Chapter 87
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: Lesson 19. Changeling - 2
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"That guy's suspicious."
Sunday morning, in Classroom 11's training room.
Ban Yu-won was giving his report about going to Ronica with Kettra yesterday, thinking it felt like it had been ages since all four of them had gathered together.
Lucelle drew close enough that their bodies touched, sniffing at his nape as she spoke.
"I've heard that guys who like men on the down-low deliberately bring up women to lower your guard, then pounce all at once when the chance comes."
"I'm more worried about where you picked up that tidbit, Lucelle. And that senior's a solid heterosexual, so don't worry."
Kettra was unmistakably the type who genuinely liked women, no matter how you sliced it.
Wasn't assuming otherwise on their part more rude to him? Didn't Lucelle realize that?
No, she was so focused on protecting Ban Yu-won from other people that she wasn't paying attention to anything else...
As those thoughts crossed his mind, Lucelle—dissatisfied with how much other people's scents clung to Ban Yu-won—pressed her body right up against his chest and started rubbing against him.
"H-Huh?!"
"Sorry, Yu-won. Haah... but this is all for your sake...!"
"Lucelle, cut it out. That's rude to Ban!"
As Light snapped in anger instead of the unflappable Ban Yu-won.
But honestly, Ban Yu-won didn't find it rude at all.
Nice scent. Nice feel. Satisfying weight.
No exaggeration—it felt like heaven.
"Dokgo Yeon, you're usually the one who stops this stuff. Do something."
"...Who knows. Maybe we should just let them be. Their relationship is their business."
"Dokgo Yeon?!"
As Light was as shocked as he'd trusted her to intervene.
But Lucelle let out a knowing 'Heh,' smirking as if she'd expected it, and kept marking Ban Yu-won with her scent.
Lucelle, something must've gone down with Dokgo Yeon.
He'd been feeling the need to sort out his relationship with Lucelle soon anyway, so he didn't reject her bold skinship and let it happen.
How long had it been like that?
"Satisfied now, Lucelle?"
"Y-Yeah... Thank you."
Maybe she'd thought he'd push her away midway, because she fumbled without finding a moment to pull back—until he spoke up, and she finally retreated with a shy smile.
"Ban Yu-won, what happened yesterday?"
Dokgo Yeon, who'd been observing his suddenly more manly response, stared straight at him and asked.
Yesterday, huh.
Ban Yu-won thought back to last night's encounter—which had been on the verge of exploding in multiple ways—and gave a wry smile.
"Yeah. Saw the pitiful end of a love story, in more ways than one."
"The end."
"...More like the scheduled end. I'll fill you in later."
"It must be tied to the commotion at the restaurant the day before yesterday."
"That's why I hate sharp ones like you."
"Heh."
Dokgo Yeon let out a small laugh at his teasing remark, then drew the dark longsword at her waist and moved to the center of the training room.
"Come at me. You're getting too cocky—you need some manners beaten back into you."
"Yu-won, let me go first..."
"Nah. I'll handle it."
Ban Yu-won gripped his Executioner's Longsword and stepped forward to face her.
Even without talismans, he instantly focused on her, building his momentum. Dokgo Yeon tested him with a question.
"You've been working on something lately, right? No need to hold back?"
"It's not finished, and it wouldn't work on someone as strong as you anyway."
"Flattery won't get you mercy."
"If I thought flattery would make you drop your guard, I wouldn't stop at this much."
Dokgo Yeon let slip a faint smile and raised her shortsword.
The next instant—
She leaped forward like folding the ground itself, closing in, and their blades crossed with a sharp screech!
—Chiiing!
"You've fully internalized Flow. What about Counter?"
"See for yourself."
—Chaeng! Chaeng!
In a flash, their blades clashed and parted repeatedly.
Dokgo Yeon felt her sword hand tremble from the impact's weight, her eyes widening.
'The rebound force is way stronger... He's targeting my weak spots precisely, bouncing my power back. Did he have some enlightenment in that short time?'
In truth, it was more accurate to say that practicing 'reversing things' with language magic had advanced his Martial Arts to the Counter stage as a bonus.
His biggest gain from aiding the student council as a language magic user these past few days: the concepts handled by language magic weren't much different from those he'd internalized in his body.
—Chaaeng, Chaeng! Kagagak!
The more he grew his internal concepts, the more diverse his language magic became—and vice versa, honing language magic let him see multifaceted growth in his internal concepts.
They all stemmed from his authority, after all—no need to treat them separately.
Realizing that accelerated his growth as an Ability User immensely.
"Hmm, looks like all that running around paid off. Then let's kick it up a notch!"
"What?!"
—Skaagagak!
Dokgo Yeon—who'd spotted his brilliant talent early—sensed his awakening and ramped up with satisfaction.
Black lines slashed wildly through the air.
No—like black sheets.
All of them death.
"Even Freezer's only evolved three times—how many stages do you have?!"
"Not bad!"
No exaggeration—Ban Yu-won felt her speed jump over 30% in an instant and freaked, moving his feet frantically.
Having trained Ghostly Shadow Steps had built a foundation in footwork, so he could adapt it to combat fairly smoothly now.
"But you're still sloppy—look straight at my sword! Just deflecting and bouncing won't pierce the flow of my energy fully!"
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Swordsmanship depth has reached 108. Pierce depth: 53, Sever depth: 60, Flow depth: 75, Counter depth: 63. Based on Manifestation Technique, integrating swordsmanship-related actions into a single flow.
Stimulated by Manifestation Energy, Body depth decreases to 181. You sense your body evolving beyond the limits of concepts.
Through Manifestation Technique training, some negative concepts in your body have been partially eradicated. Positive surplus of Life generated. The surplus potential will promote growth in other concepts.
Manifestation Technique depth: 111, Manifestation Energy depth: 292.
Life depth: 455.
Why did he always end up flat on his back after sparring Dokgo Yeon, no matter how much he grew?
Ban Yu-won tucked that century-old mystery away in his mind and collapsed right there.
Dokgo Yeon approached, looking down at him with a faint smile.
"Whew, that was solid. You won't get pushed around technique-wise by other students now."
High praise from Dokgo Yeon, who rarely complimented anyone.
...Though lately, who knew.
Still, Ban Yu-won felt pretty good—he'd realized through the fierce bout that his swordsmanship, once reliant on isolated concepts, was starting to form a solid flow.
"Hard to believe you've honed your skills this much in just over a month of properly holding a sword... Ahem! You can rest easy about tomorrow's sparring schedule."
"I'll avenge you, Yu-won!"
"Sorry, Lucelle, but just hearing that lets me see the future a few minutes from now..."
As expected, Lucelle—half her hair dyed black, raring to go—ended up collapsed beside Ban Yu-won in under five minutes.
As Light had lasted three, so she did better.
"You just dissed me!"
"Yeah, something like that."
After a weekend packed with studying and sparring—burning through Ban Yu-won's special talismans—Monday finally dawned.
If last week had been about grinding through massive assignments that directly affected exam scores and prepping for tests,
this week was full-on exam week: comprehensive practical evaluations including freshman ranking spars, hands-on assessments, and written tests—all factoring into first-year grades.
In other words, they'd already hit week six at the academy.
"Feels like we've been together half a year already. Must be 'cause I'm so used to you guys now."
"Wh-What? Don't get all mushy—it doesn't make me happy or anything!"
As Light squirmed, his body betraying his honest joy despite his words.
Fortunately, he hadn't had any holy sword-related fits up to yesterday, so at this rate, he'd score decently on the midterms.
Ban Yu-won wouldn't say it to As Light's face—even if it killed him—but he'd already heard Dokgo Yeon declare, "As Light's martial talent is definitely genius-level."
"We'll be spending way more time together from now on, Yu-won. Ah~."
Meanwhile, Lucelle looked utterly serene, spearing a sausage with her fork and bringing it to Ban Yu-won's lips with a Madonna-like smile.
The moment he accepted it without refusal, he felt every eye in the student cafeteria lock onto them.
Lucelle's popularity keeps rising.
Strip away the "special admission" label, and she was just an angelic beauty—natural that her fame grew with Rebellion's.
"Who knows... As Light aside, the beast is pretty stable now, so barring incidents, we'll stick together at least until graduation."
"Please, no ominous talk."
Dokgo Yeon spoke casually too, wielding her chopsticks.
Today's menu was classic American brunch: scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, toast. She—who generally avoided Western food—devoured it nonchalantly, showing she'd adapted to academy life.
...Though using chopsticks instead of a fork revealed her unchanging stubbornness.
"Whew, those bugs' stares sting. Can't believe they haven't learned after all that."
"Huh? Oh..."
Ban Yu-won gave a wry smile at Dokgo Yeon's offhand remark mid-meal.
Her "bugs" meant none other than Lucien Ortima.
Word was he'd returned over the weekend, and there he sat in the cafeteria center with his guards—eyes and arms fully healed by some means.
Huge difference from Irecto, who'd lost an arm too but gone half-cyborg.
Of course, that guy had chosen machines to get stronger...
"At least he's just staring from afar, not approaching."
"That sounded poetic, Yu-won."
"You guys are too perceptive these days..."
"Sigh."
Dokgo Yeon sighed.
"Wonder how long that worm plans to keep up the charade."
"Dokgo Yeon, I just thought of a great idea."
"Sounds terrible."
Dokgo Yeon recoiled at Lucelle's sparkling-eyed suggestion.
Ban Yu-won sipped water, pondering their shifting power balance—then stray fire hit him.
"Why don't you try some skinship with Yu-won too? You'd instantly know that trash's feelings for you. Like feeding him."
"?!"
Ban Yu-won gawked at the outrageous proposal.
Lucelle calls Ortima trash too, huh.
Dokgo Yeon scoffed, of course.
"Pass. Why would I stoop to that farce?"
"Running away?"
"It's pointless."
"If it's pointless, it's harmless to try once. No loss."
Lucelle wouldn't back down; Dokgo Yeon looked annoyed.
Ban Yu-won braced to flee as she neared explosion—then she sighed deeply and turned to him.
"You wouldn't hate it?"
"Hate it? It'd be an honor."
His reflexive honesty made Lucelle giggle.
"Yu-won, you're too lovable when you're honest."
"...Fine. I'll play along."
Fine?
Ban Yu-won doubted his ears.
But Dokgo Yeon, stone-faced, neatly scooped scrambled eggs with her spoon per Lucelle's words—and held them to his lips!
"Dokgo Yeon, you...?"
"Open up quick. In it goes—now close."
"Saying it like stuffing an elephant in a fridge doesn't make it easier..."
"You're missing something, Dokgo Yeon. Gotta do the ah~."
Lucelle, stop!
Dokgo Yeon's mental HP was already zero!
Ban Yu-won shuddered, certain she'd blow—but the result shocked him.
"Kh... Ah, ah~."
"Ah~?!"
The scene was too jarring; Ban Yu-won blanked out momentarily.
Coming to, he was chewing the eggs—he'd taken them safely from her!
"Done. Cool as ice, totally unfazed. Happy now?"
"Yep. That was fun."
"Watch your back later, beast...!"
Ah, Lucelle just shivered.
And over there, Lucien Ortima trembled in rage too.
Go ahead and advertise how much you like Dokgo Yeon, thought Ban Yu-won, glancing at her.
But she'd already forgotten the farce, resuming her meal calmly.
...Though her reddened ears showed she was embarrassed after all.