Episode 566
Episode 566
A moment later.
Lee Han drank <Ahrack's Red Poison> with a grave expression.
"But Senior. What kind of poison is this?"
He hadn't thought much while drinking it, but now that he'd consumed it, he suddenly grew curious about what kind of poison this was.
The mana flow within the poison was violent and complex—it clearly wasn't an ordinary poison.
Diret extended his index finger in warning.
"Don't get distracted—focus on the poison. If you feel any reaction, speak up immediately."
Even for a black mage who specialized in poison, there was always a risk of poisoning.
No, rather, because they handled poison, the poisoning could be even more severe.
Even if they built up resistance and immunity, the slightest mistake while developing new poisons could cost them their lives.
Ahrack's final moments alone were proof enough of that.
"Well? Do you feel any reaction?"
"Hmm... No. No particular effects."
Lee Han closed his eyes, concentrating on the poison, then shook his head.
Despite considerable time having passed since ingestion, there was no trace of poison circulating in his body.
The poison had been overwhelmed by Lee Han's mana and extinguished.
"This one too? Hmm..."
Diret frowned slightly.
He had hoped that <Ahrack's Red Poison> might just be strong enough to bypass this junior's poison resistance and induce a state of poisoning, but it hadn't even managed to deal the slightest damage.
"My apologies."
"It's not your fault, junior. More importantly, I should be teaching you how to respond to poisoning."
There was a reason Diret was so determined to poison his junior.
For a black mage specializing in poison, experiencing a state of poisoning was quite important.
How to manipulate mana to halt its progression while poisoned, and how to attempt detoxification.
These weren't just matters of safety for a black mage—they also aided in researching poison elements.
The problem was that no matter what poison they fed this junior, he wouldn't get poisoned.
"Ghk. Keh. Kghhk."
"Kghaak. Kehk. Kehehk."
In contrast, Gainen Dowa and Lafadell had turned pale and were gasping for breath.
Diret calmly warned them.
"Don't force yourself to breathe if it's difficult. You can last a minute, so give up on breathing and focus on finding a detox method."
"Gghhk, gghk."
"Rghh, rghh."
The two clawed at the desk, glaring at Diret.
Since this wasn't the first time he'd seen this, Diret remained unfazed.
"You doing alright?"
"Ah, yes, yes! Thank you."
Imerg was swinging his staff while enduring the pain radiating from his forearm.
It was an excellent countermeasure.
'Kinda lonely, though.'
Lee Han felt a sense of isolation.
Of course, he didn't want to be poisoned, but seeing all his friends coughing and choking while he stood there doing nothing was a little awkward.
"Would a stronger poison work?"
"No. <Ahrack's Red Poison> is already lethal enough as it is."
"Wait... huh? <Ahrack's Red Poison>?"
Lee Han doubted his ears.
Was it really okay to feed him that?
"Well, we've confirmed your resistance is strong... Let's wait and see. It'll take years before you encounter poison dangerous enough to threaten you."
"Understood. I'll just be careful with poisons."
"Being careful won't be enough either. Next year, you'll be a fifth-year, so it'll be hard to check up on you like this."
"Good heavens. Why would you make such a choice?"
"......"
"My apologies. That slipped out."
"No. It's a fair thing to say. Thanks."
After saying that, Diret suddenly had a thought.
'Now that I think about it, this junior has no right to say that, does he?'
A freshman taking courses from every school—who was he to worry about others?
If he did reach fifth-year, it'd probably resemble some ancient torture method...
"Senior?"
"Huh? No, nothing."
"?"
Lee Han was puzzled by Diret's reaction.
Had he been lost in thought? His response was different from his usual focused self.
'Is he troubled about advancing to fifth-year?'
Anyone would be. Lee Han nodded in understanding.
"Senior. Please take a look at this."
"An egg? I told you there's no need to bring me things like this."
Diret made a displeased face.
Of course, this junior's dessert-making skills were outstanding—enough to prove why he ranked first in Alchemy.
Last time, when he heard that the soufflé pancakes brought over were made with ingredients gathered directly from Einrogard, he'd been so shocked he nearly lost feathers from his wings.
But as a senior, he couldn't possibly accept snacks from a junior, let alone ask for them.
"Did you not like the soufflé pancakes last time? Maybe store-bought snacks would've been better..."
"They were genuinely delicious, but I just felt bad accepting them. Coholti bought up every single egg in the school market and kept making soufflé pancakes after tasting yours. He said he wanted to recreate that flavor you brought."
"Oh dear. I should've just made them for you then. And this isn't a snack—it's a reagent ingredient I brought."
Lee Han carefully pulled out an egg laid by a Ghost Chicken from the basket.
Originally, Lee Han had been tending to a hut where basilisk eggs were raised, but now he was raising Ghost Chickens there instead.
And the eggs laid by Ghost Chickens were extremely precious reagents for Black Magic.
"A Ghost Chicken?!"
Diret startled and hastily accepted the egg.
"This is really... incredible? How on earth did you get this?"
"Please don't ask about the method. Anyway, I'd like to sell this—do you think it's possible?"
"Of course it is. But..."
Diret made a troubled expression.
Wondering if there was an issue, Lee Han asked, "Is there a problem? Ah, if it's about the commission fee for brokering the sale—"
"What are you talking about? That's not it at all."
Diret gave his junior an exasperated look.
"It's just that the other juniors will probably try to buy it themselves instead of letting it be sold outside. You know how rare reagents skyrocket in price when purchased externally."
The laws of supply and demand applied even to a mage's reagents.
Common ingredients could be obtained easily and cheaply, but rare ones became fiercely competitive, driving prices up.
Ghost Chicken eggs were already hard to come by, and the fact that those seeking them were Black Mages only made supply scarcer. As a result, whenever they appeared, it sent Black Mages into a frenzy.
"If you need them, I can just sell them directly to the seniors."
"Huh? No way. Why should you, a junior, make that kind of concession?"
"We're in the same school faction." 'I shouldn't mention this to the others.' Diret silently resolved in response to his dutiful junior's words.
It'd be better to discreetly contact external merchants instead of telling the others.
"I'll handle it, so don't worry about it, junior. Now, let's move on from absorption... to poison element practice. As you practice the poison element, you'll realize that poisoning a target is trickier than you'd think."
No matter how magically crafted or unrealistically potent the poison was, the difficulty of actually applying it to an opponent remained unchanged.
Poison didn't fly as fast as lightning or spread as fiercely as fire.
Since it was fundamentally a small amount of liquid, actually poisoning someone posed quite a challenge.
"At higher levels, you can intoxicate someone with just a glance, but that's not easy. Until then, you'll need to rely on strategy."
Methods like poison mist or poison clouds that utilized the surrounding environment.
Or combining it with water element, even if it slightly weakened the potency, to shoot poison arrows.
Alternatively, compressing it into an element with high affinity, like bone element.
"The method you should prioritize practicing first is—"
"Poison mist or poison clouds, right?"
"...Compressing poison element into bone element. Since you've already succeeded with dark element, poison should be easier. Dark element is more difficult, after all. Wait—what?"
Diret belatedly processed Lee Han's answer and looked puzzled.
"Why did you think of mist or clouds?"
"Well, since poison resistance is strong, wouldn't it be better to just cover the surroundings, even if it means I get affected too?"
"...That's innovative and not a bad idea, but let's start by learning to contain it in bone element first. It's more stable that way."
Five minutes later.
Lee Han had flawlessly succeeded in compressing poison into bone element.
Diret checked the time once before asking.
"So, you want to summon poison mist?"
Throughout the semester, students from each tower had taken turns on duty.
Being an Einrogard task, it wasn't easy, and everyone had unknowingly accumulated fatigue.
Moreover, with final exams just around the corner,
it was inevitable that the students on duty would move sluggishly and slowly.
Even the most diligent and hardworking priests from the Phoenix Tower were like this...
'I'm a bit concerned.'
Rather than worrying about the finals, Lee Han was more concerned about the Skeleton Principal's ambush.
The finals were just about reviewing what they'd studied, so there was nothing to be done, but the Skeleton Principal's attacks always came when they were at their weakest and least vigilant.
Besides, there was a high chance the Skeleton Principal had grown more vicious lately.
The first-years had set a new record for unauthorized outings and were indulging in luxuries with the large quantities of supplies they'd brought back.
-Hehe. Look at this! A coat with pockets! I bought it outside!
-Hey, isn't that too extravagant?
-Says the one wearing real leather gloves!
-Haha, true! We deserve this!
Lee Han wanted to stop them to avoid provoking the Skeleton Principal, but this was beyond stopping.
Could starving friends who'd endured hunger all year really restrain themselves just because they were told to?
"Lord Wardanaz. We're done exterminating here."
"I'll be right there."
Lee Han swung his staff, cast a spell, and moved.
Right now, Lee Han and the Phoenix Tower priests were out exterminating the blood-sucking insects infesting the nearby thicket.
A single blood-sucking insect was weak enough to be easily dealt with even without magic,
but when dozens swarmed out of the thicket like a horde of bees, they were no ordinary threat.
That's why they had to scout the area first and cast spells in places where the insects might lurk to exterminate them beforehand.
Honestly, it was more a test of endurance than exceptional magic.
"Burn, burn, burn..."
Though it was also an easy task if one had an overwhelming amount of mana, even without endurance.
Lee Han moved while thoroughly burning every suspicious spot.
The Phoenix Tower priests were pouring the extermination potions they'd brought into puddles and thickets.
This was also a good method—it indirectly weakened the blood-sucking insects.
"Lord Wardanaz. Have you seen this?"
"?"
Lee Han turned his gaze at Priest Siana's call.
Behind the thicket were massive footprints.
Not quite giant-sized, but far larger than an ordinary person's.
'What is this?'
Lee Han illuminated the surroundings with light.
Whatever monster it was had left quite gruesome traces—not just footprints, but clear claw marks on nearby rocks and trees.
-■■■■■■...
Lee Han's light spread several times brighter than the other students'.
Because of this, a bipedal monster standing among the trees was revealed.
It glared at Lee Han with crimson eyes.
It resembled an enraged lycanthrope, but it wasn't one.
Perhaps it had gorged on nearby blood-sucking insects, as pools of blood had gathered around it.
A few priests collapsed under its killing intent and oppressive aura, but Lee Han spoke nonchalantly.
"Sigh. Did the Headmaster send you again?"
-■■■!
"Not that it changes anything—Darkness, sweep it away!"
The dark element transformed into a wave and exploded forward.
The vampiric monster leaped at an utterly unexpected angle, dodging the spell.
'Fast!'
But Lee Han was already preparing his next attack.
Every time he was on duty, he moved fully prepared, never knowing when the Headmaster might strike.
<Bagrak's Instant Foresight> and <Gonadaltes' Agile Footsteps> sharpened and heightened his senses.
-"What's happening?!"
One of the priests must have called the patrolling Death Knight, as it came rushing over.
Lee Han gripped his staff warily, keeping an eye on the Death Knight too.
'Not an accomplice?'
-"What the hell is that monster?! First-years, fall back!"
The Death Knight blew its horn, summoning its comrades.
Bwoooooo—
-"Isn't that the Headmaster's minion?"
-"What kind of nonsense is that?!"
The Death Knights denied it in shock.
That monster was no ally of theirs.