Chapter 38
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Lesson 9. Learning Martial Arts - 3
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Ban Yu-won kept circulating his mystical energy nonstop even as he washed his body and changed clothes.
Every time it flowed through his body, it heated up and a bit of the energy evaporated, but since that much recovered naturally anyway, as long as he maintained his focus, he could keep it circulating indefinitely.
'I could probably increase the amount of circulating mystical energy, but if I did, I'd run short when I really needed it, so better not.'
But circulating mystical energy like this had all sorts of added benefits beyond just tempering the body by consuming magical power.
The most notable was that it strengthened the body far more dramatically than simply activating magical power.
With both permanent tempering effects and temporary enhancements, it was nothing but praise for Instructor Dokgo Yeon.
'And... my senses feel much sharper.'
He'd felt his senses sharpen whenever magical power activated before, but mystical energy was on another level.
No... it almost seemed like this was the primary ability of mystical energy, even more so than the permanent tempering or temporary boosts to the body.
Especially since it was part of the Babylonia Code authority, the amplification on his already exceptional All-Reading Eyes and All-Hearing Ears was tremendous.
Sounds he couldn't hear before reached him now, and he could even make out fine details that had been invisible.
'Did she anticipate even this and teach me the Manifestation Art...?'
If so, then Ban Yu-won truly owed Dokgo Yeon a debt that no ordinary gift could repay.
He shot her a suspicious glance, but all he got back was an enigmatic smile.
Meanwhile, As Light and Lucelle—who'd been watching his training and swallowing hard—finally composed themselves with feigned nonchalance as he finished cleaning up and dressed.
"You gonna upload the video?"
"You nuts?"
"Bet it'd rack up views though..."
Lucelle hadn't even fought, so why did her hair look even blacker now?
Ban Yu-won had a ton he wanted to say to her flushed face, but Dokgo Yeon stepped in for him.
"Even if they watch, they won't figure it out, but keep the fact that you learned martial arts under wraps. ...Why are you looking at me like that, you beast?"
"Nothing, nope."
"Get even stronger, Ban."
Lucelle was clearly wary of Dokgo Yeon, having instinctively sensed that the martial art Ban Yu-won learned wasn't ordinary. As Light, on the other hand, dismissed martial arts as a whole after his slip-up at the entrance ceremony, figuring it was just 'some healthy technique' or whatever.
Dokgo Yeon let out a smirk at their contrasting attitudes and urged Ban Yu-won on.
"Alright, time to find the way to Room 6. Even if we've decided to take this exploration easy, hanging out in Room 5 all day doesn't sit right."
"Speaking of, isn't it about lunchtime?"
"Not until we hit Room 6."
"What is this, the army? Meal rations like this."
With the group prodding him, Ban Yu-won set out in earnest to find the maze's final destination.
His improved eyesight paid off immediately.
Taking in more at once and distinguishing finer details sped up his discovery and analysis of language concepts naturally...
"Hm...?"
Sure enough, he quickly spotted the path to Room 6 and started leading the group there, only to stop short.
While the path from their cavern to Room 6 stood out clearly, something else caught his eye on the opposite wall—faintly buried.
Coincidence or fate? Without his enhanced vision from the mystical energy, he never would've noticed it.
"Shortcut...?"
捷路—捷 meant swift, so shortcut.
As he approached the wall to check, he saw fine cracks with dense virtual images packed in, disguising it as solid rock.
Without him there, no one would've ever found it.
"Here goes."
He sucked in all the virtual image strings.
They resisted at first, but the moment he asserted his strong will, they yanked free and got absorbed in one go.
Absorbing Virtual Image (虛像) 50.
"50?! You're kidding."
It was from the entire massive wall, sure, but pulling out 50 depth all at once?
That showed just how thoroughly the shortcut had been hidden.
Ban Yu-won was about to slot it into the Code Core when he shrugged at Eve chomping his forearm.
"You want this too?"
"Hiss."
"Fine, eat up and grow big."
He tried granting it all, but Eve could only handle up to 20.
Her level was apparently hitting the limit for absorbing concepts.
'Makes sense. The Division concept from that elite last time went to her too.'
Eve realized she couldn't devour it all due to her limits and hissed furiously, burning with renewed determination.
As Ban Yu-won wryly smiled, sensing Eve might outshine him in the next room, Lucelle tugged his other arm—the one Eve wasn't coiled around.
"Ban, this...!"
With the virtual images gone, an upward staircase appeared.
Towers didn't have clear separations between rooms; progress came via shifts. Such blatant upward structures were rare.
But they existed.
The manual mentioned that satisfying certain conditions let you skip multiple rooms.
"Looks like a shortcut. Maybe because the difficulty's higher?"
"Like I thought last week, our explorations are way off from normal."
"That's why Academy kids love our videos."
No one at the Academy would watch a standard exploration vid they'd all done themselves. Outsiders might enjoy it, but the draw here was newbies battling entry-level monsters, traps, and elites that seemed impossible for the tower's start.
Half the viewers were probably just thinking, 'Damn, great editing!' though.
"So, what do we do?"
Ban Yu-won turned to the group by the stairs with the obvious question.
The answer was equally obvious.
"Obviously go."
"Higher difficulty's nothing new."
"Let's go."
Unanimous.
To be safe, they led with shield-mode Eve and climbed briskly.
Minor ambushes came—bats clinging to the walls behind—but nothing major.
"Gah!"
"As Light, you'll fall."
"Pathetic. Didn't even react to that one?"
Without his holy sword, As Light's perception sank below even Ban Yu-won's.
He'd moved decently without it yesterday, but inside the tower, his motions grew sluggish!
"I've always fought with a sword. Can't help being tense!"
"A bit?"
"Ah, Room 6."
As Dokgo Yeon reacted to As Light's excuse, Lucelle muttered suddenly.
Darkness had fallen; only the stairs were visible now.
"Not a shift, though?"
"Maybe the stairs are the shift. What're you waiting for, As Light? Move!"
"Not scared!"
"Who said?"
Stairs kept going, so they pressed on.
No more bats.
It felt like crawling into the dark void.
"Room 7."
As Light this time.
They'd wasted time in Room 5, but skipping two rooms straight?
More importantly, the stairs didn't end.
"Skipping three rooms at once...?"
"Could be more."
Dokgo Yeon glanced up the endless stairs, murmuring in response to As Light's stunned words.
Her smooth deer-like neck stood out; Ban Yu-won quickly averted his eyes.
"What kinda shortcut did you find, Ban Yu-won?"
"No idea it'd be this massive."
He'd suspected something big from the 50-depth virtual images, but this?
"Manual said shortcuts are luck, but skipping rooms ups the next one's difficulty."
"And rewards scale up too."
"Our explorations are already tough. Adding three rooms' worth on top...?"
"Bigger rewards then."
Dokgo Yeon snorted at As Light's indirect plea for the holy sword.
Ban Yu-won smiled kindly, backing her up.
"It's fine, As Light. No irregulars, no big deal even if it's deadly."
"Baaaaan..."
"Don't cling, buddy."
As Light's holy sword obsession rivaled Gollum's for his ring.
By now, not just Ban Yu-won but the rest of Class 11 sensed something off with his contract.
"Wouldn't smashing it be better? It's not fully corrupted yet."
"Don't say crazy shit...!"
As Light clutched his chest in horror at the suggestion—hiding his necklace, as Ban Yu-won noted.
'Necklace is key, huh.'
Not yet, but soon he'd uncover all As Light's secrets.
He resolved to handle it then, turning away—only to notice the pendant tick up another.
"Room 8."
"Still going."
"No way, four rooms skipped?!"
As Light trembled.
Without the holy sword, even his mental stats tanked!
Ban Yu-won was about to tease him like a newborn fawn when Lucelle gripped his arm hard.
"Lucelle, you don't need to use my arm as a comms device..."
"Next one, enemy."
Her voice was stiff.
Nearly half-black hair hinted at her state.
Her tight cling brought heaven and hell crashing at once!
"Lucelle, calm..."
"Enemy, irregular...! Same as before!"
"Chill first, got it!"
"Grrr, grrr..."
Words wouldn't cut it.
So Ban Yu-won resorted to force: as she yanked like she'd rip his arm off, he wrapped her—and himself—in chain-form Eve.
"Grr... ha, haaa."
Drained, Lucelle slumped against his shoulder.
Ban Yu-won just shook his head at As Light and Dokgo Yeon's criminal stares.
"No, my bad. She jumped me, for real."
"You're mistaken, Ban Yu-won. I wasn't glaring at you—I was sick of that beast's courtship."
"I know... Ban's not the type to grope first."
Their trust nearly brought tears!
"Room 9, anyway. Makes sense."
"Yeah."
As Light nodded at Dokgo Yeon.
"Room 10's rest zone."
"Right. Wasn't expecting straight to rest."
The tower had rules.
Absolute one: rest zones every 10 rooms.
They varied—dud or jackpot—but no monsters.
Parties often gauged difficulty in 10-room units.
"Elites hit high odds in Room 9."
"From what we've seen, near guaranteed."
"No, no."
Lucelle, catching her breath against Ban Yu-won, shook her head.
"Irregular. Irregular."
"Like last time, a constellation...?"
Again?
Not shocking—they'd heard similar in Professor Xenon's Tuesday class.
Once one constellation approached, others piled on.
Meeting one doomed them to more.
"Getting hounded by constellations every time's a bit much..."
"Sigh."
Dokgo Yeon sighed deeply.
"Lunch first?"
"Yeah, good call."
Urgent battle ahead, and that's her reaction? Dokgo Yeon was no ordinary soul.
Ban Yu-won smiled wryly, opening inventory, when he heard her to As Light.
"As Light, sword up entering the room."
"Got it...! Leave it to me now!"
"That flip-flop attitude's seriously annoying."
Ban Yu-won shared her sentiment but spared the finisher—As Light looked deflated enough.