Episode 897

Episode 897

‘Still, it wasn’t a meaningless request.’

At any rate, the most dangerous when it came to Thunder Transformation was Professor Voladi.

Professor Yonramo, who taught transformation magic, could also become a threat, but judging by past experience, Professor Yonramo was not the kind to push things forcefully.

At least Professor Voladi agreed to forget about it…

‘The immediate danger is gone.’

“To awaken such magic and then ask us to pretend we didn’t see it? I can’t understand that at all. I’m not a magician, but isn’t iron best forged when it’s hot?”

“I agree. To throw away an opportunity that might come once in ten thousand tries, no matter how you’re the top of the class, isn’t that just too arrogant?! Opportunities are precious.”

The knights, eavesdropping on the conversation from behind, murmured among themselves.

Even for those who didn’t understand magic, Lee Han’s behavior now seemed like carelessly tossing away a stroke of luck that rolled right in.

Whatever the reason, if one succeeded in a powerful, high-level magic like that, one should be grateful for the chance and go at it with everything. Only then could you not forget it and truly internalize it.

Of course, for Lee Han, who was progressing with more than half a dozen advanced magics on the level of Thunder Transformation, this sounded just annoying.

What do they mean, ‘once in ten thousand tries’!

These opportunities popped up now and then just by attending lectures. By the knights’ logic, Lee Han should have mastered about ten 5th-circle spells by now.

‘Once-in-ten-thousand, they say. This is why magicians hate knights.’

When Lee Han first entered Einrogard, he had told himself, ‘I’ll stay coolly focused, just learn magic and not pick up this irrational hatred for knights,’ but after dealing with friends from the White Tiger Tower and outside knights, that hatred naturally piled up.

“W-wait. Everyone calm down. Wardanaz has his reasons.”

Perhaps noticing the flash of hatred in Lee Han’s eyes, Professor Ingeldel stopped his friends.

“What reasons?”

“He’s already practicing several magics at that level, so he can’t master them all at once.”

“…Professor Ingeldel. Even if he’s your student, that’s just too much of a lie…”

“…….”

Out of frustration, Professor Ingeldel almost swung his sword on the spot.

• * *

If Einrogard students built their own information networks in preparation for exams, the professors of Einrogard tried to outwit them.

This year’s Professor Thunderstep was one of those professors. The green light from the lamp in his hand flickered and rose.

“Hehehe.”

‘He is my nephew, but he’s really pathetic.’

Professor Lightningstep, seeing Professor Thunderstep’s sly laugh, thought to himself.

“Do you really have to go that far to deceive the students?”

“Deceive? What nonsense are you saying?”

Professor Thunderstep bristled at the words of the family elder.

This was an essential duty for any Einrogard professor.

If you didn’t occasionally poke holes in the students’ strategies, they’d become arrogant and complacent.

“I don’t think Professor Kim plays these kinds of tricks…”

“Professor Kim is simply too soft.”

“Professor Verdus doesn’t seem to do that, either…”

“……”

“That was a slip. Not a good example.”

“Thank you.”

Professor Lightningstep apologized for citing Professor Verdus as an example.

Come to think of it, Professor Verdus probably never gave any thought to exams.

“Einrogard students are more cunning and petty than you’d think. Seniors and juniors join forces to make fools of the professors!”

Perhaps resenting the scolding, Professor Thunderstep started airing his usual grievances.

It was manageable when they were first-years and isolated, but once Einrogard students reached second year, they tried to pass exams using tricks professors couldn’t even imagine.

Asking seniors to check past exam records or to predict new exams was so basic as to be routine.

If you prepared carelessly, the humiliation of the whole class getting a perfect score could happen.

“Isn’t that possible, though? So you set traps like this every time?”

“That would be impossible, but once in a while, you have to catch them off guard. That’s how you keep the students nervous.”

If students got the impression that a professor was unpredictable, they’d naturally stay on guard.

That’s why, even if not every time, professors had to occasionally throw out a test that exceeded expectations.

The trap Professor Thunderstep prepared for this exam was Nepenthem.

By carefully flaunting the Nepenthem he’d cultivated, he aimed to mislead students into thinking, ‘Ah, this exam will have something to do with Nepenthem.’

“I prepared it so cleverly, the students won’t even notice it’s a trap.”

A hidden lair beneath the cliff.

A powerful submerged scent blocked the lair.

No student would suspect it was a professor’s trap, after breaking through such obstacles and discovering the Nepenthem breeding pond.

“Wait. If you hide it with so much care, isn’t there a chance that none of the students will find it?”

Professor Lightningstep raised an obvious question.

His nephew’s plan sounded plausible, but if the students didn’t find it, Professor Thunderstep would just have wasted his efforts alone.

“I’ve thought of that, too.”

“What is it?”

“There’s Wardanaz, isn’t there? He’ll find it somehow.”

‘Annoyingly reasonable.’

Professor Lightningstep thought inwardly.

His nephew was clearly being obstinate, but it was oddly hard to refute.

The Wardanaz household’s boy really seemed like he’d manage to find it.

“And Wardanaz won’t keep that to himself. Ha! Students are just like reagents dancing inside a cauldron.”

“Stop with those annoying alchemist analogies.”

Though scolded from beside him, Professor Thunderstep ignored it.

To work as a professor at this magic school, you had to know how to find pleasures for yourself.

And Professor Thunderstep’s pleasure was exactly this.

“So the Nepenthem won’t be used for anything?”

“It will be. It’ll be used to test the performance of the completed exam.”

“The students will love that.”

Even after the ironic comment, Professor Thunderstep chuckled heartily.

No matter what Professor Lightningstep said, it only spurred Professor Thunderstep’s enjoyment.

Whoosh!

At last, the flame from the lamp changed to purple. The Thunderstep Purple Sandalwood Incense was complete.

The true test for the [One Drop of Potion Instead of Complex Magic] lecture was not the brewing of a potion with Nepenthem, but, rather, the reversing and breaking of this purple sandalwood incense.

Dispelling an incense was so complicated that even excellent alchemists often made mistakes. A single misstep, and the incense would mix and turn into a mess.

Only by precise analysis and careful progress, neutralizing each ingredient in reverse one by one, could complete dispelling be achieved.

“Nepenthem will be used to check if the incense has been properly dispelled.”

“That’s quite the waste. And isn’t the test too difficult? Isn’t this a test for second years?”

To Professor Lightningstep’s knowledge, his nephew’s purple sandalwood incense was exceptionally intricate and tough, even for advanced-skill practitioners.

Wasn’t the difficulty a bit over the top for a second-year exam?

At that, Professor Thunderstep hesitated for the first time that day.

“…I can’t help it. If I make it too easy, Wardanaz will help his friends and make the exam meaningless.”

“……”

It sounded plausible, but in the end, he simply couldn’t find the right level of difficulty and brought in a hard test.

In Professor Lightningstep’s reproachful gaze, Professor Thunderstep muttered a defense.

“I’ll announce the topic starting this weekend and give them a whole week. That’s really plenty of time.”

“As you say…”

“Honestly, just think about how much the second-years benefited and had it easy thanks to Wardanaz! So if the exam is harder because of him, of course, they should accept it!”

‘Why is this kid so good at saying things I can’t argue with today?’

Professor Lightningstep was once again overwhelmed by his nephew’s logic.

Certainly, thinking of the benefits the second-year students enjoyed, they had no right to complain about difficulty.

They’d gotten so much help to start with, that’s why the difficulty had grown so high. In a way, it was their own doing.

“You’re right. Yes, this level of difficulty may even be a reasonable consideration, if you take the second-years’ average into account.”

“Ha ha! Thank you for your understanding.”

“But let me ask just one thing.”

Professor Lightningstep asked with a careful expression. Professor Thunderstep tensed up at the elder’s serious demeanor.

‘What’s he going to ask?’

“You said you prepared the Nepenthem trap by anticipating Wardanaz’s actions, right?”

“Yes.”

“You made the test this hard because you read Wardanaz’s movements, right?”

“You could say that.”

“Then why are you ruling out the possibility that Wardanaz will just breeze through this test too?”

At the question, Professor Thunderstep relaxed and laughed.

Indeed, not being a professional alchemist, the elder showed a blind spot here.

“That’s impossible!”

“Hmm?”

“I know that Wardanaz has enormous magical resistance. Of course the purple sandalwood incense won’t work on him. But this isn’t a resistance test. It’s a dispel test. It has nothing to do with resistance. He’ll have to analyze and neutralize each element one by one; it requires knowledge and perseverance. There’s no way he can easily solve it.”

“Hm. I’m not an alchemist as amazing as you, but I’m wise enough not to use the word ‘impossible.’ There’s no ‘impossible’ in magic, is there?”

Professor Thunderstep protested at the family elder’s nitpicking.

“Of course, nothing’s impossible. If he had a powerful incense breaker, it’d be easy. Like a special elixir I made.”

“Do you have one?”

“Ha! I even got rid of the ones I’d made already.”

Professor Lightningstep looked slightly fed up.

‘Does he have to go that far?’

“Any other incense breakers?”

“Well, there’s ‘Equal Fragrance’… Making that would take a year. Dragon Stone? That’d have to come out of a legend, wouldn’t it.”

As Professor Thunderstep listed them out, even Professor Lightningstep had no choice but to agree.

Frankly, none of those items seemed accessible to Einrogard students within a week.

“Fine. You win. But don’t get too complacent. I may not know potions better than you, but I know people better. Wardanaz is a genius, like the Headmaster.”

“…Are you insulting him?”

“Damn. I said it, but it does sound like an insult.”

• * *

“Lee Han, what are you doing?”

“Oh. I’m writing lecture promotional copy so Senior Catten can recruit more students next semester.”

“…You do know we have an exam next week, right?”

“I know that too, okay?”

Lee Han snapped in frustration.

He knew very well about the exam.

But what could he do? Professor Ingeldel’s teachings hadn’t really helped Catten senior.

‘I’ll just fill it out with something plausible and finish up.’

“U… Professor Thunderstep has lost his mind!!!”

“What?”

“What? What’s going on?”

A friend who was taking the alchemy lecture burst into the lounge with a deathly pale face, making everyone buzz.

“The exam for midterms is out!”

“Isn’t it a bit much to call it crazy just because it was posted early over the weekend?”

“Nepenthem isn’t used at all! That’s all I prepared!”

“What a crazy professor!”

The students immediately burst out cursing.

What were they supposed to do when the test was completely different from what was (unofficially) announced in advance!