Episode 48
Episode 48
"All the priests who join the Tower of the Eternally Burning Phoenix are devout and good people, but..."
"Can that really be the case in a place where people live?"
"Please be quiet during prayer. In any case, among those people, there are still some who haven't fully let go of worldly emotions. Feelings like competitiveness or jealousy don't contribute at all to faith."
Last week, one of the newly enrolled priest students at the Tower of the Eternally Burning Phoenix made fatigue-recovery potions for the other priests.
It was an act of using the knowledge they had learned during their time at the temple for the sake of others.
Truly befitting of a priest.
'If it were me, I would've sold them for money.'
"Drinking this potion really relieves fatigue. Thank you so much!"
"Even Priest Siana of the Flemeng Order would be impressed. You've made it really well. Could it be even better than Priest Siana's?"
Amid the cheerful laughter and chatter, someone made a joke.
It was closer to a compliment—saying it was that well-made—rather than a serious comparison.
Priest Siana also nodded with a smile, and no one felt any discomfort.
...But the next day, Priest Siana brought fatigue-recovery potions.
"??"
"I made some too. Everyone, try them."
"Ah. Thank you."
"Truly excellent. You've made them well, haven't you?"
And the day after that, Priest Siana brought fatigue-recovery potions again.
"Thank you...?"
"They're really great, aren't they?"
And the day after that, Priest Siana brought fatigue-recovery potions yet again.
By then, the priests had realized.
"Priest Siana's potions seem to be the best...!"
"Who could possibly compare?"
Only then did Priest Siana stop bringing fatigue-recovery potions.
"...She's, uh, a bit too competitive."
Upon hearing the story, Lee Han spoke in a disgusted voice.
To keep making and bringing potions just because of one joke, until she was acknowledged as the best?
"That wasn't the only incident."
"......"
'There's more?'
The priest who had made the fatigue-recovery potion before Priest Siana.
Later, that priest approached Priest Siana to compliment her.
"As expected of Priest Siana. Not just anyone could make a potion of that level."
Dijiling, who was present, saw it clearly.
Priest Siana pretended not to hear and ignored them before leaving the spot.
"...?!"
In the end, it took several days before Priest Siana finally acknowledged that priest's greeting.
'How petty can you get?'
Lee Han was appalled as he listened.
I mean, getting like that over a single compliment about a potion...
'What compliments have I gotten in class again?'
From being called an alchemy prodigy to all sorts of embarrassing praises, he'd probably heard them all...
Having said all he wanted to say, Dijiling finished his prayer to Prisinga.
Still unconvinced, Lee Han asked again.
"Priest Siana wouldn't, say, poison someone else's food, right?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Dijiling closed his mouth, as if refusing to say more.
Lee Han made up his mind.
'If I ever end up moving around with Priest Siana, I absolutely shouldn't eat any food she offers.'
* * *
Even as suffering, despair, and assignments piled up like mountains, the sun still set and rose again.
'Assignments aside, there's something else I'm worried about.'
Right now, Lee Han was most troubled by two things.
How to infiltrate the White Tiger Tower?
And since he had to go to the mountain range behind the school to gather alchemy ingredients, what kind of insane traps might be waiting there?
'I can't tell which one's harder.'
But the magic school didn't give students much time to dwell on their worries.
It immediately sent them off to the next lecture and squeezed them dry.
Professor Voladi, standing in the <Repetitive Training in Basic Magic Combat> classroom, spoke as soon as Lee Han entered.
"Eleven seconds late."
"My apologies. I was late because I went to the stables early this morning to tend to the horses."
"No need to apologize. The one suffering the loss from being late is you yourself."
'Do professors learn their speech patterns from somewhere specific?'
Lee Han sat down with those thoughts in mind.
The silent classroom held only the two of them.
Professor Voladi wiggled his fingers. Lee Han drew his wand and set the iron ball spinning.
The fierce battle with the Anti-Magic Zealots had given him a clear revelation.
His control over the Lesser Manipulation spell had reached a level incomparable to before.
The iron ball rotated at a steady speed, tracing a near-perfect circle.
'About two years ahead of my expectations.'
Professor Voladi thought with an impassive face.
It was fortunate Lee Han couldn't hear him. Had he heard, he would've turned deadly serious.
—Wait, so you chose training content that normally takes over two years just to learn the basics as our FIRST LESSON???
"Acceptable."
"Thank you."
Lee Han knew full well that when someone like Professor Voladi said "acceptable," it meant "excellent!"
He hadn't even expected praise in the first place.
"I heard you've learned Water Creation magic."
"Yes."
"Show me."
"Spring forth!"
With the incantation, a mass of water formed before Lee Han.
Thanks to Professor Garcia's corporal punishment—no, education—he could still maintain its shape.
"Reduce it to orb size."
"I'll try."
Gripping his wand, Lee Han focused his mind.
The mass of water floating in the air contorted, sprouting jagged protrusions as it crumpled.
For Lee Han, who already possessed immense magical power, reducing the water's volume and shaping it into an orb was no ordinary task.
Professor Voladi picked up the iron ball placed before Lee Han.
Somehow, Lee Han felt an ominous premonition.
Whoosh!
With a sharp sound, the iron ball came flying at Lee Han's face.
'Ah, this crazy bastard of a professor—!'
Instinctively, Lee Han compressed the water mass into orb form. The enormous blob shrank to fist-size as its density and hardness skyrocketed.
Clang!
The incoming iron ball collided with the water orb and dropped harmlessly to the floor.
"...Professor. Are you planning to keep doing this?"
"What do you mean?"
"You just launched an iron ball at my face."
"Ah. That's what you meant. Yes."
"...Isn't that slightly dangerous?"
Lee Han attempted to persuade Professor Voladi just as he had with other students.
But unlike students, the professor remained unmoved.
"Yet wasn't it effective?"
"Pardon?"
"Just as in your fight against the Imperial Anti-Magic Zealots, sudden crises sharpen your focus and instincts, honing your magical control. Why take detours when this method exists?"
"......"
Lee Han was speechless.
Not because he had no counterargument, but simply from sheer disbelief.
When people hear something utterly absurd, they really do get struck dumb!
"You seem convinced. Now make it rotate."
From the Spirit Stone orb to the iron ball, and now to the water orb—
Truly, rotating the water orb was the most difficult task yet.
He had to maintain the water in orb form while simultaneously spinning it at a steady speed.
Just as during his fight with the Imperial Anti-Magic Zealots, he felt his nerves being strained to the limit.
Imperfect, wobbling shapes traced through the air, over and over.
Then Professor Voladi fired another iron ball.
Clang!
Lee Han blocked it immediately.
Though his control wasn't precise enough for a perfect circle, being on guard allowed him to intercept at least one attack.
'I knew you'd do this!'
But Professor Voladi had anticipated Lee Han's defense. Simultaneously, another iron ball came spinning from the opposite direction.
Thud!
"...!"
Lee Han desperately twisted the water orb, but too late. The iron ball struck squarely between his shoulder blades. Gritting his teeth, he suppressed a cry.
'Damn it!'
Even as he tensed his muscles and braced himself, he could still feel the impact. Memories of his swordsmanship training with Alarong flashed through his mind.
"Focus."
"......"
Lee Han no longer had the luxury to respond.
He could only frantically maneuver the Water Orb to evade the incoming iron spheres.
One thing was certain:
'I'd rather take a lecture with piles of assignments.'
"Wardanaz looks completely exhausted."
"It must be because of the assignments. I couldn't even sleep properly because of mine. Besides, Wardanaz isn't the type to settle for ordinary lectures."
"Well, any lecture Wardanaz takes would naturally be difficult. He is Wardanaz, after all."
"By the way, when will we get to enter the White Tiger Tower?"
"Hmm..."
Students from the Blue Dragon Tower gathered in the <Understanding Basic Magic> classroom, whispering among themselves.
Lee Han, leaning back with his eyes closed, looked utterly drained—a lingering aftereffect of his life-or-death battle with the iron spheres under Professor Voladi.
It wasn't just the Blue Dragon Tower students chattering. The Black Turtle Tower students were also abuzz.
"Anyone taking Alchemy class? I heard we're going up the mountain tomorrow—is that true?"
"Has the rumor spread already? Yeah. Students from all the towers are going together."
"Do you think there's a way out of the mountain?"
'Foolish dreams.'
Lee Han inwardly sighed at the Black Turtle Tower students' words.
To think they believed there might be an exit out there.
They would be sorely disappointed when they learned the truth.
"Wait, does that mean we're going with Wardanaz? If we make even a single mistake, we'll be punished..."
"N-no way, right? We're from different towers."
"......"
Lee Han exhaled deeply in resignation.
"Good to see you all."
"Good afternoon, Professor!"
As Professor Garcia entered, the students all greeted him politely.
By now, the students had come to realize:
Professor Garcia was one of the few truly conscientious professors in this school.
Scarier than trolls were professors who didn't understand human hearts.
"Up until last time, we've been doing various exercises to familiarize ourselves with elemental magic. But in this <Understanding Basic Magic> class, we won't just focus on elemental magic—we'll also briefly cover other types of magic... like illusions, divination, summoning, or transformation magic, among others. As you advance in your studies, you'll specialize in these fields."
The world of magic was infinitely vast and unfathomably deep.
For any human, mastering everything in that world was impossible.
Naturally, mages chose specialized fields to research.
Lee Han already knew this, so he wasn't particularly surprised.
"Today, we'll take time to learn about what other fields of magic are like. Instead of me teaching, we'll have an expert in these fields—a professor—explain it directly."
At Professor Garcia's words, the students' eyes sparkled with anticipation and curiosity.
Everyone had a magical field they were interested in.
Some in elemental magic, some in spirit magic, some in enchantment magic...
'I hope it's a great spirit mage! I want to learn spirit magic...'
'I enrolled to learn body enhancement and healing. Teach us enhancement magic, please.'
"Alright! Come on in."
As the door opened, the classroom temperature abruptly dropped. The students shivered from the sudden chill.
"Pleasure to meet you all... cough, cough. I am Professor Mortum."
For a moment, Lee Han thought the professor was a dwarf. But the professor was merely short—still a human.
Professor Mortum coughed so violently while speaking that he looked like he might collapse from a mere breeze.
"Is he alright?"
"He should be in the infirmary, not giving a lecture..."
"cough It's fine... It's fine..."
Despite his coughing, Professor Mortum spoke weakly. One student raised a hand and asked:
"What kind of magic do you teach, Professor?"
"I teach Black Magic."
"......"
"......"
The atmosphere froze over instantly.
Black Magic was among the most notorious branches of magic.