Chapter 40

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Translator: Ryuma

Chapter: 40

Chapter Title: Lesson 9. Learning Martial Arts - 5

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"Uh, uh oh..."

Ban Yu-won urgently reached toward the sky.

The thread bundle, which had been descending to a certain altitude, was trying to rise back into the heavens the moment he spotted it.

But as he extended his hand and poured his strong will into it, the profound energy swirling within his body reacted, igniting fiercely.

It felt as if his will and presence were spreading out across the entire area where he reached.

'Strengthening my authority with profound energy...'

Magical power was inherently omnipotent, capable of transforming into anything, which was why it was called the万能 force.

Having been filtered once more through the Manifestation Art and infused even more deeply with Ban Yu-won's nature, it had become purer. Just by imbuing his authority with profound energy, its power was amplified beyond comparison to before!

Due to the powerful suction from his authority, part of the thread bundle unraveled and touched his hand. Ban Yu-won grabbed it and calmly pulled.

A massive amount of strings unraveled and coiled perfectly around his hand.

'Nice!'

Of course, what he'd salvaged was only a tiny fraction of the bundle's strings, but compared to what the rest of the group had gained, it was plenty.

He'd likely be entangled with those constellations plenty more in the future anyway, and there'd be chances to rip that concept away later.

Ban Yu-won decided to focus on the gains at hand.

This pure growth came from stealing the string bundle.

Ban Yu-won felt more keenly than anyone the sensation of his authority's limits crumbling.

He didn't even need to check the notifications about increased depths—he already knew better than anyone how to wield and develop his authority going forward.

'As expected, this isn't something that can be repaid with just a gift of clothes.'

For Ban Yu-won, who believed in repaying favors in kind, this weighed heavily on his mind.

But when he glanced at Dokgo Yeon, she was still lost in the afterglow of her level-up, eyes gently closed.

Ban Yu-won let out a soft sigh and turned his gaze back.

To the golden strings tangled in his hand, rippling and slowly unraveling.

A groan escaped him involuntarily at the staggering amount of Life, which shocked him first and foremost.

50—no matter how many times he'd acquired Life before, he'd never gotten this much at once.

Of course, he planned to share a bit with Eve.

"15 should be enough, right?"

"Hiss hiss."

Eve squeezed and released his arm in ecstatic gratitude.

He chuckled and shared the Life with it, absorbing the rest himself.

As rewards directly from the tower, Life and Body were applied intact without degradation—and surprisingly, Magical Power was the same.

'Oh, oh wow.'

He'd expected some loss, but it converted at 100%.

He gained a full 15 Profound Energy intact.

And as Life grew, his Soul grew accordingly—it was like clearing several rooms!

'If I hadn't given some Life to Eve, I'd have broken 300.'

The thought crossed his mind, but Eve was his partner, so its growth mattered just as much. He calmed his excitement.

And the most important part right now was...

A top-tier concept that seemed to have evaded transformation into something else during the process of being bestowed from the tower to a human.

While handling the Babylonia Code, Ban Yu-won had learned that languages contained higher and lower concepts beyond conventional linguistic rules. The way to distinguish them was by their scope of application and the brightness of their golden glow.

For example, among martial arts, Manifestation Art shone especially brightly, and Profound Energy outshone Magical Power.

'And this... it's blindingly bright.'

Myriad Transformations.

Ban Yu-won had hoped it might grant him transformation abilities, but if so, he could've already applied something like what he'd given Eve to himself before acquiring it.

"Hiss, hisss."

"You want it, huh? You really want it?"

"Hiss hiss! Shiiik!"

Eve's tantrum and cuteness upon realizing Ban Yu-won had an even finer, tastier concept than the 15 Life it'd just gulped down were too adorable to keep to himself.

The rest of the group, having mostly settled their level-up changes, watched Eve intently.

"So cute."

"How about using this for video content, Ban?"

"A good child who obeys its master."

Lucelle seemed to be appreciating a different angle, though.

After enjoying Eve's antics to his heart's content, Ban Yu-won figured there was no one else to give it to anyway (he briefly imagined granting Myriad Transformations to Lilith and turning her into an all-purpose tool, but no). He pulled it out and bestowed it on Eve.

But as always when granting concepts to Eve, something unexpected happened again.

"What?"

"Shiiiiiik!"

Fundamental mutation? The thought crossed his mind, and his innate linguistic comprehension unraveled the inscrutable language into something understandable.

It was an evolution that overcame one's innate nature and form—the root itself—fundamentally transforming the species.

A miracle that might happen once every few years across an entire dimension!

All the strings Eve possessed burst from its body in a flash.

Eve let out a loud cry, then curled into a ball. Layers of golden strings wrapped around it, forming an oval egg.

"Uh..."

Ban Yu-won cradled the golden egg—barely holdable in both palms—and his pupils shook.

Eve evolving was great, but he hadn't expected it to take time.

It wouldn't be a huge problem without Eve, but Lucelle was the issue.

'No way to calm Lucelle in a pinch now.'

That's what he'd relied on until now.

When he glanced at her, Lucelle smiled innocently, trusting him completely.

He couldn't fathom the source of this woman's trust!

"Looks like the shift is coming soon."

"Shift? Wait, hold on."

Ban Yu-won snapped to attention at Dokgo Yeon's mutter.

He still had something to retrieve here.

He hurriedly stored the golden egg in his inventory and headed to the hole where he'd sent the Irregular—now vanished without a trace.

Sure enough, while the person was gone without a trace, shimmering golden strings remained!

He sucked them in at once, but there had been too many interferences.

First, the four core codes.

Unlike the ones from the tower earlier, upon absorption into his body, they shrank to less than half.

Magical Power especially—24 became a mere 6 Profound Energy, making his head spin.

Swallowing tears, he absorbed them all, and his core codes tallied like this.

'Life broke 300, so that's good... but everything else is a mess. Spatial Control? Is that from Dokgo Yeon's deflection earlier?'

If so, Shadow Step—which hid one's shadow—must be the technique the Irregular used to retreat like lightning while concealing itself.

As if proving his guess right, both were concepts humans could possess. The problem was their depths weren't enough for meaningful abilities.

'I knew we don't get the full original depths, but this is rough. Can I train them up?'

At least Shadow Step fell under Martial Arts, and he knew martial concepts grew steadily with practice, so that eased his mind a bit.

What troubled him most was the last concept.

Stellar Mark.

The name screamed power, but its obvious link to constellations worried him.

Still, the description of "pure essence after all uniqueness vanishes" seemed genuine, so he'd hold onto it for now.

Yes.

Stellar Mark was a concept humans could possess.

"Ah, Room 10."

"A rest area."

When Ban Yu-won finished sorting his concepts and looked up, the shift had already occurred, transforming the surroundings.

The overall setup resembled the Irregular Room of Room 9, but without the floor pillars and with ornate fountains on the walls instead.

This was the basic rest area type.

In other words, 'safe' with 'drinking water' provided.

"Sometimes they don't even have water if you're unlucky. Glad that's not the case."

"Actually... isn't this a jackpot?"

As Light spoke excitedly, pointing upward. From the dizzyingly high ceiling, tree branches hung down over their heads.

From fig-like fruits nearest Ban Yu-won to apples, apricots, bananas, grapes, melons, and watermelons—various fruits dangled grotesquely yet bountifully from the branches.

"I heard fruits in rest areas not only recover fatigue but boost potential too."

"Yeah, they look like watermelon but aren't, so it's fine even if they grow on trees..."

Suppressing the urge to complain, he plucked and ate a fig. All thought vanished from his mind.

'Delicious!'

Why eating fruit boosted Charm? He'd ponder that later.

For now, this fig ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was the rarest treasure he'd ever tasted—likely never to be matched.

"Whew..."

"Waaah."

"Sob."

Looking around, the others were munching fruits too—As Light even in tears!

"To think I'd enter the tower and eat the fruit of Eden...!"

"Eden?"

"You didn't know?"

As Light, unable to hide his awe, munched his banana.

"Climbers call rest areas Eden. No one knows why, but everyone knows the tower named them that. So we call the fruits Eden's fruit... You saw in the manual what comes after, right? Less than 10% chance for fruits to appear."

"It's too delicious... and amazingly, I feel my inner power growing. Even a little permanent growth. I'd love more, but..."

Dokgo Yeon, who went crazy for sweets, nibbled a ripe apricot with pure bliss—shockingly cute.

"One per person, right? Even if you pick more, they vanish on shift..."

"Full... so full. Can't eat another bite."

Lucelle, having devoured a whole grape cluster, rubbed her belly. Ban Yu-won nodded unconsciously.

"Pick for storage? Gone when you leave. Stuff yourself? One fills you up... It's like a tasting station."

"Tasting station?"

"I'll take you sometime. Minor issue of crossing dimensions."

Eating one fully satisfied you, making a second impossible.

Forcing another caused severe side effects—nasty ones, he'd heard.

"Here... oh, for real."

The moment Ban Yu-won finished his fig.

A perfectly satisfying fullness hit, erasing any desire for more.

Like instinct screaming 'no more.'

But something even more shocking followed.

Ban Yu-won froze as if stunned.

'What did I just eat?'

Fruit of Good and Evil?

That one from Eden that got Adam and Eve expelled...

"Ah."

He slapped his forehead.

How had he not realized sooner? Absurd.

Calling the space Eden, fruits Eden's...

And his was a fig.

In the West, often depicted as apple—but that's just imagery.

The Bible ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠says Adam and Eve, ashamed of nakedness after eating, covered with fig leaves.

Why fig leaves? Because the nearest tree after the fig was one.

'No way mine was the actual Fruit of Good and Evil from Eden? Nah... but...'

His authority judged it so, and the tower called it Eden's only fruit. Definitely special.

Plus, an amazing ability added to All-Reading Eyes!

"Ban Yu-won, why the weird face? Craving more fruit?"

"No, not that cute reason... Nothing."

He hurriedly smoothed things over as Dokgo Yeon's cute face soured.

But scanning the group, nothing seemed particularly changed.

"B-Ban!"

Then.

As Light, looking around, shouted upon spotting something.

"Treasure chest here too!"

"Artifact jackpot!"

As rare as Eden's fruit, a treasure chest in a rest area!

Ban Yu-won's party hit the motherlode on their first rest area visit!