I got into school for nothing - 142
I got into school for nothing (142)
Lesson 29. The Truth Will Eventually Be Revealed - 2
Stonemason was not the only one within the club to achieve dramatic results.
Kshana, the wielder of an Authority that manipulates sound, had started searching for direction and putting in effort relatively early on.
This week, after exploring the Tower, she had finally succeeded in attacking a monster with her own voice!
“It was truly amazing, I tell you, it was like she had awakened or something.”
“If we had Tikke, we could have filmed it and shown you, but it was just a KWAHHH―! It was seriously awesome, I tell you!”
“We also took some hits, but, ouch! Still, it’s certain that the enemy took much greater damage, yeah!”
Even more than Kshana herself, who had achieved the feat, her party members — in other words, the second-year special admissions students — were boisterously excited.
“So you have to make her a proper dedicated weapon. Not that... wad of paper you made for Senior Stonemason.”
“We know that’s amazing too, but it’s a bit... right?”
Everyone currently in the training room had attached a talisman imbued with Stonemason’s amplification Authority inside their clothes.
The abilities of dozens of people amplified by 10% simultaneously — how amazing was that?
But there was nothing they could do about its rather... peculiar appearance.
Perhaps the reason the second-year seniors were excessively praising Kshana was because they didn’t want to see her flinging talismans around....
Ban Yuwon chuckled lightly, dismissing their worries.
“Don’t worry. That’s just an item for Senior Stonemason, and... actually, I’ve already made a weapon for Senior Kshana.”
“Really?!”
Kshana, who had been quiet until now, raised her voice and reached out her hand to grab Ban Yuwon’s, but realizing the gazes flying at her from the side, she quickly retracted it.
A movement Ban Yuwon wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t paid careful attention.
Indeed—was this the war of nerves between women unfolding beneath the surface? He perfectly understood.
Scary.
“Here it is.”
What Ban Yuwon took out was a megaphone.
Not a megaphone sold on Earth, but one purchased here in Union, where all sorts of magical tools are developed.
Everyone who saw it, their eyes went wide in confusion.
“Huh?”
“A magical tool that amplifies sound, you know what that is, right?”
“I did hear that department stores in Ronica sell things like this. At one point, I even thought if I used it, my ability might get stronger, but of course, you can’t use it inside the Tower.”
“Magical tools break quickly even in dungeons, don’t they?”
“Right.”
Kshana and her peers whispered amongst themselves.
Ban Yuwon, dumbfounded, shook his head.
“I told you, it’s a dedicated weapon for Senior. There’s no way I’d just hand out a magical tool sold in a shop, right?”
Since he had made it by forcefully combining all sorts of fixed concepts he could acquire, such as amplification, sound waves, and concentration, its performance could be expected, even if it wasn’t quite on the level of his familiars.
More than anything, if they knew the ability of the core concept he had painstakingly synthesized, they wouldn’t dare use the term ‘magical tool’.
Hearing those words, Kshana’s ears perked up.
“Then... then perhaps?”
“It’s an artifact. Check it out.”
“An artifact... Eek!”
Kshana meekly accepted it, then immediately her eyes widened.
There was no way she could check concepts like Ban Yuwon; she probably confirmed the item’s information with the help of the status window.
“H-how did you make this?! If I have this, will targeting also become possible?”
“If you practice with this, someday you’ll be able to control it even without it. And it needs to be that way.”
“Thank you so much, to do this much for me...! Ah, but.”
As she checked the item information window, Kshana, whose eyes were sparkling brightly, tilted her head after discovering something.
“What’s this hidden option here?”
“Ah—that, it was necessary to make this a proper artifact, but it’s a bit dangerous, so I slightly sealed it.”
To be more precise, it was because the mutated concept had gone berserk, so he hastily applied a soul flame to exert control, but he couldn’t explain every detail.
‘I didn’t know such a unique concept would be born from combining Alarm, Diva, and Demonic Spirit.’
This was all thanks to the diligent work of the soul flame and the mutant Authority!
Perhaps Ban Yuwon’s prior knowledge of monsters appearing in Greek mythology and the words born from their origins might have had an influence....
Well, to put it simply in one word.
Inside that megaphone, a Siren lives.
“When Senior becomes strong enough to handle it, I’ll release the seal then.”
“Understood, I’ll work hard! Truly, a junior as reliable as you is unlike any other....”
“Yuwon.”
Kshana’s eyes sparkled brightly, realizing that Ban Yuwon had truly put thought into making a dedicated weapon for her, but at that moment, Rucell naturally cut in and said.
“You said you’d be focusing on individual training starting today, didn’t you?”
“Ah—that’s right. I’ve checked everything I needed to by now. You won’t see me often until week 13, when the final exam preparation period begins. Even without me, train hard. Especially Senior Stonemason.”
“Whyyyy?”
“Why? Do it with us here!”
The seniors reacted intensely to Ban Yuwon’s declaration.
However, he resolutely shook his head.
“I also have something I need to train intensively for. And rest assured, Tikke will steadily continue filming.”
“Intensive training?”
“Yes.”
Ban Yuwon nodded seriously in response.
Of course, there was the swordsmanship that he had only just laid the groundwork for and could never say was complete.
The martial art to wield that swordsmanship... in other words, the task of creating the perfect content to fill the vessel, was the challenge now given to him.
* * *
After the Union Journey Club had perfectly settled in, and after providing appropriate support to Kshana and several other seniors, Ban Yuwon began his personal training.
Dokgo Yeon also left him to do as he pleased, without interfering.
Seeing that he had completed his swordsmanship, she realized that he had already firmly established the direction of Hyunsingong.
She knew very well that at a time like this, even clumsy interference would not yield good results.
Therefore, from now on, it was entirely Ban Yuwon’s domain.
‘Hyunsingong is already a sufficiently excellent martial art. Indeed, Hyungi amplifies the power of almost all concepts, and its compatibility with my Authority is excellent.’
Ban Yuwon was not a fool.
He knew very well how much potential the Hyunsingong that Dokgo Yeon had casually imbued him with actually held.
Yet, why was Hyunsingong called a foundational art?
It was a martial art that simultaneously developed inner strength and the physical body, but.
Fundamentally, it was because Hyunsingong was a martial art that ‘could become anything.’
‘Dokgo Yeon evolved Hyunsingong and came to wield death. But I am different. What I need is the energy itself that can become anything.’
Wouldn’t that, indeed, be the appropriate content to fill the vessel called Giwon Sword?
That is why Ban Yuwon must thoroughly investigate the principles of Hyunsingong.
He must thoroughly dissect everything about Hyungi: how it is created and how it is emitted.
At the end of that, by maximizing the characteristics of Hyungi, he must create an energy that can instantly create the changes he desires at any time, an energy that can be manifested more powerfully.
‘If it happened instantly just by wishing it, there’d be no need to suffer, though.’
Hyungi, according to the principles of Hyunsingong, was rapidly circulating within his body, but no matter how much he repeated this, he wouldn’t learn what he didn’t already know.
So Ban Yuwon quickly gave up on things like meditation, and instead, as he unfolded the Giwon Sword style and simultaneously operated Hyunsingong, he repeatedly created countless concepts he desired.
By manifesting his Authority with Hyungi, repeatedly filling and emptying the vessel of Giwon Sword, he increased the perfection of his swordsmanship and began to expand the possibilities of Hyungi.
[The depth of the physical body, stimulated by Hyungi, decreases to 32. The concept of the physical body is undergoing change.]
[Due to the cultivation of Hyunsingong, most negative concepts within the body have disappeared. All concepts gain room for positive development.]
[The depth of Hyunsingong becomes 210, and the depth of Hyungi becomes 425. Hyunsingong shows signs of change.]
[The depth of swordsmanship becomes 280. The concept of higher-tier swordsmanship is being established.]
And this was quite effective.
“Well, if you don’t work smart, your body suffers, doesn’t it....”
Tuesday lunchtime.
Having skipped meals to focus on training, and after swinging his sword in the Class 11 training room, Ban Yuwon, who had achieved decent results, muttered with a hint of self-mockery.
“No one creates martial arts with mere imagination. You’re doing well.”
.......
He didn’t even know when she had come beside him.
Seeing Dokgo Yeon subtly approach and encourage him, Ban Yuwon only blinked silently, at which she took half a step back and made a disgusted expression.
No, she came first, so what was with that attitude?
“What’s wrong? Your gaze is unpleasant.”
“No, thank you. I’ll try my best.”
Ban Yuwon, who responded while hiding his true feelings, checked the time and saw that it was already time for the afternoon lecture to begin.
‘Babylon and Constellations’ — that was precisely the lecture Professor Zenon was in charge of.
“You came because lunchtime was over?”
“Of course. What else would there be?”
“Nothing. Let’s go, go.”
Ban Yuwon was regretful to break the flow of his smooth training, and though he licked his lips, he didn’t dare even think of skipping class.
In a sense, it was a time when he could achieve greater progress than just swinging his sword alone.
“......Haa.”
Retracting his sword, Ban Yuwon extracted and annihilated all concepts of sweat, including its detailed concepts of foul odor and filth, from himself.
Without needing to shower or wash his face, Ban Yuwon, who had returned to a fresh state in an instant, told her to hurry up and come, then Dokgo Yeon stared blankly at him as he walked ahead.
‘As expected, his understanding of his own Authority has deepened.’
Dokgo Yeon, recalling his recent action, leisurely nodded her head.
She had known it ever since he manipulated concepts to make ramen in the spaceship when they left for special activities, but after he succeeded in defeating the Orc Lord and establishing the framework of swordsmanship derived from his Authority, he had grown explosively.
‘Ban Yuwon, you are.......’
As he was born with a unique Authority that no one could dare imitate, the more proficient Ban Yuwon became with it, the more brilliantly his skill grew.
Perhaps someday soon, he might surpass her.
No, it was merely a matter of time; he would certainly become stronger than her someday.
‘If that truly happens.......’
Every time she saw Ban Yuwon like that, Dokgo Yeon felt a certain impulse.
Their relationship, she had concluded, began and would end in Union, but if it were him, perhaps....
“Dokgo Yeon, why are you suddenly spaced out?”
Ban Yuwon looked back at her and tilted his head.
Dokgo Yeon’s breathing stopped for a moment, then returned to normal.
“No, it’s nothing. ......Let’s go.”
No.
She shook her head, casting off the impulse.
She could not repeat the foolish mistakes of her ancestors herself.
This was, after all, a greed for outstanding talent.
For him, receiving help to climb the Tower of Babel was enough.
Never again should another person be brought into her dimension.
* * *
“Starting today, we will officially begin sparring among students.”
Zenon, standing on the podium, touched an orb to activate a barrier, then declared in his usual cool and detached voice.
“I believe you’ve completed your adaptation last week. All evaluations for this semester will be conducted through mock Constellation duels, so everyone, please participate diligently. The bracket has been drawn up here. Remember that the criteria for evaluation will be how you create and handle the power of Constellations, rather than wins or losses.”
Within the space created by the orb, all students would wield powerful forces.
As there was a limit to magic power, they couldn’t do anything just by imagining it, but the gaps that originally existed between students would be significantly narrowed.
If that happened, what would be important?
It was precisely how efficiently one could create an Authority that worked with limited magic power.
‘It was a bit different from the skills accumulated until now; they were literally going to assess the ability to handle the power of Constellations.’
Perhaps it was just his imagination, but he felt like his eyes had been meeting Zenon’s continuously since earlier.
Whatever Zenon was expecting from him, Ban Yuwon would just move according to his own will.
‘They said wins and losses don’t matter. If I can do anything, then creating an energy that surpasses Hyungi within this space should also be possible.’
Since final exams would be held in week 14, including this week, which was week 10, there were a total of four opportunities to enter the orb’s space.
Ban Yuwon vowed that he would definitely complete his martial art within that time.
“I never imagined my first-round opponent would be you....... Long time no see, junior.”
“......Senior Ketra.”
No, or perhaps he might not be able to.
Comments