I Inherited the Basement of the Tower - Chapter 42

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

Inherited the Basement 1 of the Tower – Episode 42

Something felt off about that morning from the start.
The weather was beautiful.
I had found a solution to a problem I’d been pondering in a dream.
The fried eggs Yahwi had prepared contained two yolks.

‘My luck is running high.’

Elder Barkalor thought this as he took a sip of warm coffee.
And that wasn’t all.
My Master’s affairs were also proceeding smoothly.
Two craftsmen, Eltos and Min-hee, had successfully created a Holy Power item.
My Master’s old friend had even cleared the 10th Floor through that item, proving its effectiveness.
On days when luck ran this high and everything went so well, my Master always seemed to visit.
Sometimes he came to exchange pleasantries, occasionally to ask questions, and rarely, to share some remarkable achievement.

‘I wonder what fortune awaits this old man today.’

A smile bloomed on Elder Barkalor’s lips as he waited for his Master.
Moments later.

“Elder!”

My Master’s urgent voice calling from beyond the door.
Elder Barkalor’s smile widened into a full grin.
He usually knocked, but today he seemed quite busy.
This didn’t appear to be a simple courtesy visit.

Creak—

He burst through the office door with rough urgency.
Ah, it wasn’t a question either, then.

“What brings you, Master? Have you perhaps gained some insight?”

At my question, Kang Ha-jin paused for a moment, then nodded.

“You really are a ghost, Elder.”
“Hehe, having died once, that’s certainly an apt description.”
“More importantly, do you have a moment? I know you must be busy, and I’m sorry to bother you.”
“Not at all. As it happens, a problem that’s been troubling me for quite some time has just been resolved, so I was granting myself a well-deserved rest.”
“Perfect timing then.”

Kang Ha-jin nodded, relieved.
Then he opened his mouth again.

“The thing is, I’ve been learning swordplay from Yahwi lately. I kept failing, but then I had a good idea. The thing is, it’s somewhat related to Elder Barkalor’s curse. It’s still just a hypothesis, but….”

My young master poured out a flood of words in rapid succession.
At first, I listened with the warmth of hearing a grandchild’s complaints for the first time.
But the more I listened, the wider my eyes grew.
And soon, a glint of madness crossed my gaze.

‘Is this truly reality?’

I had plans for Yahwi’s next stage of development.
First, he would master the Fourth Form and the Ultimate Technique.
Then I intended to layer my curse and mastery of Darkness upon it, creating an even more evolved swordplay.
But my master had ultimately arrived at that very conclusion on his own.
Without a single hint from me.
He had stepped onto the most efficient and most powerful path I could conceive.

‘Kekek. This is truly difficult to suppress my laughter.’

Tsk—.

I hastily covered my mouth with my hand.
Though I couldn’t hide all the wrinkles that time had etched upon my face.

“…Barkalor? Why the sudden change?”
“It’s nothing, really. I just felt a sneeze coming on.”

Today is certainly a day when great fortune has arrived.

“…I see. Anyway, to continue—I thought if I can’t be faster, then I should make my enemies slower instead. You had taught me about the curse after all. Even now, casting it simultaneously with advanced swordplay is quite demanding. But with practice and training, I believe it will be entirely possible.”

Barkalor nodded.

“Precisely correct. As expected, you possess remarkable insight, Master.”

I had come down the right path in the right way.
Though I lacked expertise in swordsmanship, I had witnessed Yahwi’s techniques before and committed them to memory.
With my exceptional intellect, I analyzed them thoroughly.
What principle of the blade each move embodied, what it sought to accomplish.
It was excellent swordsmanship.
Simultaneously, my mind began the work of combining and blending it with my own abilities.
An old occupational habit.

“…!”

I had finally done it.
If successful, Yahwi’s technique would merely be the foundation—this technique might actually become my own Barkalor style!
A powerful strike to silence Yahwi’s boasting about becoming a relic-class technique!
I had planned to announce it only after mastering Yahwi’s style completely.
But my Master had already moved one step ahead of my thinking.

“That is remarkable.”

I spoke with genuine sincerity.

“Wait, hold on. It’s not finished yet.”

My Master’s genius was only now beginning to unfold.

“If I can just slow enemies down, they won’t be able to react to my fourth move. I can complete my fourth move with that. But the more I think about it, something feels lacking.”

Swish, swoosh—

He drew something on the paper.
In the center, he sketched a rotating sphere.
Around it, he drew several curved lines as if being pulled inward.
Those curves resembled the elliptical orbits of satellites revolving around a powerful planet’s gravity.

“See, this rotating circle in the center is Darkness spinning like a black hole. And these paths are my sword trajectories. Do you understand?”
“Pardon?”

In that moment, I blurted out a flustered, vacant response.
Suddenly, the back of my neck throbbed with pain, and cold sweat beaded across my skin.
Wait, when did I feel this sensation before?
In the distant past—even further back than my previous life, in my childhood.
There was a master mage who taught me.
The Tower Master of the Black Magic Tower who had produced the first Demon King.
He always spoke to me this way whenever he taught me.

—Do you understand?
—Did you comprehend that, Barkalor?

He would first show me hypotheses and logic, magical formulas, then demand my understanding.
And if I failed to understand, he would speak with cold eyes and say this:

—Are you concentrating?

“…Elder. Are you concentrating?”
“Yes, yes!”

My thoughts shattered at the sudden sound of my Master’s voice.
My body immediately responded to the word “concentrate.”
Despite my advanced age, I straightened up abruptly, spine rigid.
My eyes darted across the paper before me.

“Ah…!”

And I understood.
Yes, my old master’s teaching method was always like this.
As I pondered repeatedly to survive, understanding emerged, and enlightenment arrived.
With the familiar sensation, I opened my mouth.

“It’s a curve. The existing fourth form of the Yahwi style involved drawing multiple straight lines and moving in a pendulum motion along that sword path, but this one…”

If I rotate Darkness like a black hole and position it in the center.
A powerful gravitational force pulls everything around it inward.
Enemies would exhaust themselves resisting that force, and even if they managed that, their speed would slow.
Of course, the caster is also affected by that force.
But if I maintain a certain distance.
I wouldn’t be completely pulled in, yet I could still harness that power.
So if I grip the sword in a curved form and continue moving in an elliptical pattern….

“I could move at an incredible speed.”

Moreover, it requires far less effort than the existing technique.
The acceleration applies naturally, and the conventional motion of pushing off the ground and releasing force disappears.

‘If I attack the gathered enemies by moving in an ellipse, scraping from the outside inward.’

Gulp.

I swallowed hard from the tension.

“Do you understand?”

At that moment, I lifted my head at the voice I heard.
I saw my Master’s eyes gleaming with madness as he looked at me.

‘…Ah.’

I was dazzled by his brilliant talent.
I hadn’t been thinking correctly.
He was far ahead of me.

“I too shall continue to strive, Master. This technique is nearly perfect. You must have already known that. It’s only the implementation stage where you’re facing difficulties.”
“Oho! I knew you’d recognize it. Elder Barkalor, you truly are a genius.”

A genius.
Barkalor wore a bitter smile.

“Follow me. I shall instruct you in the simultaneous use of Darkness manipulation and swordsmanship.”
“Okay!”

My Master answered brightly, unaware of what he’d just recalled.
This man is a monster.
And so.

‘Kekeke. How delightful.’

Across both my past and present lives, I had never been happier.

* * *

“Ugh, every muscle aches.”

My entire body screamed in protest.
It was from the Modified Four-Second Form that Elder Barkalor had been teaching me recently.
It wasn’t perfect yet.

‘My performance has definitely improved.’

Just that realization made my fists clench with satisfaction.
I was moving forward.
I was growing.
That was enough.

‘Elder Barkalor truly is a genius.’

From the very beginning when he first taught me how to use curses and Darkness.
Perhaps he had been envisioning moments like this all along.

‘Still, he only drew diagrams and gave no explanation, yet I grasped it perfectly.’

It was nothing short of remarkable insight.
Then, suddenly, the muscles in my back cried out.

“Argh! Damn, muscle soreness.”

Still, it was impractical to use in actual combat.
Hmm, I’d say I need about three days of practice.
In any case, visiting Elder Barkalor was the right choice.
It was a bit frightening how he seemed to delight in whatever he saw in me.
From now on, he said he’d focus more on teaching me, though Temple duties still come first.

‘I’m satisfied with that.’

After all, the only way to protect the Temple and my family is to grow stronger myself.

“Is there anything you’d like to give me? Hmm? Eltos, Min-hee.”
“Oh, of course there is, senior. Just give us a moment.”
“Hehehehe! Our junior Eltos is really something, isn’t he?”
“Both of you, be quiet!”

A cheerful commotion drifted from afar.
It seemed Yahwi, having finished his sword training, was teasing the two of them.
A pleasant sight indeed.

“Oh! Master! You’ve arrived, hehe!”
“Welcome, customer.”
“You’re here? We’ve been waiting.”

Upon seeing me, they all turned and smiled.
I found myself smiling as well.
The number of people waiting for me had grown.

‘…Yes.’

Growing stronger and protecting them—that’s important.
But I need time to be with my family too.
I earn money and grow stronger to spend happy days with them.
So I can’t neglect the time we spend together.

“Min-hee. Your friend contacted me earlier. The pendant is a huge success. Thank you.”
“Of course. Who made it? Hehe.”
“I helped make it too….”

Yahwi added his comment.

“I was cheering you on from the sidelines with all my heart, Master!”
“You were just getting in the way, weren’t you?”

Min-hee pouted.
The workbench now displayed far more items than before.
Though not yet complete, given more time, I’d have them finished in no time.

“Since we’ve lost our momentum anyway, let’s grab some food.”

The long-overdue welcome celebration for Eltos and Min-hee, combined with a congratulatory party for successfully crafting the holy power items.
Given Eltos’s massive frame, he couldn’t leave this place.
So I had no choice but to have it delivered here.

“Does anyone here dislike chicken?”

Silence.
Of course there’s no one who dislikes chicken.
Except for Eltos.
Judging by the way he tilted his head in confusion, not knowing what kind of food it was.
That’s fine.
Once he tries it this time, the next time I ask the same question, he’ll be drooling before he can even answer.

“Yahwi. You remember how I showed you to order last time? Do it the same way. Oh, and since Eltos has joined us now, just order about ten of them.”
“I shall obey your command, Master!”

Yahwi quickly took my phone from me.

“Oh, and this time don’t attack like you did last time! Got it?”
“Understood, Master! Rest assured!”

Min-hee, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, asked a question.

“Wait a moment. Delivery?”
“Yes. Is there a problem with that?”
“Oh, no, that’s not it—does delivery actually come here?”
“…Are you looking down on the basement?”

At my half-joking question, she frantically waved her hands.

“What I mean is, even if it’s been purified, it’s still registered in the system as Blackland, isn’t it?”

Ah, so that was it.
I let out a wry smile.
A fair point, though.

“I have a trustworthy courier.”

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