Episode 126
Episode 126
Whether undead summons could have rebellious phases or not wasn't the important issue.
The real problem was that Sharkan was currently displaying such rebellious behavior.
"Sharkan. Come here."
As Lee Han's voice dropped lower, the field mouse actually began trembling.
To act so stubborn in front of the Headmaster—wasn't that undead summon about to get smashed to pieces?
Yet instead of beating Sharkan into submission, Lee Han tried coaxing and soothing it.
"Sharkan! Why are you acting like this?"
Scritch scritch!
Sharkan pretended not to hear and began digging into the ground.
Lee Han was baffled.
His normally obedient summon behaving like this...
Professor Mortum had mentioned it before.
Undead summons didn't necessarily obey their masters absolutely.
In fact, they were more likely to disobey.
The opposing natures of the living and the dead played a part, and the stronger an undead summon grew, the more inevitable its disobedience became.
Given that Sharkan was clearly a powerful summon, this behavior wasn't entirely unreasonable.
Tap tap—
Nilia pointed at Lee Han's coat pocket with her claws, then made a throwing gesture toward Sharkan.
"Lure it with food?"
Nilia nodded.
"With Gainando??"
Nilia panicked and shook her head.
Gainando, who had poked his head out from the coat pocket, stared at Nilia with a look of shock and betrayal, squeaking indignantly.
'Not that! Beer Candy!'
"Ah. You meant Beer Candy."
Lee Han finally understood what Nilia was trying to say.
Because Gainando had taken up residence in his pocket, he'd moved the Beer Candy to a different one.
When he finally pulled out the Beer Candy, Sharkan perked up immediately.
"...Here! Fetch!"
Instinctively, Lee Han threw the Beer Candy in the opposite direction. At once, Sharkan—who had been lying prone—leaped excitedly into the air and swallowed the candy whole.
"Feeling better now?"
But Sharkan just lay back down after eating the Beer Candy.
The watching field mouse grew anxious and scurried over to Sharkan, squeaking urgently.
Squeak squeak squeak!!
It was roughly along the lines of "Keep this up and you're really gonna get wrecked," but Sharkan just turned its head away with a sulky expression.
Lee Han and Nilia fell into deep thought.
"Clearly... it wants something specific."
Nilia meowed in agreement and nodded.
Even accounting for rebellious phases, there had to be a reason why a summon that had followed Lee Han so faithfully would act like this.
The summon itself clearly desired something.
"Does it really want to eat Gainando...? Just kidding. Gainando."
Gainando let out a betrayed squeak and tried to hide deeper inside the coat.
"This is why I told you to finish your assignments on time. Then we wouldn't be in this mess."
'That doesn't seem related at all...'
Yoner marveled at how Lee Han was using the Polymorph Forest as an opportunity to correct bad habits.
He'd make a great dormitory prefect!
"Sharkan. Sharkan? If you tell me what you want, I can help you. If there's something you desire, try to express it somehow."
Sharkan pretended not to hear at first, then subtly turned its body.
Then it pointed at itself.
Though technically complete, its skeletal frame made it look rather pitiful and eerie.
"...Huh? Do you need a body?"
Sharkan wagged its tailbone excitedly, as if confirming the guess. While it was good that the summon's mood had improved, Lee Han only grew more perplexed.
'What should I make its flesh out of?'
Yoner, who had some expertise in alchemy, pointed at the mud near the forest.
It was soft and sticky—perfect for crafting golems or other summons.
"How about that?"
Sharkan approached the mud and rolled around in it. Gradually, a muddy flesh began coating its bones.
"Whoa...!"
Lee Han and his friends were amazed.
Though the color wasn't great, the result was far more imposing than when it had just been bones wandering around.
Splash!
But it seemed Sharkan wasn't satisfied.
After briefly examining his new body, he immediately began shaking off the mud in vigorous motions.
Lee Han swiftly summoned a water shield to block it. A clump of mud slipped through and splattered right onto Gainando's face.
Squeak squeak squeak!
"Guess mud wasn't to his liking."
The red fox wore a sullen expression. Lee Han reassured him as if to say it was fine.
"Still, we found a method—that's what matters. It's not like we lost anything."
Gainando shook off the mud with his front paws while shooting an extremely displeased glare.
We DID lose something!
As the headmaster and party showed no signs of leaving the forest, the impatient forest mouse cut into the conversation.
Squeak squeak squeak—
"Follow you?"
The mouse nodded and guided Lee Han and his friends to the spring they'd passed earlier.
It was water containing Cold Iron Water—the same water that had created the spring slime.
Given that this spring water contained special mana, there was a high chance even this picky undead summon would be satisfied.
Lee Han, realizing the spring water's uniqueness, also sent a slightly expectant glance.
'This might actually work.'
Plop!
Sharkan leaped into the spring, molded his body with the water, and walked out.
The deep blue body, darker than ordinary water, made Sharkan appear even more mystical.
Lee Han and his friends were even more impressed than before.
At this level, surely...
Sploosh!
Yet Sharkan coldly shook off every last drop.
This time, Gainando got splashed right in the face again.
Squeak squeak squeak squeak!
'Hmm. Seems like he's telling us to discard this idea.'
Lee Han didn't understand mouse language, but he could guess what Gainando was saying.
"Sharkan. Sorry, but I don't have any other way to make you a body."
Lee Han decided to resort to his final measure.
Sharkan, stay right there in that pond!
This wasn't bluster or a threat. If he wouldn't listen, what else could be done?
Lee Han slowly turned away.
At that, Sharkan let out distressed whimpers and pitifully scraped at the ground. Then he tried to bite Lee Han's staff.
"No. Sharkan."
But Sharkan refused to give up, persistently pointing at Lee Han's staff—as if he wanted something.
"...You want me to make it?"
Sharkan excitedly wagged his tailbone. Though Lee Han had figured out what he wanted, he was still baffled.
'I don't have the ability for that.'
The number of elemental spells he could currently use was limited, and none among them seemed capable of satisfying a summon as finicky as Sharkan.
If there was even a remotely possible element...?
"Alright. Let's try this once."
!
As Lee Han raised his staff, Sharkan sat down, staring with an intensely expectant expression.
"Strike forth, Perkuntra's Lightning!"
When the lightning bolt tore savagely through the air, Sharkan yelped and dodged.
Then, with an extremely angry expression, he began pounding the ground like mad.
"...Was this not it?"
Lee Han, who'd naturally assumed the other party would want a lightning-formed body, was flustered by the reaction.
Isn't lightning cool?
Huffing, Sharkan pointed at the spring water.
'So he wanted me to make water.'
As Lee Han prepared his [Water Creation] spell, he felt a twinge of worry.
If even that special spring water hadn't satisfied him, would the water Lee Han summoned be any better?
Contrary to his concerns, the moment a mass of water formed in the air, Sharkan excitedly embraced it.
The water shifted shape, transforming into Sharkan's body.
"Does this work?"
The now-watery Sharkan growled and pointed at the staff again.
"More?"
Sharkan nodded repeatedly.
Lee Han summoned more water.
The summoned water flowed into Sharkan's body, and even then, it didn't stop—continuing endlessly...
Squeak squeak squeak?
The forest mice watching the scene were bewildered.
Not only was the undead summon compressing an enormous amount of water to form its own muscles, but the Headmaster who kept endlessly summoning more water was equally baffling.
Just how much mana did he possess to waste it so extravagantly?
"That was... a truly bizarre experience."
"......"
"......"
Lee Han and his friends returned to the tower late at night, their faces drained of energy.
Gainando was still rubbing his face as if he could feel mouse whiskers twitching there.
'We didn't even make it to the stables—just finished perfecting Sharkan.'
Having gotten so lost in the Polymorph Forest, Lee Han had no choice but to return after barely making it through.
It wasn't that they had made no progress, but he still felt a pang of regret.
'But with another exam tomorrow, pushing further would've been reckle—'
Grrrrrr!
"?"
Sharkan suddenly lunged at Gainando. The startled boy yelped and dodged as the massive blue-hued summon charged at him.
"Wh-What's wrong?! Are you mad because I teased you with food?! Fine, I'll give you some! Here!"
'Did he tease Sharkan while I wasn't looking?'
As Sharkan tackled Gainando and pinned him down, the other students in the Blue Dragon Tower's lounge watched in fascination.
"Is that the skeletal summon?"
"How did they even complete it?"
"Looks way better than last time. Wanna try feeding it too?"
The friends tossed pieces of food one by one to Sharkan, who was now sitting atop Gainando.
Sharkan happily snapped up the treats, wagging his tail excitedly.
"L-Let me go...!"
Grrrrrrrr!
"N-No, no! You don't have to let me go!"
Gainando hastily backtracked as Sharkan growled, but the summon wasn't angry at him.
Bark! Bark-bark-bark!
"???"
When Sharkan suddenly turned and barked toward the outside, Lee Han instinctively grabbed his staff first.
Being inside the lounge didn't make them any safer.
In the Magic School, even the lounge wasn't a sanctuary—students from other towers could barge in wearing masks and steal their flags at any moment.
CLANK!
The lounge's main door swung open, and a group of familiar Skeleton Warriors abruptly appeared.
The students gasped at the utterly unexpected intrusion.
"Has... has the school gone mad?!"
"No way! Strike them down!"
Lee Han reacted first. Swinging his staff, he sent a bolt of lightning flying—enough to make everyone's hair stand on end.
The Skeleton Warrior at the front took the full brunt of the attack and crumbled into dust.
"Wake up everyone who's sleeping! The Headmaster's trying to attack us!"
"Why... why?!"
"I don't know either—"
Lee Han stopped mid-sentence.
...Could it be that the Headmaster was doing this to prevent them from studying the night before the quiz?
Shockingly, his instincts whispered that this might actually be the case.
"...Whatever! Everyone, gather up! Barricade the lounge door!"
"G-Got it!"
Lee Han conjured a Water Orb and fired it repeatedly, pushing back the Skeleton Warriors.
Meanwhile, his friends swiftly moved sofas and chairs to block the main entrance.
Ashan, who had checked the windows, suddenly shouted in alarm.
"Undead are surrounding the tower with torches!"
'This is insane.'
Bark! Bark-bark!
Lee Han patted Sharkan gratefully. If not for the summon, he might have been ambushed before even grabbing his staff.
"Sharkan. Stand guard and chase off anything that tries to get in. Everyone else, help reinforce the barricade!"
The Princess, her hair still messy from sleep, swung her staff.
Mud layered over the barricade, hardening and reinforcing it.
Yoner tossed the potions he had prepared to his friends, while Gainando hurriedly gathered his snacks to keep them from scattering.
THUD, THUD, THUD—
The rest of their sleeping friends had now woken up and descended, and the barricade at the lounge door was temporarily complete—but the noises from outside didn't stop.
The rhythmic pounding made the students shudder.
"What in the world... is this...?"
You iron-headed brats... open the door...
"......"
"......"
The students of the Blue Dragon Tower turned grim at the voice outside and piled even more furniture onto the barricade.