Episode 237

But the generous Professor Voladi did not blame his student for using shortcuts.

A great educator is always generous.

Guiding a student back to the right path even if they try to use shortcuts is what makes a true educator.

“No way…”

Lee Han was appalled as Professor Voladi drew his sword and charged at him.

Isn’t this really too much?

• * *

“Not bad.”

Lee Han didn’t answer, lying sprawled on the classroom floor. His whole body was sore from the beating.

A great swordsman is not only skilled with the sword but also with fists and kicks.

Professor Voladi relentlessly struck Lee Han until he managed to turn his cloak into steel.

As a result, Lee Han succeeded in turning not only his cloak but all his other clothes into steel as well.

‘Maybe I just didn’t realize it, but violence really is effective in education?’

Lee Han shook his head to rid himself of such foolish thoughts.

“But you’re still slow. Get used to wearing steel items regularly.”

Transformation wizards needed to be familiar with the items they wore, and with the materials they intended to transform.

For a wizard like Lee Han, who wanted to get used to steel, it was best to become familiar with every aspect of steel—its color, texture, weight, scent, and so on.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Don’t forget to practice the floating ice shield, too.”

“Yes.”

“And the advanced water element property transformation.”

“Yes.”

‘He didn’t use to be this talkative.’

He only gets chatty when assigning homework.

Lee Han cursed inwardly and prepared his excuse.

A foolish student only comes up with excuses on the day the assignment is due, but a clever student starts building excuses from the very first day.

“But Professor, I’m currently taking a lot of classes, so it might take some time. As you mentioned, since my goal is to organically connect the various schools of magic and respond perfectly to any possible situation…”

It wasn’t exactly by Lee Han’s choice, but as an excuse, nothing was more suitable.

Even the most cold-hearted professor, upon seeing Lee Han’s class list, would have to say, “Alright, take your time.”

Professor Voladi nodded.

Lee Han let out a sigh of relief inside.

‘It worked, somehow.’

“There’s a way.”

“…Yes?”

A wave of foreboding washed over him.

Surely he wasn’t going to say, “Don’t sleep at all,” was he?

“I asked Professor Verdus, and it seems he’s considering a simple artifact as the pre-final assignment.”

“Aha.”

It wasn’t as if the professors at Einrogard never gave out assignments.

In fact, their hobby was to give out assignments every week.

But sometimes, they would give out more serious assignments.

Assignments that were both difficult and required a large amount of work.

That was the pre-final assignment.

To students, it was an ominous sign that the final exams were approaching.

‘It’s already starting.’

Lee Han fell into thought.

If Professor Bible’s pre-final assignment was to make a simple artifact…

‘Fireworks would be good.’

Magic fireworks.

Since he (was forced to) make them at the last festival, Lee Han was confident in making fireworks.

No matter what level the professor expected, considering the level of illusion-type enchantment magic he (was forced to) learn last time, he was sure he could pass.

“Submit the floating shield for that assignment.”

“…Excuse me?”

Lee Han, who had been planning to take the easy route, hesitated at Professor Voladi’s words.

What?

Professor Voladi showed a hint of bewilderment, as if to say, “Why do I have to explain something so obvious?”

“What’s the part you’re stuck on with the -Floating Ice Shield- magic?”

“The part where the shield protects the caster autonomously.”

The -Floating Ice Shield- magic was a difficult spell.

Naturally.

…It was a 4th-circle magic!

And even among 4th-circle spells, it was considered a difficult one.

The first barrier was handling the cold element, which was hard to maintain naturally.

The second was enduring the massive magical power needed to keep that element in shield form.

Lastly, granting autonomy to the shield was the third barrier.

In fact, it was strange that Lee Han had already broken through the first and second barriers and only had the third left.

“Right. If you make a floating shield artifact, you’ll be able to break through the part where you’re stuck.”

“…Aha!”

“Are you tired or something? How could you miss something so obvious?”

Of course, Lee Han didn’t say “Aha” because he was truly convinced.

He said it because he was dumbfounded.

So basically…

He was being told to challenge his own limits instead of taking the easy route?

‘Does he not even consider the possibility that I might fail?’

No matter how much Lee Han cursed internally, Professor Voladi continued.

“And.”

“…Yes?”

Lee Han became even more anxious.

So this wasn’t the end?

“Professor Millei is thinking of having you contract with beings from another world as the pre-final assignment.”

“Ah. Yes. I already contracted with an undead.”

Because the intruder incident over the weekend left things unresolved, but considering that Professor Millei had prepared a magic circle with all kinds of safety devices, it wouldn’t be surprising if the pre-final assignment was a contract.

Lee Han was relieved.

Fortunately, one of the assignments was already finished.

‘Good thing I contracted with the skeleton warrior.’

“I see. Then find a water spirit in the spirit realm.”

“……”

The fact that Lee Han had contracted with an undead, and that Professor Voladi himself had contracted with the skeleton principal, didn’t faze him at all.

“It’ll help you learn advanced water element property transformation.”

“Professor, to be honest, spirits tend to avoid me. Even if I try to contract with them, they’ll hate it.”

“Subdue one, then get guidance in exchange for not making a contract.”

“Aha…”

• * *

Even the students who hadn’t been scared by news of an intruder were terrified as the pre-final assignments began to pile up.

“S-So we really have to make a simple artifact ourselves?”

“Yeah? Isn’t it fun?”

“B-But we already have so many assignments…”

“Huh? So what?”

“I mean, professor, if you add even more assignments on top of what we have…”

“Even if you have a lot of assignments, you’ll still sleep and eat, right? You’ll even rest in your free time? Just do it then and enjoy it.”

“……”

“A-Are you joking?”

Deorgyu whispered in a horrified voice next to him.

Lee Han shook his head with a bitter expression.

Moradi looked shocked, her mouth slightly open.

Even Moradi, who had a pretty strong mentality, seemed to be quite shocked by the pre-final assignments.

“Umm… Ummm.”

“Uuuuuuugh.”

Among the students taking enchantment magic, there were many from the White Tiger Tower.

And White Tiger Tower students generally didn’t like sitting at a desk for long.

Sometimes there were wizards who claimed, “I use magic with intuition and inspiration, not theory,” in the Imperial newspaper, but that was mostly bravado.

Just like when the top student says, “I didn’t study separately, just focused in class,” but it’s not the truth, magic isn’t easy enough to get by without theory, just on intuition and inspiration.

But the White Tiger Tower students still believed in intuition and inspiration.

“Uuuuuuuugh… Uuuuuuuuuuuugh…”

“Why… Why do we have to do this, Moradi? Why are they doing this to us? What did I do wrong?”

“I wanted to learn body enhancement magic, not this tedious blacksmith work!”

“……”

Giselle looked at her friends, wondering if she should kill them or not.

Anyone watching would think she’d gone to the Blue Dragon Tower and brought Wardanaz back.

Giselle had only asked for something very simple.

-Everyone has to make a simple artifact, so just draw a basic design on paper.

But the White Tiger Tower students squirmed and slammed their foreheads on their desks in agony.

Lee Han was thankful to see that.

‘It’s thanks to people like them that my rank goes up.’

“Lee Han?”

“Oh, sorry, Deorgyu. Where were we?”

“Um. I want to enchant my shield with a light spell—what do you think of this design?”

“It’s good overall, but there are some inefficient parts. And the edge here, the circuit is tangled. The magic might not flow or it could break.”

“As expected.”

Deorgyu looked at Lee Han with respect.

Of course, Lee Han was always a reliable friend, but as exams approached, he became several times more reliable.

Who could be more dependable in the storm of assignments?

“Then… here…”

As Deorgyu was busily revising his design according to Lee Han’s advice, he became curious and asked,

“But Lee Han, what are you going to make and submit?”

“…A floating steel shield.”

“A f-floating steel shield?! You mean a shield that autonomously protects the wizard??”

“…Yeah.”

“Amazing!!!”

Deorgyu exclaimed in admiration.

Then he looked puzzled.

‘Huh?’

His top-student friend’s expression looked like he’d just bitten into something rotten.

“Is there a problem, Lee Han?”

“No… Nothing.”

Nearby, a few White Tiger Tower students overheard the conversation and stared in shock.

“Did you hear? Do you know what artifact Wardanaz is making?”

“What’s he making? A bone dragon?”

“How could that be? He’s making a floating shield!”

“A f-floating shield?!”

‘Isn’t a bone dragon even more absurd?’

Even if White Tiger Tower students were a little lacking in magical ability, they weren’t blind to magic.

Even as children of knightly families—in fact, precisely because they were from knightly families—they had encountered certain types of magic up close.

Enchantment magic and healing magic, for example, were more familiar to those from knightly families.

“You mean a shield that protects you on its own, right?”

A shield that protects its master with its own will.

It was an artifact any knight would dream of.

Of course, the White Tiger Tower students knew how rare and valuable such artifacts were.

“If you make one… could I get one?”

“……”

“Wardanaz, is there anything you need?”

The White Tiger Tower students quietly approached Lee Han.

That’s how much they coveted it.

A floating shield artifact.

Lee Han clicked his tongue and said,

“Where did you hear such nonsense… You guys misunderstood.”

“Oh, r-right?”

The White Tiger Tower students became embarrassed.

Come to think of it, it was a bit strange.

Granting autonomy to a shield was a magic of incredible difficulty.

No matter how talented Wardanaz was, wasn’t he just a first-year student?

There was no way he could do that.

“Where did you hear such nonsense and spread it?”

“Yeah. You idiot.”

“I-I really heard it…”

While the White Tiger Tower students berated the friend who had misunderstood, Lee Han kindly explained.

“Now, look. What’s an artifact?”

“……”

“…Wardanaz, aren’t you underestimating us? It’s an item with enchantment magic…”

“More precisely, it’s an item enchanted semi-permanently.”

If you enchanted something and it disappeared in a few days, that wasn’t an artifact.

No matter how good the magic, it had to last semi-permanently to be called an artifact.

Because of that, enchanters specializing in artifact creation put their utmost effort into making it last.

Of course, this alone made it a field of incredible difficulty, not something freshmen should touch.

“Got it?”

“Y-yeah. But why are you suddenly explaining this…?”

“What I’m doing is temporarily granting autonomy to a shield, not doing it semi-permanently. Got it? So don’t spread weird rumors about me making a floating shield artifact.”

“……”

“……”

As they listened to the explanation, the White Tiger Tower students hesitated.

…So, in the end, he really is making a floating shield, isn’t he???!