Episode 130
Episode 130
"One at a time, step forward."
As the exam began, Professor Garcia called the students forward one by one.
Then she recited an incantation.
"The gentle star veil obscures thy sight."
In an instant, mana intricately embroidered the air like warp and weft threads. Complex transformations beyond what the freshmen could hope to follow occurred in the blink of an eye.
When the veil unfurled, the seated students found they couldn't properly see Professor Garcia no matter how hard they tried.
They knew she was there, yet it felt like their brains were rejecting that information.
"Can everyone see me?"
"No."
"Yes."
"?"
The students who'd answered assuming no one could see her paused in confusion when opposite answers came from beside them.
Lee Han, who'd given one of those contrary answers, also froze. He'd thought everyone could still see her.
"...You can't see her?"
Lee Han's question left his friends flustered.
"We can't?"
"Is it only visible to smart people?"
"Then why can't I see it?"
"Gainando. Stop talking nonsense."
Above the voices of the Blue Dragon Tower students, Professor Garcia's calm voice rang out.
"Ah. Lee Han, is it?"
"Yes."
Lee Han felt oddly guilty despite having done nothing wrong.
'Is it because of my mana?'
At the magic school, whenever problems arose, guessing it was related to Lee Han's mana was almost always correct.
And this time was no exception.
"Your mana allowed you to resist <Ildelid's Star Veil>."
Naturally, greater mana meant greater resistance to other magic.
Of course, that didn't mean a slight increase in mana would dramatically boost resistance. The difference was usually imperceptible.
But exceptions did occur.
And the boy standing before Professor Garcia was precisely such an exception.
"What should we do then?"
"Just turn around and don't look this way."
"O-oh, I see."
Lee Han felt relieved at the simpler-than-expected solution. He'd feared Professor Garcia might cast a curse to weaken his resistance or make him drink a potion.
"I thought the professor would cast a curse."
"You think she's like the headmaster?"
Listening to the Blue Dragon Tower students whispering, it seemed Lee Han wasn't the only one who'd thought so.
The called-up students cast spells as Professor Garcia instructed.
"Oh, burn like my soul!"
"Even with the same spell, needing such a long incantation to create imagery isn't a good habit. You must train your concentration to summon it under any circumstances, or you'll struggle with advanced magic later."
"Burn!"
"Even if it usually works fine, magic often fails in stressful situations like this. It's best to relax as much as possible and practice until it becomes second nature."
When Lee Han's turn came, Professor Garcia smiled kindly to ease his tension.
"Lee Han, please don't demonstrate fire element. Show us water element instead."
Lee Han conjured a mass of water.
Though far faster than any other student, Professor Garcia showed no surprise.
"Shape manifestation?"
Lee Han compressed the water into a spherical form.
"Form alteration?"
The compressed sphere transformed into a shield shape.
"Precision control."
The shield began orbiting Lee Han at a steady, unwavering pace.
Professor Garcia nodded.
What could she possibly say to a student already mastering magic at the next grade level?
"Perfect. Full marks."
"Thank you."
"Lee Han. I understand your talent, but... don't rush too far ahead. You know what I mean?"
"Of course."
Lee Han wanted to explain himself.
He truly had absolutely no intention of rushing ahead.
It was just that the Magic School kept pushing him forward from behind!
"I genuinely have no intention of recklessly pushing ahead, Professor."
Professor Garcia stared intently at Lee Han's resolute face before letting out a sigh.
"Though even if you say that now, you're the type of student who'd charge forward without hesitation when an opportunity arises. That might be the tragedy of innate talent..."
"...?!"
Lee Han was indignant at this utterly unfair accusation.
'Why is he misunderstanding me like this?'
"Why would you think that, Professor?"
"Professor Ingoldel mentioned that you attempted multiple Water Orb manipulations."
"......"
Lee Han was speechless at this unexpected response.
'Professor Ingoldel...!'
Did he really go around spreading that?!
Objectively speaking, Professor Ingoldel hadn't done anything wrong.
When a disciple faced off against knights of the White Poplar Knights and even emerged victorious, any decent master would naturally talk about it. Not doing so would be strange.
But that didn't matter to Lee Han. He grumbled internally.
"That was truly an unavoidable circumstance..."
"Exactly. Even when trying to stay still, encountering unavoidable reasons to move forward might be the fate of a mage born with talent..."
"......"
Lee Han wondered if they were having two different conversations.
Why did it feel like their words kept missing each other despite speaking face to face?
"Still, don't overexert yourself."
Professor Garcia concluded.
Of course, he knew talented geniuses would charge ahead at the first opportunity regardless of his warnings.
But even if his words had no effect, repeating them was a teacher's duty.
"Of course, Professor."
Lee Han returned to his seat, seriously pondering how to respond so Professor Garcia would believe his sincerity.
"Now then, Black Magic... Lee Han."
"......"
Rising again immediately after sitting down, Lee Han thought:
'I suppose my words might not seem very convincing.'
Black Magic.
"Alright. I'll summon an undead, and you try casting a Curse at it."
"Yes."
"Cast the Curse, then evade it. Well done. We'll need a Bone Hand now. Try summoning one."
"Yes. Appear, Bone Hand!"
"Perfect. Though, Lee Han... That command wasn't for you, but for the undead I summoned."
"......"
Summoning Magic.
"This time you only successfully summoned one quill pen. Were you showing off by summoning multiple last time for your friends? No? Then why? Was it a mistake? Why would you make such a basic error?"
"Professor. I'm a first-year."
"...Oh dear. My apologies."
Illusion Magic.
"Now, try using Illusion Magic."
"O heat, distort the air!"
"Lee Han. That wasn't among the spells we learned in class. That's even a 2-Circle spell."
"...Begone, illusion!"
"Should I give you full marks twice?"
"No thank you..."
After completing all his exams, Lee Han returned to his seat with a sigh.
Though he'd scored perfect marks in everything, his heart remained heavy from Professor Garcia's persistent misunderstanding.
Seeing this, Gainando looked at him with hopeful anticipation.
When failing exams, the greatest comfort was a friend who'd failed alongside you.
"You failed too, right?!"
"I got perfect scores."
"......"
Gainando stared at Lee Han with utter betrayal in his eyes.
Then why were you sighing?!
As the storm-like week of quizzes ended and the golden Saturday arrived, the students' faces seemed particularly radiant.
Lee Han also woke up after sleeping deeply for the first time in ages.
He would have slept longer, but Sharkan kept licking his face to wake him, leaving him no choice but to rise.
Sharkan tugged at Lee Han's sleeve as if insisting they go for a walk.
Well, he did have things to do in the morning anyway, so he supposed going out was inevitable...
'...But do leopards normally need regular walks too?'
As Lee Han stepped out of the dormitory tower's main gate with Sharkan, the sudden question crossed his mind.
Of course, Lee Han wasn't exactly an expert on leopard rearing methods, but considering Sharkan was a monster with a title like "King of Leopards," shouldn't it carry itself with a bit more dignity and majesty...
-Growl! Rrrrrrr!
-Neigh-hihihih!
The moment the white horse was led out of the stable, Sharkan started barking loudly. The white horse, refusing to be outdone, neighed right back.
Lee Han nodded with an air of enlightenment.
"Right. You can both hate each other to your hearts' content while we walk. Now, stay apart. Don't provoke each other."
But Sharkan refused to give up, rolling around on the ground.
Scratching at the dirt and growling, it kept pointing at the white horse with its front paws.
Lee Han spoke firmly.
"No, Sharkan. That's not your food."
At Lee Han's words, Sharkan rolled around even more vigorously.
It looked almost frantic, as if frustrated that its master didn't understand.
"If I say no, then it's no. Sharkan. Stop throwing a tantrum and get up."
-......
After flailing around for a while, Sharkan finally gave up and stood. Lee Han nodded approvingly.
"Good. Sharkan. I'll give you something to eat when we get back."
-Grrrrrrrr...
-Hmph.
As Sharkan let out a low growl, the white horse nodded as well.
It was as if they both understood each other's struggles, sharing some unspoken sympathy.
'Animals are truly hard to understand.'
Lee Han watched the two creatures and sighed inwardly.
No matter how much he studied them, they remained baffling.
"Professor, good morning."
Spotting Professor Lightning-Step in the distance, Lee Han bowed his head.
The professor, clad in a leather jacket, observed Lee Han tending to the animals early in the morning with an approving gaze.
Then he looked at Sharkan.
Then back at Lee Han.
"...For an undead hunting hound, it looks way too ferocious. What is it?"
"Ah, you remember that monster I asked you about before—Sharkan?"
"I do."
Professor Lightning-Step nodded.
He had kindly answered Lee Han's questions before.
Taming monsters was difficult, and the more violent and powerful the monster, the harder it became.
And controlling such a monster as an undead summon was even more dangerous—there was no telling when it might turn on the necromancer.
"That's the one."
"...Is it rebelling against me?? Did I treat you that harshly?"
Professor Lightning-Step asked in shock.
If one wanted to die at the Magic School, there were far better methods than this. There was no reason to summon such a monster as an undead unless one was deliberately courting rebellion.
"No, no. Professor Mortum gave it to me."
"Oh..."
"It seems fine, doesn't it?"
"No. I was thinking you were insane."
"...But Professor Mortum must have done some magical adjustments—it doesn't attack me. It's docile and loyal."
Lee found himself defending Professor Mortum without realizing it.
Professor Lightning-Step stepped closer to Sharkan. Sharkan let out a low, menacing growl, clearly on guard.
"Hmm..."
The professor narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Sharkan.
If Professor Mortum had placed additional spells to temper its nature when creating the undead summon, there should have been traces of it.
"There aren't any."
"Excuse me?"
"There's no spellwork to make it docile or loyal."
"......"
Without thinking, Lee Han took a step back, putting distance between himself and Sharkan.
Sharkan let out a wounded whine.
"S-So... is it just waiting for an opportunity, like Ponrig here?"
This time, the white horse whinnied in protest.
How dare he doubt its loyalty!