Episode 358
Episode 358
"Magic stones are merely substitutes after all. To implement the purest mana that a mage can produce using magic stones..."
"Is that really important right now?"
Lee Han pointed at the collapsed penguin beastman mage and spoke to Yumidihus.
He wasn't particularly curious about how difficult it was to manifest high-quality, pure mana using magic stones.
What mattered far more was whether this insane mage would dump his research project on him or not.
"Lord Pengerin. Snap out of it. Even if it's difficult to achieve with magic stones, that part can still be substituted with other methods. Do you know what truly cannot be replaced? The very mind of the mage who designed this experiment and constructed this magic!"
"......"
Lee Han clearly saw Alcykel flinch.
Seizing this glimmer of hope, Lee Han grabbed Alcykel by the scruff of his neck and began shaking him back and forth.
"Lord Pengerin! If you give up here, what will become of the countless ice elemental mages who entered this field inspired by you? Are you going to disappoint all of them?!"
"Ow, ow! That hurts!"
Under normal circumstances, Alcykel would have been pleased, but instead, he screamed in pain.
Lee Han's strength was simply too overwhelming.
"Ah. My apologies. Anyway, disappointing all these mages..."
"A-Alright, alright. Calm down. I'll reconsider, so just... calm down."
Seeing that Lee Han might grab him again, Alcykel hastily tried to placate him.
Watching this unfold, Yumidihus thought to himself:
'He could've just attacked him instead.'
Eventually, Alcykel composed himself and regained his calm.
Truthfully, what Lee Han had said wasn't wrong.
When a magic experiment succeeded, the credit went to the mage who designed it—not to those who merely assisted.
Alcykel, who had managed to manifest extreme cold to this degree, was undoubtedly a remarkable mage.
...The problem was that the reason his previously failed experiments had suddenly succeeded lay in Lee Han's mana.
Alcykel was no fool, so of course he analyzed the cause.
Despite using top-tier rare reagents like Frost Roe Deer Antler, Cold Jade Essence, Ice-cold Acid, Eternal Snow, and Snow-yellow Reagent, why had his crude improvisation succeeded where they had failed?
"The answer lies in the quality of the mana. No matter how much you try to sustain it with reagents and magic circles, it can never match the purity and quality of mana directly infused by a mage."
"Indeed..."
Listening to Alcykel, Lee Han suddenly tilted his head in confusion.
"But why are you telling me this?"
It would've made sense if Yumidihus or Voladi were listening, but why did Lee Han, a first-year student, need to hear this?
"Where did the mana that just succeeded come from?"
"From me."
"Then how do you suppose I should obtain that mana?"
"Should I go to an ice elemental mage gathering and put up a notice?"
"...No. It's not that simple."
If every mage's mana were as pure and high-quality as Lee Han's, Alcykel wouldn't have struggled so much in the first place.
"Finding mana like that is difficult."
"Oh dear. What a shame..."
"Help me!"
As Alcykel grabbed Lee Han's hand and tried to cling to him, Lee Han deftly dodged.
Having been through enough with professors, he had already been on guard the moment Alcykel opened his mouth.
"I'm sorry. That's impossible."
"Why?!"
"I have a life too. Working here 24/7 all vacation long is a bit..."
"...I wasn't even thinking that?!"
Alcykel was horrified by Lee Han's terrifying assumption.
He already needed mana infusions—if he overworked himself on top of that, even the greatest mage would collapse in no time.
And his target was just a first-year.
"To begin with, I don't conduct experiments that often. Maybe two or three times a year."
"Ah. Is that all?"
"...Isn't that plenty?"
If it was only that much, Lee Han could help out—he did owe him, after all.
Once permission was granted, Alcykel's face brightened. He shook his head repeatedly and said:
"Thank you! In return, I'll teach you my secret ice elemental magic techniques. Enough that someday, you could even inherit my research!"
'Not exactly thrilled.'
Lee Han cursed inwardly at Alcykel, who kept trying to push his burdens onto him even now.
He was the very definition of a wicked mage.
"Oh well... thank you."
"Good. Let's start right away."
"I don't have time, so teach me quickly. I was planning to return to the city over the weekend."
Under the urging of Voladi Bagrak and Yumidihus, Alsicle grumbled.
"Unlike basic spells, my signature magic isn't something you can learn just by being taught quickly..."
Alsicle, who had been speaking, looked at Lee Han and changed his tune.
"...Well, maybe not for everyone, but you, Wardanaz, might just pull it off."
"No, I can't."
Lee Han firmly denied it, but the three mages pretended not to hear.
<Pengerin's Frost Element Doppelganger> was a 4th-circle spell.
Unlike other clone spells, it had an appearance so similar to the caster that it was indistinguishable at a glance, shared vision with the clone, and could even perform close-range attacks using ice elements if necessary.
Considering its effects, it was almost surprising that it was only a 4th-circle spell.
Of course, the difficulty of the Ice Elemental Clone spell was among the highest even within the 4th-circle spells.
Lee Han had succeeded in casting a few 4th-circle spells, which might have skewed his perception, but originally, this was absolutely not a difficulty level a first-year should attempt.
"You've mastered lower-circle ice elemental spells well, but I don't expect you to learn this one quickly."
"That's a relief."
Contrary to his earlier words, Alsicle's calm demeanor reassured Lee Han.
"Ah, of course, I'm not underestimating your skills! You could probably manage the stage just before the full clone spell."
"...? Isn't that still plenty difficult?"
Lee Han began to worry if even Alsicle was being influenced by Professor Voladi and Yumidihus.
The lowest stage of clone-type spells involved clones with obvious flaws in form and no movement.
This was something Lee Han could already mimic to some extent using illusion magic.
If he cast <Pahait's Lesser Illusion> and <Ogonin's Mist>, it would appear as if there were multiple Lee Hans from the outside.
To advance beyond this stage, he would need to refine the clone's form and program movements to make it more convincing...
The spell that achieved both of these was <Pengerin's Frost Element Doppelganger>.
Thus, the "stage just before" meant completing at least one of form or movement.
That alone was at least a 3rd-circle spell.
"This spell incorporates many techniques from other schools to avoid requiring a higher circle. That's part of what makes it difficult..."
'Did you just ignore what I said?'
"...You said you've been learning both Transformation Magic and Enchantment Magic, right? That's very fortunate."
"Yes..."
"One regret is that Black Magic is quite helpful when practicing this clone spell. Unlike other summons, undead summons don't complain when you cast ice elemental magic on them. So they're great for practice."
One of the best ways to practice controlling multiple clones was to use undead summons.
Undead summons had few complaints and didn't strongly resist being given ice-elemental weapons or having ice elements wrapped around their bodies.
Casting ice elemental magic on these undead summons and making them move precisely as desired was excellent practice.
"I do study Black Magic, though."
"What!?"
"I thought you said you learned Black Magic?"
Yumidihus also spoke up, sounding puzzled.
They definitely remembered Lee Han mentioning Black Magic among the spells he had learned.
"Did I? Huh? Why don't I remember hearing that?"
"...A-Anyway, you're saying practicing with undead from Black Magic would be very helpful?"
Feeling like the Black Mages were being pitied for no reason, Lee Han quickly changed the subject.
Alsicle nodded.
"The more spells you cast and the more you try to control their movements directly, the better. Can you summon undead?"
"Yes. I can summon Skeleton Warriors."
"Good. Skeleton Warriors. The more, the better. Can you manage up to three?"
"Yes."
"Oh! Can you do more? How many?"
"They can't move yet, but up to 15..."
"...???"
Alsicle was stunned for multiple reasons.
First, the fact that the summons couldn't move was surprising, but summoning 15 Skeleton Warriors was even more shocking.
Any ordinary summoning mage would have their soul shattered, mana depleted, or brain burned out...
"I've been learning the old-fashioned way of Black Magic."
When Lee Han explained that he was learning old-fashioned Black Magic from wicked dark mages, Alsicle became extremely intrigued.
"So it's harder to control..."
"This will be great for practice! You're really lucky!"
"......"
Lee Han thought he understood why Alsicle was Yumidihus's disciple.
'I must be insane for expecting anything.'
Surprisingly enough (to Yumidihus, Professor Voladi, and Alsicle alike), Lee Han failed to complete the <Pengerin's Frost Element Doppelganger> spell within the remaining time.
Of course, Lee Han wasn't surprised.
In fact, only the three mages were astonished.
"Did I teach it wrong...?"
For the first time in his life, Alsicle began to harbor healthy doubts about his own abilities. Watching this, Yumidihus was impressed.
'I didn't expect it to go this far!'
"Sorry if I didn't teach it properly."
"It's fine."
"As long as you understand."
"......"
Lee Han shot a glare at Professor Voladi before speaking again.
"I won't forget what you taught me. I'll keep practicing even after I return."
"I hope you complete it soon. I'll prepare the next spell for you. It'll be a bit harder, but you'll manage."
"...Yes."
Lee Han considered putting off practicing Frost Element Magic for later.
"By the way, can I call you this autumn?"
"Autumn is during Einrogard's semester, Alsicle."
"Uh... When does the semester end?"
Alsicle counted on his fingers, calculating based on Yumidihus's answer.
If he's stuck in school until the end of the year...
"You can't come out, can you?!"
"Did you really think a first-year student could just leave school whenever they wanted?"
Lee Han flinched at Yumidihus's exasperated tone.
'How did he know?'
"Can't I visit?"
"An outsider would need permission from Lord Gonadaltes to visit. That won't be easy."
"Ah... A great mage like Lord Gonadaltes wouldn't be so petty about such things. He'd generously allow it."
"?"
"?"
Lee Han and Yumidihus were equally bewildered.
"Well..."
"Just... do your best. Maybe if you ask nicely, it'll work out."
"Yes. I'll be waiting for your visit."
At Lee Han's words, Alsicle beamed brightly.
"Great! I'll visit in autumn!"
"Yes."
As Lee Han boarded the carriage and left the Magic Tower, he turned back for one last look. The sight of Alsicle waving lingered in his mind for no particular reason.
"...I won't get dragged into the Punishment Room for meeting the headmaster, right?"
"You'll probably be fine. ...Probably."
Diret walked with his friends toward the Wardanaz family mansion.
"Senior, I heard a strange rumor... They say professors fought in the streets over taking a Wardanaz first-year during break. Is that true?"
"Does that sound plausible?"
"Say something that makes sense."
Diret's juniors, fellow Black Magic students, scolded their friend.
"But why would a Wardanaz bloodline want to learn Black Magic?"
"You ashamed of Black Magic?"
"A little...?"
"...Honestly, me too..."
"All of you, quiet."
Diret silenced his juniors.
Unlike other schools with numerous disciples, Einrogard's Black Magic faction was small enough that seniors and juniors all knew each other's faces and names.
That wasn't necessarily bad.
Black mages already had a hard enough time surviving. Without sticking together, it would be even tougher.
So Diret often gathered his juniors when possible, introducing them and letting them talk.
"I'm just worried that Wardanaz junior might take Black Magic lightly. I heard he's a genius learning many other magics—what if he's just using Black Magic as another line on his resume?"
"I already told you he's not like that."
At Diret's warning, the grumbling junior shut his mouth.
But the dissatisfaction remained.
'Hmph. How would you know if he's disrespecting Black Magic...'
"!!!"
The Black Mages were stunned when they arrived at the Wardanaz mansion.
In the front yard stood Skeleton Warriors, their bone swords radiating waves of chilling frost.
"...See? What did I tell you?"
"H-He's seriously committed to Black Magic."
"First time seeing someone summon undead in a mansion this grand."
"Is he insane? How does he even clean up..."
The juniors quickly acknowledged the Wardanaz freshman's sincerity.
But whether he was sane remained uncertain.