Aozaki Aoko Case File - [22]

Aoko, under the resentful gaze of Tobimaru Tsukiji, which resembled that of a scorned woman hidden in the inner chambers, gracefully and freely rode her motorcycle off the campus.

As if! How could she waste her precious time on something as trivial as high school life?

If not for her ever-watchful sister Touko lurking in the shadows, Aoko would have long since run off to study at Tokyo University.

That said, in anticipation of the impending showdown with Touko, Aoko had already roughly planned out her next few months.

It was now October. Once Touko returned, Aoko would first give her rebellious sister a good lesson. By December, she’d have the time and energy to register early for Tokyo University.

To get into a Japanese national university, one needs to take two exams.

The first is the National Center Test, a standardized nationwide exam held every January, which mainly assesses the fundamental subjects covered in high school.

Once the results of the first test are released, students can apply for the second test, a separate exam set by each university.

Confident in her academic performance, Aoko planned to secure her place by registering early in December, allowing her to get a slight head start on the entrance exam in February.

At this moment, however, Touko, who had just arrived somewhere in Misaki Town, was still unaware that her beloved younger sister Aoko had already scheduled her for a confrontation.

In Aoko’s view, most magi in the world were an unreliable bunch.

She believed that pursuing the Root didn’t necessarily conflict with preserving one’s humanity and morals. However, many magi seemed to have abandoned the very essence of their species, refined through millennia of evolution and civilization.

But in reality, if Aoko were to communicate with other magi aside from Touko and Alice, she’d realize that ordinary magi often didn’t have the luxury to uphold moral standards.

What Aoko saw as a straightforward path to the Swirl of the Root was, for other magi, a nearly unreachable utopia.

Perhaps after completing her studies at Tokyo University, Aoko would visit the Clock Tower to study for a while.

But for now, the allure of a national university outshone that of the Mage’s Association headquarters, where she’d constantly have to guard against colleagues plotting against her.

Through years of studying magecraft and Arcane Magic, Aoko had come to understand that while the principles governing magecraft and Arcane Magic differed from those of modern science, there were areas where the two overlapped — particularly in mathematics.

In cutting-edge physics research, it’s understood that at the most fundamental level, matter is governed by mathematics.

To the average person, subatomic particles might seem like very small spheres. But in physics, the fundamental particles described by the Standard Model have no substructure — they are mathematical points without volume.

In mysticism, through her studies of numerical magecraft, Aoko realized that math was indispensable for constructing spell models and improving the efficiency of magical operations.

For example, the magic bullet system, which Aoko specialized in, was greatly enhanced by numerical magecraft. So, no matter how mysterious or otherworldly magecraft seemed, it still adhered to the fundamental laws governing the universe — mathematics.

Even if this universe had rules differing from those of her previous life, mathematics remained an undeniable truth.

So much so that Aoko had already decided her future field of study at university would be mathematics.

Touko, despite her reluctance to admit it, possessed considerable academic expertise in architecture and ergonomics in the surface world, aside from her research into Magic.

If not for her obsession with the Aozaki family’s Magic, Touko might have become an architect or even a doctor.

Well then, let me be the one to wake you up, dear sister.

Aoko mused to herself. As for the Fifth Magic, leave that to your little sister.

When Aoko returned to the Kuonji mansion, her housemate hadn’t arrived yet. Given the distance between Reien Girl’s Academy and the mansion, it wasn’t surprising that Alice was still on her way back.

After changing into her loungewear, Aoko returned to her room. She strummed her guitar to relax, then took out her spellbooks to begin her daily study of Arcane Magic.

During her ventures into the Woven Fragment, Aoko had come across some information about the advanced class, though it was incomplete. From what she had gathered, she knew only a few advanced paths for wizards.

Among these advanced professions, the one Aoko found most intriguing was the “Archmage.”

An Archmage is a master of metamagic feats, skilled at altering spells through other spells. Furthermore, Archmages excel at reshaping magic to fit their will.

From her findings on the Woven Fragment, it was clear that even in the realm of Celestia, male Archmages were rare, making it a class dominated by women.

Although Aoko was eager to become an Archmage, she didn’t yet meet all the requirements.

The prerequisites for becoming an Archmage generally fell into four categories: skills, feats, spellcasting ability, and special conditions.

In terms of skills, a wizard aspiring to be an Archmage needed at least 4 ranks in Concentration, 8 ranks in Knowledge (Arcana), and 8 ranks in Spellcraft. Aoko had already met all these requirements.

Regarding spellcasting ability, Aoko could already cast 5th Circle spells…

In terms of spellcasting, Aoko had already met the requirement of being able to cast at least 3rd-level arcane spells, which was necessary to qualify for Archmage.

Additionally, she hadn’t chosen any opposition class so far, so the Archmage’s restriction against opposing the Abjuration and Divination class didn’t apply to her.

However, Aoko still lacked one key requirement to advance to Archmage: a feat.

Becoming an Archmage required the caster to possess at least one metamagic feat, but Aoko’s current feats were Alertness and Spell Mastery. She didn’t regret choosing Alertness as her first feat; without it, she might have already been taken down by some bizarre creatures, like a certain mysterious white dog or a shadow wrapped in red cloth.

Now that Aoko wanted to advance to Archmage, however, she needed to acquire a metamagic feat. The next opportunity to gain a feat would come at the 10th level as a wizard. Until then, she needed to deepen her understanding and research into metamagic theory.

Even though she hadn’t acquired any metamagic feats yet, Aoko had already developed considerable knowledge of metamagic techniques through years of study and research.

As long as she successfully defeated Touko and her dog, she would likely reach 10th level, gain a metamagic feat, and finally be able to advance to Archmage.