Episode 108
Episode 108
Professor Kirmin, trying to ease his confusion, decided to ask more questions first.
"What kind of conversations do you have with Professor Thunderstep?"
"Usually we discuss organizing materials in the cabin and things to grow in the garden."
Professor Kirmin made a thoughtful "Hmm" sound as he listened.
Clearly, Professor Thunderstep held this Wardanaz boy in quite high regard.
Alchemists don't easily open their cabins to just anyone.
Moreover, now that he thought about it, he'd seen several students from the Blue Dragon Tower carrying reagents used in Professor Thunderstep's laboratory.
No doubt this Wardanaz boy had received them from Professor Thunderstep and shared them with his friends.
'So Professor Thunderstep considers Wardanaz his alchemy apprentice.'
"And Professor Lightning Step?"
"We study about the animals inhabiting near the Magic School and learn methods to handle them."
'...Professor Lightning Step too...?'
Professor Kirmin looked at the staff Lee Han was carrying.
It was a staff imbued with a tree spirit, radiating strong life energy.
The only professor who would give such a thing was Professor Willow.
'Professor Willow too??'
Clatter!
The cumbersome bone summon of a leopard tied to Lee Han's belt jumped down with a noisy sound.
Lee Han scolded it firmly as if disciplining a pet.
"Not allowed! Get back here now!"
The incomplete leopard bone summon whined and returned reluctantly.
Professor Kirmin couldn't immediately comprehend what had just happened.
"My apologies. Lately this bone summon has been particularly disobedient."
"That summon... isn't it perhaps...?"
"Ah. You recognize it? Professor Mortum gave it to me."
"......"
Even Black Magic!
Professor Kirmin, dumbfounded, began counting on his fingers internally.
He couldn't even tell how many professors had already made contact first.
As absurd as it was, another question arose.
'With so many professors seeking him out, why on earth is he learning from Begrek?'
No matter how he thought about it, from a student's perspective, there seemed to be absolutely no reason to want to learn from Begrek...
"Professor?"
"Ah. Sorry. Sorry. The summon made me think of something else. That summon isn't obeying because its power has grown stronger."
"Then should I scare it into submission?"
"Undead are rarely frightened, so that would be difficult."
"?"
Lee Han looked puzzled.
Then what about those undead summons in Professor Mortum's Black Rock Hall that trembled in fear upon seeing Lee Han?
'Hmm. Must not know much since it's not his field.'
Professors tended to be surprisingly ignorant about other specialties. Lee Han wasn't surprised.
"No need to be too anxious. A strong summon means higher intelligence. Right now it's in the process of growing stronger, so it doesn't obey, but once fully strengthened, its mind will mature too and it'll listen well... Though why is undead bone so scarce these days?"
"Professor Mortum told me to search around the school for them."
"Ah..."
Professor Kirmin nodded.
That was exactly the kind of thing Professor Mortum would do.
"Rather than just giving them to you, he wanted to make it... fun for the student. Right?"
"Ah... Yes. Well."
Lee Han nodded vaguely.
Professor Kirmin clearly had excellent social skills. Professor Voladi would've said "What pointless nonsense."
"Still, that Sharkan is truly a rare and precious monster."
"...Wasn't it a leopard?"
"Oops."
Professor Kirmin froze.
It seemed he'd accidentally revealed what was supposed to be a surprise gift Professor Mortum had prepared to startle students (though whether students would actually enjoy such things was questionable).
"Of course it's a leopard. A leopard."
"......"
Lee Han wasn't naive enough to fall for that.
Once the lecture ended, he decided he'd have to scour the library to find out exactly what kind of monster a "Sharkan" was.
'So it wasn't just an ordinary leopard?'
"Surely it's not some undead monster that kills its master, right?"
The bone summon leopard, sensing Lee Han's gaze, enthusiastically shook its bones. Lee Han gave it a quick pat on the head.
...If he treated it kindly now, even if it grew stronger later, it probably wouldn't bite his neck.
"Anyway, it seems Professor Mortum really likes you too, Wardanaz."
"Professor Mortum likes all his students."
Lee Han meant it sincerely.
Given how few students chose to study black magic separately, Professor Mortum showed favor even to Gyeinandoma.
Honestly, it was to the point where even a knight who'd come to learn black magic to hunt dark mages was attentively listening to his lectures.
"Mages don't take kindly to talentless students. No matter how kind-hearted the mage may be."
Professor Kirmin counted the professors mentioned in the conversation once more.
If he included those not yet mentioned, the number was staggering.
At this rate, he was genuinely concerned for the Wardanaz boy's health.
With so many professors already invested in teaching him, they wouldn't easily back down, and Wardanaz was likely to be summoned to every lecture.
On top of that, the mental and physical exhaustion from Professor Bagrak's training must be brutal...
Was he really okay?
'Hmm. This is troubling.'
Professor Kirmin wrestled with his desire to take on such a talented student versus the guilt of adding to the burdens of an already overwhelmed one.
After much deliberation, the scales in his mind tipped toward the former.
"Wardanaz. If you don't mind..."
"Ah, right. I've also met separately with the Headmaster."
"...With Gonadaltes? What did you talk about?"
"I received a magic book. Could you possibly take a look and see if it's alright?"
Lee Han hoped to use the seemingly benevolent Professor Kirmin's expertise to examine the Headmaster's sinister tome.
But it backfired.
Professor Kirmin stared at him in sheer horror.
Of all people, why did it have to be the school's most notorious madman?
"...That might be difficult. But chin up!"
"???"
When Professor Kirmin placed a hand on Lee Han's shoulder and offered words of encouragement, Lee Han was slightly taken aback.
Something about the tone felt... off.
It vaguely resembled the way seniors would say "Hang in there!" with pitying eyes when someone ended up working under a particularly difficult professor.
"Thank you. But Professor, I was wondering if I might have an aptitude for illusion magic—"
"Wardanaz. You don't need to learn illusion magic."
"?!?!"
Lee Han was stunned once more by Professor Kirmin's abrupt about-face.
'Why is he acting like this?'
'Hang in there, Wardanaz. I'll cheer you on.'
Lee Han had initially thought the students at this magic school were somewhat subdued in their reactions.
Though young, they were treated as adults and had matured considerably, given their diverse backgrounds and upbringings.
The <Understanding Basic Magic> lecture had been the same—how blandly the students reacted when Professor Mortum entered.
Of course, summoning magic was an exception, but that could be dismissed as just that—an exception.
But...
"Professor, illusion magic keeps appearing on the stairs I use, blocking my way. Is there any method to dispel or break through it?"
"Can you use illusions to make black bread taste like honey-glazed treats?"
"I want to set up an illusion-based intruder barrier in the lounge. Do you think Wodan—er, any other first-year could bypass it?"
Turns out, it was just black magic that was unusually unpopular.
The students showed keen interest in nearly every other field of magic. Even illusion magic was already on its fifth question.
Professor Kirmin waved his hands as if to calm them.
"Now, now. If I answered every question, we'd run out of time for the day. Let's cap the questions here and move on to a brief demonstration of what illusion magic truly is."
With that, Professor Kirmin fell silent and stood perfectly still.
The sudden silence continued, leaving the students bewildered. Gainando whispered.
"Why is he acting like that?"
Lee Han stared intently at Professor Kirmin. Then, he began to sense something off.
'Could this be an illusion?'
If that were truly the case, it would be astonishing.
Professor Kirmin had entered the lecture hall with them, spoken with Professor Garcia, and hadn't had a single opportunity to switch—yet he had deceived their eyes and ears, swapping his illusion with his real self.
As Lee Han became aware of that odd sensation, his surroundings suddenly felt different.
Just like how, after recognizing the movement of the lightning element during Professor Voladi's near-murder—no, lecture—he had been able to read it continuously afterward...
In magic, realization was an inspiration that revealed another world. Lee Han noticed an invisible figure standing in front of his and Gainando's desk.
"Gainando. The professor is right in front of you."
"What?! Be paralyzed!"
Gainando, startled, immediately cast a curse. It was no wonder he was a prodigy in Black Magic.
Of course, Professor Kirmin wasn't the type to be taken down by a first-year's curse. With an exasperated expression, he deflected the curse back.
Thud!
Gainando, struck by the Lesser Paralysis Curse, stiffened and toppled over sideways.
"Good job noticing, but you still shouldn't just fling curses around without warning!"
"I'm sorry, Professor."
Lee Han apologized on his behalf. Gainando was still stiff as a board.
'But does Gainando really have a talent for Black Magic?'
Normally, paralyzing even a single body part was difficult, but to completely immobilize oneself like that—even if he had cast it on himself—was something else.
If that wasn't talent, what was?
Professor Kirmin swapped places with his illusion again. Gainando internally pleaded for the paralysis curse to be lifted.
"As you just saw, I slipped in unnoticed while you were oblivious. That's what illusion magic can do. Becoming invisible, detecting someone hidden within invisibility, creating illusions to confuse your enemies."
Professor Kirmin was undoubtedly a flamboyant man, starting with his mannerisms. The students already looked enchanted.
Lee Han suddenly recalled Professor Mortum's Black Magic, and his heart grew heavy again for no reason.
"But of course, you freshmen must start with the basics, right? A great mage possesses keen observation. Look at the students around you and see if you notice anything different. Sensing that odd feeling is the very first step to recognizing an illusion."
Once again, Professor Kirmin cast illusions around the lecture hall without the students noticing.
The students were startled as they realized their friends, whom they saw every day, looked slightly different in subtle ways.
"Wait. You... you weren't this skinny when we first enrolled."
"It's because I haven't been eating, idiot."
There were some missteps, but students from each tower gradually succeeded in detecting the illusions.
Professor Kirmin praised those with sharp eyes and moved on to the next lesson.
"If you can sense the oddity just by sharp observation, you can also learn the <Lesser Illusion Dispel> spell. Try dispelling the illusions placed here."
Lee Han stepped forward with the other students and examined the illusion.
Before them lay the illusion of a locked wooden chest.
A student from the Black Turtle Tower recited the incantation as Professor Kirmin had taught and swung his wand. The wooden chest let out an ear-splitting shriek.
"!!!!"
"Don't let your guard down just because you're dispelling an illusion. If one illusion is in place, it means all sorts of traps could be set around it."
Professor Kirmin warned the student while glancing at Lee Han.
Lee Han raised his wand and took aim at the wooden chest's illusion.
He clearly recognized the illusion, visualized in his mind exactly how reality should be, then swung his wand with the incantation.
"Begone, illusion!"
The wooden chest's illusion vanished instantly. The Princess beside him clapped softly.
But instead of praise, Professor Kirmin gave Lee Han a pitying look.
"Wardanaz. You don't have to force yourself to practice illusion magic so hard."
"...?!"