"The question posed right now is: With my current mana capacity, if I maintain this level of amplification, what is my limit? In other words, what is the maximum number of combat-standard arrows like this I can create under the same parameters?"
A highly calculating smile appeared on my face. It seemed this training session was going to be very long.
Working in engineering, one cannot simply stop at a single successful prototype. I must conduct real-world stress tests to determine the boundary limits of the system. This trash-tier mana core is like a battery of unknown capacity; if I don't measure it myself, bringing it into actual combat and experiencing a sudden power shutdown would be no different from suicide.
I stood up straight, taking a deep breath to calm my heart rate, dismissing all stray thoughts. All concentration was focused on re-establishing the three-dimensional coordinate system in my mind. I began to squeeze out the meager amount of mana lurking in my body, gathering it into an input current, then pushing it all through the amplifier of my own design.
The target was not singular, but multi-threaded processing.
"Arrow number one. Coordinates X1, Y1, Z1. Activate." I murmured in my head, establishing the first anchor point.
"Arrow number two. Coordinates X2, Y2, Z2. Activate.""Arrow number three... Activate!"
The air in front of me vibrated violently. The temperature dropped abruptly. Three exquisite ice arrows, sharp and geometrically perfect, simultaneously condensed in space, radiating a freezing aura. They hovered parallel to each other, aimed straight at three different wooden targets.
Success. The algorithm operated perfectly to split into multiple targets.
But, the very moment those three arrows completed their forms, a terrifying incident occurred.
A piercing headache suddenly struck, tearing through the silence in my mind. The feeling was exactly like a microprocessor overclocked beyond its thermal dissipation limits, leading to a system-wide short circuit of the nervous system. My vision blurred; the surrounding world staggered and spun.
My body abruptly lost all its strength. My muscles went limp as if drained of oxygen. Unable to maintain my balance for even a second longer, I collapsed onto the dirt ground of the training area. The three ice arrows, having just lost their sustaining power source from the system, immediately shattered into countless sparkling crystals, falling loosely to the ground.
The shattering sound echoed dryly, mixing with the crunch of dust and sand, but my ears right now only registered a buzzing sound like thousands of bees flapping their wings. My mind went blank; a thick darkness enveloped my consciousness.
Time passed, perhaps a few minutes, or maybe longer.
When my neural signals weakly began to function again, I blinked laboriously, trying to gather my lucidity. Awareness gradually returned, but my body felt as heavy as if wearing weights. Every muscle fiber was on strike, refusing any command from the brain. I couldn't even twitch a finger; cold sweat poured out, soaking my shirt, mixing with the red dust of the training ground and making it filthy.
I lay on my side on the dry dirt ground, laboriously letting out a long breath.
So this is the feeling of "mana depletion" that isekai literature often mentions. No matter how optimized the algorithm is, no matter how high the amplification coefficient is, the law of conservation of energy still won't let me off the hook. The maximum capacity of this body's mana core is simply too low. It's exactly like a degraded battery being forced to discharge at maximum current in a split second to power all three arrows simultaneously.
The inevitable result: the battery dies, the voltage drops to zero, triggering a complete system collapse.
"It seems... software optimization is still not enough to compensate for an utterly dismal hardware system."
I murmured to myself, my voice faint enough only for me to hear, the corners of my lips laboriously lifting into a self-deprecating smile. Surviving in this aristocratic world full of monsters would apparently cost a lot more neurons than I had imagined.
"Sir Zero? Are you alright?"
A panicked, clear voice rang out from the entrance of the training ground. My eyes struggled to pan toward the source of the sound. A maid carrying a laundry basket stood there, her face stricken with panic as she stared at me, awkwardly preparing to rush over.
I closed my eyes slightly, letting out a breath. The backup energy was completely depleted; the muscle groups were on a full-scale strike. Trying to force a crashed system to reboot immediately would only lead to physical hardware damage. At this moment, acknowledging the overloaded state was the most optimal and safest option.
"I am fine..." I whispered in reply, trying to keep my tone as composed as possible. "Just... expended a little too much energy. Could you... please help me sit up?"
The maid hurriedly tossed the laundry basket aside and rushed over. Her hands, clumsy but careful, slid behind my back, using her strength to pull my upper body up to lean against a nearby tree trunk. The rough texture of the bark transmitting through my sweat-soaked shirt helped me regain a bit more lucidity.
"You look so pale, let me go summon a healer..." The girl said flusteredly, her face full of anxiety as she was about to stand up.
"There is no need to alarm everyone," I gently raised a hand to stop her, my breathing still erratic. "It is just a temporary mana depletion phenomenon during training. In the corner of the training ground over there..." I laboriously strained my eyes toward the stone bench where I had sat. "Next to it is a small glass vial containing a blue liquid. Please fetch it for me."
As an engineer, I never step into a system limit test without preparing a backup power source. That mana recovery potion was something I had carefully brought along beforehand. On the battlefield or in the lab, without a power bank, don't even think about running experiments.
The maid nodded repeatedly, running quickly to the corner of the yard and carefully returning with the small vial. My hands trembled slightly as I took it. Popping the cork, I tilted my head back and chugged the liquid, which had a bitter yet slightly minty taste.
Almost immediately, a warm thermal current snaked from my stomach, slowly diffusing into the dried-up mana circuits. The feeling was exactly like an electronic device being plugged into a fast charger; my vital signs began to inch up from the 0% mark. Although the potion's recovery capacity wasn't much, for my tiny mana core, it was enough to reboot the basic motor system.
I took a deep breath, feeling life flowing back into every muscle fiber. My pale complexion gradually regained its color. I looked up at the maid who was still waiting for orders, gave a slight nod, and offered a familiar elegant smile:
"Thank you very much. Your timely assistance was truly invaluable. Perhaps I was too focused on the magical problem and forgot my own physical limits."
After fully regaining my senses, I began to observe the maid closely. She was no ordinary maid. Soft ears and a slightly perked tail revealed her to be a demi-human of the Feline tribe. Under the pale light, her hair gleamed with a warm coral orange color, accentuating her pristine white skin and brilliant lemon green eyes that were wide open in relief. The proportions of her face and that slender, delicate figure reached an astonishing degree of perfection. If put on a scale, this beauty could absolutely rival the aristocratic elegance and sapphire blue eyes of Eldest Lady Aiselin.
It was exactly this discrepancy between visual data and contextual reality that triggered a logical deduction thread in my brain. Someone possessing this level of appearance and aura had a high probability of originating from the elite class. Why would a noble lady accept wearing a submissive maid uniform in the estate of another noble?
"Thank you for your help. Apologies for this inconvenience, may I know your name?" I smiled, keeping my tone as polite and gentle as possible to lower her defensive barriers.
"Ah, you flatter me, it is what I should do. My name is Kanade." She answered hastily, her eyes showing a hint of flustered evasion for a split second.
Just Kanade. No surname.
A variable deliberately concealed. I began to query the memory data regarding the information of this world. Two years ago, there was an event that shook high society: a powerful noble demi-human family was exterminated overnight. What was the name of that family? The memory threads were quickly scanned... Suzumiya. That's right, the Suzumiya family, a Count family carrying Feline blood.
The pieces of information immediately snapped together into a complete circuit board. Coral orange hair, brilliant lemon green eyes, bearing Feline traits, aristocratic aura but working as a surname-less maid at the Shirakawa estate right after the timeline of the incident. The probability match between the person opposite me and the refugee lady of that family reached 99%.
I adjusted my posture slightly, looking straight into those lemon green eyes, my breathing steady, and spoke in a voice that was soft but sharp enough to pierce her perfect shell:
"So, you are Suzumiya Kanade, aren't you?"
End of Chapter 13.