Chapter 615 'Tutorial'
Following Fabian to where they keep the simulators, Shiro raised her eyebrow when she saw the model of the simulators. They were worse than the ones she had used in New York and that was in the weakest city.
"Alright, step out for a bit. I'll fix this up real quick." Shiro waved her hand as Fabian nodded his head.
Just as he left, the party looked towards her.
"Don't go too crazy. If you make a simulator that transcends our technology by like 100 years, things are gonna get annoying." Madison reminded as Shiro stayed silent.
". . . You were planning to do that weren't you?" Madison narrowed her eyes.
*Cough!
"Not really. I was just going to install a few mana absorbers and better AI for the simulations." Shiro replied while looking away from the party.
Sighing softly, Madison gave up.
"Just do what you want."
Hearing this, Shiro grinned.
Placing her hand on the simulators, she closed her eyes and mapped out their internal composition.
Understanding the simulators a bit better, she started to get to work. Summoning some nanobots, she started to install new components.
The main feature that she wanted to install was for adventurers to study in the simulation. A training hall of sorts so that they could improve.
The next feature would be a graduation hall where they'll need to put what they have learned to the test and for that to work, she'd need bosses that can only be defeated with what they've learnt.
Programming a few Ai to fit these requirements of her's, Shiro didn't have too hard of a time to 'fix' the simulators as she had experienced advanced ones back in Aria.
"Fuu… That should do it." She smiled as she looked at the new and improved machines.
Calling Fabian back in, she suggested that he give it a try himself.
"Ah ok. So what do I do?" He asked while inspecting the machine.
"Just sit in it. Don't worry, I'll hop over too so that I can give you a tour. We'll have you go through a tutorial of sorts too." Shiro 'smiled' as Silvia suddenly felt a chill.
She could still remember what had happened during her 'tutorial' of Shiro's training.
"Oh god she's going to turn the adventurers of Vatican City into a group of maniacs now." Silvia whispered over to the rest of the party but they already had a face of acceptance.
Ignoring Silvia's whisper, Shiro hopped into one of the simulators and activated the device.
After a short moment, she found herself in the digital world with Fabian beside her, looking around in awe.
Glancing down at his hands, he clenched and relaxed his fist a few times.
"So what's the tutorial?" He asked.
"The first tutorial is learning how you enhance your weapon with your mana. In addition to this, you'll also need to learn how to wrap your mana around your body like a plate of armour. These two are the fundamentals that every adventurer needs to learn."
"But I already know this." Fabian tilted his head and demonstrated it to her.
"Yes but it's weak. I say fundamentals but in reality, it's much harder than the basic aura that you conjure up." Shiro grinned and flicked the mana that he had wrapped around himself.
Shattering it to pieces, she gestured for him to follow her.
"Come into this room. It's a compressor of sorts and it'll help you learn how to strengthen your aura." Shiro smiled.
Walking inside the room, he could see a screen appear in front of him.
[Would you like a video demonstration on how to deploy mana properly?]
Selecting the no button, a new panel appeared.
[Please select the difficulty of the room.]
[Super Easy]
[Easy]
[Below Average]
[Normal]
[Above Average]
[Hard]
[Super Hard]
[Hero Tier]
Thinking about it or a moment, he pressed Below Average as he wasn't too sure about the difficulty after Shiro shattered his aura with ease.
[Please deploy your mana around you like a barrier. The test will begin in 5 seconds.]
Seeing this, he deployed his mana once more as Shiro stepped outside and watched with a grin.
'A shame that he picked below average. Should have picked Super Easy. After all…' She giggled.
'It's using me as reference for the grade.'
The moment the timer hit one, a crushing pressure crashed against Fabian and his body was immediately reduced to bloody mist.
Respawning with disbelief written all over his face, Fabian turned towards Shiro.
"That's below average?" He asked with a twitching smile.
"Yup. Why don't you give Super Easy a shot after watching the video?" Shiro asked with a sadistic smile.
Feeling a shiver down his spine, Fabian nodded his head.
While this was happening, the party could see everything that was happening from the outside due to the fact that Shiro had made sure a screen would show them what was happening.
Seeing the deceiving difficulty grade and Shiro's sadistic smile, they prayed that the pope wouldn't be 'broken' by her.
###
After watching the video, Fabian understood that he needed to increase the speed of the mana along with compressing it. Otherwise, it would be shattered in an instant.
Picking the Super Easy difficult this time, he braced himself for the impact.
But just as the countdown hit 1, he was surprised by the lack of pressure and couldn't help but wonder if it was broken.
However, the moment he turned around and saw Shiro's sadistic smile, he knew that something was wrong and immediately tried his best to reinforce his mana armour.
*BANG!!!!
Feeling as though a giant hammer had just slammed into his body, Fabian struggled to stand up as his body was crushed against the ground. After a short moment, he was turned to paste and respawned next to Shiro.
"So how was it?" Shiro asked with a soft chuckle.
"I think the difficulty is a bit misleading." He replied, forcing a smile.
"Not really. Super Easy is indeed Super Easy. It gives you some more time to reinforce your mana armour and the pressure is something an 'average' adventurer at your level could output at max efficiency. If you can survive super easy then you're pretty much sorted. The over levels are for those that want to go higher." Shiro replied with a shrug.
"Anyways, come with me to the second test. We don't have enough time for you to complete this one since it might take a few months."
Sending them to the next area, it was time to reinforce weapons with mana.
[Would you like a video demonstration on how to reinforce weapons?]
Pressing yes without hesitation, Fabian tried his best to memorise everything before stepping into the testing area.
Choosing the Super Easy difficulty, he was surprised to see a panel explaining the situation.
[You must reinforce the carrot in your hands with mana so that the rabbit doesn't consume it. Once it does, you will fail the test.]
Seeing the carrot that had appeared in his hands, he followed the instructions and reinforced the carrot in time to see a white bunny appear in the far end of the room.
Blinking once, he was surprised to see the bunny already in front of him as he opened his mouth and took a bite towards the carrot.
*CRACK!
Shattering the carrot to pieces, the bunny's fur, turned a deep shade of red and his body size increased by many times.
Looking at the now giant bunny that was glaring at him with murderous intent, Fabian wasn't even able to run when his upper torso was ripped from his waist with a single bite.
Respawning next to Shiro, Fabian stayed silent.
"This is just the tutorial?" He asked.
"Yup."
"Things get harder after this?"
"Yup."
". . ."
Leaving the digital world, Fabian thought to himself for a moment before glancing towards Shiro.
"I think you should lower the difficulty a little. I don't think anyone in this city can pass the tutorial level."
"If you're not convinced, I can get one of our party members to do it and record it as proof. That way, when adventurers try it out, they can see that someone has already passed the tutorial." Shiro suggested.
Nodding his head, he was curious as to who the person was going to be.
"Lyrica, you want to do the tutorial?" Shiro asked with a smile. She had full confidence that Lyrica can complete this without any problems.
"Sure. Which difficulty do you want me to do?"
"You can probably complete Above Average if I'm honest but stick with normal for now." Shiro replied.
Nodding her head, Lyrica sat in one of the simulators and closed her eyes.
Finding herself in the digital world, she did not hesitate to begin the first trial.
Closing her eyes, mana wrapped around her body and formed a thin layer of armour which seemed like it would shatter with a single poke.
But when the pressure struck against her body, the only thing that Fabian could see was slight traces of discomfort on Lyrica's face as her mana did not crack from the pressure.
After she passed the first trial, she proceeded to the bunny. Picking Normal once more, her reinforced carrot had actually broken the rabbit's teeth as Fabian watched with shock.
He failed the lowest difficulty but Lyrica had completed Normal without too many problems.
"See? The grading is fine." Shiro grinned.