The Day Fate Began

For the next period of time, all of Chaldea fell into a state of complete chaos.

All the technicians were gathered by Olga Marie and concentrated in Chaldea's various facilities, investigating and observing the situation surrounding Singularity Point F while constantly trying to organize the information and formulate countermeasures.

The staff were each assigned task after task. Some went to the United Nations to obtain permission for official Spiritron Transfers, while others, following Olga Marie's orders, began traveling to various parts of the world to recruit talented individuals with Spiritron Transfer and Master aptitude.

To ensure that the first battle a month later would end in victory, Olga Marie could truly be said to be risking everything.

At a time like this, as long as something could increase the odds of victory by even a fraction, Olga Marie would probably do it, no matter what it was.

As Olga Marie's most trusted technician, Leff was also thrown into the work and vanished from sight. Even Roman was driven around at will, busy to the point of barely having time to eat as he worked to keep the constantly occupied staff from collapsing under mental and physical exhaustion.

He himself was crying out in agony over it.

"There's still a new episode of 'Magic☆Merry' coming out this month!"

Crying out like that, Roman did not even say goodbye. Over the entire month, he only met Luo Zhen a few times, spending the rest of his time rushing around every corner of Chaldea and looking after everyone's health.

Incidentally, 'Magic☆Merry' was the blog of an online idol.

Roman was a die-hard fan of the blog, loving it so much that he regarded it as spiritual sustenance. He visited the blog and lingered there for a long time every day, enthusiastically leaving comments only to be insulted in return as part of a punishment play. Even Luo Zhen, who was equally fond of surfing the internet, found it difficult to approve and had considered several times whether he should sever his brotherly relationship with this embarrassing fellow.

Under these circumstances, Master candidates were continuously summoned to Chaldea over the course of a month.

And naturally, these Adaptable Ones were put through a round of training.

In order to achieve glorious results in the first battle, Olga Marie issued her orders almost as if she were flying into a rage.

"All Master candidates must undergo a certain degree of Simulated Battle training. I will issue the authorization. From now on, every Master candidate may freely participate in Simulated Battles. No, you must train through Simulated Battles every day!"

In short, while the technicians and staff were busy, the Adaptable Ones, including Luo Zhen, were likewise unable to relax. They entered Simulated Battles far more frequently than before and endured rigorous training.

Naturally, this caused many of the Master candidates who had just arrived at Chaldea to wail in misery.

After all, if one could not adapt to Spiritron Dive, the strain on the brain was enormous. Under such frequent Simulated Battles, it was only natural that those untrained Adaptable Ones who had just gathered at Chaldea would wail in misery.

By contrast, Luo Zhen, whose physical strength was far lower than everyone else's, performed so well in the Simulated Battles that he hardly seemed like himself.

At least, that was how people in Chaldea currently evaluated Luo Zhen.

"Number One's Simulated Battle evaluation is a perfect score."

"A perfect score again this time?"

"Didn't that guy used to give up as soon as he reached a passing grade?"

"Has he started fighting desperately recently?"

"He must have gotten nervous in the face of the apocalypse, too, right?"

"If only he could be this hardworking normally."

Those were the evaluations given by the people in Chaldea after hearing about Luo Zhen's performance.

Even the Master candidates looked at Luo Zhen in all sorts of ways.

When those who knew Luo Zhen heard about it, they each had their own reactions as well.

"As expected of my senior."

That was Mashu's proud reaction every time, as she performed Simulated Battles with Luo Zhen every day.

"Have you finally decided to take things seriously?"

That was Roman's exclamation, accompanied by a weary laugh, as he busied himself beyond belief.

"So this is Luo Zhen's true ability?"

That was Leff's faint mutter after occasionally hearing others comment on Luo Zhen.

"...You should have been like this from the very beginning, idiot."

That was Olga Marie's derisive snort after learning about it from the reports.

In the end, however, it was the Adaptable Ones who had only gathered at Chaldea during this month who felt disdain toward him.

"Just some wild Magus whose origins are unknown."

"His aptitude is probably relatively high, right?"

"But that kind of physique doesn't prove anything."

"Exactly."

"We, the noble inheritors of bloodlines from the Mage's Association, are the true elites."

Those were the reactions of the Adaptable Ones.

----The Mage's Association.

It was a mutual-aid society formed by people who studied 'magecraft' as an academic discipline.

Regardless of nationality or school, it was an organization formed by people who studied magecraft. Managing and concealing magecraft, as well as advancing it, was its mission.

That was the Mage's Association.

In the world of magecraft, the Mage's Association's status was unmatched.

For one thing, its history alone stretched back more than two thousand years.

Therefore, aside from exceptional individuals like Luo Zhen, who had remained in Chaldea and quietly learned magecraft, most Magi in the world of magecraft generally belonged to this association.

This meant that nearly all the prestigious families whose traditions had survived from ancient times to the present were gathered within the Mage's Association.

Olga Marie's family was one of them.

In other words, strictly speaking, Chaldea was likewise a facility belonging to the Mage's Association.

And the more prestigious the family, the better its Magic Circuits and the greater its talent for magecraft.

As a result, the association's Magi generally placed bloodline above everything else.

To such people, Luo Zhen, whose name had never been heard of, was naturally an upstart wild boy who had come from nowhere. They looked down on him and treated him with disdain from the bottom of their hearts.

Of course, that did not mean everyone was like that.

Those with Spiritron Transfer aptitude and Master aptitude did not all come from prestigious Magus families in the association. Some were ordinary people who happened to possess Magic Circuits.

"Thirty-eight have been selected from prestigious Magus families."

"Ten have been selected from among ordinary people."

"There will be a total of forty-eight Adaptable Ones gathered at Chaldea."

"Using these forty-eight Masters to lay the foundation of the Human Order anew and restore human history to normal."

Olga Marie once made this declaration to Luo Zhen and the others after tallying their combat strength.

And so, a month passed.

In the end, all forty-eight Master candidates had gathered at Chaldea.

It was also on this day that the operation began.

"Click..."

Luo Zhen closed the notebook computer in his hands. His fingers gently brushed over its surface as he pursed his lips and smiled.

"I hope I can still come back and open you again."

Leaving behind those words, Luo Zhen left his room and stepped outside.

His obedient junior had already been waiting there.

"Good morning, senior."

"Good morning, Mashu."

"You didn't stay up all night playing games last night, did you?"

"Well, about that..."

"...Senior..."

"Don't worry. I won't mess things up."

The two of them had this brief exchange at the doorway.

Then, they left together and headed for the Control Room.

P.S. The third update is here! Please recommend, click, and bookmark!