The third day of the Nine Schools Competition is the most important day of the regular season, because this day is the final of the "Surfing Race" and the preliminaries and finals of the "Icicle Attack and Defense".
"Surf Racing" is just as the name suggests, a competition in which contestants use skateboards to surf. Of course, there are rules, that is, it is not allowed to directly attack other contestants with magic, and they can only interfere indirectly through methods such as water surface interference.
As for "Icicle Attack and Defense", it is actually a bit similar to a tower defense battle. Players on both sides stand on a high platform, and then several rows of huge rectangular icicles will be erected on the platform in front of them. All the players have to do is to protect the icicles on their side, and then use magic to eliminate the icicles on the opponent's position.
"Ice Pillar Attack and Defense" is also the most popular competition among the audience besides "Illusion Star Picking" and "Secret Monument Decoding" because this is the only competition that allows the contestants to wear whatever they want in order to calm their mood. As long as it does not violate public order and morality, you can dress up as a maid, a shrine maiden or anything else.
So this is also the most popular project among the audience - who doesn’t like to watch legal Cosplay?
For Fang Zheng, "Surf Racing" was not difficult at all. Basically, he did not need to use any means at all, because compared with the activation speed of magic, no one was faster than Fang Zheng. Often, when the whistle sounded, Fang Zheng disappeared from everyone's sight.
However, to Fang Zheng's surprise, problems arose in the women's group on the other side.
"What's going on?"
After the men's semi-finals, Fang Zheng received a call from Nanakusa Mayumi, asking him to come back immediately. So Fang Zheng hurried back to the camp of the first high school. As soon as he walked in, he saw that everyone had a solemn look on their faces, as if something serious had happened.
"You're finally back, Kasugano-kun."
Seeing Fang Zheng appear, Nanakusa Mayumi breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's Molly. Something's happened to her."
"Something happened?"
"Yes, there was an accident during the game..."
According to Mayumi Nanakusa, in the women's "Surf Race" semi-final in which Watanabe Mari participated, the contestant from Seventh High School seemed to have lost control, causing her to flip over and rush forward. Watanabe Mari wanted to catch her, but for some reason a mistake occurred and both of them were knocked off the track, so the women's semi-final was suspended.
"How is Watanabe-senpai?"
"A few of my ribs were broken. The doctor has healed them using battlefield first aid magic, but I won't be able to move freely for at least the next ten days."
"That means she can't participate in not only the surfing race, but also the fantasy star-picking?"
Hearing this, Fang Zheng raised his eyebrows, and Nanakusa Mayumi nodded solemnly.
"What now? What does the committee say?"
"They announced that the women's competition will resume in half an hour. Morley will naturally not be able to play. As for the player from Qi Gao, she has already lost her qualification to compete."
Having said that, Nanakusa Mayumi looked towards Fang Zheng.
"Kasugano-kun, I feel..."
"I know what you want to say, but that can wait."
Fang Zheng waved his hand and glanced at everyone.
"The most important thing right now is to find a replacement...Honoka."
"Why?!"
Hearing Fang Zheng calling her name, Mitsui Honoka, who was standing next to her, jumped up in surprise.
"You will take the place of Watanabe-senpai and participate in the semi-finals of the surfing competition. Shizuku, take her to change her clothes now."
"OK."
After hearing Fang Zheng's order, Kitayama Shizuku nodded, and then pushed the still confused Mitsui Honoka away. Nanakusa Mayumi looked at Fang Zheng in surprise, not knowing what to say for a moment.
"Kasugano-kun, you..."
"I know what you want to say."
Fang Zheng waved his hand again.
"You suspect that this is not an accident, but a conspiracy against us. Well, I think so too."
"But in this case..."
"That's why we can't let them succeed."
Fang Zheng was staring at Nanakusa Mayumi.
"At present, we are not sure whether this is just a conspiracy or an accident. If it is really an accident, then it is fine. If it is a conspiracy, then our obedient withdrawal will only make the opponent more arrogant. Moreover, Senior Watanabe has made it to the semi-finals with great difficulty. You don't want to see her efforts go to waste. I am sure that if she wakes up, she will definitely not want to face such a scene."
“…”
After hearing this, Nanakusa Mayumi stopped talking.
"Then let's do this. I'll go see Honoka, and I'll ask you to apply to the tournament committee to change the players. Also, ask the committee for the surveillance video of the previous match."
"OK."
Nanakusa Mayumi nodded, but once again showed a puzzled expression.
"But is Guangjing-san really okay? Although she has also signed up for the novice competition 'Surfing Race', the level of the novice competition is completely different from that of the regular season."
"You don't have to worry about that, President."
Fang Zheng chuckled and walked out.
It turns out that Honoka herself had the same idea.
"Kasugano-san, can I really, really participate in the regular season?"
When Honoka Mitsui appeared in front of Fang Zheng again, she had changed into her competition outfit, a tight, full-body swimsuit similar to a diving suit. Although it covered the girl's skin well, the prominent lines could not be hidden at all. However, at this moment, Honoka Mitsui seemed to be completely unconcealed about such a small matter, but stared at Fang Zheng nervously and asked. Fang Zheng laughed when he heard Honoka Mitsui's question.
"Don't worry, Honoka, relax. Trust me, I have already built an optical magic system for you. And you have practiced before, so there will be no problem."
"But……"
"Don't be too nervous."
Looking at Honoka Mitsui's still pale face, Fang Zheng reached out and touched her hair.
"You have to know that Watanabe-senpai can no longer play in this semi-final. If we don't play, we will just forfeit the game. So you don't have to worry about whether you can get a good result. Just treat this game as a drill... Do you understand?"
Having said this, Fang Zheng lowered his voice a lot. His voice seemed to have some kind of magic that penetrated into Mitsui Honoka's ears, gradually calming her originally nervous mood.
"Don't...care too much?"
"That's right. Don't worry too much about it. Just treat it as a rehearsal before the rookie game. You can also feel the atmosphere of the regular season. You are a substitute and a freshman. No one will think that you can be a threat to them. So just go for it."
"Yeah... I see."
Honoka Mitsui nodded vigorously, then turned and left, and at this time, Shizuku Kitayama came over.
"I didn't expect that you could calm her down. This really surprised me."
"Yeah?"
"certainly."
Kitayama Shizuku nodded.
"Honoka's strength is actually comparable to mine, but her personality has become the biggest problem. She doesn't like fighting with others, nor does she like overly intense confrontations. This is a very obvious weakness."
“People always grow.”
Fang Zheng shrugged and looked away.
"Okay, let's enjoy her performance."
Soon, Fang Zheng and Kitayama Shizuku came to the audience and sat with the others. At this time, the organizer also said that everything was ready, and then the women's "Surfing Race" semi-finals began again.
Soon, the contestants were in position again, and Honoka Mitsui also stood on her skateboard - compared with the surfboards of other contestants, the skateboard was obviously different.
Of course, as to what is different, that is another matter.
"beep--!!!"
The moment the starting gun sounds, the race begins.
At the same time, the water surface around Honoka suddenly radiated a dazzling light, and the other contestants were completely unprepared, and were immediately disrupted by the oncoming light, and fell into the water one after another. Then, before the light faded, Honoka was seen rushing out first.
“This is really unexpected.”
Seeing this scene, Nanakusa Mayumi who was standing next to her also sighed.
"I thought that the CAD that Kasugano-kun adjusted for Mitsui-san was definitely unusual, but... I see, it's the flash type?"
"Light is a very powerful ability at any time."
Fang Zheng folded his arms and stared at the arena in front of him with narrowed eyes.
"Then it depends on how she uses it."
At the same time, the other players also came to their senses and hurriedly chased forward.
"Damn it! How dare you play such a trick!!"
As seniors in the third grade, these contestants were naturally not much weaker than Honoka Mitsui in terms of strength. In addition, they were actually teased by a first-year substitute, which made them extremely angry. Soon, a contestant from the second high school caught up with Honoka Mitsui, and she smiled smugly at the girl in front of her.
"Watch this!"
While shouting, the second-highest contestant stretched out her hand and pressed forward. As she moved, huge waves suddenly rose up on the water in front of her, rolling towards Mitsui Honoka. Then, a wave hit her head-on and swallowed Mitsui Honoka directly.
"not good!!!"
Seeing this, Shibata Mitsuki and Chiba Erica also screamed, and the other students of No. 1 High School stared at the stadium nervously.
However, soon, an unexpected scene appeared.
As the rolling waves subsided, Honoka Mitsui appeared in front of everyone again. Compared with before, she had not changed at all, as if the raging waves just now had no effect on her at all.
"Hey? What's going on?"
Seeing this, everyone was shocked. When Honoka Mitsui was caught in the big waves just now, they all thought that she would definitely fall into the water, but now it seems... that is not the case?
"What the hell is going on, Kasugano-san?"
Facing everyone's questions, Fang Zheng laughed.
"Mizuki, you can take off your glasses and look at the arena."
"OK."
Hearing Fang Zheng's words, Shibata Mitsuki nodded obediently, then took off the glasses she had been wearing and looked towards the arena - the reason why Shibata Mitsuki always wore glasses was not because of her nearsightedness, but because of her special ability "Crystal Eyes", which is an ability to see magic power intuitively. It is in order to control this ability that Shibata Mitsuki came to the Magic High School. If she didn't have this pair of special eyes, I'm afraid Shibata Mitsuki would never have any contact with the Magic High School in her life.
As for Shibata Mizuki's eyes, Fang Zheng naturally gave her special training. Although Shibata Mizuki cannot be said to be able to use them freely now, she can achieve a certain degree of control.
Taking off her glasses, Shibata Mizuki stared at the stadium carefully, and then...
"Why?"
She screamed in surprise, then Shibata Mitsuki put on her glasses and looked at the arena again, then she took off her glasses again, and did this back and forth several times, as if she was comparing something.
"What's wrong, Mitsuki?"
Seeing her friend's actions, Chiba Erica asked in confusion, while the latter looked at Fang Zheng.
"Kasugano-san, that is..."
"As I said, light can be used in many ways."
In response to Shibata Mitsuki's question, Fang Zheng laughed. He certainly knew what Shibata Mitsuki was surprised about, because the position of Mitsui Honoka that she saw when she took off her glasses was completely different from what she saw with her glasses on.
This is the application of optics.
As we all know, when you insert a chopstick into water, you can see through the water surface that the originally straight chopstick seems to be tilted at an angle. This is the deflection phenomenon that occurs after light is refracted through the water surface.
In fact, someone in Academy City has used this ability. It was during the "Illusionary Hand" incident, when Shirai Kuroko, a member of the Discipline Committee, encountered a bad boy who used "polarization ability". His ability was to use light to distort his position, thus causing the opponent to misjudge.
At that time, Shirai Kuroko was also hit by this ability and was beaten badly. Now, Mitsui Honoka is using the same principle.
This means that everyone sees Honoka Mitsui at point A, but she is not actually at point A. The person at point A is just an illusion created by refraction and deflection.
This is also the reason why the attack of the second-highest player did not pose a threat to Honoka Mitsui.
In fact, no one could see through this until the end. Honoka Mitsui released her ability just before the finish line, so that everyone only felt a flash before their eyes. The next moment, Honoka Mitsui, who was being chased by them, actually reached the finish line directly and crossed the finish line without hesitation.
Seeing this, Fang Zheng nodded with satisfaction.
The outcome has been decided.