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Chapter 218

[One of the skills of Ludwig Schubert, the first to successfully conquer a Tower of Heroes.

It allows the user to connect the voids forming the Whitespace around them, forming a singular empty space that can be controlled like a veil by consuming mana.

By enveloping oneself in this mass of Whitespace, the user gains strong resistance to spatial magic and can even interfere with space itself.

*Allows one to control the Whitespace

*By enveloping oneself in the Whitespace, one can gain strong resistance to spatial magic, completely negating spells below a certain complexity

*Allows one to control the space enveloped by Whitespace.]

“...”

Reviewing his newly acquired skill, the Veil of Whitespace, Se-Hoon became curious.

I thought it was just an advanced form of spatial magic... but something about this feels different.

He had expected that mastering Whitespace would naturally mean more control over space, but reality seemed far from his expectations. Rather than this newly acquired skill being an advanced spatial one, it felt like its fundamentals were opposite to those of spatial magic.

Intrigued, he was quietly contemplating the skill description when a loud voice boomed right beside him.

“Hey!”

“Sheesh, you don’t have to shout. I can hear you just fine now.”

“Really? Whew...”

Relieved, Manuel rubbed his throat with a tired expression, and Se-Hoon moved his gaze to the clock in the living room.

Considering the time I arrived... it’s been two hours since I came here.

It seemed it had taken him quite a while to become aware of the Whitespace around him. Time did often rapidly pass when he was in a state of deep focus.

“What were you doing all this time?” Manuel asked.

“I’m not sure yet. I guess I’ll figure it out eventually.”

Even though he had escaped from the layer of Whitespace he had been in, he still wasn’t entirely sure how to escape the dormitory.

Deciding to try an easy method, Se-Hoon headed for the front door and grabbed the doorknob.

Click!

Seeing that the door opened without resistance, Se-Hoon stepped into the hallway and looked down the ordinary corridor.

I guess this works.

He wasn’t trapped in the dormitory but the Whitespace that had overlapped with it. He turned back to look inside the dormitory.

“───!”

The first thing he saw was Manuel standing there with his hands pressed against the air, acting like a mime. His exaggerated gestures made him look hilarious, and Se-Hoon couldn’t help but chuckle.

“───!!”

From how he started pounding on the air, Manuel had evidently taken offense at the ridicule. However, rather than being intimidated, Se-Hoon became even more amused.

Ah, I probably shouldn’t laugh too much.

Belatedly remembering that Manuel had been one of his regular clients, Se-Hoon realized he still needed to rebuild a positive relationship with him. And to do so, he couldn’t be leaving a negative impression already.

So, Se-Hoon suppressed his smirk and gestured to the frustrated Manuel to step back for him to re-enter the dormitory.

“It looks like I did make it work.”

Manuel paused momentarily at the nonchalant remark. Then, when he calmed down, he asked, “How did you do it?”

In less than an hour, Se-Hoon had managed to escape the Whitespace, something Manuel hadn’t managed to do in over a week. It was so incredibly fast that rather than hurting Manuel’s pride, he simply accepted it and wanted to know how it was done.

“Hmm... It’s a bit complicated to explain. How about I just make it a bit simpler?”

“Simpler?”

“I’ll get you out of here.”

Manuel had been trapped in the dormitory for over a week now. He had already accepted the situation for what it was, however, being unable to learn anything despite being trapped under the pretext of training was likely frustrating for him.

“Hmm...”

Yet he shook his head after some consideration. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“No, I don’t need that kind of help.”

“You know, if things go wrong, you could end up stuck here for the entire break.”

“Then that would be just something I’ll have to deal with.”

Cool and collected, Manuel looked directly at Se-Hoon.

“I’d rather fail than run away.”

“...”

“Goodbye.”

With those final words, Manuel turned and headed back into the living room, watched by the curious Se-Hoon.

He really hasn’t changed at all...

The Weapon Master had never feared failure. He was someone who, once he established a singular objective, would persistently pursue it until success. It was that fearless determination that earned him his S ranking, but... it was also what led to his demise at the hands of Demon’s Edge.

...Well, at least I’ve got a pretty good read on him now.

Having truly confirmed what kind of person the current Manuel was, Se-Hoon followed him into the living room.

“What now?”

Noticing Se-Hoon, Manuel, who had been about to lie down on the sofa, stopped and puzzledly watched as Se-Hoon sat across from him.

“I’ll help you cut through space. But I have a few conditions.”

Sitting up properly, Manuel faced him directly. “Name it.”

“The first condition is that the next time I ask for your help, you will agree to assist me without any complaints.”

It was a rather vague condition, so Manuel took some time to think and eventually asked, “You’re not going to ask me to become a hitman, are you?”

“I won’t ask for anything shady. Don’t worry.”

“Well, in that case...”

Teaching him how to cut through space was no small matter, so Manuel could easily agree to that condition.

At Manuel\'s nod, Se-Hoon introduced the next condition.

“The second condition is that you lend me that yellow sword you swung at the back of my head earlier.”

“What?”

At the unexpected request, Manuel’s expression shifted in surprise, prompting Se-Hoon to explain further.

“I’m simply curious about how it was forged. I’ll return it after examining it over the break.”

In truth, Se-Hoon planned to use it in his fight against the Dream Demon, but there was no need to explain that. As long as he returned it in good condition, that would be enough.

“...Fine. I trust you won’t steal it or anything.”

Hesitating, Manuel finally relented and pulled out a cylindrical rod with yellow markings from his void pocket. The blade that had been there earlier was nowhere to be seen.

Receiving it, Se-Hoon, who hadn’t had the chance to examine it properly before, observed it with a hint of surprise.

“So, it was an alchemical weapon after all. Where did you get it?”

Alchemical weapons, which could change forms during battle, were the Weapon Master\'s main tools. However, both back then and now, it should have been difficult to find a high-quality one like this one.

“I got it from my new sponsor.”

“By sponsor... do you mean the Barmuths?”

“No, that was my old sponsor. I’m with someone else now.”

“...I see.”

Se-Hoon made a small smirk.

Originally, the Weapon Master had a sponsorship contract with the Barmuth family, who provided him with all sorts of prototype alchemical weapons.

However, it ended when an explosion during testing left him with a large scar on his chest—the cause of it being the Iron Warden, which Se-Hoon had toyed with during the Noblesse. With the future having changed though, it seemed that incident had never occurred.

So he switched sponsors when the Barmuths started to lose their position, huh?

Deciding to examine the alchemical weapon in more detail, Se-Hoon brought up his final condition.

“And the third condition...”

“Aren’t you asking for a bit too much?”

“This is the final one, so just hear me out.”

“Hmm...”

Though Manuel seemed reluctant, Se-Hoon still continued, this time more seriously.

“You’ll follow my training regimen without complaint. That’s the last condition.”

For some, leaving their bodies entirely in the hands of someone they barely knew would be the hardest condition to accept. Manuel, though, nodded without hesitation.

“Of course.”

After all, he had been prepared to accept any training regimen from the start, believing he wasn’t weak enough to be fazed by a plan devised by a fellow student.

“...Really?”

Se-Hoon studied Manuel’s confident expression. Then, a few seconds later, he let out a small smile.

“That’s a relief, then.”

***

Woong-

In the endlessly vast Whitespace, a golden sphere glowed with a radiant brilliance. It shone so brightly that even the blazing sun looked like a mere firefly in comparison. And standing before it, looking up at the immense power, was Ludwig who slowly extended his right hand.

Squeeze-

Gradually tightening his outstretched hand into a fist, the golden sphere began to compress. Then, when Ludwig\'s hand could close completely around it—

Boom!

Letting out a shockwave, the golden light condensed into a single point.

Whirr-

Where the point was, a tiny dot now floated there, and with a simple gesture from Ludwig, it was brought before him—a golden ring with a white line etched through the middle.

Its appearance was simple and neat, but the power it contained seemed to be anything but ordinary.

[Hero’s Ring]

[Tier: Legendary] [Quality: Average]

[A ring created by Ludwig Schubert, the first to successfully conquer a Tower of Heroes.

The only one who can wear this ring is a hero who seeks to change the world, and their abilities and character will also determine the ring’s performance.

*Effects: Unknown]

The description was sparse, and the effects were unrefined. At first glance, it seemed like a failure. However, Ludwig was satisfied.

“This’ll do.”

To Ludwig, it was an appropriate reward for finding a way out of the Whitespace. With that thought in mind, Ludwig pocketed the Hero’s Ring and was about to leave.

“Stop.”

But a booming voice halted his tracks.

It was just a single phrase, and yet the sheer force contained within it seemed to crush the surrounding space. But it just made Ludwig let out a deep sigh despite being the target of the overwhelming pressure.

“Sigh... Why do you have to oppose me so strongly?”

“I don’t see a reason not to, especially since this pertains to the outcomes of our research.”

Rumble!

Although the voice was merely expressing its displeasure, the space quaked violently. Even S-rank heroes would have found the pressure unbearable, but Ludwig simply rubbed his temples.

Unlike the simple complaints he was used to hearing, the opposition was far too strong for him to disregard this time.

Being thorough isn’t a bad thing... but this is getting a bit tiring,

Ludwig thought.

However, he couldn’t dismiss the other party’s concerns because they had created the Hero’s Ring together. In that case, Ludwig decided to try to persuade them.

“I’m sure you’ve seen it yourself. This level of investment is more than acceptable.”

“No. I disagree,” objected the voice strongly.

“That kid is far too abnormal. Especially the way he understood and mastered your power and the Whitespace.”

In contrast to Ludwig, who had seen this aspect of Se-Hoon as a useful talent, the voice saw it as a threat—a talent so brilliant that they felt alien.

“If it were up to me, I would kill him right now to eliminate the potential threat he poses. But you wouldn’t allow that, would you? So let’s just come to a compromise on this.”

Faced with the voice’s firm resolve, which made it clear that there would be no retreat, Ludwig fell silent to make a decision. They had felt stronger about it than he expected.

“Then how about this? I’ll place restrictions on the ring, limiting its abilities for now,” Ludwig eventually said.

“I don’t even approve of giving it to him in the first place...”

“The restrictions will be lifted under two conditions. The first is that he slays a member of the Ten Evils.”

As he talked, Ludwig slowly turned and looked up to face the source of the voice.

“The second is that he destroys one of the Fragments of Origin in the Six Great Demon Realms. Would that be sufficient?”

A silence fell, and after a long while, the voice, filled with disbelief, asked. “Do you really believe he could pull something like that off?”

“He might, or he might not. That’s why this is a fair compromise.”

Another silence fell, and after another long moment, the voice, filled with irritation this time, spoke again. “Tsk... Fine, get out of here.”

Rumble!

A massive force pushed Ludwig away, essentially expelling him from the surrounding space. Smiling, Ludwig stepped out of the Whitespace.

Whoosh!

The surroundings shifted, and Ludwig found himself back in his office. He checked the time.

Let’s see... It’s been around twelve hours.

Ludwig had placed them in the same space to encourage them to observe each other and pick up on anything unusual. He knew that, for them to find a way out of Whitespace, they needed to realize that it overlapped with another space in reality, and to cut through it, they needed to perceive its existence first.

In other words, they were each other’s hints.

But though Ludwig intended for them to help each other escape, Se-Hoon had escaped faster than anticipated alone.

It turned into a one-sided lesson, but... this isn’t bad either.

Curious about how the teaching was unfolding, Ludwig decided to check on them while delivering the reward.

Smack!!

Arriving in the dormitory space, Ludwig found Se-Hoon repeatedly punching Manuel, who was wearing a blindfold and earplugs.

“Ugh...!”

Manuel shuddered violently, having just taken a punch to the stomach that knocked all the air out of his lungs. One could tell he was in immense pain by just looking at him, but Se-Hoon didn’t stop.

“This is space! If you don’t want to die, feel it from my fists!”

Se-Hoon’s fists, wrapped in a white veil, continued to rain down on Manuel. And at that sight, Ludwig finally realized what was happening.

So, he’s making him feel it through his body because he can’t see it...

By cutting off Manuel’s sight and hearing, Se-Hoon heightened Manuel’s other senses, forcing him to feel Whitespace indirectly through the punches wrapped in white veils of space.

Though crude, it was simple and effective. For a while, Ludwig quietly watched, intrigued by the unexpected approach.

“Why is your stance collapsing...?”

Trailing off, Se-Hoon stopped mid-punch, having noticed Ludwig’s presence behind him. It was the most efficient training method, but Se-Hoon felt awkward about being watched because it looked rather brutal.

“Chairman... I know this looks bad, but...”

“Keep going.”

“...What?”

Taken aback, Se-Hoon stared blankly at Ludwig, who smiled warmly.

“This is the perfect training method for Manuel. So don’t worry about me and go on.”

“...”

“Oh, and...”

With a casual wave of his hand, Ludwig altered the veils of space wrapped around Se-Hoon’s fists, adding blunt spikes that resembled knuckles.

“...” Se-Hoon was speechless.

“This should be even more effective. Go on, try punching him again,” Ludwig urged, his warm smile unchanged.

Not only was Ludwig not stopping him, but he was also actively encouraging Se-Hoon and had even leveled up the brutality of the training. It was a moment that made Se-Hoon realize a universal truth.

No wonder this guy is a Perfect One.

Like the rest, Ludwig was completely out of his mind.