Chapter 57: Qualifying Battle (2)
Unedited*
Shortly afterward, Lucius began guiding them in restoring the tool. Although it was quite damaged, it was easy for them to start working on it.
All the students in the class participated in some capacity on their own, under Lucius’s guidance, but since it was a longer process due to all the plans they had, it naturally took longer than expected.
This was because most of the students hadn’t been prepared to work on that type of tool—one that could be stacked on top of others—and only had a basic understanding.
For that reason, the first class to finish the restoration wasn’t Class F, but Class E.
Two and a half hours had passed by the time they finally finished.
There were 30 students in their class, making it the largest of all the classes.
The efficiency of 30 people working together would always be greater than that of 13, even if the potential for group growth was lower.
They raised their hands to signal that they were finished, and immediately the glass room built for them lit up with an orange glow on the floor.
The referee raised his hand to signal that they could speak, and their leader grabbed the microphone that had been set up for him.
"We have completed the restoration of the tool, preserving 100% of its original identity and type. We look forward to the moment when we can present it," said the man who had previously openly mocked Class F.
The referee nodded. "For now, you’ll remain on standby until the four hours are up or Class F finishes their repair," he said.
The leader of Class E nodded and spoke again. "Is there a bonus for whoever finishes first?" he asked.
The referee shrugged in response. "That may be true. But only if the restored tool is at least 10% better than the other team’s. Only the judges can determine that."
"All right." The Class E leader looked confident and returned to his seat.
And so, time passed...
30 minutes later.
The Class E leader grabbed the microphone again. "Teachers, those guys clearly aren’t fixing anything—they’re just messing around. I don’t think I’m the only one who can see that. They’re just wasting our time!" he exclaimed after spending the last 30 minutes closely observing Class F’s work.
He wasn’t the only one who thought so. The referee himself turned to look at the judges, seeking their opinion.
What the Class E leader was saying made a lot of sense. He didn’t believe those guys were actually restoring that tool.
So far, they hadn’t touched the tool even once in the last hour.
They were doing other things that had absolutely nothing to do with it!
Creating and reworking a variety of materials that no one understood the purpose of...
Even the judges were confused by what they were doing.
They looked at Jake after this questioning. They didn’t need to ask any questions, because Jake understood and walked over to the microphone that had been set up.
"I just have to say that silence is the virtue of the patient, and idle chatter is the folly of the arrogant. If you have something to say, wait four hours. We’re not idiots," he said, and then hung up the external line.
The judges said nothing in response, because they understood it wasn’t directed at them.
Although it bothered the referee, what did it matter? He was just a referee.
Meanwhile, the Class E leader was fuming, but before he could speak up again to complain, his connection to the microphone was also cut off.
The judges did this to prevent him from speaking.
If one side had already responded, he didn’t need to hear a response from the other.
Waiting was all he could do.
Jake approached Lucius, who was waiting after having done his part.
"There are more than enough spare parts to finish assembling that tool. Why are you making them work so hard?" he asked, curious.
"We need milestones recognized by the system," he said.
"Milestones?" Jake frowned. "Are you planning to earn some milestones in this tournament? It’s not as easy as it seems. As a tool creator, you’re doomed to not earn many milestones in your lifetime, no matter what you do."
Lucius gave a half-hearted laugh. "I know. That’s why we need to finish the next two tests quickly. There’s no rule against using items created during any phase of the battle in any other phase of the battle. That’s why I’m asking you to create more."
"Uh... Will that work?" he asked, in shock.
"I don’t know." Lucius shrugged. "But they’ll still be useful for my plans when I go to the capital. So it’s fine."
Jake looked at him again in shock, but didn’t ask any questions. He simply went back to his spot to give a few more instructions or correct some mistakes.
Forty minutes later, with only twenty minutes left until the end of the first phase, Lucius stood up.
"All right, stop."
Everyone stopped instantly, finishing their individual tasks right then and there.
"You can go rest. I’ll take care of the rest," said Lucius, and before everyone’s stunned eyes, he grabbed the half-restored magical tool he hadn’t touched in nearly two hours.
’Just 10 minutes,’ he thought, and began a task that made the judges jump to their feet.
"W-what the hell? That guy... was he actually creating things to fix it all this time?"
"But how is that possible? Everyone worked on it, in one way or another! Each of them did something different, and he’s using it all!"
"This is..." One of them, the oldest, swallowed hard.
Several of the younger judges turned to look at him. "Mr. John, did you see something?"
Mr. John, one of the most respected senior professors in the Department of Tool Creation, nodded. "He’s using the Eastern Cleric’s Puzzle Principle. Do you remember? It was said to be the future of tool creation, but then he was never able to make any progress with his research."
"The Puzzle Principle?" Several of them had no idea what he was talking about, but there were a couple who had been students in Mr. John’s first class; they remembered something.
"I see. The Puzzle Principle that was famous 40 years ago... Wasn’t that principle said to have failed?" one of them asked.
Mr. John didn’t answer. ’That had actually failed more than 40 years ago. Where did this boy learn about it? Could it have been from Miss Asturias? I heard that Mr. Clérigo and Miss Asturias had met once, and what they discussed never came to light,’ he thought.
"This kid might be better than I thought."
Seeing that Mr. John didn’t respond, another one of them said something else that made him uncomfortable.
"Don’t you guys think that Class F... isn’t really like a Class F?" he asked.
He wasn’t fazed by whatever Lucius was doing and had focused on watching the other 12 closely. Each one did their part perfectly and precisely.
Even though it had taken them too long, they still did it!
That wasn’t a Class F... The Class Fs who’ve been here before can’t even get started. And those who have managed to get started take so long to repair a tool that the hour runs out before they’re even finished.
Originally, the rounds of the Qualifying Battle had no time limit, but it was precisely because of Class F that they had to set one—it took them more than 24 hours to repair a tool, only for it to end up not working!
These guys were different.
Everyone noticed, but they decided to wait and see. In any case, there were only about 15 minutes left—would Lucius make it in time now that he had to do a complicated task on his own?
The question was unnecessary.
Five minutes later, Lucius finished and reported it.
"It’s ready," he said.
Sure enough, that came as a shock. But the referee was a professional.
"Do you have anything to say?" he asked.
"Just try it out," Lucius replied nonchalantly and walked out of his classroom to hand the tool directly to the referee.
At a glance, everyone could see that Class E’s tool had, in fact, retained its identity. Its shape was exactly as expected.
However, the one from Class F...
"Why didn’t it keep its identity?" asked the referee.
"Too many errors."
The referee looked at Lucius, confused. "Errors? What do you mean?"
"As I said, it didn’t keep its original identity because it had too many errors. You can test it if you want; I’ve removed the errors from its original identity."
"Huh?" The referee was even more confused. "You did what? Why do you think its original identity had errors?" he protested immediately.
"Just use it, and you’ll understand what I mean. Anyway, I’m sure there are people here who already understand what I’m saying," he said, glancing sideways at the judges.
Although the referee wanted to protest, he understood that it wasn’t his job to do so. He looked at the judges, and they nodded at him.
Finally, he picked up the Class E tool.
"Let’s take a look at your work. From what I can see, you paid close attention to detail, which makes it look good. But what matters isn’t the cover—it’s the content. Its core," declared the referee as he infused the magical tool with mana to activate it.
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