Ch.238238 – Teacher Diff

# 238 – Teacher Difference

Miini was confident of victory from the start of the competition.

‘A freshman wouldn’t know about the <Structure and Understanding of Magic Formulas> lecture. That’s only available in the second semester of freshman year!’

Students who only learn the mandatory first semester course <Basics and Understanding of Mana Usage> don’t know about similar formulas where parts of magic formulas interlock with each other, nor how many variations exist.

There’s a possibility they might have studied intensively before entering the academy, but the formula miniaturization by Academy professors is world-class.

Formulas optimized and miniaturized by those who aren’t world-class professors inevitably contain redundancies.

‘Even with innate talent, the difference in teachers is an even greater gap than the difference in ability.’

I can beat Oknodie.

I can surpass the freshman valedictorian.

Miini’s heart swelled with confidence!

“Go, Rolls-Royce Number One!”

The competition began with the instructor’s signal.

Rolls-Royce Number One, which she thought was well-crafted, activated its formula immediately at the start.

<Mana Booster>

<Balance Maintenance>

<Altitude Maintenance>

It flew cutting through the wind without dropping in height or tilting to either side.

A combo that allowed it to theoretically fly an infinite distance, something not permitted to ordinary paper airplanes!

As long as natural mana existed in the atmosphere, Miini’s paper airplane could go anywhere based on that mana.

<Jacob’s Paper Airplane>

<Barnabas’s Paper Airplane>

Moreover, on both sides of Miini’s Rolls-Royce Number One, second-year students who had bet their first-place points on her were flying in formation as escorts.

“Go Hyundai Guruma! Destroy all those annoying airplanes!”

Behind their airplanes came Jaydas’s shout.

True to his impatient nature, Jaydas had packed extremely aggressive formulas.

<Counter-Flow>

<Multi-Shot Magic Bullets>

<Guided Missile>

<Reverse Wind Summoning>

Magic formulas have numerous “applications” depending on how they’re used, and Jaydas particularly enjoyed “reverse manifestation.”

Normally, wind magic formulas are arranged in the forward direction to summon tailwinds, but he arranged the formula in reverse to summon headwinds.

This was a kind of wide-area weather debuff used to narrow the gap with the leader when planes 100m ahead lose momentum due to the headwind!

Through the Counter-Flow formula, an application of charging, his own plane could accelerate by going against flows opposing it.

While gradually reducing the power of other planes and increasing his own, he aggressively fired magic missiles that tracked and shot down aircraft!

“Aaaaah!”

“What are you doing hitting our planes too!”

Students who had joined to help Jaydas screamed.

“Dominique’s aircraft destroyed! Automatic disqualification!”

“Ruden’s aircraft destroyed! Automatic disqualification!”

Though he shot down allied planes because his magic bullet guidance formula lacked friend-or-foe identification, Jaydas shamelessly told the disqualified students:

“It’s your mistake for not engraving formulas that would let you fly alongside me without interference, even though I allowed you to observe my formulas up close. Should I waste an extra formula on friend-or-foe identification because of you?”

“W-well, that’s true, but…”

“Ugh. That’s too harsh…”

Jaydas, who first shot down his own helpers.

Miini secretly laughed at his arrogance.

‘What a fool. If used properly, helper planes could be utilized like <External Storage Devices>.’

Unlike Miini, who cleverly used her helpers’ assistance with their <Push Boost> formula that could increase flight speed just by flying in formation, Jaydas was so absorbed in his own talent that he treated his helpers as annoying baggage.

With this, the possibility of losing first place disappeared.

As for Oknodie, she’s just a freshman after all.

She’ll probably struggle far behind Jaydas and be eliminated first.

When Miini looked back to confirm her unshakable first place, she witnessed something perplexing.

Slow… so sloooow…

Oknodie’s airplane had barely moved from the starting line, at a pace that would make even a turtle seem fast!

Isabelle’s plane helping her was equally slow.

“Oknodie. Is this really okay?”

“The formula has already taken effect. We’ve won!”

…Suspicious.

I can’t tell what she’s aiming for.

Yet something feels terribly wrong.

‘I’m slowing down.’

Miini realized.

Her plane’s speed had decreased at some point.

Because of Jaydas’s <Reverse Wind Summoning> formula?

No.

It was too slow even accounting for that.

Even using <Secondary Booster>, the increased speed diminished faster than before, and even when she used her trump card <Separation Launch> formula to jettison a significant portion of the fuselage to lighten the plane, it suddenly stopped as if caught on something.

It’s flipping.

The force is acting in the opposite direction.

Fast, and far.

Miini and her formation planes all began moving in reverse at the same speed and distance they had traveled forward.

“Stop!”

“Move forward!”

“T-the formula isn’t working!!”

Miini was just as panicked as her helpers.

What kind of formula is this?

What could cause something like this?

“Spatial formula?”

At the student council staff member’s mutter, an idea flashed through Miini’s mind like lightning.

With the intuition of a genius, she realized something.

<Magic Eye>

When she deployed the detection magic that senses all magical manifestations, an unexpected sight unfolded.

Oknodie and Isabelle’s planes.

Long lines extending from these two planes to all other planes!

That’s it.

That’s what ruined everyone’s flight.

Not just their own, but also Jaydas’s plane and the planes of other freshmen who had tried to interfere with Oknodie but ended up flying far ahead.

<Stationary Flight>

<Coordinate Fixation>

<Multi-Link>

<Elasticity Grant>

<Range Extension>

<Strength Extension>

Layer upon layer of formulas to ensure the lines connecting the planes maintain over long distances, withstand strong forces, and possess excellent elasticity.

An approach they never considered, focused only on strengthening their plane bodies to escape quickly or attack and shoot down superior enemy planes!

Oknodie didn’t try to overtake or attack others; instead, she tied everyone to herself with unbreakable mana rubber bands and fixed her and Isabelle’s planes to remain stationary, just slightly ahead of the starting line.

“Huh? Where’s our plane going!”

“Come back. That’s the starting line!”

The freshmen’s planes were the first to make a “boing” sound as they lost propulsion and were pulled backward.

Their planes fell helplessly to the ground.

“Nox’s aircraft crash confirmed! Record 1.3m!”

“Biden’s aircraft crash confirmed! Record 1.1m!”

Jaydas was unlucky.

Because he had flown faster and farther than them, the force in the mana rubber band was much stronger.

Naturally, his plane flew backward farther than theirs.

<Counter-Flow>

<Reverse Wind Summoning>

Even his flight formulas worked against him.

With no planes ahead to block it, the reverse wind affected only him.

Already being pulled back by strong elasticity, and now taking the full force of countering the reverse wind, he instantly passed the starting line.

“No!!”

Multi-Shot Magic Bullets? Guided Missiles?

There was no need to fire them.

Before his plane could even detect Oknodie and Isabelle’s planes, it was embedded in the building wall 10m behind the starting line.

“Jaydas’s aircraft flight inability confirmed! Record -10m!”

And behind him were three paper airplanes in formation returning toward the starting line even faster than the dumbfounded Jaydas.

“No!”

“At this speed, we’ll crash into the wall too!”

This wasn’t just defeat.

It was a negative record.

A record indicating complete humiliation by the opponent.

An even more miserable record than <Disqualification> received when an aircraft burns and disappears!

It would be more than enough to make them the laughingstock among second-years.

“Miini, do something!”

“Please, anything but a negative record!”

Miini gritted her teeth and raised her mana.

<Signal Transmission>

A trigger formula that remotely activates formulas engraved on the aircraft.

Unlike constantly active formulas, some formulas activate when specific conditions are met, including those that operate when receiving a signal.

Flight formula 3-combo.

Acceleration formula 4-combo.

Separation formula 2-combo.

Following her nine formulas, her insurance formula, planted just in case, activated.

<Water Bomb>

A water magic attack formula fired at other paper airplanes!

A direct hit would tear the aircraft apart, and even if they dodged luckily, the wings would get wet and heavy, inevitably nosediving to the ground.

While she was certainly caught off guard by the spatial formula, if the central planes of Oknodie and Isabelle crashed, the formula would automatically break, giving her a slim chance of survival.

‘I just need to shoot them down. Then I can squeeze out the remaining formulas to somehow reverse the situation…!’

The moment her water cannon was blocked by a water cannon fired from Oknodie’s plane, the life disappeared from Miini’s eyes.

“Pnom’s aircraft flight inability confirmed! Record -10m!”

“Wibi’s aircraft flight inability confirmed! Record -10m!”

“Miini’s aircraft flight inability confirmed! Record -10m!”

First and second place candidates Miini and Jaydas both recorded -10m.

“How on earth…? Spatial formulas require more area than other formulas, so there shouldn’t have been any space left…”

“I used reduction formulas to engrave the formulas smaller!”

“But then the power would be weaker…”

“I used amplification formulas to increase the output!”

“What kind of monster…”

Miini was devastated.

“Should I at least be relieved that some random freshmen will take first place?”

The two freshmen, Nox and Biden, whose planes lacked power and returned in the reverse direction without recording negative distances.

It seemed impossible for Oknodie and Isabelle’s planes, which flew less than the 1.3m and 1.1m records and stopped in place, to take first and second place.

“Ah, the duration ended.”

If there hadn’t been additional formulas that activated when the spatial formula was released.

“Time-delay activation formula!?”

“I included conditional acceleration formulas that automatically activate when the spatial formula is released!”

“You already used amplification on the spatial formula!! What power could a practically stationary plane have to show such acceleration?!”

“What does that matter? If you make the circuit rotate automatically according to conditions, you can apply amplification alternately to different formulas at the desired timing.”

“What? You rotated formulas that should be fixed for stability and damage prevention?”

Six spatial formulas.

One counter formula.

Three output formulas.

“Meh, how boring. I didn’t even get to use two of them.”

“!?”

She hadn’t even used all the formulas she had engraved.

“Oknodie’s aircraft crash confirmed! Distance 15m!”

“Isabelle’s aircraft crash confirmed! Distance 12m!”

Oknodie and Isabelle’s paper airplanes effortlessly set first and second place records.

After toying with everyone, Miini felt she had encountered something beyond an insurmountable wall of talent and genius.

This kind of application, this game-changing usage.

Beyond the number of formulas engraved in the same area or skill, it could only be attributed to a difference in teaching.

“Does this mean the Foundation’s teachers possess formula skills superior even to the Academy’s magic faculty professors…!”

The Academy had lost to the Foundation.