Episode 190
by CristaeEpisode 190
“Imbuement magic is really fun.”
“……”
“……”
The students, still half-frozen from the cold, were slightly flustered by the words of the beaver beastkin professor.
So what are we supposed to do?
“Now, then, the imbuement magic that can prepare you for the cold is…”
“????”
“Professor? Uh, is that all there is about imbuement magic?”
The students became even more confused at Professor Bible’s attempt to get straight to the point.
Up until now, professors who came to teach new magic would usually start with something like, “This field of magic is such and such, it’s used in this way in the Empire, it has this much potential for the future…”
But Professor Bible tried to get right to the point without any of that.
Is this really okay?
“Why? I told you everything.”
“Um… What kind of magic is imbuement magic… How is it used in the Empire, and how is it applied differently from other magic?”
One of the students from the White Tiger Tower raised their hand and asked.
Professor Bible answered kindly.
“Look that up yourself. Now, so the imbuement magic that can prepare you for the cold…”
“……”
The students were more interested in imbuement magic than expected.
Especially the White Tiger Tower students.
Whether it was strengthening the body directly or enhancing equipment, imbuement magic was quite useful for knights.
And even aside from the White Tiger Tower students, since imbuement magic itself was so practical, students from other towers were also interested…
‘The professor seems a bit crazy.’
‘Actually, the other professors are like that too.’
‘I can’t not learn… I wanted to learn imbuement magic…’
-Lee Han. Lee Han.
Professor Garcia cast a telepathy spell and sent a message to Lee Han.
“?”
-Lee Han, please help out a bit.
‘Wait a minute…’
Lee Han was flustered.
I’m a freshman too!
‘Honestly, isn’t this something the professor or the professor’s assistant should do?’
But Lee Han nodded.
He had just noticed the corner of the lectern that Professor Garcia had smashed.
‘What a good student.’
Unaware of Lee Han’s fear, Professor Garcia was simply moved.
How did such a good student end up at Einrogard…
‘Hmm. This won’t be easy.’
Having received Professor Garcia’s request, Lee Han fell into thought.
Actually, as long as you answered questions well, you were a decent professor.
And Professor Bible Verdus was, of course, a crazy person.
After thinking it over, Lee Han devised a strategy.
“Professor. Is it okay to cast imbuement magic on living and non-living things in the same way?”
“What? No! What are you talking about? Of course not.”
Professor Bible reacted as if Lee Han was speaking nonsense.
“Why not?”
“Well, obviously…”
Professor Bible began to talk enthusiastically.
When casting imbuement magic on a living being, you always had to worry about the side effects, and thus the types of imbuement magic you could cast were limited…
“I see.”
“Why are you asking that? You can’t not know.”
“Sorry, Professor.”
“Now. So, preparing for the cold…”
“But Professor, I’ve heard that if you learn imbuement magic, you’ll starve to death…”
“What!? No! You won’t die!”
Professor Bible jumped up and refuted.
“Is that not true?”
“That’s right!”
Watching Professor Bible argue so passionately, Professor Garcia felt a kind of thrill.
It was truly genius.
As if he had been born to become a disciple…
‘…Come to think of it, maybe that’s not so good.’
- * *
“Ugh! Because of you, I wasted time for nothing!”
“Sorry, Professor.”
Professor Bible grumbled, but the students looked much more relaxed.
Ah, so this is what imbuement magic is!
“Let’s get into preparing for the cold. Normally, you all wouldn’t learn imbuement magic for cold resistance.”
“Why not?”
A White Tiger Tower student asked.
Professor Bible answered as if it was obvious.
“Because you’re stupid.”
“……”
“You freshmen should start with paper reinforcement magic.”
“???”
Lee Han was flustered by Professor Bible’s words, but for a different reason.
‘He made me make magic fireworks right away?’
Is he discriminating against students?
“Professor! Aren’t you looking down on us too much!”
Unable to hold back, one of the White Tiger Tower students exploded.
Having survived the hellish midterms, the students were a bit puffed up with baseless confidence.
Even so, it was a rash action. The friends next to him gasped in surprise.
“I’m not looking down on you.”
“Huh?”
The professor’s response was beyond everyone’s expectations.
“I’m just stating the facts, right? Wardanaz. Isn’t that so?”
“……”
Lee Han pretended not to notice Professor Bible suddenly talking to him.
I don’t know this person!
“Anyway, since you need to prepare for the cold, I’ll teach you.”
Professor Bible waved his staff.
A well-prepared piece of leather appeared in the air. The professor cast a spell on the leather.
Pop!
“Here. Try it.”
“…Professor Verdus, at least chant the incantation while you do it, please…”
Professor Garcia finally couldn’t hold back and spoke up.
- * *
.
A spell that temporarily grants resistance to cold to a designated non-living target.
It was a fairly familiar spell to Lee Han.
Because when he made magic fireworks last time, he was forced to learn from Professor Bible.
The problem was…
‘…This is a 3rd circle spell…’
First-years usually learn 1st or 2nd circle spells, but here they were being taught a 3rd circle spell at their first meeting.
If you wanted to make students lose interest in imbuement magic, this was the best way.
“Leather, repel the cold!”
“The leather repels the cold!”
But as always, necessity is the mother of invention, and the harsh, cold-filled environment of Einrogard made the students stronger.
Surprisingly, some students succeeded in casting the spell.
Of course, strictly speaking, it wasn’t a perfect success.
Imbuement magic was considered a failure if you couldn’t reproduce the full effect of the original spell.
The leather the students enchanted only felt a very faint warmth.
Still, to achieve this much on the first day of learning was impressive.
Even considering the school was filled with cold, it was really impressive…
“Professor! How is it?”
“What kind of cold resistance is this! If you wore this outside, you’d freeze to death!”
“……”
Lee Han saw Professor Garcia’s fist clench tightly.
Professor Garcia took a deep breath to regain composure.
At this rate, all the students with talent and interest in imbuement magic might run away.
“Lee Han. Sorry, but could you help again? Could you help the friends from the other towers?”
“Professor, I haven’t mastered yet either.”
Lee Han looked at Professor Garcia with a dumbfounded expression.
He hadn’t even been able to wave his staff, busy explaining the tricks of imbuement magic to his friends…
“Try it.”
“…Leather, repel the cold!”
Pop!
The spell was cast perfectly on the leather. Professor Garcia nodded as if he expected it.
“Now. Please help the other friends.”
“…Professor, this only worked because I learned first, and I was really lucky to get it in one try. It doesn’t usually work like this.”
Lee Han protested timidly as he stood up.
For some reason, he felt quite wronged.
One hour later.
Thanks to the efforts of Professor Garcia and Lee Han, by the end of the class, several students had come close to completing the spell.
Of course, Professor Bible didn’t praise them at all.
“It’s okay if you can’t do it. Can’t be helped. How could you do well when you have no talent and are stupid? That would be weirder. It’s okay.”
“……”
The students, already cold, became even more dejected.
Professor Bible spoke without a care.
“Imbuement magic is fun, so if you want to learn, come find me. Got it?”
“Yes…”
“Thank you…”
Lee Han wondered how many would actually visit Professor Bible’s workshop.
‘Don’t tell me I’ll be the only one.’
“Lee Han.”
As the class ended, Professor Garcia spoke hesitantly.
“Would it be okay if I asked you a favor?”
“What kind of favor?”
“Could you help the friends from the other towers like you did earlier? I’d like to do it myself, but the prin… I mean, the principal probably wouldn’t allow it.”
‘Didn’t he just say “dog” instead?’
Lee Han looked at Professor Garcia’s kind expression.
He had to help the mean friends who trembled and spread rumors just by approaching him.
He really didn’t want to, but…
“Yes. I’ll do that.”
Lee Han answered immediately.
Professor Garcia looked at Lee Han with eyes full of emotion.
The professor didn’t realize that Lee Han was glancing at his fist.
‘Hmm. He crushed the lectern with that hand earlier.’
“Thank you so much! Lee Han. I’ll find a way to repay you.”
“I’ve received so much from you, Professor, how could I expect anything in return.”
“Lee Han, you really…”
Professor Garcia’s eyes grew moist.
How does Einrogard end up with such good students…
- * *
“…Hah!”
“…Gasp!”
“Stop making noises every time I wave my staff.”
Lee Han looked at the White Tiger Tower friends with an annoyed expression.
Right now, the White Tiger Tower friends were learning from Lee Han.
Even though Professor Garcia had explained the situation, that didn’t mean their fear disappeared right away.
The White Tiger Tower students flinched every time Lee Han waved his staff.
“Now. Look. The structure of the spell is basically like this.”
Lee Han drew the direction of the mana flow on paper with a quill. A complex mana circuit was drawn.
“Understand?”
“Understood, Wardanaz.”
“These parts, these parts, and these parts are omitted through mental image.”
Keywords like ‘cold’, ‘resistance’, and ‘imbuement’ could be handled to some extent with the mage’s mental image, without having to manipulate mana intricately for each one.
If you tried to handle each and every one by moving mana, the spell would become several times more complicated.
“That’s right.”
“So, it’s important to keep repeating these remaining parts and get used to them, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then repeat.”
“…Huh?”
“???”
“I said repeat.”
“Uh… Isn’t there some other trick?”
The White Tiger Tower students, who had expected that Wardanaz, from a famous magic family, would teach them some clever trick for manipulating mana delicately or a secret for solidifying their mental image, were disappointed.
“There’s no such thing. You get better by doing it.”
“But if we keep repeating like that, our mana will run out right away.”
“Ah.”
“……”
The White Tiger Tower students glared at Lee Han.
“Hmm. Right. Repetition won’t work.”
“Wardanaz, I wish you’d teach us some tips for moving mana. Doesn’t the mana scatter or disperse when you move your staff during this process?”
“Did it? I didn’t have that problem.”
“…Wardanaz, did you ever get tangled up when focusing mana at this part?”
“I don’t think so…”
“……”
The White Tiger Tower students glared at Lee Han even more fiercely than before.
This is why geniuses…!
“Wardanaz, was there any part you got stuck on while learning?”
“Of course.”
“Oh… What was it? Tell us.”
The students looked at him with curious eyes.
Where did that Wardanaz guy get stuck?
“When moving mana, I drew out too much mana and the spell became excessively amplified.”
“So what happened?”
“The spell was cast too strongly.”
“…How is that a part you got stuck on?”