Episode 1105
Episode 1105
"Just a Prediction."
Lee Han looked at the senior with a gaze full of pity.
Even though this was a senior who had shown remarkable talent in Divination Magic and was worthy of respect, to display such an unsightly appearance now...
"Prediction is both the foundation and the culmination of divination."
The stone golem senior stood up while giving that answer.
Simultaneously, Lee Han subtly moved toward the room's door to secure an escape route. It was to prevent any potential second escape attempt.
'This bastard?!'
The golem senior couldn't help but marvel at the junior's seasoned response.
Blocking the exit first in a situation like this was the kind of thinking one would expect from at least a third-year student.
For a mere second-year to come up with such an idea...
"A true diviner knows how to glimpse the future without relying solely on magic."
"Senior. Are you trying to distract me so you can run away?"
"...Fine. Fine. I won't run, okay?"
Being in this cumbersome golem form made escaping difficult anyway. The golem senior completely gave up on fleeing.
Of course, even after that, Lee Han didn't let his guard down. Not only had he blocked the exit, but he also checked again for any overlooked escape routes.
"I said I won't run."
"Understood. I was just admiring how nice the room looks."
"You're really going to make an excellent diviner."
"If this is some scheme to lower my guard..."
"I said it's not."
The senior's words just now had been sincere.
An outstanding diviner, like a high-level chess player, could predict and prepare for hundreds of possible futures. A junior with such a suspicious mind clearly had the right qualities.
Hell, he was even doubting this compliment...
"But why were you trying to run away?"
"Hmm. <Escape to the Shadow Fortress> is an extremely difficult spell. I need the power of an Ouija Board just to cast it. The thought of having to teach it to a mere second-year student gave me a bad premonition."
"Huh? Isn't that an overreaction? Just because you're teaching one difficult spell..."
Lee Han was baffled.
If avoiding someone just for learning a difficult spell was the standard, the number of seniors Lee Han knew would've been reduced to a fifth by now.
Even for a diviner, wasn't this just paranoia?
The golem senior responded coldly to the junior's criticism.
"For a second-year who spent last semester running around with the Headmaster's crazy doppelganger and a dragon, and this semester made Professor Kraer flee, I'd say it's not much of an overreaction."
"......"
Lee Han had been verbally struck so hard he couldn't even retort. The pain ran bone-deep.
Guhk.
"...But those were all just coincidences, misunderstandings. Give me time, and I can explain."
"In the Divination Magic school, they say to avoid anyone who drags coincidences around with them. Whatever. Doesn't matter. Since there's no one else to teach you, I'll have to do it."
"Ah. So the other seniors don't know this spell?"
"It's less about skill and more that they're all busy right now."
The golem senior pulled back the curtain. Lee Han braced himself in case the senior tried to escape.
Fortunately, it wasn't an escape. When the curtain was drawn aside, three other students were visible in the next room, having placed a Celestial Globe by their bedside before falling into a deep sleep.
"They're still dreaming."
"Divination dreams? They're fortune-telling through dreams?"
"Correct."
"Is there something so important that all three of them need to combine their efforts for divination?"
Lee Han was puzzled.
Were they already divining the midterm exam questions?
"They've been commissioned by their friends to find out when the inspector is leaving."
"...Let's begin the magic!"
Though it was a statement to change the subject, the golem senior agreed.
"If you've been practicing, you must already know what kind of spell <Escape to the Shadow Fortress> is, right?"
"Yes. It's the spell created from the tale of how the brilliant mage, the Young Prince, fled to a fortress to escape pursuing death, isn't it?"
"...Ah, no. I wasn't talking about the origin of the magic. So that's how this spell came to be?"
Golem Senior was flustered.
He had simply learned this spell from a professor after reading about it in the Divination Magic school's textbooks—he'd never once considered its origins.
That was its background story?
"Well, since you know its origins, you must understand what kind of magic it is."
"No."
"...This spell increases evasion rate."
Rather than probing further, Golem Senior resolved to finish teaching the spell as quickly as possible.
Perhaps performing an exorcism afterward might help him escape this ominous fate somehow.
"Skilled thieves think they won't get caught just by hiding their presence and erasing their traces. But truly exceptional thieves know that's not enough. That's why they obscure their fate before stealing anything."
Powerful Divination Magic could penetrate all kinds of Invisibility Magic and Illusion Magic to locate enemies.
Moreover, those on the defensive could prepare even stronger countermeasures. If you wandered into a place layered with Divination Magic like a maze, you might suddenly find yourself trapped in an underground prison of your own making.
This <Escape to the Shadow Fortress> spell temporarily twisted a mage's fate to avoid encounters with enemies.
There were more ways to evade an enemy's notice than one might think, and one didn't necessarily need high-level Divination Magic—but this spell truly shone when facing another Divination Magic user.
To escape an unseen, bizarre pursuit, you needed an equally mysterious and profound magic.
"W-wow! With this spell, you could commit theft in far more varied and challenging places!"
"That was just a metaphor."
Golem Senior replied in a dry tone.
Somehow, his junior's response gave him an inexplicably uneasy feeling.
"Mine was a metaphor too."
"Right... I see. Wait—if you didn't even know what kind of magic this was, how did you practice it?"
In response to Golem Senior's question, Lee Han pulled out a violin and sheet music.
Golem Senior recoiled at the sight of the ominous, cursed violin recommended by the Skeleton Principal.
"What is that thing!? Why would you carry around an instrument with such terrible misfortune clinging to it?"
"The Headmaster recommended it."
"Of course he did."
Golem Senior immediately understood.
Of course it would be someone like him who'd recommend such a thing.
Lee Han suddenly felt a bit uneasy and asked,
"I heard it was an ominous object, but does it really carry bad luck?"
"Don't worry about it. There's not much difference between ominous mana and bad luck. It can't affect you before it materializes. A mage born under a strong fate might even be able to subdue it."
Golem Senior recalled that his junior had contracted with a Guest Star.
Come to think of it, hadn't he tried to flee immediately upon hearing that fact last time, only for this kid to stop him? 'No. I'm sure I swore back then, yet here I am forgetting and carelessly getting caught again!' Golem Senior deeply reflected on himself.
Last time, he had vowed, 'I won't get caught again—I'll escape at the right moment,' yet here he was, getting dragged into trouble again.
Perhaps it was because of this junior's attitude.
Despite carrying terrifying fates behind him, he always acted so politely, calling him 'Senior,' making it easy to let one's guard down and engage in conversation.
"Senior?"
"Ah. Sorry. I was thinking about something else."
"About what?"
"Why I'd resolved not to get involved with you, yet somehow forgot..."
"......"
Lee Han wore a slightly hurt expression. 'Isn't that a bit too harsh?' Of course, last semester, Lee Han had bothered him with requests like deciphering Guest Star Arna and Small World Basilios...
"Since you forgot about it, maybe that wasn't your true intention after all."
"Quiet, before I carve it into my stone body. Anyway, how were you planning to use that instrument?"
"Music magic."
"Are you talking about what Senior Chagla is researching? I didn't know you were into that too. Though now that I think about it, you did say studying every school of magic was a mage's duty and calling."
"...I never said that."
Lee Han's expression turned serious.
He'd just happened to take those classes—what kind of slander was this?
"If it's music magic, then certainly..."
Golem Senior nodded in understanding.
Having conversed with Senior Illeg several times, this golem student was well acquainted with what kind of magic music magic belonged to.
Wasn't it closer to primitive magic or word magic?
That kind of magic had the potential to succeed regardless of difficulty.
"But you haven't been able to cast it yet?"
"No. I practiced other pieces first, and this one seemed particularly challenging—the mana wouldn't respond."
"Hmm. Music magic isn't my specialty. Let's try practicing with music magic first, and if that doesn't work, we can switch back to traditional methods. Here, I'll show you how to cast it."
Golem Senior took out the Ouija Board relic (Lee Han followed closely behind, just in case the senior tried to run away).
This board, made from demon bones and blood, provided significant assistance when casting high-level divination magic.
"Offer a sacrifice... Wait a moment. Hm. It seems displeased with this one."
"...Senior. Isn't this a live demon?!"
Lee Han, watching from the side, was startled. Golem Senior simply nodded.
"Of course it is. ...Ah, are you asking why we'd offer a sacrifice to a demon we've already subdued? Truly fitting of the Wardanaz family."
"No...! I was just genuinely surprised! Sealing a demon into a relic is..."
"Junior."
"Yes?"
"I find it far more shocking that you recklessly controlled the Headmaster's avatar, so be quiet."
"......"
Lee Han cursed the senior internally.
Golem Senior slowly chanted the incantation, moving the letters on the Ouija Board.
Each time the letters aligned, he recited a new spell starting with that letter, and with each recitation, the demon emitted intense divination energy, amplifying the magic's power.
"...A fortress shrouded in shadows hides fate, making it impossible for anyone to find..."
Golem Senior stopped halfway through the incantation.
Though his golem form didn't sweat, his voice sounded strained, as if he had exerted himself far more than necessary.
"Phew. Let's stop here for now. Fully casting it would be too draining. Do you get a sense of what kind of magic this is?"
"It's astonishing. I never imagined magic like this existed."
"Divination magic operates on a different axis from other schools, doesn't it? It's inherently uncertain and mysterious."
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was the closest form to primitive magic among the Empire's magical disciplines.
Lee Han pondered deeply over the magic the senior had demonstrated and the explanation he'd given.
'In the end, it's about twisting fate around the mage with powerful magic. Creating a distortion field that divination can't penetrate.'
Suddenly, the duel between the Avatar of Desire for Honor and the Skeleton Principal flashed through his mind.
The battle between those mages had been far beyond Lee Han's comprehension at the time, but now, looking back, he realized it had been an advanced clash of divination magic.
They had been trying to twist each other's fates and shackle each other's certainties.
The movement of the magic he'd just witnessed, the spells the archmages had displayed, and the sheet music he'd read and practiced hundreds of times...
As Lee Han's instrument stirred, mana began to move, and fate trembled just as it had when Golem Senior cast his spell.
And the parallel dimension that divination magic should have read—the one hinting at the future—sank deep into the veil of shadows, where no outsider could perceive it.
Overjoyed at the sense of success, Lee Han exclaimed:
"Senior! I think it's working!"
"Ah, no. This isn't the right kind of magic...?"
Golem Senior was taken aback by the far more intense and turbulent surge of magic.