Novels online

I got into school for nothing - 117

I got into school for nothing (117)

Lesson 24. Where is there a freshman like you? - 5

Wednesday, second period: the second session of the Aura Combat Studies lecture.

Last week, after provoking Dokgo Yeon and subsequently being attacked by Lusein Rown-Palomer Aquinas Ortima—whom he had mistakenly believed to be an ally—Lyu Cheolmyeong learned his lesson and implemented a strategy of narrowing his target.

Naturally, that target was Ban Yuwon.

"You're exposing videos about the Academy to the external network, aren't you? No one has the right to restrict a student's free activities. However, if you're going to step forward claiming to represent the Academy, you should at least possess the minimum qualifications. Therefore, starting today, I will personally pair with student Ban Yuwon to conduct intensive training."

Oh, what a notion—it sounded forced, yet quite plausible.

To Ban Yuwon, who was contemplating this, Lyu Cheolmyeong spoke with an expression that seemed to declare, "I won't miss my chance this time."

"Rejoice, student Ban Yuwon. It is not in my nature to personally tutor a student from a lower-ranked dimension."

Ban Yuwon chuckled in response, then readily stepped onto the stage Lyu Cheolmyeong desired.

"All other students are to observe closely. For Aura Combat Studies cannot truly be mastered without experiencing aura, after all."

From what he heard, Lyu Cheolmyeong's Aura Combat Studies had always been infamous.

He would summon the slowest student, just as he had now, make them the subject of special training, and then, under the pretext of making them "feel aura," beat them to a pulp.

And as for the other students, he would claim it was most effective to feel aura up close, forcing them to surround and watch, as if observing a monkey in a zoo.

With the power of the magic circle cast around this space, minor injuries could be healed instantly. And since he typically chose students with no backing and weak mana to beat, Lyu Cheolmyeong had no reason to fear any repercussions.

More than anything, usually—everyone participating in the lecture, except for that one student, would side with him and corner the victim.

"This is, after all, an educational session, and you, among others, are particularly fortunate to have received the chance to be personally tutored in swordsmanship by Lyu Cheolmyeong"—they would say.

'I was actually lucky.'

Ban Yuwon faced Lyu Cheolmyeong, who was holding a wooden greatsword, and truly thought so.

No matter how much they might claim his level was low, that merely referred to the shallow depth of the swordsmanship Lyu Cheolmyeong had mastered. The sheer weight of the years he had spent practicing the sword was something no one could easily disregard.

His profound history, his countless accumulated experiences.

How much could he learn by observing such things from the closest proximity, especially when they were displayed so boastfully and proudly?

"This is a spar to improve your swordsmanship, so magic will be prohibited."

"Understood. From now on, I'll only use my sword."

When Ban Yuwon responded with a slight smile, Lyu Cheolmyeong let out a scoff and said.

"I hold the control of this space, student Ban Yuwon. And if I, as such, have prohibited magic, it means magic can no longer be used within this area. So, even if you try to use magic during this training, it will be useless."

"Yes, I had no intention of using it from the start. Why would I use magic when I have the opportunity to be personally tutored in swordsmanship by Professor Lyu Cheolmyeong?"

A sly smile.

Lyu Cheolmyeong couldn't shake the unsettling feeling from Ban Yuwon's confident response, as the student didn't look like someone about to be thoroughly beaten by him.

However, it was true that he held control of this space, and that he could prevent magic from being cast if he wished. He wasn't some low-class thug, and it wouldn't do to slap Ban Yuwon's cheek just because his smiling face was annoying. So, he said nothing more and aimed his wooden sword at Ban Yuwon.

Ban Yuwon watched Lyu Cheolmyeong, who was manifesting a crimson aura, and sneered inwardly.

'The magic professors who gave you control of this space are on my side, you idiot.'

Lyu Cheolmyeong, who had no profound knowledge of magic, would never understand, even if he died and came back to life.

That the defensive magic Ban Yuwon had displayed in the very first session was merely a visibly obvious means to bait Lyu Cheolmyeong.

The 'real' one was a defensive spell that Lyu Cheolmyeong would never perceive, one that restored any damage inflicted on the body back to the entire space itself.

And that it had been applied to all Rebellion members from the moment they entered this place....

With even higher administrative authority than Lyu Cheolmyeong, of course.

"Let's begin. Don't forget to feel the aura with your soul!"

—Wham, thud-thump!

As expected, the training was one-sided.

Even if it was just a wooden sword, when imbued with aura, it became a deadly weapon. Thus, Lyu Cheolmyeong removed the killing intent from his aura, leaving only striking power.

So Ban Yuwon didn't die from sword slashes... but instead, he was thoroughly beaten all over his body. The other Rebellion members, watching the merciless thrashing, found it difficult to suppress their killing intent toward Lyu Cheolmyeong.

"That worm..."

Dokgo Yeon placed her hand on the scabbard of her short sword, gritting her teeth and muttering.

As Light placed his hand on top of hers and calmed her.

"Calm down. Ban said he'd be fine. And he's actually enduring it well."

"I know. That he's strong enough not to fall for the schemes of such an idiot. But even if it doesn't hurt, getting slapped shouldn't feel good."

"Dokgo Yeon, you..."

Seeing Dokgo Yeon's hand trembling slightly on the scabbard, As Light instinctively realized.

"You truly consider Ban a precious friend...!"

"...What is it, Light? Are you perhaps obsessed with the word 'friend' lately?"

"Master...!"

Even as As Light and Dokgo Yeon engaged in what was starting to feel like friendly banter, Rucell stared intently at Ban Yuwon, who was slowly moving his body while being struck by Lyu Cheolmyeong's wooden sword. RA_n0:BEs

In her eyes, Ban Yuwon's reaction speed to Lyu Cheolmyeong's movements was slowly increasing.

'If this space is used correctly, its efficiency as a training ground would be incomparably higher than the training rooms in the Academy annex. Because it's fine no matter how much you get hit!'

Before the lecture began, Ban Yuwon had said this to Rucell, who had been planning a boycott, thinking she would inevitably clash with Lyu Cheolmyeong again, assuring her that he would take all the aggro.

'The stronger the enemy, the greater the damage, the faster my abilities will grow. And to think I can return all this damage back to the space itself... If I don't use such an expensive facility now, when will I ever use it?'

Needless to say, this facility was incredibly expensive to both install and maintain.

That was also why magic couldn't be applied to all training rooms.

So Ban Yuwon had laughed, saying he was monopolizing the advantages as long as he attended this lecture, but Rucell still felt uneasy.

Yet... as she watched Ban Yuwon's reactions truly improve in real-time, it seemed his words were indeed true.

"Hmm?"

Of course, around that time, Lyu Cheolmyeong also noticed something strange.

Even though he was controlling his power, Ban Yuwon, who should have collapsed long ago, was still standing.

But the striking sensation was clear, and Ban Yuwon's painful expression was genuine. This time, he simply couldn't believe Ban Yuwon was using any defensive magic.

If so, it meant Ban Yuwon was truly just enduring the pain this time.

'His endurance is unbelievably good. Well, if you're weak, at least you should have good endurance.'

But it was strange.

When punishing a student he disliked, he felt none of his usual sadistic pleasure.

Moreover, gradually... strangely, Ban Yuwon seemed to be reacting as if he was gradually reading his movements.

That couldn't be.

What was the difference in years between him and Ban Yuwon?

That worm, reading my movements?

'Impossible.'

He must have been hit so much that his body was losing strength, making his movements erratic, and that simply looked like he was coincidentally dodging his sword.

But even if it was a misunderstanding, this wasn't fun anymore.

His indignation grew at the opponent's refusal to fall. Lyu Cheolmyeong not only made his movements faster but also amplified the aura imbued in his sword.

—Vwoom

At Lyu Cheolmyeong's level, it became possible to imbue aura with various intentions.

For instance, emphasizing cutting power, or, conversely, completely removing it and increasing impact instead.

While the damage remained the same, he could make the target feel terrible pain the moment it struck.

Because aura was the power of the soul, its energy was completely separate from the physical body, granting it the power to defy all laws of physics.

Therefore, if one could properly wield aura, it was akin to awakening to omnipotence!

'I'll crush him as painfully as possible. I'll make sure he can never again show his face insolently before me!'

Seeing the aura burning more ominously and intensely, the students gasped.

A truly bleak and terrifying will transmitted from the aura!

Even students who couldn't wield aura could still perceive that much.

On the other hand, Dokgo Yeon, facing that aura, felt a sudden unease seeing Ban Yuwon's eyes gleam even brighter.

"Surely not..."

"Why, why? Can he really not endure that? Should I go out there? I-I could get hit instead for B-Ban...!"

"Where did the person who told me to calm down just now go? No, that's not it. I'm not worried about Ban Yuwon, right now, I'm..."

Ban Yuwon.

He felt the aura intensely battering his body deeply with all the authorities he possessed, and thought.

He finally succeeded in understanding Dokgo Yeon's words—that aura was the 'purification of internal power'—after experiencing aura hundreds, thousands of times with his own body.

'Aura is just like martial arts.'

Compressing internal power to create a solid vessel of 'ki', and imbuing it with a unique intention.

That was why everyone's aura was different, and it also varied depending on the martial arts they had mastered.

He also understood why there was no need to rush in mastering aura.

As one's internal power that could be handled at once increased, aura would naturally be mastered as one strove to wield that power more efficiently. Because what was more important was one's own martial path and will, which would be contained within it.

'Because I haven't yet found my own sword.'

The reason Lyu Cheolmyeong's aura was said to be incomplete was because the intention contained within his vast vessel of 'ki' was crude.

Aura was not something that could be expressed by abstract terms like 'power of the soul', but rather one of the martial stages for those who had truly understood the 'sword' through long years of diligent study.

'But I learned something good from this man, too.'

How to compress 'ki'.

How to handle it more easily.

It was merely knowledge that skimmed the surface of aura manipulation techniques, but for now, it was more effective than anything else.

Ban Yuwon had no intention of completing his martial path right here.

"Do you feel the aura? Do you feel it, student Ban Yuwon?"

Because his desire to mess with this foolishly ignorant and despicable perverted old man was too great.

"Uh... yes."

"...What did you say?"

Thanks to being thoroughly beaten by Lyu Cheolmyeong, he decided to display the aura whose form he had perfected.

—Vwoom

"...Aura?"

"Isn't that aura?"

"Black aura... It's aura! That's aura, I tell you!"

The students who confirmed the aura surging from Ban Yuwon's sword began to gape and chatter.

Even Special Class students who usually disregarded Ban Yuwon, seeing him display aura—the exclusive domain of high-level swordsmen—right before their eyes, found it impossible to grit their teeth and pretend not to notice.

"My goodness! How can a first-year wield aura...!"

"He's not even from Murim. It's impossible! It's impossible, but...!"

"I-I heard Dokgo Yeon taught him. Damn it, aura!"

It seemed the word 'aura' held quite significant meaning for swordsmen.

Ban Yuwon burst out laughing inwardly, and just like the chaotic students, he stopped swinging his sword and respectfully bowed to Lyu Cheolmyeong, who was now staring blankly at him.

"Thank you very much, Professor Lyu Cheolmyeong. Thanks to you, I was able to comprehend aura, a concept I didn't even know, in such a short time!"

"Ah, no, I..."

He must have known.

If being thrashed by aura could awaken one to aura, then all the students in this Academy would have been able to wield aura.

There were only two ways to explain this phenomenon now.

First, the possibility that Ban Yuwon had been able to wield aura all along.

Second, that Ban Yuwon was truly an absurd genius, and had observed Lyu Cheolmyeong's aura manipulation and learned it in that brief moment.

Either way, it was ridiculous.

In either case, it was something that should not have happened to a worm from a lower-ranked dimension with no mana.

But Lyu Cheolmyeong.

Still having enough reason left to suppress an impulsive shout, he held it in.

"Congratulations on your awakening of aura... Student Ban Yuwon."

And offered congratulations he didn't mean.

"I'm a little tired from drawing out my aura. May I end the training here and go rest?"

"...Alright."

Lyu Cheolmyeong nodded, his expression looking as if his soul had been sucked dry.

Meanwhile, Ban Yuwon, not forgetting to subtly express his gratitude with a faint smile until the very end, respectfully bowed and returned to his spot.

"...Erase it."

Then Dokgo Yeon glared at Ban Yuwon, pouting as if staring at someone who had given her cocoa only to snatch it away.

"I mean, erase the very memory of having learned such a pathetic aura from your brain!"

"Hey, hey, wait a minute. Hitting me doesn't make memories disappear, hey! Wait!"

"Erase it, erase it! I can't tolerate something like that, erase it!"

Dokgo Yeon started hitting Ban Yuwon's head repeatedly with her fists.

As Light watched, blinking his eyes, he then quietly turned and asked Rucell.

"Rucell, what should I call that?"

"Disciple possessiveness."

At Rucell's brief assessment, As Light instinctively understood and nodded.

Lyu Cheolmyeong had not intended it in the slightest, but this was the moment he had succeeded in dealing the greatest blow to Dokgo Yeon since taking over this lecture.