Chapter 17: Happy Live Exercise

A week later, it was the day of the live exercise.

In the early morning, we rode on an airship that was as big as a floating fortress and flew towards the exercise area.

The structure of the airship was similar to those in the games I played. The bottom half of it was ship-based, and it would probably be able to sail in the water as well.

The several magic circles under the ship revealed the source of the airship’s energy, and I’m curious on how the interior structure was like.

However, currently, I’m still unable to access the interior, so investigation will have to wait till later.

Originally, I wanted to enjoy the surrounding scenery on the airship’s deck, however, after barely ten minutes, I had to escape to my cabin because of that dizziness I felt, which was similar to the one I felt from riding a mountain car. I had to spend the remaining time by continuously tapping on the Stun Dispel Potions in my inventory window .

If it’s possible, I would even prefer travelling in a roller coaster instead. This felt more like a electronic blender than an airship. The designer of this ship had better not show his face in front of me, otherwise, I will definitely pioneer a washing machine and stuff him in it.

When we reached our destination, I sprinted down the airship with my fastest speed, and I gulped down an entire bottle of Stun Dispel Potion.

Even though this thing taste so bad, however, compared to the feeling of seasickness, it’s still much better.

Immediately after, the rest of the students came rushing down from the airship as well. Other than a few people who slowly made their way down, the rest were in the same situation as mine.

After all, there were no obvious effects from taking in the Stun Dispel Potion on the airship. Even if the dizziness was dispelled, it would only last a few seconds.

However, there were not many people that would bring that many Magic and Recovery Potions like I did. Most of the people on the airship had already finished their stocks of potions, and currently, they could only relieve themselves by vomiting.

The immediate effects are why the potions are so useful. In only a short while, I managed to return to normal, and I no longer felt any discomfort.

Although I’m not sure how effective the potions are for the inhabitants of this world, however, Lanya’s potions were definitely much better than those regular potions, and they were cheap as well. This was also why I always bought them in bulks.

Though, I’m not entirely sure why her sales aren’t that good in the academy, however, as her good friend, I will still continue to help her.

After my stun status was completely dispelled, I inspected my surroundings. As I thought, most of the students were leaning against the airship with expressions of agony.

However, I did spot someone familiar among them.

“Shir, you will feel better by drinking this.”

It was Shir Vologue. He’s a very hard-working Wind Magician youth. Before, he kept pestering me to teach him how to fight. However, since we come different worlds, it’s quite difficult to teach him my methods.

Shir slowly raised his head, and what I saw was a pale-white face. Looks like the electronic blender earlier thoroughly changed his view on life, in both body and soul.

“Fir, thank you.”

He took the bottle of my hands and gulped the contents down in an instant, and I saw his ‘stun’ status icon disappear from the side his name. This potion sure is quick with its effects.

“This… Is this a Stun Dispel Potion? Its effects…”

Shir stared at the bottle in his hands with an expression of disbelief.

“Yes. This is a potion made by Lanya. It’s effects are pretty good.”

“Is that so… So the rumors are true.”

“Rumors?”

I smelled a conspiracy.

Shir looked around, and when he confirmed that no one was looking towards us, he whispered.

“You only transferred in a month ago, so you probably did not know of this. A year ago, one of Lanya’s magic tool self-destructed, and a student of n.o.ble background suffered injuries. From then on, Lanya’s products which were actually selling quite well before, were no longer well received.”

“I see. But I heard she was framed because people were jealous of her products, which were actually more effective and powerful than regular products.”

“That’s right. So Fir heard of that rumor as well?”

“Obviously not. However, from what you said, I could somehow guess what actually happened.”

Looks like I have to talk to Lanya about this when I get back. Although it’s not my style to cause trouble, but since she’s a friend of mine, I can’t just watch from the sidelines, can I?

“Alright, let’s not talk about this now. Do you know anything about this live exercise? I only know we’re having a live exercise, but not its contents.”

That’s my current situation. Although Mari-sensei told me to partic.i.p.ate in this live exercise, however, she did not tell me what I’m supposed to do in it. She explained that it would further improve my abilities if I’m thrown into an unknown situation. She’s practically insane. Why wouldn’t I look at the guide before entering a dungeon?

“Don’t you know? For us Magicians, other than doing research or spending our time on the battlefield, there’s no other suitable jobs left for us. However, in this academy, most of our time can only go into research. Hence, mock battles and live exercises are very important to us, students.”

“Then, the point is…?”

“That’s why, the purpose of this exercise is to allow everyone to improve their magic spells and techniques, regardless if they’re used for battle, or even used for surviving in the fields.”

“…”

So in other words, this live exercise is to improve the applicability of magic? However… My magic are just ‘skills’ and they are just standard existences on a skill window. Hence, applicability, to me, is just battle capability.

However, this guy sure is beating around the bush. After saying so much, he still hasn’t explained what we’re actually doing in this live exercise.

Probably because he saw my uncertain expression, Shir let out a sigh and continued.

“In other words, we are using the limited supplies we have to find the tools our princ.i.p.al left in this sealed forest.”

“The Ninety-Nine Trials?”

‘The Ninety-Nine Trials’ was exactly the same thing I searched for, with the trio, in the dungeon under the academy. I heard they were ninety-nine weird items that were placed in the dungeons when the princ.i.p.al was bored in his younger days, and they were used to challenge students.

The moment I heard that we’re searching for tools, I immediately thought of those items.

“So even you knew of The 99 Trials, huh? However, we’re not here to find those famous items, even though by bringing back one of those items, we’re able to request a wish from the princ.i.p.al.”

“Is that so…”

Speaking of which, what he said was probable. After all, there’s only 99 of them…”

“Although this time, the live exercise is conducted in this Griffin Forest, where three of ‘The Ninety-Nine Trials’ lie, they are still much harder to look for than the 【Crystal Hearts】 we’re tasked to find.”

【Crystal Hearts】? Those things sure sound useful.

However, why do I feel that this live exercise not only improve magic usability, but also our survivability as well?

“Shir, how many 【Crystal Hearts】 are there?”

“About ten, I guess?”

“So two-thirds of the people here will be eliminated… Don’t tell me it’s fine to kill people in this live exercise…”

“That’s something you need not worry, after all, there are still teachers dispatched to supervise us.”

“Is that so…”

I took a look at my surroundings. Why do I feel that all these people are not harboring any good intentions at all?

Otherwise, why would all their names be in red?