Episode 215

“Professor Garcia. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but it’s all my fault. Please calm your anger.”

“I’m not angry.”

Professor Paselet Craer apologized just in case. Of course, Professor Garcia didn’t understand.

“People who say they’re not angry are never really… Wait, you’re actually fine?”

“Yes. That’s why I said he’d be fine at that level.”

Professor Paselet looked Lee Han up and down, then asked Professor Garcia,

“Is he the one?”

“Yes. That’s Lee Han.”

‘What is this? Why do I have a bad feeling?’

Lee Han wondered if the side effects of the stone divination magic he was attempting were kicking in, and he hesitated for a moment.

Come to think of it, they did say there was a price to pay for seeing the future…

“He really does have a lot of mana, huh.”

Professor Paselet fell into thought.

There was a reason he had made the students attempt the impossible task of divining a day into the future, even though he could have given them an easier task—like seeing one or two seconds ahead.

He had intended for them to fail from the start.

For young wizards, it was better to fail outright than to succeed half-heartedly.

No matter how much you used magic as a tool, seeing the future was a dangerous act that required a price.

If that price was only mana, you were lucky; if you succeeded, you might have to pay an even more fatal price.

So…

“That’s enough.”

Professor Paselet swept away the stones in front of Lee Han with his staff.

That freshman had been fearlessly attempting stone divination over and over.

Because he had so much mana, he didn’t care about the price he had to pay for failing.

“First-years. Don’t think you can attempt divination magic over and over like other magics. The price you pay for failure is relatively small, but if you repeat it, you never know what might happen.”

“But Lee Han is fine?”

At Gainando’s innocent question, Professor Garcia waved his staff and shut him up.

There was nothing good to be gained from provoking Paselet’s temper.

“I understand, Professor.”

“Good. Keep it in mind.”

Lee Han truly understood.

‘This really is an unstable magic.’

At this point, it was no exaggeration to say it was the most uncertain and capricious of all magics.

The further into the future you tried to see, the greater the price you had to pay; the more accurate and vivid the vision, the greater the price; and even if you failed, repeating it could increase the price.

Just because you had a lot of mana didn’t mean you could keep trying.

‘I need to be more careful.’

Lee Han didn’t have any grand ambitions for divination magic.

Wizards with aspirations for divination magic would say, “I’ll see the end of the world!” and pursue the distant future, but Lee Han would be satisfied just knowing what kind of trap the Skull Principal was preparing.

That alone would let him call himself a divination wizard anywhere.

Of course, Professor Paselet didn’t trust Lee Han.

“Professor Garcia. I think we need to keep a close eye on that student.”

“Yes?”

“He must know he has a lot of mana, right? Now that he knows about divination magic, there’s no way he’ll restrain himself. He’ll keep trying divination magic, even if he has to pour all his mana into it.”

Professor Paselet was half convinced.

Peeking into the future was a thrill incomparable to anything else.

There was no way a mere freshman wizard could restrain himself. It would be dangerous if he wasn’t watched for a while.

“Lee Han isn’t that kind of person.”

Professor Garcia waved his hand as if it was fine. As before, Professor Paselet was even more surprised by this unexpected side of the kind Professor Garcia.

What on earth…?

“Professor Garcia. You know all freshmen have empty Ironheads…”

“I know. But Lee Han isn’t like that.”

“Is it because he’s a genius? You know geniuses are even more dangerous in cases like this.”

If you had no talent, maybe not, but in magic, talented people were more dangerous.

They’d end up sinking deep into the swamp of magic without the ability to protect themselves…

“That’s true. But Lee Han isn’t like that.”

Professor Garcia was firm.

There was no way Lee Han’s personality would let him do anything reckless.

A conviction beyond talent or magical ability!

“…???”

Of course, from Professor Paselet’s perspective, this was even more bewildering.

‘What on earth…?’

While Professor Paselet was at a loss for words, Professor Garcia turned his attention to the students.

He’d warned them enough about the dangers of divination magic, so now it was time to talk about its advantages.

No matter how dangerous divination magic was, wizards were ultimately a breed that jumped into danger.

If you weren’t even interested because it was dangerous, there was no reason to become a wizard.

“Now, I’m sure you were all surprised by how different and unique divination magic is compared to other magics.”

The students nodded. Some just wiggled their fingers from where they lay on the floor—students who had tried divination and failed.

“But the magic you tried today was quite… difficult. Not all divination magic is that hard.”

‘Then shouldn’t you have shown us the easy magic first?’

Lee Han listened with a sour expression, having ended up attempting a very difficult magic several times.

If he hadn’t had so much mana, he’d be sprawled on the classroom floor like his friends.

“Divination magic can be used for a variety of things, from finding hidden objects in the classroom, to recalling knowledge you’ve missed or forgotten, to spotting mistakes in your own magic circles. Many wizards who study other schools of magic also learn a bit of divination magic.”

If you dug deep, there was no magic as dangerous as divination, but if you only dabbled, it was quite convenient and versatile.

Since it assisted the wizard’s mind, it went well with any branch of magic.

“So, if you’re interested in divination magic, it’s not a bad idea to take Professor Craer’s class. Just don’t forget to always be humble before the future.”

Despite the earlier commotion, Professor Garcia’s words were persuasive, and quite a few students decided to take divination magic.

As the lecture ended and the students filed out, they chatted about what they could do with divination magic and what they would do.

“Good work, Professor Craer.”

“What did I do? It was all Professor Garcia.”

At Professor Paselet’s words, Professor Garcia waved his hands.

“You’re the one teaching, Professor Craer. I’m just worried that too many students will sign up because of me.”

If Professor Mortum of dark magic had heard this, he would have wept tears of blood.

The privilege of professors who handled popular magic!

But Professor Paselet replied as if he didn’t care.

“Most of them will just learn the basics and leave anyway.”

Unlike other magics, the dropout rate for divination magic was quite high.

It was so useful at a basic level, but the higher you went, the more dangerous it became, so it was only natural.

Because of that, Professor Paselet wasn’t very interested in recruiting disciples.

If he got lucky, he’d get one; if not, oh well.

“Still, wasn’t there any student who seemed promising?”

“It’s hard to spot a genius in divination magic early on, unlike other magics. Professor Garcia, you’re extremely rare.”

Professor Paselet grumbled.

Professor Garcia cherished his students, but Professor Paselet didn’t care much.

It was nearly impossible to show talent in divination magic as a first-year.

You’d spend your whole first year practicing the ‘relatively’ easy divination magics, and even if you started real fortune-telling in your second year, it was hard to spot talent.

Just succeeding at divination was extremely difficult (it required intuition and inspiration), and you also had to be able to interpret those uncertain futures…

“And that one. Is he really okay? You said other professors are interested. You’re not going to come to me later and make me take responsibility, are you?”

If a cherished student collapsed coughing up blood from secretly practicing divination magic, who would the other professors blame?

Professor Paselet didn’t want to take that risk.

“He’ll be fine.”

‘I’m not so sure…’

Just then, Lee Han and his friends walked out. Professor Paselet listened in, intending to eavesdrop on the first-years’ conversation.

“I’m going to practice hard and try to remember the order of my shuffled deck. So, Lee Han, you kept throwing stones and trying divination earlier. Did you see anything?”

Professor Paselet shook his head inwardly.

He’d just explained it, and they’d already forgotten.

That kind of scatterbrained personality wasn’t suited for divination magic.

‘I said several times that if you fail, you don’t see anything…’

“Hmm. Some brief images did flash by…”

“?!”

Professor Paselet’s eyes widened.

What?

‘So he didn’t fail… Wait… This isn’t the time to scold the first-years.’

He had just assumed Lee Han had failed, but come to think of it, Lee Han had never said he failed at stone divination. Amazingly, he had succeeded and then tried again!

‘He must have paid the price for success…’

No matter how vague and uncertain the image, the moment you saw the future, the price was enormous.

But to do that several times, without showing any sign…

‘He’s a natural!’

One of the talents for divination magic.

That was being someone whose body could easily pay the price.

It sounded like a joke, but in a way, it was the most important talent.

If one wizard had to pay in blood to see the future, and another only had to pay in mana, the latter had an overwhelming advantage.

That student was definitely someone who paid the price in mana.

‘But to pay the price in mana, you’d need an enormous amount…’

He’d heard Lee Han had a lot of mana, but Professor Paselet was confused.

No matter how much mana he had, to pay the price for success entirely in mana, and to repeat it several times…

Is that even possible?

Could it be the first-year’s misunderstanding?

It wasn’t uncommon for a young wizard to mistakenly think they’d seen the future.

The professor listened even more closely than before, to hear the rest of the conversation.

“What did you see? What did you see?!”

“I was cooking roast beef.”

“Roast beef…! Tomorrow’s menu is roast beef!”

“It’s not certain. Even if you see the future, it can always change.”

“No, Lee Han. We can make the future ourselves.”

Gainando said, his voice full of anticipation.

“What are you talking about?”

“Tomorrow’s menu is roast beef.”

“Roast beef?! I love that! What kind of meat? Is it lamb?”

“What roast beef?”

“The Blue Dragon Tower guys say they’re having roast beef tomorrow.”

“Damn. Those annoying guys.”

Professor Paselet frowned deeply.

It was an important moment, but the other first-year students were just making pointless comments.

“For now, what I saw was roast beef made with beef.”

“Beef…!”

“Beef is good!”

“Those guys. Did they come to magic school just to eat? You can’t become a great wizard if you’re full!”

Despite the jealous words of the White Tiger Tower students, Professor Paselet’s mind was elsewhere.

Even if you succeeded at divination, what kind of image you saw and how you saw it varied from wizard to wizard.

Still, the important factors were clarity and specificity.

The clearer and more specific the image, the greater the diviner.

If he could see even the type of meat…

Professor Paselet muttered with a dazed look.

“Beef… beef… beef…!”

“Did your personality change again?”

Professor Garcia, who had come out behind, asked curiously.