Episode 133
Episode 133
Lee Han, sensing the strange atmosphere, found himself making excuses without realizing it.
"Experiencing the element directly is the most effective way to improve elemental control, form transformation, and enchantment abilities..."
"...But it's an excessively violent method, isn't it?"
At the bishop's flustered expression, a priest standing nearby spoke up.
"He must be joking. Students can be quite mischievous, you know."
"Ah. A joke..."
'Except it wasn't.'
Though Lee Han hadn't been joking, the atmosphere was growing increasingly awkward, so he quietly shut his mouth.
"The Order teaches flame control first through meditation and prayer."
Lee Han was surprised.
'That's all?'
And then he was surprised again.
This time, at himself.
'...Professor Voladi has really warped my perspective.'
Upon reflection, controlling flames through meditation and prayer was a perfectly reasonable method.
Especially compared to risking one's life to avoid fire elements!
The Afha Order's meditation wasn't particularly complex or difficult.
It involved sitting cross-legged, closing one's eyes, and visualizing flames within one's inner self.
If one succeeded in visualizing the flames, the next step was maintaining them.
After sustaining them for a certain period, one then practiced complex applications of the flames within the mind.
It seemed simple enough, but in practice, it was anything but. The moment concentration wavered or distracting thoughts intruded, the meditation would fail.
'It overlaps quite a bit with magic training.'
Lee Han noted many similarities between the Order's meditation and magic training.
Magic was a discipline that required intense focus and imagination.
Even if one recited spells, waved a wand, and arranged mana correctly, failure was almost guaranteed without proper concentration.
"We'll place a candle here."
The bishop set down a candlestick and lit it.
"For now, focus solely on keeping this candle from going out."
"Yes."
In the Afha Order, the candle would extinguish the moment the meditating priest lost focus.
It was a simple tool to help novice priests maintain concentration.
An hour later.
"...There's no need for further meditation."
"Huh?"
Lee Han, who had been visualizing himself hurling fireballs at Professor Voladi with his eyes closed, paused in surprise.
He had been deeply immersed in meditation—why were they stopping him?
"Maintaining the candle for an hour is more than sufficient."
For Lee Han, who had natural talent and had endured Professor Voladi's brutal training, this level of meditation was nothing more than a simple exercise he could breeze through.
"I see..."
Understanding the bishop's words, Lee Han took off his coat again. The bishop suddenly looked flustered.
"You won't be throwing flames, Lord Lee Han."
"I just got a bit warm from sitting near the fire, so I took it off."
"Ah."
The priests of the Afha Order exchanged awkward glances. Lee Han felt slightly wronged.
'They think I'm some kind of weirdo. Unfair.'
"By the way, does this mean I have an aptitude for fire magic?"
Curious, Lee Han asked.
He had already confirmed through experience that he had a decent affinity for the water element, and he could wield lightning element fairly well too.
In contrast, he had so rarely used fire magic until now that he had no real sense of how well-suited he was to it.
Just how much talent did he have?
"Uh..."
"Well..."
The priests exchanged glances.
By their standards, his talent was exceptional.
Most priests in the Order had to maintain their inner flames through steady, periodic meditation.
The fact that he had managed it so effortlessly without any formal training meant he was naturally gifted.
An innate high affinity for the fire element, coupled with an exceptionally stable mental imagery of flames?
He was practically born to be a priest of the Afha Order.
...But they couldn't exactly say that.
He had made a promise with the headmaster.
'If we tell him the full truth, Lee Han of the Wardanaz family might want to become a priest of the Afha Order.'
'That can't happen.'
The headmaster of the Magic School didn't like having outstanding talents taken away by religious orders, and the priests respected that.
Of course, given Lee Han's personality, there was absolutely no way he'd want to become an Afha Order priest—but the priests didn't know that.
"An average level, I see."
"Quite average."
"I see... That makes sense."
Lee Han nodded.
'So I'm average, then.'
Since the priests said he was average, Lee Han didn't question it. There was no reason for them to lie.
And being average was enough. As long as it didn't interfere with learning other magic, that was fine.
"Now, Lee Han of the Wardanaz family."
The bishop slipped a ring onto Lee Han's finger. Sensing the mana emanating from it, Lee Han tilted his head in confusion.
"This is...?"
"A Ring of Flame Absorption. When you use fire magic, this ring will protect you."
Originally, it was a ring used for defending against fire magic or fighting flame-attributed monsters, but it was also a handy artifact for talented fire mages who couldn't properly control their own flames during training.
Lee Han bowed his head gratefully.
"Thank you."
"Do you know the Flame Creation spell? Try casting it once."
Lee Han swung his staff and recited the incantation.
"Burn!"
Whooosh!
A fist-sized flame burst to life above his palm. The effect was far better than he had expected, and Lee Han beamed.
"Impressive."
"...Bring more rings."
"?!"
Lee Han was taken aback by the bishop's grave reaction.
Did it not work?
'Guess I just got lucky...'
Looking down at his hand, he saw the ring was already cracked.
Even though it had absorbed as much as it could, this was the result.
A single ring was practically meaningless.
Click, click, click.
Additional rings were added. Lee Han cautiously asked the bishop:
"Are you sure this is okay?"
With ten rings now adorning his fingers, even Lee Han was starting to worry.
Wouldn't wearing this many rings make it impossible to cast fire magic at all?
"Admittedly, this is a bit..."
"Excessive?"
"...It might still not be enough. Bring bracelets too."
"......"
Lee Han was beginning to wonder whether he was a freshman at the Magic School or the empire's most dangerous fire magic criminal.
The bishop, unsatisfied with fitting ten rings onto Lee Han's hands, proceeded to add four bracelets and two necklaces.
Since the Afha Order frequently dealt with fire magic, they had an abundance of such anti-fire magic artifacts.
'Hmm. A rather avant-garde fashion statement.'
Even by the standards of mages—who weren't exactly known for their fashion sense—this seemed a bit extreme.
Though his appearance had become somewhat bizarre, the Afha Order's methods proved quite effective.
Draped in artifacts, Lee Han began his fire magic training.
Starting with the <Flame Creation> spell, then moving the generated flames.
And then spells like <Lesser Flame Resistance> and <Flame Evolution>.
Truthfully, the priests were far more invested in the latter.
Fortunately, everything went better than expected.
Lee Han wondered whether it was because elemental magic suited his aptitude or if Professor Voladi's teachings were also effective for fire magic.
And he prayed it wasn't the latter.
He had no desire to become living proof that Professor Voladi's educational theories were correct.
"That's enough for today. You've worked hard."
"Not at all. Thank you. Would it be alright if I practiced alone when I return?"
"Absolutely not."
"....."
A priest nearby whispered seriously:
"Shouldn't we equip a few more on Lee Han?"
Lee Han pretended not to hear and spoke up.
"...But if I don't practice alone, my skills won't improve."
"Next week, the priests of our order will be staying at the school. We've received His Majesty the Emperor's permission for the Spring Festival period."
"!"
Lee Han was more surprised by the bishop's words than anything else at that moment.
The priests would still be at school even after this weekend?
Such...
Such wonderful news?
As Lee Han's face brightened, the priests also looked pleased.
'As expected of a freshman, he seems delighted about the Spring Festival.'
"Are you happy about the Spring Festival?"
"Huh? Ah... Yes. Well. I am happy!"
Lee Han belatedly recalled the Spring Festival. He'd been so overjoyed by the priests staying at school that he'd completely forgotten about it.
"Does the Headmaster know about this?"
"I plan to inform him after today's schedule ends."
"If you tell him right now, the Headmaster would be extremely pleased too."
"Is that so?"
There was no harm in telling him a few hours earlier. The puzzled bishop nodded.
Priest Nigisor came out to see Lee Han off when it was time for him to return.
Having received not only various teachings but also artifacts, Lee Han was extremely satisfied with the Afha Order.
"I'd heard all sorts of rumors about the Afha Order, but after meeting you today, I realize it was just fools spreading nonsense."
Priest Nigisor smiled pleasantly at Lee Han's words. It seemed to be the first time Lee Han had seen him smile.
"Of course. The priests who serve Afha's fire are all kind and benevolent. If they hadn't accepted me, I wouldn't be here like this."
Even in the Empire, there were popular and unpopular races.
And spirit half-bloods, who manifested dormant spirit bloodlines from their ancestors, were generally viewed with discomfort.
Most were asexual, and those with fire spirit heritage like flame spirit half-bloods had traits that made it difficult not to harm their surroundings...
"Definitely. The Afha Order priests were all very kind. Those who spread baseless rumors about priests deliberately setting fires to bring about the apocalypse should be burned at the stake."
Despite having harbored such suspicions himself initially, Lee Han shamelessly declared this.
Priest Nigisor also nodded in agreement.
"Quite right. It's unfortunate everyone misunderstands. Aside from me, no one else thinks that way."
"Right. ...Hm?"
Lee Han, about to agree, suddenly paused.
Something felt off.
"What did you just say?"
"What do you mean?"
"That... it sounded like Priest Nigisor wants to set fires?"
"I don't want to set fires."
"Ah. Is that so?"
"However, I do wonder if using more fire magic might make Afha's fire arrive faster. Though the priests say otherwise... Whenever I meditate, Afha's fire whispers to me..."
"......"
Lee Han unconsciously stepped back. Unaware of Lee Han's inner thoughts, Nigisor continued.
"In that regard, it's truly joyous that you, Lee Han of the Wardanaz family, were born with such strong flames in your soul. I'll pray for your many future achievements."
"......"
This was the first time receiving encouragement had felt so... unjoyful.
"You're skin and bones! Nothing left but bones!"
"That's not true."
"You're skin and bones! How are you just bones like this..."
"Really, I'm not."
While Dijiling and the order priests were talking, Lee Han opened the tent flap and entered.
"Greetings."
"Lee Han of the Wardanaz family. What do you think?"
Lee Han looked between the priest and Dijiling to assess the situation.
Dijiling pleaded with her eyes.
'Make them stop worrying unnecessarily.'
"He does look like skin and bones with nothing left but bones."
"See? Bring some food."
"......"
Though Dijiling gave him a disbelieving look, Lee Han pretended not to notice, sitting down and laying out a napkin. To survive long at the magic school, one had to eat whenever possible.