Magika no Kenshi to Basileus [Light Novel]

[blackwhite67]

Relatively new. First volume came out last April and the next one is due the 25th of this month.

My way of trying to fill the hole left in my heart after the crash of IS. Trying to build up some hype and hope someone starts translating. By the way, can someone provide a finer translation of the title for the thread? Thanks.

Originally Posted by Log

Eh.

Might as well contribute something.

For harem fans and the likes.

I present you 魔技科の剣士と召唤魔王 (not nearly confident enough to translate it into English). It's pretty standard as a harem genre LN but lacks the annoying traits that a lot of harem LN's have. It's also translated into Chinese.

It's pretty new (only has one volume thus far) and given the recent uprising trend for harem LN I have a feeling that this one's going to be fairly popular. I would bet that it has a decent chance of being turned into a anime.

Spoiler for review:

To make a brief summary of the setting basically 15 years ago the world discovered magic as well as mythical beings (basically beings from various legends) in another dimension. Humankind learned to summon these dangerous mythical beings and use their power to great effect. 7 country's formed contracts with these "gods" and gained their alligence as a result. Gods will chose their summoners on their 14th birthday and give them a stigma. Schools have been set up to train summoners and magical swordsman (basically bodyguards that give the summoners time to cast their spell) as a result.

15 years latter after the finding of magic Kazuki Hayashizaki is chosen as a summoner and given a stigma to indicate that. This is surprising since males aren't chosen as summoners due to their low amount of mana compared to females. As the first male to be a summoner Kazuki is under a lot of scrutiny by almost everyone.

To complicate matters his sister (who's a magical swordsman) is against him going into summoner school to train there as a summoner. Because summoners and magical swordsman have a cat mouse thing going on where summoners look down on magical swordsman as inferior so his sister naturally is against him going there. She'll stop him even if it means going to war (bro complex is strong in this one).

Kazuki however is determined to thrive in summoner school and have already determined to give it his all. Even if he's the lowest ranked student (ranked E) and his fellow students intend to demean him he'll prove himself as the strongest summoner.

Does this sound like IS? It should.

However it lacks the annoying violence that Ichika recieves on a routine basis. Well there's some verbal insult going on here and there it's mostly free of female on male double standard violence which I know grates a lot of peoples nerves when it comes to harem LNs.

It's male lead is also decently OP which I know a lot of people enjoy. He's a magic swordsman training as a summoner. His summoning allows him to take and use other girls summoning spells as his own provided said girl has a high enough affection for him which as you can imagine has the potential to turn very, very OP. His own abilities as a magic swordsman is very high.

As for the characters personality, it's pretty standard for a harem LN. There's the bro con deredere not blood related sister, the tsundere childhood friend (which the main character conviently forgot about), the kind sempai with a dark edge behind her kind mask, the nagota yuki clone, and the tomboy girl.

Well these characters are hopelessly cliched they also aren't annoying. Even the tsundere (which I know a lot of people hate) is fairly harmless with her insults and quickly warms up.

It's fights are also decently written with some creative power usuage and the plot develops nicely (for the 1st volume a least).

All in all not a very exceptional LN but worth checking out for harem fans or action fans.

Spoiler for spoiler:

Gonna clarify that the whole demon/god thing is semantics and being a god or demon doesn't affect rather you're for or against humanity. As far as humanity is concerned gods and demons both fall under the classification of "mythical beings" and their only called god/demon based on their legend. It's not like demons and gods operate on different rules or anything.

The only difference is that the only god shown thus far chose to side against humanity while the demons shown thus far are shown to side with humanity.

Given that there are 6 other country's have formed contracts with different myths I'm fairly confident that we'll see a "god" mythical being that sided with humanity.

Spoiler for spoiler:

Magic isn't necessarily above swordsmanship. To be more exact it's summoner magic that's above swordsmanship and it's summoner magic that only girls can use (since mythical beings only choose girls until Kazuki). Normal magic can be used by anyone (although girls have greater mana capacity and talent for them).

In fact at one point someone (I believe it was the loli teacher) even pointed out that normal magic is useless against summoner magic hence why summoning is so valued. IIRC Kazuki even stated that the only useful normal magic in fights was strengthening magic. Granted the loli teacher proved that normal magic can be perfectly useful in fights but she's probably a exception instead of the rule.

Also you forgot that the girl that the sister specifically trained in reading magic. The one that faced Kazuki in the magic vs sword match where Kazuki had to defeat swordsmanship with summoning magic.

I'm pretty that it's specifically pointed out that the VC can't read the flow of magic and had to rely on tactics and sheer guts to fight the magic side VC.

And while it's true that only swordsman that can read magic or swordman that specifically prepare against it can fight summoner mages in duels it's only duels. It's pointed out by the sister fairly early while she was bitchslapping around the two magic faction students that real battles aren't as nice as duels. Duels have a set distance (100 meter or something like that) allowing mages to cast a least one spell off before the swordsman can get close while a actual battle can happen at any distance hence why summoners need protection.

If someone does get close they can disturb the summoner concentration by hitting them preventing them from summoning and forcing them to activate their shield on reflex draining their magic. Hit them enough times and their magic is all gone leaving only a fragile body. This pretty much means that it's a loss for the summoner if someone with better physical ability gets within a couple feet of the summoner because they'll keep pounding the summoner until all magic is lost. Their are exceptions such as the captain and VC of the magic faction that can concentrate even while being hit or have a strategy/technique that gets around their close range weakness but most can't do that.

Speaking of shield, there's another similarity with IS. Both their main method of battling involves draining the energy from a shield that activates on reflex. Oh, and both main characters have a technique that gets past said shield (Kazuki's method is a lot different then Ichika's though). Pretty minor really but I'm absolutely sure that the author did take some ideas from IS.

With that said I'd laugh if someone finds personality similarities between Chifuyu and Kanae. The two are practically polar opposites in almost every way. The only similarity is that both are high on the pecking order in terms of strength (Chifuyu much more then Kanae) and both are badass in their own right.

Spoiler for spoiler:

Yep Kanae is the younger sister. Although she's technically older then Kazuki, due to the fact that Kazuki's age is unknown to him during his time at the orphanage it was assumed that he's 15 when he was adopted. Which was proven wrong on his 15th (aka 14th) birthday when he got the mark. At that point Kanae already got used to being his younger sister so she still acts like she's younger.

And naw it doesn't focus on gender discrimination at all similar to Blade Dance (though honestly IS didn't focus on it especially given how it was played out as a big deal in it's synopsis). The girls never really hold Kazuki's gender against him. Instead the book focuses on the divide between sword faction and magic.

Originally Posted by whsie

For 魔技科の剣士と召唤魔王, yes. Only females can form contracts since they inherently have a higher reserve of mana (or whatever they call it). In 魔技科の剣士と召唤魔王,

Spoiler for spoiler:

magic is perceived to be >>> sword combat (and probably true). Since only females can form contracts, females by default are the dominant figures. All the males are in the Sword Faction, which is basically perceived as meatbags to hold off enemies while the mages chant their spells. The only male in the Magic Faction is the MC and to the surprise of everyone including himself, he was placed in the Magic Faction.

That's not to say sword fighters are completely helpless, but it's safe to say that with the exception of maybe the top 3 sword users (MC, Sword Faction President or the MC's step-sister, and the Vice President), everyone else is completely useless against magic. Even for the top 3, they have to rely on speed and read the flow of magic (something only the top 3 can do) in order to eliminate their opponent before they can finish their chant. It's given that if a mage can finish his or her chant, it's game over for the sword user.

Now, after reading this, does anyone still feel this is remotely similar to IS? And before anyone says "older sister", realize that the older step sister here is a dual blade wielding loli.

Spoiler for Kazuki's Patron:

The Key of Solomon aka Lemegeton.

It takes the form of a playful loli that grows up as Kazuki gets more girls which gives Lemegeton more power. According to it, it'll gain special powers as the girls affection for Kazuki continues to increase so we can probably expect more from it as Kazuki's harem gets larger.

Note for 魔技科の剣士と召唤魔王, thus far the supernatural entities that have formed contracts aren't gods.

Spoiler for spoiler:

If anything the one god we've seen thus far has been an antagonist and it's been implied that the other gods to be seen will all be antagonists. The ones the reader have seen have ALL been the 72 demons (Phanax, Baal, Asmodeus) of Solomon. At the beginning of the story, we find out that the 72 Demons are for some unknown reason supporting Japan. The higher ups greatly appreciate it because it enhances Japan's international influence, but at the same time they do not know why the 72 demons chose this country or for what purpose they're helping Japan.

[Fenrisulfr]

Maybe if it gets popular enough to get translated into chinese zzhk or someone else can tl it, I really like the premise of the story and hopefully it turns out good. On an unrelated note I only read the first four volumes of IS but does it really get that bad, a season 2 anime of it is coming this fall I think.

[blackwhite67]

Originally Posted by Fenrisulfr

Maybe if it gets popular enough to get translated into chinese zzhk or someone else can tl it, I really like the premise of the story and hopefully it turns out good. On an unrelated note I only read the first four volumes of IS but does it really get that bad, a season 2 anime of it is coming this fall I think.

The premise was very interesting what with the whole female-male ratio. There are those, such as myself, who complain about Ichika always having to get his ass bailed by the girls even four volumes into the story. Then there's the whole lack of motivation with the author and some found the change in illustrator a difficult pill to swallow. I explain it with more concrete examples, but someone like me can tell that the author going over the top with the plot.

[Log]

Oh you actually found a English title for it good job.

Since the thread is made might as well make a short summary for chapter 1 of volume 1.

Spoiler for chapter 1 summary:

Story starts with Kazuki waking up his sister, Kanae. Kanae tease's him by trying to get him to kiss her as a motivator for her to get out of bed. A humorous exchange follows and Kazuki is forced to bridal carry her out of bed instead of kissing her.

As they head to school a lot of backstory is revealed in their discussion. Due to Kazuki getting the magic stigma he's forced to go to the magic side. Not only that but because everyone get's the magic stigma at 14, this indicates that his official age is wrong. This makes him younger then Kanae but Kanae still wants him to treat her as the younger sibling (she's deredere like that).

Kanae expresses her distaste for the magic stigma changing so much and says that Kazuki had a lot of potential as a swordsman that's ruined thanks to the magic stigma. Kazuki disagrees and thinks that since it comes to this he shouldn't fight against it and give it his all. He promises Kanae that she'll be the best in the sword faction while he'll be the best at the magic faction.

Since it's Kazuki's first day at school Kanae is giving him a tour of the campus but trouble came up. The VC of the sword said, came running to Kanae to warn her about fights with students from the magic faction. Kanae doesn't want to leave Kazuki alone but is forced to.

Kazuki wonders around the campus for the magic side for a while before meeting the president of the magic side Kaguya (big breasted black haired sempai for those of you that need a image). She takes interest in him and gives him a tour of the magic side campus. Along the way she expresses sediments of getting along with the sword faction and Kazuki agrees.

As their walking Kazuki sense's a disturbance in the magic and Kaguya remarks that he's pretty sharp. Both of them rush to the scene of the disturbance where they witness Kanae bitchslapping two magic side students. Both of them were trying to chant but Kanae's to fast for them and doesn't give them the chance. Kaguya breaks up the fight before it can get worst. Although the two magic side girls still want to go at it they aren't dumb enough to oppose the strongest on their own side. They back down and Kaguya tries to berate Kanae who ignores her and greets Kazuki instead. Kaguya pushes the issue however and she and Kanae get into a argument. Kazuki's unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perspective) caught in the middle.

Due to Kauya and Kanae's fight the tour completely fails and the enrollment ceremony begin. The important part here is that it reveals the history of magic. Basically a genius invented the philosopher stone which can grant magic however the genius was killed and the world now has a limited amount of stones since it's secrets died with the genius.

Enrollment ends with Kaguya showing off the power of a summon by killing a large dragon.

Kazuki expresses awe at that level of power and wonders if he can make it.

End of chapter 1.

More will come latter.

[blackwhite67]

Originally Posted by Log

Oh you actually found a English title for it good job.

Since the thread is made might as well make a short summary for chapter 1 of volume 1.

Thank Fenrisulfr. He provided me with the english title from raw websites back in the Light Novel Recommendation thread in response to my request and thanks for all your contributions, past, present, and future.

[Kadi]

HMM...

... exceptional this novel is not. I've seen more creative character designs and all the info-dumping at the beginning hurts. However, the heroines aren't annoying, even the tsundere has some straightforward moments and the protagonist literally cannot ignore the feelings the girls have for him. There are diagrams. He's also told he needs to conquer the hearts of at least 72 girls and he already feels (and internally admits) he wants one of them to love him more.

Well, I'm not quite done with the first volume, but I already know I'll give the second one a try, if only to see if and how the protag will develop. Oh, and while I've seen better mysterious loli advisers, Leme is still <3.

[blackwhite67]

Oh. I forgot to ask, but I assumed that summoning magic summons the contracted mythical being, but I'm guessing it does more than that?

[whsie]

Originally Posted by blackwhite67

Oh. I forgot to ask, but I assumed that summoning magic summons the contracted mythical being, but I'm guessing it does more than that?

If you can summon a demon

Spoiler for spoiler:

(for Japan's case) and contract with them, you can use their magic. IIRC, their magic is split into 10 levels. The higher the level of magic, the higher the difficulty. At the highest level, you have a full summoning where the demon physically appears and can use his or her signature magic (e.g. Phalanx's Level 10 Magic can literally revive a dead person). At lower levels, you can "borrow" the demon's magic, but the demon itself won't physically appear. An actual appearance is really rare and can only be done by the best of the best.

For the females, whenever they activate their magic, they do a little mahou shoujo transformation (it's not called that...) and get into these sweet and revealing armors (cover girls of this series are the prime example).

[Kadi]

Magika History Lesson!!!

As always, I don't guarantee accuracy or terms being correct.

Spoiler for History. No story-spoilers. Probably.:

15 years ago someone succeeded in making a philosophers stone that allowed people to awaken to magic.
Girls naturally have a higher amount of magic energy. There are 6 basic types of magic: Defense, Psychokinesis, Pyrokinesis, Telepathy, Enchant Aura (self-buffing), Extra Sense (6th sense, feeling for magic). Defense is reflexive as long as you have magic energy left and renders mundane weaponry useless. Thus the whole world's military quickly changed to using magic.
The guy who developed philosophers stones supposedly got him self killed (his corpse wasn't found so he should be alive somewhere, somehow), so no more new philosopher's stones, but people have started to awaken to magic by themselves. Thus by now, most people can use magic to some degree and mage-tech industry is booming.
Through a gate inside themselves, all magicians are connected to another world where gods and demons reside. Since those are basically the same, they were henceforth collectively called Deva.
Every magician can form a contract with a Deva and use their extra-powerful magic. If done wrongly, that will corrode the magician's mind over time and in the end, the Deva will take over.
Mad magicians like that running wild destroyed Tokyo in the past. Japan was saved by the 72 Demons of Solomon. They developed the Enigma(?)-Stigma contract system where the Demons pick talented magicians and on their 14th birthday, a sign appears on those people, the Enigma(?). Those are then carted into one school where they make a full-fledged contract with the Deva that chose them, the Enigma changes into a Stigma and they learn summoning magic henceforth, being now called Magika Stigma. Everyone not doing this is labelled illegal and gets killed. Only the 72 Demons know the rules so no other Deva can sneak in.
The advantage of the Enigma-Stigma contracts is safety for the casters because they don't go mad. The disadvantage is that they need long incantations to use their magic and their magic energy isn't used as effectively as it could be. Thus they need the swordsmen to take the beating while they chant their spells.
As was already mentioned, the Magika Stigma can use 10 magics, ranked Level 1 to 10, so called Summoning Magic, where they summon the power of their Deva. With the Enigma-Stigma contracts, a Deva can have multiple contractees and they can even fight each other, with the same spells. Only the final spell where the Deva is materialized is limited to one at a time. The types of spells every Deva grants are different. Asmodeus mainly grants debuffs or ways to interfere with the enemy... like summoning tentacles... all of the spells are disgusting in some way. Phenex is more combat oriented with flame bullets, a flame barrier, flame wings, I think... Baal... uhhh... grants weapon summons?


Anyway, nowadays Japan is one of the seven magic superpowers (along with America, England, Germany, Italy, China and... Russia or France, I think, but I'm not sure) and totally reliant on the 72 demons.
Other countries are implied to have other contract-systems and rely on other sets of gods and demons.

Thinking about it, many elements of the setting really are convenient or plain cheap... not necessarily the history parts, but yeah, my Willing Suspension of Disbelief was frequently strained.

[blackwhite67]

Thank you whsie and Kadi. This is great, but I don't understand what parts you find cheap. I mean I don't see anything that incites any more disbelief than some of the other popular series out there?

[Kadi]

You wanted it so!

As always, I don't guarantee accuracy or completeness.

Spoiler for Cheapness, also spoilers up to the beginning of the second volume:

The worst part by far is the jarring incompetence among the adults. The only competent adults mentioned so far are the protag's adoptive father and his loli-sized homeroom teacher. The knight corps, read the army of one of the current superpowers, seem completely inefficient, too. One character votes to get rid of the protag because "the only deva that can be trusted are Solomon's 72 demons. Not their king. Who knows what the Lemegeton is planning. Who knows what any of the other Deva are planning. Too dangerous, kill, kill, kill." Think about what exactly he's saying for a while.

Then there's the fact of the swordsmen sucking so much (except for the protag and his little/big sister because they were taught by one of the few people who actually THINK). Same with the discrimination, its level and its general acceptance. Think about this: Summoners and swordsmen build the army, intended for real combat. Discrimination against swordsmen is based on two facts: They lack the large-scale firepower of summoners and they don't stand a chance in duels because the rules favor the summoners MASSIVELY (also, because swordsmen don't play to their strengths). With ambush tactics, or any kind of tactics at all, they could slaughter most summoners most days of the week. Makes me wonder how they arrived at a level of discrimination where 14 year old girls don't raise an eyebrow when the swordsmen are described as cannon fodder nobody cares about. Well, I guess it's no wonder why the knight corps suck so much, huh...

The way the major plot for the next few volumes was forcefully kickstarted at the end was incredibly weak, too.

While reading, I thought "bullshit" quite often. Don't remember all the instances, though, but I'm sure there were more than I mentioned here. Some of them can be forgiven if it's to get the world built and the story rolling, but I was very disappointed how poorly the end of the volume was done (with the exception of the protag). So right now I'd only recommend this novel for the protag. The girls are still too weak, character-wise, and the plot did more wrong than right. That being said, the girls can improve and the plot can get steady. But I also thought so after the initial info-dumping and first fits of stupidity to set the setting...


Edit: Ohh, the school system reminds me of Hidan no Aria, with students getting ranks and going on "quests" to help the knight corps... felt stupid, too, although I cannot quite tell why anymore. Third year students are permanently outside the school grounds, on internships with the knight corps throughout the country. But the student council president and vice president are the most powerful students... and conveniently second-years this time. Also, those two and the student council trainees among the first years are the only people from the council available, so... uhh... is it just me or does something make not add up here?

Edit 2: Beginning of Vol 2 (from the preview). Protag and Heroine go on their first quest. Completely unprepared. They are shocked by what their enemies can do. Their enemy... is a Slime. It fixes itself after it's cut. How novel. But somehow protag did anticipate it, so he was already casting a fireball. Then they are shocked that another enemy, a Red Slime, is immune to fire. Without any method of attack left for the two of them, the heroine gets herself almost slime-raped and tentacle-raped, but a classmate on her own quest saves her with ice magic. Protag and the heroine get their ego roughed up a bit, but NOW they suddenly know: There are Blue Slimes, too, and they're the ones immune to ice magic, so they warn their classmate... I think at this point I was double-facepalming. So yeah, the idiot ball goes round and round in this one...

[whsie]

Spoiler for in reply to ^:

Pretty much yes, the adults are bafoons. Some were like, "Hey, this unknown devil isn't one of the 72, let's get rid of her." The teacher was like, "..., dude. This devil knows the 'rules" of contracting. Wouldn't you think that she is somehow related to the 72 devils. Further, if you really do kill her and she really is related to the 72 devils, don't you think you're pissing off the other 72 devils? You may as well say bye bye to your position as a magic superpower."

Then there is the ending where the protag's demon identity was truly revealed. Some were still in favor of eliminating her even after it's been made bloody clear that the only reason the 72 demons are helping the country is because of the protag and his demon. Unless these bums plan on nuking Japan's position as a magic super power, they truly are idiots. In the end, the principal then stated, "Well, if the MC does go rogue, the student president (principal's daughter) can eliminate him." Yeah, except the principal's daughter is already "linked" to the MC. The student president's likeness of the MC has already exceeded 60 (the threshold) in the first volume, which means the MC can already use Asmodeus' magic.

Aside from that, I don't really have a problem with the others. The reason I enjoyed the first volume is because of the characters. The MC is respectable given the circumstances. The females are unique enough that I don't immediately think of the stereotypes. The first girl (cover girl of V1) is a major tsundere, but IMO it's a correctly written tsundere (i.e. not the HnA or STnBD heroines who are just beeps). The funny thing is that with the MC's special ability, he can also see through her thick wall. The student council president is extremely lovable (my favorite). The sword council president is adorable as a sister. The VP of the magic council has a natural fear of males and seems interesting (most development potential character wise).

[EvI]

the author didn't even tried to hide the clichê in the novel... but i will give it a try since some of you liked
i will just wait the rest of the sumaries

[whsie]

Originally Posted by EvI

the author didn't even tried to hide the clichê in the novel... but i will give it a try since some of you liked
i will just wait the rest of the sumaries

The general reception that I've been hearing has been, "The story is cliched. But the writing and execution is better than some of the recent works."

All I can say is that even though the story is cliched, I enjoyed it. In my case, I liked it for the characters and their interaction with each other. The plot isn't anything unique if that's your thing. The fights in this novel are ok-good. Nothing unique or great.

[Fenrisulfr]

So by the end of the first volume what level is Kazuki's magic on that scale of 1-10? Can he summon the loli Lemegeton that was mentioned yet?

[whsie]

Originally Posted by Fenrisulfr

So by the end of the first volume what level is Kazuki's magic on that scale of 1-10? Can he summon the loli Lemegeton that was mentioned yet?

Not really high. He just started learning. The Student Council President has taken the MC under her wings. Even the main heroine who has been practicing for a long time can only access level 2 (or 3). FWIW, the dude is a quick learner.

Lemegeton

Spoiler for Lemegeton:

doesn't have any abilities in herself. She simply allows our MC to use the other 72 demon's powers if he has conquered the girl because she is the lord of the 72 demons. She also gives him the Solomon's Ring. The 72 demons obey Lemegeton, but not the MC unless the MC conquers the girls. If so, he can access their magic from the 72 demons. The key is the level of likeness of the girls have for the MC. If the likeness level exceeds 60, then the MC can access the demon's powers. One of the things Lemegeton granted the MC is the ability to see how much girls like him. The MC can literally see a # and actions that increase a girl's likeness to him absorbs "hearts" into Solomon's Ring (and increase the value) while dislikes absorb darkness (and decrease the value).

This is why the MC was able to see right through the heroine's tsundere personality. By the end of volume 1, I believe the heroine's likeness already exceeded a 100. It started out at 50 something.

Even though the MC can't use high level magic yet, there is a one-time maneuver per girl that can grant the MC access to level 10 magic.

[Fenrisulfr]

Thanks for the info whsie, hmm it seems the MC is set to become pretty OP, I even thought this ln would make a good rpg videogame, shouldn't he be the country's v.i.p like Itsuka lol, also the way he can read the a girl's love meter is pretty funny and unique kind of like in DAL.

[Log]

Originally Posted by Kadi

Magika History Lesson!!!

Oh goody. Thanks for taking the trouble to write the exposition. I personally didn't want to write it as it's to time consuming so I'm especially grateful. Also I'm glad that you got the exact term for what the summons are called. I don't have to keep on typing mythical beings anymore.

Originally Posted by Kadi

You wanted it so!

As always, I don't guarantee accuracy or completeness.

Spoiler for Cheapness, also spoilers up to the beginning of the second volume:

The worst part by far is the jarring incompetence among the adults. The only competent adults mentioned so far are the protag's adoptive father and his loli-sized homeroom teacher. The knight corps, read the army of one of the current superpowers, seem completely inefficient, too. One character votes to get rid of the protag because "the only deva that can be trusted are Solomon's 72 demons. Not their king. Who knows what the Lemegeton is planning. Who knows what any of the other Deva are planning. Too dangerous, kill, kill, kill." Think about what exactly he's saying for a while.

Spoiler for spoiler:

Out of curiosity why do you think the dad's competent. Don't really remember the protog's dad doing well.....anything at all this volume. He's only mentioned in passing a couple times.

Spoiler for spoiler:

Then there's the fact of the swordsmen sucking so much (except for the protag and his little/big sister because they were taught by one of the few people who actually THINK).

Same with the discrimination, its level and its general acceptance. Think about this: Summoners and swordsmen build the army, intended for real combat. Discrimination against swordsmen is based on two facts: They lack the large-scale firepower of summoners and they don't stand a chance in duels because the rules favor the summoners MASSIVELY (also, because swordsmen don't play to their strengths). With ambush tactics, or any kind of tactics at all, they could slaughter most summoners most days of the week. Makes me wonder how they arrived at a level of discrimination where 14 year old girls don't raise an eyebrow when the swordsmen are described as cannon fodder nobody cares about. Well, I guess it's no wonder why the knight corps suck so much, huh...

Spoiler for spoiler:

Hi now, you forget to add the sword side VC to the list of people that didn't suck. You have to admit that he's impressive to fight against magic head on without precog. Takes a lot of GUTS to do that. Oh and also the girl that Kanae taught.

As for the summoners discrimination thing I think that part's more justified. Being a summoner automatically makes you a national treasure in the country's eyes because of how precious the firepower summoners bring are which I imagine is a ego boast to many and gives them the incentive to look down on people. Not only that but their still teens....... with the potential power to open the gates of hell, call upon otherworldly weapons, gain lightning speed, distort space, revive the dead etc. This probably is just a tip in the iceberg given that summoning is noted to make technology obsolete including nukes so we'll probably be seeing city destroying summoning in the future. Of course teenagers with that kind of power and status would be so arrogant.

Swordsman on the other hand are the opposite. Their a dime and a dozen so nope, no special status is granted. Their very weak in terms of destruction, comparing them to summoners is like comparing a tank and a sword. Worst of all they can't fight back even if they wanted to. No one cares about one or two swordsman dying since their easily replaceable. Summoners on the other hand are a limited resource so if a summoner gets hurt due to swordsmans acting out of line we can safely assume that the swordsman that did the deed would be getting heavy punishment. So yeah sure you can use tactics to take down a summoner. But afterwards? I won't be surprised you face capital punishment (Kanae's probably getting off free now because she hasn't really harmed a summoner yet). Most swordsman probably think that it isn't worth trying to force a point and gave up.

Combine all this together and one can see why summoners consider swordsmans useless. Albeit I admit that the books trying to force it to much and the girls are being to ignorant to the ways of a actual fight.

Spoiler for spoiler:

Edit: Ohh, the school system reminds me of Hidan no Aria, with students getting ranks and going on "quests" to help the knight corps... felt stupid, too, although I cannot quite tell why anymore. Third year students are permanently outside the school grounds, on internships with the knight corps throughout the country. But the student council president and vice president are the most powerful students... and conveniently second-years this time. Also, those two and the student council trainees among the first years are the only people from the council available, so... uhh... is it just me or does something make not add up here?

Don't see anything wrong here tbh.

Or I'm I being dense here?

Originally Posted by blackwhite67

Thank you whsie and Kadi. This is great, but I don't understand what parts you find cheap. I mean I don't see anything that incites any more disbelief than some of the other popular series out there?

It's more face palm worthy then Campione, and Gekka, that's for sure. Better then IS and HnA though.

Not going to mention DxD since it's a borderline gag series in the first place so comparing the two is unfair.

Originally Posted by whsie

Spoiler for in reply to ^:

"Well, if the MC does go rogue, the student president (principal's daughter) can eliminate him." Yeah, except the principal's daughter is already "linked" to the MC. The student president's likeness of the MC has already exceeded 60 (the threshold) in the first volume, which means the MC can already use Asmodeus' magic.

Spoiler for spoiler:

TBF Kaguya's still stronger then the MC as a summoner (and arguably in fights to).

Being able to use Asmodeus doesn't matter when you can't use most of his spells or you don't have the magic capacity for them.

They didn't do their research on Kaguya liking Kazuki though.

Oh and here's the summaries for chapter 2. I'm not looking back at the book while writing this so some events are probably out of order or even wrong.

Spoiler for summary:

After the Freshmen enrollment ceremony the first day of class starts. Kazuki is under a lot of pressure from fellow classmates as the only guy. The loli teacher comes in (shocking everyone since the teacher looks like a kid) and is dismayed to found her class so unfocused. She calls them all bugs (or something to that extent) and berates them. She then points out that Kazuki is rank E so he's nothing special even if he's a guy. Kazuki thinks to himself that he's rank E because he's suppose to be a swordsman thus he didn't practice all the other magic tricks except strengthening therefore he couldn't do well in the ranking test. The class laughs at him but the teacher shuts them up and points out that they shouldn't get cocky just because he's rank E. Since summoner magic makes real magic look useless rankings don't matter at this point.

The teacher also points out that she has two rank A students and mutters about how troublesome this class is. She briefly introduces the two as Mio and Koyuki (to lazy to find their last names). Koyuki's the one sitting behind Kazuki (Nagato Yuki clone) and when Kazuki looks behind her he notices she's a fairy. Basically once magic was discovered mythical beings came into existence as well and she belongs to that race. Her type is particularly attuned to magic and has sharp elf like ears but besides that look no different from humans.

She notices him staring and asks if he finds her weird and unpleasant. He deny's it, but she tells him that there's no need to lie and she's already used to that discrimination. He continues denying it and in the heat of the moment tells her that he's staring because she's so beautiful. This surprises her but she quickly regains her composure and tells him that he should be aware of where they are at. Kazuki realizes their still in class and turns around embarrassed. The loli teacher berates him.

Brief class intro comes next and Mio introduces herself first. As she does she waves at Kazuki except Kazuki doesn't know her (remember her). He gets confused and doesn't acknowledge it which irritates her. As the introduction go down it gets to Kazuki. He gets nervous but manages to make a good impression until he reveals that he's a swordsman by hobby. This causes the class to break out in laughter and Mio haughtily points out that swords are useless in front of magic and mocks him for being rank E.

Kazuki feels angry at the negative reaction but doesn't let it get to him. On the bright side Koyuki stands up for him.

After that the loli teacher brings them outside to try contracting a summon. It's revealed that in order to contract a summon one must delve deep inside the mind to the abstract world to meet the summon. Because it's dangerous Kagura is here to mentor it. Also few succeed on their first try. Once they succeed they get a astral dress that boasts their magical abilities up. It's also conveniently revealing because it has to expose the stigma for some reason (read:fanservice).

As their walking to the place where they're having their contract Mio tries to talk to Kazuki. She speaks arrogantly and looks down on him but he brushes her off although he wonders if he knows her.

Anyways Mio succeeds in her contract. After her no one succeeds until Kazuki's turn.

Kazuki enters his mind and a voice talks to him asking if he has the will to change the world. He responds that he does and when he wakes up he's shocked to see a naked beautiful girl appear. She kisses him and tells him the contract is complete. She also introduces herself as Lemmy.

Lemmy is then shocked that she's naked and demands cloths. Kaguya quickly gets cloths for her and questions the loli teacher what they should do since nothing like the girl has been summoned before. Also Kazuki doesn't have a astral dress (it would be awkward if he did have one though considering how....weird all of them are) further complicating matters.

The loli teacher questions the summon by the summon brushes the questions off and falls asleep. The loli teacher decides to have a staff meeting to decide Kazuki's and the summoned girls fate.

Koyuki succeeds to in her contract after Kazuki btw.

After that class still continues and info is shared but Kazuki is distracted so he didn't catch most of it. After school Kazuki is requested to wait in a room until his fate can be decided. He's worried but when the decision finally comes to his relief it's decided that they'll monitor the situation. Furthermore in order to effectively monitor everything it's decided that Kazuki is to be put in the same dorm the student council lives in.

Kaguya's happy that they'll be living together and the loli teacher teases her. Kaguya is flustered but tells the loli teacher that she intends to train Kazuki into a magic swordsman.

With Kazuki's case temporarily settled, Kaguya leads him into the student council dorm. Kazuki's amazed at how big the dorm is. At the same time Lemmy wakes up (Kazuki was carrying her) and needs to go to the bathroom. Kaguya leads her into the bathroom, before leaving she told Kazuki to just get one of the rooms in the second floor.

Kazuki goes to pick a room and is shocked to see Mio.........naked. He quickly closes the door and rushes out. Koyuki then appears and sardonically greets him. Kazuki questions why they're here and it's revealed that rank A students become student council apprentices. They ask why he's here and he reveals his circumstances.

After that the first years plus Kaguya sit down to wait for the VC of the magic side since she's on a quest. She finally arrives and introduces herself as Hikaru. She looks and Kazuki and is amazed that there's a girl even more manly then she is. Kaguya reveals that it's actually a guy causing Hikaru to be shocked and turn shy. Hikaru reveals that she's always been at a all girls school so she doesn't know how to handle boys.

However Hikaru says she'll do her best, she then quickly becomes embarrassed again.

Chapter ends with Hikaru bringing out snacks and drinks for dinner. Kazuki's less then amused at the nutrition value of said snacks but his complaints go unnoticed.

[Kadi]

Le'see...

Originally Posted by Log

Spoiler for spoiler:

Out of curiosity why do you think the dad's competent. Don't really remember the protog's dad doing well.....anything at all this volume. He's only mentioned in passing a couple times.

Spoiler for ~~:

He's a swordsman who thinks how to overcome the deficit in power with summoners without giving up. The only one, apparently. That alone is makes him one of the three most competent adults mentioned. He succeeded in creating such a style, too, and came up with the theory behind that ingenious "ultimate technique", even.

Originally Posted by Log

Spoiler for spoiler:

Hi now, you forget to add the sword side VC to the list of people that didn't suck. You have to admit that he's impressive to fight against magic head on without precog. Takes a lot of GUTS to do that. Oh and also the girl that Kanae taught.

As for the summoners discrimination thing I think that part's more justified. Being a summoner automatically makes you a national treasure in the country's eyes because of how precious the firepower summoners bring are which I imagine is a ego boast to many and gives them the incentive to look down on people. Not only that but their still teens....... with the potential power to open the gates of hell, call upon otherworldly weapons, gain lightning speed, distort space, revive the dead etc. This probably is just a tip in the iceberg given that summoning is noted to make technology obsolete including nukes so we'll probably be seeing city destroying summoning in the future. Of course teenagers with that kind of power and status would be so arrogant.

Swordsman on the other hand are the opposite. Their a dime and a dozen so nope, no special status is granted. Their very weak in terms of destruction, comparing them to summoners is like comparing a tank and a sword. Worst of all they can't fight back even if they wanted to. No one cares about one or two swordsman dying since their easily replaceable. Summoners on the other hand are a limited resource so if a summoner gets hurt due to swordsmans acting out of line we can safely assume that the swordsman that did the deed would be getting heavy punishment. So yeah sure you can use tactics to take down a summoner. But afterwards? I won't be surprised you face capital punishment (Kanae's probably getting off free now because she hasn't really harmed a summoner yet). Most swordsman probably think that it isn't worth trying to force a point and gave up.

Combine all this together and one can see why summoners consider swordsmans useless. Albeit I admit that the books trying to force it to much and the girls are being to ignorant to the ways of a actual fight.

Spoiler for ~~:

Kanae's Nr 2 and 3 didn't completely suck, yeah, but the way the guy is persuaded that he can be good, too, is questionable anyway. "I thought the prez was an exception, but now I've seen another good swordsman. Maybe I can do good, too." is questionable in general and stupid if the "other good swordsman" has the same background as the first. To me, anyway.

And no, the discrimination is not justified. It's too crass. It's like the swordsmen aren't even human. If swordsmen were born differently and everyone was drilled "swordsmen are worthless" from birth, then yes, it would be reasonable. But neither are swordsmen born differently, nor is there such conditioning. There wasn't enough time for such prejudices to root so deeply. Until a few month ago, most of the first year summoners were normal girls (who made some effort to become summoners, yes, but they were still normal).

Actually, right now I'm wondering why anyone not suicidal or desperate would ever agree to become a swordsman, considering how they're treated...

Not to mention that with some thought the general swordsman should be superior to the general summoner in live combat... (summoners who can coolly chant their little spells while a swordsman is whacking away at them are the exception, not the rule)

Originally Posted by Log

*explanation on student council*
Don't see anything wrong here tbh.

Or I'm I being dense here?

Except for the Prez and Vice Prez, who are second years, and the 1st year trainees, the student council is absent. It stands to reason the others are third years and away on internships. It stands to reason the whole student council and not just the presidents is picked on a power-basis, so usually, the WHOLE student council will consist of third years. Who will be away. Who's ever going to do the job they're supposed to do? (If the student council consisted of "the strongest 2nd year students", the fact that the others' absence hasn't been noted and explained yet is a completely new magnitude of writing fail, so I ignored it)

Also, a system where the third years are out of school all the time sounds stupid to me. Just make the school 2 years long and add 1 year of mandatory internships or hands-on training in several areas. But I guess then you'd lose the oh so important "high school lasts 3 years". *sigh*

Yes, maybe everything can be explained, but that something so fundamental has yet to be explained to make sense just screams FAILURE in my eyes.

[blackwhite67]

Sorry Log, but what's VC stand for? Also, isn't Phalanx supposed to be Phenex? I just looked it up and there's no Phalanx in the list of 72 demons.