Chapter 128

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Translator: Ryuma

Chapter: 128

Chapter Title: Lesson 26. Push Away When Close - 3

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If the self-destruction timing had been even a little late, Ban Yu-won would have completely lost control to the constellation Yer Gel, left to blankly watch the birth of "something" originating from the jeweled bracelet.

On the flip side, if it had detonated even a little early, Yer Gel would have sensed something suspicious and refrained from unleashing his power, meaning Ban Yu-won wouldn't have claimed such a massive haul of linguistic concepts and achievements like he had now.

That made this a resounding victory.

—The constellation [Clock of the Toy Legion] spares no praise for your skill in severing the constellation's interference at just the right moment.

—The constellation [Breath of Life] gasps, declaring this a miracle beyond his own authority. He suspects you greatly!

Eh, whatever. Suspicion won't change a thing now.

Ban Yu-won grinned from ear to ear as he absorbed the strings of text.

Were they so potent because the constellation had personally infused them with his power? Even though they had self-destructed before fully forming, the purity of the concepts was absurdly high.

These days, even hunting exceptionally strong monsters only yielded 20% or 10% of Life and Body at best. But this time, he'd snagged fully half!

Thanks to that, Ban Yu-won had shattered the 600 depth threshold he'd once considered the benchmark for powerhouses, now boasting a Life depth nearing 640.

Even more impressively, he'd gained 10 depth in Star Mark, a higher-tier concept that was notoriously hard to acquire.

But right now, more than that...

"This... it's definitely an authority."

A concept radiating light so dazzling it nearly blinded him, yet its contents were utterly terrifying.

It was surely the core concept governing the monster that had perished before birth.

Naturally, it couldn't be absorbed directly into Ban Yu-won's body. But he already had a way to make use of it.

Split it into Heinous and Evil, one character at a time!

He already had plans for Evil, and for Fierce...

'I've tried acquiring it before. Weapons like sickles or spears could be seen as Fierce Tools. But those concepts could only be extracted from weapons stained with human blood, and even then, the depth was pathetically low. That means Fierce is rare and of high caliber...'

Ban Yu-won glanced at the Executioner's Longsword at his waist, then turned to As Light.

"Light, if I turn a magic sword into a fierce sword, is that an upgrade or downgrade?"

"Hm..."

He'd expected a "What nonsense is this?" retort, but As Light surprisingly pondered it briefly before replying.

"How about a fierce magic sword instead? Back home, there's actually a legend of weapons called fierce magic swords..."

"You little genius."

Were holy swords really passed down through legends? The term "fierce magic sword" from As Light carried an irresistible pull.

This was a good omen.

The kind felt only when a new concept was about to be born.

Ban Yu-won chuckled, floating the constellation's concept above his hand.

And just as he was about to cleave it in half—

—Let's make a deal.

A desperate male voice rang out, and the surrounding scenery froze solid with a crackle.

—I'll admit defeat and withdraw. Return my fragment.

Ban Yu-won looked around, confirming that everything except him had truly stopped.

Before his eyes rose a cluster of pure ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠white light—the medium conveying the constellation's will, no doubt.

"Shouldn't you start with your name? It's polite."

—'Manipulator of the Immovable.' That is my name as a constellation.

Fitting for a constellation wielding telekinesis.

Ban Yu-won whistled in admiration.

"What's this now? How'd you pull it off?"

—I gathered the remnants of my power left in this room to erect a barrier around you alone. Time and space cannot interfere within it. Neither constellations nor the Tower.

Ban Yu-won slightly retracted his view of telekinesis as a lesser version of the Babylonia Code.

A barrier independent of time and space? What insane authority was this!

No, but thinking positively, didn't that mean he could eventually pull off something similar with his own power?

—I admit I went too far in testing you, and I apologize. But what you hold is truly dangerous—this is the truth! Not just for my sake, but to protect yourself, destroy it immediately...

"You just don't want me 'splitting your authority in half,' right?"

—...!

He'd struck a nerve.

The constellation tried to hide his agitation, but Ban Yu-won knew silence equaled affirmation.

"Your timing was suspicious. If you could make this barrier to talk, you should've appeared when the bracelet exploded. Staying silent then and showing up now means—you—"

—Were you hoping I'd swallow it without a clue?

The constellation fell silent again at Ban Yu-won's sharp words.

"Once you realized I could steal others' powers, you deliberately prepared tasty bait. Sure, primarily to let that thing harm us, but you were fine if it died. No—in fact, its death was the real play. The moment I devoured it or infused it into something like the bracelet—your plan succeeds. Right?"

Ban Yu-won knew well to approach constellation-related items with caution.

Especially something like this—[Heinous], terrifying even in appearance!

Fortunately, he had the Babylonia Code to distinguish concepts he could wield from those he couldn't.

So he'd moved to split it without hesitation—and that's when the constellation 'Manipulator of the Immovable's' scheme went awry.

—What do you want?

"At minimum, something equivalent to this."

Good that he could reason.

Ban Yu-won didn't mind this constellation much, who readily admitted defeat and moved to negotiation.

Crises were everyday once you entered the Tower anyway, and he hadn't suffered any real damage from tangling with the Manipulator of the Immovable.

On the contrary, it'd helped him clear Room 39 easily and gifted high-purity concepts—putting its favorability higher than most constellations right now!

—An authority... I'll give you an authority. Far safer than that, and especially useful for you.

"Intriguing. And?"

—Thought Acceleration. Essential for all who wield mental prowess.

The moment he heard it.

Ban Yu-won wanted to smack his own head.

Was there an idiot this colossal in the world!

'I already have that! As a higher concept!'

What was a higher concept? One that encompassed others.

Animals include plants, so animals are a higher concept of plants, and vice versa.

School includes high school, so school is higher, high school lower.

'And I have Acceleration.'

He couldn't quite recall how he'd first acquired it.

But definitely around when he got Spatial Control.

At a measly depth of 5, its effects were subtle, but blending it with Star Mark boosted magic or movement speed, so he used it often.

And naturally—Acceleration included Thought Acceleration, making it the higher concept.

'If I have to excuse it, Acceleration itself has low depth, so I didn't think to exploit it fully. No, consistent practice would've raised it eventually. A rare concept like that deserved more careful thought.'

Get it together, seriously.

Ban Yu-won sighed with self-reflection and spoke.

"Don't need it. Something else."

—You'll regret it. I know you wield the power of thought. Nothing aids such people more than Thought Acceleration.

"That's why you need to shut up, you bastard."

—???

The constellation, unjustly cursed, panicked—but Ban Yu-won wouldn't spill his foolish secret so easily.

"Nothing else? Then I'll just take this."

—W-Wait! Fine... then.

Something writhed in the still-frozen world.

From the pile of remains of the monster that had granted him overwhelming concepts but perished unborn.

A green-glowing something... the bracelet! It was flying toward him!

"Whoa, I blew it up clean. How?"

—I just repaired it, infusing a new authority. Check it.

Ban Yu-won took it readily and inspected.

Knowing how eerily he read powers, the constellation had stripped all traces of its influence, shedding useless gems for a simpler, subdued design—a pair of small bracelets.

The concepts forming its core were worlds apart from before.

—First, it allows short-range spatial movement using the user's magic power.

"Blink, huh."

There was a time when fantasy novels treated short-range teleportation—Blink—for mage protagonists on the battlefield as mandatory.

But after enrolling at the Academy, he'd asked Yumina and learned that manually setting coordinates mid-combat was a hassle, and with that mana, raising barriers or interfering with enemy spells was more efficient. He'd been disappointed...

Turns out this was telekinetic specialists' domain!

—Second, it connects to the subspace I created with my telekinesis, letting you stay inside or store items. The capacity is vast... yes, that mountain over there would fit somehow.

As Ban Yu-won marveled, the explanation continued.

The "mountain" was the stone mountain golem Dokgo Yeon had been battling north of them. Frozen as it was, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it truly looked like a mountain.

"No guarantee you won't mess with that subspace."

—I formed the subspace, but other mages can manage it afterward. Best to get help from one you know.

Yumina, surely.

With her verification, even a constellation couldn't interfere.

—This should match the authority you hold.

"Hm... Take this and scram, basically. Just to check, you gonna admit Alec de Canto put you up to this?"

—Alec de Canto? He's my contractor, but unrelated to this. I merely burned my shares to intervene in the Tower's event, testing you—the rising star among constellations lately.

The Manipulator of the Immovable, perhaps frustrated at being toyed with so much, bluffed shamelessly.

Ban Yu-won had expected as much.

Truth was, he'd already made it eat plenty of crow...

"Fine, half it is."

—What?! All of—

"40%. Take it or get nothing and leave."

—I must recover it!

"Straight talk: it's decent, but I already have Inventory. Short-range movement's useful, but... I'm more curious about Heinous. Bluntly, aren't these lower-tier than Heinous?"

Spot on.

He judged depth and caliber by the golden glow concepts emitted.

The constellation stared him down silently, but the barrier wasn't infinite—it eventually raised the white flag.

—At least 60%. Otherwise, I won't withdraw nicely.

"Deal. Throw in one piece of info, and it's yours at 60%."

—Info?

How had things flipped to the contractor wielding the constellation?

The one denying ties to Alec didn't answer directly, of course.

—Actually, I...

"...Ha."

It valued [Heinous] that dearly, slipping a bold hint.

Unverifiable by others, so he'd tuck it away for now.

"I see."

"Huh? What're you on about, Ban?"

"Ah."

When Ban Yu-won snapped back, the barrier was gone.

In his hands: Heinous at depth 20, and the jeweled bracelets reborn as artifacts.

"Made a deal with the constellation. So this bracelet too... Huh?"

As he raised it to show off—

Boom. Boooom. Vibrations drew near.

Wondering what it was, Ban Yu-won turned.

The stone mountain golem, fiercely battling Dokgo Yeon moments ago.

Now, with Dokgo Yeon perched cross-legged atop its pointed head, approaching them.

"...Dokgo Yeon taken hostage?"

As Light's dumb remark.

But Dokgo Yeon atop the peak looked mildly flustered yet perfectly fine—no chance of that.

Rather...

"Tamed it, maybe?"

Lucelle, the taming expert, ventured cautiously.

As Light and Ban Yu-won had no reply to the absurdity, they just waited for Dokgo Yeon.

Long story short: Lucelle was right.