Episode 543
Episode 543
'Is This Really That Exciting?'
Professor Kirmin Ku watched Lee Han and Ratford enthusiastically dismantling boxes with a puzzled expression.
Of course, as a professor, he was pleased that his students were showing interest and enthusiasm for the lecture material. But no matter how he thought about it, the subject matter wasn't particularly fun—so seeing them this fired up was rather bewildering.
"Professor. Do you have any more difficult boxes?"
"Wardanaz. You're not planning to go somewhere and use this for theft, are you?"
Professor Kirmin said it half-jokingly.
Lee Han's pupils trembled ever so slightly.
"W-what are you talking about? This is purely academic curiosity about Illusion Magic."
"R-right. There's no way that's the case."
"It's a joke. Just a joke."
Unlike some professors who favored the whip—or even those who particularly enjoyed the whip—Professor Kirmin Ku was a gentle educator who preferred the carrot-and-stick approach.
Since the students had struggled through the tedious and dull task of handling boxes, it was only fair to balance it out by showing them something interesting.
"You've all worked hard dealing with those boring boxes and dismantling them."
"Not at all. It was fun."
At Lee Han's words, his friends glared at him from behind with murderous intent.
Since they couldn't glare at him openly from the front, they had no choice but to do so from the back.
This was why the top student was...!
"Then, shall we continue with the magic I taught you last time? You all remember it, right?"
"Yes, Professor!"
The students' faces brightened.
The tedious analysis and dismantling were over—now came the practical, hands-on part of the lecture.
The professor called on one student and said,
"Go ahead. Try it."
"...B-bend, bend!"
As the student cast <Projectile Refraction> and followed up with a Magic Missile, the fist-sized blue sphere—which should have flown straight—appeared to come from a completely different direction than its actual trajectory.
It was an Illusion Magic technique meant to confuse the enemy by making it impossible to predict the path of a wizard's spell.
"Uh-oh...!"
When it looked like the Magic Missile would hit the professor's face directly, the casting student let out a flustered sound.
Lee Han watched with slightly expectant eyes.
Of course, Professor Kirmin didn't take the hit. The moment the spell was about to explode, the professor's illusionary double crumbled away as if dissolving into nothingness.
"!"
"...!!"
A chill ran down the spines of the students present.
The professor they had just been conversing with had been an illusion all along. They had no idea when the switch had happened.
"Well done, well done. But you were too honest. You need to learn to be a little more deceptive."
All great illusionists were masters of deception.
If they ever had to storm a fortress, an Enhancement Magic specialist would charge in like a heavily armored knight, deflecting incoming attacks and crushing enemies head-on.
But an Illusion Magic specialist would eliminate the fortress commander before anyone even noticed and then impersonate them.
Unlike direct confrontations or flashy displays, surprise attacks and deception were essential to Illusion Magic.
"Alright. Now, pair up in twos. One attacks, the other defends. The attacker's goal is to deceive and subdue their opponent in any way possible. Understood? Wardanaz. Where do you think you're going? You're with me. We did this last time too."
"Yes..."
Lee Han sulked as he returned to stand before Professor Kirmin.
The students sent the professor respectful glances, and Professor Kirmin waved his hand as if to say he understood their feelings.
"Honestly, Wardanaz, if I let you spar with them, I'd feel bad for them."
"Not really?"
Professor Kirmin pretended not to hear Lee Han's words. As a professor at Einrogard, one naturally developed the skill of selectively ignoring inconvenient remarks.
"You learned from Professor Bagrak. Ordinary students wouldn't stand a chance."
"I didn't learn much from him."
"Wardanaz, you haven't forgotten that time you pretended to be dead and then attacked me, have you?"
Professor Kirmin stared at Lee Han as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Last lecture, Lee Han had suddenly collapsed as if suffering a heart attack—only to cast a spell the moment the professor approached. The sheer audacity had left him speechless.
No matter how much he thought about it, Professor Bae's trick was suspicious.
"Alright. Let's stop with the unnecessary talk and begin."
"Yes. Multiply!"
Lee Han recited the <Projectile Increase> incantation.
It was an illusion spell similar to <Projectile Refraction> from earlier, but slightly more difficult.
It created an illusion that multiplied the number of projectiles cast by the mage onto their staff.
"Water, arise!"
Lee Han chaotically altered the trajectories of the water orbs as he lightly hurled them toward Professor Kirmin.
Since this was illusion magic practice, there was no need for force strong enough to knock the opponent down.
Professor Kirmin spoke with an exasperated tone.
"You pretended to cast an illusion spell, but you actually launched multiple real ones just now, didn't you?"
"No, I didn't."
"What do you mean, 'no'?"
The professor swung his staff, and all the incoming water orbs split apart midair before plummeting.
Every single one had been real water with physical substance.
It was an excellent deception worthy of high marks. Of course, not just anyone could waste mana so recklessly like that... 'It must be fake, right?' Lee Han focused his attention on the Professor Kirmin before him.
It wasn't just a guess based on experience—he could actually sense an extremely subtle awkwardness in Professor Kirmin's appearance.
Not that his outer appearance was awkward.
That minute difference inevitably felt when magic was being cast.
An ordinary mage wouldn't have noticed, but someone like Lee Han, whose sensitivity to mana was extremely acute, could perceive it.
"Hmm."
Lee Han suddenly jabbed the White Tiger Tower student, who had been fervently exchanging illusion spells with Ratford beside him, with his staff.
"Ow!"
"Sorry. Thought you were the professor."
"That's no excuse..."
"Wardanaz. It's commendable that you noticed, but that's not the way to go about it."
Professor Kirmin tapped the floor with his staff as if to say that wasn't acceptable.
If an illusion mage were hiding in a village, you couldn't just attack all the villagers, could you?
Lee Han scanned his surroundings again.
Since he had no way of knowing where or how the professor might be hiding, an area-of-effect attack would be...
"Wardanaz. Area spells are also not allowed."
Lee Han irritably glared at the professor in front of him.
"If nothing's allowed, then what exactly am I supposed to do?"
"This is an Illusion Magic lecture, not Professor Bagrak's class, isn't it?"
That was undeniably true.
Lee Han reflected slightly before launching another water orb at the professor. The professor blocked it effortlessly. 'I need to find the dissonance.' A distinctly unnatural flow of mana, starkly different from the natural mana currents in the environment.
Usually, such irregularities were clues to detecting a mage's spell.
The problem was that spells from other students kept erupting all over the lecture hall.
With magic flying everywhere, the flow of mana was wildly erratic.
"Scattering Mist, disperse."
"!"
Professor Kirmin wore a faintly moved expression upon seeing Lee Han cast <Ogonin's Scattering Mist>.
For a mere first-year to cast a 3-Circle spell—and one of Ogonin's secret arts, at that—so flawlessly...
Even if he kept destroying lecture magic circles with mana or wrecking materials with mana, seeing something like this made it clear how rare a student as remarkable as Wardanaz was. 'First, I need to hide myself.' Lee Han acted faithfully according to the lesson.
No matter how much Lee Han was in the offensive role, leaving Professor Kirmin free to observe him would only put him at a disadvantage.
He had to disrupt the professor's line of sight somehow.
"Cloak, swallow me whole..." 'He's good.' Professor Kirmin marveled as Lee Han's figure flickered within the mist before vanishing completely.
No wonder he was called <Voladi's Only Disciple>.
To think he'd already grown so adept after just a few rounds of these illusion magic duels. 'Right. You should know how to conceal yourself even during an attack.' Clatter!
Suddenly, the windows slammed shut, and the curtains drew closed.
Even the students swinging their staffs wildly or kicking each other's shins paused and turned their heads.
Professor Kirmin Ku, sensing something ominous, let out an involuntary shout.
"Hey, wait...!"
Crash!
Lee Han mercilessly shattered the magical chandelier on the classroom ceiling.
The artifact that had been emitting light broke apart with a loud noise, plunging the classroom into darkness in an instant.
The professor simultaneously felt the urge to praise Lee Han and the desire to call Professor Bagrak to complain, 'Will you stop turning this kid into something so bizarre?'
'He's actually destroying it!'
However, the room didn't become completely dark.
Faint light filtering through the curtains and the residual glow from the students' spells remained.
"Darkness, flow forth!"
"...!"
Professor Kirmin Ku let out a hollow laugh at Lee Han's relentless determination, even mobilizing the rare Dark Element to create complete darkness.
He was making full use of the attacker's privileges.
"So, Wardanaz? Summoning darkness was a good idea, but doesn't that make it even harder to find the real me?"
"No. I've already found you."
Lee Han stopped behind Imirg, released his Invisibility Magic, and lightly tapped his back with the staff.
Imirg's form then transformed into Professor Kirmin Ku. As the classroom brightened, the nearby students screamed in shock.
"How did you find me?"
The professor asked, genuinely taken aback.
Wardanaz had been approaching the solution in the right direction, but he was still far from figuring it out.
Yet, how?
"I cast Invisibility Magic first, then simultaneously used <Ogonin's Emotion Perception>."
"Ah. <Ogonin's Emotion Perception>? That's a really clever choice."
"Uh... yes. Ogonin... nim."
Lee Han subtly gauged the professor's reaction and added the honorific.
It seemed he needed to be more careful with titles in front of Professor Kirmin Ku.
The reason for using <Ogonin's Emotion Perception> was simple.
If Professor Kirmin Ku had been hiding among the students, he would have displayed a much calmer emotional state compared to the others.
The professor, seemingly very pleased with Lee Han's reasoning, clapped his hands.
"Well done! Did you notice it from the way the magic bounced off? Imirg does have strong magic resistance, but it shouldn't be enough to completely block emotion-based spells like this."
"Uh... well, the spell itself actually succeeded."
Professor Kirmin Ku was taken aback by Lee Han's words.
Since this wasn't a combat situation, the professor didn't walk around the academy with multiple defensive spells active.
Still, as an illusionist, he habitually maintained certain protective spells for security...
And Lee Han just bypassed them like that?
"My, my. No wonder Professor Bagrak likes you so much."
"Excuse me???"
Lee Han's expression darkened for the first time in a while.
Though Professor Verdus, who used to call Lee Han frequently, had drastically reduced his summons, Lee Han didn't mind in the slightest.
He knew all too well that the moment he went to check, 'Are you alright, Professor?' he'd be dragged deep into the swamp that was Professor Verdus.
For now, he simply enjoyed the peace granted by the senior currently in the underground prison.
'Thank you, Senior Kettle.'
But avoiding Professor Verdus forever wasn't possible.
Case in point: class time.
"Wardanaz. Why do you look so cheerful? This is Enchantment Magic class."
Angra couldn't understand.
Wasn't Wardanaz the one who had to fetch the professor?
Just the thought of it would give Angra a stomachache...
"Ah, I'm just happy knowing I only have to see the professor during class."
"......"
Giselle, passing by, stared at Lee Han as if he were insane.
"Professor?"
Before class began, Lee Han knocked on the door of Professor Verdus's workshop.
The professor gestured from afar to open the door and beckoned him inside.
"Oh, are you working? Should I come back later?"
"No. We have class. They said they'd kill me if I didn't go."
Lee Han didn't ask, Who said that? He simply smiled faintly.
Grumbling, Professor Verdus quickly wrapped up his work.
"Damn nuisance! Who the hell smashed the classroom chandelier?"
"......"