Ryan looked through the test results. The results were, of course, recorded appropriately and sent to analysts; one copy was given to Ryan, and another copy was also sent to the 102nd's headquarters; they will be analyzed once more there.
"Pure mortals died so quickly! We should distribute more of the burden to rank 1s, as they survived the longest," he thought.
Pure mortals refer to those with absolutely no magic power.
Skimming through the book, he glanced at important pages and put it away. The specialized analysts would find the most balanced way, so there was no need for him to rack his brain.
...
The 1 trillion troops of the 102nd were transferred to the war arena; on the other side, there were 1 trillion from the 103rd camp.
These preliminary rounds are just the prologue; it would soon get much more intense.
One specific camp must be completely destroyed every month; if, at the end of the month, this condition hasn’t been met, the consequences would be terrible.
The 102nd's troops under Ryan have divided their troops into 3 groupings.
One is a weak mortal rank, the other is a strong mortal, and the last one is elite. Rank 6s are elites, while ranks 4-5 are strong mortals.
Ranks 0-3 and pure mortals have been all grouped into weak mortals. Weak mortals are useless on battlefields, so they are just used in battle formations; although, in this battle specifically, it's doubtful whether there will even be a proper battlefield.
A trillion mortals in a battle formation are not to be underestimated.
The math of how war formations work is not complicated; sure, if one tries to calculate exact numbers, it would get complicated, but rough estimates are something even mortal children could do.
First, each rank has a numerical value. For pure mortals, it's 1; for rank 0, it's 10; for rank 1, it's 300; for rank 2, it's 2,000; for rank 3, it's 20,000; for rank 4, it's 1,000,000; for rank 5, it's 180,000,000, etc.
For example, 1,000,000 Pure mortals, if acting according to the battle formation, can cast a rank 4 spell; sure, it would be the weakest in rank 4 but still rank 4.
If an army of 10 rank 2, 100 rank 1, 1000 rank 0, and 10,000,000 complete mortals gather, their total numerical rough value will be added to 20,000 + 30,000 + 10,000 + 10,000,000; they can cast a rank 4 spell.
Now, it's not that simple in reality. For one, not all rank 2s, for example, have equal strength; some may have a numerical value of over 2,000, while some may have a numerical value of under 2,000.
A formation itself can also affect things; some formations are better crafted and so require less numerical value to produce higher-ranking spells.
Also, how well troops perform the postures can affect things; some spells require more value, while some simpler ones require less value.
For instance, a blue magic wall spell requires far less than a fireball spell.
Some battle formations have other specialties; for example, the blue magic wall used in the test run was special, as it divided the impact to the troops below it. That way, it was able to protect the troops below, even though, normally, a blue magic wall cannot defend against a fireball perfectly. In battles, that tactic is not advisable, as that can greatly increase casualties of Pure mortals.
Pure mortals in large numbers can be very valuable. Just a trillion mortals here, if banded together, can produce a rank 7 spell! The best use for complete mortals, who cannot fight at all, is battle formations.
There are other tactics, too.
One technique is an overdraft, which is burning one's lifespan to increase one's numerical value artificially; another tactic is using dead enemies to inflate one's numerical values.
...
The battle started with a loud noise that rang through the battlefield.
The battlefield itself was a massive forest with pink-colored trees and beautiful lakes; it would have been beautiful and peaceful if not for the battle.
The purple officer leading the 102nd camp signaled the mortals below to take the posture of casting the blue magic wall.
This time, the battle formation used didn’t divide any of the impact to mortals below it; the pure mortal casualties would increase greatly if it did. It did have the ability to do so, though; if a powerful attack comes, the officer in charge could distribute some of the pressure to the troops.
In this battle, the most powerful mage is rank 6; in such a situation, the most powerful weapon is the formation.
Using Battle formations, it's possible to cast rank 7 spells.
This battle is just a starting hand between the 102nd and 103rd; it is designed to be fair, so higher-rank spell crystals aren’t allowed. Well, they can be used, but if the other side detects them, the whole point of the battle would be lost.
There are observers from all sides; the winner of this battle can choose the location of the next battlefield. The next one is not controlled like this one; it would be a chaotic battle.
Just as the blue shield appeared, a massive fireball hit it from above. Fortunately, the blue magic wall completely stopped everything harmful from reaching below; otherwise, even the light of such a fireball alone would have been enough to wipe out mortals.
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The fireball was rank 6, sent from a rank 6 officer of the 103rd camp.
The 102nd commanding officer spotted the invaders and ordered 10 peak rank 6 officers to go after them.
Peak rank 6 officers usually have a numerical value of ten billion; only 100 peak rank 6s can elevate a spell to rank 7.
That will only work here; on the outside, trying to elevate a spell to rank 6 with only that many rank 6s is only a dream, completely impossible.
Fragment laws are the most distinguishing factors of rank 6 and 7; in the outside world, rank 6 has no chance against rank 7 because of this fragment law.
Here, though, rank 6s can use the war fragment law, which is everywhere, to contend against rank 7s; of course, that only works if many rank 6s fight against a rank 7. This is another reason in this arena: being lonely probably won't work because teams have been boosted by the battle formations; also, lower ranks have been boosted a lot compared to high-ranking mortals.
Of course, these are just the rules of this specific world war; in other world wars, they might deboost teams and boost lone wolves.
The officer ordered the rest of the rank 6 officers to use the fireball battle formation.
The distribution of this round was as follows: 1,000,000,000,000 Pure mortals, 1 million rank 0s, 100,000 rank 1s, 10,000 rank 2s, 8,000 rank 3s, 4000 ranks 4s, 1000 ranks 5s, and 200 ranks 6s. Of course, the numbers look lopsided because the 102nd camp sent the maximum value possible for each rank.
The other side has these exact numbers; each side has reached an agreement on them; after all, this is supposed to be a fair battle to determine who picks the real battlefield.
The total numerical value of 190 rank 6s is far from enough to cast a rank 7 fireball; fireball has a higher cost than average; it takes twice the normal numerical value of rank 7 spells. But, with over-drafting, rank 6s managed to cast a rank 7 spell.
In this battle, everyone sent is enslaved and will fight regardless of their lives and deaths. In the world wars, slavery is usually not allowed, except in some circumstances.
These small-scale battles are one of the rare instances where slavery is allowed. Of course, there have been, in the past, world wars where slavery was completely banned and world wars where slavery was completely allowed.
It depends on the laws of that specific round of world war.
The expressions of the rank 6s who cast rank 7 fireball spell got visibly older; none died, though. One other advantage of higher-ranking mortals is that their longer lifespan allows a lot of over-drafting.
The blue magic wall can be manipulated to allow some spells to pass through; the commanding officer controlled the magic wall and allowed the fireball to pass.
This fireball was to support the rank 6s outside; with this spell targeting the enemy, they must focus on defense. After all, the blue magic wall cannot defend against a fireball by itself.
The 10 rank 6 peaks outside, however, didn’t have a good time. The enemy had sent 30 rank 6s and over 100 Rank 5s; this large number was a surprise, but the 102nd commanding officer was not worried; the 10 rank 6s weren’t peaks for show.
The fireball hit the enemy's base and exploded.
Boom!
The sound was so loud that it could have reduced cities and countries to dust. Fortunately for mortals, the blue magic wall blocked everything harmful.
The areas not covered by the blue magic shield, though, were completely turned to ashes. The forest that was exposed to the fireball turned to ashes directly; even ashes were vaporized and shone brightly, like the sun. A rank 7 fireball can destroy planets, so it should not be strange.
A rank 7 mage can destroy planets, rank 8 can destroy stars, and rank 9 can easily wipe out galaxies.
As for rank 10 immortals, they can destroy entire worlds.
One must not mistake world-destroying with only wiping out life. Wiping out life on a planet is easy; even rank 6s can do it; one only needs to touch the surface.
Destroying a planet, though, requires force powerful enough to break apart the gravity that is keeping a planet together; it's many times harder than only wiping out life on a planet.
The difference between rank 6 and 7 is really large; one must not think the situation in the battle arena is normal; here, rank 6s have been buffed, and rank 7s have been nerfed greatly.
In the outside world, 100 peak rank 6 mages have no chance against one early rank 7 mage.
The enemy resisted the fireball, but the 102nd commanding officer smiled; they must have suffered some casualties. The enemy defended only using the blue magic wall, which cannot resist a fireball unless they share the pressure with the mortals below it.
The blue magic wall, in general, is not a very good defensive spell. It has its advantages. It can defend against anything harmful; even while active, it can allow one's own invasive spells to pass through. Moreover, even though it cannot defend against powerful spells of the same rank, even if something passes through, it will greatly reduce its power.
A greatly weakened rank 7 spell cannot really harm a rank 7 mage seriously.
The enemy forces quickly took a battle formation and cast a rank 7 spell!
Only 100 rank 5s and 30 rank 6s casting a rank 7 spell means they overdraft themselves by a lot. Overdrafting is very harmful; it burns the lifespan of those who do it.
The commanding officer of the 102's camp noticed that a few invading rank 5s died of old age.
Still, the most pressing issue wasn't the enemy dying of old age; it was the rank 7 fireball that was approaching.
"Damn!" the 102nd commanding officer cursed.
The target of the incoming fireball was not the peak rank 6s; it was the mortals below in the base! Just one blue magic wall was not enough to resist a fireball; he was left with no choice but to divide the pressure.
He didn’t divide it among pure mortals but among rank 5s and 4s.
Rank 5s and 4s are not really useful; they are not powerful enough to be elites and not weak enough to be cannon fodder. Their best use is to share pressure when the blue magic ball cannot hold on.
The commanding officer couldn't overdraft mortals. Mortals have short lifespans as is; they will die if he overdraw them.
The fireball hit, and at the same time, all rank 5s and 4s threw up blood; some rank 4s directly went into a coma.
Fortunately, though, none died. A blue magic wall can resist most of the power of a fireball; only a little gets through, which can be endured by a few thousand rank 4s and 5s.
The 10 peak rank 6s there were not just sitting there and looking; they also overdraft and cast a rank 7 fireball spell directly at the 30 ranks 6 and 100 ranks 5.
As a result of the overdraft, one peak rank 6 of the 102nd camp died; he was the oldest, and with this overdraft, he died directly.
The fireball moved with fast speed; the 103rd's invading forces cast a blue magic wall to defend.
They over-drafted again; a quarter of rank 5s died of old age.
Unfortunately for them, the blue magic wall was unable to completely take on the fireball; they had no choice but to share the burden. The impact came, and over half of the rank 5s died; fortunately for them, again, no rank 6 died.
Unfortunately for them, the 102nd's commanding officer took a risk; he canceled the blue magic wall and ordered the main troops to cast a fireball.
At the same time, he ordered the 190 rank 6s to cast a blue magic wall to protect the main army.
He used the main army to cast a fireball because they were much faster and could do it without overdrafting.
Just as the 103rd repelled the last fireball, another came and hit!
The last Blue Magic Wall was still there, so they didn't need to cast it again. But it was already near destruction, so it blocked only a little of the burden, and most of the burden of the rank 7 fireball was shared with them.
"Puff!" all rank 5s of the enemy directly turned to blood mist and died.
It was not over.
Even more pressure was placed on the 30-rank 6s.
Rank 6s trying to resist a rank 7 spell? After a few seconds, every single one of them exploded into a mist of blood and died!