Episode 267

In truth, Giselle also thought it was better to learn from a Shadow Patrol member rather than the Wasteland Stargazers.

‘The Wasteland Stargazers are all about style with no substance.’

They had skills, but the excessive glorification around them made her feel resistant.

“Are you… really planning to learn from me?”

Baishada asked hesitantly.

Her voice cracked slightly because she was a bit nervous.

“Is there a problem with that?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it, but… Ahem. Just a moment.”

Baishada opened a water bottle and wet her throat.

Then she drank a potion for calming nerves—one she wouldn’t even drink while hunting giant monsters.

“To be honest, I thought you’d all go over there.”

“Shadow Patrol is better than the Wasteland Stargazers.”

At Lee Han’s words, Baishada’s black eyes sparkled. Her eyelids trembled as if deeply moved.

“Is that really so? I never thought an Einrogard student would think like this…”

In truth, it was because of his friendship with Nillia, but Lee Han’s group didn’t bother to mention it.

The sight of the hunter’s happiness was simply too touching.

Even Giselle remained silent.

“Good! I’ll help you find and capture a more impressive hunting trophy than the other students.”

Baishada said with a voice full of enthusiasm.

She never expected something like this to happen at Einrogard, where she hadn’t expected much. She was determined to tell her fellow patrol members after returning to the northern mountains.

How happy her colleagues would be!

“Uh… Just a moment.”

“?”

“Actually, we’ve… already finished preparing for the final exam assignment.”

“???”

“???”

Baishada was startled.

Deorgyu was also surprised.

“When?!”

“Weren’t you all friends?”

Baishada was flustered. The three seemed close.

“When we got chased by the lizard last time. We met a giant and got some hair from him.”

“Lee Han. I’m your friend, but that’s not something I can just let slide for friendship… That makes no sense…”

Deorgyu spoke with a pained look on his face.

Talking about getting a giant’s hair as if picking up a stone by the roadside left Deorgyu dumbfounded.

“It’s a bit of a long story.”

Lee Han briefly explained what happened.

Meeting a giant → couldn’t play chess → won a bet → escaped with the spoils.

“Was the giant that bad at chess?”

“Pretty bad.”

“……”

Giselle almost said something but held her tongue. It would only ruin her own dignity.

“Sorry about that, Deorgyu. I should have told you, but I missed the timing, thinking the other White Tiger Tower students might be disappointed or jealous.”

“It’s fine. I understand. I’m really glad.”

“Wait a minute. Mages.”

Baishada had trouble following the conversation but finally caught up.

“So, you won the bet against the giant… okay, but the rest is kind of confusing too, but fine. So does that mean you have the trophy now?”

“Yes.”

“Then what should I do?”

“…Uh… Would you join us on a hunt? We need a bit of meat.”

“……”

• * *

Baishada was a little disappointed but soon regained her spirits.

Above all, the students rated the Shadow Patrol above the Wasteland Stargazers—what did anything else matter?

“That’s right. And the important thing is the results, right? The other students will think we defeated the giant thanks to you, Baishada.”

“That’s fine… But is that really okay?”

Baishada tilted her head.

Of course, she wanted these young mages to know that the Shadow Patrol was better than the Wasteland Stargazers.

But this felt like cheating…

“It’s fine. At magic school, what matters is that if the result is good, everything is okay; that’s the lesson they teach here.”

“Really? That’s surprising.”

“??”

“???”

With some spare time now, Baishada took the three along to look for suitable game, offering various tips.

“Do you know how you should walk while climbing a slope like this?”

“Don’t rush, try to put your whole foot on the ground, and synchronize your breathing and steps to minimize fatigue.”

“That’s right! Amazing!”

Baishada was genuinely surprised.

They looked like they were from a distinguished noble family, so they probably hadn’t grown up climbing mountains.

To be this skilled despite that…

If not for their status, she would’ve thought they had learned from another Shadow Patrol member.

‘Hmmm. It’s getting harder to say anything.’

In reality, saying he learned from a Shadow Patrol member would have been awkward now.

The other person was so excited to be teaching and explaining. To say, “I’ve already learned all this,” would take real guts.

“Now, try climbing up.”

“Is this correct?”

“Right! You’re doing great!”

“……”

Knowing Nillia, Deorgyu looked at Lee Han with bewildered eyes.

Lee Han pretended not to notice.

• * *

Baishada skewered several birds she had shot down. After plucking and gutting them, the roasted birds were a delicacy for hunters.

“Is it because it’s Phoenix Festival season? The fire is quite strong.”

Baishada worked to control the strongly roaring flames as she grilled.

Lee Han, who had already been warned by Professor Voladi, didn’t dismiss Baishada’s words.

‘The energy of fire really must be getting stronger.’

“By the way, has a phoenix ever been summoned at the magic school?”

“A phoenix??”

All three students were startled by the question.

A phoenix.

Wasn’t it one of the rarer fantastic beasts? A monster whose origin was unknown.

“I’ve never seen one; why do you ask, Baishada?”

“Oh. I’ve never seen one either, but I’ve heard that very occasionally, they appear during the festival. If one does show up, wouldn’t it be at the magic school? Being a fantastic beast, it’d like places with lots of mana.”

“Hahaha. If that were the case, the magic school would already be swarming with monsters, Baishada.”

Deorgyu laughed as he spoke. Lee Han thought to himself.

‘It already feels half like a monster den.’

The fact that fantastic beasts are drawn to places with abundant mana was rather ominous information.

To shake off the unease, Lee Han shook his head and spoke to Baishada.

“You have quite the archery skills.”

“Thank you. Would you like to try?”

“I’m not too confident in archery, I’m afraid.”

Lee Han was willing to try almost anything, but archery was a bit much for him.

He knew how to nock an arrow and fire at a target. He had learned the basics from old knight Allarlong.

But hitting a small moving target from a distance was another matter entirely. That required excruciating effort.

“Well, archery takes a long time to get used to. And there’s really no need for a mage to master it. But, how about casting magic on the arrow before you shoot? Some magic is made for things like this, isn’t it?”

Baishada brought this up because she was not a mage.

An experienced mage would have realized how far-fetched her suggestion was.

Instead of skillfully landing a shot with years of practice, she was suggesting to just stack all kinds of enchantments on an arrow.

It sounded plausible at first, but in reality the cost far outweighed the results.

To enchant every arrow multiple times before every shot.

Even the simplest enchantments weren’t cheap on mana.

Plus, stacking several enchantments on an object as small as an arrow increased both the mana cost and the difficulty, by a lot.

But as a still-inexperienced first-year, Lee Han thought it was a pretty good idea.

‘I really have picked up some decent enchantments lately.’

Lately, Lee Han had mostly been studying absurd attributes like ‘levitation,’ ‘automatic defense,’ and ‘reflection,’ but there were easier ones.

Attributes that enhanced power, like ‘acceleration,’ ‘weight increase,’ or ‘piercing power boost.’

Or those that helped in other ways: ‘shake removal,’ ‘accuracy enhancement,’ ‘aiming aid.’

Lee Han was already used to working with orb-shaped magic. He thought he’d need to try stacking these enchantments sometime.

It was difficult to put additional magic on objects he kept conjured with his own mana, like water orbs. But…

With things like arrows, which existed without his mana, it would be relatively easier.

‘I’ll start with the arrow. If that works, next will be steel orbs.’

Arrow, steel orb, water orb—difficulty increased in that order, so starting with an arrow was a good idea.

“Speed up, increase in weight. Get sharper.”

Deorgyu and Giselle, who had been watching while munching on roast bird, looked on with interest.

Giselle in particular thought, ‘What’s he doing this time?’ but was still intrigued.

“Lee Han. Have you also learned -Minor Weight Increase- and -Minor Piercing Boost-?”

“They covered it in class, didn’t they?”

Strictly speaking, Professor Verdus hadn’t really taught it, but it was one of many beginner enchantments listed in the book.

“It was included, but it was near the end.”

Still, those two were closer to the back, and with so many required spells to practice, most students didn’t bother touching them.

There was already plenty to work on.

“I practiced -Minor Weight Increase- because I needed to test it for something.”

“I see. …And -Minor Piercing Boost-?”

“I’m trying that for the first time now.”

“……”

“……”

For the first time ever, Deorgyu and Giselle thought exactly the same.

This is ridiculous…

‘Wait, what am I thinking?’

Deorgyu shook his head to clear his mind.

Lee Han was a great friend, but every now and then, when he showed his magical talent, you just wanted to scream, ‘Stop cheating already.’

“Man, you’re really annoying.”

“…Moradi! Don’t say that to your teammate!”

“Why are you so dramatic all of a sudden? What’s wrong?”

Regardless of what his friends were saying, Lee Han cast the next spell.

He sped it up, increased its weight, boosted its penetration, enhanced accuracy, improved aim…

‘What else could I add? Ah. Shake removal.’

“Vibration, settle down…”

Lee Han, waving his staff, stopped suddenly. The spell bounced back without being cast successfully.

No matter how many times he tried, it was the same.

“What’s wrong, Lee Han?”

“Ah. Right. I forgot.”

The more enchantments you stack on an arrow, the greater the mana cost and the higher the casting difficulty became.

He had stacked so much already, it was natural that it wouldn’t accept any more.

“……”

“……”

“Shouldn’t you realize that before actually casting?”

Baishada tilted her head and asked the two White Tiger Tower students.

They pretended not to hear.

“Then let’s leave it at this.”

“Try hitting that rock over there.”

Lee Han steadied his breath and aimed.

He could feel the complex and intricate magical structure on the arrow.

Because he had enhanced its accuracy and aim, it felt much more stable and comfortable than just nocking and shooting.

Twang!

Crack!

With a crumbling sound, the flying arrow bored about a third of the way into the rock.

Lee Han felt disappointed with where it ended up, as it was quite far from his intended center.

‘Is this all I get with two enchantments?’

“This is quite difficult.”

“What is he…?”

Baishada stared at Lee Han as if he were a monster.

He wasn’t even a skilled archer; if he could just stick an arrow into a rock, that was a perfectly good result. There was no reason to be disappointed about missing the exact center.