Episode 57

Episode 057

Whack!
There was a dull sound.
The iron ball that Lee Han had launched with magic hit the mud golem exactly.
However, what happened next was not what Lee Han had expected.
“!”
Lee Han’s expression changed.
His connection with the iron ball had been severed.
The iron ball that became lodged in the mud golem’s massive body did not come back out.
‘I was careless.’
Lee Han clicked his tongue.
The mud golem was a monster that maintained its huge body by magic power.
If an object connected by magic power went inside, it was very likely to be disturbed by the golem’s magic power.
Clatter-
The bone summon waved its hand, as if asking to be sent in.
“Can you get it out? Then… go!”
At Lee Han’s command, the bone summon leaped in.
The bone summon, hopping up onto the mud golem, struggled desperately to remove the iron ball lodged in its back.
“……”
“……”
But the iron ball was embedded too deeply. The bone summon squeaked and flailed its hands, but could not reach the iron ball.
“That’s enough. Step back.”
The bone summon slunk back, looking dejected.
At least the mud golem hadn’t rushed at them.
‘It seems I don’t need to use the invisibility spell just yet.’
Lee Han, who had been preparing to escape just in case, steadied himself again and prepared to attack.
The iron ball was stuck…
‘But I can use a water orb.’
Though he didn’t want to admit it, it was time once again to acknowledge that Professor Voladi’s teaching was useful.
Thanks to practicing magic while evading spells hurled by Professor Voladi, Lee Han was able to summon water orbs.
The problem was the destructive power.
‘Isn’t it weaker than the iron ball?’
Even though it was pouring rain, Lee Han had sent the iron ball first because of its destructive power.
Furthermore, the iron ball was simple in its process.
Float it up, focus, fire, and that’s it.
It was heavy by nature and easy to concentrate on, so the destructive power was naturally higher.
The water orb, on the other hand, had many disadvantages. The process was much more complicated.
Summon the water, gather it into a sphere, then control and launch it.
Several times more steps than with the iron ball.
There was a reason Lee Han, who handled the iron ball perfectly, still couldn’t master the water orb and got pummeled by Professor Voladi.
“Spring forth!”
Lee Han floated a water orb for now.
Water gushed into the air and quickly formed a compressed sphere. Perhaps because of the rain, it felt much easier.
Whack!
‘It’s still not working.’
Though the water orb exploded, it was weaker than the earlier iron ball. You could tell just by the depth of the gouge in the mud.
The bone summon also seemed to sense this and shook its body in dismay.
‘Let’s think. No matter how much the professors are said to be heartless, ruthless beasts who have lost their humanity, surely they didn’t prepare a golem like this with no possible strategy.’
Lee Han fell deep into thought again.
Of course, this golem hadn’t been prepared by Professor Thunderstep, but there was no way for Lee Han to know that.
‘Professor Thunderstep probably knows I’m taking classes under Professor Voladi. They must’ve talked. If I use the magic I learned from Professor Voladi to the fullest, there might be a way.’
Spin, spin.
Lee Han looked up.
The water orb was spinning in a circle. At the sight, Lee Han snorted a laugh.
Because of all he suffered under Professor Voladi, he now unconsciously drew circles even while staying still.
Suddenly, something flashed in Lee Han’s mind.
‘What if I make the water orb spin rapidly itself?’
If he launched it spinning, rather than just shooting it, it should pierce more strongly.
Lee Han stopped drawing a circle with the water orb and began spinning the water orb itself.
Whiiish!

• * *
  Seeing Professor Ingeldel get completely sulky, the skull principal sent a telepathic message to Professor Thunderstep.
  -Do something, will you?
  Professor Ingeldel was a rare talent, hard to find even for the magic school.
  If Professor Ingeldel ever resigned and left, the aftermath would be unthinkable.
  The skull principal would have to go to the emperor again and write a report saying, “I didn’t bully them on purpose,” and make excuses to the imperial officials like, “I didn’t mean to harass the instructors,” and even had to go beg the knights, “I promise not to bother you, so please just let us have one swordsmanship instructor.”
  Just the thought was horrifying.
  -Why me…
  Professor Thunderstep grumbled but went down to the hut’s basement, bringing plenty of dwarven honey mead from a special cask.
  The other person was the principal, after all.
  -Don’t forget the snacks.
  “……”
  Professor Thunderstep grabbed the smoked meats and vegetables from the hut shelves.
  Then the leftover vegetables from Lee Han’s harvest caught his eye.
  ‘Oh. I was going to eat those myself.’
  He had just had his hut cleaned out, so he’d planned to eat those first veggies himself.
  But the skull principal had a ghostly sense for these things.
  -Surely you weren’t planning to eat the best food all by yourself?
  ‘Damn.’
  Professor Thunderstep gave up and brought everything.
  Thunk!
  “Come now, Professor Ingeldel. Please have some. This is honey mead I made myself, the vegetables I grew in my own garden, and smoked meats I prepared myself.”
  My goodness! Mead made by our alchemy professor! A heavenly taste unseen anywhere else in the empire!
  “……”
  The skull principal was not skilled at giving compliments.
  Fortunately, Professor Ingeldel was a good-natured elf. He raised his glass and gave a compliment.
  “It truly tastes wonderful, Professor Thunderstep.”
  “Thank you very much.”
  It wasn’t empty praise; it genuinely was delicious.
  An excellent alchemist was also an excellent chef and brewer. It couldn’t taste bad.
  As the atmosphere eased, the skull principal spoke in a warm voice.
  No need to worry so much about the students. Things were much harder in my day.
  “……”
  “……”
  Faced with the principal’s stories going back to ancient times, the two relatively young professors fell silent.
  Well, everything must’ve been hard back then…!
  And this year’s freshmen have lots of interesting ones. They’ll handle most crises on their own.
  “You’re right about that.”
  Professor Ingeldel nodded awkwardly.
  Hearing the principal, he felt like he’d been too overprotective himself.
  Of course, it could have just been the drink.
  Right? Even among the students who went to the mountains, the Wardanas family boy is quite clever.
  At the principal’s words, the other two professors agreed.
  Lee Han received attention from all three present, so he could only agree.
  Seeing the relatively young professors agree, the skull principal brightened.
  Yes. So don’t worry too much. The Wardanas boy I just mentioned is sharp enough to learn from my magic book on his own, and another one…
  “?”
  “?”
  The two professors, quietly drinking honey mead and listening, paused.
  “Excuse me, what did you just say?”
  What do you mean?
  “…You just said he learned your magic book on his own…?”
  With shocked faces, not only Professor Ingeldel but Professor Thunderstep stared at the skull principal.
  Of course, a professor could personally teach a student. That was natural at a magic school.
  But the principal was an exception.
  As just revealed, the principal was of a mindset very different from that of modern professors—a madman from ancient times.
  The skull principal realized he had slipped up.
  As a wizard who had existed since ancient days, instead of backing down in this situation, he pushed back instead.
  I am the principal and representative of this school, and yet I can’t freely give personal instruction?!
  “……”
  “……”
  The skull principal sensed things were not going well. The two professors wouldn’t let this go easily.
  Realizing he was at a disadvantage, the principal switched tactics.
  I’m not the only one! Professor Voladi Bagrek also gives personal instruction, doesn’t he? And Thunderstep, you do too!
  The practiced skill of dragging every professor, present or not, down with him.
  No wonder he was called an ancient archmage.
  “No… I’m only giving instructions suitable for first-years. Same with Professor Bagrek. But you are different!”
  Thunderstep spoke in disbelief.
  The tasks Thunderstep gave Lee Han were safe, even if a bit physically tough—nothing that could drive him mad.
  Compared to that, the skull principal was the sort to teach any number of strange and complex spells, even to a first-year.
  Professor Bagrek is also teaching spells beyond the first-year level. I heard the other day he’s basically teaching third-circle magic.
  Having dragged Thunderstep down, the principal now turned the focus on the absent Professor Voladi Bagrek.
  And it wasn’t a lie.
  He’d heard the other day that Professor Voladi really was teaching something like third-circle magic.
  -The other day, the boy from the Wardanas family completed the iron ball circle practice perfectly.
  -Did he? Impressive. Even though it’s only a first-circle spell, it should be tough to show that level of control with first-circle.
  -So I moved him to the next process.
  -What’s the next phase? Is it the water orb spell? That’s second-circle.
  The circle system, which measured the difficulty of magic, was based on the number of stages in casting.
  The spell that summoned water and maintained it in a sphere was second-circle.
  -He succeeded in creating a water orb and now makes it revolve in a circle.
  If control was added, it was essentially third-circle.
  Of course, saying the result was the same didn’t mean it was truly third-circle magic.
  Third-circle spells bundled all those steps into a single incantation and a staff gesture, manifesting them all at once.
  Doing each step separately—summoning water, shaping a sphere, spinning it—was not, strictly speaking, third-circle magic.
  But even so, that alone was outstanding.
  If he got used to it and sped up, it proved he’d be able to use third-circle spells in the future.
  That a first-year could already complete something even second-years struggled with was amazing.
  Another professor might have been shocked, but the skull principal took it in stride.
  -I see. That’s wonderful.
  And thought:
  ‘If even Professor Voladi does this, I guess it’s not a problem for me to give some personal magical instruction!’
  “What kind of dwarven nonsense is this?! Professor Bagrek is Professor Bagrek, and your magic is your magic!”
  Thunderstep, of course, didn’t fall for it.
  Frankly, he doubted whether Professor Bagrek really was teaching third-circle spells. Even if it were true, the principal’s lessons felt far more dangerous.
  I really am teaching safely! Only spells appropriate to their level, I swear on my honor!
  “……”
  “……”
  I swear on my magic!
  “Ah. If you insist that much…”
  “Then I’ll believe you.”
  When he even swore on his magic, the two professors barely let go of their suspicions.
  They had suspected the principal of trying to destroy a first-year’s mind by teaching them ancient, incomprehensible magic he himself couldn’t interpret.
  Luckily, that didn’t seem to be the case.
  “By the way, what exactly is Professor Bagrek teaching?”
  Water-attribute battle magic.
  Hearing the principal’s detailed explanation, the two professors were impressed.
  As the principal said, it wasn’t truly a third-circle spell, but for a first-year to show such mastery was truly astonishing.
  An amazing result that could only come from the union of talent and effort!
  “I’m not a mage, so I don’t know well, but is it common for a student at that grade to show such achievement?”
  “It’s extremely rare. He must have a great affinity for water. Of course, that alone isn’t enough; plenty of other talent is also required… Wait, Professor Bagrek specializes in battle magic, doesn’t he? Then is he making the student repeat that? The magical and mental exhaustion must be enormous…”
  Goodness. What a terrible person.
  “……”
  Well, he probably won’t go any further. The training itself isn’t problematic, so there should be no issue, and the next degree of difficulty for the spells is so high, he wouldn’t raise it just yet.
• * *
  Shhhhhh!
  ‘It’s finished.’
  A water orb, furiously spinning in place and making a sound.
  Lee Han lifted his throbbing head and looked up at the mud golem.