4 Chapter 4: Library (2/2)
Ah, that was right. One of my favorite games. A real-time strategy game in the far future, which pitted humans against an insect-type alien race capable of hyper-evolution, and the technologically advanced psychic aliens with a golden armada.
…when I played that game, my favorite strategy was to tech up to the most powerful units. I wasn't a fan of infantry, or what they called biological units, often going straight to mechanical units – especially the most powerful Tier 3 gigantic robots with awesome firepower and high health. Or building a massive fleet of battlecruisers that were basically floating fortresses raining death from above. Obviously the main flaw in this strategy was that my opponent normally killed me up while I was hiding in my base, teching up and trying to reach that critical mass of high-tier, extremely powerful units. They always killed me swiftly before I could build my invincible army.
Wasn't that the same exact problem I was facing here?
In the end, the best strategy was to build up enough low-tier units for defense – even if it was just a few biological infantry units – to hold the line until I was able to tech up and build that critical mass of extremely powerful units. Every single tier was important to the game – skipping them would prove to be my undoing, especially if the opponent was aggressive and went for an early attack.
”If I were to put it in summoning terms…” I muttered excitedly to myself as I reached for the summoning tome again.
Yeah…that was right. I should learn to create a few weaker magical beasts that I could summon almost instantaneously to defend myself. Even if they couldn't win a fight, they should be capable of buying me enough time to defend myself until I could properly summon my ultimate magical beasts. They would distract my opponent until I complete my casting.
Feeling renewed vigor, I began looking for the basic summoning spells. The lowest-level summoned beasts that required the shortest amount of time to summon. To my delight, I learned that even though I did things the other way around (increasing my magical energy pool first and skipping straight to the most advanced and powerful summoned beasts instead of beginning from the most basic and weakest), my current tremendous amount of magical energy allowed me to summon a large army of weak magical beasts.
Now the main obstacle was imagining them and shaping them. It was a process that required time. Sure, it was dependent on my imagination, but it wasn't as simple as just imagining a shape and then summoning it immediately. I had to slowly and meticulously crafted it and instill my own rules and logic over them, as well as give them a theme.
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”All right! It's decided!”
I shut the book eagerly, ready to start actual practice instead of merely indulging in theory. As I lowered the book, I was shocked to see someone sitting opposite me.
”Student Richard Huang, right?”
The beautiful girl who had taken the seat opposite me while I was engrossed in reading raised a hand in a friendly manner.
”Sorry for startling you. But you were so occupied in reading that I felt bad to interrupt you.” she smiled brightly, and my heart skipped a beat. ”You really are diligent and dedicated.”
”Nah,” I waved her praise away, embarrassed. ”I just focus all my attentions in the wrong thing.”
The girl glanced at the summoning tome, obviously already aware of the topic of the book I was reading. ”I don't think so. I actually admire your tenacity and dedication to stick to a magic that everyone else derides and thinks is impractical. If anyone can make it work, I'm sure it'll be you.”
”T…thank you.” I stuttered, completely caught off guard. The girl beamed brightly.
”I'm Alicia Violet,” she introduced herself. ”I'm the president of Black Rose Society.”
I nodded, already knowing who she was. The beautiful girl with long, light purple hair and grateful temperament was a legendary figure throughout Jing Tian Magic Academy. Her charisma and beauty captivated everyone regardless of genders, but the guys in particular worshipped her as a goddess. I remembered her nickname – Artemis, the Divine Huntress.
If I wasn't mistaken, Alicia was also the daughter of the academy director, or so the rumors went. She was the prodigy of the long-ranged magic department, and was the ultimate archer in our academy. Not only that, she was a member of Black Rose Society, which was one of the four most powerful societies in Jing Tian Magic Academy.
Alicia had already been bestowed the position of vice-president of Black Rose Society during her first year, and now that the previous president had graduated, she had taken over as the current president. Her leadership only improved its reputation and ranking.
Furthermore, Black Rose Society was the most popular societies among students, with most people clamoring to join it. However, the competition for places within Black Rose Society was extremely fierce, so a lot of the prospective members were left disappointed. There were only so many students a society could accept, after all.
But that didn't matter to me. I was more intrigued by the fact that the goddess of Jing Tian Magic Academy had approached me for an idle conversation. She was looking at me with a curious smile as she played with her fingers on the table.
”Student Richard…you're currently not in any society, are you?” she asked, her eyes gleaming. ”Do you have any interest in joining Black Rose?”