Episode 1234
by CristaeAfter he asked, he remembered something.
Surely…
‘Isn’t that the name Professor mentioned when he said he was preparing for midterms?’
True to his oddly diligent reputation, Professor Voladi had made sure to prepare his student’s midterm even while on the run.
-Already prepared. Sir Garzidahaka will stand in for me.
-…Who is that?!
Just as Professor Kirmin had been flustered, Lee Han was starting to get curious too.
Who on earth was Sir Garzidahaka?
‘Please, as long as they’re not insane…’
Honestly, even Lee Han now thought the odds were slim—but there’s always hope.
Please!
“Sir Garzidahaka is…”
Professor Voladi hesitated, as if pondering something.
“I can’t tell you.”
“…Why not?”
“It’s for the test.”
Voladi explained kindly.
Unfortunately, Lee Han had missed meeting Garzidahaka during midterms due to his own escape, but at any time Sir Garzidahaka could appear as a test question.
To reveal their identity in advance would spoil the point of the test.
“……”
Lee Han, hearing this kind explanation, was appalled rather than moved.
How could he say such an insane thing so calmly?
‘Just who is this person?’
Whoever it was, the title of “Professor Voladi’s prized test question” alone was enough to put Lee Han on guard.
He hesitantly asked, “But Eandurde knows who they are, doesn’t he?”
“Well…”
Eandurde interjected.
In fact, even he didn’t know much about Sir Garzidahaka, who had taught him in Voladi’s absence.
Because he had learned remotely through a dimensional mirror.
“You’ve only heard their voice?!”
“Yes…”
“Hmm. What was it like? Did they sound like a Yaksha by any chance?”
The group Lee Han was most on guard against was Yaksha.
If Sir Garzidahaka was a Yaksha, he could be a worst-case opponent.
‘Just the thought is horrifying.’
“N-no, didn’t seem Yaksha-like.”
“What about a Frost Giant? Fire Giant? Just tell me if they sounded like a giant at all.”
Eandurde shook his head.
And thought to himself,
Why does this senior have so many racial grudges?
“Hmm. Difficult. A dimensional elder? Elemental king? Angel?”
As Lee Han spoke, he kept sneaking glances at Professor Voladi, but—this cold professor stood with poker face.
‘Kuh. No luck.’
Finally, Lee Han gave up on guessing by voice and asked about the lesson.
“But you did learn elemental control and manipulation, right?”
Eandurde nodded and levitated earth from the floor, shaping it into a hard stone.
He couldn’t handle as many elements as Lee Han, but when it came to earth, he had considerable affinity.
“Good. Can you do transformations?”
“I’d like Joulin’s form!”
At Joulin’s suggestion, Eandurde shot him a look.
The more detailed and complex the transformation, the harder it was.
Let alone a dragon shape…
Ka-ka-kak—!
With a click, the stone was carved into a form.
It looked more like a dinosaur than a dragon. Lee Han clapped and shouted,
“Full marks!”
“Not quite.”
When Voladi chimed in, this time Lee Han shot the professor a look.
Isn’t praise supposed to make even a dragon dance?
“Just ignore it.”
Eandurde quickly smashed it, which made Joulin gasp.
“But it was a Joulin sculpture!”
“Technically it’s Eandurde’s sculpture. Anyway, Eandurde, perfect. Top of your year.”
“…I’m the only one, though.”
“Which makes it even better.”
Lee Han praised the only student of this course in the year.
Other students shied away from Voladi’s combat magic, but there were advantages. Just attending guaranteed you the top spot.
At the praise, Eandurde didn’t know if Lee Han was joking or serious and tilted his head.
…He must be joking, right?
“I heard water element is better for this,” Eandurde said, disappointed to use only earth.
This was basic elemental training.
It was about quickly and precisely casting low-circle spells needed for combat magic.
In this case, practice with water element gave the best training for the goal:
Maintaining force, destruction, transforming and sustaining form—all difficult exercises.
Compared to Wardanaz, who trained with water, Eandurde had an easier time with earth…
“Not true?!”
Lee Han shouted in shock.
What nonsense was that?
“I practiced with water because accidents with it are less dangerous than with other elements!”
Early on, the use of mostly water spells was due to Lee Han’s dangerous mana.
Especially with fire element, a loss of control could ignite the surroundings.
So misunderstanding it as intentional high-level training—
“Who told you that?”
“Sir Garzidahaka…?”
“…Let’s drop the ‘Sir’ from that name from now on.”
Lee Han was already growing hostile to his mysterious dimensional teacher.
‘Who the heck is this guy?’
“Can you help prep for finals?”
“Me? Or…”
Lee Han was unsure if Voladi meant help with his own exam, or Eandurde’s. If the former, was he being told to dig his own grave?
Professor Voladi pointed at Eandurde. Lee Han let out a sigh of relief.
‘Not that cruel after all.’
“Of course.”
Seeing this, Eandurde asked with curiosity,
“What was last year’s midterm like?”
“Last year? Oh… It was canceled due to a flood.”
“……”
Eandurde’s face flickered with shock and confusion.
Lee Han hurried to explain, lest the junior get the idea that their seniors skated by—they really didn’t.
“It wasn’t that great! It was horribly inconvenient. We had to take rafts to class…”
“I didn’t think it sounded great…”
Eandurde looked baffled.
Who would ever think, “Wow, canceled by flooding, I’m jealous!”?
From the back, Gainando cried out—
“What? You’re not jealous? I was totally jealous.”
“…Hey. Go over there.”
Lee Han chased Gainando back to the next cell, now regretting having him there as an example for the junior.
‘A terrible role model…’
“So what was on the final?”
“The final? Uh… well…”
“???”
“A giant… came out…”
Lee Han’s voice trailed off to a rare whisper.
It was hard to admit to a junior that a giant had been the final.
As he said it, Lee Han shot a resentful glance at Voladi.
Why did you put in something like a giant for a final!
‘If Eandurde runs away, I’m blaming the professor to the admin office.’
“A giant?!”
Eandurde nearly jumped high enough to hit the ceiling.
Afraid his junior might bolt for the door, Lee Han quickly protested,
“Not like you think! …Probably! And we didn’t even face it head-on! We fought monsters instead…”
‘Should I step in…?’
Yoner, in the next cell, wondered if he should intervene.
It did look like Lee Han was digging himself in deeper.
But to Lee Han’s surprise, Eandurde wasn’t jumping to escape—instead, his face showed eager excitement.
“To fight a giant!”
“No. You don’t fight a giant,” Voladi answered coolly. Eandurde instantly looked let down.
“I see…”
“Uh, professor, but Eandurde seems really eager… Why not let him face a giant?”
“Normally, you don’t.”
“Yeah, just go.”
One sentence and Gainando, trying to get clever, was chased off with a bucket.
It made sense—normally, you don’t put students against giants.
Voladi answered simply,
“Still not enough.”
It was a simple but irrefutable logic.
Unlike Lee Han, Eandurde wasn’t yet strong enough to face a giant.
Hearing this, Lee Han didn’t know if he should be happy, angry, or sorry.
‘Ah.’
Eandurde, though he kept a straight face, was clearly drooping at the shoulders.
Seeing that, Lee Han and Joulin hurried to jump in.
“How about we lower the difficulty? Like, the giant has a broken leg or something!”
“J-Joulin will help, too! I’ll fight with Eandurde!”
“I’m fine.”
Before the professor could answer, Eandurde said it firmly.
He regretted not facing a giant, but he didn’t want to cover his shortcomings by relying on seniors or friends.
“Tch. How did our department end up with such an admirable junior…”
Lee Han gazed at Eandurde, beaming proudly, then nudged Professor Voladi.
‘Give him some praise.’
But Professor Voladi seemed to take it a different way.
“Alright. Let’s get back to prepping the exam.”
“……”
Professor Voladi’s request was simple.
During the finals, he’d launch a coordinated attack on Eandurde—and Lee Han was to be one of the attackers.
It was a surprisingly normal sort of exam. Lee Han felt oddly conflicted.
“……”
“Lee Han, don’t you think this exam is more normal than you expected? Way less so compared to your year… Ow! Why hit me!”
Lee Han whacked Gainando on the back and chased him away, thinking,
‘If juniors get an easier test, that’s a good thing. I should never be jealous.’
Getting his emotions under control, Lee Han fixed a mechanical smile on his lips.
He told Professor Voladi,
“I’m ready. Give me the signal any time.”
Professor Voladi nodded and motioned him to go to the other cell.
The punishment room floor wasn’t enormous, but a skilled combat magician could use what was there well.
By exploiting corridors, cells, bars, and stairs, you could construct a sufficiently complex dungeon.
‘When Eandurde appears above the stairs, I trigger the magic circles. If he breaks through and approaches, I—positioned in this cell—fire orbs of water at a set trajectory…’
Joulin, and even the newly awakened baby Basilisk, started cheering for Eandurde.
“Eandurde can do it!”
-Fighting! Fighting!
Telling them to hush up, Lee Han signaled the start as Eandurde began the breakthrough.
Activated magic circles attacked with clever angles, but Eandurde dodged agilely without trouble.
‘Load!’
Seeing how his junior simultaneously chanted and loaded stone bullets as he dove, Lee Han was delighted—evidence of all the hard training that year.
‘Ah, now my turn.’
The orbs of water streaked in fiercely. Eandurde, wary of the cell attacks, recognized this as a clear step up from the magic circle.
Fast and unpredictable!
Eandurde tried shooting stones to intercept the orbs, but couldn’t block them all. Several slipped through on a hidden route.
Bracing for impact, Eandurde grit his teeth.
Pop!
“??”
The orbs vanished like steam. Lee Han clapped and shouted,
“Full marks!”
Professor Voladi, instead of agreeing, motioned for him to come over.
Apparently, this student needed a lecture.