Episode 106

Episode 106

Yoner, understanding the situation, patted Lee Han’s shoulder as if to comfort him.

Spirits were like fickle objects of unrequited love, often refusing to give their hearts no matter how well you treated them.

At times like that, you just had to accept it.

“Yoner. I’m fine.”

“Uh-huh…”

“I’m really fine.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Usually, when someone put ‘really’ in front, it was often a lie. Yoner decided to just let it pass.

Nillia looked flustered having the water spirit clinging to her.

Since Lee Han had wanted to make a contract with it, she couldn’t just accept it for herself.

“Hey. Go away! Go make a contract with Wardanaz over there!”

Nillia tried to push away the water spirit, but the water spirit persistently clung to her. It seemed it really liked her.

That sight made Lee Han feel a little sad.

‘I only managed to attract the senile thunder spirit, after all.’

But sometimes, even if you felt sad, you had to congratulate your friend.

Lee Han spoke coolly.

“Nillia. I think you misunderstand, but I haven’t the slightest thought of contracting the water spirit.”

“What? Really?”

Nillia perked up in surprise.

“But you were going to try to make a contract just now.”

“You must have misheard.”

Yoner was secretly impressed.

Lee Han had many talents, but the one Yoner could never copy was shamelessly lying with that face.

When he lied seriously without even pausing to breathe, even those who suspected him began to waver, thinking, ‘I-Is that so?’

“Nillia. I’m really not interested in that spirit.”

“But… Ever since before, you said you wanted to contract a spirit. And you said the water spirit was good.”

‘Her memory is only good for unnecessary things.’

Lee Han cursed Nillia.

Why did she only remember trivial things, and not for, say, their assignments?

“You’re mistaken. Of course, I said I wanted to contract a water spirit. But I meant a named water spirit, Nillia.”

“Ah…!”

Nillia struck her palm with her fist as if she understood. Certainly, with Wardanaz’s talent, nothing was strange.

The water spirit next to her also clapped its hands in surprise, wondering if that was the case.

Lee Han wanted to smack the spirit.

“Got it? So if you want to contract that spirit, it’s totally fine. I don’t mind.”

“Hmm… What should I do…”

Nillia hesitated.

She had thought about contracting a spirit, but never expected it would come so suddenly.

“What do you two think?”

At Nillia’s question, Lee Han and Yoner looked at each other.

From their perspective…

‘Nillia needs more friends.’

‘And a spirit friend would be even better.’

They finished exchanging opinions and nodded.

“If it’s a water spirit, I think it’d be good.”

“I think so too!”

“If you both say so…”

Nillia nodded. The water spirit bounced excitedly.

• * *

After spending weekends on the island with the undead summoning creature, Professor Voladi’s face could really start to look welcoming.

Lee Han was scared of himself for feeling happy to see Professor Voladi.

‘There’s no cure for Stockholm syndrome.’

“Hello…”

“You used lightning magic last time, didn’t you.”

“……”

Professor Voladi didn’t bother with greetings or asking if he’d rested well over the weekend.

He went straight to the point.

“Yes…”

Lee Han sighed inwardly.

He actually expected this.

Ever since he met Professor Voladi in front of Professor Garcia, he’d had a sad hunch.

-Oh, this professor is going to teach me lightning magic too.

And sadly, such premonitions never missed.

“The lightning element, unlike the water element, is mastered by very few wizards.”

“I see.”

“It’s more difficult to handle than the water element.”

“Yes.”

“But since you used lightning magic last time, you’ll be able to do what I teach you from now on.”

“……”

Lee Han almost recommended Professor Voladi take instead.

‘What kind of logic is this…’

“I’ve heard the story.”

Professor Voladi looked at Lee Han and said.

Lee Han was startled.

Was Professor Voladi, instead of lecturing, about to chat with a student about daily life?

They say if you suddenly do something you never do, you die…

“I heard you defeated Konadaltes’s summoned beast, Jorvan II.”

“……”

If the skeletal principal were there, he’d have been pleased.

After all, he’d succeeded in making Lee Han furious.

Lee Han burned with anger at the skeletal principal.

‘How many hours has it even been…!’

He’d seen the skeletal principal that morning, then after lunch entered Professor Voladi’s classroom, so the principal had really talked quickly in that short time.

Amazing!

“Yes… I was able to defeat it thanks to your teaching, Professor.”

“That’s only natural. And that’s not why I brought it up. I heard you were ambushed by the summoned beast and injured your arm.”

‘Damn.’

Lee Han was starting to guess why the skeletal principal had told him.

“Something happened that I didn’t anticipate.”

“In battle, that’s always the case. But no matter what excuse you make after suffering harm, the enemy won’t listen.”

The most annoying thing about Professor Voladi was when he said something irrefutably true.

“So, I prepared.”

Lee Han no longer asked, ‘What is it?’

Instead, he gripped his staff and concentrated on Professor Voladi’s every small movement.

The moment Professor Voladi did something tricky, he would react.

The professor, rather, seemed pleased with Lee Han’s vigilance. A faint smile touched his lips.

Sparks snapped in the air and a small lightning bolt formed, aiming at Lee Han.

Lee Han tried to block it with a water orb, but Professor Voladi blocked it with his own water orb.

“!”

He had to dodge directly. Fortunately, dodging the flying lightning bolt wasn’t quite impossible.

The straight-shooting lightning bolt was much faster than other elements, but still fell short of actual lightning speed.

Plus, its trajectory was simple and straight.

Compared to the ever-changing attacks of swordmasters like Professors Alarrong or Ingelder, the straight-flying lightning bolt was pretty fast but still predictable.

Predict the trajectory just before the crackling lightning flies toward you!

Lee Han deftly tilted his head, completely avoiding the bolt.

The shot lightning bolt shot past Lee Han, hit the wall, and vanished with a crackling sound.

Professor Voladi nodded slightly as if that was exactly right.

“Don’t block it with magic.”

“…You mean just dodge?”

“Yes.”

Without giving Lee Han a chance to protest, the professor launched the next attack. This time, the number of bolts increased.

Even while dodging, Lee Han marvelled at himself.

‘Was I this good at dodging?’

How much torment had he endured at magic school to improve his evasion skills like this?

Even after several minutes of attacks, when Lee Han kept evading skillfully, Professor Voladi commented as if he expected it.

“As expected, this much is easy for you.”

‘…Should I have pretended I wasn’t good?’

Lee Han realized belatedly. There was nothing to gain by showing how good he was right away.

But Professor Voladi was a tough opponent to trick.

Even if he tried to trick him, how could he block a full-hearted attack?

Pak!

Suddenly the classroom darkened. Only Professor Voladi’s eyes remained visible in the darkness.

‘In darkness? How professorial.’

Lee Han wasn’t surprised.

Since Professor Voladi enjoyed preparing for all combat situations, of course he would test dodging in darkness too.

…Yet, Lee Han still underestimated Professor Voladi.

Tak–

“What is this?”

When Professor Voladi threw a handkerchief, Lee Han was puzzled.

“To cover your eyes.”

Lee Han started to approach Professor Voladi to cover his eyes. Then the professor spoke again, his voice utterly emotionless.

“Not mine. Yours.”

He couldn’t believe he actually had to cover his own eyes.

Lee Han was dumbfounded at his own failed rebellion.

“…Professor. Isn’t it dark enough? Do I really have to cover my eyes? Won’t it be hard to dodge?”

“You can do it.”

Professor Voladi gestured as if he would answer no more. The handkerchief lifted and covered Lee Han’s eyes.

A pitch-black space where nothing was visible.

Then came the crackling sound of sparks. Lightning had formed.

‘This is insane.’

Lee Han felt terror crawl up his spine.

But just because he was scared didn’t mean he could stay still.

Just as he detected spells or a mage’s mana, Lee Han concentrated to sense the locations of the lightning bolts around him.

He wasn’t sure how well it would work, but he had no choice but to try.

• * *

Professor Voladi folded his arms and looked at Lee Han.

Just as Professor Garcia had acknowledged (or at least Professor Voladi thought so), Professor Voladi had unwavering faith in his teaching methods.

—If the students can’t keep up, it’s not my fault, but theirs.

There was good reason why the skeletal principal liked Professor Voladi.

And unfortunately, that faith only became more solid after meeting Lee Han.

‘Elemental form-changing, basic training in elemental control has set a strong foundation.’

When he saw Lee Han use lightning magic, Professor Voladi hadn’t shown it, but he’d been very pleased.

The difficulty of the lightning element was among the highest.

If he could use the lightning element, he could easily proceed with advanced elemental form-changing and control training.

Normally, he would go straight to lightning magic…

…But Professor Voladi had a reason for elemental detection training.

It was the skeletal principal’s testimony.

Hearing that Lee Han had been injured in the arm fighting an undead summoned beast, Professor Voladi was shocked.

That Lee Han could make such a mistake.

Of course, the real question should’ve been ‘Why is a first-year fighting a giant undead summon?’—but Professor Voladi missed that detail.

—If I were that boy of the Wardanaz family?

To stop Lee Han from trying to add rotational properties to water magic last time, Professor Voladi had—for once—tried thinking from Lee Han’s point of view.

Once he started such perspective-taking, it wasn’t so hard. And thinking from Lee Han’s position, Professor Voladi quickly drew a conclusion.

‘If I were the boy from the Wardanaz family, I’d want to learn evasion rather than attack or defense right now.’

He could’ve just asked Lee Han, but Professor Voladi didn’t bother, nor did he need to.

In magical combat, evasion, though different from attack and defense, was in some ways a higher and harder skill.

The key to evasion was cognition.

To evade effectively, you had to instantly understand where the opponent’s attack was coming from and what type and structure of magic it had.

—A fool blocks, but a wise man dodges.

There was a reason for such a saying.

So, how could one improve that cognitive skill?

In fact, the Wardanaz family boy was essentially training himself without realizing it.

Constant training in detecting and understanding magic inevitably improved those abilities.

Today, Professor Voladi made him focus on detection alone, excluding manipulation and shaping.

As a result…

Pat!

Professor Voladi cleared away the lightning bolts that had appeared in the darkness.

Lee Han was panting. No matter how good his stamina, it would be stranger if he didn’t get tired in such a situation.

Amazingly, the Wardanaz family boy had perfectly evaded them.

In absolute darkness!

Lee Han couldn’t see it, but Professor Voladi smiled.

In the past, when other mages talked about ‘the joy of teaching,’ it sounded like nonsense, but now he was starting to understand.

Teaching truly was enjoyable.

In the air, even more lightning, small flames, water orbs, and compressed wind—various elements began to appear.

Even with his eyes covered, Lee Han sensed something was off and called out urgently.

“Professor? Professor???”