The inside of the Tower of Growth is so vast and diverse that it’s not an exaggeration to say it’s another world.
After being part of Shio-ram for four years, the cadets can safely face various trials through the Tower of Growth.
The entrance exam for first-year students is embarrassingly easy to call a trial.
The environment resembles a prehistoric forest you might find on the internet. The air is heavy, and the trees are thick.
The leaves hanging from the branches are so large they could be turned into clothes for a person.
…Though it’s invisible to the eye, it’s probably true.
Here’s the plan.
The magical power density here is incredibly thick. It’s incomparable to the outside world. Even the last dungeon I entered was no match.
The trees and grass that grew while devouring that kind of magical power for 365 days are similarly impressive.
The weeds sprawling all over the place contain magical herbs that are hard to find outside.
For now, I intended to gather everything I needed. It might be difficult for others, but it’s a piece of cake for me with spatial perception.
Positive growth gained inside the tower applies outside, and the items obtained here can also be taken out.
I began to wander around, collecting herbs while searching for the location of the hidden piece. If it’s like the original work, there’s a chance a hidden piece lies somewhere around here.
The herbs could be sold outside, or I planned to use them for alchemy later.
So I spent five days hiding my presence and evading other cadets while occasionally using magic.
People around me said it was hard to find me because I had a faint presence. Plus, with my spatial perception, I could detect the approach and traces of others beforehand. I thought I had a decent chance.
The foundation of my plan, spatial perception, was blown away.
After squeezing my body into the gaps between large rocks, I blankly operated my spatial perception.
I felt like my mind was about to snap. I truly hated this reality.
As much as I wanted to just lay down and sleep, that was the worst of all choices.
I somehow gathered my will and did my best to restore my spatial perception.
It felt like several hours had passed. My spatial perception was still unable to function properly, and I was still crammed into the rock crevice.
“I sigh…”
Looking at my sorry state, it seemed unlikely that I would easily regain my spatial perception.
“…What about food?”
Surviving for five days meant, of course, that emergency rations were not permitted. I had to find food and water myself in this forest.
Getting food without spatial perception right now… would be tough.
I might manage to get water through magic.
The only ways to find food here were to eat edible monsters or chew on tree fruits and herb roots.
Even if I tried to stealthily hide and feel around for fruits, identifying whether they were poisonous or edible would be difficult.
I couldn’t do it by sight. Not by smell or taste either. In the end, I would have to eat it once and check my body’s reaction.
I couldn’t just sit idly by.
First, I carefully raised my body. I removed the leaves concealing the rock crevice perfectly and stealthily came out.
Trying to be cautious, I took one step at a time, feeling around my surroundings.
– Thud
“Ow.”
I repeatedly bumped my head against a thick branch.
– Thud
“Wow, wow…”
I almost tripped over protruding tree roots several times.
– Thud
“Ouch.”
While feeling around the trees, I pricked myself dozens of times on sharp spots. Once my spatial perception was restored, my palms would likely be covered in marks.
My auditory sense, the only remaining sense I could call upon, awoke to a multitude of sounds.
I could hear footsteps too. It was the sound of my own steps. Sometimes, I heard presences that weren’t mine.
Every time that happened, I swiftly hid where I could, and if there was nowhere, I knelt down and suppressed my presence.
I concealed my presence until it faded away. Once it disappeared into the distance, I gradually raised my body and felt around again.
This repeated several times. I hid in the rock crevice for hours, and after several hours of feeling around again, I began to search for something.
I managed to gather a couple of presumed tree fruits and found the locations of a large clearing and a flowing riverbank.
In the meantime, I also knocked on my spatial perception. There was no good news.
I don’t know if this is a fitting analogy, but the space around here feels too heavy. I couldn’t push back against it, so I couldn’t extend my range.
“There’s no answer.”
Feeling the tree fruits I barely gathered, I contemplated.
I still didn’t know if they were poisonous or not. Following what I had heard before, I squashed one fruit and rubbed it on my wrist.
If a tingling sensation rises, I remember it’s poisonous. Thankfully, there was no notable reaction over time.
I cautiously placed a piece of the fruit in my mouth. There was no stinging sensation. I slowly ate pieces of the fruit at intervals.
A lot of time from the first day had already passed.
“I sigh…”
I had to decide soon. If I continued like this, nothing would change. For some reason, my spatial perception was utterly useless, and I had become a blind moron without eyes.
Continuing to drudge on like this wouldn’t yield any benefits.
I couldn’t gather any herbs, and it seemed hopeless to find the hidden piece. Thanks to the enhanced growth blessing, I could feel myself growing just by breathing.
But at this rate, it might be better to fail early and get locked in the training room, even if it affects my grades.
Ultimately, I returned to the rock crevice, unable to achieve any significant results, and absentmindedly tapped on my spatial perception again, only to hear a multitude of sounds.
“…Sounds.”
Due to the curse of sensory sealing, I had lost my sight, taste, and smell. Over half of my senses were gone, and only hearing and touch remained.
Ever since the curse was cast, I felt my hearing and touch improving. I was able to pick up on tiny sounds that I usually couldn’t hear.
The sound of the wind blowing, the sound of grass bending from the breeze, the sound of branches swaying, the sound of water flowing, the chirping of small birds…
I barely held onto my crumbling mentality and quietly focused on the sounds. My significantly improved hearing captured all kinds of noises.
My hearing had gotten better. I didn’t pay much attention to it. I had heard that when you close your eyes, the energy for vision spreads to other senses.
Whether it’s true or not, since I felt that way, I figured it was so.
“…I can hear too well.”
But right now, it seemed like I could hear way too well.
More and more sounds were reaching my ears. All kinds of sounds arising in the forest echoed in my ears.
Could it be that the excess capacity from my spatial perception transferred to other senses?
Thinking back, I had great hearing even in the previous world.
Amid my overall weak state and blurry eyesight, my ears remained the only functioning organs.
Feeling my gaze through touch. It was strange to sense that with touch instead of intuition, but just like when I was on Earth, I could keenly feel someone watching me, and I was feeling it even more strongly here.
“Magical power.”
I could feel magical power too. Perhaps because it was abundant around me, it was hard to distinguish details, but I could sense various magical energies with my skin.
The vibrant magical power emanating from the trees, and the magical energies that lingered even in the weeds. The flow of magic coursing underground. Magical energies swirling in the air.
Fundamentally, it was the green and clear vitality and the natural properties of magic…
I could feel it even without spatial perception.
Thinking about it, I had always sensed magical power via spatial perception.
Since when? I was wrong. I had always felt magical power through spatial perception.
From a young age, my eyesight was blurry and poor, but I could still see.
The world engulfed in total darkness from the curse was frightening.
So I relied on my wobbly spatial perception that resembled the blurry world, and after it normalized, I probably became even more dependent on it.
It was so versatile that I relied on it even more.
I grasped various aspects of spatial perception.
The reason I could perceive without opening a book was that I received the entirety of the information within the space.
Even without opening a book, it existed within that space. Eventually, if I perceived the space, the book’s contents came in as well.
I recognized magic in the same way. Magic ultimately existed within space.
Having lost vision, taste, and smell, but oddly enough, my hearing and touch had improved. I had hardly paid attention to it. I guess I took it for granted because of my spatial perception.
I had relied on spatial perception. That might not have been a wrong statement. Just as people see the world with their eyes, I felt the world through spatial perception instead of my eyes.
People depend on sight, and I relied on spatial perception.
But I had more than that.
As I became a master of magic affinity, a jack of all trades, and enhanced my physical abilities, my unusually improved hearing and touch…
Maybe I didn’t realize that I had many things to use, yet fixated solely on spatial perception.
‘…..’
It felt like a bizarre thought.
Having already ruined things, I felt like trying it out properly once.
With a deep breath, I momentarily set aside thoughts of spatial perception.
I pulled back the spatial perception that had been desperately flailing to expand.
The sensation of that power spreading in all directions surged up.
– Whoosh
A breeze blew in. The wind slipped through the gaps not blocked by leaves and brushed against my skin.
Before the wind came through the crevice, I caught it in my ears first. I felt it before it grazed my skin.
I also felt the magical power. The wind accompanied magical power. The ground I was seated on, the rock I leaned against, and the lush plants around me all brimmed with magic.
I opened my senses. Most superhumans open their senses. They read attacks through enhanced sight, hearing, and touch and insert their own attacks.
I had done it with spatial perception until now. My vision had vanished, so that felt more reliable than hearing and touch.
I recognized the world through sound. I gauged my surroundings through touch. I read the forms and nature of magical power.
Though spatial perception was broken, the skill I gained while operating it didn’t vanish.
I drew a map in my mind. Now, with the empty spaces, I vaguely sketched a map through the pooled information.
Before I knew it, I had forgotten about hunger. My thirst had already been resolved, so my life was not in danger.
Somewhere in my body, remnants of the elixir gathered. Energy that hadn’t melted yet also wriggled in response.
Continuing, I opened my senses and felt around. I drew a map based on the information I gathered.
.
.
.
– Thud
Footsteps.
That sound pierced through my concentration.
Particularly, only those footsteps approached distinctly. I was sitting still in the rock crevice. It wasn’t my presence.
I heard numerous other presences too. My increasingly sharp hearing captured more sounds than I expected.
– Thud, thud, thud
– …Huh? …There
Those footsteps… no, those footsteps were coming straight toward me now. I could faintly hear voices too.
Just like the time during the last swordsmanship lecture, there were notably many footsteps approaching me in a straight line like Aiden did.
“Did I get caught?”
I had tried to hide my presence adequately. Occasionally even using magic while moving around.
But in the end, I couldn’t confirm how I left traces due to my current sight situation.
There were about three presences approaching over there. Among them, someone might have sensory abilities, or a cadet skilled in professional tracking could be among them.
Either way, it seemed I stepped on a tail.
Should I run?
For a moment, that thought crossed my mind, but I quickly shook my head.
It would be realistically hard to escape. Given my current state, my position was already compromised. I’d be caught shortly after.
Even if I did run, not only them but many other cadets would be aiming for me. I didn’t know how long I could evade, and escaping would yield no benefit.
‘……’
There was no need to prepare myself.
I stood up. I no longer concealed my presence. The sounds in my ears grew frantic.
It wasn’t suitable for a fight here. I moved towards the clearing I remembered.
Unlike before, where I moved cautiously with each step.
My stride was pretty stable now.
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