Episode 65

Baldororn was flustered by Ihan’s response.
Because of his casual comment, this first-year student had gotten unnecessary expectations.
Moreover, this method, if used incorrectly, could threaten a mage’s life.
To break magic by force required a vast amount of mana; if a student not yet skilled in magic tried and failed, it could be fatal.
However, Ihan did not back down easily.
“I promise, I won’t attempt it recklessly. Please tell me the method.”
“But…”
“I paid for a consultation, didn’t I?”
“Well, that’s true. All right.”
Baldororn gave in.
He couldn’t refuse now that he’d taken the consultation fee.
“First, you’ll need a large amount of mana. A person’s strength will not be enough. Use magic circles and mana stones.”
Magic circles, mana stones.
Both were ways mages supplemented their lack of mana.
The higher the level of magic, the greater the mana required. You couldn’t handle that all by mere individual strength.
You could draw a magic circle to amplify and concentrate the mana, or use mana-charged gems as extra batteries.
“Have you learned how to draw magic circles?”
“I am learning, yes.”
Ihan thought of the class he was taking at school.
Drawing a magic circle was like solving a complex math problem.
It required mathematical perseverance and diligence, not just intuition and sense.
The students suffered because of that.
They asked kids who were just confident in addition and subtraction to solve all sorts of complex equations and rules, to the point nobody could tell anymore if the screams were part of the geometry class or just a symptom.
“Good. At any rate, once you’ve managed to gather mana that way, stand at the release point of the magic circle and control the flow.”
Once the mana had been drawn together with the circle, the next step was controlling it and striking the barrier with it.
Saying “strike” made it sound simple, but this was harder than gathering the mana in the first place.
It wasn’t just about control: above all, to deliver strong impact power, you had to release all the gathered mana at once, without hesitation.
Not letting mana flow like a gently moving river, but unleashing it violently in a single burst, like the floods from a dam!
That was not something most mages were used to.
The usual was to let mana flow steadily; they seldom had to unleash it like a runaway river.
“…That doesn’t sound all that difficult.”
Baldororn sighed at Ihan’s words.
Despite all his warnings, this freshman was taking things too lightly.
Arrogance.
It was an inescapable flaw of the truly gifted.
Why did mages with talent die sooner than the untalented? Because they trusted their ability, figured “it’ll be fine,” and perished performing magical experiments.
Having made it to Einrogard and even having escaped in his first year, perhaps it was natural that this student bore arrogance as a flaw as well.
‘Can’t be helped.’
Baldororn decided to teach a reality lesson to this genius boy before him.
It was embarrassing to be teaching the future archmage, but what else could he do?
“I draw water from the moon for I covet it!”
Baldororn fetched a pinch of powder, ground from a moon-night stone (월야석), from his pouch, and drew a complex symbol with his staff.
He then chanted an incantation, raising his mana.
It was a third-circle spell, .
Anyone learning illusion magic longed to master this spell, which could thwart midnight intruders.
It was one of Baldororn’s proud specialties.
“!”
Ihan was surprised.
Baldororn was clearly sitting opposite, but now, because of distortion, he seemed much farther away.
Stepping anywhere in between felt ominous, like he’d fall into another space.
Baldororn, having finished casting, spoke.
“Do not move recklessly. It might look perfectly normal, but…”
“If you step in, you fall into a maze?”
“……”
Baldororn was briefly taken aback.
How did this boy see through it?
At first, he suspected Ihan knew the spell beforehand, but his expression showed otherwise.
That left only one answer.
The boy sensed the discrepancy just by feeling the mana radiating from the spell.
A truly impressive perceptivity.
“…That’s right. Anyway, the reason I cast this magic was to show you how difficult it really is to shatter magic by force.”
“Indeed…”
Ihan admired his instructor’s kindness.
This Baldororn was a far better teacher than the professors at the magic school.
He kindly and thoroughly explained exactly what he needed to learn, ensured comprehension, set a concrete goal, and explained why that goal was necessary—
After being beaten around by Professor Voladi, this lesson suddenly made Ihan’s eyes misty.
“Now. Try it carefully. Take as much time as you need. But if it seems in any way dangerous, stop at once.”
“Thank you.”
“?”
Baldororn felt something off.
Ihan was gazing at him with eyes full of respect.
Why…?

• * *
  Bang!
  Though there was no sound outside, Baldororn definitely heard it.
  A characteristic boom, when mana collides and a spell is broken.
  ‘Impossible!’
  Baldororn was shocked.
  It only took one try.
  A single attempt.
  And it wasn’t even a truly earnest, desperate attempt.
  The boy drew in a little mana—without even drawing a magic circle—then gave it a light test blow at the spell. Yet that was enough to break .
  A torrent of fiercely erupting mana blasted apart the intricately composed spell.
  Baldororn couldn’t comprehend it.
  He knew the other had talent.
  But with just a brief moment of gathering, Ihan should’ve had too little mana.
  Even being generous, assuming somehow enough mana was gathered in that short span, there was no way someone could handle that volume of power so nimbly unless they’d been born with and tamed such strength as easily as breathing.
  It was as absurd as a first-time sailor mastering a monstrous wave.
  What was this…?
  “Thank you!”
  Yet Ihan, ignorant of Baldororn’s inner turmoil, offered thanks.
  “…Excuse me?”
  “Thanks to your excellent instruction, Master Baldororn, I was able to achieve this.”
  “……”
  For a moment, Baldororn wondered if Ihan was mocking him.
  It seemed so incredible—almost like one of the mad professors in disguise as a first-year, picking a fight.
  But Ihan’s gaze was too pure for that.
  It was filled with innocent gratitude.
  “No… really, it was nothing. I didn’t even do much…”
  “Not at all. No one has ever explained things as simply and precisely as you, Master Baldororn.”
  “Don’t say things like that in public!”
  Baldororn panicked and urged him to stop.
  If the mad professors at the magic school heard that, they’d turn Baldororn into a frog out of spite.
  Ihan bowed his head in sincere gratitude.
  “If I have another chance to leave, I’ll return to consult you again.”
  “No… no… Please don’t. I have nothing left to teach.”
  Honestly, Baldororn wanted to tell him not to come, but having already taken the consultation fee, he couldn’t go that far.
  He could only mutter timidly that he had nothing else to teach.
  But in Ihan’s eyes, that humility only looked like modesty.
  ‘He’s so humble, too!’
  As rice ripens, it bows its head—the more Baldororn acted like this, the more dignified he seemed.
  He even started looking kind of cool, running his workshop in a backstreet like this.
  A true mage often enjoys eccentricity; surely, Baldororn had opened this workshop as a hobby.
  “I’ll see you next time!”
  Thankful for the meeting, Ihan left.
  Baldororn sat in a daze for a moment before getting up.
  He turned the sign on his workshop door from “open” to “closed.”
  Then he picked up his illusion magic book, unread for some time.
  …Whether it would help or not, he felt he should study something, at least.
• * *
  “…Principal. I can handle this alone…”
  Professor Garcia spoke, floating beside the skull principal.
  It was Professor Garcia’s turn to man the main gate at this hour. There was no need for the skeleton principal to be here, too.
  There was only one reason why the principal, who never intervened outside his duties, was hanging around now.
  Because he was having fun!
  ‘He’s impatiently waiting for Ihan to be late!’
  At Einrogard, it was far rarer for students to go out on a pass than to escape.
  Students lucky enough to earn that chance would skip away in joy, but in truth the school didn’t send them off in pure goodwill.
  There were all sorts of traps waiting for naïve students.
  Joyful as they left, when reality set in they’d be penniless, desperately wandering the town, and eventually be dragged back in tears.
  Such a student was never granted a second chance.
  Getting a second outing pass was much harder than the first.
  “They could be a little more lenient with outing passes, since they’re a reward…”
  You still have a lot to learn, Professor Garcia. If you teach with such lax and soft-hearted ideals, students will become weak and complacent.
  “……”
  A true mage is forged by trial!
  “Oh, enough already.”
  Professor Garcia interrupted, looking exasperated.
  She’d heard the skull principal’s line about “A true mage is forged by trial” too many times to count.
  Ugh, that old-school mage!
  He looks like he’s really looking forward to this.
  “…You might not want to get your hopes up. Ihan isn’t just smart, is he?”
  That’s true.
  Surprisingly, the skeleton principal admitted it readily.
  He really did rate Ihan highly.
  But this had nothing to do with magic talent or mental toughness. He had to find money, but there was nowhere to get it; and even if he did, there was a limit to what he could carry… Plus, time pressed ever closer! The smarter he thought he was, the harder it would be to cut his losses and hurry back. I can’t wait for the hour—so I can go hunt him down.
  “Please keep that to yourself.”
  Professor Garcia replied bluntly, but had to admit the principal had a point.
  Why did most students who used an outing pass end up being captured and dragged back?
  It was because of that “If I just had a little more time, I could do it!” greed.
  Upon arrival, a barrage of unpredictable problems would hit, and to survive, you needed the ability to admit it, to let some things go.
  If you tried to get everything you needed, you’d fall into the principal’s trap…
  “?!?!”
  Pak!
  A massive shape appeared atop the hill by the front gate.
  For a second, Professor Garcia thought it was a giant porter or troll.
  But no.
  It was Ihan, carrying a mountain of luggage.
  “……”
  ……
  The two mages were speechless at the brute-force solution no mage could expect.
  But that was only the start.
  Once Ihan crested the hill, boxes came floating after him.
  The skeleton principal had no choice but to admit it.
  …Professor Voladi really did teach him well.