowed down at some point.
Was it because of Jeras’s [Reverse Wind Call]?
No.
Even accounting for that, it was too slow.
Even using [Divergent Booster], the increased speed fell off more quickly than before, and when she shot the plane using the reserved [Separate Launch], it abruptly halted as if something was binding it.
It flipped.
The force was acting in reverse.
Quickly, and far.
Miini and her squadron planes began to head backward en masse, equal to how fast they had gone forward.
“Stop!”
“Go forward!”
“The spell… it’s not working!!”
Both Miini and her helpers fell into panic like their comrades.
What in the world spell is this?
What can cause this situation?
“Spatial Spell?”
Amidst the murmurs of the student council staff, a lightning-strike idea flashed in Miini’s mind.
With a flash of genius intuition, she realized something.
[Magic Eye]
After casting a detection spell to sense all magical manifestations, an unexpected sight unfolded before her.
Oknodie and Isabel’s planes.
A long string stretched from the two planes to every other plane!
That’s it.
That’s what ruined the flight of all planes.
Not only theirs but also Jeras’s plane and the planes of other first-years who tried to interfere with Oknodie, which ended up speeding ahead.
[Stopping Flight]
[Coordinate Fixation]
[Multi-Link]
[Elasticity Grant]
[Range Expansion]
[Strength Expansion]
The strings connecting the planes continued over long distances, resisting great forces and boasting superb elasticity, layered with spells.
They never thought of this approach—strengthening the plane’s body for a hasty escape or attacking superior enemy planes to shoot them down!
Oknodie linked everyone to himself with an unbreakable mana rubber band, holding his and Isabel’s planes in place.
They stopped just a little beyond the starting line.
“Wha—? Where is our plane going!”
“Come back! That’s the starting line!”
First-year planes were the first to make an ooohhh sound, losing propulsion as they were forced back.
Their planes fell helplessly to the ground.
“Nox’s plane crash confirmed! Record 1.3m!”
“Biden’s plane crash confirmed! Record 1.1m!”
Jeras had the worst luck.
Since he had flown faster and farther, the force transmitted through the mana rubber band was much stronger.
Naturally, his plane flew back further than those of the others.
[Countering]
[Reverse Wind Call]
Even the spells he inscribed worked adversely on himself.
With no planes blocking him, he experienced the headwind solely applying to himself.
With the added force of the strong elasticity pushing back, and the counter-force bearing down on himself, he darted past the starting line in an instant.
“No, don’t!!”
Multi-Magic Missile? Guided Missile?
There was no time to fire anything.
Before his plane could even detect Oknodie and Isabel’s planes, it crashed into a building wall 10m behind the starting line.
“Jeras’s plane flying invalidated! Record -10m!”
To top it off, three paper airplanes darted back toward the starting line faster than the dazed Jeras.
“No way!”
“At this speed, we’ll crash into the wall too!”
Not just defeat.
A negative record.
It indicated complete humiliation by the opponent.
Worse than receiving a [Disqualification] for having a plane burned to ashes!
He would be subjected to ridicule even among the second-years.
“Miini, do something!”
“Please, anything but a negative record!”
Grinding her teeth, Miini summoned her mana.
[Signal Transmission]
A trigger spell that activates the inscribed spells in the plane remotely.
Unlike constant activation spells, some spells can only activate under specific conditions, and some work by the timing of receiving a signal.
Three-dimensional flight spell combo.
Four-dimensional acceleration spell combo.
Two-dimensional separation spell combo.
Her backup spell, implanted long ago just in case, was activated after those nine spells.
[Water Bomb]
A water magic attack spell targeted toward other paper planes!
If it hit squarely, the plane would surely tear apart, and even if it miraculously managed to avoid the impact, the wings would get wet and heavy, forcing it to nose-dive toward the ground.
She was indeed caught off guard by the spatial spell, but if Oknodie and Isabel’s planes crashed, the spells would automatically release, giving her a glimmer of survival.
“It just needs to shoot them down. Then I can squeeze out the remaining spells and somehow reverse this…!”
But the moment the water cannon shot from Oknodie’s plane met with another water cannon aimed at it, the light faded from Miini’s eyes.
“Prayn’s plane flying invalidated! Record -10m!”
“YB’s plane flying invalidated! Record -10m!”
“Miini’s plane flying invalidated! Record -10m!”
Both contenders for first and second place, Miini and Jeras, recorded -10m side by side.
“How on earth…? Spatial spells typically require a larger area than simple spells; there shouldn’t have been any leftover space…”
“Using reduction spells, I minimized the size of the spell!”
“Then it should have weakened, right?”
“I amplified the output!”
“What kind of monster is this…?”
Miini felt deflated.
“Should I be relieved that the first place is taken by the other pathetic first-years?”
With their planes’ power lacking, Nox and Biden did not set a negative record, unlike Oknodie and Isabel, who only managed to inch past the starting line.
There seemed to be no chance of them securing the first and second spots.
“Oh, the duration has ended.”
If there had been no follow-up spell activating as the spatial spell released…
“Time-lag activation spell!?”
“I inserted a conditional acceleration spell that activates automatically when the spatial spell is released!”
“But amplification was already used for the spatial spell activation! What kind of strength can a plane in a near-still state show for that kind of boost?!”
“What does it matter? By making the circuits rotate under conditions, I could alternate amplification on the desired spell at the desired timing.”
“What? A spell that would usually be insufficient after being locked down is rotating?”
Six types of spatial spells.
One countering spell type.
Three output spells.
“Ugh, that’s lame. I didn’t even get to use two of them.”
“!?”
He hadn’t even fully utilized the inscribed spells.
“Oknodie’s plane crash confirmed! Distance 15m!”
“Isabel’s plane crash confirmed! Distance 12m!”
With ease, Oknodie and Isabel’s paper planes set the records for first and second place.
In the aftermath of everyone being toyed with, Miini felt the insurmountable wall of talent and genius, something beyond that again.
This application ability, this groundbreaking method of use.
Regardless of the number of spells inscribed in the same area or their skill level, it could only be perceived as a difference in teaching.
“Did the mentors of the foundation possess spell skills superior to the professors of the academy?!”
The academy had lost to the foundation.
