Why Did I Have to Enroll - Chapter 25

Lesson 6. A Teacher's Grace is Like Heaven - 4

Ban Yu-won had a vision of his neck being cut for a moment.

As Dokgo Yeon's short sword sliced horizontally through the air, he had found death before the cut.

He remembered.

When she sparred with Ortima, she had nullified his power with just her fighting spirit.

She had now demonstrated essentially the same power.

'The motion of cutting with the sword, the form (形). The mind within it, the meaning of the cut. But that went a step further. It added the will to cut the opponent and bring them to death...'

At the time, he had merely been vaguely surprised.

But now, having tasted a fragment of martial arts, he could recognize how miraculous and chilling her sword strike was.

How could death be contained in a human action, in such a simple sword strike?

And such a clear and intense death at that.

He could only be grateful that the sword wasn't directed at him.

―However, the reward for facing that terror head-on was certain.

[You have gained a deeper understanding of the advanced technique of handling emotions and phenomena. Your mastery of the powers of All-Seeing Eye, All-Hearing Ear, and All-Speaking Lips has each deepened by 5.]

[You have successfully grasped part of a very powerful and complex martial arts concept. Your Soul Depth has become 390. Your Martial Arts Depth has become 97. The excess depth not attributed to sub-concepts will help you acquire and develop lower martial arts concepts in the future.]

[Your Swordsmanship Depth has become 52.]

[By observing and partially understanding the essence of Cut, your depth has jumped to 15 at once.]

Now, if Dokgo Yeon told him to call her teacher, he would have to comply.

Having elevated Ban Yu-won's level so much by showing just one sword strike, could there be a better teacher than her?

Moreover, by deliberately wielding the sword, she had given Ban Yu-won another kind of enlightenment.

'Perhaps Luciel's Heart Furnace is similar to the technique Dokgo Yeon just demonstrated.'

The ability to instantly generate concepts not originally possessed by the body to enhance one's strength or achieve desired results.

Isn't that what games call an active skill?

The difference between Luciel and Dokgo Yeon, however, is that Dokgo Yeon can control the concepts at will, while Luciel cannot.

'Then, the way I can help Luciel is...'

"Ban Yu-won."

"Huh?"

Startled by the voice close by, he raised his head to find Dokgo Yeon's cross-shaped pupils right in front of his nose.

Her face was so close that he almost fainted from shock.

"Did you remember well? I don't plan to show it twice. I used quite a bit of strength, you know."

"That... I think I understand."

The giant spider that had appeared with enough influence to change the room had been cut in half and vanished with a single strike.

No matter how extraordinary Dokgo Yeon's abilities were, it shouldn't be possible to unleash such a sword strike so casually.

If it were possible, it would be too terrifying.

Moreover.

[Life 3, Body 11, Demon 12, Carapace 15, Spider Web (蜘網) 10, Resistance 1]

Considering that one doesn't properly gain life from monsters hunted by others, it's clear how terrifying the creature she had just dispatched with a single strike was.

On the other hand, where the creature died, only a single magic core remained, similar to, or slightly larger than, the elite monster that had appeared in Room 1.

As Ban Yu-won felt awkward, as if he had unnecessarily stolen her earnings, Dokgo Yeon just smiled at him as if she understood his feelings completely.

She's really scary!

"Stop flirting and help us quickly!"

Light's urgent voice then pulled Ban Yu-won's attention away from Dokgo Yeon.

"Grrrrrr!"

"Luciel has gone berserk!"

Of the two giant spiders that had pounced towards Light and Luciel, one was now facing off against Light.

The other one was writhing in pain with some of its limbs torn off, and judging by the viscous fluid and carapace fragments on Luciel's hands, it was clear that this was her doing.

However.

[Heart Furnace 84 ― Anger 27, Madness 40, Sorrow 9, Pleasure 3, Kill (殺) 5]

Compared to what he had checked just a moment ago, the depth of the Heart Furnace had skyrocketed.

And the addition of a concept he hadn't seen before was concerning.

"Grrk, grrrrrk...!"

"Luciel, you idiot, hunt the monster!"

"My, how entertaining."

When Dokgo Yeon says something is entertaining, it usually isn't very fun at all.

"Not at all! This isn't fun!"

"Khiiit!"

―Screeeeech!

In reality, the current situation was a complete mess.

It seemed like they could finish off the spider that had lost its legs if they pressed on, but for some reason, Luciel was ignoring the spider and charging at Light instead.

As a result, Light was caught in a dilemma, unable to properly deal with the giant spider or fend off Luciel.

Ban Yu-won stared at Dokgo Yeon and opened his mouth.

"Dokgo Yeon."

"Don't look at me like that. I've done enough in this battle."

Everyone knew that she was somewhat limiting her power level to match the average of this party.

In fact, this was necessary for everyone's growth, so he didn't intend to say anything about that itself.

But isn't the current situation irregular?

"If even one person dies now, who knows what will happen. You know? This is an irregular situation."

"...Irregular, you say. You're right about that."

Perhaps she had wanted Ban Yu-won to persuade her from the beginning.

Sometimes, to move people with firm standards, such cumbersome and obvious procedures were necessary.

Dokgo Yeon, persuaded without much difficulty, nodded and said.

"Then I'll take care of that beast."

"Whatever, just hurry!"

At Light's shout, Dokgo Yeon extended her finger, and Luciel, who was lunging at Light, was flung into the air and hit her head against the wall.

"Grk!"

But she got up perfectly fine and this time, instead of Light, she charged at Dokgo Yeon.

Dokgo Yeon, as if she had been waiting for this, deflected Luciel again.

Luciel got up again and charged at Dokgo Yeon... and that's when Ban Yu-won realized that Dokgo Yeon was 'playing' with Luciel.

"With her reason completely gone, she just goes berserk at the sight of anyone strong."

"Don't tell me that's why she abandoned the spider and came at me?!"

"You shouldn't have time to chatter like that, should you?"

"Aah!"

Light, who had been sighing, finally seemed to realize as he turned to deal with the giant spider lunging at him.

By this point, Ban Yu-won realized what Dokgo Yeon wanted from him.

There was one opponent rolling on the ground, unable to find a target, wasn't there?

"Teacher, this assignment is pretty tough."

"If you observed my first strike properly, and with that sword of yours, you should be able to do it."

Dokgo Yeon replied with a smile to Ban Yu-won's grumbling words.

She maintained an extremely relaxed attitude while dealing with the completely crazed Luciel.

Perhaps even her earlier claim of having exerted some effort in that first strike was a lie.

Ban Yu-won, guessing this was her way of compromising as much as she could, sighed and turned his attention to his own opponent.

―Kiiiiiii!

There was the giant spider, screaming in pain after having its legs ripped off by Luciel.

Of course, having lost three of its eight legs, it wasn't in a normal state, but after being left alone for some time, it seemed to have regained some strength and was now raising its body.

Even with its legs torn off, that hard head would still be intact, and if it pounced with that massive body, Ban Yu-won would be crushed to death.

To think he had to cut this thing down and kill it—he had known for a while, but Dokgo Yeon's teachings were truly Spartan.

"Swoosh."

"No, Eve."

As Eve transformed her body into a rifle and stepped forward, Ban Yu-won shook his head.

"It's a waste of bullets. Transform into chains."

"Swish."

This time, Eve transformed into a bundle of chains in mid-air.

Taking that as a signal, the giant spider that had gathered itself lunged at Ban Yu-won!

―Kiiiiii!

"Tch...!"

It was an incredibly fast movement, but the creature was ridiculously large, and Ban Yu-won was able to dodge its charge by passing through the blind spot created by its torn-off legs.

What he didn't expect, however, was that silver threads would scatter in the air following the creature's movement.

Those sticky threads were sprayed everywhere, trying to hinder Ban Yu-won's movements, but.

[Spider Web 0.3 is being absorbed. This is a concept that humans cannot possess.]

"Well, there goes the dream of being Spider-Man."

―Kihi?!

Of course, the spider webs that had already been released and fallen to the ground couldn't escape Ban Yu-won's power to dominate concepts.

As all the spider webs were transformed into golden strings of text and absorbed into Ban Yu-won, the giant spider, having lost its legs, became extremely flustered and lunged at Ban Yu-won again.

"Eve!"

―Charrrk!

But by then, Eve had already extended her steel chains and tightly bound one of the creature's legs.

She had anchored the other end of the chain to the edge of the wall, so despite the giant spider's resistance, it could hold for a moment without coming loose.

That moment was enough for Ban Yu-won to launch an attack on the creature.

'Cut!'

It was impossible to match Dokgo Yeon's sword strike imbued with death.

But just one thing—a sword strike filled with the will to cut, he now felt confident he could handle properly.

He could feel the concept of slash residing in the sword resonating with his movements.

If he added to this the power of red blood, the Blood Poison...

―Slash

He was able to cut off one of the spider's legs.

"I did it!"

"Well done. But to kill it, you need to split its head."

However, Dokgo Yeon didn't seem satisfied with just that.

Ban Yu-won let out a dejected sigh as he looked at the spider now rolling on the ground with half of its legs cut off.

He had managed to cut off the legs by aiming for the joints, but to cut and split that thick, massive head?

"Hah... Alright, fine, I'll do it."

The creature was full of pain and anger, unable to move properly.

If not now, when would he ever cut it down? Ban Yu-won charged towards the creature under the protection of Eve, who was pulling out her chains!

"Cut!"

And he thrust his sword straight at the creature's head, imbuing it with a strong will!

―Kagagagak!

But he failed.

There were two reasons for the failure.

One was that his strength and skill were lacking from the start, and the other was that this time, the Blood Poison didn't activate well.

―Kiiiiiiii!

―Kaaang!

Instead, the enraged spider lashed out with its remaining legs, and if it weren't for Eve quickly transforming into a shield, a hole would have been punched somewhere in his body.

"That ability to draw out blood and channel it into your sword, it would have been good if you had used it this time."

"Kuek!"

Dokgo Yeon said as she threw Luciel towards the ceiling.

But knowing that even if the Blood Poison had worked properly, the chances of cutting through the head were low, Ban Yu-won didn't respond and only clicked his tongue internally as he readied his stance.

'The Blood Poison is hard to use consecutively. Come to think of it, that's obvious, damn it.'

Even as he was organizing his thoughts, the spider's legs came crashing down again.

But the space was already cramped, and if he retreated any further, he might end up harming Light or Dokgo Yeon.

'I can't back down. If I want to stand with these guys as an equal party member from now on...!'

―Keehit!

He desperately swung his sword from where he stood, striking the spider's legs.

But if he were to simply meet the attacks head-on, his arms would surely break under the spider's vigorous strength.

He had to deflect the enemy's force outward as much as possible.

Of course, even knowing this, it wasn't an easy task.

―Keeee! Keeeeit!

"Ah, deal...!"

Having completely given up on moving, the creature instead tried to impale him by sharply extending its remaining legs.

Eve managed to intercept some, but even she had her limits.

In the end, Ban Yu-won had to deflect most of them himself.

"Urgh...!"

Though it felt like his arm might break, Ban Yu-won never let go of his sword.

Instead, he was becoming increasingly immersed in the situation.

Four legs coming at him irregularly.

He had to deflect them in order, starting with the closest, while dissipating the force behind each leg.

Except for the creaking sounds from his arms and the feeling that his body might collapse to the ground at any moment,

honestly, it was― a somewhat exciting challenge.

―Clang! Clang! Screech!

Before he knew it, he had forgotten about the current situation and even the pain in his body, focusing solely on deflecting the creature's legs.

In the process, unnecessary tension gradually left his body, and the noise from parrying the spider's attacks was diminishing.

Had the spider tired, reducing the weight of its attacks?

Perhaps that was part of it, but it wasn't the only reason.

Ban Yu-won had begun successfully deflecting the force behind the creature's legs.

It was truly a terrifying ability to adapt.

―Keeeeeeeek!

How many more times had he deflected the creature's attacks?

Suddenly, Ban Yu-won realized he was no longer afraid of its attacks.

A little lighter.

A little faster.

As Ban Yu-won's sword once again deflected a spider leg, a mysterious energy infused his blade.

[You have realized and mastered the concept of Flow (流) in the process of deflecting enemy attacks. The depth of Flow has become 5.]

Perhaps his quick grasp of this new martial arts concept was influenced by the residual depth of martial arts he had gained from watching Dokgo Yeon's sword strike earlier.

Even taking that into account, his realization was still surprisingly impressive.

But Ban Yu-won's epiphany didn't end there.

'At the moment of attack, if I move my sword just right when the enemy's force is applied, I can deflect their power. Then, wouldn't it be possible to use the enemy's strength in reverse to strike back?'

The concept known as Parrying.

To be honest, this was partly mixed with a game-like mentality.

But originally, the power of concepts he dealt with manifested according to his perception.

Unlike how he had naturally gained the concept of Flow (流) in the process of deflecting enemy attacks,

this time, he first engraved the concept of Counter (反) in his mind and moved accordingly.

"Now!"

―Keeheeeit!

At first, he failed a little.

To use the enemy's force to strike back, he had to exploit the subtle opening that appeared at the peak of the enemy's attack, which was more difficult to grasp than the concept of Flow.

But the next attempt was a bit better.

And the one after that produced enough counterforce (反撥) to make the creature's leg momentarily recoil.

And then, the next moment.

―Crack!

At the moment when the force in the spider leg reaching towards him peaked,

he succeeded in deflecting his sword and reversing the direction of that force.

―Keeeeeeeeeee!

The spider, its leg completely bent and broken, writhed in agony.

But Ban Yu-won had no time to comfort the creature as he was busy checking the notification that appeared before his eyes.

[You have engraved the self-defined concept of Counter within yourself. The depth of Counter has become 10! In the process of realizing high-level martial arts on your own, your martial arts depth has become 120. The excess depth not attributed to lower concepts will help you acquire and develop lower concepts of martial arts in the future.]

[Your soul depth has become 400.]

Having gained an epiphany worthy of being called an epiphany, Ban Yu-won turned to Dokgo Yeon with shining eyes.

She must have been hoping for Ban Yu-won to gain this realization from the start, creating an opportunity for him to fight against a powerful opponent with incomplete limbs!

"Teacher!"

"...What, you're scary."

...Or maybe not.