Chapter 64 | The Virtual Reality Environment
Chapter 64: 64 | The Virtual Reality Environment
[Jk: How does a computer get drunk?]
The lecturer looked down at them from his position on the ceiling, his body perfectly relaxed despite the inverted posture.
"This... is basic mana manipulation."
He released his mana and dropped lightly back onto the floor, landing without a sound, his knees bending to absorb the impact.
"Skills are merely shortcuts," he continued, brushing chalk dust from his hands. "Mana itself can accomplish far more. Most people never realize this because they rely entirely on Skills to use their mana. They never learn to control it directly."
He continued the lecture, pacing back and forth at the front of the classroom as he explained the principles of mana manipulation.
Mana could reinforce the body. By circulating mana through the muscles, a person could increase their physical strength beyond their normal limits. It wasn’t as dramatic as a Strength-enhancing Skill, but it was more efficient, consuming less mana for a smaller boost.
It could increase physical speed. Mana circulated through the legs could enhance the explosive power of each step, allowing a person to move faster and react quicker.
It could reduce impact damage. By reinforcing the body with mana at the moment of impact, a person could reduce the damage from blows, falls, and collisions.
It could control temperature. Mana could be used to heat or cool objects, to boil water or freeze it, to create comfort in extreme environments.
It could create magnetic attraction. As the lecturer had demonstrated, mana could be manipulated to create magnetic fields that allowed a person to adhere to metal surfaces.
"If your Mana Circulatory Technique becomes efficient enough," the lecturer said, his voice taking on a more serious tone, "you’ll consume less mana with every action."
He drew several diagrams of the human mana pathways on the board, showing the routes that mana typically traveled through the body.
"The average awakened wastes nearly forty percent of their mana," he explained, tapping the diagram with his chalk. "That means for every hundred points of mana they spend, only sixty points actually produce the desired effect. The other forty are lost to inefficiency, leaked out through poorly controlled pathways or dissipated into the surrounding tissue."
He drew a second diagram, this one showing a more optimized circulatory pattern.
"If properly trained, that loss can be reduced by twenty percent. Eighty percent efficiency instead of sixty. That’s a significant improvement that most Ultras never achieve because they never bother to learn proper circulation techniques."
He paused as he let it sink in, then he continued
"The highest efficiency ever recorded... reduced mana consumption by fifty percent."
The entire classroom became silent.
A fifty-percent reduction. That effectively doubled one’s combat endurance. A person who could normally fight for one hour could fight for two.
"You’ll fight longer," the lecturer said, counting the benefits on his fingers. "Recover faster. And perform techniques with far greater precision. Mana efficiency isn’t glamorous. It’s not as exciting as a powerful Skill or a rare Talent. But it’s the foundation that everything else is built on."
"For the next two hours," he said, his voice firming into an instructional tone, "you’ll forget your Skills. You won’t use them. You won’t even think about them. You’ll learn how to control mana itself, how to circulate it through your body with maximum efficiency, how to make every point count."
For the remainder of the lecture, the students practiced circulating mana through different pathways inside their bodies.
But by the time the lecture ended, every student had gained a deeper understanding of mana than ever before. They could feel the difference between efficient and inefficient circulation, could sense the points where mana was being wasted, and had the tools to begin improving their technique.
---
The second lecture was entirely different.
Combat Training.
The seventy-five Elite Students followed another instructor toward one of the academy’s largest facilities, a building that stood apart from the academic structures, its design more industrial than educational. Above the enormous entrance were three glowing letters.
[VRNF]
Virtual Reality Network Facility
Inside, rows upon rows of sleek metallic pods stretched across the massive chamber. Each pod was large enough for a single person to lie inside comfortably, with a curved interior surface, a padded headrest, and a clear hatch that could be sealed from the inside.
Standing at the front was an elderly instructor.
Although he appeared to be in his seventies, with white hair and wrinkles on his face, his posture was perfectly straight, and the powerful aura surrounding him made him seem no weaker than someone in their prime.
He folded his hands behind his back before speaking.
"My name is Lee France. And these are Virtual reality pods," he said, his voice carrying easily across the large chamber. "They’re connected to the Erwin Origin Network. The world’s largest combat simulation system."
"Through this network, you can battle anyone connected across the planet. Students. Hunters. Guild members. Even awakened warriors from other continents. The network spans the entire globe, connecting millions of users in real-time combat simulations."
The students looked at the pods with excitement.
They could actually pair with anyone in the continent and battle with anyone at anytime. It was like Heavens Domain but with more flexibility and less death.
They could fight anyone, anywhere, without leaving the academy. They could gain combat experience, test their abilities, and improve their skills in a safe environment where death wasn’t permanent.
The instructor continued.
"For today, you’ll only fight among yourselves. The Academy AI will randomly pair every student with an opponent. The simulations perfectly replicate your physical abilities, talents, and mana. What you can do in reality, you can do in the simulation. What you can’t do in reality, you can’t do here either."
A smile appeared on his weathered face.
"You’ll experience real combat. But no one will actually die. The worst that can happen is you lose the match and feel a brief, uncomfortable sensation when your virtual body is destroyed."
His expression became serious.
"Treat every battle seriously. The simulation may not be real, but the skills you develop here will be. One day, you’ll be fighting for your life. The experience you gain here might be the difference between survival and death."
[Ans: It takes Screen Shots...]