Chapter 68
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Lesson 15. Didn't They Teach You to Be Careful with Contracts? - 2
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[Life 17, Demon 22, Body 28, Sword 21, Staff 14, Swordsmanship 2, Staff Technique 1.7...]
Tuesday morning.
Ban Yu-won checked the language concepts that Eve and Lilith had gathered all through the previous day, narrowing his eyes.
At a glance, it seemed like a lot, but these were concepts painstakingly extracted from mere goblins.
Even if he absorbed them, there wouldn't be the slightest change to the concepts within his own body.
Besides, he hadn't collected them for his own absorption in the first place.
"So, how was it? This isn't everything, right? Eve probably didn't get much benefit anyway."
"Shiiit."
Compared to the Body concepts they had gathered, Life and Demon were disproportionately low—especially Life.
It meant one of them had absorbed some concepts, and Ban Yu-won himself had instructed them to absorb as much as they could.
But Eve already possessed a full 150 in Life, so she had long passed the point where goblins could contribute to her growth...
—Pwaaang!
"Yeah, yeah, Lilith. Good job."
As expected, Lilith let out a small honk, affirming Ban Yu-won's guess.
He gently tapped the section housing Lilith's mana core and checked her concepts.
Eve had explained that Spica's Resonance depth was around 25, which Eve and Lilith had split evenly at 10 each, implanting the remainder into Tike.
Thanks to that, Eve and Lilith could explore separate dungeons to harvest concepts...
Lilith, in particular, with her bike form, boasted superior mobility and combat prowess, clearing dungeons even faster than Eve.
This might have been the greatest gain from Ortima.
"You've grown a lot. At this rate, Life will break 100 in no time."
—Bwoong!
"But you said Lilith got 10 in Resonance? It's up by 2 already in that short time. What about you, Eve?"
"Shi-shiit."
Checking Eve revealed hers at 13.
Having spent more time with Ban Yu-won than Lilith, was her concept growth faster? Ban Yu-won tilted his head but smiled in satisfaction.
"I can grow these concepts and share them with the others like this."
"Shiiit... Shi-shiit!"
Eve looked a bit down at the bold declaration of splitting the token of their bond, but she soon perked up and responded spiritedly.
Ban Yu-won's unique authority to verbalize concepts—what better way to utilize it fully?
Born from his authority, Eve could only be grateful to become his strength in this way.
"I'll look for other sources of Resonance too... but until then, you two keep at it. Thanks."
"Shiiit."
—Bwoooong!
Eve and Lilith saluted in their own ways before departing for more dungeons via the spatial transfer function of his activated Student ID.
As he kept saying, cycling low-level dungeons spawning goblins at best—or hobgoblins—had limits to concept depth. A bit more farming, and not just Lilith but even non-combat Tike would hit her ceiling.
That was Ban Yu-won's primary target, but really just preparation.
'Boosting my combat skills is fine, but I need to diversify my authority's uses.'
Yumina surely expected him to develop it too.
He'd achieved some in magic; now it was time to get ambitious with artifact crafting.
—What nonsense? Your magic is still crap! You're not seriously self-praising that using unique magic means you're advanced, right? That's your authority being amazing, not your achievement!
"Quiet, Staff."
—I'm not a staff, I'm human!
Did it know it'd benefit from his improved artifact skills?
He flicked the core of Ceron, who was blubbering on his back, sighed, and prepared for lecture.
Today's morning class: comprehensive practical combat.
With Ortima yet to return, Class 1 was chaotic, on the verge of explosion—until Aire tamped it down.
"Ban Yu-won, magic duel."
"Me? With you?"
"Please."
Her sudden challenge to Ban Yu-won defused Class 1's tension.
But the duel didn't unfold as they hoped.
No murderous spells—just a control contest over spell formulas, like during Gellas' special activity.
Thrilling for them, dull for onlookers.
"H-Huh. How is a freshman... We knew Aire was excellent, but I heard Ban Yu-won only recently started in magic engineering. What on earth."
Associate Professor Entel, overseeing, watched with sparkling eyes, deterring interruptions.
As suspected, he majored in magic.
"A splendid duel. All magic engineering students, watch closely. Non-majors, learn wizards' combat styles too!"
"Y-Yes..."
"What're they doing, Misty?"
"A scam. The princess is going easy. That guy couldn't manipulate mana that precisely a week ago."
It wasn't as brilliant as Entel raved.
Aire treated him like a magic genius, but his skills lagged far behind hers—relying on Ceron's help... i.e., gear advantage.
—Ooh, control slipping. Can't you handle this? If you know where she's attacking, block it obviously!
'Great Archmage, grant me your wisdom.'
—I'll fully control your mana, watch and learn the flow. Got it? Pathetic as you are, it'll take at least a year...
'Yes, go wild.'
Roughly how it went.
But leaving it all to Ceron defeated the purpose of dueling Aire.
Ceron didn't realize, but since awakening his authority, Ban Yu-won's learning speed was unmatched. Even now, memorizing her mana control, he improved rapidly.
Stealing her tricks, basically.
—Your mana is bizarre no matter how I look. High density? Pure...? Hers is insanely fierce, yet yours doesn't yield.
'Mystic Qi.'
—Mystic Qi... I see. Fine. This isn't my real body anyway; best exploited in your hands...
Ceron sounded resolute, then—
A massive mana wave erupted from Ban Yu-won (i.e., Ceron), shredding his own spell and Aire's entangled mana, creating a mana vacuum.
"...?"
Perfectly nullifying magic while paralyzing the interferer's mana briefly.
Ban Yu-won, having invested more mana, took the loss—but Aire, highly rating him, scrutinized his choice, then widened her eyes in shock.
"Flames..."
Flame-like mana blazed around his staff.
The gem in the staff head—the core—darkened from crimson.
Everyone sensed the roaring flames within.
"Mana mutation... Changed the artifact's properties on the spot...?"
Some insight mid-duel?
Aire stared at Ban Yu-won, unable to hide her astonishment.
It made sense: he nullified her to avoid interruption during his breakthrough!
...But actually, Ban Yu-won was most shocked.
The staff had been like this.
And instantly became that!
'I'd considered it, but...'
He knew Mystic Qi suited language or elemental magic better than plain mana, so he'd pondered converting the staff's mana to Mystic Qi.
But Mystic Qi came from Mystic Body Art, seeded by Dokgo Yeon.
Unsure how to tweak the staff, he'd left it.
'How did you...'
Yet Ceron unilaterally converted her own mana to Mystic Qi?
Perfectly, without loss—and deepening Soul subtly!
—What're you shocked about? I'm an archmage. Controlling your mana was step one; syncing and mutating the staff's core is simple. ...Truly excellent mana. Even loosened my memory seals a bit.
Perhaps imagination, but Ceron's voice seemed slightly more mature.
Ban Yu-won pictured fully unsealed Ceron as a grandma, snapped back, and looked up.
Remembering the duel—Aire pouted, retrieving her orb.
...Pouted? Must be wrong.
"That's enough for today."
Back to impassive, Aire curtly declared and left the arena.
"Uh... sure."
—Heh, feeling defeated by this Ceron's control.
Ban Yu-won knew that wasn't it and stepped down.
Ignoring half of Entel's excited questions on the artifact change, he glanced around—meeting Dokgo Yeon's eyes.
She nodded, deeply satisfied.
Yeah, she doesn't get it either.
Alongside Yumina, Professor Xenon—who made the strongest impression in this special activity—taught Tuesday afternoon.
"Time to start midterms prep."
—Xenon casually dropped the bomb.
Ban Yu-won blinked, thinking he'd misheard, but no.
4th- and 5th-years nodded gravely!
'Already? Midterms?'
But pondering, Korean universities around week 4 were swamped with group projects, assignments, midterms.
Fortunate: Union Academy emphasized practice, so written exams weren't heavy...
"Many await the mock Constellation War, but it's final eval. Orbs come after midterms."
"Then midterms are...?"
"Written. You know graduation standards: below B average GPA disqualifies from finals, leading to completion not graduation. Study hard."
Xenon declared mercilessly, like wiping out Gellas' monster wave solo.
Ban Yu-won slapped his past naive self and focused.
Of course, excelling at anything linguistic, he'd ace written exams...
Tug.
Tug tug.
Feeling his sleeve pulled, Ban Yu-won turned.
"...What're you doing?"
"Yu-won..."
Lucelle beside him teared up, clutching his sleeve.
Oddly, he knew what she wanted without words.
Then the pressure from the other side...
"Light."
"Ban, straight up: I'm an idiot."
The idiot finally admitted it.
"Written exams? I thought just climb the tower."
"You protested to the prof last time about noisy students."
"Obvious lie to shut them up."
So brazen.
Ban Yu-won sighed, nodding.
"I'll help, so let go and listen. Study now for better scores."
Glancing at Dokgo Yeon hopefully, she scoffed, shaking her head: not an idiot.
Reliable as ever.
Xenon at the podium chuckled mechanically.
"No need to worry now. It'll all come from what we cover. Ears open, everyone."
Ban Yu-won was certain Xenon addressed their group.
"Today: Constellation sponsorships. Most contract willing beings, but if rejected yet desired, they offer conditional or unconditional sponsorship. Unconditional seems free, but beware why..."
Lectures, magic training, physical conditioning, duels, Eve/Lilith farming.
Ban Yu-won spent a fulfilling week.
Regaining senses: Friday, time for the tower again.