Episode 509

Episode 509

For some reason, it felt as if there was more distance between Direte and himself. Lee Han called out to his senior once again.

“Senior?”

“I didn’t expect you to be practicing bone explosion magic…”

Dark wizards who specialized in the bone element were persistently powerful in group battles.

They could not only strengthen various undead but also launch direct attacks and defenses.

Especially, once you reached bone explosion, you became a dark wizard that enemies prioritized subduing above all.

A single well-cast bone explosion had tremendous destructive power.

But where there are advantages, there are also disadvantages.

Aside from the massive mana consumption, bone explosion was a spell that was not easily used.

If you cast it at close range and made a mistake, a dark wizard could fall. If you tried to cast from as far as possible, the spell’s difficulty increased exponentially.

The further the distance, the weaker the wizard’s interference.

The best method was causing a bone explosion among summons called forth from the undead plane, but the summons themselves didn’t like self-destruction much.

But this junior overcame such limitations through ancient necromancy and enormous mana reserves.

He protected himself with a water shield and mercilessly exploded his undead—a feat that not even seasoned dark wizards could easily imitate.

…But, did he really have to go this far as a first-year???

“Ah. Professor Mortum told me to practice bone explosion.”

“Hm… So, what they meant by practice bone explosion was… not this.”

Direte wanted to say, ‘Usually when they tell you to practice bone explosion, it means to do it carefully in a workshop, not in live-combat dungeon conditions,’ but he held his tongue for his junior’s sake.

“Bone explosion is the spell where the most accidents happen, and you’re even combining it with the dark element, so you need to be extra careful.”

“Yes. I’ll always have at least one shield up, and use the spell in a way that only detonates the summons from as much distance as possible.”

Direte could sense his undead summon trembling in fear through the connection. Direte tried to soothe his undead summon.

-Don’t worry, I have no intention of blowing you up like that.

“So, you wanted to try combining it with the poison element?”

“Yes.”

In fact, combining it with rare and tricky dark element was unusual; by default, bone element was usually combined with other elements.

The most representative among these was the poison element.

The power of bone element combined with various poisons was infamous.

“That’s a standard method. Even if you don’t have many types of poison you can use yet, it won’t hurt to practice in advance.”

Letting go of previous thoughts, Direte naturally began explaining magic again.

“But there are several points to be mindful of when using poison element, and you’ll have to tone down the power of bone explosion a lot more… Try lowering it. No, lower it more. Again! Why can’t you decrease the power? That’s the easiest part!”

• * *

After sweeping through Professor Verdus’s wooden man dungeon with his junior, Direte returned to the Hall of Dark Shadows.

Professor Mortum, who had finished his lecture first, was assembling parts of a flesh golem when he greeted Direte.

“Cough. You’re back later than I expected. Did something happen in the vampire weasel dungeon?”

“Ah, no. I went to the wooden man dungeon and practiced necromancy combined with dark element.”

“…?”

Professor Mortum thought for a while, then asked as if he couldn’t understand.

“Cough, I just told you to make a cursed doll—was there any need to teach so harshly? Did Wardarnaz offend you somehow?”

“What? No! That’s… huh?”

Direte was about to deny it, but upon thinking carefully, realized it was odd.

Uh…

Wait??

‘Why did I do that??’

• * *

Gainando also got excited for no reason when he saw that Lee Han seemed to be in a good mood.

Normally, with a face worn down by exhaustion, Lee Han muttered things like ‘I wish Einrogard and the professors would just disappear into that lake together,’ surprising Gainando, but today, he was stirring a cauldron with a cheerful face.

“Something good happen today?”

“Ah. Gainando. I succeeded in controlling multiple undead at once.”

“……”

Gainando frowned at Lee Han.

He didn’t expect him to be this happy just for that reason.

“Is controlling undead that exciting…?”

“Gainando. Do you not understand what it means for a dark wizard to control multiple undead?”

Unlike other wizards who always needed to bring guards for protection, a dark wizard skilled in summoning undead could move around alone without issue.

That meant, even when taking on requests, they didn’t have to split the reward with other adventurers—they could go solo.

“Eh… But isn’t that lonely?”

“Gainando. Magic is inherently lonely.”

“And I heard that if a dark wizard walks around with a bunch of undead alone, the professor said you’ll get reported.”

“……”

Gainando hit a sore spot, and Lee Han paused.

It was a reasonable point.

‘Guess outside, I’ll have to summon them as soon as I enter a dungeon.’

Within Einrogard, even if you walked around with undead, people would just say, ‘Oh, must be a student from the Dark Magic School,’ but outside, the reaction could be, ‘Kyaah! Guards! Guards!!’

“In that case, can I have a piece of chocolate?”

“No. Don’t fill up on snacks before dinner.”

Lee Han refused resolutely. Gainando grumbled and went to sit at the table.

Students had already gathered around the long wooden table set up in front of Phoenix Tower.

Not just the priests of the Phoenix Tower, but friends from Blue Dragon Tower, and even some students from Black Turtle Tower and White Tiger Tower…?

“Why are you here?”

Lee Han asked in confusion.

They ate together during the flood, but now that the flood was over, why were they here?

“Hoo. Wardarnaz.”

“?”

A White Tiger Tower student approached, frowning.

Then slipped a rare piece of light spirit ink into Lee Han’s hand as a bribe.

“I’m counting on you.”

“…Uh, okay.”

The White Tiger Tower students winked and took a seat. Even as he pocketed the bribe, Lee Han was dumbfounded.

‘What are these guys doing?’

“Wardarnaz. We’re counting on you, too.”

“Hey. Can’t you eat at your own tower? It’s not even a special meal today.”

“It’s not good…”

“……”

There was heartfelt sincerity in the Black Turtle Tower students’ voices.

Even Lee Han, normally cool-headed, was overwhelmed.

“Well… Okay. Take a seat.”

He hadn’t just been saying it earlier. Tonight’s dinner was actually quite simple.

It was just stew of leftover vegetables and chicken, buttered toast, grilled wild bird skewers the priests had caught, and some rice balls…

Slurp, munch!

“Someone go report those guys at White Tiger Tower.”

“I’ll do it.”

Blue Dragon Tower students were horrified by the White Tiger Tower students devouring food like starved animals.

Lee Han, unconcerned, focused on his meal. He still had a lot to do after this.

“Wardarnaz. Wardarnaz.”

“Oh. Nillia.”

Lee Han turned to Nillia calling him.

She had been eating grilled bird skewers by hand earlier but was now eating the meat separately with a knife and fork.

“Why aren’t you eating with your hands?”

“I don’t get what you mean? I always ate like this?”

Looking over, all the Blue Dragon Tower students were using knives and forks.

“Just with your hands…”

“This isn’t important right now. Did you hear the rumor?”

“What rumor?”

“The professor is preparing a dimensional gate. So we can contract with even stronger summons than last time.”

“!”

It was welcome news.

Even if you’d gathered the empire’s brightest talents, first-year students still had a lot lacking.

The best way to remedy that was, of course, summons.

“That’s good. If I can form a contract with a stronger undead…”

“Huh? No… I heard it was about spirits…”

Nillia hesitated as she spoke.

The rumor was that Professor Millei was preparing to open and connect a new spirit realm for the first-year summoning class—there was no mention of the undead plane.

“They’re not opening the undead plane?”

“I only heard about spirits.”

Nillia briefly gauged Lee Han’s reaction.

“They’ll open the undead plane, too. They did last time.”

“Y-Yeah! Of course!”

Nillia agreed with Lee Han but secretly prayed.

Please, Professor Millei, let there be an undead plane, too!

• * *

“I recently found a spirit realm suitable for contact. Upon checking, it appears to be safe enough for students to roam freely.”

Professor Millei, in a perfectly upright posture, looked around the students as he spoke.

Lee Han raised his hand and asked,

“Professor. I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Is there an undead plane as well…?”

“There’s no undead plane this time.”

“……”

Disappointment crept across Lee Han’s face. Next to him, Nillia fidgeted and whispered.

“You don’t absolutely have to contract with an undead, right? You could contract with a spirit too!”

“Sure, and one day, while walking down the street, I could stumble upon a treasure vault stacked with mountains of gold and become the richest in the empire.”

“……”

As Nillia was left speechless, Professor Millei looked at Lee Han and said,

“Lee Han, it is a prejudice to conclude that you cannot contract with a spirit. Of course, spirits tend to evade beings with abundant mana, but there are some with unique traits.”

Reassured by the professor, Lee Han asked again.

“Then, if I keep searching the spirit realms without giving up, can I find a good spirit?”

“Sometimes, giving up is important, too. Lee Han, you must know how to give up if you find nothing.”

“……”

“……”

After Professor Millei’s blunt truth, Lee Han looked back at Nillia. Nillia quickly buried her head in her desk and pretended to read a book.

“The spirits you may meet in the spirit realm are as follows…”

• * *

When students were prepared, they entered the magic circle one by one and crossed over into the spirit realm, and Lee Han’s turn finally came.

Nillia, behind him, asked quietly.

“Shall we go together?”

“No. If we go together, you might not get to meet one either.”

“……”

Nillia couldn’t protest, as that was exactly what she’d been worried about.

‘She was worried I might accept…!’

Judging from Nillia’s poorly-concealed expression, she clearly wondered, ‘What if he says yes?’

“I’ll go in first. See you later.”

Lee Han stopped teasing Nillia and stepped onto the magic circle.

It was disappointing not to make progress in class, but you couldn’t get perfect results in every lesson.

Of course, since he’d have to make up for today’s loss in other classes, Lee Han accepted it.

‘Today I’ll just relax and look around with an open mind.’

Pop!

A sense of floating and his soul shifting to another plane.

The smell of salty seawater came with the sight of an open, empty sea. It felt like he’d landed alone on a deserted island.

‘Sea or water, maybe marine-type monsters?’

The environment offered the first clues to mages trying to negotiate with denizens of other realms.

Experienced and scholarly summoners could deduce even the names of spirits just by looking at the surroundings.

Splash!

Far away, a dolphin-like spirit poked its head above the surface.

Lee Han cautiously greeted it.

“Hello, Mr. Dolphin?”

The dolphin did not reply, dove underwater, and did not resurface.

“……”

Lee Han grew disheartened.

‘Should I just try to catch it by force?’

Trying to overpower a spirit in its own realm was incredibly dangerous and reckless, but it felt better than wandering aimlessly…

Fwaaash—

“?”

The mark Lee Han had received from Upinum, after repelling the spirit flood, began to glow.

At the same time, the sea before him split to either side like an ebb tide, revealing a path on the sea floor.

It was as if the spirits were signaling him to enter.

‘A spirit paying back a favor!’

Lee Han was deeply moved.

Even small creatures return kindness; so a great spirit like Upinum, of course…!

• * *

Professor Millei, seated in a chair, frowned as the magic circle rippled.

It was a magic circle to protect the students, woven with complex spells and blessings, so rippling was not usually a good sign.

‘What’s this?’

Upon checking, he found one student was moving outside the protected area of the circle—out beyond the boundaries.

‘It’s Lee Han.’

He hadn’t confirmed who it was, but Professor Millei immediately deduced the culprit.