I got into school for nothing - Chapter 172
I got into school for nothing (172)
Lesson 34. Free Subjugation - 7
[Anneri – Dokgo Yeon secured, Rucell confirmed safe]
“Hoo.”
Ban Yuwon let out a sigh of relief at Anneri’s urgent notification that flashed across his mirror.
The mercenary he had called, just in case, had done her job.
He had contacted Anneri Dedota right after becoming certain that Lyu Cheolmyeong would intervene in this special activity.
Though Anneri’s playful demeanor didn’t inspire much trust, Professor Yumina’s judgment in choosing her as a mercenary was reliable.
Of course, relying on a mercenary for a special activity as an academy student wouldn't earn him a good evaluation.
This was no time to be worrying about points, and surely the faculty wouldn't deduct points if they understood the circumstances.
‘I’ll just make sure Lyu Cheolmyeong is finished, and then bring his head back.’
He wasn’t confident he could defeat Lyu Cheolmyeong in a head-on battle.
But it was something he had to do, even without confidence.
Wasn’t that why he had prepared so diligently?
[Mira – Just a little longer, we’ll be there soon.]
While checking Anneri's message, he also saw Mira's interim report that had flown in at the same time.
He hoped it was a joke, but considering her personality, which was prone to going berserk in many ways, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.
[Me – No, how can you finish a two-week special activity in a single day? Don’t overdo it, take your time.]
[Mira – It’s almost over. Really, just a little longer.]
[Me – ......]
He was wrong. Once Mira set her mind on something, she reached a level of self-hypnosis where nothing Ban Yuwon said would matter.
She was with the Student Council President, Shati, so he could only hope Shati would somehow keep her in check.
[Me – Don’t overdo it.]
[Mira – I love you too.]
Is she even speaking human language?
Ban Yuwon sighed, closed his mirror, and surveyed the scene.
After the fierce but brief battle, all that remained were the corpses of four men, seemingly hired by Lyu Cheolmyeong.
He searched their pockets, hoping to find some evidence, but found nothing.
Even the greatsword the warrior carried showed no trace of Lyu Cheolmyeong, unlike the Relics he had acquired before.
“They’re clearly professionals at this kind of work.”
—To leave a full professor who operates such a private organization outside the school unpunished... Chancellor, there’s a limit to negligence.
“The Chancellor’s way of thinking is different from ours. He believes that even if professors torment students, only those who overcome it and survive deserve to attend the academy.”
—Unforgivable....
It was clear they belonged to a specific organization—but a secret organization wouldn’t carry identifying marks.
In the end, Ban Yuwon finished by extracting all of their concepts.
[You have gained Life 20, Hyungi 15, Soul 8, Giwon Sword 1, Judgment 20.]
“It truly feels disgusting, but facing humans definitely leads to faster growth.”
Once his Life surpassed 700, it became incredibly difficult to raise it further. Yet, the Life extracted from these humans (or other intelligent species), who weren't even particularly strong compared to monsters of a similar level, increased his depth by 20.
It was the same for Hyungi and other concepts.
The depth of Judgment had also increased significantly for the first time in a while. Only then did Ban Yuwon realize he hadn't effectively utilized this concept in the battle.
“My Myriad Poison Eye had already discerned these guys were villains... Am I an idiot?”
—Yes, you are. Honestly, you could have handled it just with my Starlight-enchanted Stormrain Swords, but you got carried away by the urge to show off your mechanical vassal’s fusion, didn’t you?
“That’s true.”
Of course, it wasn't purely out of a desire to show off his robot.
Facing numerous enemies whose abilities he didn't know, and who possessed higher Levels (Life) than him, he couldn't afford to hesitate or consider other options, so he immediately deployed Abel, a safe and powerful weapon.
They were certainly suitable opponents for Abel’s test run, and thanks to learning the ropes while piloting Abel directly, he would probably be able to control it more skillfully and for longer periods in the future—but it was still a bit of a waste to use such a weapon against these guys.
For all the powerful might it displayed in short bursts, Abel had a clear drawback: a ‘recharge time’.
“Lilyth, have you started recharging?”
[It should be perfectly charged in about 2 hours, Master.]
“2 hours... Understood, you rest.”
If the enemies truly intended to finish things before the day was over... then Lyu Cheolmyeong would likely be Abel’s next opponent.
Until then, he had no choice but to endure with what he had.
His greatest desire was to personally confirm Rucell’s and Dokgo Yeon’s safety with his own eyes, but he couldn’t.
—Rustle, rustle, rustle
—AwooOOOOOOO
“Tsk, they’re coming right away, as expected.”
The trees in the forest shivered in the fierce wind, their leaves rustling against each other.
Through the rustling, howls echoed from beasts tearing through the forest, tormenting the trees as they rushed forth.
The beast-kin, having somehow learned that all the Forest Worms were gone (Lyu Cheolmyeong's side likely leaked the information), were clearly charging, thinking this was their chance.
Ban Yuwon couldn't stop them all by himself, but he had to filter out as many as possible here.
“I sent the signal a while ago, but when is Slothy going to get here?”
“I’m here.”
The moment he, out of exasperation, mumbled to himself, someone landed softly behind him and replied coolly.
Ban Yuwon flinched and turned around to see a wild beauty standing there, having entered perfect combat mode, her eyes, perhaps due to the change, looking sharper at the corners.
“Slothy? Your expression...”
“Gear Second, Berserker――!”
“Alright, I’ve pretty much figured out why your expression changed, so you don’t need to explain further.”
Perhaps the degree to which a Nataehu’s combat mode activated depended on the state of the forest they were protecting.
That meant the Wolf Fang Tribe’s situation was that serious.
Her flowing golden hair, combined with her clearly altered expression, made her seem incredibly beautiful.
“You’re going to plant trees, right?”
“All of them might be too much. I was thinking of planting as many as possible and then funneling their movements in one direction.”
“Then let’s start immediately.”
As she unleashed her abilities as a Nataehu, ruler of the forest, generating magic, her gaze suddenly fell upon the enormous, wriggling hole of Forest Worms. Realizing its true nature, she blinked in wide-eyed surprise.
“Can we just leave that like that?”
“It’ll be finished soon. It’s our trump card, so look forward to it.”
The tree-planting operation was far simpler than Ban Yuwon had anticipated.
First, Slothy swiftly threw the branches she had prepared, sticking them into the ground, and then Ban Yuwon simply had to inject a certain amount of the concept of 'tree' into them.
After that, Slothy began chanting a specific spell, and the branches rapidly grew, reaching the size of the original forest trees in merely three seconds.
“Are you perhaps some kind of beast-kin World Tree?”
“When I plant trees alone, the speed is one-tenth, and their strength is much weaker. I can’t do many at once either. Still, our child will be the best Nataehu.”
The fact that she was already certain Ban Yuwon and she would have a child deeply bothered him, but there was nothing to fault in her actual work.
Knowing that beast-kin were rushing in from all directions, Ban Yuwon, instead of reacting to her joke, moved his body quickly.
Frantically scattering branches, injecting concepts, and chanting spells to make them grow, he repeated this process until, before he knew it, about three-quarters of the empty clearing in the forest was once again filled with sturdy trees.
“They’ve noticed.”
Slothy, her expression still sharp, surveyed the trees outside their territory and smiled triumphantly.
Among the abilities of a Nataehu responsible for the beast-kin tribe's forest, the most crucial element was the ability to protect their territory, but next in importance was the ability to interfere with trees outside their domain.
Slothy’s proficiency in that ability was also unrivaled.
“From now on, I’ll guide their movements just as you said.”
“How?”
“By limiting the information transmitted about areas not yet filled with trees. To deceive the enemy Nataehu.”
Indeed, while in reality more areas were empty, she intended to use her ability to restrict the information conveyed to trees in other areas, thereby manipulating their movements.
“You can’t fool all of them.”
“Because we can’t face all of them. It’s fine, our tribe is strong.”
They continued their tree-planting work even as they conversed.
But just as the enemies were expected to cross the forest's boundary, the Godoek ritual was finally complete.
—Yuwon, it’s done!
“Okay, we’ve won!”
The Godoek, completed by all those Forest Worms sacrificing their lives.
At first, he thought the material limitations would prevent it from containing many concepts, but that was before it was incorporated into the Godoek ritual. Now, the components of the hand drill itself had been replaced by the bodies and magic of the Forest Worms.
No—it should be seen as a new material, transcending into completion, imbued with terrible curses and venom through the Godoek ritual.
Ban Yuwon picked up the dark purplish hand drill, which outwardly looked as if it were carved from obsidian and amethyst, and let out a satisfied sigh.
[You have successfully interfered with the curse ritual, seized it, and ultimately changed the ritual's intent to create a high-grade artifact. The depth of 'Curse' has reached 200.]
If this weren't such a critical moment, he might have been ecstatic, leaping with joy at the depth of 'Curse' increasing by 80 in a single go.
But as it was a result created by drawing in all the insects living on an entire planet, this level of outcome was only natural.
—It certainly was completed exactly as you intended... So, can you use this now?
“Why do beast-kin fear Forest Worms? It’s because those guys get weaker underground.”
—Is that how it works?
“Watch and see.”
The completed artifact’s name was [Abyss].
As for why it was called Abyss, its performance would naturally reveal the answer.
Ban Yuwon smiled in satisfaction and tossed it onto the ground.
Then, as if alive, it wriggled, dug into the earth, and soon disappeared from sight.
As it contained a fragment of Ban Yuwon’s soul, it was only natural for it to move on its own.
“Was it a bug, by any chance?”
“Not exactly. Anyway, I’m heading to the clearing. You protect the forest.”
“I want to go with you.”
“Block the enemies invading the forest as much as possible. I’ll stop the rest.”
There was no point in Slothy, who controlled trees, leaving the forest.
Ban Yuwon waved to Slothy, who wore a disappointed expression, then kicked off the ground.
Slothy’s diversion was successful; since lush trees were blocking most of the remaining areas anyway, almost 90% of the enemies were headed for the empty clearing.
“Frost Fortress.”
The moment he exited the forest, Frost Fortress, obeying Ban Yuwon’s command, stretched its body and stood firm, blocking the forest path leading towards the Wolf Fang Tribe’s territory.
As it raised its shield and struck the ground, a tall wall of ice surged up, as if drawing a boundary line.
—They’re coming.
“Yes, I can see them too.”
One after another, beast-kin emerged from the forest, boldly stepping onto the bare ground where trees had been uprooted, and charging towards him.
The fact that beast-kin, who usually feared Forest Worms, were boldly running across the ground like that left no doubt about their complicity.
“There’s an enemy!”
“Just one person?! Kill him and go break those wolf bastards’ teeth!”
Ban Yuwon had positioned Frost Fortress in the forest and created an ice wall to draw the beast-kin’s attention.
Of course, twenty-five Stormrain Swords were also lined up, ready to cut down any intruders in the forest.
However, it was obviously sheer recklessness for Ban Yuwon to face thousands of beast-kin, who had mustered their full strength to confront the tribe, all by himself.
“There are no worms! Don’t be afraid, step forward!”
“That’s the human who attacked our tribe this afternoon! Kill him!”
Soon, thousands, even tens of thousands, of beast-kin landed on the clearing.
Seeing that no Forest Worms burst forth despite their numbers, smiles of assured victory appeared on their faces.
――The next moment, the wide earth collapsed.
The tens of thousands of beast-kin standing upon it, of course, shared the same fate as the earth.
“Gaaahhh!”
“Whoa, they fall well.”
The appearance of a deep, wide chasm that no ordinary sinkhole could compare to.
Ban Yuwon, having spotted the sinkhole just before bursting out of the forest, paused and waved to the astonished beast-kin before them, then checked the depth of the sinkhole and nodded in admiration.
“This is certainly worthy of being called Abyss.”
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