Episode 235

Lee Han apologized again.

“I’m truly sorry, Professor. It’s just that I went through an intruder attack last weekend…”

Enough. I told you there’s no need to apologize. Now stop fooling around and change your transformation.

The fake Gainando stood up and instantly changed form.

The most statuesque person Lee Han had ever seen appeared before him.

‘Where have I seen… Ah.’

Lee Han realized.

That was the skeleton principal’s appearance when he was alive.

You. Do you want to get beaten up by me too?

“I express my regret in my own name. Gonadaltes.”

The professor apologized and changed appearance again.

This time, he was a middle-aged male parrot beastkin.

Hmm… Isn’t this too similar to last year?

“Is that so?”

It lacks a bit of freshness.

The professor’s appearance changed again.

Now it was a young female chameleon beastkin.

“How is this?”

Didn’t you do that two years ago?

“I don’t think it’s such a big problem if it overlaps… Can’t it overlap…”

The professor mumbled and tried a few more transformations.

-Not great.

-Don’t you have any creativity?

-Even the first-year Ironheads are making progress, so why not you?

Of course, the reaction was not good.

“…How about this?”

This time, the professor transformed into a skeleton warrior. The skeleton principal was impressed.

Excellent!

“Khehet. Thank you.”

“……”

What do you think?

Lee Han quickly pondered what the most appropriate response was in this situation.

“You’re truly excellent. All the students will focus on your lecture.”

You have as sharp an eye as your magical ability.

• * *

The professor in charge of transformation magic, Professor Yonramo Leuzi, was, surprisingly, a doppelganger.

Lee Han was amazed to see a doppelganger, one of the rarest races.

‘There really are all kinds of people in this school!’

Well, who could be a better expert in transformation magic than a doppelganger?

A race born with the trait of transformation…

But how did Lee Han notice that Professor Leuzi was in disguise?

“Uh… Gainando doesn’t call me Wardanaz.”

“Kuhuhu. So that was the problem.”

The skeleton principal and Lee Han hesitated at the sight of the skeleton warrior’s sly, regretful voice.

…Should I tell him to change?

Whoever taught you, they taught you well.

“You’re actually complimenting Professor Baegrek?”

Professor Leuzi said cluelessly.

The skeleton principal summoned a bone and tripped Professor Leuzi by grabbing his ankle.

Crash!

I’ll be going now. Even if Professor Leuzi made a foolish mistake, he’s excellent when it comes to transformation magic. Learn well.

“Yes.”

Come to think of it, you’re learning alchemy, right? Transformation magic is very closely related to alchemy. It’ll help if you learn it.

“I’ll keep your advice in mind.”

After the skeleton principal disappeared, Lee Han hesitated.

…Huh?

Somehow, it felt like he was now set to learn transformation magic.

‘Strange?’

“Khehet. I’m counting on you, Wardanaz. I have high expectations for your skills.”

Professor Leuzi put his arm around Lee Han’s shoulder in a friendly manner.

Lee Han hesitated and looked at Professor Leuzi. At that moment, his nasal bone fell off with a snap.

“Oh, right. The part you hit earlier…”

“…I’m sorry!”

“Khehehe. No, no. The one who got caught is at fault. The principal is right.”

Professor Leuzi snapped the bone back into place.

Seeing that, Lee Han couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

How could he say, ‘I’m not sure if I want to learn transformation magic,’ to a professor whose nose he had knocked off?

• * *

“Professor, did you get hit somewhere?”

“Khehehe. I just fell.”

“Then why… the skeleton warrior? You said you’d do something else this year…”

“Khehet. I like this better.”

‘That doesn’t seem right.’

Professor Garcia looked at Professor Leuzi with a bewildered expression as he entered the classroom.

As a doppelganger, it was customary to appear in various forms throughout the year, but a skeleton warrior didn’t seem like a good choice.

Look!

Aren’t the students looking at him, wondering, ‘Why is that professor like that?’

‘But it’s the professor’s choice… Let’s respect it.’

Professor Garcia respected Professor Leuzi’s taste.

If Professor Leuzi wanted to walk around as a skeleton warrior this year, that was his freedom.

“Now. Today, Professor Leuzi is here to teach us what transformation magic is. Professor Leuzi is a natural-born transformation wizard.”

Before Garcia finished speaking, Professor Leuzi transformed four times.

Into Professor Garcia, Professor Voladi (Lee Han almost fell backward), Professor Alpen, and Professor Lightningstep.

Gasps of awe erupted.

All the students who had been bewildered until a moment ago now looked different.

“Transformation magic… is about understanding the mysteries within a material and delving into it to comprehend the truth inside. Excellent alchemists are skilled in transformation magic, and excellent transformation wizards are good at alchemy. Students taking alchemy should also take transformation magic. Ah. Lee Han… you don’t have to, though.”

Lee Han resented Professor Garcia.

How could he refuse when Professor Leuzi was right there watching?

“No, Professor.”

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

“…It’s really okay.”

Gainando, who was next to him, tilted his head.

“You don’t seem okay…”

Professor Garcia continued the explanation.

Fortunately for Lee Han, transformation magic was very useful in many ways.

The ability to change materials meant a tremendous deal to a wizard.

Being able to substitute expensive ingredients with cheap ones by any means possible.

It was a revolution for wizards.

“Can’t you just buy them with gold coins?”

“Yeah, right…?”

Lee Han felt heartache at the Blue Dragon Tower friends’ foolish words.

They didn’t realize how amazing this was.

Lee Han shook his head and locked eyes with Yoner.

Yoner was also shaking his head.

Nod!

The two alert students nodded at each other in understanding.

“…Not only that, but you can transform the wizard himself and even the surrounding environment. When I set up a new workshop, I often get Professor Leuzi’s help.”

Gainando yawned widely.

Seeing that, Professor Leuzi swung his staff. With a flash of light, Gainando turned into a white mouse.

Squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak!

“Oh… Ohhh!”

“Wh-what!”

The students’ eyes started to shine again.

Even though they were students who valued honor, scholarship, inquiry, and truth, sometimes they felt the desire to turn a friend into a mouse.

“Professor Leuzi…!”

Professor Garcia growled in a low voice.

It was a chilling sound that froze the back of the listener’s knees.

Professor Leuzi hastily waved his staff again.

“Khehehe. Just a joke. A joke. Right? You’re okay, right?”

-Yes! I’m fine!

“He says he’s fine!”

Gainando was dumbfounded at Professor Leuzi mimicking his voice exactly.

No way…!

“He’s an amazing professor.”

“I want to learn that magic.”

“You savages! How can you think that now?!”

Gainando got angry at his friends, but they had already half given in.

• * *

“Damn. I got tricked.”

“I was looking forward to it.”

“I told you so!”

Gainando scolded the grumbling students.

The students who wanted to learn the magic to turn friends into mice swung their staffs with disappointed faces.

Of course, the magic to turn a friend into a mouse was not a low-circle spell.

In fact, it was a spell you could only learn as an upperclassman.

‘I like this better, though.’

Lee Han swung his staff to practice the -Component Detection- magic Professor Leuzi taught today.

What benefit would there be in turning a friend into a mouse?

Compared to that, being able to analyze the components of a material with just a staff was quite useful.

“Kukukuk. To transform a material means to understand it down to its deepest part. Do you all understand?”

“Yes, Professor.”

Lee Han answered the skeleton warrior’s sly voice seriously.

He couldn’t get used to the voice, but the meaning was very important.

Changing the properties or shape of a material might seem simple on the surface, but it required deep understanding.

Just as summoning magic seemed easy—tossing a reagent and summoning—but required much preparation behind the scenes, so did transformation magic.

“Professor. I figured it out.”

“I figured it out.”

“I got it.”

Students all around raised their hands, having figured out the composition ratio of the iron rod.

‘All familiar faces.’

Apparently, students taking alchemy were well-suited and thus had good grades.

Professor Leuzi clapped his bony hands in delight.

“Khehet. Excellent, everyone. Then shall we try another simple spell?”

His cloak fluttered and settled softly on the desk. The professor tapped the desk with his hand.

“This cloak is made of sheep’s wool. Soft and fluffy, right?”

He swung his staff. In an instant, the cloak turned into a solid lump of iron.

“!”

“…!!!”

The eyes of the students gathered near the desk sparkled.

As students who were seriously interested in alchemy or transformation magic, they were more passionate about this kind of magic than the one that turned friends into mice.

Though it was a simple spell, this magic showed many possibilities.

What if it was changed to something other than iron?

Or another shape? Or, digging deeper, what if the very nature of the wool itself was changed?

‘It’s a pity that you can’t make money with transformation magic.’

Lee Han had a different thought.

It was such a well-known magic that there were many countermeasures. It was virtually impossible to get rich by making fake silver or gold.

“Kheheheh. I love everyone’s passion. Now, let’s practice. A word of advice—at first, it’s better to understand the properties of the wool than to just blindly cast magic.”

Following the professor’s advice, the students began practicing in various ways—touching their cloaks, smelling them, detecting their components, and so on.

The princess spun around and swung her staff. The texture of her cloak turned hard like metal, then reverted.

“The duration… seems too short.”

“That’s how transformation magic is, student. If you think of enchantment magic, you’ll understand quickly.”

The skeleton professor kindly explained.

Since this kind of magic involved weaving magical power into a material according to the wizard’s will and changing its form, the magic generally didn’t last long.

“Don’t worry about the duration. If you just learn the correct method, it’ll gradually increase. The important thing is to use precise control to create the desired material…”

Professor Leuzi finished his explanation and looked around.

Some students were still analyzing components, and others were attempting the -Steel Cloak Transformation- spell.

“How is it? Does it feel like steel?”

“Hmm… It feels a bit lacking in strength.”

“Let’s try swinging it.”

Yoner held the cloak in one hand and his staff in the other, casting transformation magic.

Then he swung hard at the cloak Lee Han was holding.

Clang!

“It’s better than before.”

“Good. I’ll try again. Hold on. Let me drink a potion.”

“Sure, take your time.”

Seeing the students helping each other practice magic, Professor Leuzi rattled his skull in satisfaction.

“…?”

Then he suddenly noticed something strange.

Why did it make that sound when swung at the cloak?