Episode 773
Episode 773
'Did this guy go around doing this to everyone he met?'
If he had been going up to every person he met saying, "Senior! Junior! Teach me some magic!", then his infamous reputation would make perfect sense.
Of course, having an excessive passion for learning was better than having none at all—but there had to be limits.
It was understandable that people would recoil if he kept pestering them for years on end.
'Ah, damn. Now's not the time for this.'
Lee Han quickly snapped back to reality.
Right now, there was a sword-wielding robber—no, a sword-wielding senior—standing right in front of him.
And for some reason, this sword-wielding senior held Lee Han in extremely high regard.
"I think there's been some misunderstanding, Senior. How can you decide whether I'm qualified just from that brief conversation?"
Since Lee Han had no intention of teaching a fifth-year senior, he spoke firmly.
And honestly, he wasn't wrong.
'Passing me just from one conversation? That's suspicious no matter how you look at it.'
It was highly possible that no matter what he said, the senior was planning to forcibly make him teach anyway.
"Haha. Junior, do you know how many mages have tried to teach me? Just one sentence is enough for me to tell whether someone has what it takes to instruct me."
Catten laughed, proudly stating something that didn't sound like much of a boast at all.
Of course, Lee Han couldn't laugh along. It wasn't the least bit amusing.
"Is... that so? What exactly tipped you off?"
"Well, first off, every mage who's tried to teach me started by forcing arithmetic basics into my head, trying to cram numbers into my brain somehow. But you didn't do that."
"......"
Lee Han wanted to shout, 'That's because Diret Senior warned me in advance!', but he couldn't bring himself to rat out Diret and swallowed the words.
'Damn it. I should've said Yukveltire Senior told me instead.'
"Just that alone tells me you're among the best of those who've tried to teach me."
"That's too much praise... But, um, weren't there any students like that in the White Tiger Tower?"
"Hmm. They all tried to force numbers on me first."
'Damn it, Moradi. You clever bastard!'
Lee Han inwardly fumed at Giselle, who had done nothing wrong.
To think he'd been blindsided like this!
'I should've pretended to start with numbers too.'
Because of what Diret had told him—and his experience tutoring first-year failing students—he had unwittingly passed the test.
"Not only that, but you suggested a different approach to magic practice, didn't you? I've had <Low-Level Flame Barrier> explained to me dozens of times, but you're the first person I've seen willing to set themselves on fire to cast it properly."
"......"
This time, it was Professor Zorjik of the Benmalpa family's turn to be blamed.
Lee Han cursed Zorjik, hoping he would never become headmaster.
"That was just because I had too much mana and struggled with control..."
"You struggled with that!? Even better! Junior, you might actually be able to teach me!"
Catten was delighted by the suffering his junior had endured.
If someone who had gone through such torment could still successfully take classes from every school, then maybe—just maybe—they could teach him too.
"...Please don't be too disappointed if I fail."
Lee Han said, already halfway resigned.
If nothing worked, maybe Catten would give up on his own.
The fifth-year senior stroked his long, sideways-protruding cat-whiskers and grinned.
"Disappointed? I've failed countless times—you think something like that would faze me? Junior, don't worry so much. Come, follow me."
Catten skipped ahead, pulling Lee Han along.
Lee Han asked in confusion:
"Where are we going?"
"Ah, as I said—since you'll be teaching me magic, I must also pass on swordsmanship to you. I believe that learning swordsmanship will undoubtedly help with your magic training."
'Does he mean I should stab a professor and run away?'
As far as Lee Han could see, the only way swordsmanship could help with magic training was if he used it to stab a professor and flee.
"Do you really think I can learn your swordsmanship, Senior?"
"From what I've heard about the Tower juniors, it's absolutely possible!"
"......"
While inwardly resolving to hunt down the White Tiger Tower second-years like mice when he got back, Lee Han followed along.
"You must have taken last year's swordsmanship lecture, so you've learned about Intent, Junior."
"Yes."
Among the secret techniques passed down orally by the Empire's ancient swordsmen were vague phrases like 'infuse your sword with rage' or 'imbue your blade with faith.'
This wasn't merely emotional training. Swordsmen could genuinely alter the nature of their mana through sensation and instinct.
Professor Ingoldel had explained this as 'imbuing the sword with Intent.'
"When you master mana control, fully comprehend swordsmanship forms, and finally learn to condense Intent beyond merely channeling it into the blade...!"
Suddenly, the sword shone like a star.
Any mage could easily perceive a Light Source, but the radiance now emanating from the senior's sword held a fundamentally different, mystical quality.
It was Aura—a crystallized form of mana so densely concentrated that it defied a mage's rational understanding.
"That's incredible! How did you come to realize this...?"
At Lee Han's flattery, Catten pondered seriously before answering.
"Honestly, I think the Punishment Room played a big part, Junior. Staying there so long forced me to reflect deeply on swordsmanship."
"...I, I see."
"If you can't control mana, you can't gather it in the sword. If you don't master forms, you can't regulate it. And if you can't concentrate Intent, you can't condense it. Falling short in any one of these three makes it impossible."
Lee Han nodded.
Having once tried to brute-force a pseudo-Aura by cramming mana into his blade, he understood all too well.
True Aura relied on mana compressed beyond its limits—something impossible without enlightenment, no matter how much raw mana one poured in.
"First, you must perfect this, Junior."
"...D-do you have any advice for me?"
Catten pondered seriously again.
"Hmm. If we follow what I did... then during vacation, the Punishment Room—"
"I'll do my absolute best during lecture hours."
Lee Han answered swiftly.
A wrong reply here might doom him to never leaving Einrogard even during vacation.
"Of course. A genius like you, taking every department's courses—it's definitely achievable."
'Is Senior Catten really not just messing with me?'
Even praise from a senior who held him in high regard failed to lift his spirits.
"Once you master this Aura, the next step is..."
As he spoke, Catten swung his Aura toward the lava. The sword, burning like a star, traced a radiant arc.
It was a strike of overwhelming destructive force—yet that was all. Lee Han frowned, unsure what his opponent meant to demonstrate.
"...Now!"
Catten's swordplay had only just begun.
After the first swing, he struck again, and the reality within the Aura's path began shifting ever so slightly.
"!!!!"
Having witnessed Diret's Small World Magic firsthand, Lee Han instantly recognized what was happening—and was stunned.
His opponent was invoking Small World Magic through sword swings!
Of course, it wasn't as refined or systematic as Diret's <Pentagrammaton>.
This was primal, crude—a fleeting, bizarre Small World that lasted only as long as the sword's motion.
But a Small World was still a Small World.
As reality's rules warped, the Aura abruptly transformed into water, exploding outward.
With a shout, Catten pulled the water into a barrier.
"Hah...!"
The barrier proved as fleeting as his cry, lasting mere seconds before collapsing.
Unlike magic, which can sustain diverse and complex processes, swordsmanship—while capable of producing highly destructive phenomena in brief moments—could hardly maintain a water barrier like that for any meaningful duration.
In fact, keeping it up for even a few seconds was already a remarkable feat.
Simply forming Aura was impressive enough, but to manifest a Small World with it?
Huff... huff. "Did you see that just now, junior?"
"I saw it."
Catten, too, seemed quite drained, panting heavily as he spoke.
"This... I also... perfected it in the Punishment Room..."
"......"
'Is he a Punishment Room enthusiast or something?'
"That's incredible. To manifest a Small World with just a sword..."
"Small World? What's that, junior?"
"......"
Lee Han hadn't expected a 5th-year student to not even know what a Small World was.
"Well... it's like this. Magic, roughly at the 5th Circle—"
"...Hah! That kind of thing exists in magic too?! I thought it was only possible with swordsmanship!"
'...He really should just join the knight order.'
Lee Han was both baffled and inwardly astonished by Catten.
Whenever he faced knights like Alarong or Jiklin, he always sensed a strength that went beyond mere swordsmanship or the ability to wield Aura—something greater. If swordsmen who had reached such heights could also achieve this, it made sense.
After all, even in the Azure Rock Sword techniques Lee Han had learned, the latter forms were ones Alarong hadn't even taught him.
'To think swordsmanship could even reach the level of a Small World...'
Suddenly curious, Lee Han asked,
"Senior, is something like this also possible with swordsmanship?"
"Like what?"
"Well, like this..."
Lee Han briefly explained the concept of a Unique World—a mage's ultimate vision, not merely altering the mage's personal space but recreating a much vaster domain under the mage's own order.
When he described the level the Skeleton Principal had once demonstrated, Catten burst out laughing.
"Even magic can't do something like that, junior! How could a single mage dye such a vast area as their own world?!"
"...Senior, this is an actual magic technique."
"?!?!"
Catten was stunned.
Only after hearing Lee Han's full explanation did the 5th-year senior sheepishly concede.
"T-to think such grand magic existed... Junior, I'm truly shocked."
"You'd never heard of it before?"
"Well, I only ever asked about the simpler spells..."
Catten had heard <Low-Level Flame Barrier> dozens of times but had never even heard of Small Worlds or Unique Worlds.
"And as far as I know, swordsmanship can't do anything like that. Hmm. You might twist the space where you swing your sword, but... I can't even imagine how you'd alter such a vast area."
Unlike a mage's Small World, a swordsman could only momentarily distort reality within the brief space where their blade moved.
Given that it relied on instinct and senses, this limitation was only natural.
Though, from a mage's perspective, even this seemed like an outrageous cheat or shortcut...
"Well, that's not really the point anyway. It's not like I'll ever reach that level."
"Junior, what kind of talk is that? Don't set limits on yourself already. You can do it. When you were learning swordsmanship last year, what mindset did you have?"
"Hmm."
Lee Han hesitated, realizing he probably shouldn't admit he'd only done it for easy grades.
"I... wanted to walk the path of the sword a little more seriously..."
"I knew it! Junior, just as I haven't given up on magic, don't you give up on swordsmanship either."
"Th-thank you."
"Ever since realizing this secret technique, I've been trying to expand on it. Hmm. Someday, I'll be able to unleash it in as many ways as magic, without envy."
'This is swordsmanship madness...'
Lee Han listened in silent horror.
"Junior, think about it. With just a few spells, you've already reached this level. How many more secret techniques could you create if you learned more magic?"
"That's genuinely terrifying!"
"Huh? Terrifying?"
"I meant it in a positive way! Like... the Punishment Room kind of terrifying."