The three then went to the tuning room and began tuning Honoka Mitsui's and Shizuku Kitayama's CADs.
Honoka's CAD was relatively easy to tune, and they finished it in no time. Shizuku Kitayama's needed a little longer.
"Try it and see if anything feels off. Tell me now, and I'll tune it some more for you."
After handing the tuned CAD to Shizuku Kitayama, he asked her to try it.
"Mm, it works very well," Shizuku Kitayama replied after playing around with it for a while.
"That's good." Baifeng Uesugi was relieved.
"Bai Feng, how about coming to work for my family?" Shizuku Kitayama asked.
"You're still in the mood to joke before the competition?" Baifeng Uesugi said with a smile.
"I'm serious. Would you like to come work for my family?" Shizuku Kitayama asked again.
"Even if I worked for your family, I'd be tuning your CAD exclusively. How would that be any different from what I'm doing now?" Baifeng Uesugi asked.
"I guess so."
With a single remark, Baifeng Uesugi had successfully talked Shizuku Kitayama out of it.
At the newcomers' competition venue.
"Is anyone sitting here?"
"Oh, Miyuki, it's empty. Please sit down," Erika Chiba said with a smile when she saw Miyuki Shiba.
"Honoka, don't you need to get ready?"
Mizuki Shibata was puzzled to see that Honoka, whose own event was coming up soon, had also come to watch Shizuku Kitayama's match.
"N-no problem," Honoka said nervously.
"My event is this afternoon."
"Honoka, you're already this nervous?" Miyuki said helplessly when she saw how tense Honoka was.
"You won't last until your event like that."
"I know, but..." Honoka said nervously.
"You'll be fine. If anyone can do it, you can, Honoka..." Miyuki encouraged her.
"Besides, isn't Bai Feng going to watch your event too?"
"We came here to watch so you wouldn't dwell on your own event too much. For now, just focus on cheering Shizuku on."
Although Miyuki was unhappy that Shizuku Kitayama had beaten her to becoming Baifeng Uesugi's girlfriend, Shizuku Kitayama was still her friend, no matter what. In the end, she came with Honoka to cheer Shizuku Kitayama on.
"Mm, you're right."
Miyuki's reminder finally brought Honoka back to what she had come here to do.
In the last row of the stands, Mayumi Saegusa, Mari Watanabe, and Rei-chan sat together.
"Come to think of it, this is the first time we've seen Bai Feng's skills as a technician in an actual match, isn't it?"
Mari said.
"Yes. During my event, Bai Feng was only assisting on the sidelines," Mayumi replied.
"I can't wait to see how a CAD he tuned himself performs."
As Mayumi spoke, her face was full of anticipation, as if she were the one about to compete using a CAD Baifeng Uesugi had tuned himself.
"I heard Shizuku Kitayama and the others had nothing but praise for the CADs Baifeng Uesugi tuned," Rei-chan explained.
"Apparently, quite a few people brought their CADs specifically for him to tune today, too."
"Hey, won't that affect Bai Feng's upcoming events?" Mari asked with some concern.
After all, the main event, Monolith Code, was about to begin, and Baifeng Uesugi still had to select participants and arrange tactics, among other things.
There were also some important competitors whose CADs needed to be tuned by Baifeng Uesugi personally.
"It seems he left all that to Tatsuya and only tuned CADs for a few people himself," Rei-chan explained.
As the event began, Shizuku Kitayama started her match.
"Wow, that's bold," Erika Chiba remarked as she watched Shizuku Kitayama compete.
"Did she set the entire valid scoring area as the domain where her magic takes effect?" Mizuki asked, puzzled.
"Yes. Shizuku's magic applies vibration waves to solids within the domain, shattering the targets," Honoka explained.
"The valid scoring area for Speed Shooting is a fifteen-meter cube in the air. The Activation Sequence Baifeng Uesugi configured sets a ten-meter cube within that range as the area and places vibration sources at the designated points and the center, nine points in all. Each point is managed by a face number, and the numbers are mainly entered as variables to deploy the Activation Sequence. As long as the targets are within that area, once Shizuku Kitayama hits the first one, the rest will be shaken to pieces as well."
Rei-chan explained.
"In other words, once the magic is activated, it produces an area-of-effect spatial shattering centered on the vibration sources, with a range of six meters. The distance, direction, and spatial dimensions between a Speed Shooting competitor's position and the valid scoring area are always the same. Since there's no need to enter coordinates as variables every time, activating the magic only requires calling up the codes entered in advance."
"To put it simply, she can destroy the targets with one pull of the trigger."
Rei-chan summed it up.
"The magic is called Phonon Maser. It seems Baifeng Uesugi created it himself. Although it has a very large Activation Sequence, it's only thanks to Kitayama's processing ability that she can use the magic."
"It's the exact opposite of your magic, Mayumi," Mari said.
"It's impressive that he could come up with a technique like that."
Mayumi praised him.
There was no suspense in the match, and Shizuku Kitayama took the win.
"Thanks for your hard work," Baifeng Uesugi greeted her.
"I somehow feel rather let down," Shizuku Kitayama said without much enthusiasm.
"Do you feel like you won too easily?" Baifeng Uesugi asked.
"Mm, it was certainly easy," Shizuku Kitayama replied with a nod.
"A magic competition is a contest of magic. Your magic is stronger than your opponent's, which is why you find it boring," Baifeng Uesugi explained.
"Mm. What you say does seem to make sense," Shizuku Kitayama agreed with a nod.
"All three first-year girls have made it through the preliminaries, and with Bai Feng in the Surfing Race, I can finally put my mind at ease."
Mayumi spoke as she looked at the results so far.
"Mayumi, there's still Monolith Code," Rei-chan said.
"Oh, right, Monolith Code. How are Bai Feng's participant selection and battle plans coming along?" Mayumi asked.
"There doesn't seem to be any progress, but I heard he's already had Tatsuya Shiba join," Mari said.
"Really? If both Bai Feng and Tatsuya are competing, then even if it's just the two of them, they can still win."
Hearing that both of them would be competing, Mayumi immediately relaxed considerably and spoke with an easy look on her face.
(P.S. Keep the "power-ups" coming, and happiness will never stop! As a new author, thank you all for your support. I hope you'll click to request more updates and send some power-ups.
Give this new author a little more encouragement and motivation. For now, I wish you all happiness and joy!)
"For the last of the girls' events, Honoka should have no trouble getting through the preliminaries. A-chan, keep up the hard work."
Mayumi spoke as she watched Azusa Nakajo busily working beside her.
"It seems our school still needs to put more effort into training its technicians."
Katsuto Jumonji remarked as he watched the people busily tuning CADs.
Most of the people on the magic engineering team had been temporarily assigned to it, and there were only a few permanent members, such as Azusa Nakajo. From this, it was clear that First High School had previously placed very little importance on training magic engineers.
However, after what had happened this time, presumably First High School's Student Council and Club Activities Group would handle the matter properly.
"Bai Feng, is everything all right?" Shizuku Kitayama asked Baifeng Uesugi as she watched him tune her CAD.
"No problem. I think you know this model is completely different from the one you used in the preliminaries. Since we're short on time, tell me if there's even the slightest thing you can't get used to when you use it. I'll do my best to tune it for you."
Baifeng Uesugi explained.
"There's nothing I can't get used to. In fact, it suits me so well that I can hardly believe it," Shizuku Kitayama said.
"Is that so?"
"The other two have both won."
"Yes."
"Next, it's my turn."
"Shizuku, you'll be fine. Just handle it like you normally do. You're sure to win, so don't get too nervous," Baifeng Uesugi reassured her.
He could tell that, because the other two had won, Shizuku Kitayama was still a little nervous inside, even though she appeared calm and composed.
"Mm, of course. Bai Feng, you've made all the preparations I need to win the championship. Now all I have to do is win. I absolutely won't fail."
Shizuku Kitayama spoke with a determined expression.
"Shizuku, that's the spirit. Go on, get ready to welcome your victory," Baifeng Uesugi said with a smile.
The main match began.
The gap between Shizuku Kitayama and the other competitors was not very large; they were separated by only a dozen or so points.
That was only natural, though. This was the final, after all, and everyone was the cream of the crop who had fought their way out of their respective schools. They all had a certain level of ability.
They simply didn't have magic engineers as outrageously skilled as Baifeng Uesugi and Tatsuya Shiba to tune their CADs.
With the advantage of her CAD and Shizuku Kitayama's own ability, the gap in scores gradually widened.
Before long, the match entered its final countdown. Shizuku Kitayama swept through the competition and claimed victory as the match ended.
"That was quite a feat!"
Mayumi excitedly patted Baifeng Uesugi as she spoke.
With Shizuku Kitayama's victory, they were another step closer to their goal of three consecutive championships. Now, as long as they won Mirage Bat and Monolith Code, their third consecutive championship would be theirs.
There was another reason Mayumi was so excited: First High School had swept the top three places in this event, something that had never happened before. Who wouldn't be excited by that?
As for the Surfing Race Baifeng Uesugi had entered earlier, the champion had already been decided. As expected, Baifeng Uesugi had won.
"President, calm down," Rei-chan reminded her.
"Sorry, sorry. But it really was amazing, taking all three top places," Mayumi said.
"President Mayumi, I'm not the one who took first, second, and third place. The competitors did," Baifeng Uesugi said helplessly.
"Of course, Kitayama, Akechi, and Tatsukawa were amazing too. All of you performed very well," Mayumi praised them.
"Thank you very much for the praise," the three replied together.
"But this was undoubtedly your achievement too. It was unquestionably a great feat. Everyone saw the tremendous contribution you made as the technician to our competitors sweeping the top three places," Mari said, looking at Baifeng Uesugi in praise.
But as she looked at Baifeng Uesugi, there was something else in her eyes besides approval.
"Mari-senpai, I'll have to thank you for the praise, but Tatsuya deserves a lot of credit too. After all, I was only responsible for a few people, while Tatsuya handled most of them."
After thanking Mari for her praise, Baifeng Uesugi did not forget to acknowledge Tatsuya Shiba's contributions as well.
"That's right. Tatsuya deserves a lot of credit too. He was very impressive."
Mayumi smiled.
"Thank you for the praise," Tatsuya Shiba said.
"Exactly, exactly," Akechi chimed in.
"It almost feels like my magic skills suddenly made a huge leap forward," Tatsukawa said.
"The university has already come to inquire, especially about Kitayama's magic. It might be officially added to the catalog of the Magic Encyclopedia," Rei-chan said.
"Would that be registering it as a new magic?" Mayumi asked, puzzled.
Rei-chan nodded to indicate that it would.
"I see. If they ask for the inventor's name, then tell them you invented it, Shizuku," Baifeng Uesugi said.
"Why?" Shizuku Kitayama asked, looking puzzled.
"I don't want to be famous. Besides, using your name or mine is the same, isn't it?" Bai Feng Ueyama said, smiling at Shizuku Kitayama.
"Mm." Shizuku Kitayama could see Baifeng Uesugi's determination and had no choice but to agree.
"President Mayumi, would that be all right?" Baifeng Uesugi asked, looking at Mayumi.
"Mm, all right."
Mayumi also knew why Baifeng Uesugi was doing this and readily agreed.
"You've already settled it? The inventor's name will be Kitayama's?" Rei-chan asked in confusion.
"All right, Rei-chan, just do as Bai Feng asked," Mayumi said with a smile.
"Ah, fine. I really don't understand you people," Rei-chan said helplessly.
(P.S. Keep the "power-ups" coming, and happiness will never stop! As a new author, thank you all for your support. I hope you'll click to request more updates and send some power-ups.
Give this new author a little more encouragement and motivation. For now, I wish you all happiness and joy!)