I got into school for nothing - Chapter 238
I got into school for nothing (238)
Lesson 46. Union Founding Festival - 5
The biggest reason Ban Yuwon was able to overwhelm Ortima was precisely because of the concept of "Resonance."
And where did he obtain that Resonance? From Spica, the primary orb of Astraea, which Dokgo Yeon had thoroughly pummeled Ortima to acquire previously.
If Ortima were to learn this fact, he would undoubtedly want to tear Ban Yuwon to shreds, and while Ban Yuwon would find immense enjoyment in Ortima's fury—he couldn't possibly reveal that Dokgo Yeon had taken the man's possession. Thus, Ortima would likely never discover the secret of Resonance, not in this lifetime....
This time, he had brought all twenty-four artifacts, so to avoid any potential trouble if they had a tracking function, he swiftly extracted the concepts comprising Astraea before anyone else could see them.
"You have obtained Resonance 240, Division 240, Breakthrough 120, and Acceleration 24 from Astraea. Resonance and Division are concepts that cannot be held by humans."
Astraea, completely drained of its concepts, vanished without a trace, leaving behind only a golden array of concepts coiling into Ban Yuwon's grasp.
Examining each of the high-rarity concepts, difficult to obtain from everyday life, Ban Yuwon murmured in surprise.
Was it because he had gathered all twenty-four orbs that he was able to acquire such comprehensively generated concepts?
Whichever it was, it was one of the biggest jackpots among the concepts he had acquired recently.
First, he equally distributed Resonance not only to the Stormrain Sword but also to all his bound vassals, while Division was entirely concentrated into the Stormrain Sword.
‘The Stormrain Sword originally possessed the concept of Unification. If twenty-five swords move organically, sometimes becoming one, and sometimes splitting into hundreds to attack the enemy? With both Unification and Division, it seems the strongest...!’
Meanwhile, Acceleration was a concept he had previously held but had been absorbed by the Giwon Sword. Since the Giwon Sword could already generate the concept of Acceleration, there was no need to absorb it again.
Breakthrough was a Skill concept that Ban Yuwon could possess, and since it seemed possible to absorb this into the Giwon Sword as well, he first detached 10 units and absorbed them. Then, when he wielded the Giwon Sword, something unexpected occurred.
"Breakthrough 10 and Destruction 5 have been absorbed into the Giwon Sword, increasing the Giwon Sword's proficiency to 1,180."
"Ah."
Focusing on the concepts he held within his body, he felt that the concept of Destruction, which he had gained from his previous battle with the Avatar of the Benevolent North Wind, had indeed been absorbed into the Giwon Sword along with Breakthrough, amplifying the martial art's potential.
At the time, too many things had happened, so he hadn't deeply considered the concept's potential and had left it untouched. Now, it had been absorbed all at once, linked with Breakthrough.
Destruction was a top-tier concept, difficult to obtain anywhere.
Now that he could freely amplify this power through the Giwon Sword, wouldn't wielding it alongside Breakthrough yield truly preposterous results?
‘Anyway, if this is the case, it seems there's no particular need to bestow Breakthrough and Acceleration upon the Stormrain Sword.’
The Giwon Sword was a versatile martial art that, while difficult to generate concepts he had never encountered, allowed him to easily manifest absorbed concepts like those he just acquired.
And since these could be freely bestowed upon the Stormrain Sword through its resonance with the Executioner's Longsword, the concepts were unexpectedly left floating, unassigned.
"M-Me, please give them to me!"
"You're just going to spout some line about 'atmospheric breakthrough,' aren't you?"
"They're concepts perfectly suited for me! Oh, and Acceleration too!"
Ultimately, he decided to give them all to Lilyth, who shared the same dream as him.
Ban Yuwon, having swiftly finished organizing the concepts, raised his head to find that another special match was drawing to a close, and beside him, Mira and Dokgo Yeon were engaged in a staring contest.
"Dokgo Yeon, junior. You seem quite different lately."
"Is that so? You, however, seem to be exactly the same."
"What...?"
"Hah...?"
Perhaps Mira was upset that Ban Yuwon hadn't chosen her as his partner for the special match, because she had been having a full-blown staring contest with Aire earlier as well.
Even though he had fully explained why Dokgo Yeon and Aire had become partners, seeing them act like this, it seemed even Ban Yuwon, despite his ability to read human emotions, couldn't fully interpret a woman's heart.
Shatie, apparently finding Mira's behavior unfamiliar, nudged Ban Yuwon and demanded,
"Head of Planning, do something about those two."
"They usually become friends after squabbling like that."
If you were to describe them as animals, both Mira and Dokgo Yeon are felines.
Cats originally fight each other for no particular reason, but then at some point, you'll see them sticking together, so those two will probably be fine.
Probably.
"Mira was originally skilled at acting, but lately, she's been excessively honest, and that's the problem."
"She still acts well in front of other people, so isn't it fine?"
"That's enough, stop right there! Match over! The next special match will begin shortly. The Ban Yuwon & Aire pair and the As Light & Ulrike Prominence pair, please prepare."
Before he could exchange more than a few words with Shatie, his name was called out again.
Looking at the arena, the match seemed to have concluded quite quietly compared to the one between Ban Yuwon's pair and Ortima's pair, but seeing the floor soaked in blood, that clearly wasn't the case.
As his expression furrowed at the sight, Begun Delawalker, who had been steadily observing the matches, offered an explanation.
Incidentally, Rika, perhaps too embarrassed after making a date promise with Begun, had vanished from sight.
"A student from the Special Class overtly attacked a lower-rank dimension student with murderous intent. Fortunately, Professor Zenon intervened before the student died."
"If the situation had been the reverse, the gallery wouldn't have been this docile."
No, on the contrary, there were even reactions from the audience expressing dissatisfaction with the management, asking if Professor Zenon hadn't intervened too quickly.
What if the Stormrain Sword Ban Yuwon had fired earlier had pierced Lusein Ortima's neck directly? He likely wouldn't have made it safely to winter break, that much was certain.
Perhaps the Ortima family would bear a grudge against him just for a lower-rank dimension student like Ban Yuwon defeating one of their own, but it was also possible that he could have turned the entire higher-ranking dimension against him.
‘I was already aware of the discrimination based on origin. And this is also an active effort to break through that.’
Indeed, after Ban Yuwon and Dokgo Yeon overwhelmingly defeated their opponents, even the most arrogant individuals could no longer carelessly insult or ignore them.
Because they had, as if to prove a point, disregarded and excelled beyond the 'limitations of lower-rank dimensions' that the higher-ups had perceived until now.
...In truth, Ban Yuwon carried the blood of the Prominence family, one of the Ten Great Families, and as for Dokgo Yeon, it was questionable whether her dimension was truly a mere lower-rank dimension at all. Yet, surprisingly, that fact held absolutely no importance right now.
What mattered was the frame.
As long as Ban Yuwon and Dokgo Yeon were treated as originating from lower-rank dimensions, every time they achieved something significant, the perception of the Special Admissions for Lower-Rank Dimensions was bound to change!
‘And in this match, I'll exploit that frame in a different way.’
"Yuwon."
Aire appeared behind him and gently tapped his shoulder.
Feeling a sense of déjà vu from her similar appearance to Dokgo Yeon, he turned around to see Aire holding out a mask to him.
It was a silver mask, seemingly stylized in the shape of dragon scales.
"Didn't you say you were concealing your identity?"
"Identity? I'm not sure what you mean."
"So, you do intend to conceal it, at least for now, which means..."
Ban Yuwon obediently accepted it and put on the mask.
Aire, of course, wore a mask identical to Ban Yuwon's. As the two, now wearing matching masks, stepped into the arena, a ripple of commotion ran through the entire competition hall.
"That girl, surely not."
"The Dragon's Emissary...?"
"So the rumors about her associating with lower-rank dimension students were true."
"I saw her on UniTube too. But seeing her like this again, it's quite shocking...."
Occasionally showing her face on a sub-channel was one thing; appearing as a pair at a masked ball was an entirely different matter.
And seeing them even wear matching masks, openly displaying their closeness...
"Hah, seriously... I'm a bit annoyed."
"...Hmph."
Having others besides the higher-ranking dimension spectators influenced wasn't particularly welcome.
Feeling the stares of women piercing the back of his head, Ban Yuwon sighed and glanced at the opposite side, where two figures were also emerging.
As Light, whose masculine facade had grown even stronger over the past month, now truly appeared as nothing less than a handsome man.
And Ulrike Prominence, whom Dokgo Yeon had instantly knocked out earlier, preventing her from properly showcasing her abilities.
One would expect her to be a bit deflated after being humiliated earlier, but surprisingly, she carried herself with such dignified poise that her recent unsightly display was completely forgotten.
"Huh? Over there, surely not from the Rebellion channel?"
"What in the world is happening...? Could it be that Prominence recruited him?"
"But why that student? It might sound ridiculous to say this, but... isn't he the worst one?"
"He's certainly very handsome. If only he wasn't from a lower-rank dimension, he would have been an excellent husband candidate."
"What about the sword he's holding? It looks like some kind of contract magic. I just can't comprehend how such an amazing artifact could exist in a lower-rank dimension."
Just as when Ban Yuwon and Aire's pair had appeared—perhaps even more so—Ban Yuwon couldn't help but sigh as he looked around at the gallery, which was reacting with even greater fervor.
Considering the damage to Rebellion's image caused by Light standing on that side, bringing Aire over to their side barely managed to balance the scales....
‘He's truly my nemesis.’
Setting aside his position as a member of Rebellion or Class 11, Light, now facing Ban Yuwon as his opponent in the special match, silently burned with fighting spirit.
Unexpectedly, Ban Yuwon sensed no feelings of hatred or a desire to kill him emanating from Light.
He purely—wished to push aside the obstructive Ban Yuwon and move according to his 'will'.
Though it was uncertain whether that will truly belonged to As Light himself.
"Ban Yuwon, junior, I have a request."
While Ban Yuwon and Light continued their staring contest, understandable only to the two of them, Ulrike Prominence stepped forward and addressed him.
"For this special match, how about we stake one more wish-granting right?"
"If you win this time, senior, may I take that to mean you wish to nullify the wish-granting right I acquired earlier?"
"Exactly. It's not a bad deal, is it? You already defeated me once before. It's a gamble with a fairly high success rate, and if you win, you can demand one more wish from me. Will you accept?"
Indeed, it was also a form of insurance in that sense.
While acknowledging that she wasn't completely thoughtless as usual... Ban Yuwon still couldn't help but feel a sense of bewilderment.
The conditions that differed from the first special match were two—their respective partners.
If she considered this match as insurance, it meant she believed her chances of winning this match were higher than before.
Did that mean... she thought As Light was stronger than Lusein Ortima, and Aire was weaker than Dokgo Yeon?
"It's a Constellation."
Cellon, whose mind spun rapidly whenever Constellations were involved, conveyed her thoughts to him.
Incidentally, she was currently transformed into a bracelet and coiled around one of his arms. Since her performance was identical to her staff form, and she could freely unleash magic with her will, it was unlikely he would ever turn her back into a staff.
‘If she had something like that, she should've borrowed it earlier.’
"She didn't even have a chance to use it then."
That was true.
Realizing that Ulrike Prominence was attempting a maneuver, Ban Yuwon, of course, readily nodded his head.
"Very well. Since I'll gain another wish-granting right in a match I'm going to win anyway, it's a benefit to me."
"Your confident demeanor is truly pleasing to see. Even if you lose this time, please don't be hurt, as it won't be due to a lack of your abilities."
It's suffocating.
Her genuinely pleased expression is suffocating!
What in the world is she thinking to still believe we can build a good relationship?!
"Yuwon, as promised, I'll take Light."
"Don't finish him off completely."
"I know."
"Hah, it seems like you're all just chattering away, but I'm the one who decides the outcome."
"As Light, I hope you at least properly fulfill your assigned role."
"...Hmph."
As the four stood facing each other, Professor Zenon approached and silently signaled the start of the match.
A masquerade presented by pairs with mixed origins—higher-ranking dimensions and lower-rank dimensions.
It was the moment a match that even the gallery found confusing began.
Comments