Chapter 132
At that moment. On the other side of the mountain.
“What the hell is this!”
Flutter flutter-.
A flock of birds startled by Nam-gung Cheon’s cry, flying up over the forest.
After confirming he had truly become level 1, Nam-gung Cheon clutched his head and screamed in anguish.
The level he had worked so hard to raise had become 1 in an instant.
An absolutely unacceptable outrage.
“Just because you’re an administrator? Huh?”
Though Nam-gung Cheon’s reaction was particularly intense, the other team members were equally flustered.
“This gets returned to us, right?”
“Ah, probably?”
Francesca muttering with an unusually serious expression, and So-yul answering with an uncertain voice.
“……”
And Se-yeon silently clenching and unclenching her hands, feeling the changes.
For climbers, this situation was impossible to accept optimistically.
Everything they had risked their lives to build had vanished overnight.
But now wasn’t the time to sit around in despair.
If it were Seo-jin, he would already be encouraging his team members to move.
So-yul clapped her hands to gather everyone’s attention.
“Alright everyone, pull yourselves together. Let’s do what we can for now.”
“What can level 1s do here? We’ll just become monster food! This is the 29th floor!”
“Think about it logically. Would an administrator handle things so carelessly? And didn’t they just say they placed monsters appropriate for our level?”
“Ah, that’s right.”
Nam-gung Cheon finally recalled what the administrator had said and regained his composure.
“Anyway, everyone tell me what skills you can use. I can only use 1st Circle basic magic.”
[Fire Ball]
[Ice Bolt]
[Electric Shock]
The skills were in relatively better condition compared to their levels.
What she could use right now were only the three basic attack spells that novice mages learn at level 10, before transitioning to the mage class.
The others were in the same situation.
The skills Nam-gung Cheon and Francesca had were novice thief skills: [Throwing Star], [Explosive Tag], and [Shadow Step].
Se-yeon’s skills were also just basic warrior skills: [Power Strike], [Cleaving Slash], and [Block].
“Damn… this can’t be right.”
Nam-gung Cheon denied reality and tried to draw his beloved sword from his waist, but… what came into his hand was a beginner’s iron sword.
Shing-.
Drawing the iron sword reluctantly, Nam-gung Cheon immediately deployed the Azure Sky Boundless Sword Technique (蒼穹無涯劍法).
If Emperor Sword was a secret skill, then the Azure Sky Boundless Sword Technique was basic swordsmanship passed down in the Nam-gung family, so even at level 1, he should be able to use it sufficiently.
Nam-gung Cheon glared intensely and performed the technique in the air.
[Azure Sky Boundless Sword (蒼穹無涯劍), First Form (第一式). Azure Heaven Without Clouds (蒼天無雲)]
Piing-.
With the execution of the technique, faint sword energy flowed into the iron sword.
It emitted sharp killing intent that seemed capable of cutting even a single cloud above.
But.
Wobble-.
“Kuk.”
Nam-gung Cheon didn’t have enough mana to maintain that killing intent for long.
With his mana depleted, the flow of his ki became tangled.
That wasn’t all.
Since the skill wasn’t activated, the system’s assistance that corrected his sword path had also disappeared.
As a result.
Clang-.
His sword deviated from its intended path and only struck an innocent rock.
“Argh!”
Moreover, the rock only received a small scratch, while a shock that felt like it would tear apart his sword-gripping hand struck him.
He dropped his sword and rolled on the ground, clutching his hand.
“Geez, what an idiot.”
Francesca looked at Nam-gung Cheon rolling around on the ground as if he were pathetic and shrugged her shoulders.
“That’s just like you. Watch carefully what this big sister does.”
I’ll show you class that’s on a different dimension from you, you fool.
Crouch-.
Francesca pressed both hands to the ground and stuck her bottom way back.
A ready stance just like a cat about to pounce on prey.
The skill Francesca was about to use was a secret skill she learned when transitioning to the hidden class [Phantom Thief].
[Velvet Step]
A skill boasting fast and powerful explosive force that leaves no trace wherever hands or feet touch.
Pat-.
Francesca concentrated mana at the tips of both feet and leaped forward powerfully.
Having seen Nam-gung Cheon’s ridiculous display earlier, she even precisely distributed the consumption considering the currently reduced amount of mana.
However.
Crash bang-.
“Ugh!“
While moving forward, she twisted her ankle and rolled several times with that momentum.
Then she collapsed next to Nam-gung Cheon in a ridiculous position.
“……”
So-yul and Se-yeon shrugged their shoulders looking at the two thieves lying down.
For two of the fastest climbers among thief-type climbers to be at this level.
The future of thieves looked dark.
Still, thanks to those two’s slapstick comedy, one thing became clear.
When not receiving the tower’s system correction, skills that weren’t properly internalized wouldn’t manifest normally.
“Hmm, I think I get it now.”
So-yul, who had been lost in thought while stroking her chin, spoke up.
Nam-gung Cheon, who had been rubbing his aching hand, asked.
“What do you think you get?”
“The reason Seo-jin planned this training camp. He said something like this before.”
When they visited Arcadia, the wholesale market outside the tower, he had given this advice.
To study the exact principles so they could use magic even outside the tower where mana concentration was low.
He said that only by being able to use magic without system correction could they truly reach high places.
In fact, he had proven it wasn’t impossible by using black magic in front of her sister.
‘The environment we’re in now isn’t much different from outside the tower.’
All stats and skills had dropped to level 1, and they couldn’t receive system correction for using skills.
In this situation, they had no choice but to carefully review the skills and abilities they’d learned and try to understand their principles.
This was Seo-jin’s purpose in planning the training camp…
“The purpose of this training camp is to dig into the principles of your skills without depending on the tower’s system and stats, and to learn to use them freely even without system correction.”
Just as So-yul explained what she had realized.
“Right, exactly as you said.”
Hyeon-wol peeked her head out from inside Se-yeon’s backpack.
Soon climbing onto Se-yeon’s shoulder, she declared with a confident attitude.
“This training camp, this lady will help with your training!”
***
“Huff, huff.”
Team members breathing heavily and the corpse of a gray wolf sprawled on the ground.
Nam-gung Rin, Siegfried, and Austin had struggled against a level 10 wolf with level 1 bodies.
“I, I got bitten…”
Except for Siegfried, who was at least skilled at using his body as a paladin, the others were helplessly defeated.
Nam-gung Rin was even injured.
In the end, that fight only ended after Seo-jin stepped in and cut off the wolf’s neck.
“A-are you alright, Lady?”
Austin making a fuss and Siegfried looking at Nam-gung Rin with worried eyes.
Seo-jin examined Nam-gung Rin’s wound from the wolf bite.
“Are you okay?”
“Y-yes.”
Nam-gung Rin tried to answer that she was fine, but it clearly wasn’t a shallow wound that could be ignored.
Seo-jin asked Siegfried.
“What about divine healing magic?”
“Th-that is… the divine power I have left…”
Siegfried currently had three skills.
[Barrier], [Judgment], and [Recovery].
The problem was that he had consumed a lot of divine power in the recent battle, making it difficult to use healing magic.
“Can’t be helped.”
Seo-jin placed his hand on Nam-gung Rin’s wound and cast black magic.
[Super Regeneration]
Sizzle-.
Bubbles briefly formed on Nam-gung Rin’s wound, then the injury disappeared without a trace.
Smooth skin without a single scar remaining.
“Huh? Black magic has healing arts too?”
When Nam-gung Rin asked with surprised eyes, Seo-jin nodded.
“Yes. But it’s not commonly used. There’s a chance of failure.”
Super Regeneration has a 70% chance of healing wounds but also a 30% chance of worsening them.
A very black magic-like healing art.
Normally, one cannot escape this probability, but a mage of Seo-jin’s caliber could modify the magic’s structure to raise the probability to nearly 99%.
“But anyway… you’re all hopeless.”
Seo-jin looked at the three battered people.
Even with reduced levels, to be unable to handle mere gray wolves.
“That can’t be helped, can it? We’re not warriors who use our bodies…”
Austin complained that the evaluation was too harsh.
If they were body-using professions, the situation would be somewhat better, but all three were far from jobs that used their bodies.
Even Siegfried, though a paladin, was inferior compared to warriors, and Austin and Nam-gung Rin went without saying.
All three were professions that lost power when they couldn’t properly utilize their upper altar abilities.
Austin was in the worst situation – with his current mana, even summoning spirits was impossible.
He needed to be at least level 20 to transition to spiritualist for proper combat.
Siegfried, who stood in front equipped with armor and shield, was in the best condition, but even he found it difficult to perform properly without divine power assistance.
Moreover, all three were significantly lower level than the monsters – how could they win?
But Seo-jin kicked the wolf corpse and said.
“No, that’s a misconception. You have enough power and talent to subdue wolves like this. You just can’t use that power because you haven’t trained properly.”
“Training… you say?”
“Right, if you’re correct, how was I able to easily kill several wolves and even heal wounds?”
Seo-jin’s current maximum mana was 10, the same situation as the other three who had become level 1.
But he had used Black Death to take off the wolf’s head and even healed Nam-gung Rin’s wound with Super Regeneration.
An ordinary black mage would need at least 100 mana to cast magic of this level.
After thinking briefly, Siegfried asked cautiously.
“Could it be that hyung has very good mana efficiency?”
It was half correct, so Seo-jin nodded.
“Right, if I can produce 10 times the efficiency with 1 mana, then my current total mana could be seen as 100.”
Austin seriously objected to those words.
“That’s impossible. The minimum mana consumed to use a skill is fixed. Just summoning the lowest-grade spirit requires 20 mana.”
“Who decided that?”
“Of course, the tower’s system…”
Seo-jin interrupted Austin’s words and pointed at him with his finger.
“Right, that’s exactly the problem.”
Because they only rely on the tower’s system correction, climbers don’t even attempt to assess situations themselves.
Mana consumption set by the system?
Of course it’s important.
That’s the most appropriately adjusted consumption based on climbers’ averages.
It’s arbitrarily set so anyone who learns that skill can produce the same efficiency.
But the tower isn’t a world that operates only through systems.
‘The system is merely a kind of blessing given to easily adapt to this world.’
The tower is a new world where outside common sense doesn’t work.
It’s not a game made of code and numbers, and not all systems are subordinate to the system.
Therefore, you can split mana more finely than the system assumes, reduce power, or shorten maintenance periods to ease usage conditions and greatly improve mana efficiency.
It’s just that relying on the system is convenient, so people don’t even have such ideas.
Nam-gung Rin tilted her head at Seo-jin’s argument.
“I understand what you mean, but can you prove it?”
“Didn’t I just do that?”
He had used magic beyond his level even with level 1 mana.
What strongly supported Seo-jin’s argument was.
“And in reality, mana disasters still occur frequently. Independent of the tower’s system.”
“…!”
If the tower’s laws, mana and magic, and all supernatural abilities including divine power, spirit arts, and Taoist arts were completely subordinate to the system and immutable.
What would be the reason for mana disasters occurring in reality where the tower’s system has no influence?
“……”
An extremely obvious fact that they had never thought about before, or rather, hadn’t thought about.
A shock like being hit in the head with a hammer struck them.
Seo-jin looked at the three in shock, then turned his head toward the forest.
“Now it’s Master’s turn.”
Though Seo-jin was a black magic specialist, he didn’t have the same level of expertise in spirit arts and divine arts, so he sought his master’s help.
Rustle-.
What eventually appeared through the bushes was a girl wearing a large pointed hat.
More precisely, a doll in the form of a girl.
Circe stepped forward and stood before the three, speaking with an expression that showed she didn’t want to do this.
“Sigh, fine. Here, I’ll help with your training a little.”
