Chapter 91: The Art of Synchronization
Viva still looked completely lost as she listened to Percy’s explanation, and Percy smiled before he told Viva to cast a spell. Viva hummed curiously and asked:
"Which one?"
"Any spell. Just cast something that’s easy for you."
Viva nodded as she raised her hand and cast [Fireball]! A ball of flames came to life above Viva’s palm. Viva pointed her hand to the side, and the ball rocketed forward with force and slammed into the wall! But before the fireball could cause any harm to the lab, the magic-resistant walls easily neutralized the flame, and Viva turned to look at Percy curiously. Now what?
Percy spoke while coming around the table to stand beside Viva.
"The synchronization spell allowed mages to pool their magic together in a way that had never been seen before. Here, try casting the exact same spell again."
Percy placed his hand on Viva’s shoulder before he gestured towards the wall, and Viva listened to him and activated [Fireball]!
PHWOOM!
A massive ball of fire swirled to life in front of Viva’s arm, and Viva’s eyes widened in shock as the ball grew until it was larger than her whole body!
"AHH!"
Viva cried out in surprise as she immediately lost control of the magic, and the ball rocketed forward and slammed into the wall with intense force! But once again, the magic-resistant walls neutralized the flame and snuffed out the fire before it could cause any damage! Viva immediately looked at her hand in shock.
"Oh gods, what was that!? I used the same amount of mana as before, but it felt completely different!"
Viva couldn’t believe how large that fireball was! Not only was Viva certain that she didn’t have the strength to create a fireball that large, but she also knew that she had used the same amount of mana as the first attack! Why was it so much larger this time!?
"Is this how Synchronization works? It makes spells more powerful?"
Percy hummed calmly when Viva asked this, and he spoke:
"It’s something like that. The Synchronization technique is basically a high-level magic multiplication matrix that binds the magic of the mages in contact and uses that to amplify the output. Basically, you can think of it in the same way as an arithmetic multiplication. If my magic is a three and yours is a two, when we synchronize, the output will be a six. If you have a three and I have a four, the magic output is a twelve, and on, and on. Take that further, and you have a pretty dangerous technique that can even most odds on the battlefield."
Viva was in absolute awe! Just the description of this technique already told her that it was something extraordinary! Wasn’t this a technique that could change the entire world!? If the City Guards or kingdom soldiers learned about this, then they would never need to fear any enemy! They could easily take care of anything they faced! Why wasn’t this being taught in the academy for students to master it!?
Viva asked this to Percy with a shocked look on her face, and Percy’s eyes narrowed before he shook his head.
"Synchronization can’t be taught in schools because it’s almost impossible to master. The only reason I can use it so freely is because I am who I am. But most mages who attempted it ended up suffering from destructive magical interference and dying."
"Destruct - What’s that?"
Viva looked up with a furrowed brow when she heard that term. Just the name made her feel cautious, and Percy’s explanation didn’t help her fears at all!
"To activate Synchronization, you need to master and perfect fifty-seven different Magic Sequences, and if you get even one of them wrong, everything fails. Most geniuses can get forty sequences right every time. If the genius is also very lucky, then they can get fifty sequences right once or twice, but to get all fifty-seven of them correctly every single time will take a literal miracle. The Destructive Magical Interference is what happens after the technique fails. It’s basically a phenomenon where two incompatible magical signatures try to force a connection. At best, a situation like that will lead to significant magical injury, and at worst, it causes a rapid ejection of mana from a mage’s body."
Viva frowned when she heard that last part, and it didn’t take her long to realise what exactly the rapid ejection of mana would look like!
"A magic explosion?"
Percy shrugged.
"For most mages with fire affinities, yes, that’s basically what the aftermath looks like."
Viva immediately started to understand what Percy had been trying to say all this time! Was Percy trying to tell her that the situation that happened in the library upstairs was because of the DMI phenomenon? That would make a lot of sense, wouldn’t it!?
"So you’re basically saying that one of the students in the library used this technique on Hildegard. But they couldn’t activate it properly, so they ended up suffering from the Destructive Magical Interference?"
Viva had a bright look on her face as she said all this, like she was a young student trying to impress her teacher by showing off her intelligence! It made her look like a little kitten, and Percy couldn’t stop himself from patting her head before he walked back to the other side of the table while talking.
"I’m not saying that exactly. For one thing, it shouldn’t be possible for any of the students in the library to activate Synchronization with Hildegard. Although mastering the technique is important, it’s also important that the two mages combining their magic have the same base affinity. A mage with a fire affinity cannot even attempt to synchronize with a mage with an earth affinity. It simply will not work. So, before a student can try to synchronize with Hildegard..."
"... they’ll need to have the [Hellfire] affinity as well."
Viva completed Percy’s words, and Percy nodded in acknowledgement. Viva honestly felt like she had just been pulled around in a circle and brought back to where she began! Her hopes had been so high at the start of this conversation because she thought that it would help her figure out exactly what happened, but now Viva was left with even more questions than when she started!
Viva had looked through the files of all the students that had been killed in the explosion, and she was certain that none of them had the [Hellfire] affinity! That meant it wasn’t possible for Percy’s theory to be true.
Percy noticed the disappointed look on Viva’s face, and he shook his head before saying:
"There’s no need to look so disappointed. Even though none of the students have the [Hellfire] affinity on paper, there are still ways to hide your affinity from magic tests. It might be a shot in the dark right now, but it’s still a real possibility, so we might as well make sure I’m wrong. If a failed synchronization was actually used, then it will most likely leave a magical trace behind. A defect tied to the magic core of the caster. I’ll write you an algorithm that can help you track that defect, and when you go to the morgue, hand it over to the mortician. If he analyzes all the corpses and none of them come back positive, then we’ll think of something else."
Viva looked up at Percy with an awed look as he told her all this, and once he was done speaking, she immediately jumped up and gave him a tight hug!
"Thank you so much! This is the first real lead we’ve had in days!"
Percy pat Viva on the back as he spoke:
"I don’t even know if it’ll work, so don’t thank me just yet. Go play over there while I write the algorithm."
Percy shooed Viva away, and Viva smiled as she gave Percy some room so he could work! Viva already knew right from the first day that she met Percy that this was one of the most important relationships that she would ever have, and Percy was proving her right every single day! Viva decided that once this case was over, she would get Percy something to thank him for all his help!
....
A/N: Please Vote with GT!