Episode 187
Episode 187
After finishing his muttering, Lee Han realized his fingertips were trembling slightly.
He'd tried to remain composed, but apparently the shock had been too great.
'Even so, isn't this going a bit too far?'
-Normally, lowerclassmen's midterms end without much impact on the school, but upperclassmen's midterms... tend to cause quite a nuisance.
Diret had said this while eating red bean rice cakes.
Since lowerclassmen's magic skills were still weak, any mistakes or accidents during exams didn't have major consequences.
But upperclassmen were different.
As the scale of their magic grew significantly larger, any mistakes could create repercussions serious enough to affect the entire school.
-Is this really acceptable behavior toward underclassmen?
-If you're upset, just do the same when you become an upperclassman. Besides, it's not like we do this on purpose. It's just that when multiple accidents overlap, unpredictable things happen.
There had been times when overlapping summoning spells strengthened the connection to the Spirit World where lava spirits resided, turning the school into a lava-filled mess.
Other times, tangled mana flows caused bizarre phenomena where completely different spells would emerge when casting magic.
-I know it's frustrating, junior. Save the revenge for later and just be careful for now.
-Understood. I'll stock up on as many supplies as possible and gather artifacts to prepare for any situation. I'll also inform my tower friends to minimize any damage...
-That... I didn't mean you had to prepare so thoroughly, but it's not a bad idea.
After finishing his conversation with Diret, Lee Han returned to the tower (after apologizing to Gyeong-nam) and made various preparations with his friends.
He visited the black market in the Black Turtle Tower to find useful artifacts, organized and calculated the tower's stored supplies, and prioritized harvesting anything edible from the garden...
Yet despite all this, he couldn't shake off the unease in his heart.
'This week is going to be tough.'
"This is the worst Sunday ever."
"Isn't this bread more like a blunt weapon?"
The friends receiving the morning bread and rice looked utterly bewildered.
Perhaps due to the cold, the bread had already hardened into something rock-solid.
"Did you see outside? Back at the mansion, we'd have snowball fights in weather like this..."
"Now's not the time for that. If we don't clear the piled-up snow, we can't even step outside."
"Why aren't the professors fixing this?"
"Probably because it's the students' mess, so they expect us to clean it up."
"Wardanaz!"
In the lounge, the students holding the black blunt weapons—no, the black bread—brightened up at Lee Han's arrival.
They were counting on him to solve this problem.
"Sorry to disappoint everyone, but there's no telling when this blizzard will end. We won't be able to get fresh produce from the garden for a while. We'll have to ration our meals."
"...!"
"Don't worry, Wardanaz. We're Einrogard students too. We won't complain just because we're a little hungry."
"That's right, Wardanaz!"
Their excessive confidence made Lee Han slightly concerned.
'These guys have pretty serious food obsessions.'
While other towers were used to going hungry, the Blue Dragon Tower had grown quite picky thanks to Lee Han.
Would they really be okay?
"Today's meal is canned beans."
"...C-can't we open some other cans? Do we really have to eat just beans?"
"No. We're rationing."
The Blue Dragon Tower students looked gloomy at the thought of eating hard bread with canned beans.
Fortunately, Lee Han wasn't cruel enough to just dump the beans into a bowl.
He sautéed onions, garlic, and mushrooms from the garden in oil along with the beans.
Then he opened another can, added tomatoes, onions, and garlic, and simmered it generously before seasoning with salt and pepper.
The Blue Dragon Tower students' expressions brightened slightly. Even the usually expressionless Princess showed the faintest hint of admiration.
Breakfast time.
Even as the blizzard raged outside, the meal was delicious.
"Wardanaz. It feels like we all need to work together."
"Right. You should give us directions."
Lee Han fell into thought at his friends' words.
The students of the Blue Dragon Tower were right.
Given the sheer scale of the situation, it would be difficult to handle without joining forces.
What was the most urgent task at hand?
"We need to clear the snow in front of the tower first. If we don't, we won't even be able to attend lectures."
"Surely... the professors would make allowances, wouldn't they?"
"No way."
"Absolutely no chance."
At someone's naive remark, the others scowled and shook their heads.
"And aren't all our coats spring coats right now? We'd freeze to death if we went out."
At Lee Han's words, his friends' expressions turned grave.
They truly hadn't anticipated such cold weather because of the spring conditions...
"I did prepare thick winter fabrics for emergencies like this. Didn't think I'd need them so soon though... Let's finish eating and make coats first."
"???"
"?????"
His friends nodded before freezing mid-motion.
...Why had he prepared that?
"Wardanaz. Did you foresee this situation?"
"No."
"Then how...?"
"I just thought the thick fabric might come in handy someday."
"Truly Wardanaz. You can't let your guard down even for a 1% chance."
Ashan said with an admiring expression. Though some students still looked puzzled, thinking, 'Sure, it's lucky, but was that really necessary?'
"Let's make as much cold-weather gear as possible. There must be some usable artifacts too."
One advantage of the magic school was that imperfect artifacts lay around like pebbles on the road.
"This frost-mist lantern seems a bit useless in our current situation, no?"
"Toss it in the corner."
After finishing their meal, the friends brought out the thick fabrics and began searching for usable artifacts.
Meanwhile, Lee Han equipped a ring, bracelet, and necklace.
With a series of clicks, the flame-absorbing accessories pulsed with power.
"Open the door and step aside."
"Wardanaz. I trust you—"
"Ashan. Move before I hit you."
"O-okay."
Grumbling, Ashan stepped back.
He was trying to show trust—why the hostility?!
'I didn't want to play with fire near the tower, but there's no choice.'
When Lee Han opened the tower door connected to the lounge, a storm of frigid air and snowdrifts as high as mountains greeted him.
There was no way they could break through this tomorrow to attend lectures. They had to start now.
'Melt it!'
"Burn!"
Whoosh!
Flames erupted with his incantation.
Lee Han was startled.
'What's this?'
Controlling the flames felt overwhelmingly easier than usual.
If his usual fire magic was like wrestling the reins of a wild stallion, now it felt like guiding a docile, well-trained steed.
'It's impossible that my skills improved this drastically in such a short time. Must be the environment.'
The blizzard's extreme cold had its advantages.
Since mana spread through nature was influenced by the environment, fire magic inevitably weakened in such conditions.
For mages like Lee Han—who had to clatter on multiple sealing accessories just to cast a single fire spell and still worry about accidents—this was frankly a bit of a relief.
Whoooosh!
Lee Han scattered flames around to melt the snow.
"Maybe this snowfall isn't entirely bad."
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting, Wardanaz?"
"Don't make lame jokes. It's cold enough already."
"......"
Lee Han shut his mouth.
Was it really that bad?
"Wardanaz. Don't you need to rest?"
"I'm fine for now."
"Wardanaz. You should really rest."
"I'm fine. Just a bit longer."
"Wardanaz..."
"I said I'm fine?"
"No. It's all melted..."
"Ah. Right."
Lee Han looked up.
Thanks to working all morning, they'd cleared a path.
When he glanced back, his friends were staring at him in shock.
'Must be the blizzard.'
"I'm going to Thunderstep Professor's cabin to check on the garden leftovers."
"Lee Han! Take the potions we made!"
Yoner, who had been brewing potions with others by the lounge fireplace, waved at him.
Inside the cauldron, the cold resistance potion was bubbling vigorously.
Ashan lifted a potion bottle and took a sip.
"Wow. Feels like my insides are burning up?"
"Dalkard. That's just the alcohol we used as an ingredient. The actual cold resistance potion hasn't been poured in yet."
Professor Thunderstep had cleared the snow around his cabin with magic and was sitting inside, leisurely sipping coffee.
Thanks to the heavy snowfall, everything was quiet and cozy.
'Not bad.'
This kind of accident wasn't bad at all.
Compared to some shadow dimension abomination running wild, this was far more atmospheric.
BANG!
"Professor! Please give me the leftover food!"
Professor Thunderstep nearly spilled his coffee in shock.
How in the—?!
"How did you even get through all this snow?!"
"I melted it with fire magic."
"That kind of brute-force method shouldn't be possible... Well, I guess it is."
Professor Thunderstep nodded mid-sentence.
If it was this disciple in front of him, it was entirely possible.
The kid's mana seemed to gush forth endlessly...
"Still, I'm surprised you even thought of carving a path with fire magic in this weather. Fire magic shouldn't be working well right now."
"Actually, it worked better."
"?"
"?"
Only after hearing the explanation did Professor Thunderstep understand what he meant.
'Monstrous brat...!'
Though understanding didn't make it any less shocking.
Just how much mana did he have to say that using fire magic in this weather was better?
And he was wearing multiple control artifacts too!
"...Wait here. I'll gather some food for you."
Even for a disciple with monstrous talent, seeing him brave the blizzard just to collect leftover ingredients tugged at his heartstrings a little.
Professor Thunderstep packed up the remaining vegetables, eggs, smoked and cured sausages, ham, and cheese.
"Is the garden unusable?"
"If you have any conscience, look at the snow piled on top of the garden..."
"Even with the Staff of the Tree Spirit?"
"Even if it were the Staff of the Tree Spirit's ancestor, it wouldn't work..."
The professor was dumbfounded by his disciple's shameless remarks.
No matter how much vitality-boosting power the staff had, if vegetables could grow through a blizzard like this, they wouldn't be vegetables—they'd be plant-type monsters.
"Don't just complain. Look at the positive side."
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting, Professor? It's already freezing, and you're making lame jokes?"
Lee Han, who had forgotten the scolding he gave his friends earlier, put on a serious face.
Professor Thunderstep was about to reprimand him but then remembered how skilled the kid was in swordsmanship and combat.
Mercifully letting it slide, the professor moved on to explaining.
"Of course, life will be a bit inconvenient."
"Extremely inconvenient, you mean."
"...Fine. Extremely inconvenient. But it's also a chance to practice magic you couldn't normally handle."
"Hmm. True. Like Blood Magic—I was always cautious because of the collateral damage, but with this much snow, it should act as a buffer."
"Why are you bringing up Blood Magic?! I meant ice elementals and spirits!"
The professor was startled by his disciple's insane remark.
"Ah. Right, that makes sense."
"Exactly. When natural mana leans heavily in one direction, the distance to unseen worlds shrinks. It wouldn't be strange for ice spirits from the Spirit World to wander around. Not to mention ice elementals."
This extreme weather was a rare opportunity to practice elements that were usually hard to work with.
Ice was one of them.
"Since you're quite skilled with water elements, ice will likely suit you well."
"Really?"
Lee Han brightened up.
Free power-ups were always welcome.
"Right. Try summoning water now. You'll probably understand what I mean immediately."
The icy mana saturating the environment affected a mage's magic.
If he summoned water now, surely...
"Spring forth!"
The water surged up as usual—neither frozen nor diminished.
Professor Thunderstep cursed inwardly.
Teaching prodigies was always a pain.
"Now, as for how ice and water attributes are connected..."
"Aren't you going to use the water I just summoned?"
"...Just listen quietly."
"Yes. Understood."