Magical User Aozaki Aoko Case Files Chapter 024

Under Tsukiji Inumaru’s resentful gaze, Aoko rode her motorcycle away from campus with an air of elegance and freedom.

Seriously, how could she waste her precious time on meaningless high school life?

If it weren’t for her dear sister Touko lurking in the shadows, eyeing her like a tiger, she would have already gone to study at the University of Tokyo.

Even so, Aoko had already made a general plan for the next few months before engaging Touko in battle.

It was October now. After Touko returned, she would first teach her rebellious sister a lesson. Then, by December, she would have the time and energy to apply early to the University of Tokyo.

For national universities in Japan, two examinations were required.

The first examination was the so-called Center Test (センター試験), a nationwide standardized test held every January, primarily assessing high school education levels in basic subjects.

After the results of the first examination were announced, students could apply for the second examination, which was the individual universities’ own second examination (二次試験).

Aoko was quite confident in her grades, so she planned to apply early in December to secure a spot. Then, by February of next year, she could complete the entrance examination slightly earlier than others.

Touko, who had already arrived somewhere in Misaki Town at this moment, had no idea that her beloved younger sister, Aoko, had already scheduled her into her agenda.

In Aoko’s opinion, most mages in this world were rather unconventional.

She personally believed that the pursuit of the Root did not conflict with maintaining humanity and morality. However, many mages seemed to have abandoned the essence that their species had gained through millions of years of evolution and civilizational development.

However, if Aoko were to interact with mages other than Alice and Touko, she would realize that ordinary mages did not have the composure and余裕 to maintain their moral standards.

What Aoko considered to be the Spiral of the Root, reachable with a bit of effort, was actually an almost eternally unreachable ideal for other mages.

Perhaps in the future, after completing her studies at the University of Tokyo, Aoko would visit the Clock Tower again for a period of study.

But for now, compared to the Mage’s Association headquarters, where daily schemes and concerns about colleagues’ assassinations were rampant, the pinnacle of national universities held greater appeal for Aoko.

After years of studying magic and the Magic Net, Aoko understood that while Magic Net spells and traditional magic might follow different laws from modern science, they actually shared common ground: mathematics.

If one paid attention to cutting-edge physics research, one would know that at the most fundamental particle level, matter was actually governed by mathematics.

Perhaps in the common person’s perception, microscopic particles were just tiny spheres. However, in the physics community, all elementary particles described by the Standard Model had no substructure, meaning they were mathematical points with no volume.

In the field of mysticism, through her study and research of numerology magic, Aoko understood that mathematics was indispensable, whether in constructing spell models or enhancing the efficiency of magical operations.

For example, Aoko’s preferred Magic Bullet magic system was greatly enhanced by numerology magic. So, no matter how mysterious and incredible magic might seem, it still had to follow the most fundamental rule governing this universe—mathematics.

Perhaps there were some differences in rules compared to the universe of her “previous life,” but undoubtedly, in this universe, mathematics remained an undeniable truth.

So much so that Aoko didn’t even hesitate, directly setting her future research field in university as mathematics.

Although Touko wouldn’t admit it, aside from her research in magic, she also possessed a considerable academic background in architecture and ergonomics in the mundane world.

Presumably, if the obsession with the Aozaki family’s magic hadn’t confined Touko, she might have become an architect or a doctor.

“Then I’ll personally knock some sense into you, my dear sister,” Aoko thought happily. “As for the Fifth Magic, let your younger sister handle it.”

—Dividing Line—

Returning to the Kuonji Residence, Aoko found that her housemate hadn’t come home yet. However, considering the considerable distance between Reien and the Kuonji Residence, it was normal for Alice not to be back yet.

After changing into her casual clothes, Aoko returned to her room. She picked up her guitar and played for a while to relax, then took out her spellbook and began her daily routine of spell research.

During her previous wanderings on the Magic Net, Aoko had obtained some knowledge about “advanced” professions, but this knowledge was not very complete. From the limited knowledge she had acquired, Aoko only knew a few methods for advancing as a mage.

Among these advanced mage professions, Aoko was most optimistic about a mage advancement called “Metamagic Adept.”

A Metamagic Adept was an authority on metamagic feats, highly skilled at using one spell to affect another. Furthermore, Metamagic Adepts were very adept at modifying magic according to their will.

From the knowledge obtained from the Magic Net, it was known that even in the Heavenly Sphere of the Realms, it was difficult to find a male Metamagic Adept, meaning this was essentially a female-exclusive advanced profession.

Although she very much wanted to become a Metamagic Adept, Aoko currently did not meet the advancement requirements.

The advancement requirements for a Metamagic Adept were generally divided into four categories, corresponding to skills, feats, spellcasting ability, and special requirements.

In the skill domain, a mage who wished to become a Metamagic Adept must have at least 4 ranks in Concentration, 8 ranks in Arcane Knowledge, and 8 ranks in Spellcraft. Aoko had already met all the conditions in this area.

In terms of spellcasting ability, Aoko could already cast 5th-level arcane spells, meaning she had met the Metamagic Adept’s requirement of at least 3rd-level arcane spellcasting.

Furthermore, she had not chosen any opposing schools of magic so far, so the Metamagic Adept’s restriction against opposing the Abjuration and Divination schools did not concern her.

However, to advance to a Metamagic Adept, Aoko still had one unfulfilled condition: her feats.

A Metamagic Adept required the spellcaster to possess a metamagic feat. Aoko’s current feats were: Alertness and Spell Mastery. She did not regret choosing Alertness as her first feat, because if she hadn’t had it, she might have been killed by some inexplicable demons and monsters, such as a certain unknown white dog and a shadow cloaked in red rags.

But now that Aoko wanted to advance to a Metamagic Adept, she had to acquire a metamagic feat. The next time Aoko would gain a feat was when her mage level reached 10. Before that, she needed to have a sufficient understanding and research of metamagic theory.

Although she hadn’t acquired any metamagic feats yet, Aoko had already gained a considerable understanding of metamagic techniques through years of study and research.

As long as she successfully defeated Touko and Touko’s dog, she would surely reach level 10, gain a metamagic feat, and then advance to a Metamagic Adept.