Dongyun Academy, Magic Department, Underground Tactical Room
The dim yellow light spilled over the tactical table, which was covered with maps and stacked cards. Feng Ke, who was wearing black-framed glasses, stood silently in front of the tactical map. He continuously flipped through the deck simulator in his hand.
Alfi yawned and said, "We've been rehearsing against the model for six rounds straight. Aren't you really going to take a break?"
"No time to rest," replied Feng Ke without looking up. "The opponent is the joint representative team of the Archery and Combat Departments. There's no chance of winning with a single line of response."
"You're not the technique strategist," Canglu interjected indifferently. "You're a tactical madman."
Feng Ke remained calm. "Then you can all keep believing in this madman until we win."
Feng Ke was not a born "warrior," but he was the only person in the Magic Department during its early days who possessed complete tactical literacy and awareness of combat composition. He could simultaneously operate fifty tactical models in his mind, assess the deck's reaction time, predict the opponent's moves, and construct a link between illusions and real combat.He developed this ability through extreme training in the assistant camps of the Mentor Association, where he was pushed to his limits. He knew that magic had to establish a logical foundation composed of the three-in-one principles of Tactical Chains, Deployment Rhythm, and Prediction Modules to become a "combat system" rather than just a "performance skill." Thus, he was the Magic Department's strategist.
The sorcery strategist's job is to "make the impossible possible."
Tactical simulation: The eighth round of the confrontation model is activated. Fengke projects two groups of "imaginary enemies." The archer unit represents: [Illusion Arrow Sniper Support Group]. The combat unit represents: [Fist Breaker Offensive Suppression Group].
Ailfi bitterly smiled when she saw the simulated model of the opponent. "They're prepared to suppress all our sorcery buffer windows."
"Not prepared," Fengke corrected. "They're determined that as soon as we expose a complete deck structure, they'll counter immediately."
"So, we can't 'expose' ourselves.Canglu was taken aback. "Does that mean we won't battle, but instead make them misjudge continuously?"
Fengke slowly nodded. "The first principle of the sorcery strategist is not to suppress the enemy.But to mislead their tactical objectives."
Scene transition: Sorcery Composition Room
In the projection sphere, Fengke activated a magic array diagram numbered RJ-EX04, one of the original frameworks designed by Livia Ains early on. Through deconstruction and research, Fengke reconstructed a new sorcery logic called the [Echo Sorcery Conduit].
Ailfi stared at the magic diagram. "You want each of us to hold a fake card?"
Fengke nodded. "Once the enemy misreads the first card, they will lose the ability to judge your subsequent moves."
Canglu finally understood. "We aren't winning with frontal tactics. We're establishing an advantage through illusionistic guidance, pulling them into a battlefield of our choosing."A glimmer flashed in Fengke's eyes.
"The work of the sorcery strategist is not to win a battle."
"It is to determine which battle can be won."
Character quote — Fengke
"Tactics are not the arrangement of a card deck, nor the stacking of sorceries. Tactics are an art that forces the opponent to make the wrong move."