Episode 180

Of course, it wasn’t as if Lee Han was in a good mood.

If the exam was going to cover things other than what had been taught in class, even though he obviously knew all the lecture material, what kind of nonsense was that?

‘But it’s only my loss if I get shaken.’

Lee Han steeled himself and spoke.

“Please tell me, Professor. What should I do?”

“Cough. It’s not much different from the magic you’ve learned so far. Poison is also a branch of black magic.”

Gainando tilted his head. Then Professor Mortum spoke.

“You might be thinking this right now. Cough. If you go outside, hunters and assassins use poison, so why use it as magic?”

“Gasp!”

Gainando was startled.

“Cough. The poison of black magic is different from ordinary poison.”

There were many kinds of poisons in the empire.

From poisons derived from animals and plants to those from bacteria, fungi, insects, metals, and countless other poisons found in nature.

Ordinary people could use these poisons to some extent.

But the poison of black magic was not such a real poison.

Magic, at its core, was the study of changing reality with the wizard’s will.

Naturally, poison also referred to an imaginary poison that did not exist in reality.

“Indeed! If you become the empire’s greatest wizard, there’s no need to study poisons that just anyone can use!”

Gainando exclaimed excitedly.

“Cough. Of course… That doesn’t mean you can neglect studying real poisons.”

“……”

Gainando became sullen.

‘Well, it was the same with other magic.’

Even with basic elemental magic, the wizard’s mental image of the element was very important.

If the mental image wasn’t solid and concrete, there would be no spells or ritual structures or anything.

The higher your understanding of poison, the more diverse and powerful the imaginary poisons you could create.

…But the students hadn’t learned about poisons yet, had they?

‘This is brutal, seriously.’

Perhaps reading Lee Han’s thoughts, Professor Mortum began to explain.

“Cough. Of course, you all lack experience with poison. You probably haven’t handled it before.”

Unless you had a special upbringing, there was little reason to handle poison in the first place.

“That’s right, Professor.”

“Cough. It would be harsh to just tell you to learn it blindly.”

“Yes!”

Gainando nodded repeatedly, his face full of expectation.

But Lee Han felt uneasy for some reason.

People who acted considerate usually did so because they were used to it.

When a professor stepped up to be considerate, the chances of it being genuine were surprisingly low.

“Direte.”

The crow beastkin student nodded and stepped forward.

She swung her staff at Gainando. A faint poisonous mist flowed from the tip of the staff and entered Gainando’s body through his nose and mouth.

“Cough?!”

Lee Han immediately grabbed his staff and held his breath, ready to defend himself.

Direte looked at him as if to say, ‘What is this junior doing?’

“Cough. Don’t defend, just take it.”

“Pardon?”

“You have to get hit to feel the poison. It’s not that dangerous a poison, so it’s fine.”

There was no better way to build a mental image of an element than to experience it directly.

The fact that you got poisoned was a minor issue.

“……”

Lee Han put down his staff.

And sighed.

‘Yeah. It’s my fault for deciding to learn black magic.’

The resigned Lee Han was hit by the poisonous mist.

• * *

“So what kind of poison is this?” Once Gainando, who had been coughing, came to his senses, Lee Han asked the professor.

“Cough. What kind of poison was it…”

“……”

No matter how much a disciple helped, wasn’t this too much?

“What was it?”

“Professor, if you say that, the punishment room…”

“Cough. It’ll be fine. As long as I don’t tell the freshmen. …Probably.”

“It’s a mana depletion poison.”

“Right. Mana depletion poison. Do you feel your mana dispersing?”

At Professor Mortum’s question, Gainando and Lee Han answered at the same time.

“Yes.”

“No.”

“…?”

Professor Mortum paused. Then he looked at Lee Han and asked,

“Cough. Don’t you feel your mana dispersing?”

“I don’t feel anything.”

Professor Mortum turned to look at Direte. Direte spoke urgently.

“There’s nothing wrong with the poison.”

“Cough. Check again.”

“…There really isn’t anything wrong…”

Direte approached Lee Han and once again scattered the mana depletion poison.

Once. Twice. Three times…

With each attempt, the senior’s expression turned anxious, embarrassed, and troubled.

Unable to watch any longer, Lee Han spoke.

“I think my mana is dispersing.”

“…Don’t lie, junior.”

Direte forgot even the skeleton principal’s warning and spoke up.

“I definitely made the poison correctly, and it worked properly… Why?”

“Cough. Isn’t it because he has too much mana?”

“Too much mana?”

“Wardanaz here was born with so much mana that even if the poison works, it might not have a meaningful effect.”

“…Why didn’t you say that earlier… Never mind. I’ll make it again.”

Direte sighed once and swung her staff to create a new poison.

Even Lee Han, who lacked knowledge about poison, could tell it was several times more potent than before.

The mana emanating from it was…

“Here.”

“?”

Instead of spraying it as a mist, Direte handed Lee Han a glass vial containing the poison, and he was taken aback.

“Drink it, junior.”

“……”

Lee Han drank it without a word. The other party already seemed pitiful enough.

“Cough. Do you feel any effect?”

“Professor, I’ll just try the magic.”

“…Alright. Go ahead.”

Direte watched Lee Han walk with Gainando and was shocked inside.

Just what kind of freshman was this…?!

• * *

“Hehe. Lee Han.”

Gainando looked at Lee Han with a silly, confident smile.

Lee Han habitually tried to smack the back of his head, but paused.

There were too many eyes watching.

“What is it?”

“This time, I’ll help you.”

There was a reason Gainando was so excited.

First, their black magic talents were similar (at least in Gainando’s opinion).

But this time, Lee Han couldn’t feel the poison due to his constitution, while Gainando felt it in his body.

So?

When it came to poison magic, Gainando would inevitably progress faster.

It was very logical.

“Uh… Sure. Thanks.”

Lee Han was a bit overwhelmed by Gainando’s excitement, considering how little time had passed since he’d drunk the poison.

Being that positive was a kind of strength…

‘…Maybe?’

“Condense, poison of dispersing mana!”

Gainando stretched out his staff and focused.

The goal of the test was to create the most basic mana depletion poison.

Professor Mortum, having at least a little conscience, didn’t ask students to create a difficult or advanced poison.

A droplet-shaped mana depletion poison was enough.

Sss—

“!”

Gainando was startled when the opaque green liquid at the tip of his staff fell onto his boots.

A hole appeared in his boots.

“Uwaaah?!”

“You’re talented.”

Lee Han was surprised.

He’d heard from Professor Mortum that Gainando had talent for black magic, but not to this extent.

If you failed the magic entirely, that was one thing, but just managing to create something like poison on your first try was a big success.

Of course, from Gainando’s perspective, whose boots now had a hole, it probably didn’t feel like a success at all.

“Ugh… I hate black magic…”

“Shh. The professor will hear.”

Lee Han picked up his staff and focused.

As Gainando said, since he hadn’t experienced it directly, he had to concentrate even more.

‘Imagine it just as I’ve learned so far.’

As with many other magics, he controlled his mana and, at the same time, drew a vivid and systematic mental image in his mind.

Lee Han imagined his mana being compressed into a single drop. At the same time, he tried to change the nature of that mana.

So that the moment it touched another person’s mana, it would extinguish it.

Lee Han recalled things he had read and seen in his previous life.

And from there, he recalled things similar to mana depletion poison.

This kind of knowledge and imagination was Lee Han’s unique strength that other wizards couldn’t match.

Mana gathered at the tip of his staff, and as Lee Han’s will, incantation, and movements combined, a new poison that had never existed in reality began to form.

“Condense, poison of dispersing power!”

“!”

Direte, who was watching, was startled.

That freshman had succeeded in poison creation magic on his first try.

‘He’s not normal!’

He even compressed the long, detailed incantation on his own judgment.

That required not just poison resistance, but also tremendous innate talent for black magic, such as mana sensitivity, mana control, and mental image realization.

Seeing that his blond friend was also excellent at black magic…

‘These freshmen are really amazing. I should work harder too.’

But why does his voice sound so strangely familiar?

• * *

“Huff, huff. All done.”

Gainando, sweating, pointed ahead. Drops of poison were beaded on the glass.

Lee Han, who had finished first, looked up from where he was sitting and waiting.

“Are you done?”

“Oh! There wasn’t much of a time difference, right? Right?!”

“Cough. There was a lot… But anyway, well done. Just succeeding is impressive.”

With those words, Professor Mortum swallowed Gainando’s poison.

“!”

“Professor!!! No matter how hungry you are, you shouldn’t eat that!”

“……”

“……”

Lee Han, Direte, and Professor Mortum all looked at Gainando as if he were crazy.

“…Oh, was that wrong?”

“I was checking the poison…”

Professor Mortum spoke as if he couldn’t believe it, wiping his mouth.

A skilled black magician naturally had strong resistance to black magic.

At Professor Mortum’s level, he was almost immune to all poisons.

“Cough. It’s fine. Well made.”

“Thank you!”

“Then…”

The professor unhesitatingly swallowed the poison Lee Han had made.

“Hm.”

“Are you alright?”

“Hmmm.”

“?”

Lee Han was confused.

His reaction was a bit different from Gainando’s.

‘Did I fail?’

“Hey, Lee Han.”

“?”

“Take mine!”

Gainando, thinking Lee Han had failed, pointed at his own poison and whispered.

Direte, standing nearby, looked at Gainando suspiciously.

‘Is he a bit dumb?’

To talk like that with a senior right there—she couldn’t tell if he was dumb or joking.

Direte turned her gaze away. Even she thought her teacher was a bit strange.

“Professor, what’s wrong…”

“C-cough. Haaah.”

Thud!

Unable to endure, Professor Mortum fell to his knees. His face turned pale, and his fingertips trembled.

Direte realized immediately.

‘Mana depletion symptoms!’

For a wizard of Professor Mortum’s level to collapse from mana depletion—

No one would believe it.

‘Because of the poison made by a freshman??!’

Direte had been surprised enough today, but this was the biggest shock.

A freshman had brought down Professor Mortum with poison!

“He’s… he’s dead! Lee Han! We have to get rid of the evidence and witnesses!!”

“Don’t say crazy things! He’s not dead yet!”

Lee Han unconsciously scolded him with a serious face. Honestly, Lee Han was anxious too.

Direte quickly took out a mana recovery potion and antidote potion and poured them into Professor Mortum’s mouth.

Professor Mortum barely recovered and stood up.

“…Cough. Excellent. Full marks.”

“I’m sorry, Professor.”

Lee Han apologized.

It wasn’t really Lee Han’s fault, but in situations like this, apologizing came first.

“Cough. It’s fine. It’s fine. It happens often during exams. I’m even happier to have discovered such outstanding talent.”

“Ah. Is that so?”

Lee Han was slightly relieved at Professor Mortum’s words.

Was poison magic always like this?

“……”

Direte, who had been watching, had a lot to say but held back.

“Cough… Now, go take your next exam.”

Professor Mortum wanted to send the freshmen out quickly.

His mana hadn’t fully recovered, so his body was still weak.

“Yes. See you next time, then.”

Lee Han and Gainando bowed politely and turned to leave.

“?”

As he turned, Lee Han could clearly see it.

The crow beastkin senior was giving him a discreet thumbs-up!