Episode 36
Episode 36
'Calm down. He hasn't figured out my ulterior motive yet.'
Lee Han steadied himself calmly.
No matter what, there was no way the vampire professor could read Lee Han's innermost thoughts.
-I'm going to suck up all the benefits from attending this unpopular lecture alone!
'Hmm. If I get caught, it'd be more embarrassing than dangerous.'
"I asked if you had any questions."
Professor Voladi slowly turned his gaze back to Lee Han as he spoke.
"Can I ask any question?"
"No. It must be related to the lecture."
'Isn't that obvious?'
It wasn't like Lee Han would consult him about ways to skip school...
But thanks to this, he could clearly grasp the professor's personality.
A strict principlist—both toward others and himself.
Having encountered many of that type before, they were actually easier to deal with.
'The difficult ones are crazy professors like the Lich Headmaster.'
As long as you diligently do what you're told, there's no problem—what's so hard about that?
"No questions?"
"Hmm..."
Lee Han pondered.
What should he ask?
Professors always said, "Ask anything comfortably," but if you really asked casually, you'd often get hit with, "Why don't you know something so basic?"
Even asking questions required skill.
'Should I start with the basics?'
"What is the purpose of practicing rotating this Spirit Stone orb?"
Lee Han asked with genuine curiosity.
Though he was asking because the professor said to keep it lecture-related, he was actually curious.
What was the point of just spinning this orb around?
Professor Voladi tilted his head slightly at Lee Han's question, his expression genuinely perplexed.
"Did you not read the course name?"
"......"
Lee Han wasn't flustered.
This was just how professors were!
-I taught you 1+1=2, so now solve this higher-order differential equation. You can't? Why? How?
"Yes. I know the course is called <Repetitive Training in Basic Magic Combat>. But how exactly does rotating this... Spirit Stone orb relate to basic magic combat?"
"Hmm."
Upon hearing Lee Han's question, Professor Voladi froze completely.
The sight of the professor standing still like a statue left Lee Han bewildered. It was as if someone had flipped a power switch off.
"...Professor?"
"Wait a moment."
Professor Voladi spoke to Lee Han without even blinking.
What else could he do?
Lee Han waited.
How much time had passed? Just as Lee Han began regretting asking at all, Professor Voladi finally spoke.
"I can explain now."
"Huh?"
"It was so obvious that I had to think about how to explain it."
Lee Han was stunned.
He was seriously pondering that all this time...?
'No. Don't panic. Considering this is a professor, it's not that strange.'
"Listen. I could kill you with just one quill pen here."
"......"
This was definitely panic-worthy. Lee Han immediately reached for his wand.
Seeing Lee Han's quick reflexes and balanced stance, Professor Voladi amended his statement.
"I take it back. A quill pen might be difficult."
That wasn't much comfort.
While Lee Han debated whether to run or call for help, Professor Voladi continued.
"As you can tell from what I just said, what matters in magical combat isn't high-Circle grand spells. The bare minimum magic needed to cut off your opponent's breath is enough."
After finishing, Professor Voladi wore an expression of regret, as if he'd spoken too much in detail.
"Does that make sense now?"
"...No. Could you explain in a bit more detail?"
"!?"
The startled Professor Voladi froze again like a statue.
Lee Han realized his mistake, but it was too late—the milk was already spilled.
'Now that it's come to this, I'm getting an answer no matter what.'
After a moment.
"The training of rotating the Spirit Stone beads is practice for controlling projectile-type magic. As you may have already guessed, even the same <Magic Missile> spell can show a difference as vast as heaven and earth depending on which mage casts it."
'I hadn't guessed that at all, actually.'
"A mage unfamiliar with combat won't be able to properly cast spells when a battle breaks out. They'll be overwhelmed by the battlefield's noise, heat, and the murderous intent directed at them. However, a mage who has internalized magical control through repeated training can achieve this."
Professor Voladi cast a spell without using any incantation or staff.
Magic Missile.
Despite its grandiose name, it was a 1st Circle spell.
The principle was simple too. Gather mana into a spherical shape and shoot it out—that was all.
Then a fist-sized lump of mana would be launched.
Being a 1st Circle spell, its power wasn't particularly impressive. Among mercenaries, the perennial debate was "Which hits harder—a strongly thrown rock or a Magic Missile?"
...Yet Professor Voladi's Magic Missile shattered such prejudices in an instant.
The spacious lecture hall momentarily transformed into something resembling the Milky Way.
Because dozens, no—hundreds of mana lumps filled the space.
Professor Voladi swung his hand. Then all those mana lumps simultaneously flew in one direction.
Some moved in straight lines, others in curves.
Some moved regularly, others irregularly.
Some moved fast, others slow.
And all these movements culminated in one purpose:
The enemy's vital points.
Bang!
With a loud noise, the mana lumps collided and vanished.
Lee Han felt as if he'd witnessed an illusion of a nonexistent person being precisely struck in every vital point and collapsing. That's how refined Professor Voladi's magic was.
Lee Han was freshly reminded that when refinement reaches its extreme, it can be beautiful.
"The goal of this training is to freely control projectile magic in this manner. Does this make some sense now?"
"Yes. Thank you."
Seeing Lee Han's comprehension, Professor Voladi nodded with the faintest hint of relief showing on his face.
Had Lee Han still not understood here, he would have been at a complete loss for how to explain further.
'I see. So the professor wasn't just trying to collect his paycheck without working.'
Lee Han felt slightly guilty for misunderstanding Professor Voladi.
He'd thought the professor had just opened some strange lecture to collect his salary.
But upon closer listening, this training seemed quite reasonable.
Magic wasn't something you could simply say you'd mastered just because you knew how to cast it.
Just as wielding a sword doesn't mean you've mastered swordsmanship, learning a single spell is no ordinary feat either.
Can you cast that spell faster? Can you cast it accurately even in urgent and chaotic situations? And so on.
Professor Voladi was someone who valued such things.
And this projectile magic control training was important for Lee Han too.
Because he currently faced one particular problem.
"Professor. May I ask one more thing?"
"Go ahead."
"I recently learned the <Lesser Manipulation> spell."
"Continue."
Professor Voladi didn't ask where Lee Han had learned it. That wasn't the professor's concern.
"But this spell... I can cast it, but after casting, I can't maintain it."
Professor Voladi's eyebrows rose.
Not that the control was poor—he couldn't maintain it at all.
This was an extremely peculiar case.
Usually, novice mages attempting <Lesser Manipulation> might fail to move objects, but they didn't fail to maintain control.
Unless they had an extraordinarily large amount of mana...
"Wait. It seems you have more mana than expected."
"Ah. Yes. I've been told that."
Lee Han brightened when Professor Voladi immediately grasped the situation.
If the professor could identify the issue this quickly, there was a high chance he'd provide a good solution.
What method would he teach me, I wonder?
"Mana Drain!"
"?!"
Professor Voladi immediately grabbed Lee Han's arm and cast the high-circle spell.
It was literally a powerful and sinister magic that drained the opponent's mana.
"Wai—"
There was no way Lee Han couldn't feel his mana being rapidly siphoned away.
'At least give me a warning first, you crazy professor bastard!'
But it was already too late to stop him. The professor's magic was already absorbing Lee Han's mana.
"...?"
Lee Han sensed something strange and looked at Professor Voladi's face.
As a vampire, his complexion wasn't particularly rosy to begin with, but now it seemed even worse than usual.
"Professor?"
"......"
"Professor?? Are you alright?!"
Thud!
Professor Voladi slowly removed his hand before collapsing sideways. Lee Han was stunned.
He'd actually made the professor collapse.
Sure, he'd imagined it plenty of times, but to actually knock out a professor like this!
Fortunately, Professor Voladi soon regained consciousness. The vampire professor summarized the situation the moment he got up.
"You have more mana than expected."
"...Is that so?"
Strangely, Lee Han—whose mana had been drained—was in much better condition than the professor who'd absorbed it.
In fact, Lee Han wasn't feeling particularly tired at all. Even after having his mana drained like that.
"Indeed."
Professor Voladi nodded.
Had it been any other professor, they would've explained just how absurd this situation was.
An inexperienced person carrying more mana than their vessel could handle would collapse from being unable to control it, but a mage of Professor Voladi's caliber was a different story.
Just how much mana would have to be absorbed for a mage of Professor Voladi's level to lose control and collapse?
But Professor Voladi didn't elaborate. He didn't consider it important.
Right now, something else mattered more.
"I tried using the Mana Drain spell to reduce your mana and make control easier. It failed."
"What a shame."
Lee Han understood the professor's intent.
The idea was that if he had too much mana to finely control the projectile, drastically reducing his mana might help.
...Of course, it hadn't worked.
"There's another method."
"What is it?"
"When casting <Lesser Manipulation>, has the projectile ever gone berserk and flown toward you?"
Lee Han thought for a moment at the professor's question.
"No, it hasn't."
"Exactly. That's instinct. Even if it seems like you've lost control, as long as the spell is active and the mage's will remains connected to the projectile, control is still being maintained."
Lee Han nodded at the plausible explanation.
If the spell had truly been severed, the stone should've just fallen to the ground.
The connection had still been there.
'Wait. Does that mean when I shot stones at those guys' heads... was that instinct too?'
He couldn't quite tell whether it had been coincidence or instinct.
Lee Han decided not to dwell on it. Some truths were better left buried.
"Instinct is powerful. If you harness it, you might be able to take your projectile control to the next level."
"I see..."
"Ready?"
"Huh?"
"Here I go. I'm aiming for your chin—defend it at all costs."
For a moment, Lee Han had no idea what he meant.
The levitating Spirit Star Stones explained it for him.
Trembling faintly as they finished preparing, the stones began shooting toward Lee Han's chin like arrows one after another.
In that instant, Lee Han felt his instincts scream sharply.
His body moved before his mind could.
"MOVE!!!!!"
At least there was good news.
Lee Han had finally gotten considerably better at handling the <Lesser Manipulation> spell.
The bad news was that Professor Voladi was even crazier than Lee Han had thought.
'I was an idiot for trusting a professor at this school.'
Never again!