this infinite world

"The first type of magical girl is the 'magical girl' in the traditional sense."

Even though they were in the absolutely safe Main God Square, Tom stood ramrod straight with his hands behind his back, looking like a professor standing on a podium, while the Arctic team members whispered and exchanged glances within the Mind Chains.

The young man's voice carried the rigor of an academic report, as if he were giving a lecture. He solemnly explained to the audience: "This faction is known for its diverse magical combat system, from classic light cannon bombardment to gorgeous transformation systems and complex summoning spells... Its tactical diversity far exceeds what ordinary people can imagine."

"First of all, it's a general term, namely magical girls with superpowers. These magical girls either have strong powers from birth, or accidentally made a contract with a familiar, or for some other reason... In short, they may have been ordinary or extraordinary, but they have gained superhuman powers to fight against enemies. This is the most well-known type of magical girl."

"Secondly, there are magical girls who use long-range artillery."

"Take Nanoha Takamachi as an example. This type of magical girl embodies the classic paradigm of aerial combat mages, boasting high mobility and powerful firepower, belonging to the long-range attack type. Whether it's wide-area saturation bombing or precision-guided firing, she can deliver firepower while maintaining ultra-high-speed mobility. At the same time, she has good compatibility with modern and near-future technologies, and can use magic cannons and melee weapons that combine technology and magic, using artillery warfare and rapid-fire suppression as attack methods..."

"Secondly, there are magical girls who use summoned beasts as their fighting force."

"For example, Hayate Yagami, although she was disabled in both legs at the beginning, was able to unleash powerful combat abilities by summoning familiars. At the same time, her main body is not necessarily powerless, because magical girls in this system can also fight through methods such as 'possession' and 'descent'... However, in most cases, the summoned familiars are enough to solve most problems."

"Next, there are magical girls of the sealing and purification type. These magical girls mostly exist as support. They can heal their teammates' injuries, share their pain, find weaknesses, build barriers, and so on. Even without being on the front line, they can play an extremely powerful supporting role in the team and contribute to their teammates."

"Next, there are magical girls who fight using their own souls. These magical girls and witches are two sides of the same coin; once they fall, they will transform into witches. It's also a narrative style where the enemy and the ally share the same origin..."

"...I never knew there were so many kinds of magical girls."

Listening intently to Tom's eloquent explanation, Jenny couldn't help but sigh within the mental chains, "So it turns out that before I only watched that one magical girl anime, so my perspective was narrow and I couldn't understand the profoundness of this exchange..."

"No, don't believe it. Besides, it's getting weirder and weirder. The enemy and ally are from the same source, and they fight using their own souls... It sounds like something out of a tokusatsu drama!" Ares complained.

"You've seen it too?" Zhang Heng turned around in surprise. "I thought I was the only one who had seen it. I didn't know that a nobleman like Ares would watch this?"

"Who says nobles can't look at these things?" Ares rubbed his forehead, and when he realized it was Zhang Heng who had spoken, his already furrowed brows deepened even more. "No, I shouldn't have spoken, and I have a feeling that what Tom is going to say next is going to get even stranger..."

"Then, there are also melee magical girls specializing in martial arts."

As expected, Tom's next words perfectly matched Ares's guess. The young man clenched his right fist seriously, his knuckles making a crisp sound: "This type of magical girl doesn't use magical attacks. Instead, like in superhero anime, she pursues ultimate physical combat skills, fighting hand-to-hand. She completely internalizes magic power, strengthening her physical functions. Every strike contains unimaginable destructive power..." "...A hand-to-hand combat magical girl who fights with fists and feet? Seriously?"

If Ares could barely accept the definition of a magical girl before, what Tom said now was beyond his comprehension: "This is neither magical nor girly at all! Is Tom really talking about a proper magical girl? She's just a fighter in 'girl's' skin!"

"I like this kind of magical girl."

But J, who subconsciously assumed a fighting stance on the other side and whose fists collided with a dull thud, bluntly stated: "A real fight should be this thrilling and exciting. A real man should deliver a punch that hits the flesh, and a real woman should too."

"When they stepped onto the battlefield and decided to fight those monsters, it proved that they were a group of true warriors. This has nothing to do with gender, but only with courage and will."

"...You should rein in this kind of thinking. Although what you said is perfectly reasonable, it is clearly out of touch with reality."

Ares clutched his forehead in anguish, his voice, filled with despair, echoing through the Mind Chains: "This classification is going to rip the concept of 'magical girl' out of proportion... If we're really going to follow this classification, you might as well just say Wonder Woman is a magical girl too."

"Strictly speaking, Wonder Woman is indeed a type of magical girl."

Surprisingly, Chu Hao suddenly interrupted the conversation, and the young man added, "Because searching for magical girls in the God's exchange list does indeed yield Wonder Woman's Amazon bloodline for exchange... Perhaps this can be considered a derivative variant of the 'magical girl' bloodline."

"Now even DC is going to be included in the magical girl universe."

Ares rolled his eyes and leaned back weakly: "She's not a girl at all. Although the magic might be very magical, her age is way over the limit..."

Regardless of the fact that the Mind Chains had turned into a吐槽大会 (a satirical commentary session) about magical girls, at least on the surface, Tom continued talking. He then launched into a long, detailed explanation of magical girl types, including transformation-type, combat-type, non-combat-type, and so on, even producing various documents to bolster his persuasiveness… Only at the very end did the young man look at Jenny, whose eyes had turned into mosquito coils, and solemnly ask—

“Then, Jenny…”

"What kind of magical girl do you want to become?" (End of Chapter)