Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 113
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 113. The Tower – Airship (1)
The Magic Tower mage was personally escorted by Andromallius and handed over to the Magic Tower.
Once I turned in that mage, my sin score dropped even further.
I heard later that he suffered permanent physical damage due to mana backflow, but the higher-ups didn’t care since what mattered for a high-ranking mage test subject was the Astral Body—as long as that remained intact, they were actually pleased he couldn’t resist anymore.
If treating someone who was your colleague until yesterday like an experimental animal is what being a mage means, then I’m done with magic altogether.
Perhaps dealing with such lunatics was stressful, because Andromallius sighed heavily and gulped down his drink.
In this insane world, it’s inevitable to feel stressed if you’re the only one holding onto righteous convictions.
Servitude magic isn’t something you can just decide to contract—it must have been possible because his convictions resonated with the very existence and purpose of the servitude magic ‘Andromallius’ itself.
I absolutely must never make a direct contract with such magic.
Once the Murderous Clown subjugation mission ended, the compensation was deposited directly into my account.
“Isn’t this way too much? The request form said it should be about one-twentieth of this amount.”
Of course, Andromallius did send threatening messages after discovering someone was harboring the aberrant monster, but did that really multiply the compensation by twenty times?
“Ah, that. It’s an apology fee for insufficient information in the request details, plus the value of handing over that Magic Tower mage as a test subject.”
Officially, it would be compensation for preventing crimes by a Magic Tower affiliate, but that’s how it worked.
“I don’t really like that kind of money—or rather, I don’t prefer it much, so I gave it all to Credit. I didn’t actually do that much work anyway.”
Didn’t I block magical bombardment and prevent escape through spatial displacement? That’s hardly “not much work.”
Well, if you have moral scrupulosity, there’s nothing to be done about it.
“Ah, I hope that wasn’t rude to Credit either?”
“No. Money has no sin.”
Wasn’t this essentially the same as bounty hunting anyway?
Catch a vicious criminal in the act and turn them over to the state.
Whatever happened to that criminal afterward wasn’t my concern.
As long as the person I caught wasn’t innocent, that was all that mattered.
Fortunately, my ability ‘Scale of Sin’ eliminated the risk of catching innocent people.
“Hehe. I’m glad you see it that way.”
Andromallius continued pouring and drinking, and Heidi, unable to watch any longer, scolded him and tried to stop him.
As Heidi supported the intoxicated Andromallius, she spoke to me.
“Starting tomorrow is the supply request period, so submit requests for consumed or damaged items. From my position managing finances, I’d rather not say this, but even if nothing was actually consumed, submit requests matching the budget amount. They approve and distribute without actually verifying what was consumed.”
Of course, she strongly warned that if caught selling supplied items on the black market, you could be excluded from supply distribution for several years.
Supplies were given for us to use, not to sell for under-the-table profit—that was obvious.
But the fact that she even issued a warning made me wonder if someone had actually been caught doing it.
Still, it was useful information to have.
Temporary physical enhancement magic kits were completely useless to me, and healing kits weren’t necessary either since I’d already learned healing magic and could bring regeneration through my magical clone if needed.
I immediately filled out the supply request form matching the budget amount, focusing on weapons and armor—live ammunition pistols and ammunition boxes, cartridges, mana pistols, and other such items.
Once I stockpiled them, there would surely be a use for them someday.
Then I went up to my room, recharged the cartridge that had depleted its mana yesterday, and checked my status window.
[Name: Han Ji-woo (3-Slot Avatar) / Age: 21]
[Strength: 14 / Agility: 15 / Stamina: 15 / Intelligence: 43 / Mana: 47+]
[Status: Normal, Mana Bifurcation (25/47)]
[Abilities: Multidimensional Avatar Lv 25, Martial Arts Lv 38, Magic Lv 41]
“Hmm, my mana growth is accelerating.”
My physical body, on the other hand, hasn’t grown at all.
I thought I’d gain at least a little strength while training with Andromallius.
Still, through diligent cultivation, my Astral Body’s mana reserves have reached the upper-middle tier of the 4th Class.
Yet I can only sense that the Astral Body still has a long way to go before reaching its limits.
At this rate, even if I accumulated legendary 9th Class-level mana, I might only be able to cast 7th Class magic.
And even then, I probably wouldn’t be able to freely use 7th Class magic—just like now, where I can barely use only some 4th Class spells.
“Ugh, surely my limits won’t take that long to appear?”
For now, since I can’t keep up with 4th Class consumption, I need to find ways to reduce mana expenditure.
With magic so advanced, many such methods have been invented.
There were external mana circuit devices, and methods to externalize the centrifugal force of circling elsewhere besides the heart.
If I went down inhumane paths, there were all sorts of grotesque methods—like crafting magical artifacts from others’ Astral Bodies—but I was thinking of creating a bifurcation system using external mana circuits or the lower dantian.
“That’s enough for now.”
Once the cartridge finished charging, I stored it in my inventory and returned to Tower Floor 1 where my main body was.
* * *
Back in my main body, I absorbed the 3-Slot magical clone.
[Name: Han Ji-woo / Age: 21]
[Strength: 14 / Agility: 19 / Stamina: 15 / Intelligence: 43 / Mana: 47+]
[Status: Normal, Mana Bifurcation (39/47)]
[Abilities: Multidimensional Avatar Lv 29, Martial Arts Lv 38, Magic Lv 41, Spirit Arts Lv 1, Regeneration Lv 12]
As I absorbed it, the level of my Multidimensional Avatar rose.
Based on the pattern so far, the fourth slot would likely appear once I reached Tower Floor 30, and I was eagerly anticipating what special ability would manifest at level 30.
Already at level 29, absorbing the Reincarnation Avatar I hadn’t yet absorbed due to the balance of spirit, energy, and flesh would push me right past level 30.
I sat down and observed my own body, experimenting with my magical power.
“Huh? Why is there no entrance to the Astral Dimension?”
When I first created the Astral Body, I had opened the entrance to the Astral Dimension and gradually pushed in my ethereal essence, but in my main body after absorption, I couldn’t even find that tiny entrance.
“Ah… was having an entrance to the Astral Dimension itself an abnormal situation?”
Indeed, no matter how much I sealed the entrance, exposing the fundamental nature was never a normal state of affairs.
One thing I had now discovered was the mechanism of ‘absorption’.
‘Absorption’ was literally absorption.
It wasn’t about ‘assimilating’ or ‘unifying’ the avatar and body into one state.
Yet the Astral Body hadn’t disappeared, nor was the connection severed.
In fact, I could freely emit and absorb magical power, and I could still use magic.
“Ugh, using magic causes the balance of spirit, energy, and flesh to tilt too heavily toward the energy side.”
If I only had the Astral Body, it would be one thing, but since my body possessed a dantian, using magic caused magical power and energy to temporarily accumulate in my physical form, making the balance precarious.
“Is it because my main body’s dantian has grown too much?”
There was no problem with the magical avatar’s body, but my main body was facing an issue.
It was already foreseeable.
Because I knew this problem would arise, I had stopped training cultivation techniques with the magical avatar’s body.
Still, it wasn’t as though I couldn’t use magic at all.
By confining all the energy naturally flowing through my physical body to the dantian and drawing magical power from the Astral Body to cast spells, there was no problem with the balance of spirit, energy, and flesh.
However, the downside was that I wouldn’t be able to use the power of the dantian and Astral Body simultaneously.
The solution to this problem was simple.
I just needed my physical body to grow enough so the balance of spirit, energy, and flesh wouldn’t collapse.
“…I need to develop the Reincarnation Avatar further.”
If I physically developed the Reincarnation Avatar—which had access to all sorts of spiritual medicines and a mentor superior to anyone else—and then absorbed it, this problem would be easily resolved.
“By the way, I worked so hard to learn and master the fundamental nature protection magic and the technique of utilizing intention, but if the dimension entrance doesn’t exist at all, there was no need to learn it.”
No, it wasn’t unnecessary. The magical avatar’s body still has the entrance open… wait? Huh?
The Multidimensional Avatar had a structure where the avatar disappeared upon absorption and a new avatar was created anew.
So would the newly created avatar have an entrance?
Well, even if it did, it would be the size of a sperm and egg, making it nearly impossible to attack, so it didn’t really matter.
Of course, impossible and nearly impossible are entirely different matters.
“This is interesting.”
Let me create it again right away.
Ah, since I’m making it anyway, let me add regeneration ability too.
In this Apocalypse Dystopia world, relying solely on magic seemed foolish when everything was so dire.
I needed to prepare recovery methods for when I couldn’t use magic.
I enhanced the regeneration ability of the 3-slot avatar.
“Huh? 10 Avatar Points?”
When I added regeneration ability to the Reincarnation Avatar’s body, it cost 1000 Avatar Points?
Could it be that the cost of abilities differs depending on the ‘dimension’, not the slot?
Then again, regeneration was a basic ability that any mutant ability user possessed.
Even augmented humans who underwent regeneration implant surgery sometimes gained regenerative abilities.
Since it’s a common ability, the cost is lower?
Or does the dimension, the world itself, permit such abilities?
Regardless of which it was, the lower cost was definitely advantageous.
“Wait, then spirit magic is… 10,000 Avatar Points! Right, one million points would’ve been impossible!”
That didn’t mean 10,000 points was a low cost.
Since I didn’t need servitude magic enough to spend 10,000 points, I only added regeneration to my newly created clone.
Then I created a clone and checked whether there was an entrance to the Astral Dimension.
“Huh, there isn’t one…!”
The entrance to the Astral Dimension didn’t exist in the clone either.
Thinking about it, it made sense.
When my original body, which had been full of waste, absorbed the reincarnation clone’s body once, it all disappeared, and when I created the Tower clone and Magic Tower clone in that state, the clones were created with a clean body condition.
Since the original body didn’t have an entrance to the Astral Dimension, it was natural that the newly created clone didn’t have one either.
“Ah, my wasted effort. I should’ve just learned a different spell with that time.”
I felt hollow about my meaningless effort and time, but it was actually a favorable situation.
In life, you tend to make more missteps than successful moves.
Returning to Tower Floor 1, I absorbed and regenerated the Tower clone’s body, then entered with the Tower clone’s body.
* * *
[Name: Han Ji-woo (1-Slot Avatar) / Age: 21]
[Strength: 14 / Agility: 19 / Stamina: 15 / Intelligence: 39 / Mana: 29+]
[Status: Normal, Dual Mana Manifestation (29/10)]
[Abilities: Multidimensional Avatar Lv 29, Martial Arts Lv 17, Magic Lv 1, Regeneration Lv 12, Spirit Magic Lv 1]
I created a new clone and invested Avatar Points to enhance its Astral Body and magical power.
Magic was only Level 1, but the level would rise quickly as I continued using it.
Given enough time, raising both martial arts and magic to the level of my Reincarnation Clone and Magic Clone would be effortless.
Was it the 6th day since I entered The Tower, or the 7th?
Let me count—it’s the 7th day.
I needed at least ten days of intensive martial arts practice for my abilities to reflect my true strength.
Magic aside, martial arts were based on physical form, so the reflection felt slower.
I discovered this through experiments with my Magic Clone’s body.
“Let’s see—we agreed to meet again at lunch, so I’ll use the remaining time to practice magic.”
I heightened the magical density of my Astral Body through my inner energy and attempted to cast spells.
Since I’d done this once before, converting my dantian’s inner energy directly into the Astral Body’s density wasn’t difficult.
Of course, whenever my inner energy depleted, I had to purchase and consume mana recovery potions.
“Why does magic level up so immediately?”
[Status: Normal, Dual Magical Manifestation (29/27)]
[Abilities: Multidimensional Avatar Lv 29, Martial Arts Lv 17, Magic Lv 31, Regeneration Lv 12, Spirit Arts Lv 1]
“Could this also be a difference in talent? Do I lack talent for martial arts?”
My magic had stalled at Level 31 because I’d only used basic 3rd-class spells due to insufficient mana.
To raise it further, I needed to increase my magical power.
By the time I finished training, the appointed hour had arrived.
I set aside my lingering attachment to martial arts and headed to the meeting place to see Lee Su-young and Diana.
(Continued in the next chapter)
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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