Chapter 249
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 249
Chapter Title: Lesson 48. Teacher Ban Yu-won - 4
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“Senior, summoning abilities have less randomness than I thought?”
―Let me go! Let me go!
Ban Yu-won spoke as he suppressed the monster bursting out from the blood-red hexagram magic circle floating in the air with a barrier.
The creature had a bronze humanoid body, a devil tail ending in an arrowhead, goat horns, bloodshot eyes, and goat legs and hooves. Ban Yu-won felt like he'd seen at least five of them today.
“It's called a Bronze Devil, common enough in the demon world to be nicknamed a goblin there. With so many of them, it's only natural their summon frequency is high.”
“It looks weak, but the name sounds pretty impressive.”
“This is an inside joke in the demon world, but they sometimes call them Fairy Devils because they're among the cutest monsters there.”
“Isn't that the team name you made with Mira...?”
“It's a secret from Mira. Kyahaha!”
Shati laughed her usual cheerful laugh at Ban Yu-won's words, glancing at the Bronze Devil thrashing against the barrier, then added,
“They have intelligence and language skills on par with the average intelligent species, which makes them the most commonly used monsters for all sorts of purposes.”
“Taming them is the first hurdle, then.”
―I won't listen to a word you say—! You're no devil!
“It always comes to this.”
Shati gave a wry smile at the Bronze Devil denying the very essence of the one who summoned it and raised her hand.
Just like the other thirteen monsters she'd summoned so far, she seemed about to kill this one too.
“Hold on, Senior. Just killing them like this won't lead to any improvement.”
When Ban Yu-won urgently stopped her, Shati turned to him with a blank look, as if suddenly realizing something.
Then she gave an awkward smile.
“Now that you mention it, yeah. Kyahaha! It's just that I've always done it on instinct during solo training. Kyahat.”
“Never thought about slowly coaxing the summoned ones?”
“I tried the hardest at the very beginning. But it doesn't work. Even if they're small and weak, devils are devils. They have no intention of obeying us.”
―Coaxing? I have no intention of talking to something that's not a devil!
The Bronze Devil had clearly looked relieved just moments ago when Ban Yu-won stopped Shati, but now it was right back to acting high and mighty as the topic shifted.
Ban Yu-won added soundproofing to the barrier to mute it, then faced Shati.
“I thought you were just training to improve your summoning proficiency.”
“Half right? But yeah, I called the Planning Department Head... Yu-won Junior... to try improving my summoning somehow.”
Shati gave a complex look toward the Bronze Devil trapped in the barrier.
“Guess it's an Evil One racial trait. Even when I need to be serious, my playful attitude won't improve. I wasn't planning to just summon blindly today either.”
“You watched the club showdown live stream, right?”
“It was awesome. That's why I wanted to join the Union Expedition too, but Mira blocked me.”
“I get that her reactions are cute when you tease her, but go easy on her. ...So? If you want my help, at least explain the ability's mechanics. How it's different from other Evil Ones' unique abilities too.”
Of course, the first thing he really needed to ask was why she suddenly wanted to improve her unique ability at this point...
But honestly, he could tell just from how Shati usually treated Mira.
She must have grown determined to protect Mira after learning she was targeted by both Crimson Spear and Exodus.
He'd thought it before, but Shati's feelings toward Mira didn't seem like simple friendship.
Still, out of consideration for her, he had no intention of voicing it.
“Alright, then I need to explain Evil Ones and Evil One variants first.”
“I'm all ears.”
According to Shati, Evil Ones were a unique species that fundamentally didn't mingle with other races.
“Unique species” sounded nice, but it was really the politest way to refer to races too specialized to be recognized as proper humanoid races, yet too intelligent and disciplined for monsters.
“Demon world is a blanket term, but it actually refers to several worlds spanning B-rank and C-rank dimensions where the Evil Ones' unique 'blood demon power' flows. Higher dimension dwellers refuse to acknowledge it, but there's actually one world dominated by blood demon power even in an A-rank dimension. Evil One legends say blood demon power is hidden in an S-rank dimension too. Summoning a monster from that S-rank would make one the ruler of all Evil Ones.”
“Romantic.”
“Not that romantic, kyahat. There were even attempts in the past to treat the demon world as abandoned dimensions and wall it off. Plenty claim demon world monsters are especially dangerous. Honestly, I think they're right. ...Evil Ones are the worst.”
This was getting serious.
Ban Yu-won considered killing the still-muted Bronze Devil in the barrier but Shati continued without a care.
“Now the main point. You might have guessed, but—I can't handle blood demon power.”
“That's why you're a variant?”
“Actually, I'm glad for that. Blood demon power drives its users insane. That's why Evil Ones are treated like lunatics. That damn Fairy Devil too.”
Indeed, it all made sense now.
Born an Evil One, she had the racial unique ability of summoning, but controlling the summoned monsters required blood demon power as a medium, which she lacked.
Ban Yu-won had felt something off before when watching her summon. Her incantations were perfect, but the driving magic power was insufficient.
Back then, he'd naively thought adjusting her magic power for summoning might fix it, but if it was due to a racial magic power difference, even he couldn't do much.
“What's your improvement plan?”
“Acquire blood demon power.”
“Ah. That's easy enough.”
“Kyahahaha! It's not easy for most!”
To put it bluntly, that was something Ban Yu-won could easily solve.
Blood demon power could be obtained in small amounts each time demon world monsters were summoned, and pooling it to bestow on Shati—considering her race—would probably work.
Of course, it would require fairly deep contact with Shati, rousing the wrath of Mira and the others...
Ban Yu-won looked at Shati, who was calmly smiling even after hearing it was easy, and said,
“But you don't want that, right?”
“Yeah. I don't like my birth race much. ...I had some friction with my parents who bore me.”
Then there was no choice but to fix her innate authority.
Actually, Ban Yu-won already had a solution in mind while listening to her.
Maybe he could use concept conversion—which had worked twice in a row lately—to make the monsters “split but move on their own.”
Shati probably knew he'd beautifully flipped his contract with Woo Hyeol-rin and come to consult him...
‘But using it like this will burn through them fast. Unless I master changeling, treating concept conversion like a finisher every time I get stuck isn't good.’
After a moment's thought, Ban Yu-won gave an ambiguous smile.
“Honestly, no guarantees. But let's start by analyzing the authority. I want to know how to fix it too.”
As if she'd been waiting, Shati extended her left hand to him.
A faint-glowing hexagram magic circle from when she'd summoned the Bronze Devil was on the back of her hand.
“This means I'm using summoning, but the summons' condition is poor.”
“When was it at its best?”
“When I summoned an ancient devil famous for not obeying summoners and shoved it into the Demon King's castle.”
Ban Yu-won glanced at Shati there.
She just kyahat-laughed without elaborating, but having tangled with various nobles since enrolling in Union, Ban Yu-won could guess her original status without more explanation.
Honestly, one more princess wouldn't surprise him now.
“Anyway, let's try. Ideally, tweak the summoning incantation for demon world monsters so even normal magic power can control them.”
“Kyahat, if that works, I'll carry you up the tower.”
“Spare us both that misfortune.”
Analyzing someone else's authority wasn't easy.
But his ever-more cheat-like All-Reading Eyes extracted patterns from the flow of her magic power and authority activation in her body, piecing them with the hand magic circle to gradually reveal the structure.
“We'll make it happen before exams end.”
“Two weeks of meetings? Sounds like dates, kyahahaha!”
“I'll report to Mira.”
“No, don't.”
Shati suddenly turned serious, grabbing Ban Yu-won's arm.
The smile she'd kept even discussing her origins was gone, replaced by a earnestly serious expression he'd never seen.
“I don't want Mira finding out... It's embarrassing, you know?”
“You live a tough life, Senior.”
“Not something you should say, kyahahahaha!”
They decided to keep the Bronze Devil as a souvenir.
Trapped in a barrier in one corner of the club room for two weeks, breathing—that if you could call it life—was better than death, anyway.
During midterms prep week, solo explorations and all external activities were banned, and club activities discouraged.
As Yumina's proxy, Ban Yu-won had a bit more freedom, but with the other Rebellion members locked in the library reading room under Lucelle's supervision, he lacked the energy to play alone.
Minus time for analyzing Shati's authority, personal lessons with Sellon, and paper-writing with Aire, the boring, meaningless time flew by—
And midterms reached their final day.
“—Ah.”
“Why the shocked face?”
“Annoying.”
Aire pouted as she felt the sword blade in Ban Yu-won's hand touch her throat, then deactivated her magic power.
“You know I wasn't at full power.”
“I know. Your full power is—”
“Secret.”
“No point in calling it secret if you're like that...”
“But the most frustrating part.”
“What's that?”
“You weren't at full power either.”
“Means we're close enough to understand that about each other.”
“...”
—Comprehensive Sparring Results: 2nd Place
Having mutually agreed to end the spar with Aire, Ban Yu-won finally completed his scoresheet with only Dokgo Yeon above him in practicals.
Of course, his power wasn't just personal combat prowess; mobilizing everything at his disposal might even beat Dokgo Yeon.
But Academy evaluations weren't worth scraping the bottom of the barrel, so he decided to be satisfied here.
That said, Dokgo Yeon declared post-midterms she'd double their sparring time since swordsmanship in close range couldn't be ignored for mastering the Origin Sword—but her expression chilled when Aisha said she'd join too.
Thus began their intense personal spars, so who knew what would happen going forward...
And right that day, perfectly timed, he awakened a new authority.
You have learned Starlight Magic (星光魔法).
One of the highest-tier magics, it decomposes all impurities and produces pure energy. It has excellent compatibility with vital energy, amplifying its power. The depth of Starlight Magic has reached 100.
You have gained great enlightenment. The depths of Life, Origin Spirit, Vital Energy, and Soul each deepen by 20.
Yu-won Art's depth has reached 350. Origin Sword's depth has reached 1,230.
“Yes—!”
The moment pure starlight floated above Ban Yu-won's hand.
The moment a brilliant star embedded in his body.
Sellon shouted in joy.
“I thought you'd never do it, chasing after other girls' heels your whole life! How lucky that you have talent!”
“Praise or insult, pick one.”
“You trash! Moderately seduce those girls!”
Why betray him right when he gave her a chance to praise?
Sellon shook her twintails wildly as she scolded Ban Yu-won.
“Go right now, to that child!”
“I need to build it up myself first. And I have other things to do.”
“Not even enough time to focus on that child!”
Ban Yu-won finally sighed and nodded.
He owed Sellon, and Yumina felt the same, so he couldn't strongly refuse her push to help her.
But a disciple suddenly approaching to teach Starlight Magic would fluster Yumina too.
Ban Yu-won sighed but contacted Yumina anyway.
A reply came in one second, making him a bit nervous.