I got into school for nothing - Chapter 285
I got into school for nothing (285)
Lesson 55. Center of the Tower - 5
—Kuaaaaah!
“The architectural style is vastly different from Murim. It seems that, long ago, the rulers of this world sealed away the sorcery that had flowed into this dimension.”
“Well, looking at its appearance, it does resemble some kind of Roman temple. And there was a barrier array too.”
“Ugh...! As I said before, the Shin-gyo doesn't dabble in sorcery because we're confident we can protect our sect without it! Cowardly orthodox sects, on the other hand, make a huge fuss with barrier arrays and formation spells, you understand?”
—Kieeeeee!
“Therefore, this is a symbol of incompetence, not ability. They can't even conceal the energy of the barrier array, which is why we were let in like this just now.”
“Indeed, you could think of it that way.”
—Kwagagagagagaak!
“Yeah, yeah, I know. You were the one who broke through the barrier array earlier, weren't you? Though you can't set up a barrier array...”
“When you say it like that, it sounds like I only have a talent for killing and destroying.”
“Yeon, you're fine just the way you are. I'll handle the barrier arrays from now on.”
“Hmph, you'll only realize the uselessness of barrier arrays once you come to the main headquarters of the Shin-gyo.”
“The sound of the barrier array being broken outside is so loud right now, yet you two can calmly chat about such trivial things...”
Watching Ban Yuwon and Dokgo Yeon bicker as they advanced through the temple, Asha said in a weary voice.
Strange tearing sounds echoed from behind them, and the space vibrated periodically.
Had they not known they were inside a barrier array, it wouldn't have been strange to believe the entire world was crumbling.
In such a situation, seeing Ban Yuwon persistently tease Dokgo Yeon made her wonder if he'd eaten something strange, yet when she saw Dokgo Yeon clenching her fists and seriously refuting something so trivial, looking rather cute, she thought it was certainly understandable why he'd want to tease her.
No, is that just their way of playing around?
Then, perhaps, Yuwon teasing me with mischievous words is also...?
A kind of affection?
He likes me, right?
“There's no point in rushing now. Don't worry, we're here.”
Ban Yuwon, who had perfectly closed his mouth and distanced himself from Dokgo Yeon just in time to avoid getting hit if he teased her any further, said that to Asha and winked.
Asha was so distracted by Ban Yuwon that she didn't notice, but Rucell didn't miss the momentarily disappointed expression on Dokgo Yeon's face.
‘Dokgo Yeon, truly, she's become quite the cute girl...’
Lately, a silent battle for Ban Yuwon's 'shares' has been unfolding among the Rebellion members.
Everyone likes him, but he only has one body, so they try to appeal to him as much as possible and increase the time they spend together.
Originally, Dokgo Yeon was a sly one, pretending not to care while diligently securing time with Ban Yuwon, but lately, even from her, a hint of impatience and jealousy could be seen, making it clear that her feelings for Ban Yuwon were growing.
“An artifact, perhaps?”
“It must be.”
Even now, isn't she sticking right to Ban Yuwon's murmurs?
She probably didn't even realize it herself, Rucell merely watched Dokgo Yeon, smiling contentedly.
“Among items related to sorcery, there are many that allow even those who know nothing of it to wield high-level spells. However, such cases tend to demand excessive sacrifices...”
“I've got a grasp of it already. If the entire space was sealed with a barrier array like this, wouldn't the artifact here be something similar? An artifact permanently sealed after the destruction of a nation, but because the seal wasn't perfect, Constellations coveted it... and eventually, the world perished.”
“Yuwon, did you read the past of this world or something?”
“Here we are.”
Just as Asha was about to interject between the two again, Dokgo Yeon stopped.
She said they had just successfully exited the realm of a formation spell (陣法), a labyrinth unique to Murim, where one would get lost and never escape unless they advanced with precise order and consistent movements.
Of course, Ban Yuwon had intended to absorb the entire concept of the labyrinth, as he usually did in the Tower, but the problem was that if the formation spell was forcibly broken, its contents could be damaged, annihilated, or run rampant.
‘If the reach of my Authority had been a little wider, I wouldn't have needed to worry about formation spells or anything like that.’
He knew the existence of the bomb and its location, but would it be accurate to say his arms were too short to reach it?
Ban Yuwon looked at the solidly closed, monolithic steel door that appeared before the group, and smacked his lips.
—Kwoooong!
As if to celebrate their discovery of the artifact, the world once again vibrated powerfully.
—I'm coming now...!
The Observer of All Things' voice began to faintly resonate again.
Ban Yuwon shook his head, trying to clear away the sticky discomfort left by her voice, and extended his hand toward the door.
“Can I unseal this one?”
“Yes. Retrieve it immediately and destroy the formation spell as well.”
Ban Yuwon immediately activated the Seal Ring.
All the concepts that had sealed the contents with double and triple layers flowed out and were absorbed into the ring, and the steel door, naturally losing its integrity, crumbled away.
Revealed beyond it was an altar the height of Ban Yuwon's waist, and a thick book resting upon it.
Even at this moment, the book emitted a faint glow—it wasn't a sharp weapon nor a living beast, yet for some reason, it exuded such a fierce killing intent that it was difficult to approach.
“It's an easy-to-understand form. Some rabble who couldn't even properly read the writing must have tried to recklessly wield the item's power and caused it to run rampant.”
Of course, Dokgo Yeon, who wasn't swayed by mere objects, casually swept away the killing intent emanating from the book that filled the room, and clicked her tongue.
Meanwhile, Ban Yuwon quickly approached the altar and retrieved the book, and here and there on the pages, densely packed with black characters, signs of missing words were visible.
Literally, words that had originally been properly written, had been erased only in the middle sections.
“You're right, Yeon. It's an incredibly unstable form. And what's more...”
“Whoa, I'd believe it if it pulled us in and exploded right now.”
“Light, shh. Master will handle it.”
He had felt a similar energy from the black wave that filled the outside.
And to add to that, the power that had sealed this room earlier, the formation spell protecting it, and the barrier array enclosing this temple.
All of them originated from this book!
“—Whoa, isn't this a bigger deal than we imagined?”
Ban Yuwon, who had assessed the book's value and mentally clicked the abacus beads, muttered in alarm.
He had previously obtained artifacts or rewards containing significant concepts directly from rooms within the Tower, but this item was in a class of its own (別格) even among those.
The idea that the Tower had merely copied and transferred an artifact that existed in the original world was meaningless.
The power dwelling within the artifact, the ancient passage of time evident even from a cursory glance...
This was, without a doubt, real.
It was clear that someone who had no direct way to obtain this item, had torn off a piece of the world, including the item, and stored it within the Tower.
For the moment when someone would eventually come, break the seal, and retrieve the book!
And that moment was now.
Ban Yuwon, renowned throughout Union for his sealing capabilities, and Team Rebellion, to which Dokgo Yeon, the true successor of Murim, belonged, were precisely the right entities to retrieve the sealed item, the grimoire, from this world.
Ah, streaming was out of the question.
If an item like this were broadcast, then truly, so many would target Ban Yuwon that even Yumina wouldn't be able to handle it.
[Would you like to absorb the grimoire written in ancient language?]
And Ban Yuwon possessed the Authority to entirely devour such a magnificent item.
A grimoire and the Authority of language to understand it; wasn't that a combination too good to be true?
Ban Yuwon offered the grimoire to Dokgo Yeon with a hopeful expression, but because she adamantly shook her head, he remembered his father's words about 'hoarding it until it turns to crap' and immediately absorbed it.
[Absorbing Sorcery 2,570 and Ancient Language 1,248. Due to the target's excessively high caliber, complete digestion will require time.]
[Incomplete absorption of concepts. Supplementing deficiencies with existing concepts. By absorbing the concept of Ancient Language, the depths of Omniscient Eye, Omniscient Ear, and Omniscient Tongue have reached 600.]
[The concept of Curse is absorbed into Sorcery. You have gained Sorcery 1,248.]
Hwoooosh.
Ban Yuwon, who let out a long breath, smiled with satisfaction at the big catch after a long time.
Curse evolved into Sorcery, a higher concept encompassing it, and even its depth nearly doubled.
His core Authorities, forming his abilities—Omniscient Eye, Omniscient Ear, and Omniscient Tongue—each grew by nearly 200 in depth.
The new Ancient Language that filled his mind, as always, transformed into a language as natural as Korean to him, and was being stored.
Due to each syllable of the Ancient Language possessing a profound meaning and a caliber that could almost be called a self, the drawback was that he hadn't fully understood it yet.
He could, to some extent, grasp what had happened in the past related to this grimoire.
He would need to have a serious conversation with Dokgo Yeon later.
“I thought you'd store it in your sub-space. To absorb such a vast amount of energy all at once... are you alright?”
“No, I feel a bit bloated. It's been a while since I've had an experience like this.”
Ban Yuwon shrugged his shoulders at Dokgo Yeon, who was scrutinizing him with a worried expression, and replied.
Indeed. Even after undergoing such immense growth, he hadn't fully digested the grimoire yet.
If the concepts still clumped and circulating within his body due to incomplete fusion were to perfectly harmonize with his existing concepts... though he couldn't be sure, he would likely be able to grow again as much as he had just now.
And he would perfectly understand the history intertwined with the grimoire.
‘By the way, the empty parts are bothering me too much. The degree of growth is insufficient compared to the item's caliber, so perhaps the missing parts were the core?’
As could be seen from the blank spaces in the grimoire alone, the absorption didn't occur in a perfect state.
And if he considered that this world's destruction was due to the sorcery contained in those blank spaces, even having secured the concepts so richly, he couldn't help but feel a lingering sense of unease.
He had a thought that if he could retrieve those core parts, he might be able to perfectly digest the clotted concepts within his body—
—Kwaaaang!
—I've arrived!
“Figures, if they didn't show up at this timing, it'd be like saying they're closing up shop.”
Looking up at the black tidal wave that appeared in the sky, opportunely smashing a corner of the world, Ban Yuwon clicked his tongue.
The core of the grimoire, it was probably absorbed into that black tidal wave.
By what means could he retrieve it now?
“So, Yuwon, do you have a plan?”
“Well, I thought absorbing this would automatically trigger a shift—but it seems I'll have to settle things with that guy after all.”
At any rate, their objective was complete.
Calming Asha, who gripped the True Dragon Sword tightly, Ban Yuwon stepped forward, and first, he retrieved all the energy of the formation spell that filled the temple.
The formation spell, which was already on the verge of collapsing because he had already devoured the core grimoire, easily dissolved when Ban Yuwon applied a bit of the sorcery he had just understood, raising his Sorcery depth by 2.
“Uh—Yuwon, that's getting bigger?!”
As Ban Yuwon was feeling satisfied with his newly acquired ability, Asha exclaimed in a loud voice.
He raised his head, and the world was pitch black.
A colossal tidal wave, so immense that measuring its size felt foolish, was pressing in, threatening to swallow the entire space beyond the barrier array.
No, is all that a curse?
Is this really the difficulty for Room 201, seriously?
Even a graduation exam wouldn't be this hard!
—My beloved child——Since you have obtained what I desired, if I acquire you once more, all will be in harmony!
“Is it possible to report a Constellation for sexual harassment?”
“Yuwon!”
“I know. Let's do this.”
He opened his inventory.
Talismans he had stored, imbued with Won-gi whenever he had time, and additionally, talismans that Stella had crafted by infusing her unique magic, Starlight, tumbled out.
He hadn't imagined that he would end up directly using these, while still calling them talismans, for actual sorcerous purposes.
Ban Yuwon floated all of them into the air, and let out a short breath.
“Yeon, tell me later. What Murim went through, and why such abilities developed.”
At his words, Dokgo Yeon, realizing that Ban Yuwon had read not only the power contained in the grimoire but also its history, wore a slightly surprised expression before eventually nodding.
Immediately after, hundreds of talismans that had risen into the air erupted with bright light and surged towards the tidal wave!
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