I got into school for nothing - 95
I got into school for nothing (95)
Lesson 20. Can My Vassals Be Duplicated? - 5
Thump, thump.
The giant took slow, deliberate steps toward Ban Yuwon, steadily closing the distance.
Its pace wasn't particularly fast, but the weighty pressure emanating from its massive frame instinctively made one recoil.
‘Concepts... there's no way I can read them, is there?’
Yet, he could somehow discern two concepts, 'Giant (巨人)' and 'Monstrous Strength (怪力),' saturating its entire body.
Their depth was at least 500. He could confidently say this was the strongest monster Ban Yuwon had ever faced in a one-on-one battle.
Even his climbs with his companions had felt precarious at times, but this was nothing compared to that.
“Eve, what do you think?”
“Sii-shiht...”
Eve shook her head, an uncertain expression on her face.
Eve had been reborn as a familiar, becoming a versatile supporter capable of showing enemies illusions or freely transforming her own appearance. However, against such an overwhelmingly massive foe, there was little she could do.
“Once I defeat that bastard, I’ll give you the concept of 'Giant,' too. Then you’ll be fine from now on, right?”
“Shhhhiiit!”
—GROOOOAARRR!
Perhaps irked by the discussion of loot distribution even before the battle had begun, the giant opened its mouth and let out a monstrous roar.
It was at that moment.
Something began to plummet down from beneath its armpits, thudding onto the ground.
—Disgusting!
‘Ah, Cellon, you were awake. I thought you’d been quiet all this time.’
—I was merely dumbfounded by the utterly absurd changes the Tower was undergoing.
What fell to the ground was, thankfully, not the giant’s armpit sweat.
It was a giant, frozen solid blue (though even for a giant, it was only about 4 meters tall).
“Huh...?”
—Father desires our strength.
—Who dares stand upon Father’s flesh?
—Such insolence must surely be repaid with death.
Unlike golems, these giants spoke fluently, each one glaring at Ban Yuwon and exuding an unusual aura.
The fact that their numbers kept increasing was also a problem.
Ban Yuwon counted up to fifty before giving up.
At the same time, he roughly grasped the situation.
‘Is this a Norse creation myth?’
In Norse mythology, a giant named Ymir (이미르) appears.
He is said to be the primordial being, the progenitor of all subsequent life, much like Pangu in Chinese mythology. From Ymir’s armpits, Frost Giants were born, a sight now unfolding before Ban Yuwon’s eyes.
Similarly, the framework of this creation myth states that Odin, a descendant (likely a great-grandson) of Ymir, led his brothers in the parricidal act of slaying Ymir, using his corpse to fashion the world.
‘If that’s the case...’
He had suspected it from the start, but no matter how many of those frozen giants he defeated, their numbers likely wouldn't decrease.
To break through this area, he would have to directly defeat and kill that golem, which exceeded 50 meters in size.
According to Norse mythology, Ymir’s spilled blood caused a great flood upon his death, drowning all the Frost Giants. So, without needing to fight each one, killing that golem should resolve this.
‘As expected, the Tower of Babel really is mimicking all the myths and histories that originated on Earth.’
Christianity, Islam, Norse, Sumerian... who knows what other myths might appear?
Ban Yuwon vowed to collect all sorts of mythological resources once he returned home, and for now, he summoned Lilyth.
—Beep-beep!
He had thought that given it was a solo exploration and the first room would be too narrow, he’d never get to ride Lilyth, so he hadn’t summoned her... but voilà! Never say never, it seems!
“If anything, Lilyth looks like she’ll be the most active one here.”
—VROOOOM!
The moment Lilyth was summoned, she assessed the situation, honked excitedly, and took him onto her back.
Without a moment's preparation, Lilyth immediately shot into the sky!
The Frost Giants, who had been advancing with ground-shaking steps, stopped in confusion.
—Father!
—A bug is flying in the sky!
—GROOOOAAAARRRRRRR!
As the Frost Giants whined, the golem roared once more.
At that moment, Ban Yuwon noticed a somewhat unfamiliar string of characters, 'Air Pressure (空壓),' appearing above his head. He instinctively reached out and retrieved it.
[You have plundered 'Air Pressure (空壓)' 10.]
The moment he plundered it, he understood its meaning.
The pressure created by compressed air being sprayed in a specific direction – that was 'Air Pressure.'
But without any preparatory movements, had that massive golem cast wind magic without incantation?
He couldn't know for sure, but that wasn't what he needed to think about right now; it was about killing the golem!
Ban Yuwon was about to control Lilyth to charge directly at the golem when... something suddenly occurred to him, and he stopped her.
‘Still, I should try catching those giants.’
“I don’t know if it’ll work out, but...”
—Oh, are you testing it right away? I was actually a bit curious myself.
His inventory opened, and a sword automatically emerged from within.
Its hilt and blade length were similar to the Executioner's Longsword.
As Ban Yuwon gripped the Executioner's Longsword and concentrated, the sword floating in the air also stiffened vertically, emitting a faint vibration as if obeying him.
The First Raindrop [Demonic Sword (魔劍) 100, Life (生) 80, Soul (靈魂) 1, Swordsmanship (劍術) 9, Resonance (共鳴) 3, Unity (合一) 5]
This was the fruit of Eve and Lilyth’s two weeks of labor, Ban Yuwon’s contemplation on artifacts and vassals, and furthermore, a portion of the artifact born from the ‘Mutation’ that granted positive options to creations, and the 'Soul Flame' authority that instilled fragments of souls into objects.
Naturally. There were twenty-five swords.
There were twenty-four more swords that held 'completely' identical concepts to this one.
Each was referred to as '~th Raindrop,' and the twenty-five raindrops combined were called the Stormrain Sword (暴雨劍).
‘Good, I can move it as I wish!’
Analyzing the artifact’s concepts, they were as follows:
First, 'Demonic Sword' to enhance the sword’s performance, 'Life' to aim for the sword’s growth itself, and 'Swordsmanship' to increase the sword’s power.
These three were basic, and the rest were additional options.
'Resonance' was a concept obtained from Spica, part of the Astraea artifact owned by Lusein Rown-Palomer Aquinas Ortima. Eve, Lilyth, and Tikke had nurtured and continuously grown this concept, and a share of it was now imbued into the sword.
With this concept, it was possible not only to freely communicate with the target but even to temporarily transfer one’s power.
In fact, Ban Yuwon embarked on the creation of this artifact entirely because of this concept!
‘Because it allows for not only resonance between me and my vassals but also resonance between vassals themselves.’
If the power of one sword wasn't enough, then two swords, no, three!
Attacking the enemy by combining the power of multiple swords in such a way—that single fantasy, one could say, had led Ban Yuwon this far!
If so, a new thought comes to mind.
'Is there no combination?' he wondered.
There was. Thanks to the manifestation of the 'Mutation' authority, the concept of 'Unity' had been attached to the completed artifact!
Without 'Resonance,' even with the 'Mutation' authority, he likely wouldn't have been able to achieve 'Unity.'
‘But both 'Resonance' and 'Unity' are still too advanced. I need to start by getting used to controlling these swords.’
Ban Yuwon inserted a fragment of his soul into each of the twenty-five swords.
This was to maximize the effect of 'Resonance' and to skillfully control the swords.
And the medium for controlling the Stormrain Sword, the so-called 'command center,' was none other than the Executioner's Longsword.
By imbuing the Executioner's Longsword with 'Resonance' and linking it to the Stormrain Sword, he could control the artifact more intuitively.
For example, like this...
“Go!”
The moment Ban Yuwon raised the Executioner's Longsword, clearly targeting the outermost of the bewildered Frost Giants stumbling on the ground, and exerted his will—
The first 'Raindrop,' hovering in the air, was imbued with Hyungi, burning black, and plunged down toward the ground!
—KWAHHHAAARK!
Although it didn't pierce through, the 'Raindrop' struck the giant’s shoulder, inflicting significant damage.
Other Frost Giants angrily tried to strike the 'Raindrop,' but it swiftly pulled away, controlled by Ban Yuwon’s will, and returned to his side.
—How is it? Isn’t it difficult?
“It might have been harder without the medium. Controlling something completely separate from yourself isn’t easy, you know.”
Indeed, inserting the Executioner's Longsword as a mediator was the correct choice.
For now, it was just one, but ultimately, Ban Yuwon’s dream was to freely wield all twenty-five Stormrain Swords, controlling them entirely through the Executioner's Longsword.
“Shall I take out another one, then?”
The second 'Raindrop,' possessing concepts completely identical to the first, popped out of his inventory.
The two 'Raindrops' now revolved around Ban Yuwon as if guarding him, while Eve and Tikke seemed displeased with the swords’ appearance, clicking and muttering.
“Sii-shiht, sii-shiht.”
“There’s no need to compete, Eve. These don’t possess sentience.”
As they contained fragments of Ban Yuwon’s own soul, they were closer to weapons than true vassals.
Of course, he couldn't say what might happen if they absorbed concepts from other souls and grew in the future.
[You have plundered 'Air Pressure (空壓)' 10.]
“Good, go!”
The two 'Raindrops' were imbued with Hyungi and plunged down.
The two demonic swords, plunging precisely into the head and neck of the Frost Giant previously injured in the shoulder, definitively claimed its life this time.
—Wow, you really killed it. It seemed like quite a formidable monster.
“Power confirmed.”
He could handle up to two 'Raindrops' without much difficulty.
It was hard to describe precisely, but it felt as if he had gained two more fingers he could move at will.
If he wanted to, he felt he could even perform a sword dance, controlling those two blades.
—That coward is attacking from afar!
—Grab those burning iron skewers and break them!
—They’re too fast to catch, then...
—Rocks! Let’s throw rocks!
Meanwhile, Ban Yuwon was checking the concepts of the Frost Giant that had fallen before him, alongside the two 'Raindrops.'
[You have plundered 'Life (生)' 5, 'Ice Mana (氷魔力)' 3, 'Giant (巨人)' 5, 'Monstrous Strength (怪力)' 3, 'Soul (靈魂)' 2. 'Giant' is a concept that cannot be possessed by humans.]
“Oh my.”
Each was not only high in purity but also mostly a higher-tier concept.
It was a slight pity that there was no physical body, but he suspected that might be due to their unique method of birth.
Ban Yuwon absorbed 'Life' and 'Ice Mana' wholesale. 'Life' increased by an impressive 2, and 'Ice Mana' separated into 'Ice' and 'Mana'... amazingly, this 'Ice' increased his elemental magic's depth by 1!
This was the same principle as when he had absorbed a volcano, increasing his elemental magic attainment.
“This is incredible...”
He imbued 'Giant' and 'Monstrous Strength' into Eve, as promised.
Judging by how Eve’s familiar and 'Myriad Transformation' concepts each grew by 1, he seemed to have successfully extracted the concept of a familiar from the giant.
“And you two can share the 'Soul'.”
The 'Soul' depth contained within the first and second 'Raindrops' increased to 2.
After earning such a lucrative income from merely defeating one Frost Giant, other thoughts naturally began to cross Ban Yuwon’s mind.
[You have plundered 'Air Pressure (空壓)' 10.]
“The golem isn’t as strong as I thought, and the Frost Giants are even more manageable than that...”
Of course, the imposing stature of the over-50-meter golem was fearsome, but its movement speed was inherently slow, and from a distance, it only attacked with 'Air Pressure.'
The Frost Giants also started picking up and throwing stones, one by one, but as he had proven before, Ban Yuwon could plunder the concept of projectiles and nullify them.
They were easy to kill, and even better, new ones popped out from the golem’s armpits every time he killed one.
“...Shall I try it?”
The third 'Raindrop' subtly emerged from his inventory.
Ban Yuwon smacked his lips, locked onto a Frost Giant with the Executioner's Longsword, and launched three demonic swords simultaneously.
Ban Yuwon, 18 years old, Korean.
In RPGs he had played in the past, he had once farmed a mid-boss monster that summoned new subordinate monsters every turn. He intentionally didn't kill the boss, instead continuously slaying only its subordinates to acquire vast amounts of experience and items.
...That battle record stood at 37 hours.
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