Chapter 32

The Bridge That Cannot Be Crossed was a bridge that connected two mountain peaks that were both about a thousand meters above sea level, the highest amongst the training grounds. The bridge was 700 meters long, and a torrent flowed down the valley.

"How come it's a bridge that cannot be crossed?”

Amy explained why.

"It's literally a bridge you can’t cross. It's a training ground for teleportation practice. The level of difficulty ranges from 1 to 10, and I, despite being a Class 4, have to risk my life from level 8 or higher."

Siena added.

"The promotion exam was adjusted to a difficulty level of 1. Currently, there are no obstacles. Since it's impossible for Class 7 children to even jump* 700 meters."

PR/N: Another way of talking about teleportation in this context.

Amy questioned.

"Huh? Then how are things going to work? Isn't the first person to arrive the one that gets promoted then?"

"The student who leaps the furthest will be selected. It won't be too dangerous. There will be safety devices as well as teachers from the Advanced class overseeing things. The problem is the students. There are many cases where they collide with each other if their competitiveness gets a bit excessive."

In Amy’s opinion, that was the difficult part of the exam. But since it was a test for early promotion for those in Class 7, such a thing would probably not happen. But nevertheless, it was still Shirone who was most disadvantaged.

"How about this method? From the beginning, Shirone will go all out before anyone else does. Of course, it will take a lot of mental energy, but I'm sure Shirone can do it.”

"I was thinking the same. That's why I'm going to be training Shirone from today onwards."

"What? Really? You will?"

Amy opened her eyes wide in bewilderment. A teacher of Ms. Siena’s caliber being in charge of a particular student was frankly unfair to the other students. Knowing this, Amy was worried that if someone found out that Ms. Siena was teaching Shirone privately, strange rumors would appear.

"How come Ms. Siena is going so far to help Shirone?"

"This incident is something I’m responsible for. My original intention was to list Shirone under Class 5 from the start, but my proposal was rejected due to opposition from other teachers. If things had gone the way I planned, Shirone wouldn’t have been bullied in the first place.”

"But if some kind of a rumor spreads, the problem will grow. I’m sure other students will also learn and study teleportation with help from others, but Shirone’s a special case. If word gets out that a teacher is in charge of handling Shirone, the students could complain that the test was rigged from the start. And this test is too good of an opportunity to risk that. Let’s not do that, I'll be in charge of Shirone for the time being. I can teach him everything he needs to know if the level of difficulty is only 1."

Siena shook her head.

"If I remember correctly, you recently applied for the Advanced Class promotion. Wouldn't it be better for you to focus on that? You don’t have the time to worry about Shirone.”

"Huh? Really?"

Shirone asked, seemingly unable to believe it. Nobody applied for the promotion this early in the school year. And the fact that Amy would be the very first one to apply meant that she was going to have to tackle things blindly.

'I see. That's amazing.’

Shirone was grateful that she came to see him despite the fact she was most definitely busy preparing for the exam. However, the situation was now heading in a different direction from the nice, heartwarming atmosphere Shirone was expecting. The two women, whose prides were lit on fire, did not back down even a single step.

"No matter how busy I am, I can make time to help him with something as simple as teleportation, so I think you should be the one to back off on this one, teacher. Rather, such meddling could have a negative effect on Shirone."

"As a teacher who knows that this is a very important period for a student such as yourself, I can’t just let things be. You can only apply for the Advanced Class exam once a year. Don’t you think it’d be better to leave things to the teacher and focus on the exam?

Both had smiles on their faces, but contrary to their lips, their eyes remained serious and their wills unbending. Realizing that they would not reach a consensus, they looked towards Shirone one last time.

"Shirone, you choose. Is it me or teacher? Of course, it would be better for your girlfriend to teach you."

"Yes, Shirone. You should decide. Wouldn’t I be the better choice instead of a student who is about to take thier Advanced Class exam?"

Despite their friendly voices, Shirone felt a sort of veiled threat underneath the facade. However, Shirone was not swayed by their argument and confessed what he had originally thought of.

"I'll just do things myself. Thank you, but I don't need any help.”

The women were speechless.

"Getting help from a teacher is against equality. But I also don't want to get help from an upperclassman who is about to take an important exam. I'll try my best to pass this exam on my own."

"You idiot! The other kids will, at the very least, take private lessons to pass! And everyone is keeping an eye on you! Keeping you in check! I’m telling you, you are not at the level to try and do things on your own!"

"I don’t care."

"Huh?"

"I honestly admire the fact that you plan to take the Advanced Class exam blind. Frankly, I think it’s amazing. It’s as if you’re making a statement to those below you. That if you can’t do it, then no one else will be able to do it either.”

"Yes? That's… That's true, but…”

"It's the same for me. I will do my best and pass. As your boyfriend, I will not bring shame to you."

Realizing how strong Shirone's determination was, Amy could no longer object. But above all, she was grateful to him for acknowledging and respecting her decision.

"Humph. O-Of course you should."

No one was chosen by Shirone, but looking at the atmosphere, it was Amy’s victory this time.

Siena stood up, adjusting her glasses.

“If that's what the student wants, then this teacher will accept it. But whenever you’re stuck on something, don’t be afraid to ask. All my students get to do that, so there is no fairness argument that can be found there."

"I will, thank you for your concern."

As Siena walked towards the door to leave, she said something to Amy.

"I have no choice but to let it slide this one time, but from now on, refrain from entering the male’s dormitory. If you get caught next time, you may get punished."

Amy lowered her head, grateful for Ms. Siena. Even in her opinion, she could only say that she was very lucky today.

When Siena left, an awkward silence came upon them.

Shirone, despite the calm facade he put forward, could not say one word as this was the first time he was in a room alone with a woman of his age.

Amy was also swept away by the strange atmosphere. She came all this way with the intention of teaching him a lesson, but now she found herself fidgeting in front of Shirone.

"W-Well, then... I'll get going, too."

"Oh, yes! Thank you, you know, for worrying about me."

Amy sighed with relief and prepared to head back. Then, as if something suddenly came to mind, she looked back at Shirone and shouted.

"You idiot! Why didn't you tell me? If that kind of thing happened, you should have discussed it with me."

"I'm sorry, but I didn't want to tell you."

"Because of pride? That’s stupid.”

"Rather than that... It’s because I didn’t want to break up with you."

Amy's cheeks heated up.

"If I did tell the truth, it would’ve only made things more awkward between us. But I want to continue to have a good relationship with you. Because reaching you is my goal."

Shirone remembered his first day at the magic academy. From the moment he saw the name Amy Karmis at the top of the Class 4 list, he swore to himself that he would catch up to her.

"I will definitely catch up to you. So please do your best, too."

Despite being in a good mood, Amy was burdened. In fact, she had similar feelings due to the incident with Black Magician.

"Then don't just call me ‘upperclassman’ from now on."

"What?"

"We're the same age anyway, and I acknowledge you, so don't call me upperclassman from now on."

"But…”

"I’m saying that I feel bad! What the hell is that? Acting like you follow and obey me while calling me ‘senior’ or ‘upperclassman’, but in reality, you’re actually coming after me? Stop being so coy and stand next to me and challenge me proudly!"

The specific Class in the magic academy was also a matter of social status. When she said not to treat her as a senior, it meant that she thought of Shirone as an equal.

"Instead, hurry and catch up! If you blabber with only your mouth and continue to stay down there pathetically, I will dump you, okay?”

Amy walked towards the window with a face flushed red. Since she couldn’t leave through the door, she had to go out the unorthodox way.

"Amy."

Amy jumped and looked back when Shirone called. Embarrassed, she thought she looked back too quickly when Shirone called out.

But Shirone's eyes were burning brightly, almost to the point it was scary. As soon as she met his eyes, her stupid feelings disappeared in an instant.

"I will definitely catch up. Please wait for me in the Advanced class.”

Amy's eyes bent like a seagull. Her smile was hidden behind her mask, but she was clearly smiling.

"Hmph. I'll have already graduated by then. Feel free to chase after me. If you can, that is."

Amy jumped out the window. By the time Shirone looked out the window, she had already disappeared.

He sighed. Shirone pretended to be strong, but it was true that he had no idea where to start.

"Teleportation…”

* * *

There was a month left until the promotion exam. He had to somehow learn teleportation in that time frame. First, he went to the library and raked up all the books about teleportation magic. Contrary to his expectations that there would be none in stock, it was actually not difficult to get them.

‘Rumor has it that about 20 students are going to take the promotion test. In the end, all of them study in their own special way without relying on books.’

"My, my… I might actually fail this time around."

Shirone calmed his anxious mind and steadily learned the basic concept of teleportation.

One of the greatest discoveries in the history of magic: the theory of photonization. It was a type of magic that turned the mage’s body into light.

The thing of importance was the property of light, which was too difficult to understand with the human head.

Light had no relative velocity, did not even contain mass, and even had the properties of particles and waves at the same time. But Kergos obtained great insight from its abstruse nature. By using the absoluteness of light that had no relative velocity, it was possible to quickly jump through space.

By adopting the photonization theory as omniscience, anyone could successfully teleport. That was why it was such a great discovery.

However, the problem of control arose. Since teleportation was instant, calculating using the brain could easily lead to death.

‘Understandable. Since we can’t calculate the speed of 10 to the power of 20.’

Shirone continued to read books. It was said that mages divided the speed of light into four main categories: ultra, super, sub, and semi.

Ultra-light speed was faster than light, and in theory, time-slip magic was possible. But so far, it was an unknown area that no mage had reached.

Therefore, the most outstanding mages of light among humans were those who used super-light speed. They could learn Stop magic, which was labeled as something under the realm of gods. However, there were only a handful of mages who reached that level throughout history.

In the end, most of the professional mages who deal with light had their skills divided and categorized in the realm of sub-light speed.

According to the definition of the mages, sub-light speed was ‘a speed that transcends the maximum speed of matter, but was much slower than that of light.’

The sub-light speed was also the basic omnipotence of space movement. In super-light speed, it would take no time to travel, but with sub-light speed, it took seconds.

Shirone read the book in amazement, but all the information had yet to reach reality for him. What he had to worry about was the last speed of light, the semi-light speed.

The definition of the semi-light speed given by the mages was that it was ‘a speed that transcends the maximum speed of any living organism, but was much slower than sub-light speed.’

Therefore, even if teleportation had the property of light, it was possible to capture the path with the human eye.

Since it was not at a speed that could distort space, an irreversible mishap may occur if you mistake your surrounding environment.

‘The moment I miss even one detail, it's over. Even if the photonization theory reduces our mass, hitting something would still be fatal due to the speed.’

He realized why Siena emphasized that there would be no obstacles on The Bridge That Cannot Be Crossed. Teleporting itself was dangerous. However, she had said that there were no specific countermeasures for clashes between students.

‘Can I really do it? With just the basic formula?’