Episode 181

‘No way.’

Lee Han thought as he left, feeling uncertain.

There could be many reasons for giving a thumbs-up.

The most likely was to praise a junior who did well on the exam.

Lee Han thought it was probably for that reason.

Another possibility was that she was grateful for knocking out the professor, but surely the senior wasn’t that kind of person…

No way, right?

“Are you alright, Professor?”

Once the juniors had left, Direte asked cautiously. Professor Mortum nodded, coughing.

“Cough. I let my guard down… The poison was better made than I expected.”

“You were far too careless.”

Ordinary people wouldn’t be much inconvenienced by a bit of mana dispersal, but it was different for wizards.

If symptoms of mana depletion appeared while casting magic, it could be fatal in the worst case.

No matter how resistant Professor Mortum was to poison, by principle, he should have dispelled all the spells he kept on himself before drinking the poison.

‘It feels strange to be talking about principles with poison made by a first-year, but…’

“Cough. You’re right. Relying too much on magic isn’t good.”

Professor Mortum reflected honestly.

The higher a wizard’s mastery, the more they tended to rely on magic.

Even now, Professor Mortum had more than a dozen spells cast on himself.

, , , and so on—maintaining these spells meant his mana was constantly being drained even at rest.

In such a state, to experience mana depletion symptoms was a huge embarrassment…

“I’ll be more careful when testing the other first-years.”

“Yes. That’s a good idea.”

“Cough. Could you check on the other students outside?”

At Professor Mortum’s request, Direte opened the classroom door and stepped outside.

It was about time for the next students to come in…

“?”

Direte sensed something odd.

That very admirable junior from earlier was heading toward the summoning magic exam classroom.

‘Where is he going?’

• * *

“Raphadael.”

“Wardanaz.”

There were relatively few freshmen learning black magic, so they could recognize each other’s faces right away.

Of course, that didn’t mean they were close.

Raphadael Gral, who was learning black magic to take down the White Tiger Tower + black magicians.

Imirg from Black Turtle Tower, who feared Lee Han because of ridiculous rumors.

‘Rumors are ruining the magic school.’

Gainando, having taken the test first, wore a smug smile.

“Heh heh. Good luck.”

“…What’s on the test?”

Even a proud student from a knight family couldn’t help but be nervous before going in for the next exam.

Gainando’s mouth stretched into a huge grin.

“What? What did you just say?!”

“Nothing! Shut up!”

“Say it again! Politely!”

“Shut up!”

“Stop it, Gainando. We’re all students taking black magic together—there’s nothing to gain from fighting. Since you took the test first, you could at least give us some advice.”

“Lee Han…!”

Gainando wanted to say, ‘Why should I for this guy,’ but Lee Han stopped him with a hand.

Raphadael looked at Lee Han in surprise.

“The exam topic is curses. Don’t worry about undead summoning.”

“…Thanks, Wardanaz.”

“It’s nothing.”

Raphadael nodded and walked away.

Gainando looked at Lee Han in admiration.

“Imirg. The exam topic is poison.”

“…?!”

The giant half-blood student asked in confusion.

“Didn’t you just say it was curses?”

“That was a lie.”

Lee Han said confidently and turned away.

“Let’s go, Gainando. We have to take the summoning magic exam.”

As Lee Han turned and walked away, Imirg looked at his back with a gaze full of fearful respect.

He didn’t know exactly what kind of person Wardanaz was…

But he was definitely terrifying!

• * *

“As I said last time, the exam topic is .”

Hearing the words of the elderly Professor Millei, who wore a monocle, Lee Han felt as if tears were welling up in his eyes for a moment.

A professor actually giving the exam as announced.

‘I shouldn’t be moved by something like this, but really.’

Lee Han shook his head calmly.

The students who had arrived before Lee Han stood up from their seats.

Most of them looked gloomy or miserable. It was a common sight in the exam room.

“…?”

Lee Han felt a sense of incongruity.

Why did everyone look so messed up?

“Please take your seats.”

As he sat down, magic circle scrolls with strange patterns appeared in front of them.

They were magic circles to assist with summoning magic, just like last time.

At the first-year level, it was difficult to succeed in summoning magic on their own, so such magic circles were essential.

“Now then… Begin.”

Professor Millei flipped the hourglass.

It meant to summon a paper bird within the time limit.

One student muttered,

“Can’t we just fold it and throw it?”

Lee Han saw other students nodding.

.

In truth, it was a magic that was a bit embarrassing to call a “bird.” To be precise, it was more like a “controllable paper airplane.”

A magic used by wizards to send short messages to nearby recipients.

‘This shouldn’t be hard.’

Lee Han read the magic circle and simulated it in his head several times.

He’d made much more difficult magic circles before, so just following a magic circle was easy.

He just had to be careful not to overload it with mana. Even a small mistake could destroy the fragile magic circle scroll.

Compared to other professors, this was a much more generous exam…

Flapflapflapflapflap!

“……”

But Lee Han belatedly realized there was an unexpected trap in this exam.

It was the other students.

All over, strange paper-shaped summoned creatures were popping out and running wild.

“What are you doing, you idiot! You made me mess up my spell too!”

“You would have failed anyway, why blame me!”

“You White Tiger Tower punk!”

“Bring it on!”

‘Summoning magic really is something else.’

With other magic, a failure often ended quietly, but not with summoning magic.

If you failed, the botched summoned creature (and the less successful, the less controllable) would run wild.

Lee Han shot down a paper book flying at his face with a water orb. At the very least, he couldn’t let the magic circle scroll be destroyed.

“Fire!”

“Burn!”

Not just Lee Han, but other students also began casting spells.

If you just sat there, the paper would come flying and slap your face, so you couldn’t do anything else.

Professor Millei watched the chaos with a stern expression.

This, too, was something a wizard had to overcome.

The students who had just taken the test had experienced the same chaos.

‘Staying calm is the key.’

Anyone could figure it out if they thought rationally.

Getting slapped by paper wouldn’t kill you.

So, even if chaos erupted around you, the top priority was to ignore it and do your own work.

“Everyone, stop!”

“!”

A student from Blue Dragon Tower, of the Wardanaz family, shouted, and Professor Millei looked at him with slight curiosity.

In fact, Professor Millei was watching Lee Han a bit strictly.

He acknowledged his talent, but an arrogant attitude in summoning magic could lead to disaster.

He didn’t understand why such a student would shout like that.

Did he really believe the students would stop the chaos just because he said so?

“I said, everyone stop!”

“…?”

Even after shouting again, nothing changed.

Professor Millei adjusted his monocle. Honestly, he was curious what this student was trying to do.

What would he do if no one listened?

“I warned you. Spring forth!”

Lee Han began rapidly duplicating water orbs.

Professor Millei was startled by the skillful elemental magic control, unthinkable for a first-year.

But that surprise was just the beginning.

Whoosh!

The paper summons flying around began to be shot down rapidly.

First-year students were firing off various spells, but hitting the paper summons flying erratically around the wide classroom was not easy.

Instead, the spells collided and clashed, making the chaos worse.

But Lee Han was different.

Every time he fired, he took down one.

“I told you to stop, didn’t I?”

“Shut up, Wardanaz! Who do you think you are…”

A White Tiger Tower student, heated, pointed a finger.

At that moment, a water orb struck the student square in the solar plexus.

“Ugh…”

Lee Han began mercilessly attacking students who didn’t stop casting spells.

Whack! Whack! Whackwhackwhack!

Students hit by water orbs dropped their staffs and fell to their knees.

Like ripples spreading from Lee Han, students quickly came to their senses.

“I… I stopped.”

“Me too.”

“Put your staffs down! Anyone who doesn’t, be ready.”

As the students, frightened, put down their staffs, Lee Han calmly followed the magic circle and cast the spell.

Flap!

A paper bird appeared and began to leisurely fly around the classroom.

But Professor Millei was not surprised.

Even though Lee Han had succeeded in the midterm exam in one go, what he had just witnessed was far more astonishing.

To subdue and control such a chaotic group of students alone.

‘…I really don’t want to say this, but… he certainly has the right to be arrogant.’

Professor Millei believed it was his role to sternly warn any arrogant or conceited student so they wouldn’t get hurt in summoning magic.

But the boy before him showed such talent that he forgot that role for a moment.

With talent like that, a wizard couldn’t help but acknowledge it.

“Excellent.”

Professor Millei nodded.

There was nothing to criticize—a perfect score.

“Thank you, Professor.”

“?”

Professor Millei found it odd that Lee Han didn’t leave the classroom.

Why wasn’t he leaving?

Instead, Lee Han stood in front of his friends and said,

“Pick up your staffs again. And those who don’t stop when I say stop—be ready.”

“……”

“……”

The students nervously picked up their staffs again.

Once more, poorly made summoned creatures popped out everywhere…

Lee Han immediately subdued them.

“Again.” “Wait!” “Again.” “Don’t stop. Keep going.” “Wait!”

“……”

Seeing Lee Han voluntarily directing traffic in the classroom for his friends, Professor Millei felt confused about his earlier judgment.

…Wasn’t he an arrogant student?

• * *

“Good work, Professor.”

Direte stretched as she left the classroom.

The faces of the freshmen coming and going from the classrooms already looked half dead.

Direte smiled with satisfaction at the sight.

It was a smile any upperclassman at the magic school would wear.

Tap—

“?”

That very admirable junior from earlier opened the classroom door and came out, making Direte go, ‘Huh?’

It was fine to leave the classroom after the exam.

But…?

‘That’s the illusion magic classroom?’

Direte retraced what she’d seen today.

That junior had gone into black magic, summoning magic, and illusion magic…

…???

Direte was in disbelief. Was that junior really…

‘No! You’re being tricked by the professors! You’ll die at this rate!’