Episode 524

“Finally!”

“Good job.”

When Lee Han finally succeeded in changing his hair color, Professor Yonramo applauded.

Lee Han tilted his head at the applause.

‘Is this really worth applause?’

The other friends had already changed their hair color, and those like Yoner who were quick to pick things up were already trying to draw pictures on their nails…

Sensing Lee Han’s confusion, Professor Yonramo discreetly stopped clapping and spoke.

“You don’t need to worry about being slow right now. Just think about all the other things you’ve transformed.”

There was no question about Lee Han’s talent for transformation magic.

He’d managed to succeed at transforming mercury, one of the hardest metal transformations, by sheer persistence.

Even if transforming external objects and doing self-transformation were different, the principle was the same in the end…

Pop!

Just then, Lee Han turned one strand of his hair into blazing fire. Professor Yonramo paused in surprise.

…Maybe it’ll take him a bit longer?

• * *

While Lee Han’s friends desperately tried to cut off his hair-turned-steel strand, Professor Yonramo cleared his throat and said,

“The final exam will be on transformation magic. I know everyone’s having fun turning their hair or nails, but this is only the beginning.”

He didn’t want to spoil the students’ good mood, but it couldn’t be helped.

The final couldn’t be just changing the color of hair or nails.

“Don’t tell me we’ll have to transform our whole body…?”

“Of course, not quite that much.”

Professor Yonramo gave a small smile and waved his arm.

Professor Yonramo’s arm transformed into an ogre’s arm.

“Just turning one arm is all that’s needed.”

“……”

‘That’s still hard…’

Students who’d hoped maybe a finger joint would suffice were crestfallen.

Professor Yonramo was a bit flustered at that reaction.

‘Huh?’

He’d thought ‘just one arm’ was lenient compared to other professors, expecting reactions like, ‘Wow, our professor is so generous!’ or ‘We’re so lucky to be taking transformation magic!’

‘How strange?’

“Is turning an arm difficult?”

“……”

“Ah, no?”

“It’s not hard!”

The quick-witted students replied at once.

From their Einrogard experience, they instinctively knew there was nothing to gain by upsetting a professor.

“Choose whichever nonliving or living thing fits your aptitude. Remember the characteristics of what you pick, and start with something familiar. For Shyles, your favorite animal; for Yoner, a reagent you’ve used a lot. Lee Han…”

Professor Yonramo looked Lee Han up and down and hesitated.

“…Well, just do whatever you want.”

“?!”

The utter nonchalance threw Lee Han off.

‘Ugh. That made it even harder to choose.’

Picking what he was familiar with actually made it harder.

For now…

‘Lightning, water, or dark elements… don’t seem good.’

Turning his arm into something like lightning, water, or formless dark was one of the hardest forms of transformation magic.

To turn irregular, surging elemental energy into one’s own flesh and keep its form took attention to too many details.

‘If Professor Voladi saw me specializing in lightning element, he’d be overjoyed.’

Voladi, who always pushed for lightning element, would probably be thrilled and tell him to try right away.

For his own safety, Lee Han resolved to pick something safer.

‘I haven’t done much with wood or earth. Steel… steel, maybe?’

As he deliberated, Lee Han wondered if he should switch from nonliving to living choices.

“Hmm. What creatures am I used to… Sharkan, griffon, basilisk, skeleton…?”

“……”

Yoner, struggling with brass transformation nearby, was shocked by the muttering.

“Lee Han. You know, if you transform into the wrong dangerous creature, you could get attacked by it, right?”

‘And skeletons aren’t even alive…’ thought Shyles to himself.

The danger in transforming into a creature was unpredictability.

There were plenty of recorded cases of wizards transforming a limb into part of a monster and then being attacked by that monster.

“True, Sharkan, griffon, and basilisk are all dangerous.”

-?

The baby basilisk, listening quietly, was baffled.

Sharkan and griffon, fine—but why was basilisk in that group?

“Hmm. Maybe I’ll try starting with Sharkan’s front paw…”

Deciding to begin with the claw and gradually work up to a full front paw, Lee Han swung his staff.

“Arm, become a beast’s forepaw…”

Pop!

Lee Han’s arm suddenly turned into a skeleton’s arm, then into a troll’s arm.

And it didn’t stop there. Then it became a giant’s arm, then Sharkan’s front paw, then a griffon’s foreleg, then a basilisk’s head, then a dragon’s foreleg…

His arm rapidly cycled through all those uncontrollably and finally managed to revert to normal.

His friends, already alarmed, had backed far away.

“…I’d better practice more calmly.”

Lee Han resolved to do more prep before his next attempt.

Clearly, the method of expanding one transformable body part at a time didn’t suit him.

• * *

“Haha. Today let’s just do a hundred laps of the field, tag the mountain peak over there, and then cross the river with these special weights I prepared.”

“……”
“……”

As finals approached, Professor Ingeldel’s classes were growing more and more punishing.

Lee Han wasn’t sure if this was the original curriculum or just Professor Ingeldel being influenced by the Einrogard atmosphere.

Truthfully, Professor Ingeldel’s class wasn’t wrong.

Wizards might explore phenomena through theory and scholarship, but swordsmen had to find things out with their own bodies and senses.

Want to master a deep, profound sword technique?

Throw your body in and experience it firsthand.

Want to learn secret sword skills?

Same thing—throw yourself in and experience it.

Want to awaken aura?

Even more so with your body…

“That’s why it’s never a waste to sweat.”

Professor Ingeldel rapped his wooden sword and spoke sternly.

Einrogard students, being magic-focused, often lacked in physical training even if they were from knightly families.

It wasn’t incomprehensible, but Professor Ingeldel felt it was his job to fix that.

“Understood? The senses from a trained body help you control mana…”

“Huff, huff.”

“Cough!”

“P-Professor…”

A White Tiger Tower student, soaked in sweat and with bloodshot eyes, asked a question.

“Why isn’t Wardanaz running?”

“……”

Lee Han glared at the student.

‘This guy…’

Professor Ingeldel had told Lee Han, ‘You’d better rest today,’ and he’d happily agreed and sat down—but now he was being dragged in by the ankles.

If your friend survived, you should be glad, but this was just plain annoying.

“I’m not from a knight family…”

“Wardanaz is still recovering from the chaos at the festival.”

Professor Ingeldel stretched his arm muscles and replied as if it were obvious.

Lee Han, who’d thought he was getting a pass for not being a knight family student, paused.

“Uh. You knew?”

“Of course I heard, Wardanaz. You think I wouldn’t know?”

The elf swordsman looked at Lee Han incredulously.

By now, the White Tiger Tower upperclassmen were already whispering excitedly.

-We have such a prodigy in our tower!
-Professor, do you know which family he’s from? Which great house could it be…?

Professor Ingeldel, excited, couldn’t bear to disappoint the students and said nothing further.

“I heard from the principal you let a demon borrow your body?”

“Oh, that… Actually, the demon took it by force.”

Wanting to avoid nagging, Lee Han subtly pinned the blame on Anpurusas.

Anpurusas was a demon anyway, so he wouldn’t care about being cursed.

“But the principal said you let him borrow it?”

“…He was mistaken.”

“Oh, I see?”

Professor Ingeldel honestly didn’t care.

Whether Lee Han had let it happen or been forced didn’t matter.

“So, when can you summon the demon again?”

“Uh… I’m not sure? Why do you ask?”

“It’d be great if you could manage it soon.”

“……”

Lee Han couldn’t believe his ears.

‘Did the Skull Principal threaten him at swordpoint? Or steal his body himself?’

But Professor Ingeldel’s intent was sincere.

“Wardanaz. Every swordsman values opportunities to learn from greater swordsmen more than gold. You got an opportunity to perform the swordsmanship of a swordsman greater than yourself, with your own body!”

“……”

Professor Ingeldel was passionate for once, but Lee Han’s eyes were cold as an abyss.

‘Did the Skull Principal steal his body…’

Of course, there was some logic to Ingeldel’s thinking.

But if you took logic as the standard, Professor Voladi’s insistence that fighting giants would improve your magic made sense too.

Isn’t Lee Han’s life more important than logic?

He almost let slip something harsh, but remembered the professor’s status and swallowed it down.

“Unfortunately, the demon doesn’t exactly take orders from me, so it’s unlikely he’ll come just because I ask.”

“Ah, that’s too bad.”

Professor Ingeldel sighed in disappointment.

What a great opportunity!

“Huff, p-professor… does Wardanaz really… isn’t he really unwell?”

“I’m telling you.”

“…You’re lying! He seemed perfectly fine playing polo!”

A White Tiger Tower student shouted from the ground.

Lee Han’s expression didn’t change as he answered.

“Professor Lightningstep gave me a numbing potion and made me play.”

“……”
“……”

The White Tiger Tower students quietly got up and started running again.

Professor Ingeldel looked appalled from the side.

No matter how important the match, that was a bit much.

• * *

“Huff, huff, cough.”

“Cough, cough.”

When they returned, the White Tiger Tower students looked at the professor with eyes filled with venom.

Professor Ingeldel ignored it and addressed the exhausted students.

“Today’s light training wasn’t just to build stamina for the finals, but also because I have something to teach you.”

Surprisingly, Professor Ingeldel didn’t teach sword skills directly.

He’d answer questions about techniques, but rarely directly taught any new skills.

That was partly because the White Tiger Tower students were all from knight families.

They all grew up learning their family’s swordsmanship, and even if other styles seemed tempting, they wouldn’t easily switch.

Given that, Professor Ingeldel focused on general principles helpful to anyone, rather than interfering with their sword technique.

So the students, even while suffering, were curious when he said he had something new to teach.

“It’s how to imbue your sword with willpower. Wardanaz, do you harbor any grudges against anyone?”

“Huh?”

Lee Han paused at the question.

There were too many.