Episode 507

The unfamiliar crow beast-wizard picked up the straw doll in his arms and set it down.

“It may look roughly made, but it’s actually a sturdy item, reinforced with magic.”

The dark element was powerful and unique, but it wasn’t an element that would easily infuse into just any object.

Even with an easier element like water, you could at least find waterproof objects, but for the dark element, it was easier to just look for things that could accept the element at all.

Its powerful and unique property that opposes life itself was actually a hindrance in this process.

That’s why even these seemingly crude straw dolls had to be specially prepared with magical treatment.

“Of course, even so, it still takes a fair amount of time. You have to repeatedly soak it in dark element dozens of times.”

For those who didn’t know magic, magic seemed flashy, but in reality, the bulk of magic was tedious repetition and groundwork.

Even making a simple curse straw doll took much longer than one would think.

“All right. Give it a try.”

“Yes.”

Lee Han swung his staff and summoned the dark element.

With the straw doll right in front of him, it was actually easier than usual.

He didn’t need to worry about controlling his strength; he simply summoned the dark element directly into the straw doll and let it absorb it.

However, as the straw doll absorbed the dark element, there was such an excess of the element that it materialized visibly behind Lee Han, emanating waves of energy.

Direte shook his head and opened the window to let in a breeze.

As someone who specialized in handling the dark element, Direte had strong resistance, but even he couldn’t let his guard down in front of this junior.

One careless mistake and Professor Mortum’s dark magic hall could end up quarantined.

“Lower the mana. That’s enough already.”

“Oh. Really?”

“Look behind y— Never mind. Stay focused.”

Direte wanted to tell him to look behind, but just ventilated the room further.

If Lee Han lost focus and something happened, it could be a disaster.

Squake—

The straw doll, having absorbed the dark element, began shrinking rapidly in size.

Lee Han was amazed to see the straw doll shrivel to almost palm-sized.

“Is it designed this way to compress the dark element and keep it from leaking?”

“No. It just shrank because it’s finished.”

“……”

“……”

The curse doll, which should have taken weeks to make, was finished instantly, but Direte stayed calm.

“Professor! I’ll step into the next dungeon for a moment!”

“Why?”

“The straw doll is finished!”

“What? Cough, how did… Oh. I see. Go ahead.”

Professor Mortum also just coughed a few times and accepted the situation calmly.

All the dark wizards except Lee Han took the whole thing in stride.

“Is it really okay for it to finish this fast? Isn’t there a problem…?”

“No. It just finished quickly because you poured too much dark element in. The structure is simple, so there’s nothing likely to go wrong—you can relax.”

Direte paused mid-sentence.

“Wait. Actually, something might go wrong. Don’t use too much mana. If the straw doll bursts, that’ll be trouble.”

“I thought you said it was a sturdy, magically treated item…”

Direte pretended not to hear that question from his junior.

“By the way, cough, Direte!”

Professor Mortum opened the door again and called out to Direte.

“Before heading into the dungeon—”

“You mean the defensive artifact, right? I’ll prepare it.”

Since they were taking a first-year student into the underground dungeon, equipment like defensive artifacts was essential.

“Cough. No. Bring some bones of Atalab from the second floor storage. Take care of the defensive artifact yourself… Honestly, you probably won’t even need it.”

“……”

Wasn’t he being a little too nonchalant about sending in a junior?

Direte looked at Lee Han and said,

“Don’t worry about it too much.”

“But Professor just called your name…”

“Why does a first-year about to enter a dungeon care about that kind of thing?”

• * *

There were so many large and small dungeons hidden all over Einrogard that even the skeleton headmaster couldn’t keep track of them all.

With so much strong mana in the area, it was only natural for dungeons to keep forming.

Some schools of magic students would artificially secure or manage dungeons depending on magic’s nature, and one such group was the dark magic school.

It was only natural for dark magic to require dungeons.

“…You get it? Other schools manage dungeons too, so don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not lying; go ahead and ask. If they say they don’t, that’s the real lie. I can even prove it.”

Unlike when explaining magic, Direte was now making a needlessly elaborate excuse.

Somehow, even if other schools managed dungeons, as a dark magic student he felt self-conscious about it.

“Of course wizards have to manage dungeons. They’re hard to come by outside campus.”

Each dungeon had unique traits depending on the location and environment, but they did have something in common.

Way too much mana needed to accumulate.

You needed mana to create odd phenomena, and only with those could the wizards use the dungeon—so dungeons weren’t easy to find.

“…Right?”

Direte’s voice sounded slightly relieved.

To encourage his senior, Lee Han added,

“Yes. I even had a professor take me into a Demon Ghoul dungeon.”

“…Not that.”

‘Huh?’

Lee Han was a bit taken aback at Direte’s stiff denial.

He’d only meant to reassure him…

Direte wanted to say more, but gave up and just sighed.

No point in talking. Professors weren’t going to change anyway.

“The dungeon here doesn’t have Demon Ghouls, just vampire weasels. The layout’s simple—basically a straight line, and not that deep.”

The dungeon beside the dark magic hall that Direte brought him to was pretty normal, aside from using the graves as its entrance.

Compared to the deathtrap dungeons Professor Voladi took him to, there were no hidden features or ambush points—it felt like a naturally formed underground space.

“Do you know about vampire weasels?”

“Yes.”

They weren’t powerful monsters, but they were extremely sensitive to the aura of living things.

In fact, in some regions, hunters used them instead of hounds…

“Their bite isn’t fatal, but it hurts. Wear this artifact. It’ll generate a physical forcefield for your defense.”

Lee Han accepted the artifact from Direte.

But instead of working properly, the artifact began to malfunction, giving off strange lights and sounds.

“What’s going on? There’s nothing magical around to interfere with it…”

Direte tilted his head in confusion.

Lee Han spoke cautiously.

“It might be because I’m carrying too many artifacts.”

“How many? Two?”

“…Add another zero.”

Direte, who had vowed never to be surprised by this junior again, was shocked once more. So much so that the feathers on his back stood on end.

“Why in the world do you carry so many artifacts?!”

There’s a story in imperial fairy tales about a wizard who tried to wear dozens of rings and exploded—there’s a reason for it.

More artifacts isn’t always better.

Basically, artifacts weren’t made with the idea of being worn together. The more you wore, the more likely they were to conflict.

Think of it as dozens of unfinished magical effects piling on top of a single person. Even if you don’t literally explode, you have to expect frequent malfunctions.

“But since most of them are mana absorption artifacts, it hasn’t really been an issue.”

Lee Han hurriedly explained, seeing Direte’s concern.

Mana absorption bracelets and belts.

Rings, bracelets, and necklaces that absorb fire.

Bracelets that suppress mana emission.

Though he carried many, the principles of their magic were simple and similar, so there was no real issue.

Plus, Lee Han sometimes left some out depending on the situation.

“Alright… Wait. There are still some artifacts left?”

Like a true upperclassman, Direte pointed out the remaining artifacts.

“This?”

“It’s a necklace with invisibility magic.”

“This isn’t ordinary invisibility, is it…? Where’d you get this? Wait, not important now. Anyway, this one’s fine.”

The invisibility necklace reminded Direte strangely of the skeleton headmaster, but he let it slide.

From the feel of the magic, it wouldn’t affect anything externally.

“This is a ring for underwater breathing.”

“That’s fine too. Magic like underwater breathing doesn’t really cause conflicts.”

“This is a silver spoon for poison detection.”

“Why… Have you ever been poisoned?”

“What a joke. This is a signaling copper ring.”

“That’s not the kind of artifact to cause issues either. Wait—who gave you this one?”

“The headmaster.”

“……”

“This is the Bracelet of Myriad Demons.”

“Yeah… Wait, what??”

Looking at an artifact that was obviously a culprit, Direte was appalled.

What kind of madman would put that on a first-year?

• * *

After listening to all the explanations, Direte said firmly,

“The headmaster is really insane.”

“Senior. Even trees have ears and rats have…”

“Yeah. Got it. The headmaster is seriously crazy.”

‘So cool.’

Lee Han was a little moved by the senior’s boldness.

Isn’t this what being an upperclassman means?

‘Will I be able to badmouth professors so boldly when I become a senior?’

“To give this to a first-year… Sigh. Anyway, that artifact won’t be usable together with this.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault… And honestly, someone at your level can probably handle vampire weasels easily enough.”

Direte turned back around as he spoke.

“?”

Lee Han wanted to ask what that was supposed to mean, but the unfamiliar crow beast-wizard started walking, and he missed his timing.

‘Wait a minute…’

“The reason we use vampire weasels in this dungeon is that, when it comes to the dark element, there’s nothing better for checking its effects. Stop right there for a moment.”

Direte stopped Lee Han behind him and walked forward.

After a few steps, something glinted in the darkness and crashed into Direte with a ‘thud.’

“See? It goes right for you?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s try the experiment now.”

Direte tossed out a pre-made curse doll.

The vampire weasels, as if there was an invisible wall, couldn’t get any closer to the curse doll and hesitated.

“They’re super sensitive to life force, so they really sense the ominousness from dark element. If they can’t get close, that means the doll was made successfully.”

With that, Direte gestured for Lee Han to return. It was his junior’s turn.

“……”

“……”

A heavy, silent pause.

When Lee Han stood at the front, without even throwing out a curse doll yet, the vampire weasels grew silent.

It was as if there weren’t any monsters in the dungeon at all.

Without a word, Direte had Lee Han come back.

“I’ll test your doll myself.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me for something like this…”

Direte checked the junior’s curse doll.

The vampire weasels retreated even farther back than before, so the effect was definite.

“Well done. I was a bit worried since you had so little time, but there was no need. Expanding on this basic process is the start of dark element applications.”

Things like adjusting the curse doll to specialize the curse, or letting it infuse someplace else.

Direte tossed a black-tinged bone fragment into the air and summoned skeleton warriors.

Unlike their usual form, these skeleton warriors gave off dark element energy.

Lee Han was amazed at seeing this: undead reinforcement magic, combined with other elemental magic.

Rather than just covering the bones or making them tougher, they were reinforced with all sorts of attributes.

This seemed like the level of magic a real necromancer should display.

“Impressive! Such a combination!”

“…Is it really that great? You’re kind of odd…”

Direte was taken aback by how enthusiastic Lee Han was about undead summons.

He didn’t feel bad about it, but normally nobles, especially from prestigious families, didn’t get excited over undead summons.

“Then I’ll give it a try.”

Lee Han took out a piece of bone from his reagent pouch.

“?”

At that sight, Direte was puzzled.

He hadn’t expected Lee Han to try it himself now…