Episode 926
Episode 926
"And Sharkan isn't the type to do that either."
'Then does that mean I'm the type to do that?' the Baby Basilisk protested inwardly.
It too was sufficiently mature and adult-like. If anything, Jowurin was the most childish one.
"True. An undead summon wouldn't sulk just because it wasn't called, right?"
Gainando also nodded in agreement with his friend's words.
Unlike other fields, Gainando knew quite a bit about Black Magic.
Fundamentally, undead summons didn't feel disappointed or sulk just because their master called them less often.
"Lee Han, you're right. Well, I guess they're all the same? Who would like being arbitrarily summoned by a mage while they're playing card games in another dimension? They'd probably prefer not being summoned. The spirits would be the same way."
"No. Spirits actually like being summoned periodically."
"......"
Gainando's face fell.
Mages who had contracts with spirits placed more importance on intimacy than one might think, so they regularly summoned them to interact.
Even if Lee Han wasn't summoning Sharkan right now, he periodically summoned the Flame Sparrow Spirit, the Frost Squirrel Spirit, and the Dark Orb Spirit in his private room (though the spirits weren't exactly thrilled about it)...
"Hmph. I wish my undead would like it when I summon them too."
"You'll grow closer someday." 'Or subdue them by force.' From Lee Han's perspective, it seemed easier for Gainando to learn Black Magic and subdue the undead rather than becoming friends with them.
Undead summoning didn't operate on intimacy like spirit summoning did. 'If it's not sulking, then what is it?' Lee Han stroked the bone fragment of Sharkan, which was bound by a blood oath, and tried summoning again, but there was absolutely no response.
If Sharkan were truly sulking, there should at least be some resistance, so this was a bit perplexing.
"Ahem, is there some problem?"
"Ah, Professor!"
Just then, Professor Mortum of the Black Magic department came walking out, clearing his throat repeatedly.
Seeing this as good timing, Lee Han asked his question.
"I have something to ask."
"You have something to ask?"
The perpetually sickly-looking professor tilted his head in puzzlement.
It was quite rare for a boy from the Wardanaz family to ask questions—perhaps understandable if it were Gainando, Imirgue, or Lafadell, but not him.
"Must be quite a difficult problem, then."
"It's not that serious."
"Oh? Go ahead, then."
Upon hearing it wasn't a serious matter, Professor Mortum changed his demeanor.
Judging by Lee Han's tone, it really didn't seem like a big deal.
"Sharkan isn't being summoned."
"...Cough! Coughcoughcough!!!"
Professor Mortum began coughing violently, as if he had choked on something.
Lee Han asked worriedly, "Are you alright?"
"You said it wasn't a difficult problem, didn't you?!"
"Ah, no. I thought it was just a minor issue..."
Even while coughing, Professor Mortum shook his head.
Sharkan not being summoned was a more serious problem than one might think.
Originally, Sharkan was a powerful monster born between the rocky mountain range and leopards, revered by the leopards.
Naturally, turning such a powerful monster from its lifetime into an undead was dangerous.
A strong vessel was bound to attract a strong presence, and if that presence belonged to the Undead Realm, it was even more so.
No matter how much Professor Mortum was a professor at Einrogard, he wouldn't deliberately gift a first-year student with an extremely dangerous undead summon. He had given it with sufficient safety measures in place.
"......"
Lee Han made a dubious expression. 'Were there any such measures?' He had never sensed any safety mechanisms.
Sharkan had been an undead summon with destructive power from the very beginning. If Lee Han hadn't subdued or persuaded it, there was a high chance it would have attacked him at any moment.
"Was that safety measure something like preventing it from attacking me? Sharkan did act somewhat friendly, but..."
"Cough. Not exactly like that. I just weakened its power."
"......"
Lee Han's gaze turned slightly cold.
'Does he not know the meaning of "safety measure"? To spout such nonsense. No wonder his coughing won't stop.' They should have placed a restriction to prevent attacks, not just weakened its power and called it a safety measure!
"So this safety measure... what exactly does 'weakened power' mean?"
"Cough. Sharkan is an avatar."
"?"
"Its original form is a powerful entity in the Undead Realm. I stole this avatar when the main body's power was weakened."
"Excuse me???"
Lee Han was shocked by Sharkan's far more extraordinary lineage than he'd imagined.
Stole whose what now?
Even aside from the Skeleton Principal, there were plenty of beings with the ability to split into avatars.
Just look at the Hydra—didn't its nine heads each make independent judgments?
If such a Hydra grew stronger or gained the ability to create avatars, it would split apart like fragments.
And of course, these divided beings would naturally be weaker than the original...
But that didn't mean you could just steal one!
"What in the world were you thinking? Just because the opponent was weakened, you committed such reckless theft!"
The stunned Lee Han lost his composure and pointed this out to the professor.
To openly steal just because the opponent was weakened.
It was the kind of stupid mistake no Teleportation Club member would ever make.
If the Demon Duke were slightly weakened and you ransacked his mansion, imagine the retaliation once he recovered.
And this wasn't just some object or treasure—it was his very avatar.
"Cough. Hear me out to the end. It wasn't outright theft. I did steal it, but only after negotiating with the other party."
"That seems like a very different concept of theft from what I'm familiar with..."
Professor Mortum coughed and continued his explanation.
While traveling the Undead Realm in the past, the professor had encountered a powerful entity by chance.
The being resided in a palace of ever-shifting form, built upon obsidian mirrors that spewed smoke. If one focused, the vague outline of a massive leopard-like figure could be glimpsed above.
Realizing the opponent's strength, Professor Mortum immediately prepared to infiltrate the palace and claim its treasures.
"......"
Lee Han found this absurd but held his tongue.
"Cough. I sensed the opponent had been weakened by battle. Normally, I wouldn't recklessly provoke the ruler of another dimension."
'Even if they were weakened, I doubt they'd just let you loot them.'
Regardless, ever opportunistic, Professor Mortum seized the chance to act when he saw an opening in another dimension.
And naturally, the other party noticed his intentions.
Despite hearing the palace's imposing aura and the being's title, when the mage attempted to enter, it stepped back and proposed negotiations:
"Mage. Do not intrude upon the palace of the Beast that rules over death and darkness. I shall gift you one of my avatars—this fragment shall become a mighty undead."
"Cough. What if I enter anyway?"
"Then you shall perish."
Even in its weakened state, the being's overwhelming power was palpable. Professor Mortum chose to curb his greed and retreat.
A powerful undead's avatar was valuable enough as it was.
"Cough. It was so stingy, though. Just a fragment of an avatar without even a sense of self."
Still feeling shortchanged, the professor coughed while grumbling incessantly.
"Please continue. What happened to that avatar?"
"Ah, that."
The professor nodded slowly and explained.
The avatar taken from the powerful undead certainly possessed extraordinary power, but it was no more than a newborn—devoid of self-awareness or reason.
For Professor Mortum to control and manage such a thing wasn't cost-effective.
After much deliberation, the professor decided to anchor that fragment into Sharkan's remains, rebirthing it as an undead monster.
The results were a resounding success. This newly born undead monster, Sharkan, steadfastly protected the freshman and handled all sorts of dirty work.
"...Professor. I have a question."
Lee Han, who had been listening as calmly as possible, raised his hand while struggling to maintain a composed expression.
He could somewhat accept the fact that Sharkan wasn't just an ordinary undead monster but carried the bloodline of an extraordinary undead being.
"So, what exactly is the 'safety measure' you mentioned earlier?"
Cough. "I told you. I weakened its power. It's just a fragment-level avatar, so it's not particularly dangerous."
"......"
He had suspected as much, but that really was the so-called 'safety measure.'
Lee Han firmly resolved to later cast a spell at Professor Mortum's back and shout, 'This shouldn't hurt too much, right? Haha!'
Even if it was just a fragment-level avatar with no sense of self, if it possessed the physical form of a powerful monster, it was still plenty threatening.
In fact, hadn't Sharkan fought exceptionally well?
If Lee Han hadn't been able to suppress or control it, those attacks could have very well turned against him...!
'No wonder its behavior was a bit childish.'
If it was a freshly born avatar separated from its main body, that explained it. Even its kitten- or puppy-like antics made sense.
"But why can't I summon it now?"
Cough. "There could be many reasons. But the most likely possibility is that the main body has recovered its strength."
"!"
Lee Han realized what Professor Mortum was implying.
The main body had given up the avatar in an unfavorable situation, so if it had regained strength and turned the tables, reclaiming the fragment wasn't strange at all.
"Wait. So you went through all that trouble to steal it, only to make a losing deal? We barely got a year out of it!"
Cough. "It is odd. I thought it'd last at least a hundred years..."
Being a mage himself, Professor Mortum was well aware of the loopholes in such transactions.
Since it was the other party's avatar, of course they would reclaim it once they recovered from their injuries and regained their strength.
But from the professor's perspective, that should have taken at least a century.
How had it been reduced to just a year?
"Strange. Very strange. Cough. You don't think Sharkan was secretly siphoning mana, do you?"
"Excuse me?"
Cough. "If the avatar absorbed mana, the main body would have too, and that would mean recovering strength..."
Professor Mortum shook his head mid-sentence.
No matter how he looked at it, the math was too absurd.
Considering the overwhelming power he had sensed when they met in the Undead Realm, even roughly estimating the mana required for recovery was daunting.
No matter how vast the Wardanaz boy's mana reserves were, losing that much mana would have left him far from unscathed—let alone going unnoticed...
"......"
Lee Han's face paled.
Professor Mortum was the most shocked he'd been all day at the sight.
Cough. "To think you were wasting mana so recklessly!"
"You never told me anything about it in the first place, Professor! If I'd known what it was, I would've gotten rid of it!"
Lee Han wished the school regulations would force Einrogard's professors to properly explain things.
Just why would they gift their students such perilous objects without a single word of warning?
Come to think of it, even this staff had a vicious and violent entity slumbering inside.
'I hope there isn't a demon sleeping in the rags the school gave me too.'
Diret, who had been yawning as he walked out, was startled to see the student and professor loudly arguing.
The Black Magic faction didn't have many virtues, but one of them was their harmony.
"What's going on?! What happened?!"
"Senior! I almost died because of the professor!"
Cough. "After all the gifts I've given you, and this is the thanks I get—"
"Hold on. Calm down and explain."
Diret soothed his junior and listened to the explanation.
And the more he listened, the stranger his expression became.
"...Uh, so you're saying you've been unknowingly restoring a powerful entity from the Undead Realm just by going about your daily life?"
"It's all the professor's fault!"