Episode 329
Episode 329
"Why are you doing this?"
"It's nothing."
Priestess Dijiling slightly bowed her head with an apologetic expression.
He suddenly felt ashamed of himself for even having such thoughts.
When he thought about it, the boy from the Wardanaz family had made countless sacrifices for his friends.
Just considering the meals the students of the Tower of the Eternally Burning Phoenix had eaten, the priests couldn't even lift their heads in front of Lee Han.
"I'm sorry."
"??"
Lee Han was puzzled by Priestess Dijiling's sudden apology.
What's this about?
'Is it because I invited them to the Order's event?'
For Lee Han, who was already scheming with dark intentions, such an apology only made him feel even more guilty.
"No. There's nothing to apologize for."
"He must be apologizing for interrupting your work."
Professor Verdus spoke as if he understood.
How desperately must Wardanaz want to finish his magic stone work right now?
Having to delay it because of some trivial promise from the past must be eating him up inside.
"Ah... Then there really is no need to apologize."
Lee Han firmly replied with complete sincerity.
The temple of the Prisinga Order was usually visited by many cursed individuals.
People who had unknowingly wandered into cursed lands and gotten afflicted, or those who had accidentally worn cursed artifacts, and so on.
The priests of the Prisinga Order never turned away such visitors, kindly treating them, purifying their artifacts, and sometimes even wearing the artifacts themselves.
The last part was a bit odd, but regardless, few were as reliable as the Prisinga Order when it came to helping ordinary people afflicted by curses.
"Priest! Please help! Ever since I put on this bracelet, my arm has turned into an undead's arm!"
"Priest! My race...! I don't want to live as a stinking dwarf! Waaah!"
"I went on a trip last week, and I must've touched something wrong—now my skin is turning to bronze..."
The Wardanaz family's carriage, carrying three people, arrived at the temple's main gate. Professor Verdus looked at the line of people and remarked,
"How amusing. They'd make excellent research subjects."
"Professor. I think it might be best to keep your mouth shut until we enter the temple."
In front of people already on edge from being cursed, saying something like, "You're such a fascinating case study," could very well get a knife thrown at them.
"Lee Han of the Wardanaz family!"
Priest Mehrid came running out excitedly. Since they last met, he must have put on another cursed artifact—a bizarre helmet dangled precariously from his head.
"I've heard so much about you. Thank you truly."
"Not at all. I only did what needed to be done."
Lee Han answered humbly, though he wasn't truly humble at heart.
Considering all the meals he had prepared for the students of the Tower of the Eternally Burning Phoenix, Lee Han had every right to be proud.
"...But why is the professor here?"
Priest Mehrid whispered in a flustered voice.
Lee Han knew that in situations like this, the best approach was to act confidently.
"He's here to help."
"Eh? That professor? Oh, no... Not that I'm complaining."
Lee Han completely understood Priest Mehrid's reaction.
Honestly, even he would be shocked if someone told him Professor Verdus had come to help.
"As an artifact expert, he'll be useful for an event like this."
"That may be true, but I don't think he'll actually help... Ah, no. Not that I'm complaining."
'He's surprisingly blunt.'
Though a priest, Mehrid was not the type to turn a blind eye to reality.
He was, above all, a pragmatic priest.
"Don't worry. Just this once, the professor will work hard to help."
"Is that so? What happened?"
"Because the faster this event ends, the sooner he can take me away and put me to work."
"......"
Priest Mehrid looked at Lee Han with a complicated expression.
Having an outstanding mage around certainly made it easier to assist with the Prisinga Order's work.
Professor Verdus sat with his arms crossed, then abruptly spoke when another person approached.
"You've been cursed with fire!"
"Excuse me?!"
"I said you've been cursed with fire!"
Lee Han kindly explained from the side:
"He's saying the accessory inside the box you're holding has been cursed with fire. If you wear it carelessly, you could get burned."
"Th-that's..."
The guest holding the accessory blinked in fright.
"Then what should I do?"
"Professor. Can you handle this?"
"Hand it over!"
"Ah, oh my. Thank you, Father."
"I'm not a priest. I'm a mage."
Professor Verdus took the accessory and began dispelling the curse. The owner kept bowing repeatedly in gratitude.
Lee Han got an idea from this.
'Hmm. This could be a business opportunity.'
Hanging up a sign that says 'Curses Dispelled Here'...
The problem was the monopoly held by the Prisinga Order. And the most threatening thing about this order was that their services were free.
Was there anywhere the Prisinga Order didn't reach?
"Look here. This is a burning curse. See the pattern engraved here?"
"Even if you say that, I don't know this magic..."
"Memorize it. You'll need to do it yourself next time the same magic appears."
"Oh..."
Lee Han was astonished by Professor Verdus's shameless words.
Not 'memorize it so you can help later' but 'memorize it so you can do it yourself next time.'
Was he seriously planning to entrust a first-year student with dispelling cursed artifacts?
'He really is insane.'
"Try channeling some mana into this."
Professor Verdus handed Lee Han the magical tool he'd been working with. Its light flickered, as if the infused mana had been completely depleted.
Without much thought, Lee Han grasped the device and channeled mana into it. The sudden surge of mana made Professor Verdus extremely pleased.
"Wow. You're good at this."
'Oh no.'
When Professor Verdus made a face that said 'I've found another use for you,' Lee Han realized his mistake.
The more uses Professor Verdus discovered for Lee Han, the worse it was for his life.
Fizz, crackle, pop!
"Done. Take it. The curse is lifted."
"That's incredible!"
A nearby priest expressed admiration for Professor Verdus's skill.
Even the experienced priests of the Prisinga Order couldn't resolve curses that quickly. It was truly remarkable ability.
"Not incredible at all. Even a larva could do this."
"W-well..."
Seeing the priest's bewildered expression, Lee Han decided he should just keep speaking for the professor.
"Professor. I'll handle the talking—you just focus on the work."
"Huh? Thanks."
"This one can't be dispelled."
Even Professor Verdus couldn't solve every curse.
The bracelet engraved with ominous patterns looked more likely to shatter than to have its curse removed.
"So it really was a cursed item? Damn it, I had a bad feeling... Thank you, Mage. I'll leave it here."
The person who had brought the bracelet set it down regretfully.
He'd come hoping it might be something valuable, only to find it was cursed.
Items that couldn't be dispelled like this were usually taken care of by the Order.
Cursed artifacts were inherently troublesome to deal with.
"But what kind of curse was on it?"
After another guest left, Lee Han stretched and asked.
"Mana emission suppression."
"Mana emission suppression? Like absorption?"
"It's different from absorption. Are you stupid?"
Professor Verdus gently pointed out his student's slip of the tongue, and Lee Han nodded in response.
"The mechanisms are indeed different."
While the Curse of Mana Absorption continuously siphoned the wearer's mana from the moment of contact, the Curse of Mana Emission Suppression imposed restrictions on the user's ability to release their mana.
Both curses were designed to impose prohibitions on those capable of wielding mana, but their methods differed.
"May I try wearing it?"
"Go ahead."
Lee Han fastened the bracelet around his wrist.
'Better to experience this now than to get caught off guard at Einrogard.'
Though such words would have shocked others, Lee Han remained composed.
Facing it here was preferable to encountering it unprepared at Einrogard—at least this way, he could prepare countermeasures.
"I don't feel much difference, though?"
"Try casting a spell."
At the professor's suggestion, Lee Han summoned a Water Orb.
The orb materialized in the air, perfectly controlled without any issues.
"It's working fine, isn't it?"
"Now try something more complex."
"More complex, you say..."
Lee Han had already mastered the fundamental applications of water-element magic.
The next level of difficulty would involve evaporation or rotation.
'Rotation it is.'
The Rotation Attribute was something Lee Han hadn't yet perfected. His attempts either required excessive time or remained incomplete at best.
Swoooosh!
"!"
Lee Han jolted in surprise.
The Water Orb was spinning with a sharp, whistling sound.
He hadn't poured an excessive amount of time into it—so how was it already at this level?
'What in the...? So that's how it works!'
Lee Han quickly grasped the situation.
To put it simply, the Curse of Mana Absorption continuously drained mana at a fixed rate.
Someone with 10 units of mana wouldn't last long, but someone with 10,000 units could endure far longer.
In contrast, the Curse of Mana Emission Suppression imposed a hard cap—whether the user had 100 or 10,000 units of mana, they could only utilize 10 units at a time.
Under normal circumstances, such a curse would be crippling—but for Lee Han, it was a different story.
Accustomed to struggling with his overwhelmingly vast mana reserves, being forcibly restricted to a small amount made control infinitely easier.
It felt like swapping out a heavy suit of armor for a lightweight one.
Swoosh! Swoooosh!
As the mana flowed precisely as he envisioned, Lee Han felt an electrifying thrill.
This—this was the near-omnipotent exhilaration that mages lived for.
The power to reshape the world's rules under one's own command.
What could possibly be more intoxicating?
'Do other mages feel like this all the time?'
Actually, no.
The reason Lee Han could wield his immense mana with relative ease was due to his innate talent.
Now, with the excess forcibly stripped away, he was experiencing this unprecedented level of control—something most mages never felt.
"Professor! This is incredible! Who would've thought such an Artifact existed... Why did Professor Garcia give me one with Mana Absorption instead of this?"
"Well—"
Before Professor Verdus could explain, Lee Han's bracelet shattered.
CRACK!
"......"
Lee Han stared bitterly at the bracelet's remains. Professor Verdus nodded knowingly.
"That tends to happen."
"...You could've mentioned that sooner."
Unlike Mana Absorption Artifacts, which rarely broke, Mana Emission Suppression Artifacts were notoriously fragile—especially under the strain of a mage's power.
And for someone like Lee Han, whose mana reserves were practically limitless?
One miscast spell, and it was game over.
If he wanted an Artifact durable enough to withstand his magic, he'd have better luck searching for an Ancient Artifact.
"But surely there's at least one more Artifact with Mana Emission Suppression... right?"
"Who knows? And it's a curse, not a feature."
'Ah, right. That's true.'
Lee Han snapped back to reality, momentarily blinded by his excitement.
Fortunately, three more Artifacts bearing the Curse of Mana Emission Suppression surfaced afterward.
CRACK!
...Correction: two more.
