Episode 656
Episode 656
Bashew urged his friend on.
Dealing with that arrogant prince who knew nothing but magic would only put them at a disadvantage.
"Ingsen. Let's use the magic we prepared."
"Against who? That prince?"
"...Everyone except the prince."
Bashew spoke while suppressing his shame.
It was embarrassing, but there was nothing he could do. He didn't think he could win against that prince.
Ingsen felt the same.
'This is infuriating. Just wait and see!'
Ingsen vowed to study magic even harder once he returned to Baldrogard.
Fiercely, he would study at least two days a week and definitely crush that arrogant prince.
"What about that Wardanaz family member? He seems friendly."
"If it's the Wardanaz family, they're certainly not lacking when it comes to demonstrating magic."
Since both had their pride, they had no intention of showing their magic to just anyone.
Someone with decent skill, a reputable family name, and—above all—kind enough to engage in serious conversations like "What is magic?"
That person was Lee Han of the Wardanaz family.
"Excuse me. Sir Lee Han of the Wardanaz family."
"?"
Lee Han, who had been covering Gainando's mouth, gestured to his other friends to take over before turning around.
"What can I do for you?"
"I've prepared a spell... I'd appreciate it if you could take a look."
Neither Ingsen nor Bashew realized it, but their attitudes had become extremely polite without them even noticing.
It was the complete opposite of their earlier determination to "crush their opponent's pride" when they first passed through the mansion gates.
Though they didn't consciously recognize it, they instinctively sensed it.
The mages of Einrogard were different from any Baldrogard mages they'd met before!
"Magic? Show me."
Lee Han nodded amiably.
Even though he had told himself, "Don't lose to those Baldrogard bastards!", Gainando's provocations had been a bit excessive.
Because of that, Lee Han was in a slightly more generous mood.
'I should placate them appropriately.'
Prepared to compliment whatever magic they cast, Lee Han put on an artificial smile.
That smile gave Ingsen courage.
Unlike that rude prince earlier, the Wardanaz family mage had the noble etiquette that matched his reputation.
"Ahem! Then I'll begin. First, I place the outer bark of a pine tree here. And here, I place powdered corundum. Then..."
"Ah. You're trying to summon a Fire-Gold Bird."
Lee Han praised with his artificial smile.
Summoning a Fire-Gold Bird was a 2nd-circle summoning spell—a fairly difficult one at that.
The basic difficulty aside, the fact that it required high-purity ruby powder as a reagent made it feel even more challenging than forbidden magic to mages like Lee Han.
But if one could endure that, it was a decent spell. After all, it allowed one to call upon a Fire-Gold Bird to aid them without any special contracts.
"...H-how did you know?"
Ingsen was flustered.
His original plan had been to summon the Fire-Gold Bird and shock the Einrogard students beyond their imagination.
The reagents alone made it hard to guess the spell, and the Fire-Gold Bird's dazzling appearance was perfect for surprising people—so he had prepared diligently...
Yet his opponent had figured out the spell before he even started.
"It's a good spell, but honestly, pine bark and corundum powder shouldn't be used together. Both are powerful reagents, but their compatibility is poor, so they cause interference. Also, this magic circle is incorrect. Errors like this slow down casting speed and weaken the effect."
"......"
It didn't stop at just recognizing the spell.
Lee Han kindly began pointing out Ingsen's mistakes one by one.
With each correction, Ingsen's eyes wavered and his face paled, but Lee Han was too focused on the magic to notice.
"Wait. What is this powder made of?"
"I... I bought it pre-ground from a jeweler..."
"That won't do. A mage should grind it themselves. Laziness is magic's greatest enemy."
"Wh-what's the big difference?"
"What do you mean 'what's the big difference'? That's utter nonsense."
Lee Han scoffed as he took the gemstone powder.
Then he carefully, meticulously ground it finer.
"Fire-Gold Bird, manifest and protect!"
Whoosh!
The moment he scattered the powder and chanted the spell, a fiery bird tore through the air to appear.
Ingsen could only blink in shock at the summoning speed several times faster than his own, producing an incomparably more powerful summon.
How?!
"Now. This is magic using carefully hand-ground reagents. Let me try with the jeweler's roughly prepared powder."
Lee Han scattered powder again and recited the spell.
Another flaming bird appeared.
"?"
"...Doesn't seem much different?"
The friends watching from behind cocked their heads in confusion.
They couldn't sense any significant difference between the two Fire-Gold Birds.
Both overflowed with vitality thanks to being saturated with abundant mana.
Irritated by their reaction, Lee Han snapped back:
"Look closely. This one moves smoothly while that one's movements are sluggish and jerky. Don't be fooled by the mana - you need to observe the subtle movements within."
"......"
'There's really no difference though...'
The friends could only glean the lesson that 'high-purity mana can outweigh reagent quality' from the two birds.
With Lee Han pouring in such mana, the reagent differences became negligible.
Fortunately, the shell-shocked Ingsen was too dazed to argue about the lack of difference. He just nodded like one entranced.
"I... I see... I'll remember that."
"Now look at this magic circle."
'It's not over yet?!'
Lee Han's critiques continued as he pointed out issues with Ingsen's circle.
"Why is this shape here?"
"It... it was in the textbook..."
"That's no way to do it. You must understand before copying. This is a mana-gathering circle. With reagents providing sufficient mana, the excess just causes interference."
"I... I didn't... know that."
"What do you mean you didn't know?!"
Lee Han shouted out of habit.
Beside him, Gainando instinctively straightened his posture. Though the words weren't directed at him, his body remembered the training.
"Ah! My apologies. Old habits... haha. It's fine not to know. You can learn now."
Belatedly coming to his senses, Lee Han apologized. But Ingsen was already completely frozen.
"Go ahead and try."
"Huh?"
"The Fire-Gold Bird summon. Weren't you going to attempt it?"
"Uh, th-that won't be necessary..."
Both Ingsen and Bashew frantically shook their heads.
In this atmosphere, any summoning attempt would just highlight their inadequacy.
They instinctively sensed it -
casting magic now might bring even greater humiliation than what they'd already endured!
"What nonsense. You prepared all these reagents - why hesitate? Quickly now. Wouldn't it be wasteful otherwise?"
"Well..."
"Now!"
Lee Han sternly pressed.
His unyielding gaze brooked no excuses.
Thoroughly intimidated, Ingsen nodded shakily and raised his wand.
"F-fi-fire-gold bird..."
"When incanting, maintain proper posture and enunciate clearly with a resonant voice."
"Fire-gold bird..."
"The gestures too. Synchronize the gestures. Your chanting and movements are out of sync. Eyes forward. Focus. Focus. FOCUS! I said FOCUS! You keep failing!"
Lee Han mercilessly pushed them to succeed at their magic, wanting to help the Baldrogard students improve.
Subjected to this unimaginably harsh Einrogard-style training never seen at their own school, tears welled in Ingsen and Bashew's eyes.
The boy from the Wardanaz family shouting formal commands at the top of his lungs was utterly terrifying.
"I-I don't have enough mana..."
"You still have plenty! Again!"
"This should be enough..."
"You were a beat too slow just now! Again!"
Gainando, watching the mercilessly tormented students, gave his friend a weary look.
"Wow... Never thought I'd feel sorry for those Baldrogard bastards..."
His friends silently nodded in agreement.
Whoosh!
At a speed far faster than usual, Ingsen successfully summoned the Fire-Gold Bird.
The adorable firebird wobbled unsteadily as it circled around Ingsen, looking just as exhausted as its summoner.
"Everyone, applause."
"..."
"Wow! Amazing!!"
At Lee Han's command, his friends began clapping in perfect unison. Nilia hurriedly woke up Siana, who had been dozing off.
"Thank you..."
Ingsen and Bashew bowed with gratitude, drenched in cold sweat.
Though they received applause, they felt no joy. They were so mentally drained that all they wanted was to flee.
"Do you have another spell prepared?"
"Y-yes."
Bashew answered without thinking—then immediately panicked.
'Oh no!'
"Oh? Let's see that one too."
Ingsen shot his friend a murderous glare.
It was a killing intent he'd never once experienced at Baldrogard.
"It's not that impressive of a..."
"Show us quickly."
"It's really nothing special..."
Ingsen realized that noble pride wasn't as unshakable as he'd thought.
Pride was something you could discard anytime.
But Lee Han ignored Ingsen's protests and began rummaging through his reagent pouch.
"Aha. You were planning to cast Flame Barrier Summoning, weren't you?"
"...Sniff!"
Caught red-handed, Ingsen burst into tears without realizing it, overwhelmed by despair.
"Wait, why are you crying?"
"Sob... Sob! Sobsobsob!"
Lee Han was startled when both Ingsen and Bashew began bawling.
"Why are they crying?"
"Don't fall for it, Lee Han. They're faking. I do the same thing when I don't wanna study."
Gainando remained cold-hearted, but the others still had some warmth left.
"Let them rest for a bit? I'll make some tea."
"Here, let's give them a little stamina potion."
Gainando grumbled at his friends' reactions.
Having to go easy on these crybabies just because they didn't want to study...
'Can't believe I'm falling for these tears.'
"Sob... I... I just wanted to cast magic well..."
"Oh dear. You wanted to cast magic well, didn't you?"
Lee Han tried comforting them first.
"But I keep making mistakes... And even when I succeed, it doesn't feel impressive..."
"Then you just need more practice. No more crying."
"Lee Han. Could you step outside for a bit?"
His friends decided to send Lee Han away temporarily.
If he stayed, the two Baldrogard students might have a complete mental breakdown.
When Lee Han returned after about 30 minutes, Ingsen and Bashew had wiped their tears with handkerchiefs and regained their composure.
"W-we apologize for such disgraceful behavior..."
"It happens."
"Ah... Which family are you from?"
"From the Shadow Patrol of the northern mountains."
Nilia answered indifferently.
Ingsen was taken aback.
"M-my apologies. I assumed you were from a noble house..."
'These guys are such pests.'
Lee Han thought to himself.
"These guys are such pests."
Siana muttered it outright. Lee Han was startled.
"Did your inner thoughts just leak out?"
"Huh? Oh, n-no. I just figured it wouldn't matter if they heard..."
"......"
Though his Phoenix Tower priest friends seemed oddly rougher in personality lately, Lee Han shook his head, chalking it up to his imagination.
"Nilia. Let's show them some magic too."
"Huh?"
"They showed us theirs, so we should return the favor."
"Wouldn't you be better at this, Wardanaz?"
Nilia scratched her cheek awkwardly.
This was something the top student should handle—if she messed up, it'd be a disgrace to their school.
"Nah. I believe in you."
"...Alright. Shall I give it a try?"
Nilia grinned at her friend's trust. Lee Han nodded and held out his bow.
"Start with Enhancement Magic on this."
"...W-wait a second."
Who exactly are you planning to shoot?!