Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 71

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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 71. Galaxy Martial God Hall – Fateful Encounter (1)

I found myself torn between two choices.
Should I leave three slots empty and enter with my Reincarnation Avatar’s body to train the sensations I’d felt while fighting the Orc Warrior, or should I create an avatar in a new world where I could learn magic—a talent I apparently possessed?
The Librarian Elder, the mage at the Magic Tower Branch on the 10th Floor, and the Old Witch Woman had all told me I had talent for magic.
Though I couldn’t trust their claims when they said I’d reach greatness in a thousand years or that I’d be floundering for three years on the 10th Floor, their words still carried weight.
Since three mages I’d met all insisted I had talent, I decided to believe them.
After all, I had nothing to lose.
Once I filled a slot, I could always empty it again and swap to a different world whenever I wished.
Now that I thought about it, what happened to a world when I swapped slots?
Did time freeze from my perspective the moment I stopped observing it?
Or did time flow uncontrollably without me?
The curiosity was tempting, but I’d already decided to use the third slot for a world where I could learn magic.
The real question was when to fill that slot.
After deliberating, I made my decision.
“Let me perfect my martial arts first.”
I had no intention of abandoning martial cultivation just because I’d learn magic.
A sound mind dwells in a sound body.
From what I could see, the reason so many mages were unhinged was that they’d neglected their bodies, leaving their minds withered.
Fighting the Orc Warrior had granted me sensations and experiences I couldn’t quite put into words.
For a martial artist, nothing surpassed real combat for growth.
Besides, delaying the third slot wouldn’t make the world disappear or accelerate Earth’s time flow.
When I acted with my Tower Avatar’s body, time froze for my original body and Reincarnation Avatar. When I acted with my Reincarnation Avatar’s body, time froze for my original body and Tower Avatar.
Whether I filled the third slot before or after training with my Reincarnation Avatar made no practical difference to my Multidimensional Avatar ability.
The only downside to the latter was that I’d delay embodying the sensations I’d gained—and delaying might mean forgetting them altogether.
So I decided to train first with my Reincarnation Avatar’s body.
After all, time was the one thing I had in abundance.

* * *

Inhabiting the body of my reincarnated clone, I fell back into the same daily routine.
I’d fall asleep just past 9 PM and wake around 6 AM for my morning training.
After breakfast, at 9 AM, I’d ride to school with Cheon So-yeon and Siu.
I’d attend the morning classes taught by the eccentric android instructor Riven, then in the afternoon I’d sit through the classes of my homeroom teacher and martial arts instructor Kim Do-hwa, before riding home with Siu again.
After school, I’d train in the afternoon with Siu.
As usual, I wielded a practice sword that became a real blade when unsheathed, while Siu effortlessly deflected my strikes with her wooden sword.
As Siu parried my blade, she fell silent in thought before asking.
“Have you perhaps experienced real combat somewhere?”
“Real combat?”
“Yes. Your sword technique has become bolder, and I can feel fighting spirit in your blade.”
Hwagyeong truly was different in every way.
I couldn’t see what had changed, but Siu’s eyes clearly detected something different.
“Not really. When would I ever get a chance to experience real combat?”
“That’s true.”
“Is there a problem?”
“Hmm… No. There’s no particular problem at the moment. Rather, it’s a good thing. And…”
She trailed off and shook her head.
“Never mind.”
“Why would you leave me hanging like that?”
“It’s really nothing significant. Your progress is just faster than expected. For now, I’ll focus more on refining your swordsmanship and increasing your physical conditioning over other training. Please concentrate on your sword technique rather than other martial arts.”
Training in hand techniques and lightness skills decreased while my time spent on bone-forging techniques, Daoist breathing exercises, and sword training expanded dramatically.
Cheon So-yeon also came early to train with me and sparred frequently, and she too asked me the same question.
“Did you experience something like real combat?”
What? Even Cheon So-yeon could sense it? Had my sword technique really changed that much?
As I expressed my confusion, Cheon So-yeon laughed and shook her head.
“You haven’t changed much. It’s just that the fighting spirit and intent woven into your blade have shifted slightly, and you’ve become much more skilled at channeling internal energy through your sword. Normally, warriors only change this dramatically through enlightenment or real combat, and for those below first-rate, enlightenment alone rarely produces such dramatic shifts.”
“So you’re saying I’ve grown?”
“Exactly. It’s positive, but the problem is your body isn’t keeping pace with your internal energy cultivation and realm. That’s why your master is probably focusing on sword training to keep your senses sharp and conditioning your body as much as possible.”
Siu sometimes hesitated to tell me about my training level, worried that knowledge might become a poison, but Cheon So-yeon believed that clear self-awareness helped growth and spoke openly without reservation.
Though she wouldn’t tell me things Siu said shouldn’t be revealed, reasoning that there were reasons behind Siu’s silence, and she absolutely refused to share those secrets.
“Then what about first-rate…”
“You’re nowhere near ready yet. If you continue training under your master, you’ll reach it eventually, so there’s no need to feel impatient.”
Being second-rate at my age was already remarkably fast.
Usually, even children whose talent was verified and entered major sects from a young age didn’t reach third-rate until around age ten, and didn’t cross the threshold to second-rate until graduating middle school.
Of course, direct bloodline members like myself had various body-purifying and protective elixirs administered since infancy, which accelerated that timeline.
Major sects unbound by family produced many disciples, while clans focused on bloodline members, yet maintained comparable power to other major sects for this very reason.
Major sects unaffiliated with families only accepted those whose talent was verified and provided support, while clans invested in bloodline members from much younger ages, allowing them to maintain equivalent strength with fewer numbers.
Of course, the Eight Great Families of the Galaxy like the Cheon Family Clan both supported their bloodline and cultivated talented children like any major sect would.
My homeroom teacher Kim Do-hwa, who had reached the pinnacle realm, was also a martial artist who entered the clan at a young age.
Cheon So-yeon asked timidly.
“…Are you feeling anxious because of me?”
She was always cheerful and pleasant, but occasionally her expression would crumple.
“Don’t worry about that. You only feel anxious if you’re competitive in the first place, and you’ve already surpassed the peak realm, haven’t you?”
“That’s not true! I’m still first-rate!”
She was spouting lies that didn’t even make sense.
If she was still first-rate, then I was just a newborn who had barely formed my dantian?
After training with Siu ended, I had free time, which I mostly spent playing games or watching movies with Cheon So-yeon.
Before long, Cheon So-yeon’s younger sister Cheon Ho-yeon had grown old enough to toddle around, and she often came to visit with her.
She was turning one soon, and the vital elixirs that the Cheon Family Clan bestowed upon direct descendants were truly remarkable—her development and growth were accelerated.
Or perhaps it was because she inherited decent bone structure as Cheon So-yeon’s younger sister?
Everyone had expected her to inherit the Cheon Heavenly Body, but Cheon Ho-yeon had not been blessed with that gift.
Still, even at a glance, her bone structure appeared far superior to mine.
I suspected that if she underwent a talent evaluation, she would receive a rating of superior or excellent.
Though she couldn’t speak yet, just as I had done as an infant, she was being steadily exposed to the incantations of the Azure Wood Art and receiving qi cultivation training.
Whenever I played with Cheon So-yeon, her younger sister would cling to us wanting to join in, and though Cheon So-yeon seemed annoyed, she never once turned her away.
Before long, whenever we played, the five-year-old younger sibling would naturally end up joining us in our games.
Looking after two children turned out to be harder than I expected.

* * *

Time flowed slowly, and yet swiftly.
Each day passed at a leisurely pace, yet when I looked back, months had already slipped away.
As several months passed, I gradually gained control over the phenomenon of bluish qi crystallizing on my blade when fighting the Orc Warrior.
During afternoon martial arts training, I still focused on strength and endurance exercises, along with basic fist and footwork techniques, so I had no reason to display anything before my classmates.
However, during the sparse Club meetings, I often received intensive training from Teacher Kim Do-hwa, and naturally I couldn’t help but reveal the qi that had crystallized on my blade.
Upon seeing my blade, Teacher Kim Do-hwa spoke as though witnessing something impossible and inexplicable.
“Already at the tail end of second-rate? At this level, even children who received the highest or excellent evaluations shouldn’t reach this point until fourth or fifth grade.”
Suspecting there might be an error in my talent evaluation, Teacher Kim Do-hwa conducted a more precise examination, but unfortunately my aptitude was still assessed as mediocre.
I smiled at the astonished Teacher Kim Do-hwa and said:
“Well, I had an excellent teacher.”
Siu was an undeserved master to me.
Hearing my words, Cheon So-yeon beside me shook her head.
“That’s not it. It’s the disciple’s responsibility to fully follow and digest the teacher’s instruction.”
Upon hearing Cheon So-yeon’s words, Teacher Kim Do-hwa smiled bitterly.
“That’s true. Even with talent, if a student doesn’t follow the teacher’s guidance and becomes lazy, there’s nothing to be done.”
It seemed teaching first-year children was quite exhausting for her.
Indeed, whenever she assigned training, only about four or five children besides me and Cheon So-yeon could follow it properly.
Thanks to those four or five setting the tone for the class, the other children managed to keep up with the lessons reasonably well.
Teacher Kim Do-hwa asked me and Cheon So-yeon:
“Summer break is coming soon. What are you two planning to do?”
The school’s summer break was divided into three main categories.
Students who skipped school entirely to enjoy their vacation, supplementary classes for those falling behind in their studies, and club activities.
Since first-year Elementary School students weren’t required to attend supplementary classes, Teacher Kim Do-hwa’s question was really asking whether I’d participate in club activities during the break.
All the students were direct descendants, but not all direct descendants lived near the school—more than half of the student body lived in the Dormitory.
For many Dormitory residents, returning home during the break wasn’t easy.
Some had homes on different planets or colonies, and in extreme cases, their families lived in entirely different star systems.
For younger children, prolonged exposure to space was strictly regulated to protect them from the harmful effects of cosmic radiation, so the number of times they could travel to space and the duration of each stay were legally defined.
Though there were discussions about updating this old law as scientific technology advanced, even with improved spacecraft, unavoidable radiation exposure remained a concern, so there wasn’t sufficient evidence of safety to justify changing the regulations.
Because of this, the school itself supported students remaining in the Dormitory during the break by offering summer programs and club activities, opening various curricula for them.
Cheon So-yeon and I lived close enough to commute, so this didn’t really concern us.
“I’m not sure. Is there a real reason I have to?”
It seemed like just training as usual would be better.
“You need to participate in a certain amount of club activity during the break to receive club funding.”
“Oh, then I should do it.”
After all, I was joining the club to get the funding anyway.
At my mercenary answer, Teacher Kim Do-hwa let out a soft laugh.
The way she looked at me was no longer that of an innocent young student, but rather of someone shrewd and calculating.

(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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