Episode 797
Episode 797
"I don't think I can enjoy this."
No matter how much he tried to embrace uncertainty and change, enjoying the Fire Element's tendency to burn everything around it—including Lee Han himself—was simply impossible.
The elderly pirate clicked her tongue in disappointment at Lee Han's response.
"Kihihi... Still so rigid. Can't blame ya. Cooped up in Einrogard all this time. What you need is a good whiff of salty sea air, lad! Then you'll understand what freedom truly means."
"Are you suggesting I become a pirate?"
"Damn right!"
'Guess I'll never understand freedom in this lifetime.' Lee Han felt a twinge of regret.
Being a pirate was far too unstable a profession for his ambitions.
Drifting aimlessly across the sea, waiting for income that might never come?
Compared to an Imperial bureaucrat, it was practically the polar opposite.
"No sea, no pirate ship, but... want me to teach ya a little anyway?"
"That's fine—"
"Good. Close your eyes."
"......"
'Why do powerful mages always ignore what others say?' Lee Han wondered, watching Lagesa rattle the cutlass at her hip while barking orders.
Does magic weaken your hearing as you grow stronger?
"My eyes are closed."
"You're steering a ship on the open sea now. Got it? You're the captain of a pirate vessel."
"Yes. I am the captain of a pirate ship."
Lee Han played along, feeling increasingly ridiculous.
"What do you wanna do?"
"Huh?"
THUD!
Lagesa stomped her foot in frustration.
"I said, what do you wanna do?! A pirate captain doesn't answer with 'Huh?'! A pirate captain makes his own decisions!"
'I'd like to stop this right now...'
When Lee Han didn't respond, Lagesa answered for him.
"What's that? You wanna smash those Duel Club brats to pieces?"
"I never said that."
"Quiet, Captain! Look—over the horizon! Those Duel Club brats are sailing toward us in a Sailing Ship! Arrogantly unfurling their new sails, catching the wind full force!"
"......"
Lee Han quietly listened, though he wasn't sure why unfurling sails and catching the wind was considered arrogant.
"Feel the sea breeze!"
"...?"
"Glad you're not dumb enough to say 'There's no sea here.' The sea breeze is definitely here. C'mon, c'mon... you can feel it!"
Lagesa roared, smacking Lee Han's back hard. Her deeply wrinkled forehead only made her blazing eyes stand out more.
The chained pirates following behind stared at the old woman as if she'd lost her mind.
They knew she was always eccentric, but today was especially baffling.
What kind of sea breeze was supposed to be blowing in a Magic Academy hallway?
Yet Lee Han chose to focus calmly instead of dismissing her nonsense.
He doubted she was doing this without reason.
'Feel the sea breeze here? What does that even mean?'
The sterile halls of Einrogard were utterly windless.
The only sounds were footsteps and the clanking of shackles around the pirates' ankles.
And then—
'Ah.'
Lee Han sensed a faint current of mana brushing past his cheek.
Though mana naturally filled any space, it was easy to overlook unless consciously noticed. Mana always circulated through the air, and trained mages could detect its flow—especially those with sharp, sensitive perception.
"I felt it."
"Smart and cunning brats are so much easier to teach."
Lagesa grinned in satisfaction.
Plenty of mages couldn't grasp what she meant by "feeling the sea breeze."
What good was memorizing spells if you didn't even understand what magic truly was?
"I'm not cunning—"
"Shh! Try to feel that sea breeze even more strongly. Surrender yourself to it."
"!"
Lee Han was slightly startled by those words.
Imperial magic typically sought to control such flows of magical energy when they were detected.
You had to firmly grasp it in your palm to cast spells without unexpected variables and to amplify them.
Mages hated variables, yet here he was being told to surrender to them.
"...I've surrendered."
"Now make that sea breeze stronger."
Lagesa gave the abrupt instruction without explaining how.
Most mages would panic at such an order, responding with "How?" or "That's impossible."
But Lee Han simply accepted it.
Having endured so much unreasonable teaching already, this didn't even feel particularly unreasonable to him.
'Make it stronger...'
After brief contemplation, Lee Han immediately acted. When unsure, the method was to experiment step by step to find the answer.
'To make the flow of magical energy stronger...'
Instead of controlling the magic, he attuned himself to its flow and synchronized with it.
Lee Han's released magical energy merged perfectly with the surrounding current.
"Kgh!"
Lagesa let out a startled sound.
She hadn't expected him to find and execute the method so quickly.
Though the words were simple, infusing one's own magic to strengthen a flow was usually tricky work.
First, you had to read the magic flow down to its most minute details.
A rough reading wouldn't suffice - that would likely cause a collision stopping the flow rather than strengthening it.
Then you had to infuse your magic with absolute precision, without even a hair's breadth of error. Any misalignment in direction or attribute would cause immediate collision.
Whoooosh-
The corridor began filling with the sound of raging waves - audible only to experienced mages. The chained pirates, sensing something amiss, looked around nervously.
Though not mages themselves, they instinctively felt unease as the magical currents grew violent.
"Is something wrong?"
Lee Han stopped when he heard Lagesa coughing and asked.
"Nothing! Keep going! Einrogard's a bit dry compared to the sea."
The great pirate pulled out a barrel and gulped down its contents while urging him on. Lee Han tilted his head. 'The weather doesn't seem particularly dry...'
Regardless, since his previous method seemed correct, Lee Han continued.
Read the flow, read it, read it again, then time it right to add his own magic.
The magical current grew even wilder. 'The flow's getting rougher.' Naturally, as currents strengthen, their movements become more violent and erratic.
Lee Han concentrated to avoid losing the flow.
Focusing even harder than before, he read it, timed it right, and added his magic...
Whooooooosh!!
After several repetitions, the magical current reached an abnormal intensity.
At this level, even non-mages could likely sense it, so Lee Han asked:
"Is this oka..."
"Keep going, Captain! Let's see how far you can take this!"
"......"
Though uneasy, Lee Han complied with her demand.
She was an exceptional mage - surely she wouldn't make him do anything truly reckless.
As Lee Han closed his eyes to summon the storm, the chained pirates stared down the corridor with terrified expressions.
What was happening resembled when a mad spirit appeared at sea.
No wind, yet heavenly thunder could be heard; bodies moving uncontrollably as if pushed or pulled; space distorting and time perception...
Regardless, Lagesa excitedly stomped her feet and clapped.
"More, more! Let's see how far this goes!"
Tears streamed down the chained pirates' faces in fear.
They were going to die here today!
True to her nature as someone who'd sail into storms and raging waves, she was encouraging this madness. 'Please notice, you damned mage!' The chained pirates desperately prayed the mage boy would open his eyes and realize what was happening.
If this continues, it's really going to...
'Should I really keep going?'
Whether the pirates' tears streaming behind him worked a miracle, or whether even Lee Han thought this was getting too intense, he gradually began to halt his mana output.
"Captain, set your sails toward the limits of your mana! Let's see how far we can push it today!"
Lagesa shouted, her eyes gleaming.
Once or twice might have been fine, but to keep spewing out mana like this repeatedly and still stand firm—
She was burning with curiosity to see just how far he could go.
However, instead of setting his sails toward his mana's limits, the boy from the Wardanaz family responded rationally.
"I know my own mana limits, Lady Lagesa!"
"You know?"
"Yes! I can repeat this all day!"
"......"
Lagesa felt a chill run down her spine, as if cold water had been poured over her. She doubted whether she'd heard correctly.
If that were true...
'Bagrak, you bastard, what kind of monster are you raising??'
"Lady Lagesa. I think it's getting a bit too much now!"
Lee Han shouted urgently.
Though it was his own amplified mana flow, the current had grown so strong that even surrendering to it was becoming difficult.
Was it just his imagination, or could he hear the ceiling and walls of the hallway creaking...?
"Alright, alright! Now, send it off with a pirate's roar!"
"Whee—eek!"
Lee Han blew a sharp whistle and pushed out the massive surge of mana. In his haste, he focused solely on safely concluding this pirate magic, forgetting all else.
BOOM—!
The most violent roar Lee Han had heard in recent times swept through the hallway. Startled, he opened his eyes.
The ceiling, floor, and walls were all utterly destroyed, as if a massive mythical beast had rampaged through, slashing with its claws.
Beside him, Lagesa was panting, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Torgerd's daughter almost died here!"
"Excuse me??"
"It's nothing, brat! Well done. You've splendidly boarded the ship of pirate magic."
"What in the world just happened?"
"Nothing much. Sometimes pirate magic just does things like this."
From behind them, pitiful sobs erupted.
The shackled pirates, overwhelmed with relief at having survived, collapsed to the floor and began wailing loudly. Lagesa barked at them fiercely.
"Shut up, you damned prisoners! Save your tears for later—unless you want your sentences extended!"
"It seems like something did happen..."
"I said it didn't! Are you defying me now?"
"...Understood."
"You, brat, are now a captain who's just boarded a tiny sailboat. I get that your heart's swelling, but you need to stay humble. You've got to learn how to handle the sails, feel the wind, read the stars. With each lesson, you'll realize just how vast this sea is and how small you are."
Lee Han was slightly impressed by the splendid metaphor for pirate magic.
Only a pirate who'd spent her entire life at sea could come up with such an analogy—one so compelling that even Lee Han, who had no prior interest in pirate magic, couldn't help but admire it.
"So, what should I do next?"
"Next?"
Lagesa pulled out a handkerchief and pressed it to a wound. The blood-soaked cloth healed the injury.
"Brat. What you need to do next is..."
Lee Han leaned in attentively.
Though he'd initially been reluctant to learn from this old pirate, he'd been lucky enough to succeed so far—so not learning more would be a waste.
Besides, try as he might to ignore it, the shattered ceiling, floor, walls, and the wailing pirates were hard to overlook.
'Should I have just kept my eyes open and watched?'
What would he need to do to control this unpredictable magic?
"...For the next hundred years, you must never use this pirate magic again!"
"......"
Lee Han felt deeply disappointed at Lagesa's command to disembark immediately after just boarding.