Episode 195
Episode 195
"...Sorry."
Lee Han offered an apology first.
He truly hadn't imagined that the Snow Hedgehog would simply run away like that.
'Isn't that damn monster way too cowardly for a creature of its kind?'
If it was a monster, it should've ferociously attacked without caring about the opponent's mana. Being that timid was just...
"Ah."
"?"
Beside him, Priest Siana let out a sound as if she had belatedly remembered something.
"I think we should chase the Snow Hedgehog. Lord Lee Han of the Wardanaz family."
"Why?"
Lee Han was prepared to refuse whatever Priest Siana said.
If a monster was running away, they should be grateful—there was no reason to stubbornly try to catch it.
Unlike those foolish Black Turtle Tower students who might delude themselves into thinking, 'Would the Wardanaz family really be satisfied with just driving the monster away?'...
"Snow Hedgehogs love Cold-Soaked Jade Lilies and hoard them, you see."
"!!"
Cold-Soaked Jade Lilies.
They were an ingredient that could only be obtained by pushing through the snow piled up during a blizzard, breaking the frozen surface of a lake, and diving into the water.
Naturally, Lee Han had excluded them from the start, thinking, 'I shouldn't even bother trying to get these.'
"Let's chase it! Sharkan, track its trail! Nilia, help me!"
At his shout, the Black Turtle Tower students looked at Lee Han with expressions that said, 'We knew it would come to this.'
Lee Han barely stopped himself from hitting each of his friends.
If there were students like Lee Han, who cool-headedly prioritized gathering the easiest materials first, there were also students who aimed to impress Professor Thunderstep by collecting the hardest-to-obtain ingredients.
The White Tiger Tower students were exactly that.
Surprisingly, they were attempting to break the thick ice of the lake in this extreme cold to gather Cold-Soaked Jade Lilies.
Crack!
"Got it!"
The White Tiger Tower students, who had finally succeeded in breaking the lake's ice with an axe, bumped fists in celebration.
In such freezing weather, even breaking ice was no ordinary task.
Simply swinging an axe recklessly could drench their clothes in sweat, which would then freeze, so they had to swing slowly and carefully.
"Be careful."
"I know. Here we go!"
One of the students pulled out a round, engraved orb.
It was the Fake Eye they had bought from the Black Turtle Tower students.
"Show me, O Eye! What I cannot see!"
An artifact that clearly displayed the surroundings of the orb to its user.
Though disposable, it was among the better-quality failed artifacts available at the academy.
The students firmly attached the orb to a pole and lowered it into the lake.
They had wrapped several layers of leather enchanted with Lesser Frost Resistance, but if they fell into the lake, that would be meaningless.
Hence, their movements were cautious.
"There it is! The hook!"
Upon spotting the Cold-Soaked Jade Lilies, the students attempted to retrieve them with a hook.
The tightly clustered lilies were slowly dragged up. The students' faces brightened.
"We got them!"
"Keep going! Let's take them all!"
—■■■■! ■■■■!
"?!?"
"What the—?!"
Before the Snow Hedgehog appeared.
With a crackling sound, the Snow Hedgehog began darting across the lake. The White Tiger Tower students, engrossed in fishing, were a step too slow to react.
"Th... that thing..."
"Don't come this way!"
Ignoring the students' shouts, the Snow Hedgehog charged straight at them.
It aimed for the hole the students had made and rammed into it. The weakened ice shattered in a chain reaction, followed by a massive explosion of sound.
Splash!
The Snow Hedgehog dove straight into the lake.
...And so did the White Tiger Tower students.
"Why the hell were those idiots on the lake? That's dangerous!"
Ashan was flustered as he watched the White Tiger Tower students fall into the lake in the distance.
But Lee Han noticed something slightly different.
'Wait. They were harvesting Cold-Soaked Jade Lilies, weren't they?'
The basket left on the lakeshore.
And Lee Han's eyes sparkled as he saw the Cold-Soaked Jade Lilies filling that basket.
'They actually managed to harvest them.'
"We have to help!"
Nilia shouted urgently.
This accident happened because they had chased the Snow Hedgehog, didn't it?
At her words, Lee Han—who had been pondering how to borrow the Cold-Soaked Jade Lilies—nodded.
"Right. Let's help them and borrow the lilies as payment."
"Huh? What did you say?"
"Move!"
Without answering, Lee Han sprang into action.
First, save the idiots who fell in!
Lee Han grabbed the poles the White Tiger Tower students had stacked and moved. The students flailing in the lake barely managed to grab onto the poles.
"Climb out!"
"W-w-w-w..."
The White Tiger Tower students couldn't even speak properly from the cold. Trembling, they clung to the poles and pulled themselves up.
But not all of them could. Some, their arms numb, couldn't muster the strength and staggered weakly.
'I have to pull them up myself!'
In that brief moment, Lee Han's mind raced.
What was the fastest way to get the fallen students back to shore?
'If I manipulate the water beneath them...'
Lee Han cast another spell.
This one targeted the water beneath the students' feet.
Water Elemental Magic was the most familiar and comfortable magic for Lee Han.
Even in this urgent situation, it flowed as naturally as breathing.
'...Lift them up!'
Splash!
The students' heads shot upward. But that was as far as it went.
Trying to scoop people out of water with a net of liquid wasn't easy.
'It's not working!'
The distance was too great, and the range he was trying to control was too wide—the water's force couldn't hold properly.
If it had been water Lee Han summoned himself, his control would've been far stronger, but the lake's water wasn't so easily manipulated.
Lee Han clicked his tongue inwardly.
'Should I just summon my own water and pour it in? No... the moment I do, it'll mix with the lake water and weaken.'
As Lee Han agonized, a freezing gust of wind brushed past his cheek.
In that instant, a spark of inspiration ran down his arm.
Before he could even think, Lee Han was already reciting the spell on instinct.
A so-called wizard's epiphany.
"Freeze solid!"
Crackle-crackle-crackle!
Just like how he had once grasped control over water under the life-threatening pressure from Professor Voladi, Lee Han now felt like he understood what the Ice Element truly was.
Forgetting the current situation, Lee Han became absorbed in controlling the cold. The epiphany made even the biting chill fade from his awareness.
'That's impossible!'
Yoner stared at Lee Han in shock.
Unlike the other students, who thought, 'What's the surprise? Wardanaz knows how to use evil curses too,' Yoner had a rough idea of which spells Lee Han could and couldn't use.
And Frost Element Magic was one Lee Han shouldn't have known.
If he had, he wouldn't have struggled so much with preserving ingredients in the first place.
Yet now, Lee Han was using Frost Element Magic.
There was only one explanation that made sense.
He had figured it out on his own—without being taught by a professor!
-Maykin. A good mage learns quickly, but a great mage learns by realizing things on their own.
-Is that even possible?
-Of course. If you keep studying, one day, you'll have your own moment of realization. That's when you can truly call yourself a mage.
Whoooosh—
A broad sheet of ice formed in the water, pushing the fallen students upward.
His friends hurriedly pulled the White Tiger Tower students—now looking like drowned rats—out of the water.
"Start a fire!"
"B-but the flint's soaked...?"
"Are you even a mage?!"
"Ah... oops. Sorry."
"Bring potions!"
The students hastily lit a fire on the lakeshore and rubbed warmth back into their White Tiger Tower friends' hands and feet.
"Yoner, help! We need to brew more potions!"
"Huh? Oh, sorry."
Yoner quickly snapped out of it and prepared the potion.
He felt strange.
Even with so many friends around, he seemed to be the only one who realized just how incredible what he'd just witnessed was.
Just then, Lee Han walked out. He was muttering something under his breath.
Curious, Yoner pricked up his ears.
What could Lee Han be saying?
'Could it be about what he just realized?'
"I should practice freezing perishable ingredients first when we get back to the tower."
"......"
Yoner pretended not to hear and turned his gaze back to the cauldron.
The world often turned out to be more mundane than one expected.
"Wardanaz... thank you. I still don't understand why that Snow Hedgehog suddenly appeared."
"Actually, that was our fau—"
"It's fine."
Lee Han cut Nilia off mid-sentence.
"Even though we're from different towers, helping students in danger is simply the right thing to do."
"...???"
Nilia stared at Lee Han with utter bewilderment, but his expression remained unchanged.
"Now then, about the Cold-Soaked Jade Lily—"
"Look! The Snow Hedgehog's coming back!"
"!"
All the students turned their heads in surprise.
True enough, the Snow Hedgehog was approaching again.
But this time was different. It approached slowly before plopping something down.
A bundle of Cold-Soaked Jade Lilies.
"...!"
"Th-that's..."
"Wardanaz! The Snow Hedgehog must have been moved by how you saved your friends!"
"That's...! It's a miracle!"
The gathered students were genuinely astonished.
That a mere monster would be so touched as to leave such a gift before departing.
A miracle that warmed their hearts even in this snowy, freezing weather.
Nilia tilted her head in confusion.
"Actually, it looks more scared to me? I think it's leaving gifts so we won't chase it—"
"Shh. Lady Nilia. It might be better to stay quiet."
Ratford covered Nilia's mouth.
There was no need to ruin the mood.
Professor Thunderstep praised the students for gathering various ingredients.
He then processed and stored them in glass bottles so the students could continue using them later.
Though he did make some unnecessary remarks.
-You got Cold-Soaked Jade Lilies? You actually obtained these? How did you manage that?
-......
Thanks to this, even the White Tiger Tower students who'd been frozen stiff now burned with indignation.
After a quick lunch, Lee Han headed to Professor Voladi's classroom.
'This week's focus... will probably be on ice magic, right?'
Walking to the classroom, Lee Han pondered.
Though Professor Voladi was the most unpredictable among the faculty, this much was predictable.
Given the current blizzard outside—an uncommon opportunity—it was highly likely Voladi would take advantage of it.
"You're here."
"Yes."
"Among the elements, ice is particularly finicky. Even more so in magical combat. But with proper application, its limitations can be overcome."
Lee Han wasn't surprised when the vampire professor cut straight to the point.
He nodded knowingly, a faint hint of confidence in his expression.
After all, he'd just awakened his ice affinity on the way here.
"Though difficult to maintain and lacking in instantaneous destructive power, ice magic proves useful in the following situations..."
Lee Han focused intently, taking notes as Professor Voladi explained.
Then at some point, the professor concluded his lecture.
"Now demonstrate an ice creation spell."
Lee Han nodded.
"Freeze!"
Ice shot from his wand tip, lowering the classroom's temperature. Frost settled on the desks before him.
Normally, mastering ice elemental magic required numerous trials to grasp the sensation.
Yet even in this astonishing situation where a freshman had somehow learned it on his own, Professor Voladi's expression didn't change.
"Well done."
'Huh?'
"I expected this to take a day, but we can move ahead. Next, you'll cast..."
"......"
Only then did Lee Han snap out of it.
'What have I been doing?'
In his excitement over awakening his ice affinity, he'd completely lost his grip.
...He should've pretended to struggle a few times!