It’s our tenth day at the Academy, and I find it strange that the other Champions have yet to enter the area and investigate the cause of death. Min-Jae thinks they might be preoccupied with maintaining the barrier to contain the possible killer while acting as guards to prevent other Champions from entering. The current geopolitical situation is likely quite unstable.
Additionally, since the Academy doesn’t belong to any nation, allowing Champions from one country to enter and threaten important individuals from other nations is probably out of the question. Or perhaps they’re just afraid of whatever killed the selari Champion, at least that’s what Maya and I think.
Although it could just be that this floor’s settings, unlike the previous floors which encompassed entire worlds, has been limited to a specific region: the Academy, just one or two nearby cities, and a few villages.
Despite all of this, the studying continues. When these students have children of their own, they’ll have every right to say, “You don’t want to learn because there’s a little snow between you and the school? When I was young, we studied even after the Champion died, leaving us under threat of world war!” Find the newest release on NoveI-Fire.ɴet
Or something of that nature. A trump card for the ages.
Of course, the search continues along with the Academy wide scans. Every so often, someone finds themselves being stopped by polite men in uniforms for a few questions and occasionally called in for further questioning. I’m also fairly certain that some of the rooms are being searched as well.
If they search mine, I just hope they don’t find the thermonuclear warhead hidden under a blanket with a few pieces of clothing tossed on top.
However, the day is pleasant, and my mood has been greatly improved by the presence of the puppy sized Biscuit, whom I currently find myself carrying in my arms. He is still sleeping, still as cute and fuzzy as ever. Occasionally, he growls in his sleep, although it might simply be his stomach.
According to Tess, he only ever seems to wake for an hour per day before succumbing to his terrible food coma once more. Apparently, eating the special experimental Baby Progenitor Mimic created by the Progenitor Mimic has caused the same kind of trouble that eating the creepy, weakened deer Champion did.
Part of me wonders if his giga form was a side-effect of eating that mimic, and if so, what exactly did he get from the little abomination and the deer? Tess knows, but she’s been refusing to tell us. With that all-knowing smile of hers, she brushes us off and just tells us to wait, likely so she can enjoy our surprise.
I would totally do exactly the same.
With Biscuit, I reach the building where I have a lesson with Ari and Kays. Both of them are already waiting, along with the redheaded guard, Melo.
“You’re late,” Kays complains immediately.
“I was stopped and questioned by the detectives,” I reply.
“What? Really? They suspect you?”
“No, I lied, I just almost forgot we had a lesson.”
“What the fuck!” Kays shouts in his usual manner.
“So, what is it today? After the last time, I realized I don’t have to study for the lesson with you two, and now I only know it has something to do with a sensory deprivation tank.”
“Melo, please tell me you’re hearing this shit too.”
“Should we report him?”
“If you do, I’ll fail you for the grade or perhaps claim I saw you sneaking around the palace where the Champion died before he did, or something,” I say, pulling Biscuit away from Ari, who reaches out for him with three of her six arms.
“I want to pet it!” she complains.
“And I want to triple my mana. So what?” I say, taking another step back and heading inside the huge building. The inside is shaped like a large black cube. There are no windows, and the walls appear to be composed of hundreds of thousands of tiny hexagonal tiles.
The three of them follow behind me, and as we enter, the door closes behind us. In that moment, it’s almost as if the world outside does not exist. The ambient mana, the arrays placed all over the Academy, the mana seeping from people or inscriptions, all the sounds and smells: everything is gone.
I walk up to a man behind the counter within, as he glances at Biscuit before looking at me. Even as I hand him the document confirming our reservation, he continues to glance at Biscuit rather than at the paper.
Once everything is confirmed, he shows us the way, and I head to the room marked with the number 3. Unwilling to let go of the corgi or disrupt his sleep, I create arms from my mana and use them to open the door and enter.
Once all of us make our way inside and confirm that we’re alone, I look around before moving toward the control panel in the middle of the room. The room itself has no furniture, just thousands of hexagonal patterns covering the walls, all in matte black.
I don’t even ask what we should be doing, as I am too curious. I quickly find a multi-setting control on the panel and activate the first option. With that, the world blacks out. My sight, smell, sense of taste, and even hearing all disappear at once as I allow the effect to take hold.
Through my kinetic senses, I notice surprised twitches and movements from Ari and Kays, who look around with what feels like a moment of panic. Melo just continues to stand there, but I’m sure he’s examining the area as his body continues to face me, even as I stride across the room.
It feels extremely strange to walk around without so much as the sensation of my feet touching the floor or the vibrations running through my body. Without my kinetic senses, I wouldn't even know that I was in motion.
Lastly, I observe Ari, for whom this should be the first time in a sensory deprivation tank. Her reaction is much the same as Kays’s: initial confusion, followed by her senses probing the area. I cannot discern anything remarkable. There is no instantaneous display of extraordinary perception. However, one thing does greatly bother me: her actions closely resemble those of Kays, as if she were limiting herself to his level or merely imitating him after some initial observation.
I take a few steps and stop in front of Kays, under the watchful eyes of his guard. It takes Kays a few seconds to sense me before he steps back. I reach out my hand toward him and tap the top of his head. He doesn’t seem to sense anything, but this time he reacts faster and moves his hand toward mine, but too late.
Then I do the same with Ari, who detects me more quickly and even attempts to avoid me, but in the end, I still succeed in tapping the top of her head.
Taking a few more steps, I move and come to a stop beside Melo, whose head continues to follow me. From that distance, I create two fist sized mana orbs of not too high density and turn to him, in what I assume is a questioning manner.
Even though he cannot see or hear me, and I cannot feel his mana, he seems to understand, and I sense him nodding.
Then I shoot an orb at Ari and Kays, striking their legs with the same amount of force as if I threw a tennis ball. Of course, they cannot sense the pain, and I did not use much force, but I am certain that the more I strike them now, the more it will hurt when their senses return.
I mean, I would prefer something like an arrow to heighten their sense of danger to encourage a quicker rate of improvement. Maybe I can bring the twins here later, or something. I quite room, and I already feel the need to examine it further so I can construct something similar in the future.
After my orbs strike them a few more times, Kays and Ari seem to understand and do their best to dodge.
Each time they seem to have adapted, I make the orb more difficult to detect and continue my barrage. When they try to cheat by detecting my position, I create fake mana signatures of myself around the room. Something I picked up from the twins, though I'm not at their level, but they’re certainly good enough to trick someone less perceptive.
At the same time, I train as well. I keep switching between sensing heat, kinetic energy, or mana, exploring their differences and advantages. I also make a number of attempts to pierce the shielding of the room and sense signatures outside, but it feels nearly impossible, and I don't even manage to get close.
I also tweak my Mana Cycling and attempt to use other skills. Without the ability to feel pain or my body at all, it is somewhat worrisome. I could have made a mistake while Mana Cycling, and my body might be suffering damage from mana spiraling out of control, and I wouldn’t even notice due to the absence of pain and my other senses.
After a while, I become bored and touch the control panel again, causing our senses to return in an instant.
Ari and Kays groan in pain, holding the areas where I struck them multiple times when they weren’t improving quickly enough. There is some talk of abuse, a few threats, and even the rare card called “I will tell my dad!” is mentioned.
So, to make them happy, the next round focuses on them trying to detect and attack me. I am about to make an offer, a reward if they manage to hit me at least once, but they do not hear it, too excited over the chance to harm me.
In the end, neither of them can hit me, and neither notices the smaller orb I use to continuously strike their backs at the same spot. After we end this prompts another round of complaints about rule breaking, despite the lack of clear rules, and allegations of student abuse.
They call this abuse?
With that, the lesson ends, and I head to meet the others, accompanied by the best doggo of the Academy.
On the eleventh day, we decide that none of us is going to join the trip being offered by the Academy. While it has its advantages, it also comes with responsibilities. Despite everything happening, some students choose to go, but we decide to stay here, just in case.
If the opportunity arises, though, I’ll go along next time. There are two options: travel by magic train or magic airship, both of which are certainly intriguing. Perhaps I’ve simply found myself missing the Deathtrap. That old, rusty thing was cool too, wasn't it?
Lost in thought while walking through the hallway, I blink and suddenly find myself in a different place. I have not used teleportation, nor have I sensed anyone trying to move me, but out of nowhere, I find myself standing in the same room we appeared in at the start of the floor.
Every member of Group 4 is here as well, looking around in confusion.
“What just happened? Last I knew I was guarding that little shit,” Maya asks, being the first to speak.
The others quickly exchange words while I keep quiet and begin scanning the area around us and the room for mana, arrays, and inscriptions. I activate my eyes and search for traces of forced teleport. I activate my Mana Wavelength Tyrant passive and so forth.
I even use black mana to boost my processing speed, but I find nothing. There is no sign I can pick up on, which leaves only two possibilities: either someone extremely powerful did this and moved us here for unknown reasons, or the system itself did.
But what purpose could moving us here serve? Could it just be for shits and giggles?
I glance around the room and the items around us. Then I check my status. Both leave me even more confused.
Leaving the others behind to talk, I allow Sophie to add me to her web and head outside despite their protests.
The room I exit leads to the same beautiful garden as before: fruit trees, flowers, fountains. Scattered around are small groups of students, each wearing the same attire as those in Group 4. They act as if they were unaffected by what just happened to us.
Everything appears normal. There is no threat I could sense, no wide-range scan going on.
Then a voice calls from behind me, “Assistant Professor Gwyn, may I ask where you have been this entire time?”
I turn around and find myself looking at Professor Elian.
“Why do you look so confused? This is your first day, and yet you are already late and slacking off in the gardens,” he says.
He continues with a stream of intriguing, and at times subtly insulting, remarks, spoken just loud enough not to carry far and only after making sure no one is watching or listening. A weak barrier flickering around us.
As a group of students passes by, he lowers his voice further and greets them with a brilliant smile. A few girls in the group blush and start giggling, while one of the boys bows slightly, clearly admiring him.
That smile remains only until they have passed, and then he turns to me: “Do you not know how to speak?”
I answer, “I do. I apologize; I simply got lost.”
He shakes his head. “I will see you later. I hope you manage to be more punctual than you seem to be now.”
With that, he leaves.
Not bothering to examine further, I head back to the room. After inspecting our belongings again, I realize that all our items are here, just as they were when the floor began. Even both of my thermonuclear warheads.
Lastly, I open my status screen, confirming that my newest skill is gone and the token is back.
Otherwise, my stats are exactly as they were when the floor started.