Episode 57
Episode 57
Thunk!
A dull sound rang out.
The iron sphere Lee Han had launched with his magic struck the Mud Golem dead center.
But what happened next defied his expectations.
"!"
Lee Han's expression changed.
His connection to the iron sphere had been severed.
The iron sphere embedded deep within the Mud Golem's massive body showed no signs of reemerging.
'I got careless.'
Lee Han clicked his tongue.
The Mud Golem was a monster that maintained its enormous form through mana.
Any mana-linked object entering its body would likely be disrupted by the golem's own mana.
Clatter clatter—
The Bone Summon waved its hand as if asking to be sent in.
"Can you retrieve it? Then... go!"
At Lee Han's command, the Bone Summon flew forward.
Bouncing across the Mud Golem's surface, the skeletal summon strained with all its might to extract the embedded iron sphere from the creature's back.
"......"
"......"
But the sphere was buried too deep. Though the Bone Summon wriggled and struggled, its fingers couldn't reach the metal orb.
"Enough. Fall back."
The Bone Summon withdrew with a dejected slump.
At least the Mud Golem wasn't attacking them.
'I won't need to use Invisibility Magic yet.'
Though prepared to flee if necessary, Lee Han steadied himself and prepared another attack.
The iron sphere approach was blocked, but...
'The Water Orb might work.'
He hated to admit it, but the time had come to acknowledge Professor Voladi's teachings once again.
Thanks to practicing magic while dodging the professor's thrown daggers, Lee Han could now summon Water Orbs.
The problem was their destructive power.
'Isn't this weaker than the iron sphere?'
Even amidst the pouring rain, Lee Han had chosen the iron sphere first precisely because of its superior impact.
Moreover, the iron sphere's process was simpler.
Levitate, focus, launch—done.
The dense material was easier to concentrate on, naturally resulting in greater destructive force.
In comparison, the Water Orb had multiple disadvantages. The process was far more complex.
Summon water, condense it into a sphere, then control and launch it.
Several times more steps than the iron sphere.
There was a reason why Lee Han, who'd mastered iron spheres, still got beaten by Professor Voladi for imperfect Water Orb control.
"Spring forth!"
Lee Han first summoned the Water Orb.
Water gushed into the air, quickly compressing into a sphere. The ongoing rain made the process feel noticeably easier.
Thunk!
'Still not enough.'
Though the Water Orb struck true, its impact proved weaker than the iron sphere's. The shallower crater in the mud told the story.
The Bone Summon seemed to agree, shaking its body in disagreement.
'Let's think. No matter how heartless, tearless, inhumanly beastly our professors are, they wouldn't prepare an unbeatable golem.'
Lee Han sank deep into thought again.
Of course, this particular golem hadn't been prepared by Professor Thunderstep, but Lee Han had no way of knowing that.
'Professor Thunderstep knows I'm taking Voladi's class. He'd have discussed it with Voladi too. There must be a way using what I've learned from Voladi.'
Whirr whirr—
Lee Han looked up.
The Water Orb was tracing circular patterns in the air. The sight made him laugh hollowly.
After being pummeled so often by Professor Voladi, his magic unconsciously defaulted to circular motions even when idle.
Suddenly, inspiration struck.
'What if I spin the Water Orb itself?'
A rapidly rotating orb should achieve greater penetration than a static one.
Lee Han stopped the orbital motion and began spinning the Water Orb itself.
Whoosh!
Seeing Professor Ingoldel thoroughly displeased, the Skeleton Principal sent a telepathic message to Professor Thunderstep.
-Do something about this.
Professor Ingoldel was a rare talent even the Magic School struggled to acquire.
If the elf resigned and left, the aftermath didn't bear thinking about.
The Skeleton Principal would then have to go to the Emperor and submit a written explanation like, 'It wasn't intentional harassment on my part,' make excuses to the imperial high officials like, 'I'm not deliberately tormenting swordsmen, you know,' and even plead with the knights, saying, 'I swear I won't harass them, so just lend me one swordsmanship professor, please.'
Just imagining it was horrifying.
-"Why me...?"
Professor Thunderstep grumbled but still went down to the cottage basement and filled a cup with dwarven-specialty mead from the barrel.
After all, the other party was the Headmaster.
-"Don't forget the side dishes."
"......"
Professor Thunderstep grabbed some smoked meats and vegetables from the cottage shelves.
His eyes also caught the vegetables Lee Han had harvested and left behind.
'Oh. I was saving those for myself.'
Having meticulously raided the cottage, those first-harvested vegetables were meant for Thunderstep himself.
But the Skeleton Principal had an uncanny sense for these things.
-"Surely you weren't planning to keep all the tasty food for yourself and not bring any, were you?"
'Damn it.'
Professor Thunderstep gave up and brought everything.
Thud!
"Here you go, Professor Ingoldel. Please have some. This is my homemade mead, vegetables grown in my own garden, and meats I personally smoked."
By the heavens! Mead crafted by our very own Alchemy professor! A divine flavor unmatched anywhere in the Empire!
"......"
The Skeleton Principal wasn't particularly skilled at compliments.
Fortunately, Professor Ingoldel was a kind-hearted elf. He took a sip and praised it.
"Truly delicious, Professor Thunderstep."
"Thank you."
It wasn't empty praise—it genuinely tasted amazing.
An outstanding alchemist was also an outstanding chef and an outstanding brewer. There was no way it could taste bad.
As the atmosphere relaxed, the Skeleton Principal spoke in a warm tone.
-No need to worry so much about the students. In my time, things were far harsher.
"......"
"......"
The two relatively younger professors fell silent at the Skeleton Principal's 'back in my day' stories, which seemed to stretch back to ancient times.
Well, everything must have been tougher back then...!
-And this batch of freshmen has quite a few interesting ones. They'll overcome most crises on their own.
"That does sound accurate."
Professor Ingoldel nodded awkwardly.
Hearing the Headmaster's words, he couldn't help but feel he had been overly protective.
Though it might have also been the alcohol talking.
-Right? Take that Wardanaz boy in the mountain range, for instance. He's quite sharp, isn't he?
The other two professors agreed with the Headmaster's words.
Since Lee Han had caught the attention of all three present, it was a topic they couldn't help but empathize with.
As the two younger professors empathized, the Skeleton Principal's mood improved.
-Exactly. So don't worry too much. That Wardanaz boy I mentioned earlier is sharp enough to learn my spellbook on his own, and the other one...
"?"
"?"
The two professors, who had been quietly sipping mead while listening, froze.
"What did you just say?"
What?
"...You said he's learning your spellbook... on his own...?"
Both Professor Ingoldel and even Professor Thunderstep stared at the Skeleton Principal in shock.
Of course, professors could personally tutor students. It was only natural in a school where students came to learn magic.
But the Skeleton Principal was... an exception.
As his earlier words suggested, his way of thinking was a bit different from modern professors—more like an ancient madman.
The Skeleton Principal realized he had misspoken.
True to his nature as a mage who had existed since ancient times, instead of backing down, he doubled down.
-Am I not the Headmaster and representative of this school? Can I not freely give one lesson as I please?!
"......"
"......"
The Skeleton Principal sensed the mood turning sour. The two professors weren't going to let this slide easily.
Realizing he was at a disadvantage, the Headmaster changed tactics.
-It's not just me, is it? Professor Voladi Bagrak also gives private lessons, doesn't he? And if we're being honest, even you, Thunderstep, tutor students personally!
With seasoned finesse, he dragged both absent and present professors into the argument like drowning men clutching at straws.
Truly, he was an ancient archmage for good reason.
"No... I'm only providing teachings appropriate for first-year level. Professor Bagrak is the same. But you are not, are you!"
Thunder Steps spoke as if finding the situation utterly absurd.
The tasks Thunder Steps assigned to Lee Han were extremely safe—while physically demanding, they carried absolutely no risk of driving him mad.
In contrast, that Skeleton Principal was the type who would teach all sorts of abstruse and bizarre magic even if his student was a first-year.
'Come to think of it, Professor Bagrak is also teaching magic beyond first-year level. Last I heard, he's practically teaching 3rd Circle Magic.'
Having dragged Thunder Steps into the argument, the Skeleton Principal then shifted focus to the absent Professor Voladi Bagrak.
And this wasn't even a lie.
From what he'd heard last time, Professor Voladi was indeed teaching something equivalent to 3rd Circle Magic.
-Last time, the boy from the Wardanaz family perfectly drew a circle using iron balls in his training.
-Did he now? Remarkable as expected. While it's 1st Circle Magic, achieving that level of control would normally be difficult even for 1st Circle standards.
-So we've moved him to the next stage of training.
-What was the next stage? The Water Orb magic? That should be 2nd Circle.
The Circle measurement for spell difficulty was determined by the number of casting processes involved.
A spell that summoned water and maintained it in spherical form would be 2nd Circle.
-He succeeded in forming water into orbs and is now making them trace circular paths.
Adding control on top of that would essentially make it 3rd Circle.
Of course, while the results were similar, this didn't technically qualify as 3rd Circle Magic.
True 3rd Circle Magic required combining all those processes—summoning water, shaping it into orbs, and making them rotate—into a single spell manifestation through one wand motion and incantation.
Completing each process separately through step-by-step work didn't strictly count as 3rd Circle Magic.
But even this much was an extraordinary feat.
After all, wasn't this proof that once he became more familiar and faster with magic, he could cast actual 3rd Circle spells?
For a first-year still struggling with 2nd Circle Magic to achieve this now...
Any other professor would have been astonished, but the Skeleton Principal took it coolly.
-I see. That's excellent news.
And then he thought:
'If even Professor Voladi is doing this, there shouldn't be any problem with me personally teaching some magic too!'
"What kind of dwarf-eating-grass nonsense is that?! Professor Bagrak is Professor Bagrak, and your magic is your magic!"
Professor Thunder Steps naturally didn't buy the Headmaster's argument.
Frankly, there were doubts about whether Professor Bagrak was truly teaching 3rd Circle Magic, but even if it were true, the Headmaster's teachings felt far more threatening.
'I'm teaching completely safely! Only magic appropriate for his level. I swear on my honor!'
"......"
"......"
'I swear on my magic!'
"Ah. If you say so..."
"Then we'll trust you."
Only after swearing upon his magic did the two professors reluctantly let go of their suspicions.
They had genuinely suspected the Headmaster might be trying to destroy a first-year's brain by teaching him ancient magic even he couldn't decipher.
Fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.
"But what exactly is Professor Bagrak teaching?"
Water attribute combat magic.
After hearing the detailed explanation from the Headmaster, the two professors marveled.
As the Headmaster said, it wasn't truly 3rd Circle Magic, but for a first-year to demonstrate that level of spell completion was astonishing.
A miraculous result only possible through the combination of talent and effort!
"As a non-mage, I don't know much, but is it common for students of that year to show such achievements?"
"Exceedingly rare. He must have exceptional affinity with water attributes. Though that alone isn't enough—it requires many other talents as well... Wait, isn't Professor Bagrak a combat magic specialist? So he's having him repeat those drills now? The strain on both mana and mental energy must be tremendous..."
My oh my. What a terrible person.
"......"
Well, he probably won't push further than this. Since the current training itself isn't problematic, it should be manageable, no? Given the current spell difficulty, it likely won't escalate further.
Sssssss!
'Complete.'
A water orb spinning violently in place with a hissing sound.
Lee Han raised his throbbing head to look up at the mud golem.