Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 166

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 166. Galaxy Martial God Hall – Elementary School Graduation (2)

I sat on the sofa in the club room wearing the Special Lens Glasses, reading the Thunder Lightning Breaking Demon Divine Method.
After classes ended, the club room had long since become a sanctuary and training grounds for me, Cheon So-yeon, Cheon Ga-ryeong, and Cheon Gong-hu.
Cheon Ga-ryeong had started attending school again, but she still left immediately after classes for continuous counseling sessions at her parents’ urging.
Because of that, Cheon Gong-hu left with her as soon as classes ended.
Cheon So-yeon showed interest in the martial arts manual I was reading.
“Is that the martial art you received as a reward this time? But the paper’s blank?”
Cheon So-yeon left school with me from the club room.
During morning arrivals, Siu helps with the commute since Cheon Ho-yeon is present, but since reaching the upper grades of elementary school, her Light Skill had become proficient enough that she now walked home on her own.
Of course, Cheon Ho-yeon, still in first grade, had Siu escort her home after classes.
First graders naturally have shorter school days than upper grades, so the dismissal time was necessarily different.
Siu had no obligation to help Cheon Ho-yeon get home, but as a neighbor, and because I received greater support thanks to Cheon So-yeon, Siu helped with their commutes.
“It’s classified material, so you can’t see the contents without these glasses. Want to take a look?”
At my question, Cheon So-yeon shook her head.
“If they’re that careful with security, it’s probably best not to look. You shouldn’t casually peek at another person’s martial arts or training methods.”
“But you didn’t hesitate to show me the True Celestial Domain Divine Method, and you watch my training every day.”
“The True Celestial Domain Divine Method is something anyone in the family will eventually learn anyway, so seeing it a bit early is just getting a head start. As for training—we’re fellow students, so what does it matter?”
According to the family’s curriculum, you laid foundations with the Green Wood Method, built skill with either the Wind Blade Method or Thunder Blade Method once reaching Second Class, and then learned the Celestial Domain Method upon reaching the pinnacle stage.
The Celestial Domain Method was a simplified, watered-down version of the True Celestial Domain Divine Method, designed to make it easier to learn.
Even simplified, because the original was called a Divine Method, it remained complex and difficult—the Celestial Domain Method was counted among the higher-difficulty ascending techniques.
“Didn’t you say you received a martial art this time that pairs with the True Celestial Domain Divine Method?”
“That’s right. Sword technique, footwork, and Fist Horn Technique. But I keep looking at the same page over and over—there’s something I can’t figure out.”
At Cheon So-yeon’s question, I shook my head.
“No, wait. It’s so difficult that I wonder if it was even meant to be learned, but somehow it seems like I can master it?”
The more I looked at it, setting aside the difficulty level, the more it felt like it had been created specifically for me. It matched me so well.
I’d already succeeded in transforming all my internal energy into Lightning Energy and achieving complete mastery.
“But something feels hidden in there, so I kept studying it.”
“Something? Like what?”
“If I knew what, I wouldn’t still be puzzling over it.”
Well, if I keep looking and still don’t understand, then the time to know probably hasn’t come yet.
I pretended to close the book and put the glasses away in my bag, but actually stored them in my inventory.
Then I pulled out the Thunder Blade Fist Technique, Thunder Blade Sword, Thunder Blade Fist Gear, and other martial arts I’d learned that would pair with the Wind Blade Method I currently practiced.
“You’re switching to those techniques while using Lightning Energy.”
“The Family Head said this would suit me better. Since it’s the same Lightning Energy.”
Since I hadn’t received the martial art that pairs with the Thunder Lightning Breaking Demon Divine Method, I had no choice but to relearn martial arts with matching principles.
Though the Thunder Lightning Breaking Demon Divine Method originates from another sect’s martial art, its core is the Cheon Family’s Lightning Energy, so the Thunder Blade Sword had excellent compatibility.
The form of the techniques differed only in nature from the Wind Blade Sword I’d been learning, so relearning wouldn’t take that long.
Generally, most people find it easy to relearn a technique’s form but difficult to change the nature, but for me it was the opposite.
Relearning a form my body had already mastered was difficult, while changing the nature that belonged to internal energy training was as simple as eating cold rice.
Generally, the Wind Blade Method had a gentle nature and was primarily taught to young children during growth, while the Thunder Blade Method had a fierce nature and was primarily taught to adult family members or disciples who had joined the clan.
Even if you only learned one of the two, you’d eventually need to master both at least at a basic level to later learn the Celestial Domain Method—they were techniques I’d have to learn eventually.
Training with Lightning Energy at home was impossible with so many sensitive electronics around, so I trained in the club room.
Siu was durable enough as an android that a little Lightning Energy wouldn’t leave a scratch, but other delicate electronics weren’t so fortunate.
Cheon So-yeon watched me diligently hone the Thunder Blade Sword and asked.
“By the way, graduation’s coming up soon—what about the Ranking Tournament?”
“They said it’ll proceed as planned.”
Even a student severely traumatized by the failed school trip kidnapping incident could still participate in ranked combat once in a safe state.
Of course, students showing other signs and pursuing enrollment in regular middle schools were going through different procedures.
Still, most of the top students seemed to have steadied themselves.
Elementary school life was running out.

* * *

The seasons shifted from autumn toward winter.
My breath had begun to show in the morning chill.
Around the time I felt the Thunder Lightning Breaking Demon Divine Method and the Thunder Blade Sword had become familiar enough, I heard from Teacher Riven that Teacher Kim Do-hwa was retiring.
“Teacher, you’re retiring?”
In response to my question, Teacher Kim Do-hwa smiled and asked back.
“Did Riven tell you? That android certainly has a loose tongue around you.”
There was something in her smile that reminded me of a senior soldier nearing discharge.
Or perhaps a veteran captain?
“Why didn’t you take the promotion to vice principal and leave the school instead? The principal seems like the type who’d try to hold onto you.”
At my half-joking question, Teacher Kim Do-hwa gave a light shrug.
“The principal did try to keep me, that’s true. But I’d say your role in my retirement was substantial.”
“Me?”
“During the school trip, I gained real insight watching how freely you fought.”
Though I wouldn’t call it free-spirited so much as underhanded, if I’m being honest.
“And especially from watching how that Retrograde Stage kidnapper—their leader—resisted your mental attacks, I found a crucial clue.”
At her words, I spoke with a hint of surprise.
“Congratulations.”
Finding a clue meant that Teacher Kim Do-hwa, who had reached the Pinnacle Stage, had discovered the key to breaking through to the next realm.
“I owe it to you. I’ll treat you to a meal later.”
“Then when I take you up on that, I’ll see you looking younger.”
Upon reaching the Retrograde Stage, the body undergoes complete renewal and reverts to a youthful state.
The degree of rejuvenation varies from person to person, but generally one returns to the physical prime of around twenty-five years old.
Of course it differs by individual—some only become about ten years younger, while others revert to childhood entirely, though those are rare cases.
“Haha! I’m still young.”
For someone in her early fifties, Teacher Kim Do-hwa looked more like her late thirties or early forties.
Martial artists typically age slowly thanks to their internal energy, but they often look weathered from the strain they put on their bodies. Teacher Kim Do-hwa, though, had a youthful appearance.
“It’s certainly unusual to be aiming for the Retrograde Stage in your fifties.”
Martial arts rely fundamentally on talent and aptitude. While few reach the Pinnacle Stage, those in Major Sects who reach the Retrograde Stage are typically well into their mid-to-late seventies.
And that’s only for the Major Sects with ample resources. In the Minor Sects with limited support, one usually has to be in their late nineties or past one hundred before barely achieving the Retrograde Stage.
So Teacher Kim Do-hwa’s talent was genuinely exceptional.
Teacher Kim Do-hwa fed me a roasted chestnut.
“Ouch!”
“Don’t go mentioning a woman’s age so carelessly.”
“But you said martial artists don’t worry about that sort of thing.”
“That’s what I should do as a teacher. Once you all graduate, I’m not a teacher anymore, so I can start caring about it.”
At her brazen words, I let out a quiet laugh.
“When you reach the Retrograde Stage, will you return to the school and take up the position of principal?”
At my half-joking question, Teacher Kim Do-hwa shook her head.
“No. Once I unravel the clue properly and reach the Retrograde Stage, I’ll need to return to the Military Force Unit. I imagine I’ll be sent to the battlefield against the Sura Blood Gate.”
At this school, the assistant teachers began their martial careers as instructors, while the homeroom teachers had mostly served in the Military Force Unit first, with teaching being their final career stage.
The homeroom teachers were people for whom advancing to the next realm had become difficult—either from aging and deterioration, or from injuries.
But those who had come as administrators, like Teacher Kim Do-hwa or the principal, were in a different situation.
Administrators typically came when they faced a wall and needed time before they could reach the next realm.
After all, if you’re part of the Military Force Unit, you never know when or to what battlefield or mission you might be called.
Now that she’d found the clue to break through the barrier, she’d undergo closed door training for several months.
If she still couldn’t advance after that training, she’d have to return as a teacher and keep searching for the clue until she found a way forward.
But from the ease she radiated, it seemed she’d manage to cross to the next realm without trouble.
“When you go to the battlefield, please be careful. All manner of extraordinary things happen in the martial world. The moment right after breaking through to a new realm is the most dangerous.”
Carelessness kills a martial artist.
After breaking through a realm, when pride swells the most, was when a martial artist was easiest prey for death.
“Haha! That’s right. Coming from the most extraordinary person I’ve ever seen, I’ll take it to heart.”
As if I had any say in the matter.
“For someone only First Class, restoring a technique that fell out of use thousands of years ago and defeating someone at the Retrograde Stage—if that’s not extraordinary, what is?”
Well, I couldn’t argue with that.
“In any case, thank you.”
Teacher Kim Do-hwa flashed a genuine smile.

* * *

Time passed, and after the final ranking tournament, graduation day arrived.
I had used the Thunder Lightning Breaking Demon Divine Method and the Thunder Blade Sword in the tournament to grow more familiar with them, but lost twice, dropping from rank 3 to rank 7.
In the first three matches, my opponents couldn’t properly adapt to the unfamiliar lightning energy, but in the next two matches, having watched those first three bouts and prepared countermeasures, they endured the lightning energy and exploited the gaps in my still-imperfect techniques, leaving me no choice but to lose.
Since all matches in the ranking tournament are recorded and students and teachers are free to review them, there was nothing I could do about it.
But thanks to the sparring practice, I was able to patch the gaps well enough that I wasn’t disappointed by the losses.
Whether you ranked seventh or hundredth, you’d all be entering the same middle school anyway.
The graduation ceremony proceeded modestly—perhaps because of the field trip incident, or perhaps due to the ongoing state of emergency.
After the diplomas and yearbooks were distributed, the Principal’s address, and the memorial for the fallen teachers, we scattered back to our classrooms to exchange final farewells.
Though “farewells” was hardly the word for it, since we’d all be ascending to the same middle school—really, it was just saying goodbye to our homeroom teacher, Kim Do-hwa.
Kim Do-hwa stood before the lectern and spoke.
“I’m not one for lengthy speeches, so I’ll keep this brief. When you advance to middle school, you’ll be competing not only against branch families, but against talented individuals from vassal clans and subordinate sects who’ve sworn loyalty to the Martial God Cheon Family. If you don’t work hard, you’ll fall behind—so don’t grow complacent. You’ll understand what effort can accomplish if you look at your classmate Cheon Ji-woo.”
Everyone in school knew I was branded a dullard the moment I took the physical aptitude test.
That’s why I was always treated as the easiest target during ranking tournaments, constantly challenged.
Yet since my enrollment, I’d never once dropped below Class 1.
“Looking back, I spent most of my eight years as a teacher with all of you. The time I’ve had with you has been a precious gift beyond measure. I’m truly grateful I was able to spend it with you.”
At Kim Do-hwa’s words, some of the students shed quiet tears, and everyone cheered and thanked the teacher with genuine appreciation.
“Thank you so much for guiding us all this time!!”
At the class’s shout, Kim Do-hwa’s eyes grew moist.
“Congratulations on your graduation! Dismissed!”
And so we graduated from elementary school.

(To be continued in the next part)

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————