Ren Isana and the others attended their classes for several consecutive days until Friday arrived. In the morning, everyone arrived at school as usual.
Once everyone was accounted for, Yor Forger and Shizuka Hiratsuka walked in. Yor-sensei looked at the assembled students and announced, "Class, today is a practical combat lesson. We're heading to the Practical Combat Training Area in Sector D."
Hearing this, the students immediately perked up. Ais, sitting not far away, looked toward Ren Isana with eyes burning with intensity.
She had been waiting a long time for this day. She could finally have a life-or-death battle with Ren Isana. During this time, she had thoroughly researched the conditions of that Practical Combat Training Area.
Supposedly, it would perfectly replicate one's actual strength for combat, and even any magic one wished to use could be performed with ease.
Noticing Ais's gaze, Ren Isana nodded toward her. He understood her thoughts; this would be a good opportunity to truly fight each other.
The class was ready to experience the university's state-of-the-art facilities for the first time.
After Yor-sensei finished her announcement, she left. Shizuka-sensei then spoke up directly, "Let's go. Follow me, I'll lead the way. Don't touch anything once we get there."
With that, Shizuka-sensei followed Yor-sensei out. The other students stood up and hurried to keep up, and the group left the classroom together to head toward the Sector D Practical Combat Training Area.
When the students emerged from the building, they were somewhat surprised. There were quite a few other students on the same path, all seemingly heading to their own practical combat lessons.
It seemed that all the freshmen were going together. This left Ren Isana somewhat puzzled; exactly what kind of place was this Practical Combat Training Area?
At the start of the semester, everyone had wanted to visit it, but it hadn't been open to the public. Today, they finally had the chance to see what was inside.
The group followed Shizuka-sensei and Yor-sensei into the practical combat area. Everyone had to swipe their student IDs to gain entry.
Once inside, Ren Isana and the others saw classrooms within the teaching buildings that were completely different from normal.
Instead of desks and chairs, these rooms were filled with gaming pods about the size of a single bed. Looking at these high-tech products, everyone couldn't help but feel a surge of curiosity.
Shizuka-sensei led them into a classroom that was even more surprising because it was massive. The entire room was neatly lined with eighty machines, looking like a factory workshop.
「Pick one for yourselves. Put the device on your head, lie down, and then press the button on the helmet,」 Shizuka-sensei instructed everyone.
Following her words, the students began to move. Ren Isana chose one at random and saw the helmet inside the gaming pod.
He took a sniff; there were no strange odors inside the pod. It seemed it had already been cleaned, or perhaps it had a built-in cleaning function.
After a quick glance, Ren Isana put on the helmet connected by wires, sat inside, lay down, and finally pressed the button.
As he pressed the button, Ren Isana felt his mental power being drawn in as the gaming pod established a connection with him.
The next moment, his vision went dark. As streamers of light flashed by, he subconsciously shouted, "Link Start!"
Light flickered, and Ren Isana closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he had arrived inside a massive stadium.
Looking down at his current condition, Ren Isana was incredibly surprised. This was a game? Yet every sensation was still there, and the Magic Power within his body was circulating perfectly normally.
While he was thinking this, others began to appear beside him one after another. Sora appeared right next to him.
Seeing Sora appearing beside him, Ren Isana reached out his mischievous hand and gave her cheek a hard pinch.
"Ow!" Sora slapped Ren Isana's hand away and questioned him indignantly, "Class monitor, why did you pinch my face!?"
Feeling the sensation of his hand being slapped, Ren Isana said with surprise, "The sense of pain is completely synchronized with the outside? This is interesting. If this were used for a game, it would be incredible!!"
This was essentially a second world—a full-dive virtual reality game. It was exactly like that, and there was no logout button... To disconnect, it seemed one only needed to forcibly cut their own mental connection.
"Darn it, you used me as a test subject, didn't you!?" Hearing Ren Isana's answer, Sora was absolutely fuming!
Who could understand her frustration? She had just entered, and then Ren Isana had pinched her cheek so hard. It was enough to make her explode with rage!
"Exactly!" Having figured out the situation, Ren Isana didn't deny Sora's accusation; he really had been using her as an experiment.
Ignoring Sora, Ren Isana immediately channeled his Magic Power to cast [Lightness Technique], then leaped high into the air. He instantly jumped into the sky and began using [Flight Magic] to fly around.
After confirming that magic could be operated easily, Ren Isana became even more curious about this technology. If this were used for a game, it would be absolutely thrilling.
Many others had the same idea as Ren Isana, especially the boys. The first thing they thought of was gaming; if such gaming pods were truly on the market, many people would buy them.
The students began to familiarize themselves with the environment. Seeing Ren Isana's actions, they followed suit and started casting all the spells they knew.
After about a few minutes, a large screen appeared in the sky, followed by the images of Yor-sensei and Shizuka-sensei.
「Everyone, familiarize yourselves with your current status. We'll conduct practical combat training shortly,」 Yor-sensei said, not starting immediately but letting the students get used to things first.
After saying this, she left the podium, leaving Shizuka-sensei alone to operate the machinery. Before long, Yor-sensei also entered the simulation.
As everyone was getting used to the situation, Yor-sensei walked directly to Ren Isana's side and said, "Ren Isana, how about you and Ais have a battle in a bit? Give the students a demonstration."
Ren Isana was startled for a moment but didn't refuse. Instead, he agreed immediately, "No problem. But Yor-sensei, as for weapons, can we use our own?"
Ren Isana asked the question on his mind. Since they currently didn't have weapons, were they supposed to fight barehanded?
「Weapons? Operate it like this: swipe the air, and a menu will appear. You can set your weapon's attributes, weight, shape, and so on,」 Yor-sensei explained, teaching him the process.
Under Yor-sensei's guidance, a weapon identical to his own soon appeared in Ren Isana's hand. The others heard Yor-sensei's voice as well.
Everyone began creating the weapons they needed. Although the shapes might be slightly different, they were based on what each person found most suitable.
Asuna held only a rapier in her hand. However, the feel was slightly different; after all, it was just a product of a game, making it only passably comfortable to use.
Once Yor-sensei saw that everyone was nearly ready, she spoke up, "Students, come over here. I have a few things to tell you."
Hearing Yor-sensei's call, everyone gathered around. Seeing this, Yor-sensei began explaining the rules of the simulation.
「When you fight later, fight exactly as you would when killing monsters. Don't worry about death or injury; even if you die, you'll only experience some mental fatigue.」
Yor-sensei laid out the various details. Hearing her words, everyone nodded, having a clear understanding now.
Seeing that no one had objections, Yor-sensei said, "Now then, let's begin the lesson. Ren Isana, you and Ais will set the example. You'll be the first pair—go all out and fight with everything you have."
Yor-sensei directly made the arrangements. As her voice fell, the figures of the other students were forcibly transferred to the spectator stands.
Ren Isana didn't say anything. He took his weapon and stepped out to his position. Ais, looking at Ren Isana with excitement, said, "Please guide me!"
The students transferred to the spectator stands watched the impending battle with great anticipation.
Sora and the others were now sitting with Asuna. She looked at Asuna and couldn't help but ask, "In an unrestricted fight like this, who do you think will win?"
There was still a gap between Ren Isana and Ais's strength. Though not huge, what this battle tested was the resolve to kill one's opponent.
Ais was very strong and had extensive combat experience. This wasn't a mere spar; it was meant to be a direct attempt on the other's life, relying purely on genuine hard power.
"Ren Isana, of course," Asuna answered without a moment's hesitation, choosing to believe in her boyfriend.
Besides, it wasn't a blind choice. Ren Isana's strength was evident; even though Ais was stronger, the power Ren Isana could unleash was by no means weak.
"I'm rooting for the class monitor too. Even though I feel bad for Ais, that guy is just too terrifying," Sora said, shivering as she recalled her high school battles with Ren Isana.
Back then, Ren Isana had slapped her with one hand; she still remembered it vividly. That scene had left such a deep impression on a young girl's memory that she would never forget it in her lifetime!
"It's about to start. Let's just watch for now." Yukino Yukinoshita looked at Ren Isana and Ais on the field. She clenched her fists. If she went in with the intent to kill, would she be able to land a blow on Ren Isana?
Yukino Yukinoshita was incredibly vengeful. In a situation where she didn't have to worry about injury or death, she could definitely unleash even greater power.
However, now was Ren Isana and Ais's time, so it was best to just watch the show. She wondered if she would be chosen to fight him next, or if there would be a massive battle royale later.