Episode 597
Episode 597
Come to think of it, for a student like Wardanaz, it would feel perfectly natural to cast stronger magic if the initial spell didn't take effect.
"Artifact."
"Here it is."
One of the seniors quickly pulled out an artifact and handed it to Professor Alkasis. It looked like an iron rod.
With practiced movements, the professor hooked the artifact into the giant's nostril like a grappling tool.
"When healing someone with strong anti-magic resistance, you must be able to forcibly embed the magic directly into their body like this."
-Urgh, my, my nose hurts.
"Endure it. It's part of the healing process."
-This mage... This mage is scary.
The giant made a tearful face at Lee Han, but Lee Han found Professor Alkasis just as terrifying. There was nothing he could do.
"Now, check the condition... Concussion. Phil. What's the concussion potion recipe?"
"U-uh, three stalks of camellia and one stalk of black nightshade, compressed with an incantation, then boiled for thirty minutes. Once the color turns black..."
Professor Alkasis extended his hand.
At that sight, Phil felt his stomach drop, wondering if he had made a mistake.
"Write it down on paper so the junior can see it too, Phil. Do I really still have to tell you this step by step?"
'But the junior is a first-year...'
Phil felt slightly wronged. No one could have expected that he would have to teach a first-year junior the concussion potion recipe.
Indeed, the others were murmuring too.
"Why teach a first-year the concussion potion recipe...?"
"Ah. Wait, is that him? The Wardanaz?"
"I thought he was just a fictional junior made up because Phil and Chil were suffering too much."
Ignoring the students' chatter, Professor Alkasis poured the potion into the giant's mouth.
The giant, who had been blinking tearfully from the pain in his nose, suddenly shouted in surprise.
-I'm healed! No more dizziness!
"Good. Now, as you just saw, giants—"
BOOM!
Before he could finish speaking, another giant burst through the newly restored classroom wall.
Professor Alkasis looked at it and remarked dryly,
"Better take this outside. Everyone, move out."
"Just how many giants are there?"
"There can't be more, right?"
The healing magic students nervously shuffled their feet.
At this point, they weren't even hoping for the finals to end easily—they just prayed it would stay within the bounds of common sense.
* * *
Outside, a battle that felt like the end of the world was raging.
An unyielding close-quarters fight between the giants and the vampiric monster.
The massive warriors relentlessly exchanged blows without giving an inch.
-KRAAAAH!
-UOOOAAH!
The giants roared their signature battle cries as they swung their clubs. With every hit, the vampiric monster's body was sent flying and torn apart.
But the vampiric monster was no pushover either. Even as it was pummeled, it conserved its strength and retaliated with heavy strikes of its own.
The giants didn't bother defending at all. Especially since they weren't used to facing opponents larger than themselves, the vampiric monster's attacks hit them with even deeper impact.
-Our pride... hurts!!
-Uuuugh! Uuuugh!
Staggering, the giants clutched their noses, blood streaming down.
Just then, Lee Han arrived with the recovered giants.
"All injured, fall back!"
-B-but I'm not injured...?
"Stop talking nonsense and fall back!"
Professor Alkasis barked sharply, his voice thick with irritation.
One of this dark elf professor's least favorite types of patients were those who stubbornly insisted they weren't hurt when they clearly were.
-I'm really not hurt... WAAAH!
Suddenly, as if someone had yanked his ankle, the giant toppled forward and was dragged straight to the professor.
"Take care of him."
"Yes, sir!"
Knowing full well that the professor's mood worsened exponentially with each additional patient, the healing magic students moved swiftly instead of wasting time with unnecessary chatter.
"Now then, sir giant. Please trust us."
-Ugh. I don't trust you! All mages are evil! Mages! Mages! Give me your hand!
"......"
"......"
Lee Han sincerely felt fortunate that the seniors couldn't see this right now.
'This is utterly humiliating.'
"...I'm right here."
-Ugh. Thank goodness.
Phil hastily stepped forward to explain, worried that the other students might misunderstand the junior.
"Our junior here just has really good affinity with others."
"But... no matter how good one's affinity is, can you really get this close with a giant...?"
Even the healing magic students, who'd seen all sorts of unbelievable things at Einrogard, had never witnessed someone becoming friendly with a giant.
"Why not! You all just have narrow minds. That... that... that... Ilendil! Even someone like Ilendil has high affinity and lots of friends in the forest!"
"But Ilendil doesn't have any giant friends either, does he?"
It was Professor Alkasis who rescued Phil from his predicament.
A sharp surgical dagger flew and embedded itself in front of the chattering students.
"Do you have time to waste?"
"N-no, Professor!"
At the professor's murderous tone, the students quickly began healing the giant.
Lee Han also diligently worked on healing the giant's stab wounds.
"??"
The seniors stared at Lee Han in bewilderment, but since he was invisible, their gazes didn't reach him.
'Why is he doing this?'
'W-well... I don't know...'
While the seniors were working because their final exam had been replaced with giant healing, they couldn't understand why this first-year junior was doing this instead of running far away.
And what's more—his healing magic was excellent again. Seeing him successfully cast healing magic on a giant without any special preparation made them realize that what Phil and Chil had said wasn't a lie.
"Is this his final exam too?"
"No matter how crazy Professor Lagrinde is, she wouldn't make first-years heal giants for their finals... right...? Hmm... or would she?"
-What in the world is going on here?!
The Death Knights, arriving late, were startled to see the transformed vampiric monster.
It was rare to see a monster rampage to this extent.
A monster that usually acted cunningly by instinct—why was it going berserk like this?
"Um... it's a long story."
-We'll hear it later. For now, stop that thing!
The Death Knights moved the students back and began throwing their spears.
With each strike from the spears imbued with strong negative energy, the vampiric monster let out agonized screams, stopping its movements and twitching.
-Giants! Fall back!
-No! That's our prey!
The Death Knights didn't get angry at the giants' resistance.
Like the seasoned and experienced knights they were, they shouted again.
-Giants! We need your help! Advance backward!
The giants, tricked by the Death Knights, advanced backward. Lee Han was impressed.
'They're a step ahead of me!'
Truly, as expected of those who'd lived long as knights, they were anything but ordinary.
Who would've thought they could deceive giants like that?
-Seems it's gathered quite a lot of blood. Its stamina isn't normal.
-This might take a while.
The Death Knights clicked their tongues as they watched the slowed vampiric monster.
Since its basic vitality was so tenacious, it would take considerable time to whittle it down even with relentless external attacks.
"Is it really that strong?"
-Frankly, now that it's gone berserk like this, exterminating it isn't all that difficult. Just immobilize it and leave it be—that's all.
The weakness of a monster that had gone berserk like this was itself.
The moment it inflated its size like that, it had been continuously consuming energy—if left alone, it would self-destruct.
-So just attack enough to keep it from moving and wait it out.
-Wardanaz, would you like to give it a try? Fighting such a monster would be a good experience.
'I've already fought plenty.'
Lee Han would have preferred to bow out, but the Death Knights were staring at him with such expectant eyes that it became difficult to refuse.
It was like the gaze of a grandfather eagerly waiting to see his grandson perform.
"Hmm. Should I try attacking with lightning magic?"
-That wouldn't be bad either. But since you have an interesting artifact, why not make use of it? The teleportation ore, I mean.
-That sounds like a good idea.
"...?"
Lee Han was taken aback by the Death Knights' reaction.
"I don't have any teleportation ore or anything like that?"
-Hmm?
-Umm. Well. The thing embedded in your staff.
Lee Han looked down at his staff.
The wooden spirit had reinforced its frame, the blue gem given by the Frost Giant King was embedded at the tip, and next to it...
"!?!"
Lee Han was so startled by the unfamiliar ore that he nearly dropped his staff.
"What is this?!"
-...
Well, you probably shouldn't be asking us that.
-If you don't know...
While the Death Knights looked bewildered, Lee Han quickly racked his brain.
Only then did something come to mind. 'That's it!' He clearly remembered the time he had forcibly awakened after drinking from the Well of Foresight and became entangled with the future.
After defeating the statue of the spatial mage, he had received an ore from it...
It had definitely been in Lee Han's memory, but until just now when he recalled it, it was as if he'd completely forgotten about it. 'Perfectly foreseeing the future is dangerous too.'
"My apologies. I've remembered now. It was teleportation ore."
At Lee Han's answer, the Death Knights gave him pitying looks.
-Does our lord give you a hard time often?
-No matter how you look at it, forgetting about a gem embedded in your own staff is a bit much.
"No, this has nothing to do with the Headmaster..."
-Now. Give it a try. Against tough and resilient monsters like that, spatial magic often serves as a trump card.
The battle-experienced Death Knights shared stories of their time with mages who could wield spatial magic.
Mages who could use spatial magic were rare and had many limitations, but when used appropriately, its power was formidable.
-Don't think it's just about moving a small pebble's worth of weight. Even if you can only teleport a single small pebble, the applications are endless. Try teleporting this deep inside.
A Death Knight pulled out a poison bottle hidden among its ribs and handed it to Lee Han.
The teleportation ore embedded in Lee Han's staff could only move about a small pebble's worth of weight, but magic could always be adapted in countless ways.
"Understood. ...Begone!"
Lee Han nodded and focused his mind on the ore as he recited the spell.
In that instant, a massive amount of mana evaporated as the ore completed the teleportation magic. The poison bottle was transported deep inside the vampiric monster's body.
-But doesn't spatial magic consume too much mana? Even with the help of an artifact, isn't it dangerous...?
When a relatively young Death Knight cautiously spoke up, the others chuckled and replied.
-That much won't matter to Wardanaz. Look, he's handling it just fine.
-He must be confident too, to cast it so boldly.
"...I didn't know that."
Lee Han said sternly.
Normally, shouldn't they have told him that before he used it?
Perhaps because they were Death Knights rather than Death Wizards, they seemed to lack common sense about magic safety.
-...
Really?
-Well... um... I suppose... he is still a first-year...
-Ah! Look, the monster's in agony! The poison seems very effective!
The Death Knights pointed ahead, changing the subject. Lee Han glared at the back of their skulls as he moved.
-■■■■■!
Whatever poison they had used, the vampiric monster's form collapsed like a pile of mud after a flood, scattering sideways.
The Death Knights screamed when they saw it.
-No!
-Just die quietly, you monster! Leave the main gate alone!
Other places might be fine, but Einrogard's main gate was where external guests came and went—if it got destroyed, it would have to be fixed immediately.
After all the effort of paving the path and decorating it with statues!
But their screams were in vain as the vampiric monster thrashed wildly, sweeping away the statue-decorated park beside the main gate. The Death Knights wailed in despair.
"Um, Death Knights?"
-Sob... What is it, Wardanaz?
"Were any of those statues... actually living people?"
-What kind of nonsense is that? That would be disastrous...
Surely none of you turned living people into statues, right?
-Ah, no! Probably not!
-I definitely didn't. Probably!