C65
Siena just gave up trying to come up with something and apologized to Alpheas.
“I'm sorry, Headmaster.”
“Hoho, it was a difficult task. Isn't supernatural psychic science supposed to be something like this? Don't stress over it.”
“I'll make sure to give them a warning.”
Alpheas raised his hand as if to say it was okay and walked toward the door. And just before leaving through the door, he turned and looked at the empty stage.
Hidden behind his beard, the corner of his lips rose.
'If things ended with just this, I'm sure you wouldn't have even started the whole thing. Am I right, Shirone?'
Regardless of the audience's reaction, Shirone's group rushed to the research group room.
“Good. We passed step 1 with no incident! The real show starts now.”
“They bought into it, right?”
“Yeah. I could tell just from their eyes.”
Contrary to students' expectations, the presentation ended blandly, but that didn't matter to Shirone's group.
The presentation was only a way for them to convey keywords. What they truly aimed for with the presentation was to plant a seed of small doubt in the audience's mind.
Nade arrived at the lab and started undressing.
“Shirone, it's up to you from now on. You're literally the engine of this operation.”
“Okay. Let me meditate for a little bit.”
Nade and Yiruki's results were visible, but in Shirone's case, there were many variables that came into play. He had no choice but to simply believe in himself, recalling the past month of training.
They had six hours left.
In order to reach the best condition, Shirone started the Sequence method.
'One, two, three…'
His friends left him alone so that they wouldn't bother him.
As aspiring mages, they knew what it meant to maintain Photon Output for more than 10 minutes.
They still had things left to do.
Yiruki had to set up the hologram control device while Nade had to overhaul the central device that transmitted photon signals.
And with that, midnight approached.
Sitting in the dark laboratory where no one was present was Shirone. He slowly opened his eyes.
After five hours of the Sequence method, his mind was comparable to a well-honed sword.
The door opened.
“It's time.”
Nade said.
Shirone remained motionless for a long time.
Then he suddenly stood up and left the lab after Nade like a gladiator heading into the Colosseum.
The central device was installed in the path of the sewage system that ran under the park.
Thick optical fibers came up to the ground, where they were again dispersed into hundreds of strands through multi-adapters and spread throughout the academy.
There were about 300 holographic devices spread throughout the academy.
Shirone admired Nade's tenacity, but he also felt bad for him as he could feel the amount of pressure that must have been on his shoulders.
He had achieved his goal, but it was his first time trying it out for real. No one knew if unexpected variables would come into play.
With ten minutes left until midnight, Shirone walked in front of the huge central device.
It was ten times bigger than the prototype and looked like a monster with several legs.
Shirone grabbed the output terminal that looked like a crystal ball and waited while Yiruki checked the time.
He could not be too fast, nor too slow. It was important to start right at midnight.
“5 minutes left. Let's begin.”
Shirone took a deep breath.
His eyes calmed, and even his face was devoid of any expression.
“Now.”
With Yiruki's signal, Shirone's Sequence method sped up at a tremendous rate.
'Photon Output!'
Yiruki and Nade's eyes widened as light exploded from both hands.
They knew Shirone had achieved his goal, but it was their first time seeing him in action.
'More! Stronger!'
Tags:
Infinite Mage (Novel)
