Episode 288

Episode 288

‘As expected from someone trying to learn all schools of magic.’

Chil looked at Lee Han with eyes mixed half with pity and half with admiration.

In truth, even though Chil said, “If you’re interested, it’s good to try practicing beforehand,” he did not expect Lee Han would actually do it.

Lee Han was about to take the first-year final exam soon, so he should be focusing on his own test. Why would he practice for the final exam seen by second-years?

Even if he was interested, it was something that could be done later, when the opportunity arose.

But the way a genius thought was different from ordinary people.

As unlikely as it seemed, the junior who wanted to learn all the schools of magic really stepped forward to try practicing, even though his own test was just ahead.

There was nothing more that could be done at this point.

All he could do was quietly cheer him on.

“Still, don’t overdo it. You have a test coming up soon, right?”

“Thank you.”

Lee Han, who still did not know it was the second-year final exam, sincerely appreciated it.

Had he known the truth, he might have grabbed his senior by the collar before anything else.

‘A chance given out of kindness by the senior. I can’t afford to miss it.’

A cow, unable to get up—perhaps due to an injured leg—looked at Lee Han with sorrowful eyes.

“I’ll give it a try.”

“Okay.”

Chil stood next to Lee Han.

If Lee Han happened to worsen the cow’s injury by mistake, Chil planned to step in right away to handle it.

‘Just don’t make the cow suffer too much.’

Since it was about giving a first-year junior a chance to practice, Chil did not expect Lee Han to heal it completely.

It was already unlikely for a first-year student to heal a living creature.

It was the same even if it was an animal, not a person. It was no surprise this was a second-year exam.

What Chil hoped for was that this outstanding junior would not worsen the cow’s injury.

It might sound strange at first, but for lower-year students learning healing magic, even this much was a great achievement.

Worsening the injury was ordinary.

Just not making the injury worse was excellent.

If the injury could be improved even a little, then he deserved to be handcuffed and dragged to the Tower of Healing Magic.

That’s how high the initial difficulty was for healing magic.

“It’s swollen and has a fever. I think it’s fractured.”

“Excellent. You assessed it well.”

Instead of immediately casting healing magic, Lee Han first tried to assess the condition, and Chil gave him high marks for it.

A healing mage had to possess all the virtues a mage should have. Among them, caution was mandatory.

“Arise, sense. Judging by the pain when pressed, it seems this area is fractured…”

When Lee Han used magic to find the fracture area, Chil’s lips curled up.

Though juniors might feel it was tough, from a senior’s perspective, it was always a delight to see a talented junior in healing magic.

He felt a little sorry, but couldn’t juniors just go search for and bring other juniors?

“Yes. Yes. You’re doing very well.”

“I’ll try giving it a go.”

Lee Han said so and concentrated his mind.

He had information learned from books and gained from magic, but he could not let down his guard.

‘Imagine the bones setting, and focus. Calmly. I’ve done it even to the White Tiger Tower people…’

Lee Han thought that healing these animals would not be that difficult.

Because, if it was so difficult, it would not have been on the first-year exam.

That meant it was at a level Lee Han surely could accomplish.

“Heal!”

As his focus ended, the staff swung and potent magic power radiated out.

The cow, which had been emitting sorrowful cries, blinked its eyes and then smiled brightly.

“…????!???!?”

And Chil nearly fainted.

‘What is this?!?!?’

No matter how many times he blinked, it was true that the first-year junior had healed the cow’s fracture.

What on earth???

“Senior? Senior?”

“Huh? Uh…”

“Uh, I think you need to check. Did it work?”

“Per… perfectly.”

“Is that so?”

Lee Han’s face brightened.

“If you score it as a senior, do you think I’d get full marks?”

“No… Of course… It’s full marks… Even if you didn’t heal it, it’d be full marks…”

As Chil was so shocked that his face turned pale, Lee Han began to feel a sense of discomfort.

‘What is going on?’

Suddenly, a familiar sense of anxiety swept over him.

“Full marks even if I don’t heal it?”

“Even if you just don’t make it worse, you’ve done well.”

“…Ah.”

Lee Han was surprised.

Thinking about it, it was not strange to have such standards for assessment.

‘Damn. Should I have asked that first?’

Because healing magic had so many side effects, it was clear you could get high marks just for not making things worse.

Still, Lee Han was not too flustered.

“But surely there have been first-years who managed to heal it so far, right?”

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well… This is a second-year exam.”

“……”

Lee Han was at a loss for words for the first time in a while.

‘Is he crazy?’

What kind of grudge did he have against Lee Han to suggest trying the second-year exam?

Lee Han considered whether to attack the senior and then suppressed himself, asking as calmly as he could.

“Why did you recommend that to me…?”

“Huh? You seemed interested.”

“……”

Of course, Lee Han had shown interest.

Because he thought it was a first-year exam!

If a first-year junior shows interest, isn’t it a senior’s role to say, ‘But this is a second-year exam, junior. You should focus on the first-year test’ in a firm tone?

‘He must be either aging wrong or has thrown it up.’

Lee Han gritted his teeth and maintained his composure. Then, to clear up the situation, he spoke up.

“I misunderstood, then.”

“But this, you really did something amazing…”

“Senior. Let’s keep this matter just between us…”

Clatter!

Before Lee Han could finish, Phil burst in through the door. Seeing Lee Han and Chil in front of the cow, Phil asked,

“What are you two doing there?”

“Phil! Look at this cow.”

“What about the cow… The fracture’s healed? Did you do this?”

“No. This junior did.”

“?!?!?!?!?”

Phil was surprised just like Chil before.

He was so shocked that Lee Han didn’t get a chance to explain again.

“Senior.”

“!!!!!!!!!”

“Senior. Senior.”

Phil only regained his composure after about a minute.

“If you really did this, then you’re truly gifted…”

Bang!

The door opened again and the world’s most fatigued-looking Dark Elf professor entered.

Professor Lagrinde spoke in a hoarse, rough voice. Every word was imbued with a profound fatigue.

“Why are you here without preparing?”

“P-professor!”

“Huh… We were watching the junior’s magic.”

Phil and Chil froze up.

Though Professor Lagrinde wasn’t violent or cruel, he hated wasting time or being inefficient.

And as much as he was good at quickly and neatly cutting open a patient’s body, he could just as well do so to an enemy’s body.

“The junior’s?”

The professor’s irritable face relaxed for a moment, mixed with curiosity.

Then both seniors, sensing an opportunity, hurriedly explained.

“Yes! He healed the cow.”

“For a first-year, his skill was so amazing, we were having a word with him!”

“!”

Professor Lagrinde’s eyes went wide.

He was a professor who disliked unnecessary questions, but he couldn’t help but ask.

“You didn’t help?”

“No!”

“That’s right!”

“……”

Professor Lagrinde looked at the cow, then at Lee Han, then again at the cow, then finally at Lee Han once more, and sank into deep thought.

Then opened his mouth.

“From the second semester, have him attend practical training.”

“Professor!?”

“He did well, but he’s still a first-year…”

Professor Lagrinde shot a cold look at the two seniors.

The two who had tried to protect their junior froze immediately.

“On second thought, I think it’s fine.”

“He healed the cow, so he can heal patients too, right?”

“……”

Lee Han felt conflicted as he looked at his two seniors’ backs.

‘How cowardly people are in front of such power.’

He’d believed in them a little, only to be betrayed right away!

Professor Lagrinde was tired but decided to explain as much as in the reference book.

As it was an unusual event, it was necessary to explain it to the disciples.

“Since he completely healed the cow, the next step would be with real people anyway. If I only make him do pointless drills, it’ll just make him bored.”

Although Lee Han wanted to say his strength was enduring pointless work, it was not the mood for that.

“If he doesn’t have the ability, I won’t make him do it. But if he has ability and I tie him down just because he’s a first-year, that’s even more inefficient. Do you understand?”

“Understood, Professor.”

“We wasted your time. We’re sorry.”

“Alright. Start preparing for the test.”

Professor Lagrinde left just like that.

Left dazed, Lee Han, whose second semester had just become harder, suddenly thought of Professor Garcia.

-So I’m saying, don’t ever go around telling people you healed a White Tiger Tower student’s ankle. Okay?

‘I’m sorry, Professor Garcia.’

“Good luck, junior.”

“Sorry if it seemed like we were trying to stop you. Don’t misunderstand. We weren’t trying to pull rank because you’re a first-year, it’s just that it’s really tough. Haha. What am I saying… If it’s you, we can even look forward to it, right?”

Phil and Chil turned Lee Han’s insides upside down and walked out.

Lee Han resisted the urge to attack the two seniors.

He still had the real final exam left.

“What’s the first-year final exam?”

“Written test. It’s about types of injuries and the structure of the human body. Boring, right?”

“……”

• * *

“Doesn’t Wardanaz look really grumpy right now?”

“You think so too? I thought so as well.”

“Gainando. What did you do?”

“I didn’t!!”

Gainando was flustered.

“Didn’t he mess up the exam?”

“I asked him and he said he got everything right?”

“……”

“……”

The faces of the two Blue Dragon Tower students who brought it up twisted with pain, just like Lee Han’s.

They figured he did well, but never expected perfect marks!

‘If you got a perfect score, shouldn’t you even smile with a broken bone?’

‘I think so too.’

“Let’s just go take our test.”

Lee Han gave up and started walking.

He’d worry about the second semester in the second semester, and for now, decided to go take the remaining tests.

“Aren’t you all going?”

“…Wardanaz. We don’t take illusion magic.”

“Me neither.”

“…R-right. I’ll just go by myself then.”

The Blue Dragon Tower students felt a strange sadness in Lee Han’s retreating figure.

-Basic Illusion Magic-.

Luckily, Professor Kirmin Ku’s exam was not very difficult.

It was a test about distinguishing the illusions spread around the classroom and finding flaws in any that were poorly made—a test of observational skills.

‘Not that hard.’

He was already learning separately about illusion magic, and had experienced it several times himself, so this kind of test wasn’t difficult.

As he focused on the exam, Lee Han felt the anger from the healing magic test dissolve.

“It’s done, Professor.”

“Good job, Wardanaz. It’s unfortunate, though—your score dropped a bit compared to the last midterm.”

“…?”

Lee Han paused. Then, surprised, he asked,

“My score dropped?”

“Just kidding. Just kidding. Last time you got a perfect score. This time you lost a point, so I thought I’d joke with you.”

Professor Kirmin Ku naturally thought Lee Han would laugh it off.

Even with one point off, he was overwhelmingly first place.

There was no meaning in having a score dozens of points higher than the average student, only to miss one point.

“Are you saying I made a one-point mistake?!”

“…Wa, Wardanaz. Did I perhaps say the number wrong?”