Twisted Wonderland

Analysis Session

"Test two complete. Subjects are cooling down within the sim."

"Subjects A, C, and E's vital signs are normal. There's been an increase in blot accumulation. Analysis is sixty eight percent complete."

"Lachesis System desynchronizing. Down to five percent. Four, three, two... Desync complete."

Ortho looks to the camera. "Simulator cooldown has finished. Transferring subjects to the recovery room."

"Cool, thanks." Idia says into the microphone. "Once you're done with that, could you bring Subjects B and D to the sim room?"

Ortho nods. "Rodger."

The image of the sim room flashes off. Idia chuckles. "It's gonna be fascinating seeing the stats for the housewardens at the prestigious Night Raven College."

Ortho's appears in the control room. "I'm viewing their data now, and there are some VERY interesting results."

"Bring up their data on the monitor." Idia says.

A new image appears on n the screen. It shows various data collected from the simulation.

"Ooh, look at the difference in their blot gain rates." Ortho hovers next to Idia.

"Totally. Let's start with Riddle." Idia types into a keyboard and Riddle's image appears with the data collected from him. "He busts out spells like he's in hyperdrive. And his magic pool is way beyond other mages his age. He must've had special training from a super young age. Like a sports pro who's practiced their whole life. And that artificially increased his pool. It's the only explanation for these numbers.
His strength is from hard work rather than being some kind of prodigy, if you ask me."

Ortho nods. "He also had a tendency to elevate his output and brute-force his magic during moments of indecision."

"He can get away with it since he's got the power to back it, but it's kinda inefficient." Idia shrugs. "Besides, his blot accumulation rate spikes with his output. It's through the roof."

"Looking at this data, it appears his mental state is heavily impacted by external factors." Ortho observes. "He was under more stress in test two, and that had a clear influence on his blot levels."

"He's got magic muscle in spades, but he's fragile physically and mentally. High offense, paper-thin defense..." Idia hums as he thinks. "If Riddle got isekai'd into an MMO, he'd pick a glass cannon ranged DPS class in a heartbeat."

Ortho pulls up Azul's image and data. "Azul Ashengrotto has some sharp stat contrasts as well. Fascinating results."

"Azul's a relatively slow caster, but he's got precision and control. While Riddle took point and blasted off spells, Azul gauged what was happening and ran support. You could say he's calm and efficient. Or you could say he's stalling and using people as shields."

Ortho tilts his head. "Maybe that means he's best suited to a healer class that sticks to the back and observes the whole field."

Idia nods. "He also keeps a cool head when faced with curveballs, which is another solid trait for people playing support."

"But while he utilizes a wide range of spells, his magic pool isn't big enough to sustain them."

Idia hums in thought. "Maybe that's why he's so careful about when he uses them. Like, he's banking on his quick thinking to make up for his lack of reserves, or something. And his signature spell requires the use of a magic item, so he can't use it whenever. Azul's definitely an 'always be cautious' kinda guy."

"His style is basically the opposite of Riddle Rosehearts's." Ortho states.

"Right?" Idia grins. "Okay, last up, we've got Vil. And boy, talk about STABLE."

"His numbers on his magic pool, manifestation speed, and potency are all remarkably high."

Idia looks to Vil's data on the screen. "He has no sharp performance spikes, but is solid in both offense and defense. I'm pretty sure Vil didn't get any specialized training before he enrolled at our school. These numbers are pretty impressive, when you consider that."

Ortho nods. "He's physically and mentally resilient, and it's worth noting how little stress affects his blot accumulation."

"With these stats, he'd definitely be a tank."

"For sure!" Ortho smiles under the mask. "The tank stands at the head of the party and engages enemies, all while calling the shots for everyone else. That's the perfect role for Vil Schoenheit."

"Vil's signature spell is a long-duration debuff curse. And since he's got a big magic pool, it sticks around for a real long time. That's huge. I'd absolutely hate playing anything with these guys online." Idia grins. "But if they were characters in a game, I bet it'd be a blast to play.

In the conference room, Leona and Jamil still wait for the others. Leona has kicked his feet on the table and folded his arms behind his head. If he was asleep, Jamil couldn't tell.

"I wonder what they're making the other three do." Jamil thinks out loud.

Leona doesn't respond.

Jamil rolls his eyes, resting his head against his hand.

"That radish sprout's talking too much."

Jamil looks over to the lion. "What radish... Oh, you mean Idia. Now that you mention it, he is more talkative here than at school. Though that's just my impression, given that he never shows up to housewarden meetings in person."

"That's not what I mean." Leona takes his feet off the table and waves a hand. "Look, isn't all this Styx stuff supposed to be top-secret? You can't guarantee someone's silence just by having them sign an NDA. Maybe it doesn't matter when they're dealing with Phantoms, but he's telling us way too much."

"You do have a point."

"And those Charon guys weren't exactly subtle when they blasted through campus to get us."

Jamil nods. "That's true. Other students might've recorded them and posted the video online."

"I can think of plenty of ways to control information, but..." Leona sighs. "No mages have ever returned once they were taken to the Island of Woe."

The room falls quiet.

The door slides open and Ortho walks in. "Subject B, Leona Kingscholar. Subject D, Jamil Viper. We're ready to begin your tests. Come along with me."

Leona rolls his eyes as he stands. "Yeah, sure. Go easy on me, 'kay?"