Limitless (1)

Final Score: 548 points.

It was a number that far exceeded Shirone's score.

"That's insane."

The students, seeing Iruki take his lessons seriously for the first time, started murmuring among themselves.

"548 points in the Escape-Type. Is he even human?"

"He calculated the target's motion equations entirely using his Servant Syndrome ability. Honestly, isn't that cheating?"

Even Ethella was perplexed.

'Capturing a target with an Escape-Type method is a result of mathematical calculation combined with Servant Syndrome. But...'

That alone did not explain how his Spirit Zone moved so much faster than the target.

'How did he enhance it?'

As she pondered deeply, her eyes sparkled with realization.

'No way… That kid…'

Iruki, stepping down from the Image Zone, approached Shirone with a sly grin.

"What do you think? It was at least decent, right?"

Shirone admitted it honestly.

"Yeah, it was amazing. I never thought an Escape-Type could be used that way."

"Hmph, is that all? I'm disappointed."

"What?"

Shirone furrowed his brows, but Iruki continued speaking, unconcerned.

"Modularizing numbers to increase speed. It's a method that makes use of your strengths."

Shirone flinched. Meanwhile, he hadn't even guessed Iruki's approach.

"Want me to teach you how I enhanced mine?"

"Are you sure you should be telling me that? You seem pretty wary of me."

"It doesn't matter. Knowing doesn't mean you can do it."

As expected, Iruki had a way of getting under people's skin.

"It's actually nothing special. If you increased your units by modularizing numbers, I just reduced my units using algebra."

"Huh? Algebra?"

Shirone stood in stunned silence.

'That method… No, this is beyond that.'

Iruki wasn't lying when he said knowing wouldn't mean Shirone could do it.

"Applying logarithms lets you simplify even astronomical numbers. This time, I just tried it as practice. The real match is in the practical exam anyway."

Shirone bit his lip.

By applying logarithms, even numbers in the billions could be perceived intuitively.

'Ten billion wouldn't be a problem. But logarithms were originally designed to simplify complex calculations.'

Applying them to simple numerical sequences would actually make calculations much more complicated.

'But he did it. He developed his own numerical sequence using his Servant Syndrome ability.'

Just how far did Iruki's potential extend?

Shirone had met many geniuses—Carmis Amy, the Ozend family—but he had never encountered someone with such an extreme imbalance of talent.

"How about now? Still think you can beat me?"

"I'm not doing this to beat someone. As long as I do my best, it doesn't matter who wins."

"That's such a textbook answer. Fine, I'll just think of you as a weakling from the start. But be careful with your words from now on. I find it disgusting when idealists without any real skill talk about the value of life."

Shirone clenched his teeth.

'What the hell is his problem?'

All he wanted to do was emphasize the importance of life.

If even that was criticized as idealism, then Shirone had only one option—to prove it.

"Fine! If that's how you see it, let's settle this in battle. I will beat you in the upcoming exam."

"Haha! That's the spirit. Of course, I'll be the one winning."

"You...!"

Just as Shirone was about to fire back, the other students swarmed around Iruki.

"You're incredible! How did you do it? Can you teach me?"

"If you were this skilled, why did you hide it? Why don't you join our research club? With you, we could finish our project within a month!"

The air was filled with praise, but Iruki's expression remained unchanged as he turned back to Shirone.

"Shirone, the insight you showed at the Uncrossable Bridge was impressive. However…"

With a meaningful smile, he turned away.

"My calculations are faster than insight."

"..."

Shirone swallowed dryly.

Since entering the magic academy, he had faced many rivals, but never one this formidable.

Nade patted Shirone's back.

"Cheer up. I know it might sound irresponsible, but watching from the sidelines is pretty exciting. Of course, I'm friends with both of you, so I don't really care who wins."

"I don't mind competition. But this just feels unfair. Iruki outright hates me."

"What can you do? That's just the way he is. But you must be amazing too, considering you've pushed Iruki to go all out. You two might be the only ones capable of breaking the top targeting record."

"Huh? There's a record? What's the highest score?"

"Let's see… If I remember correctly, it was 987 points."

"What? 987?"

Shirone was dumbfounded.

Forget his own score—even Iruki's logarithm-based method had only reached the 500s.

How fast did someone have to be to score 987?

"That's insane. Who was it? They must have graduated already, right?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? You're dating her and don't even know? It's Amy."