-1422- Strange directions

Training Ground.

A day later, Rozen once again brought the members of the E601 squad to his dedicated training ground, gathering them here.

Misora, Lecty, and Rico stood in front of Rozen, their expressions showing some unease.

"What's going on now?"

"I... I don't know either..."

"If it's more of yesterday's training, I might just consider leaving."

Misora, Lecty, and Rico exchanged low-voiced comments.

This was understandable. Just now, in the E601 squad room, Rozen had not given a direct answer to the girls' heartfelt request but instead brought them here.

Without a clear answer and not knowing what to expect, it was natural for the girls to feel uneasy.

But their anxiety was quickly dispelled by a single sentence.

"Don't you want to become stronger?" Rozen smiled slightly as he addressed the three, "Now, I'll give you the secret to becoming stronger, allowing you to undergo a complete transformation."

Such words immediately invigorated the members of E601.

"The secret to becoming stronger...!"

"A complete transformation...!"

The three girls gazed at Rozen with intense, fiery eyes.

Seemingly satisfied, Rozen nodded.

"Then let's start with one person at a time."

Rozen turned his gaze to one of them.

"First, you, Misora."

Rozen called out directly.

"Yes...!"

Misora quickly stepped forward.

However, what greeted Misora was a harsh evaluation.

"Your swordsmanship is very poor, and your shooting skills are also low. Overall, it's only slightly better than an amateur. Moreover, you have almost no talent in swordsmanship. Therefore, if you switch to becoming a magic artillery user, you could use your superior magic to launch powerful attacks or large-scale barrages. For the enemy, this would be a significant threat. With just a bit more precision, you could undergo a complete transformation."

Rozen explained.

"But since you only want to be a magic swordsman, we must address your issues with swordsmanship. Otherwise, you would only use the magic cannon sword as a sword-like magic cannon, and it wouldn't make sense to choose this type of weapon."

Hearing this, Misora felt somewhat disheartened and conflicted, but she soon rallied her spirits.

After all, Misora had realized long ago, after over a year of training and effort, that her swordsmanship was quite poor.

Even her shooting skills were not very talented, only slightly better than her swordsmanship.

Given this situation, it was foolish for Misora to abandon her advantages and persist in areas where results were not forthcoming.

However, as Rozen pointed out, humans are inherently driven to overcome seemingly impossible challenges, like building airplanes despite not being able to fly, or submarines despite not being able to dive deep. Overcoming such challenges might be humanity's inherent flaw.

Therefore, Rozen would provide her with the "airplane" and "submarine" that could help achieve her wishes.

"Here, take this."

Rozen threw an item to Misora.

"What... is this?"

Misora hurriedly caught the item and, upon seeing its full appearance, was stunned.

It was a collar.

It resembled a collar worn by pets, encircling the neck and adorned with a decorative crystal at the front.

"Put it on."

Rozen said casually.

"Put... put it on?"

Misora was immediately taken aback.

Not just Misora, but even Lecty and Rico were momentarily speechless.

But the next second, Rico spoke thoughtfully.

"Could it be that you want to do something like, 'Put this on, and from now on you're my pet. If you serve me well, I'll help you become stronger. You know what to do'?"

Rico's speculation made Misora's eyes widen.

"You, you, you, you, you... are you seriously trying to do that...!?"

Misora flushed with anger and glared at Rozen.

In response, Rozen raised a hand.

"Smack!"

Rozen gave Misora a hard slap on the head.

"Ow!"

Misora cried out in pain, holding her head.

"Even though you're at an age where you might have such thoughts, please be practical. You're clearly underage girls. What dirty thoughts are you having?"

Rozen sighed and pointed to the crystal on Misora's collar.

"Take a closer look. This is a magical alchemy item."

The girls then noticed that the crystal on the collar had mysterious runes carved into it.

"This is a tool that allows you to use telekinesis."

Rozen revealed.

"Telekinesis...?"

Not just Misora, but Lecty and Rico also exchanged puzzled looks.

Why would Rozen give Misora a magical alchemy item that enables telekinesis?

The reason was simple.

"The reason you're not good at swordsmanship is likely because, like me, you're not skilled in agile physical movement," Rozen explained. "While there are many reasons for poor swordsmanship, from your performance yesterday, it's clear that your motor skills and reflexes are good. You wouldn't have held off the golem for so long otherwise. But your lack of extraordinary swordsmanship means you struggle with flexible body control."

When a person wants to do something, the brain sends signals, which are transmitted through nerves to the body, allowing it to act.

Misora's motor and reflex nerves are good, but she lacks control over her body.

A person like Ikki can perform amazing techniques due to perfect control over his body.

Hence, both Rozen and Misora lack natural talent in body control.

In less favorable terms, they are clumsy.

In this case...

"If you don't need to physically move your body, then with your motor and reflex nerves, you should be able to achieve a certain level of swordsmanship."

Rozen continued.

"Just like me, although I'm not good at close combat, if I use telekinesis to control my body, I can still achieve a certain level of close combat because I don't need to move my body physically. I only need to use telekinesis to control my body, like playing a virtual game, where the brain directly sends signals to control the character."

With that, Rozen moved a distance away from the others.

Then, Rozen pulled out a magic sword from somewhere and held it in his hand.

"Rico," Rozen said to Rico, "Start shooting at me."

"Huh?" Rico was stunned.

"Just do it, and you'll understand in a moment. Shoot."

Rozen issued the command without further explanation.

Rico then raised her eyebrows.

"In that case, don't blame me for any accidents."

With that, Rico summoned her magic gun from her gem box and aimed it at Rozen.

"Bang...!"

In the next moment, Rico pulled the trigger, firing numerous magic bullets at Rozen.