Universal Gravitation

(Bai Ziye)

The score was 21 to 08.

In a best-of-three beach volleyball match, Antarctic Star and I won the first set with a huge advantage.

After the game ended, Sirius arranged a ten-minute break, clearly to discuss countermeasures with Ceruno.

But what can they do?

Ceruno's eyes couldn't keep up with the volleyball after my "acceleration." The magic of the Antarctic Star can increase the "relative mass" of objects and also increase their destructive power to targets. Therefore, it can easily penetrate their defenses woven from air cushions and Solid Light. Of course, they can catch it if they want to, but if the volleyball breaks through their magic (hands), they will still be the ones who lose points in the end.

"Miss Miluno, is your magic merely acceleration?"

While taking a break to drink water, Antarctic Star raised a question.

"It's about acceleration. Why are you asking that?"

The penguin girl explained earnestly, "The ball that you hit out of the air travels faster, but its mass also decays more quickly. It regains its original mass before even hitting the ground. I'm worried they'll use this as a weakness."

After all, this is Time Acceleration. A spell that could originally last for more than ten seconds will only last a few seconds after acceleration.

Antarctic Star seemed to have discerned something from this, but didn't say anything.

"That is indeed a problem."

I stroked my chin, deep in thought.

"Perhaps we should prepare a backup plan."

As expected, Sirius came up with a countermeasure at the start of the second game.

The Ultra-Heavy High-Speed Ball, resembling a cannonball, crashed into the angled, soft air cushion. Not only did it not break, but it was also guided into a circular track made of light for "deceleration and weight reduction." Because the ball did not stop, it cannot be called a "handball." Only after its speed and mass decreased will it be released by Sirius, allowing it to easily launch a counterattack.

They cracked my combination attack with Antarctic Star.

But that wasn't all. Sirius slapped out more than a dozen volleyballs, but only one was real. The rest were fake projections, smokescreens to mislead us. Even knowing this, we had no countermeasures. Even at my speed, there wasn't enough time to confirm whether each ball was real before it landed.

Therefore, the chance to counterattack has become a lottery, entirely dependent on whether I can touch the volleyball before landing.

Under such unfavorable conditions, they ultimately suffered a crushing defeat by seventeen points.

"Ha ha..."

With my stamina nearly depleted, running back and forth on the sand at ten times the normal speed was a considerable test of my physical endurance, which is why beach volleyball is more difficult than traditional volleyball.

We were given a ten-minute break, and Antarctic Star brought out some chilled lemonade.

"Miss Miluno, I was unable to help."

Antarctic Star was raised to be quite polite; you'd never guess she was an Emperor Penguin. The Joint Research Station was staffed with refined scholars, so it's no surprise she developed such manners.

I took the cup, and the condensed water droplets on the cup wall dripped onto my leg, causing a slight stinging sensation.

"This isn't anyone's fault. I never expected Sirius to resort to such methods."

I shook my head, but my sideburns stuck to my wet face. I was also sweating and covered in a lot of sand, which made me feel uncomfortable.

"Isn't that kind of goaltending a foul?" she asked again.

"Of course not. She didn't add any more magic after releasing it. If that's considered a foul, then our magic is also a foul."

Antarctic Star nodded blankly, without expressing any dissatisfaction.

"What countermeasures can we take?"

I thought for a moment and said, "It's not that there isn't. Is there a limit to the mass your magic can manipulate?"

The penguin girl tilted her head in confusion.

"There's an upper limit, why are you asking that?"

"Now set your sights on me, and then focus all your efforts on improving your own quality."

Antarctic Star pressed his hand against his chest, his body faintly radiating an unnatural blue light...

"Yes, but it's not enough."

I felt a slight gravitational pull.

Can we continue?

"Um."

As its mass increases, the consumption of magic power also increases proportionally. Antarctic Star seems to be struggling a bit, but it has achieved the effect I wanted.

"That's about enough. Remember this pressure. You should understand what I want to do, right?"

"Universal Gravitation, you must use my magic to distinguish the real volleyball."

Although they are Emperor Penguin, they are much smarter than you might imagine.

Because of the magic of the Antarctic Star, its own mass exerts a tremendous gravitational pull on me, so strong that if I don't resist, I will be pulled towards Past. This will somewhat affect the volleyball that Sirius is hitting. As long as I can change the trajectory of the volleyball, I can find the real volleyball among the many phantoms.

"But this is only a defensive tactic; you're also needed to execute the offense."

"Miss Miluno, is this what we're going to do?"

Antarctic Star must really want to win, right?

This is only human nature.

"Use tactic two."

Although I feel bad for Ceruno, I don't want to lose.

Viewpoint switching warning

(Sun Yao)

After a ten-minute break, Ms. Yin Wei's whistle signaled the start of the decisive game.

Although they won the second game by a large margin, just as we were able to find the weakness of the "Ultra-Heavy High-Speed Ball", Miss Miluno and her team will surely be able to figure out a way to deal with the "Phantom Ball".

Miss Sirius served, and she used the same trick as before, slapping out more than a dozen identical volleyballs. Only one of them was real, while the rest were magical projections. Although these projected balls had no physical form, their authenticity could only be determined when they landed.

My magic can easily filter them out, but for Miluno and Antarctic Star, distinguishing a real volleyball might be a bit...

Just as she was thinking this, Miss Miluno swayed and successfully lifted the volleyball up.

Was that a coincidence?

In the last round, I occasionally managed to guess correctly once or twice before the ball landed...

After a brief moment of thought, Miss Antarctic Star's Ultra-Heavy Shot struck again. Since it wasn't very fast, I put on the anti-gravity bubble the instant the volleyball crossed the net, and then quickly removed the bubble to prevent Miss Yin Wei from blowing the whistle.

This brief moment was clearly not enough to undo the mass the magic had added to the volleyball, so Miss Sirius's Light Orbit took over the volleyball, spun it in the air, and then delivered it to my hand.

Repeated touches of the ball constitute a foul. If Miss Sirius is to attack, I must pass the ball first.

"Ugh, it's so heavy."

But the falling volleyball was completely unsupportable and just dropped to the ground, almost breaking my hand.

"Ceruno- chan, are you alright?"

Worried, Miss Sirius grabbed my hand to examine it; the knuckles at the base of my thumb were somewhat red, swollen, and painful.

"Fine..."

Even though Miss Sirius used roughly the same deceleration time, the volleyball's weight didn't fully recover... Is it because Miss Miluno didn't make contact?

I think I understand the essence of Miss Miluno's magic.

Despite losing the first point, Sirius seemed unconcerned.

"No problem, continue!"

"Yes! But... I think they have a backup plan."

"It's alright, I have a backup plan!"

Miss Sirius always shines with confidence, and that's what makes her so charming.

To prevent further injury, I also placed a magic membrane around myself and Sirius.

Miss Antarctic Star served again, and it was still her signature "Ultra-Heavy Shot".

To catch that massive volleyball, one must not only contend with the force of the Antarctic Star but also with Earth's gravity.

I used bubbles to eliminate gravity again, and Miss Sirius's Light Orbit took over the volleyball. However, this time she did not guide it in a circular motion. The reconstituted volleyball turned around on the Light Orbit and was thrown straight back to the other side of the net.

Using someone's strength against them...

Is this her "backup plan"?