Episode 505

“Be careful—he has a lot of mana.”

Professor Voladi gathered the transmutation wizards in a circle and accurately revealed Lee Han’s weakness.

He told them that Lee Han had an enormous amount of mana, so not to engage in a test of strength, but to attack him in a variety of ways.

Lee Han, standing in the back, was dumbfounded.

‘Is he an ally or an enemy?’

Even if Professor Voladi wanted Lee Han to experience and overcome a variety of transmutation magics, at this point it felt more like he was cursing him to lose.

What kind of wizard exposes their student’s weaknesses so thoroughly before a duel?

Might as well take his staff away and make him fight barehanded!

“Oh. So that’s the secret!”

The dwarf wizard who had dueled Lee Han did not seem disappointed by Voladi’s words, but rather marveled.

How much mana must someone have for this to happen?

“Incredible. Truly incredible! I’ve seen wizards born with a lot of mana, but even they couldn’t do this.”

“Thank you for saying so.”

“But is it okay to tell us all this before a duel…?”

“……”

At the dwarf wizard’s very valid point, Lee Han was left speechless.

But what could he do?

He couldn’t look like an ungrateful disciple bad-mouthing his master in front of outsiders.

Gritting his teeth, Lee Han defended Professor Voladi.

“My master trusts me that much.”

“How moving!”

The dwarf wizard was moved as if it were his own affair.

At first, he suspected the crazy professor might be abusing his disciple, but now he regretted thinking so.

“Then, who will duel next?”

“Me, me! Let me have a go!”

Now, a human wizard volunteered in response to the dwarf’s words.

“Really, you have no shame. You’re too strong.”

Professor Voladi’s expression brightened just a tiny bit.

Conversely, Lee Han’s face darkened.

“But you already fought too, didn’t you?”

“I’m nothing compared to you. Don’t you remember breaking that mercenary’s neck in the last duel?”

“That was a mishap because the mercenary was stubborn…”

It seemed the transmutation wizards were close and always ready to chat cheerfully when possible.

Lee Han listened next to them, looking sullen.

‘It’d be nice if they just kept chatting and forgot about me.’

“Begin.”

“Ah. I almost forgot. Here I come!”

At the professor’s words, the human wizard stepped up to the dueling stage.

You could tell at a glance that he was experienced and relaxed. He had clearly fought in a lot of these magical duels.

Lee Han glanced at Professor Voladi.

Though his look was resentful, the professor nodded as if he understood something else.

‘You can do it.’

‘I don’t know what he meant by that nod, but I want to fire my spell at him instead.’

• * *

Instead of toying with Lee Han with all sorts of flashy, diverse transmutation magic, the human wizard turned his staff into chains and wrapped them around him.

‘What’s this?’

Didn’t Professor Voladi call the transmutation wizards several times and emphasize—

He has abnormally strong mana so don’t engage in contests of strength, approach him from a variety of directions.

Such a straightforward method?

Lee Han was puzzled, but tried to seize control of the chains.

If he transformed steel into steel again, he could claim the magic as his own…

The human wizard shouted in admiration to the audience.

“He really did seize control! Look at this!”

“Wow, just how much mana do you need to make that possible?”

“Let’s try to calculate it together. The mana must be…”

“What’s a similar case? Didn’t that magic not work during the Ghost Forest incident 22 years ago, and it caused issues?”

“A good example! We can use that as a basis.”

Instead of attacking Lee Han, the human wizard engaged in a test of strength.

He cast spells to reclaim the lost control, but it was like dropping water on a rock—it kept bouncing off.

“Magic really doesn’t work! Look at this!”

The transmutation wizards in the audience applauded enthusiastically. It was like watching the Empire’s most popular opera.

“Me too! Me too! Let me try next!”

“I want to try it too!”

“……”

As the mood went in the opposite direction of what he’d expected, Professor Voladi’s face darkened.

A fierce duel from which one could learn should have proceeded in an atmosphere of deadly tension.

It was only by reproaching yourself for a mistake and raging at defeat that a serious duel could happen.

But now, the transmutation wizards were treating this not as a chance to seriously take each other apart, but as a “once-in-a-lifetime, rare magical experience.”

Instead of bloodlust, the happy wizards were raising hands and queueing, which was disappointing in itself.

“Uh… I’m sorry.”

Professor Reji tried to soothe him from the side, but Voladi’s pained expression did not change.

• * *

The transmutation wizards, who had each queued up to experience spell reflection, were extremely satisfied.

The transmutation wizards were happy, and Lee Han, who had avoided getting beaten up in a duel, was also happy. Everyone except Professor Voladi was content.

“This was the most satisfying thing I saw at today’s event.”

“What! Earlier you said the magic I showed you was most satisfying.”

“Oh. Sorry!”

“Haha. It’s alright! My magic can be second place! But it’s really fascinating. Can I try just one more time?”

“We agreed to only let everyone do it once! Please act like a gentleman!”

“I want to replicate this as a defensive spell, I’ll write you when I get home.”

“How about doing it together? I’d like to participate.”

“That would be an honor.”

‘Umm.’

Having been suddenly surrounded and seated at a table with the cheering transmutation wizards, Lee Han gradually felt awkward.

He felt the awkwardness even more acutely as everyone except him seemed to be old friends.

‘Shouldn’t the professors or seniors be coming by now? I’m just a first-year.’

Normally, when outsiders just keep chatting like this, the hosts should have a coordinator or supervisor come by and join in, but something felt off.

Why was Lee Han the only one here?

“Wardanaz, are you interested in transmutation magic?”

“Yes. I’m studying other kinds of magic as well, though.”

“Oh my! That must be hard.”

“At least you can study transmutation magic together, where else could you?”

“That’s true. By the way, Wardanaz. If you come to my estate, you must stop by once.”

“If you ever come to my domain, you’ll have to visit! It’s a bit remote, but it’s beautiful!”

“……”

Lee Han tried hard not to lose his grip.

These transmutation wizards were not people who tossed around “Let’s have a meal together sometime” lightly.

Once they said it, they’d seriously try to set a date and start exchanging letters.

“I research mainly metals. If you’re interested in metal transmutation, contact me.”

“I’m focusing on biological transformations. You can try…”

While the wizards chatted Lee Han’s ear off, the seniors stood at a distance, watching.

“Oh…”

“Amazing…”

It wasn’t admiration for Lee Han’s magical abilities earlier.

They were impressed by how—after being bombarded with conversation by all these transmutation wizards—he didn’t waver or sweat, but answered them all smoothly.

Impressive!

“Shouldn’t we help our junior?”

“Yeah. …You go.”

“N-no. Let’s go together, then.”

“……”

“……”

The seniors timidly looked at each other, each waiting for the other to step forward first.

None of them really wanted to get mixed up in that table of transmutation wizards.

“You said you needed to talk to someone about bat transformations…”

“You said you had to ask about the new metal, too.”

Professor Reji, who had returned late after somehow placating Professor Voladi, was speechless at the sight of his students pressed up to the wall.

You little punks!

• * *

Lee Han bundled together the addresses he had received from the transmutation wizards. The stack was almost as thick as a small book.

“Professor. Please don’t worry too much.”

Professor Voladi’s back looked especially sad as they walked back after the class was over.

Frankly, Lee Han didn’t care that much if the professor was sad or not, but Voladi was a special case.

The sadder he became, the more unpredictable his insane behavior could be.

“I learned a lot about transmutation magic.”

This wasn’t just empty flattery.

Just listening to these people, each researching a different field of transmutation magic, truly broadened his perspective.

Be it a wizard who could transform into all sorts of animals, one who memorized the names of hundreds of metals and could transform one to another, or those researching this kind of transmutation magic offensively, digging into curses that would decompose the enemy, or those focusing on the direction of mana rather than matter itself.

Of course, Professor Voladi would only truly be satisfied if Lee Han had experienced all this first-hand and rolled around getting beaten up, but there was no need to only learn by getting pummelled.

“So, what kind of magic do you plan to learn?”

“!”

Lee Han realized his mistake at the professor’s question. The way he now asked expressionlessly showed he wasn’t sad at all.

‘Damn. Still not enough.’

It was natural, after claiming to have learned a lot, for him to ask, ‘So, which magic will you learn?’

How could he still make such a careless mistake after all this?

‘The easiest one today was…’

Lee Han frantically racked his brain. He felt even more desperate than when he fought the Ghoul King.

What transmutation spell could he name that wouldn’t get vetoed by the professor as “too easy,” but also wouldn’t be torturous to practice, while still showing a bit of results and buying some time?

“Transformation magic!”

“?”

Lee Han turned, startled, as someone else answered for him.

The dwarf wizard from earlier at the event was waving his hand with a cheerful smile.

“You showed the most interest in it, and there’s no spell as useful as transformation magic, is there?”

“Hm.”

Professor Voladi looked at the dwarf as if to say, go on.

The dwarf wizard, burning with the ambition to pull the Wardanaz family boy into his own field, declared passionately:

“I believe transformation magic is the pinnacle of transmutation. In combat it’s helpful accordingly, and in non-combat it’s just as useful. Stealth? If you can turn into a bird or a mouse, you can go anywhere. Escape? How often are you truly without animals nearby?”

The dwarf wizard tried hard to persuade the professor.

After hearing it out, Professor Voladi nodded, apparently satisfied.

“Alright. That’s reasonable.”

“I knew you’d be satisfied! In that case, may I lend him a book?”

“Ah… no.”

Lee Han, who had been listening absent-mindedly, instinctively came to his senses and cut in.

He sensed that letting things continue like this would be dangerous.

“That is too much. How could I possibly accept…”

To a wizard, a grimoire was not just a book.

It was their root and their very foundation.

Wizards would not easily lend them to others. Some wouldn’t hesitate to kill over a single grimoire.

“Wardanaz. Of course, lending one’s book isn’t ordinary. But meetings are no easy thing either. If a wizard like you keeps taking an interest in transmutation magic—in particular, transformation magic—how delightful would that be?”

“You can’t just learn transformation magic.”

Professor Voladi spoke from the side, but the dwarf wizard pretended not to hear.

And before Lee Han could protest, he pressed a grimoire into his hands.

“If you have any questions, write me. You can visit during vacation, too.”

“Ah… what is this…”

“Oh. Please keep it secret from the other wizards that I came to you.”

“……”