Chapter 42: Simulation

[Mark LVL 50 – Twin Element Mage]

"Are you the one who's level 30 at a young age of 13?" He asked with a small smile.

[Yes I am. I want to register for a membership.]

"I see. I'm afraid we'll have to do a personal exam to determine your true rank and priority is that ok? It's not every day we get a young genius like you." He said as he gestured at Shiro.

"Now may you follow me to the testing room."

Shiro nodded as she pulled forward her hood a little. Walking towards the testing room, Shiro wondered what the test was.

"Here is an old generation model of the virtual combat simulator. You'll be able to enter a combat space where your magic is measured." Mark said as he pointed the capsule in the centre.

"This is also what we use to determine the priority list. Top 20 will have to fight to keep their ranks.

Everyone outside of the top 20 will have chances to challenging the top 20 when they're in top 50.

As for how we determine the top 50, it depends on how well they do in terms of performance average of the last 20 matches."

Looking at the device, Shiro already had a basic idea oh how it worked.

[I'm guessing it's based on instinctive reactions that you move the body in the simulation. This is so that levels and status don't matter at all and it's all about how well the brain can control body right? And to ensure fairness, I'm guessing that you make it so that everyone's character has the same status, meaning as long as your control and technique is good, you can win.] Shiro typed out as she showed it to Mark.

"Have you seen this before?" He asked surprised that she knew about it.

[No, but it's easy to guess.] Shiro smiled.

'If it's based on how well I can control my body then I have an advantage over the people here.' Shiro thought.

"Hmm. I see, anyways, I want you to enter the simulation and have a spar with me. I'll determine your priority level." Mark said as Shiro was a special case.

The normal procedure for determining one's rank was just to do 10 spars with other people and ranked based on performance.

However, for Shiro was a level 30 at the young age of 13, Mark wanted to test her out himself.

Shiro reached out for Yin as she set her by the side.

"I'm going to do this spar for a bit. Be a good girl and sit here ok?" Shiro said as Yin chirped in acknowledgement.

"Is that your pet?" Mark asked.

[Yes, her name is Yin. She'll sit by the side while we do the spar.]

Getting into the capsule, Shiro closed her eyes as she entered the virtual world.

In front of her, there was a panel for character creation. She was about to remake her body from her past life when she paused.

'This is my second life, no need to be so hung up on my past glory. I may have perfect body control with my old body but I have a new one now. I should aim to get better at my current body.' Shiro thought as she allowed the capsule to keep her current looks.

Next was magic, Shiro narrowed her eyes when she saw metal base element magic. Exiting out the world, she flexed her fingers as nanobots entered the capsule. Searching through the records, she erased everything that might link to her being a Nanomancer.

Sighing in relief, she re-entered the simulation and only found tier 2 ice magic.

Finishing up the customisation, Shiro marvelled at the feeling.

'Whilst not as good as the virtual machines in my first life, this isn't too bad.' Shiro thought.

Shiro looked around as she saw that she was in a Colosseum type construct.

Cream coloured pillars could be seen around them as there was a spectator stand for the would-be viewers. The arena itself was made from rock and sand as it made it hard to get a decent grip on the floor.

'This might limit my phantom arts a little.' Shiro thought with a frown.

Phantom arts were heavily reliant on footwork and momentum control.

With a surface like this, Shiro would find it hard to use phantom arts to their fullest. The only reason she could use it well with her ice was due to her control over the ice. If not, she'll be slipping everywhere due to the slippery surface.

Not too far away from her Mark stood

"The test is simple. Demonstrate your magic during combat." Mark smiled.

Lightning and fire swirled around both his hand as he gestured for her to attack him.

'His elements are fire and lightning. The lightning I can chain away using my ice, but his fire is a bit more annoying.

His main weakness would be mana expenditure since his fire and lightning cost more. With him sustaining two elements, the best way for me to win is to draw out the fight.

Another way would be to bombard him as much as I can.' Shiro thought as ice and snow swirled around her.

The wind caused her hair to flip around as she looked like an elemental spirit.

'First, I need my area of effect.' Shiro thought as she slammed her palms down.

Ice rapidly spread out as Shiro visualised the entire process to make sure the ice was extra strong and hard to melt.

Mark jumped back in slightly surprise seeing how fast the ice managed to covered the entire area.

Even though there was a distance of at least 25 meters from her to him, he was almost hit by the ice.

'Her visualisation must be incredible for the ice to spread this quickly.' Mark thought as he landed on the ice.

Sliding slightly, he crouched down and tried to melt the ice with his fire.

His frown deepened when he realised the ice was still mostly intact.

Before he could continue to melt the ice, he had to roll to the left as an ice spike landed and exploded in his previous spot.

Flicking his wrist, he shot lightning towards her.

Shiro only smiled as she clutched her hand. A wall made of ice rose up as the outer layer was thawed slightly so there was a layer of water.

Lightning chained along the wall as it dealt no damage.

'His fire can't melt my ice well enough while the water from my ice blocks his lightning. This match is mine.' Shiro thought with a smile.

There was also the choice of overwhelming her in pure combat prowess, but she had a whole lifetime to hone herself in combat. A person fighting for 30 odd years couldn't compare to her.

Dashing towards him, Shiro decided to go close-quarters combat.

A spear of ice was formed in her hands as she stabbed towards Mark.

Pivoting on his leg, Mark made a fist of fire as he punched towards her.

Shiro flicked her wrist and the spear spun back towards her. This allowed her to grab the spear with two hands and block Mark's strike.

Yin Style Phantom Arts: 3rd Phantom – Counter Weight Phantom.

Shifting her weight, Shiro pulled Mark towards her as kicked him in the stomach using the combined weight of that instance of him attacking.

"URG!" Mark groaned slightly as his body was sent backwards.

Rolling on the ground, he flipped his body and stood back up.

He only saw Shiro flick her wrist as he saw the area around him darken.

"Oh shit!" He cried out in shock.

Fire and Thunder gathered in his palms as he launched a blast upwards, destroying the pillar Shiro was about to drop onto him.

Shiro took this into account as she was already in front of him.

Sliding on her feet, Shiro stabbed the spear towards his head.

*PHEW!

The power of the spear created a small gust as Mark managed to doge his head out of the way.

Fire and lightning gathered in front of him as he aimed it towards Shiro.

Flicking her spare hand, a shield was erected in front of her.

She frowned when she saw the blast carving through the ice with ease.

Stabbing the spear into the shield, Shiro shifted her weight as she vaulted over the shield and landed behind Mark.

Her spear was aimed at his rear as she grinned.

'Extend!'

"AHHH!!!"

The match ended just like that. Shiro's spear was able to penetrate all the way in and fatally rupture his internal organs.

Leaving the simulation, Mark and Shiro looked at each other.

Shiro had a grin whilst Mark had a pale face. His expression slightly traumatised from having died from anal shock.

"Was there no other way other than what you did? I don't know maybe stab me through my chest?" Mark said.

The simulation would transfer a little of the phantom pain so that the human brain would still react to the stimulus. However, the feeling of dying due to an anal probe wasn't something he wants to go through again.

Shiro only grinned as walked over to Yin.

Tapping her head, Shiro placed Yin on her shoulders as Mark had a hand on his ass, still feeling a sting from the phantom pain.

"So your magic control is the peak of tier 2 I'd say. Combat prowess… high. I'll place you in rank 20 of the priority list ok? You'll also have a VIP membership with the mages guild." Mark said as Shiro nodded.

"Pass me your ID, I'll update it on the system."

Passing over her ID, Mark added a few more lines to her ID.

[Name: Shiro

Estimated Age: 13

Class: Ice Mage

LVL: 30

Mage's Association Membership: VIP

Priority Rank: 20 (New York Branch)]

Taking back the ID, Shiro wanted to see if she could access the Attunement Hall.

[Since I'm ranked 20 on the list, am I able to enter the Attunement Hall now?] Shiro asked.

"Ah so that was what you wanted. Unfortunately, you'll need to wait a day before you can use the Attunement Halls. Today is used by the top 10. Tomorrow is used by the top 20 and so on."

[Alright. What privileges does having a VIP account give me?]

"You get access to tomes, materials and skill simulations." Mark said as Shiro nodded.

Skill simulations weren't anything foreign for her. In fact, they were one of the most common things in her past life.

Not everyone can find a grimoire or skill stone, so they resort to simulations and people mimicking the effects of the skill.

With enough proficiency and consistency, you'll be able to unlock the skill in the system.

Naturally, with a martial art like Yin Style Phantom Arts, it won't show up on the system. This was due to the fact that it isn't a skill and rather a set of movements.

In time, she should be able to gain a title though.

Every martial art rewarded a title after a certain time. The first being [(Martial Art Style) Practitioner].

The higher ranked the titles get, the more bonuses it grants you.

[Then for the materials, am I able to trouble you with collecting 30 Ice cores?]

"30 Ice Core!?" Mark said in shock.

Ice cores, while not extremely rare, wasn't common either. Out of 10 Ice Type D ranked bosses, only 1 or 2 of them would drop.

To get 30 Ice Cores was equivalent to killing almost 100 plus Ice ranked bosses.

The mages association could afford it but it would still make Mark's heart ache from the expenditure.

"To get 30 Ice Cores, you'll have to be in top 10. At most, I can give you is 10. And that's the upper limit.

'Top 10 huh…' Shiro thought as a grin slowly formed on her face.

Seeing the face, Mark felt his anus tense up again.

[How do I challenge the top ten for their spots?]

"You'll have to challenge rank 19 first and work your way up 1 by 1."

[Is that so? How would I challenge them? Is it just by the simulation again?]

"Yes. If the rank isn't online, you can challenge the rank above them." Mark nodded.

[Alright. I'm going back in.] Shiro said as she sat in the pod.

"The fight will be broadcasted. We have fights broadcasted so that people know about the rank changes."

[Sure.]

Shiro wasn't too bothered. It wasn't like she was going to be using her Nanomancer anyways.

Entering the simulation world, Shiro checked out the rankings and saw that rank 19 was available to be challenged.

Pressing the challenge button, Shiro waited for the match to start.

[Opponent Has Accepted The Challenge. Teleporting in 10]

Stretching her fake simulated body, Shiro waited for the countdown to finish.

The arena was more of a modern arena.

It was a huge room without anything special as there were only a few rooms with glass windows as the viewing platform.

In front of her, was rank 19 on the priority list. Killian.

He had long red hair tied into a ponytail, tall body build, black robe and a spellbook in his hands.

Shiro grinned as she created her ice spear. The next victim was ready.