Chapter 22: Barrier Armament – 1

Ding~

Ding~

Ding~

Good~

Morning~

Ding~

Ding~

Ding~

“Ugh….”

The prelude to an alarm sound that seemed likely to induce trauma began to scratch at my ears relentlessly.

After this part ends, the fast-paced ‘pa-pa-pa’ part will follow.

The thought that I must prevent that dragged my half-awake mind swiftly to the surface of consciousness.

Click-

My emerging consciousness moved my right arm.

The small nightstand next to my bed.

I turned on the orange mood light placed on it.

The mood light, casting a soft glow in the bedroom, neither too bright nor too dim, revealed the smartphone screen glistening under the amber light.

Pa-.

The first syllable of the alarm sound I wanted to avoid was cut off like a death rattle.

Because I diligently turned off the singing alarm.

“Yawn….”

A yawn escaped.

Honestly, I wanted to lie back down, surrendering my body to the soft and cozy bedding, relishing the drowsy morning calm only felt on weekend mornings.

Yes, today was the weekend.

The two days of rest where one could enjoy personal hobbies, individual training, or catch up on overdue assignments had begun.

The pleasant morning air of such a lovely day whispered to me.

It coaxed me, telling me not to bother getting up and moving around but to fully enjoy the start of the weekend, which comes only twice a week, with proper rest.

Saturday, 7:03 AM

The bright light from my smartphone screen pierced my eyes.

Simultaneously, part of that light translated into the date information, lodging itself in my mind.

It was the first weekend after completing the first week’s schedule in Eden.

‘Training all week made my whole body tired.’

After the first sparring session with Professor Karia, I had been learning various techniques from her and ingraining them through sparring.

Doing that repeatedly for several days, the accumulated fatigue was considerable even on a weekend morning.

Rustle-.

I lifted the blanket that covered part of my lower body and torso and got up.

Maybe because the penthouse was high up, or perhaps it was just the morning air, but the chillier-than-expected air brushed against my skin.

“Ugh, cold.”

At times like this, a warm shower is the best to wake up.

If I lie back under the blanket because it’s cold, a disaster of not getting up for a few more hours would unfold.

Dragging my sluggish body, I staggered toward the bathroom.

As I walked, maybe because I was waking up a bit, a few plans I had thought of before going to sleep the previous night came to mind.

Swoosh-.

The warm water cascading from above warmed the cold morning air and washed away the drowsiness as it flowed down my skin.

After a light shower, I dried myself with a towel.

I draped the bathrobe I had prepared earlier over my now smooth skin.

‘Ah, refreshing.’

Finishing the bath put me in a good mood right from the morning.

My stomach, which had been dormant, seemed to get excited too, growling a tune.

Thinking I should make breakfast myself, I opened the refrigerator, but since I hadn’t gone grocery shopping since arriving in Eden, there was nothing to eat. …

‘I should go grocery shopping next time.’

I decided to postpone the miracle morning of making my breakfast by hand to another time.

I put the cadet uniform I had taken off yesterday into the washing machine.

Thanks to the magic, the washing and drying took less than a few minutes.

Putting on the clean student uniform, I left the dormitory.

The cool and fresh morning air filled my lungs deeply.

A refreshing vigour spread throughout my body.

Moreover, because it was a weekend morning, there weren’t many students walking around outside.

Thanks to that, I enjoyed the chirping of birds and the morning air almost exclusively as I made my way to the dining area.

“One ham and egg sandwich, please.”

“Yes~”

I ordered a ham and egg sandwich for a simple breakfast.

I received the food I ordered and started to nibble on it as I walked back to the dormitory.

By the time I returned to the dormitory, what was in my hand was not the sandwich but the paper wrapping that had encased the sandwich.

“Is the first week over already….”

I muttered to myself, exhaling a sigh as I sat at my desk.

I turned on the tablet provided for assignments or studies in Eden and opened the notes app.

The purpose was to briefly summarize the achievements so far and refine future plans considering a few variables.

As I scribbled with the smart pen connected to the tablet, recording the content as if writing in a notebook, I reflected.

‘Looking closely, the growth rate is really fast.’

The growth was proceeding smoothly without any issues.

It had only been a week since I entered Eden.

Since the weekend started today, it had effectively been just about five days.

A short time, but during which I absorbed the World Tree’s Great Potion and completed the first inheritance, significantly boosting my abilities.

Repeated sparring with Professor Karia confirmed that my current physical capabilities were slightly inferior to hers.

Thinking that I might surpass Professor Karia’s abilities after the second inheritance, I moved on to the next point.

‘The barrier technique is a bit disappointing.’

Because I focused on learning spear techniques to supplement close combat and the use of Gungnir over the past five days, there wasn’t much noticeable progress in the barrier technique.

If anything, the only improvement was that increased core and improved circuits made operating the barrier technique smoother than before entering.

Now that I had roughly learned the spear technique, I thought I could start paying attention to barrier techniques and magic from now on.

‘I also need to find a way to overcome the limitations of the barrier technique.’

The reason why barrier magicians received poor evaluations in <World Saviour Online> had many facets, but there was a fatal flaw I had to admit.

The lack of offensive skills.

This crazy profession had no skills worthy of being called exclusive attack skills.

Of course, I didn’t just sit idly by.

Since I got absorbed into this world, I had been thinking of various solutions.

The result of that thought process emerged at the end of the pen I was scribbling with.

Barrier Armament.

A method to solve the most urgent issue of lacking attack means, utilizing barriers with physical force as weapons or armour.

‘It’s my magic, so I can control it remotely without having to hold and swing it by hand. Considering the rank of my barrier techniques, it shouldn’t be easily destroyed either.’

Though I haven’t put it into practice yet, I believe I can create shapes by weaving the barrier like thread.

If I create and manipulate weapons like swords or chains, they would be quite powerful.

Of course, I have various other ideas as well.

I plan to enhance the strengths of my barrier techniques, which are specialized in buffs and debuffs, or to mimic and improve skills from other professions based on barrier techniques.

‘Come to think of it, when is the dungeon expedition?’

Staring at the screen, I tapped the tablet’s screen a few times at a sudden thought.

I opened the academic calendar I had downloaded earlier next to my notes.

I glanced at the top of the academic calendar taking up half the screen, focusing on the third-week schedule.

The entire week was labelled “Dungeon Expedition Practice” without daily distinctions.

To conquer the dungeon beyond the gate, prevent its collapse, and protect people from the threat of monsters.

As a slogan of the World Hunter Association, it is a regular part of Eden’s academic schedule.

You could call it Eden’s version of field trip learning.

Each class is divided into groups of four or five students to conquer the dungeon.

Of course, the dungeons are graded, so the difficulty of the dungeon to be conquered depends on the students’ grade level.

Fourth-year students facing graduation tackle 1st or 2nd grade dungeons, third-years tackle 3rd grade, and second-years and first-years tackle 4th and 5th grades.

Special-grade dungeons are excluded.

They are extremely rare, and if a special-grade dungeon is observed within Eden, all professors are likely to head there.

Since even professional hunters risk their lives in such dungeons, it is not a level that students can handle.

‘It’ll probably be a 4th or 5th grade dungeon assigned to us.’

Regardless of the assigned dungeon’s grade, the goal of the expedition practice is to conquer the dungeon and defeat the dungeon master within a week.

The smoother and faster the dungeon master is defeated and the dungeon is conquered, the higher the grades received.

And I really need those grades.

‘I have so many tools to buy with my grades.’

Eden’s grades function differently from typical university grades.

The grades received from classes or academic schedules act as a currency for rewards rather than just graduation scores.

You can use accumulated grades to purchase artifacts, or to maintain weapons and armour.

Artifacts, graded from 5th to special grade, are expensive in terms of required grades compared to other items, but most of them are worth the cost.

Though not efficient, in urgent situations, grades can be exchanged for credits to cover living expenses.

‘I need to get grades from dungeon expeditions to buy a spatial pocket for use as an inventory.’

Having set my primary goal, it’s time to train for the grades.

Grades ultimately come down to performance, meaning I need to outperform others to get high grades.

I set down the pen I was doodling with next to the tablet and stood up.

I figured out what to do and set my goal.

Now, all that’s left is to take action.

‘Let’s start by establishing the technique for barrier weaponization.’

There’s no time to idle around just because it’s the weekend.

As the cool air warmed under the rising sun and the serene world echoed with the clear song of birds, it was time to start moving towards my goal, signaled by the second alarm I had set in case I overslept.

***

As the saying “weekdays pass quickly” goes, the weekend flew by, and the second Monday began.

In the second week, the proportion of major subjects decreased, and the proportion of various required subjects increased.

This was to prevent any mishaps during the dungeon expedition practice in the third week and to enable more efficient strategies.

I spent the mornings thinking through required subject lectures and the afternoons training with Professor Karia, repeatedly sparring.

As I became more familiar with spear techniques, I was introduced to other weapons one by one, learning various combat techniques amid screams.

My head hurt from thinking, and my body ached from the physical exertion, but feeling myself grow stronger made it all worthwhile.

Life was peaceful.

“I challenge the top student to a duel!”

The incident that shattered my peace occurred unexpectedly on Thursday morning.

Just after the compulsory “Monster Structure Studies” lecture had ended.

A student I couldn’t possibly not recognize since I was a user of <World Saviour Online> pointed at me and shouted.

Should I call it bold or overly confident?

Either way, his expression seemed confident at first glance, but I discerned his true intentions hidden in his demeanour.

‘Seriously, this guy?’

With dark blue hair and ominous green eyes hidden behind half-closed lids.

Usually narrowed, those eyes now glinted with a green glow, staring straight at me.