I got into school for nothing - Chapter 56
I got into school for nothing (56)
Lesson 13. I'll Have to See You Kneel - 1
What is the fundamental principle of magic?
It is, quite simply, to subtly deceive the world, create a rift in truth, and replace the caster's perception with that truth.
This is why, even with the same magic manifested, the outcome varies drastically depending on the caster's mana, will, and perception.
―KABOOOOOOOM!
“GAAAH!”
“KIIRK! Run! Everyone's going to die!”
―CRACK!
‘Just the day before yesterday, he could barely conjure a wisp of wind in his palm.’
Aire, who had unintentionally aided in the magic's completion, stared at the volcanic eruption with a stunned expression.
Her attempt to interfere with his magic hadn't stemmed from mere jealousy alone.
Of course, roughly half of her motivation was certainly mixed with a sense of resentment towards Yumina, who had so carelessly chosen her proxy.
The other half was pure bewilderment regarding him.
How, exactly, had he managed to interfere with the magical formula embedded in the student ID, which contained the Chancellor's power?
What kind of magical talent had he drawn from an artifact?
How could a being so weak that he was virtually unnoticeable during the first class now possess power that wouldn't seem out of place even in the Special Class, all in a mere three weeks?
‘And yet.’
The mana she had unleashed, intending to test him, had lost its purpose and, returning to him, served only to amplify his magic.
This implied that his magical aptitude surpassed her own.
‘No, that can't be it. It's physically impossible. It must be the artifact's doing.’
―Yet, it is an undeniable fact that he was acknowledged as the master of an artifact possessing such formidable abilities.
She had never heard of an artifact capable of simultaneously casting spells and disrupting mana, so the composition of that magic must have been entirely his own ability.
‘A sturdy, unassailable perception, and the mana to materialize it... How could he have built such a profound understanding of magic in such a short time? What kind of experience could have led to such development?’
Aire clenched her jaw, experiencing an unfamiliar sense of defeat.
In her sensitive ears, she heard the voices of her classmates, jealous and disparaging of Ban Yuwon's achievements.
“Is that the magic that lowborn trash unleashed?”
“Why on earth did the Tower bestow such an excellent artifact upon a parasite like him...?”
“Hmph, do you really think an artifact from the lower floors would have the ability to manifest such high-level magic? Professor Yumina must have secretly lent him a hand.”
Aire couldn't help but scoff.
Professor Yumina lent him a hand? What fools they are.
Could a magical path of such robust structure ever be completed by being influenced by another's perception?
She felt like snapping a retort at them, but then she remembered that she herself had been the one to interfere with his magical path, making it laughable for her to step forward in defense of his honor.
Wasn't the most abominable person herself?
‘To try and test someone without even properly discerning their abilities, I was no different from those pathetic fools. Such arrogant thoughts lead to such humiliation, foolish Aire.’
To avoid becoming like them, she decided to acknowledge what was true and move on.
Ban Yuwon's abilities were undeniable.
At the very least, it was not her place to arrogantly step forward and 'verify' his abilities.
‘As expected, Professor Yumina was right. I was wrong...’
...Then, she would have to apologize now.
How flustered must he have been by interference coming from an ally, not even an enemy?
Though the outcome made her look utterly insignificant, she had still committed an act of rudeness, so it was imperative to explain properly and apologize.
‘For my own growth, too...’
She hoped to be forgiven for her ugly jealousy and to be able to genuinely discuss magic with him.
And if possible, she wished to share even a little of the attention he received from Yumina, but she considered this thought too wicked even for herself, so she put it aside for now.
‘Then, as soon as this battle ends, immediately, huh?’
Suddenly, sensing a colossal surge of mana, Aire narrowed her eyes and looked up at the sky.
A dimension was opening.
* * *
[The depth of Elemental Magic has reached 97.]
A volcanic explosion magic, reaching its peak in both destructive power and range, sweeping away an entire area with a single, all-out strike.
Before such an incomparable result—far exceeding his days of rampaging with a single sword—Ban Yuwon shed tears of deep emotion.
Not only had he directly annihilated thousands of monsters, but considering the chaos that had swept through the monster formation as the entire area was turned upside down, it was almost as if he alone had concluded the battle!
[You have gained the concepts of Life 121, Body 45, Shadow Spirit 55, Demonic Beast 42, Murder 17, and Assassination 65 from an immense number of monsters. Shadow Spirit, Demonic Beast, and Murder are concepts that cannot be held by humans.]
Moreover, how beautiful were the golden strings of characters that flew en masse from the corpses or traces of thousands of monsters, absorbing into him!
However, the notifications that appeared as they were absorbed by Ban Yuwon were not so beautiful.
[The depth of Life increases by 27, the depth of Body by 11, and the depth of Hyungi by 5.]
‘Why is it getting cut down to a quarter...’
Of course, he knew that the main force of the enemy, the shadow weasels, weren't particularly strong monsters, and that there was a limit to the language concepts that could be obtained from the same type of monster, but still!
If the absorbed amount drastically decreased like this, wouldn't he feel like a fool for getting so excited upon seeing over 100 in Life?
At least most concepts other than the core ones could be absorbed with their depth fully preserved.
Though, the problem was that most of these were concepts he couldn't personally take.
‘Murder 17, I'll add all of this to the Executioner's Longsword. That's 72 now. I wonder if something will change once it hits 100?’
The remaining Beast concept, about 20 in depth after stripping away its mana, he decided to give to Eve once she awakened, and for now, into the Code Core it went.
The Shadow Spirit, which was essentially the shadow weasel's identity—a concept Ban Yuwon naturally couldn't possess—unexpectedly revealed a concept within his own body that could absorb 'shadows' once it was divided into 'shadow' and 'ghost'.
It was precisely a movement technique that allowed for swift and concealed movement within shadows: Jameyeongbo.
[The depth of Jameyeongbo has reached 20.]
‘Oh... Ohhh!’
Perhaps due to excellent compatibility with the shadow weasels, Jameyeongbo's depth soared to 20, despite other elements being mixed in.
At this level, he could unleash it in actual combat without any issues.
Ban Yuwon closed his eyes, a grin spreading across his face as he recalled the profound principles of Jameyeongbo, now firmly etched into his perception.
Though it was quite different from the Jameyeongbo he had obtained from the previous intruder, due to the shadow weasels' concepts being mixed in, he actually preferred it this way.
‘And then there's Assassination, this... Right, this also falls under martial arts. It's a way of moving the body, so it makes sense.’
Gaining the concept of Assassination with a depth of a staggering 65 was also an incredible windfall.
The shadow weasels' characteristic was to move stealthily through shadows, ambushing and killing their enemies. Their habits and techniques had now materialized as the concept of Assassination and were absorbed by Ban Yuwon.
Moreover, since Ban Yuwon could now emulate their movements with Jameyeongbo, he would be able to maximize his assassination abilities.
‘Assassin, this is really triggering my chuunibyou again...’
―Hey, it looks like more enemies are about to appear?
Cellon spoke in a flat tone to Ban Yuwon, who was making a cheerful expression after finishing his calculations.
‘What? Is Aire still trying to pick a fight?’
―Not that pathetic girl. I mean real enemies. A dimensional rift is opening.
“What...?”
Ban Yuwon raised his head.
A black hole had opened in the sky, and from within it, a gigantic—an *enormous* battleship—began to emerge.
On the side of the battleship, an insignia of a bird with widely spread wings was emblazoned. From the rooftop of the adjacent building, As Light, upon seeing it, ground his teeth and his shout reached them.
“Exodus...!”
“Exodus?”
It sounded familiar, and then he realized it was the name of the dimension pirate group the intruder they had clashed with in the Tower belonged to.
A group that plundered various dimensions and held a strong enmity towards Union in particular.
He recalled hearing warnings about dimension pirates, including Exodus, when undertaking special activities in other dimensions.
‘But why are they here now? And at such impeccable timing... Wait a minute.’
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, lightning struck Ban Yuwon's brain in quick succession.
No, surely that Ortima fellow wouldn't go this far?
This far surpassed the scope of personal revenge against Ban Yuwon!
[We have come here to claim the price for the blood our comrade shed, you arrogant and selfish slaves of the Tower!]
As if a large speaker had been set up on the battleship, a sharp man's voice boomed loudly, echoing all the way to the ground.
Due to the powerful mana waves emanating from the massive battleship, the dimensional rift in the sky widened in real-time, and through it, smaller ships steadily poured out like ducklings following their mother.
“No!”
Yumina let out a strangled cry, soaring into the sky in an instant and unleashing immense mana from her entire body. raN[0BES
From her, gigantic thorny vines, tens to hundreds of kilometers in scale, bloomed and stretched, encircling and constricting the black hole in the sky.
Astonishingly, they prevented the hole from expanding, extending their thorny tendrils to seal the movements of the battleships!
[You monster's foster daughter! You don't know your place, rushing headlong to your death!]
Purple lightning erupted wildly from the colossal battleship, burning the thorny vines, yet the mana originating from Yumina relentlessly regenerated them, holding back the fleet's advance.
Ban Yuwon witnessed a presence of overwhelming majesty, one he could scarcely have imagined!
―Trying to block a dimensional rift all by herself, just what kind of woman is she? Her mana isn't human!
“Can't you tell by her hair being flower petals? It's obvious she's not human.”
―You fool, that's not the distinction I meant!
As he idly watched his supervising professor's magnificent performance, engaging in a pointless argument with Cellon, he heard Cantone, who was in a building in the city center, shout as he unfolded a colossal, hemispherical force field centered on himself.
“Everyone, hold your positions! We've requested support, and the Vice Principal will be here soon. Everyone, remain calm and stay where you are!”
“What is he talking about now?”
Ban Yuwon muttered in exasperation.
In this urgent situation, where even Yumina, who prioritized Ban Yuwon's party's safety the most, charged the fleet without hesitation, he was just trying to control the students. Moreover, while it was good to show off strength to protect the students, the burden from this force field was so heavy that it was difficult to even move properly.
“Yuwon!”
“Are you alright?”
“Ban!”
At that moment, Rucell, Dokgo Yeon, and As Light, who had been on the rooftop of the adjacent building, kicked off its wall, flew over, and landed beside him.
But Ban Yuwon couldn't help but ask them.
“How did you all get here?”
“Because we were worried about Yuwon...”
“I saw Dokgo Yeon moving.”
That's not an answer.
He had asked how they had managed to fly all the way here, overcoming such a heavy burden, but they spoke as if they hadn't even felt the force field...
Just then.
“I heard the guide say that you were in danger, so...”
The moment Dokgo Yeon paused mid-sentence, her expression shifting to one of realization.
Anneri Dedota, who had silently approached Ban Yuwon's back, swiftly extended a hand!
“What—”
A dagger sprang from her hand.
Ban Yuwon's eyes widened, and he desperately recoiled his body.
If Cantone had teamed up with Anneri to assassinate Ban Yuwon, it would have been a rather decent attempt.
Because he couldn't move his body properly due to the burden imposed by this dreadful force field.
But the dagger, as if it had never aimed at him from the start, flew past without even grazing him, cutting through the air—
And plunged into the arm of the man who had landed on this building's rooftop with Dokgo Yeon—the guide!
“Ugh!”
“We have to kill him!”
Anneri shrieked, pulling out the dagger and throwing it again.
Dokgo Yeon, having quickly assessed the situation, also turned and swung her hand to attack the guide.
But despite their swift reactions, Cantone's force field interfered with their movements, preventing them from accurately hitting the enemy.
The rogue, ultimately unchecked by them, succeeded in pulling an item from his pocket.
“That?!”
“Ah...!”
A sphere emitting a blue light.
A Demon Core was in his hand.
Ban Yuwon confirmed that the guide's entire body was being stained black.
His Man-dok-an, now capable of discerning good and evil, was judging him a sinner.
He found out rather quickly!
“For Exodus.”
Perhaps the man's brief whisper acted as a trigger.
All of his mana was sucked into the Demon Core.
―A Constellation! He's creating a dungeon with a Constellation's power!
As if she had heard Cellon's voice, Dokgo Yeon frantically kicked the rogue, and several daggers thrown by Anneri flew towards the Demon Core.
The guide's lifeless corpse, its role already fulfilled, was flung aside, and the Demon Core, rising into the air, created a black hole and vanished into it before the daggers could strike.
It would have been good if that were all, but of course, it wasn't.
“Wait, what—”
The black hole generated a terrifying gravitational pull like a black hole, swallowing Dokgo Yeon, who was closest, before she could even resist, and then sucking in As Light, Rucell, and even Ban Yuwon!
“Master Yuwon!”
In that moment, Ban Yuwon couldn't recall whose voice had called out to him.
He only felt someone tightly embrace his body, and then—
Beyond his blurring vision, he felt as if he saw two figures rapidly flying towards them.
And when he opened his eyes, he was already inside a dungeon.
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