Chapter 164

After finishing the cleaning, we explained what had just happened to Irene.

“So, you were practicing because you wanted to use combat magic, right?”

“Yeah!”

We showed her the magic spell we had secretly taken from the professor.

“…This is Melting Ray, isn’t it?”

“Irene recognized it right away. That’s right! I want to shoot this too!”

“We know from experience that it’s super powerful!”

Listening to the passionate explanations of Unit 102 and the other Violets, Irene went “Hmm,” and fell into deep thought.

“This time, it was a bit of an embarrassing scene, but we’ll definitely succeed on the second attempt. If we increase the numbers a bit more, it’s totally possible.”

“Right. If it doesn’t work with a hundred, we can just mobilize two hundred!”

As the Violets took turns speaking, the factory became lively. Irene, who had been quietly listening, slowly raised her hand. We quieted down.

“…Isn’t this a bit ambitious? I don’t know much about magic, but at first glance, it seems like a pretty advanced formula. The only ones here who could barely use it are Lucian or something.”

Irene asked, looking concerned as if she had just witnessed our heads explode right next to her.

“That’s true. But we still have to do it!”

I shook my head.

“I felt it in this fight. Explosives and gunfire aren’t omnipotent! Our attacks didn’t work in front of interception magic or fire suppression magic. The enemies we’ll face in the future will likely have similar abilities.”

“Then how about focusing more on weapon techniques training?”

When Irene posed the question, I responded again.

“Of course! I’m going to keep training in weapon techniques. Our numbers have increased, so from now on we’ll train harder and more aggressively. 24/7!”

It seemed my friend thought we would give up on swordsmanship. When I mentioned this, Irene’s expression softened a bit.

“Our Violets never skip important studies. Today, I plan to review what I learned from the instructor and duel with you guys.”

“I’m relieved to hear that. But still, practicing such high-level magic isn’t enough of a reason. Can’t we just start learning basic magic step by step?”

Our expressions turned quite serious.

“You’re not wrong, but it’s still insufficient.”

I thought about it. Even though we won, this battle was still extremely close.

What if the bait using the two-dimensional signal device and vision prism hadn’t worked?

Then we would’ve had to repeat a horrific war of attrition. All our shooting weapons were useless until we neutralized that Lera’s artifact equipment.

Even in the favorable position of Lion’s Fountain Plaza, they countered us with barriers and interception magic.

Reflecting on the battle, I felt even more deeply that we won through the power of conventional weapons, but the current conventional weaponry has its limitations.

“That’s right! Our current weaponry is not enough. We need to pour more effort into research and development.”

“More big guns!”

At least the firepower had room for improvement.

The Violets were studying bigger and more powerful explosives and high-performance rockets. They were even brainstorming about suicide vehicles loaded with ton-level explosives.

When the deal with Armas took place soon, we would be able to secure a large number of heavy weapons.

“Artillery! Missiles!”

Of course, we didn’t plan to rely only on long-range weapons.

The enemies would be clad in various armor and have ether protection on their skin, ensuring some survival against sweeping gunfire, just like Irene, who had endured quite a beating from rockets and grenades during the raid.

“In the end, close combat determines victory or defeat!”

Unit 567, who had been standing by in the network, whispered. That guy was decorating the War Memorial.

Within the Violet Network lies a small war memorial.

This exhibition hall displays glorious moments colored on the canvas with the blood and sweat of the Violets, showcased in a grand manner.

The day we defeated gangsters and resolvers in Stygian Lane.

The cleansing operation of the Kraltide in Chloris Forest.

The rescue operation on 12th Street in the Central District.

And the recent battle at Lion’s Fountain Plaza, along with various big and small fights.

These battles had one commonality: they were always resolved through charge and close combat.

“Surely, to kill decisively, a charge is the best!”

Moreover, a Violet is, without exceptions, an Awakened One with ordinary physical enhancement capability besides unique abilities and self-destruction.

Therefore, mastering weapon techniques is essential to fully utilize our abilities.

Dueling with team members, reviewing classes, training, mock battles—all these processes of learning various weapons from swords and spears to axes are continually improving our skills.

Recently, we’ve even been drawing draws.

“Swordsmanship is steadily improving!”

The close combat, where we felt the greatest crisis with the Vanguard people, wasn’t an issue of swordsmanship. The problem lay in the overwhelming hardware difference. But if we keep training consistently, we will overcome it someday.

Thus, we are slowly but steadily growing.

Our unique ability has also advanced recently with the activation ability of strategic maps remaining as the only unanswered question.

Magic is still stagnating.

“It’s true, it’s a stretch. But we need a trump card! That’s magic!”

As I revealed the limitations I felt to Irene, her attitude shifted.

“…So that’s what you were thinking. Honestly, until you showed me the magic formula, I thought you were just suddenly practicing some new self-destruct magic. I know this sounds strange, but Violets preferred self-destruction, right?”

“Ugh! Irene, that’s not it. Self-destruction is just a reasonable tactic. Dying isn’t exactly a pleasant experience.”

Irene chuckled, slightly embarrassed by our small protest.

“Okay, I’m sorry for saying that carelessly. Actually, I have a confession to make.”

“What is it?”

At my question, Irene hesitated before slowly opening her mouth.

“It might sound strange, but… I’ve been somewhat numb to the thought of you dying lately. It should be something tragic…”

“Whoa, Irene, isn’t that a good thing?”

“Violet, that’s… Ha…”

Seeing Irene sigh again, I was bewildered. Was that really such a bad thing?

“Ah, I don’t know! Irene, let’s duel! Duel!”

I pulled the contemplating Irene to go duel. It’s best to keep moving when your head is crowded.

“We’ll come up with good ideas too. Right?”

“Yeah, yeah!”

While the Violets were passionately dueling, the Violets focused on analysis uncovered some issues.

“The first issue is calculation errors!”

Some Violets, weak in math, ended up causing mistakes during the calculation process.

“The second problem was mana manipulation errors.”

Another issue surfaced during the parallel processing of mana manipulation. Mistakes occurred while multiple people were manipulating mana at once.

“As the number of people increases, such problems arise.”

“Practice! We just need more practice!”

The Violets dedicated themselves back to training. Following Irene’s advice, directly attempting Melting Ray would be a stretch. This time, they decided to start with something easier.

I opened a small tome that Professor Albert had given me.

“Prepare the Tracking Blade!”

This time, we would be using the Tracking Blade and Tracking Spear. It’s Lucian’s main move and an attack skill commonly used by most mages.

The guided mana blade can penetrate even thick gloves and deeply embed itself into super concrete walls.

First, we prepared the magic formula for the Tracking Blade, and balls about double the size of a fireball appeared before me.

I manipulated the formula. Interestingly, as the number of balls increased, the way to develop mana also became more complex.

“I thought just moving the balls would be enough… Ugh… it’s hard…”

“Take it slow! There’s no rush.”

As I manipulated over thirty balls, time passed. With the number of balls more than doubled, the difficulty exponentially increased.

After several calculation failures and minor mistakes, the Violets completed one blade.

“Alright, next is the spear!”

This time, balls appeared that were about double the amount of the blade. A hundred Violets huddled together, struggling to create the spear.

“The more you rush, the more you should slow down. Let’s calculate carefully first. We can gradually increase the speed!”

After struggling, a Violet finally completed one spear, aimed the staff, and targeted an empty drum.

“Fire!”

The launched Tracking Spear pierced through the drum and exploded from within.

“Good, success for now!”

We continued to practice various spells afterward.

“Go! Wave of Flames!”

“No! It’s burning!”

Some succeeded, while others failed. It took an incredibly long time, but moving in numbers made calculations easier.

“Argh! My head!”

– Boom!

We attempted Melting Ray several more times in the process. As expected, the Violets’ heads exploded again.

“That worked, right? We learned a few spells, didn’t we? Let’s try the impressive ones later.”

By the time the magic training ended, dawn had arrived.

Maybe it was due to the dawn stimulating the sensibilities of the Violets. After a brief sense of achievement, we faced a new problem that we had forgotten.

“What is this! It’s so inefficient!”

The number of Violets consumed to successfully cast a single spell was excessively high. To complete one spell, nearly a hundred Violets had to stand idle and do nothing.

However, the power of the magic that could be released was surprisingly lackluster. While the power of the magic itself was excellent, it was disappointing compared to the number of people and time spent.

“It would be faster to self-destruct instead.”

War is a battle of efficiency. Instead of spending time preparing a spell with a hundred Violets, it would be better to just charge in and slash or shoot with guns.

“Damn! How does Lucian just fire these off like it’s nothing?”

We were slowly feeling doubts about the magic training.

“It’s better to use the mana to create another clone. I guess everyone forgot, but mana is our lifeline! Remember, every time we fire off a bunch of magic, we lose the opportunity to create a clone.”

“What about using the hibernating body as a reserve mana?”

“In that case, you’d only gain half the mana you put in.”

I grimaced. Taking a breath of fresh air, I stepped outside, and the dusky sky was gradually turning blue. The Violets who had stayed up all night were frustrated.

“Indeed, we need a powerful spell! Let’s try Melting Ray just one more time!”

The Violets returned to their positions and prepared the magic.

“Ugh!”

– Boom!

We had to swallow the bitter failures and finally fall asleep.

While the Violets in charge of magic training were sleeping, the morning sun had already risen.

The Violets and team members headed to the dormitory with a dining hall to prepare breakfast.

“This morning is scrambled eggs!”

“And French Fries!”

Seeing the pile of French fries on the plate, Kalia looked puzzled.

“French fries for breakfast?”

“French fries are vegetables! Vegetables are good for you!”

“Violet, French fries are carbohydrates.”

“Ah!”

764 felt embarrassed at Daphne’s remark.

As the time for the team members and Violets to eat approached, the magic trainee Violet, Unit 377, wandered through the Violet Network.

“Ugh… I failed…”

Unit 377, who should have been sleeping, couldn’t settle into deep sleep, perhaps due to lingering regrets about magic, and wandered through the network like a ghost. Other Violets tried to comfort them.

“Don’t be too down! You’ll do well next time!”

Despite the kind words from the other Violets, Unit 377 wandered through the city within the network.

In the sky of the towering buildings of the network, countless French fries were flying.

“Maybe getting up to eat and then going back to sleep isn’t a bad idea.”

Suddenly, the thought of French fries looking quite appetizing crossed 377’s mind. Perhaps because of that, they didn’t notice something on the ground.

As Unit 377 walked, gazing blankly at the sky, something caught around their ankle.

“Ahhh!”

Unit 377 fell flat on the stone floor, annoyed, and inspected the obstacle that was caught on their ankle. They didn’t forget to pull out a hammer with the intention of smashing it.

“How dare you!”

On the floor lay a sizeable piece of stone slab.

Just as Unit 377 lifted the hammer, they felt that the shape of the obstacle was somewhat familiar.

“What? It looks like a magic template?”

The stone slab on the ground sparkled with strange colors, adorned with several glimmering orbs, gems, and complex metallic wires that looked like circuits.

That appearance reminded them of the magic formula for Melting Ray, which they had failed to cast earlier at dawn.

“Gross. Go away!”

Annoyed, Unit 377 brought down the slab. The moment the slab shattered, a strange light of mana surged from it and soared into the sky.

“Ahhh!”

Surprised, Unit 377 fell on their backside. The surging light of mana flew through the Violet Network into the real world. The light, searching for an exit, moved to the nearest location.

At that moment, 764, who was having breakfast, screamed. Their hand felt incredibly hot.

“Ahh! My hand is burning!”

“Are you okay?”

Daphne, concerned, approached the Violet. 764 hurriedly raised their hand. An unstable magic circle floated above their hand.

“What…? Huh?”

“Everyone be careful!”

Feeling danger, Daphne unfolded a protective barrier around the people nearby. At the same time, a red beam was emitted from 764’s hand.

“Ugh, Aaaaah!”

“What’s going on?”

“Ahhh! I can’t control it!”

While everyone stepped back in surprise, the beam split the dining table and pierced through the ceiling. The dining hall was left in disarray.

“What in the world just happened?”

Kalia, feeling bewildered, shouted.

“I, I don’t even know…”

The Violet couldn’t understand why a beam suddenly burst from their hand.