Episode 982
Episode 982
Lee Han remained silent for a moment before speaking quietly.
"For the forest's recovery, you must personally inspect even the deepest parts of the earth."
"That doesn't seem to be the case."
The Crazy Doppelganger sneered from the side, but Lee Han pretended not to hear and ignored him.
"H-hey, why are you here... Wait, did you come for this? The Echo of the Demigod..."
"Huh?"
Lee Han tilted his head in confusion before belatedly realizing.
"Ah! You mean that artifact!"
"?"
"???"
Both the Crazy Doppelganger and Ilendil looked puzzled by Lee Han's reaction.
If he hadn't come for the artifact, then why was he here?
"Then what did you come for?"
"I came to ask a Watcher Club member to say some nice things about me."
"......"
The Crazy Doppelganger looked at his disciple with the utmost possible contempt.
Ilendil was equally dumbfounded.
He could have understood if Lee Han had visited with the Crazy Doppelganger to practice with an artifact related to demigods.
But to visit the forest just to deceive some newly enrolled Baldrogard guy?
And with the Skeleton Principal's Mad Clone, no less!
"W-why on earth would you... Can't you do that later...?"
"My target is currently too wary of me. If I give it time, it'll become harder to resolve."
"......"
Then can't you just leave it be?
Ilendil didn't think the Baldrogard student would be of any help.
What possible use could he have?
At best, he might be good for extorting some money... 'Surely that's not what he's planning, is it?' Ilendil suddenly grew suspicious.
He used to think of Lee Han as a kind junior who loved spirits, but seeing him hang around the Crazy Doppelganger had changed that perception.
Someone who stays close to a madman should be regarded with suspicion, no matter how normal they seem.
"Here. Quickly talk to him one-on-one and convince him that I'm not a bad person but a kind one."
"I-I'm not confident about that sort of thing..."
"What are you saying? You're a fourth-year." 'What does that have to do with anything...' Ilendil grumbled internally.
A first-year with poor social skills remains the same even as they advance to higher grades.
The Crazy Doppelganger intervened to prevent further time-wasting.
"Disciple, you should spend this time taming the Artificial Demigod."
"But isn't Senior using it for the forest's regeneration?"
The artifact <Echo of the Demigod> was a powerful tool that made contact with and connected to divinity to draw out its power.
Ilendil was using this artifact for the forest's recovery and regeneration, while the Crazy Doppelganger was telling his disciple to use it to torment him—no, to tame the artificially summoned demigod.
"The royal family will open the channel directly. This must be Melitsa."
The Crazy Doppelganger spoke calmly after seeing the symbols and sigils of the church placed nearby.
While an inexperienced disciple might not know, the Crazy Doppelganger could draw and connect divine power even without the artifact's help.
"Isn't that the Zarmis church?"
"Seems the name has changed. That's common."
Zarmis, the god of hunters, also had aspects as a god of the forest.
But in the Crazy Doppelganger's time, he was known by the name Melitsa.
"Was he also the god of hunters and the forest back then?"
"No."
"So a god's attributes can change or expand over time."
"That's one way to put it. The principle isn't much different from you trying to tame an Artificial Demigod. Though it's far cruder and rougher..."
There was bound to be a difference between the power created over long periods by the collective unconscious of countless souls across the continent and the power consciously generated by a single mage.
The former was a force capable of birthing new gods, while the latter could at best persuade an Artificial Demigod.
Ilendil had even forgotten his task of contacting the new club member as he listened intently.
For this dryad-blooded student, hearing about the history of divine transformation from an ancient mage was an immensely fascinating matter.
'Indeed... If one could uncover the different attributes a god possessed in the past, perhaps even that could be utilized.'
Ilendil quietly marveled at how his junior had already considered such possibilities before even asking the question.
This wasn't the kind of thinking one expected from a second-year student.
"I see. Master, there's one more thing I'd like to ask."
"Are you trying to avoid taming the Artificial Demigod by dragging out your questions like this?"
"...Yes."
"Go ahead."
"Yes."
"......"
Ilendil stared at his junior with an expression of utter disbelief.
What kind of...?!
Ipelldrem:
He's really rude!
"......"
Speaking one-on-one with the new Baldrogard member wasn't difficult, but persuading him was a far more challenging task.
Beaver
- Penguin
- Fox:
Gonadaltes might be an eccentric mage, but he's not a bad person.
Ipelldrem:
Hmph. I'd heard all Einrogard mages were eccentric, but I didn't expect them to be this eccentric.
'This damn brat...'
Ilendil bristled.
Einrogard students—whether the kindest or the most wicked—had an instinctive reaction to lash out when insulted by a Baldrogard student.
Once, Ilendil had witnessed a famously gentle priest friend from the Phoenix Tower hurling curses at a Baldrogard student.
Sure, the other party had wasted and discarded food, but if it hadn't been a Baldrogard student, that priest friend would have shown a bit more restraint.
Ipelldrem:
Before that, may I ask just one thing?
Beaver
- Penguin
- Fox:
What is it?
Ipelldrem:
By the way, you are an Einrogard student, right?
'Everyone here except you is an Einrogard student...'
It seemed the other party still believed this club was a gathering of students from magic academies across the Empire.
But this Watcher Club was exclusively for Einrogard students.
At the moment, aside from the Baldrogard student, there were no outsiders present.
Beaver
- Penguin
- Fox:
Of course.
Ipelldrem:
Do you happen to know a student from the Wardanaz family? Probably a sixth-year.
"?"
Of course, there could be a sixth-year student at Einrogard that Ilendil didn't know.
This was Einrogard, after all—where it wouldn't be surprising if a sixth-year senior from a hundred years ago suddenly emerged from some deep underground chamber or a floating cloud fortress.
But no matter how he thought about it, it didn't seem likely that this sixth-year student was from the Wardanaz family.
It was far more plausible that the Baldrogard student was mistaking someone else—perhaps the junior standing right beside him.
Though, even for a Baldrogard student, mistaking a second-year for a sixth-year seemed utterly ridiculous...
Unconsciously, Ilendil shot a glance at his junior.
[Commander.
YouAreNotUsingMyPowerProperly.
YouCannotRuleTheContinentLikeThis.]
"I'm not trying to rule the continent, just practicing..."
[Good.
PracticeForContinentalDomination.]
"No... I just mean regular practice. By any chance, could you help me increase my success rate when casting high-difficulty spells?"
[SuchTrivial...]
'Hmm. Not strange at all.'
Seeing his junior babbling about magically summoning an Artificial Demigod and continental domination, Ilendil could immediately understand.
It wouldn't be strange if anyone got the wrong idea.
Beaver
- Penguin
- Fox:
No idea. Why are you looking for that senior?
Ipelldrem:
Last time, a senior from the Aljadk family met him and said he was an incredibly impressive mage! And unlike other Einrogard mages, he was so kind that they could build a friendship.
Beaver
- Penguin
- Fox:
???
Ilendil, utterly baffled, stopped the artifact and stared at his junior again.
"My magic? Well, I do have a lot to practice lately. There's been so much else going on..."
Lee Han was still conversing with the Artificial Demigod.
The Artificial Demigod asked about the magic Lee Han had been practicing. Given how preoccupied he'd been lately with the Small World and other matters, Lee Han counted on his fingers as he mentally reviewed his progress.
Regardless of the overwhelming prestige that came with mastering the Small World, magic required steady foundational training.
If he grew complacent, intoxicated by the Grand Spirit's power or the reputation of the Small World, he would inevitably bring about his own downfall.
"First, I need to study the advanced attributes of the Water Element a bit more."
It wasn't that Lee Han was obsessed with 5th-circle magic—but having already perfected the Water Prison Bomb, mastering other advanced attributes was necessary to progress further in Water Element Magic.
The Water Prison Bomb was like the culmination of all the Water Element's application attributes achievable in lower-circle magic.
As evidenced by Yumidihus, one needed to master various higher-level advanced attributes—evaporation, condensation, compression, and so on—before even attempting more complex Water Element spells.
In fact, this was something Professor Voladi had instructed him to do long ago, making it all the more awkward.
Given how busy this semester had been, Professor Voladi had surprisingly been patient, but when someone who normally wouldn't wait suddenly does, it only makes you more self-conscious.
Lee Han would've preferred if he'd just harassed him like before—it would've been less uncomfortable.
Ugh...
This sucks...
"......"
Lee Han was speechless.
He never expected to hear such words from the Artificial Demigod.
Sure, the being was powerful, but in terms of magical knowledge, it was practically no different from a newborn baby. And yet, it dared to lecture a second-year student of Einrogard?
"No, do you even know how difficult Water Element advanced attributes are? Most 5th-circle mages barely—"
"Pathetic. Master such trivial things quietly on your own time."
"......"
When the Crazy Doppelganger beside him chimed in, Lee Han was even more dumbfounded.
How the hell was he supposed to master that quietly on his own?
He wasn't even sure if he should accept help from the Artificial Demigod, let alone the Crazy Doppelganger.
"...Fine. Let's skip the Water Element. I could use some help with Lightning Element Magic too."
Unbeknownst to him, his progress in Lightning Element Magic had already surpassed that of Water Element Magic. After all, <Wardanaz's Lightning Transformation> was a full circle higher than <Wardanaz's Water Prison Bomb>.
But precisely because of that, Lightning Element Magic was unstable and incomplete. If he didn't want to lose a limb while transforming his body into lightning later, he needed to get accustomed to it as much as possible now.
Ugh...
This sucks...
"......"
What the hell is this guy?
Lee Han wondered if the Crazy Doppelganger was controlling the Artificial Demigod.
But that didn't seem to be the case.
"Fire Element? I've been working on Blue Flame lately—"
This sucks.
"...How about Illusion Magic? I need to delve deeper into spiritual-related magic, especially soul magic."
This sucks.
"Black Magic? I have a mountain of things to learn, starting with high-level Undead Summoning."
This sucks.
"......"
Lee Han endured with patience and asked again.
A flurry of questions followed—Divination Magic (avoiding misfortune and its countermeasures), Transmutation Magic (stronger shapeshifting), Summoning Magic (connecting to new dimensions), Enchantment Magic (crafting auxiliary artifacts), Healing Magic (body protection and recovery spells), and so on...
The Artificial Demigod mocked every single one. Lee Han nodded.
"Master. Let's summon a different Demigod."
Commander?!
That's too cruel...!
The Artificial Demigod protested in shock.
How could its own commander, the one meant to guide it, act so heartlessly?
Ilendil: "Hey? Why aren't you saying anything?"
Beaver.
Penguin.
Fox: "Ah, sorry. I was distracted for a moment. It's just... a sight too unbelievable to comprehend..."
Ilendil: "What's going on?"
Beaver.
Penguin.
Fox: "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."
Ilendil: "Aren't Einrogard students all just full of hot air?"
"......"
Ilendil turned his head again to stare at his junior and the Artificial Demigod.
No matter how he looked at it, this was indeed a sight no one would believe.