Episode 116

Episode 116

-But in order for that method to work, I needed your full cooperation.

“……”

“……”

Ihan managed to keep his expression in check, but the Black Turtle Tower students showed suspicious looks.

From the beginning, it had been a school where even the professors couldn’t be trusted.

So there was no guarantee you could trust an upperclassman either.

‘He says that, but is he really planning to betray us?’

‘Somehow, doesn’t that senior look like he’s from the Blue Dragon Tower or the White Tiger Tower?’

-…Freshmen. If you’re doubting me now… Dammit! What a damn school this is. Fine! Of course you’ll doubt me. I would, too. But are we really going to distrust each other after coming this far together!? And how do you plan to get out of here if you don’t trust me!

“That makes sense.”

Ihan tried to reassure the Black Turtle Tower students.

Even though this unfamiliar upperclassman seemed suspicious, there weren’t many choices available when they were trapped in the kettle kitchen by the warehouse keeper’s magic.

They could either get caught while staying trapped, or listen to what the upperclassman had to say.

“Let’s hear him out first.”

-First, you need to give me a few of those beer candies you made.

“……”

Salko’s eyes changed as if he was looking at a suspicious swindler, but still, Salko put his hand in his pocket and took out some beer candies.

He was trusting Ihan’s words more than trusting the stranger.

-I’m not trying to steal your freshmen’s stuff.

‘His words were getting more suspicious…’

-As you know, I used too much magic getting here today. I have barely any magic power left. I need to recover.

‘Ah. That makes sense.’

Ihan understood his point.

Unlike Ihan, who never ran out of magic power in his life, other wizards would run low after using spells.

This unfamiliar upperclassman had used magic several times, from the classroom to the kitchen.

It wasn’t strange if he was running out of magic power now.

Crunch crunch—

Beer candies gradually disappeared into thin air.

Suddenly, Ihan was curious.

“But if you’re low on magic, how are you maintaining the invisibility spell?”

-I’m not the one who cast it.

‘…The skeleton headmaster?!’

Even though the script was calm, Ihan felt the upperclassman’s fear.

No way…

‘Did the skeleton headmaster cast a spell to prevent the upperclassmen from contacting us?’

He wanted to yell, “Why would you go that far?” but Ihan refrained.

Now Ihan was also beginning to accept the nature of this magic school.

‘Hmm. He was always like that. I’m the only one harmed if I’m surprised.’

-All right. Watch closely.

Seemingly recovered to some extent, the upperclassman stepped forward.

The spell the warehouse keeper had used on the kitchen door was space distortion magic.

The name sounded simple, but from the perspective of breaking through it, it was far from simple.

At least three kinds of magic were needed.

First, .

, a 2nd-circle spell, was popular among warriors even though it was an enchantment spell.

Once cast, even dull and slow warriors would be as quick and nimble as a swallow skimming over water.

And with vision and hearing and other senses enhanced, you could pick up much more information from a chaotic battlefield.

Spatial magic essentially distorted the five senses, so you needed at least this much enhancement to cope with it.

Next came .

was a 1st-circle spell, but by difficulty alone, it was even harder than the 2nd-circle .

This was because spatial magic itself was difficult.

This let the wizard perceive the space near them with perfect clarity in their head.

It was on a different level from just eyeballing it with a glance.

You knew exactly what objects were near you and exactly how far apart they were.

Usually, battle magicians—who often fought quick enemies—used this as a backup spell, but when facing spatial magic, it was indispensable.

If you couldn’t even perceive it, you couldn’t find a solution.

Lastly, you needed a spell with enough destructive power.

Any spell would do, as long as it packed a punch. After finding a weak spot in the distorted space, you had to punch through to escape.

‘Magic power’s recovered.’

The upperclassman took a deep breath.

As a third year carrying the symbol of pure silver, he had to show a proper example in front of the freshmen.

…More than anything, it really irked him that some of them were doubting him.

“Senses, become enhanced. Space, be perceived. Flames, take the form of an arrow and fly forth!”

He cast the spell rapidly and magic activated.

His senses were heightened and the surrounding space was quantified and flowed into his mind.

And then a fire arrow flashed and pierced a spot in thin air.

“!”

“Whoa…!”

Even the doubting Black Turtle Tower students were impressed by the fire arrow.

As expected of an upperclassman!

The flame burned as if it would incinerate everything around, yet maintained the sharp shape of an arrow as it shot out.

As freshmen, they knew how difficult such magic was.

To maintain the shape of the fire element as an arrow, and fire it at the same time.

‘The shape maintenance is a bit weak and his control seems to break intermittently when firing.’

…Except for Ihan.

Ihan thought to himself, then flinched.

‘Wait. Aren’t I thinking like Professor Voladi?’

So what if the shape maintenance was a little sloppy and control faltered for a second during firing?

It didn’t really matter for casting the spell.

Only perfectionists like Professor Voladi would nitpick every little thing…

Ihan reflected on the fact that he was thinking like Professor Voladi.

‘No need to obsess over perfection. I might turn into Professor Voladi if I do.’

Paak!

The fire arrow collided, then burned and vanished.

The Black Turtle Tower students waited in awe.

‘When do we get to leave?’

‘Is it now?’

-Let…

“??”

-…me live…

“……”

“……”

The handwriting scrawled crookedly on the paper made the students realize the upperclassman had failed.

• * *

Even if the upperclassman pleaded for help, there was nothing the invisible freshmen could do.

After a moment, as if he’d regained his senses, the upperclassman wrote again.

-…Sorry. That was embarrassing.

“What happened?”

-I failed.

“Bee…”

“?”

As one of the nearby Black Turtle Tower students opened his mouth, Ihan looked puzzled.

What was he trying to say?

“Beer candy thief…!”

“……”

-No! Come on, like I failed on purpose!!

The upperclassman desperately explained himself, not wanting to be remembered as the one who took the beer candy and bolted.

There were two reasons for his failure.

One, the range and strength of the space distortion magic were greater than expected, so drained too much of his magic power.

Second, the space distortion magic was constructed much more solidly than expected. It seemed the warehouse keeper had poured in more magic than usual, making it hard to break through.

So even after firing the fire arrow, he couldn’t break out and the spell bounced off.

“So… You ate our beer candies and failed to escape…”

Salko said in a serious voice. If not for the headmaster’s magic, the upperclassman would’ve wanted to grab the freshman by the collar and fight.

-You… idiots… You don’t even know how difficult that magic is…

“Senior. Just teach us at least.”

Ihan, who’d been listening, spoke up.

Hearing the detailed explanation, it didn’t seem so impossible after all.

For sensory enhancement, there’s .

For the piercing spell, there’s .

If he just learned , Ihan thought he could give it a try.

It was a 1st-circle spell, so if lucky, he might learn it right away.

-Freshman, seriously…

The upperclassman wanted to retort, ‘Do you really think a first-year can learn spatial magic on the spot?’ but stopped.

Seeing as he’d just failed and looked foolish, he wasn’t really in a position to lecture…

Plus, he kind of wanted to hear the freshman say, ‘This one is too much for me.’

-Fine. I’ll write out as detailed an explanation as I can.

As he wrote, the upperclassman suddenly got worried.

…What if this freshman succeeded at this spell on the first try, too?

• * *

One hour later.

Ihan’s group exited the underground kitchen and gathered at the moonlit front yard of the main building.

Ihan spoke sincerely to the paper floating in the air.

“Senior. Thank you. I think you taught us even better than the professors.”

“Oh…”

“I guess upper years really are different.”

The other Black Turtle Tower students echoed Ihan’s sentiment.

Seeing Wodanaz act that way, it was clear the upperclassman’s teaching skills were something else.

Maybe he was more gifted in teaching magic theory than casting it himself.

‘……’

Good thing the freshmen couldn’t see his face.

The upperclassman was covering his face with both hands, sighing deeply as he sat on a nearby rock.

‘I learned magic for nothing…’

He used to pride himself on being outstanding among his peers…

Today, that pride was shattered to pieces.

By a freshman he’d never met before, at that.

If he told others at the tower exactly what happened today, no one would believe him.

If he did, they’d probably say…

-I went to the kitchen because I was hungry and tried to snatch some food, but a freshman there instantly learned when I taught him. It surprised me so much that I taught him as well? He learned it instantly, and then perceived and pierced through the warehouse keeper’s spatial distortion magic right away.

-Did you go to the kitchen and get drunk?

-Did the headmaster catch you and zap you with magic or something?

-But is it even possible to pierce spatial distortion with just ? You need other stuff too, right?

-Oh. Well… that freshman… I could be mistaken, but it seemed like he used a spell the headmaster once used…?

-…You must be mistaken. How could a freshman use the headmaster’s spell?

-I bet that freshman IS actually the disguised headmaster. Hey, be careful. The headmaster might visit you this week and drag you to the punishment room. You didn’t say anything weird, did you?

-That’s why you’re not supposed to interact with freshmen in the first place!

…That’s probably how it would go.

“Senior? Are you there?”

“Maybe he’s already gone?”

“Since he said all he had to say, he must’ve just left. He’s so cool.”

-I haven’t left yet…

The upperclassman got back on his feet.

It was truly a shock, but students who entered this magic school soon got used to accepting shocking realities.

It was hard to accept that a freshman was better at magic than him or his peers…

But it wasn’t any easier to accept the truth about the magic school or the skeleton headmaster.

Come on, accept it!

-Thanks for today.

“No, thank you. You taught us so well.”

‘Is he mocking me?’

Even Ihan’s earnest thanks sounded like mockery to the upperclassman.

-Freshman. At this school, people you meet at night don’t ask for names or family. If you get caught and dragged to the punishment room, you might get dragged together.

“……”

Ihan was speechless at such a realistic reason.

-But I really want to know your name. Even if I’m caught and sent to the punishment room, I swear on my honor I’ll keep your secret.

The upperclassman wrote seriously.

He was just so curious.

Just what kind of ba—no, what kind of freshman was he?

Ihan thought.

‘This senior must be hard of hearing or just not interested in others.’

His Black Turtle Tower friends had been saying “Wodanaz, Wodanaz” continuously, but he hadn’t noticed.

The Black Turtle Tower students, too, looked dumbfounded.

But there was a reason for the upperclassman, too.

Unlike the freshmen, he’d been keeping an eye on the corridor outside the whole time.

And thanks to that monster-like freshman, his mind was half gone already!

After a moment’s thought, Ihan decided.

From the way he talked, he probably wouldn’t rat them out to the skeleton headmaster.

‘It’s probably safe to tell him.’

-I should go first, right. I’m Valpatan of the Moradi family.

“……”

“…I am Gainando.”

“…!!!”