Episode 74

How do you stop a student who, after discovering a new magical element, seems intent on pursuing that path?

You simply let them know that taking that path right now could kill them.

Professor Boladi whipped his orbs around like a madman. It wasn’t a joke—there was honestly a murderous intent in his moves.

And…

‘He increased the orb’s weight!’

Ihan realized from the feeling when the orbs clashed that Professor Boladi had made them heavier.

It was a message not to obsess over useless spins but to compress the water orb even more.

…But Ihan would have understood even if he had just said that.

In the classroom with only the two of them, magical sparks flew. In that tense air, all you could hear was the sound of impacts.

Without a word, they stared into each other’s eyes and controlled their magical spheres.

‘…Maybe I should kill him?’

A thought that wasn’t exactly new flashed through Ihan’s mind.

Of course, “killing” was a joke—he just wanted to break a bone or two and make it painful.

It wasn’t an emotional judgment.

Right now, Professor Boladi was seriously launching orbs with murderous intent.

Though Ihan’s magic control had greatly improved in a short time, he wasn’t at the level to win 1:1 against the veteran Boladi yet.

So how could Ihan survive this?

If not kill the professor, then at least distract him enough that he couldn’t focus properly.

‘Can I do it?’

Ihan focused all of his attention. While maintaining the compressed, spinning water orb in front of him, a new incantation spilled from his lips.

“Spring forth!”

With his spell, fresh water started forming in midair.

For a rookie mage, this sort of double casting was taboo, but for Ihan it didn’t mean much.

He’d already learned, time and again, that wasting a bit of magic wasn’t an issue.

And right now, worrying about wasted magic was pointless compared to the danger posed by Professor Boladi.

“!”

A strange glint passed through Professor Boladi’s emotionless eyes.

‘Is he thinking of increasing the number of orbs?’

It was a rookie’s move for someone cornered, but not a good idea.

Even if you increased the number of orbs, it would only make control harder, and Boladi could always break through.

It was good to act rather than stand idle, but the direction was off…

“Shield, unfold!”

Ihan shouted with desperate will. Instantly, a massive chunk of water took the shape of a solid shield and surrounded him.

Seeing this, Professor Boladi’s lips curled ever so slightly upward.

was a 2nd-ring spell that summoned water and fixed it into the form of a shield.

The magic itself wasn’t that difficult.

But the Wodanaz scion before him had never been directly taught .

He had reasoned it out and mastered it on his own.

The way to summon water was the first-ring spell.

And the way to move and shape it was the first-ring spell.

Some people can’t master a spell even if you show them the incantation and gestures directly, but reasoning it out and building on it was a very good sign.

To become a great mage, you couldn’t just do spells from the book; you had to innovate and create on your own.

‘Better than increasing the number of orbs, but Water Shield still isn’t the best choice.’

Impressed or not, Professor Boladi braced to deliver a lesson to the student before him.

A magic-charged orb shot toward the shield with lethal speed.

A hastily made shield should be easy to pierce…

Clang!!

“!”

Professor Boladi’s eyes widened ever so slightly.

The water shield was far stronger than he’d expected.

Only now did Professor Boladi realize the true nature of the Water Shield.

He could feel several times more magic power than in a normal water shield.

Since it didn’t need to move quickly like an orb, he’d poured in as much magic as he liked, increasing the amount and making it as dense as possible.

Orbs require control, but shields comparatively require less, so overwhelming magic power was easier to shine.

Before he could even finish admiring it, a water orb zipped around the side, aiming to smash Professor Boladi’s head. The offense and defense had switched.

Professor Boladi dodged with a tilt of his head. There wasn’t a trace of panic in his expression.

“Go bite him!”

Ihan commanded the bone summon. The skeleton, waiting at his belt, leapt forward.

At the same time, Ihan kicked a chair under the water shield and sent it flying. There was a near-fanatical resolve to break Professor Boladi.

For all those attacks, Professor Boladi smiled. Ihan grew uneasy, as if he had met the grand duke of hell.

A second orb appeared behind Professor Boladi, who had used only one until now.

The new orb smashed the bone summon to pieces (clatter!), broke the flying chair (crash!), and split the water shield cleanly in two.

Professor Boladi looked at Ihan. Ihan watched to see what the grand duke of hell would say.

“Well done.”

“……”

Or was he actually just the grand king of hell?

• * *

Only after seventeen questions did Ihan understand what Professor Boladi was thinking.

Or at least, he could guess. He’d probably never truly, perfectly understand Professor Boladi’s mind.

‘So that’s…’

This was supposed to be a lesson on orb control, but Professor Boladi fundamentally respected creative attempts by a student (if effective), so even Ihan’s water shield, chair kicking, and bone summon were met with approval.

Hearing that, Ihan wondered if Boladi would even compliment him if he set the classroom on fire.

Next time his life was threatened, setting the classroom on fire seemed likely…

‘No, in that case the skull principal would kill me.’

Ihan felt a pang of regret.

“You seem to have lost interest in spinning.”

“Thanks to you, Professor.”

Ihan tried not to let any murderous intent slip into his voice.

“It’s only natural to be attracted to the spin property right now. But don’t be impatient. You’ll get to immerse yourself in spinning sooner or later. Sometimes the long way is the shortest route.”

“……”

If another professor said that, it would be touching, but coming from Boladi—who always chased you with a knife, shouting to take the shortcut—it just wasn’t.

‘I feel like I’m already taking enough shortcuts as it is.’

“Yes, I won’t even dream of spin properties and will only focus on what I’m learning now.”

“You probably suspect what’s next.”

“…?”

Boladi’s habit of omitting words wasn’t new, so Ihan wasn’t surprised.

‘Read it calmly if you can.’

“That’s your next training challenge.”

“…Forgive me, but what does that mean?”

“What you just showed.”

Once your orb control reached a certain level, it was time to move on.

A mage could not stand still even for a moment, but had to constantly progress and explore.

Boladi gestured. The tables and chairs around him all stood up at once, as if to menace Ihan.

“From now on, you’ll train to maintain focus during chaotic situations.”

“…Wow.”

“You’re free to use the things you just showed.”

“Really?”

Ihan was slightly surprised.

He would have expected Boladi to say “to improve, defend only with the orb.”

Letting him use the shield…

“Yes. I’ll raise the difficulty to match, so don’t be impatient and focus on the task at hand.”

“……”

If Ihan could handle orbs while casting other magic, there was no need to stop him.

If you could use other spells while controlling the orb, it was even more useful.

“Wouldn’t I have to give up shield and summons for focus like I did with the spin?”

“No. The spin directly affects your ability to control the orb, but the shield and summons don’t. The sooner you get used to them, the better.”

Ihan was grateful to the skull principal.

He hadn’t said anything about roasting the mud golem with fire in the mountains.

If fire magic had been mentioned, who knows what horror would have happened.

• * *

Evening.

Professor Quickstep looked worried when he saw the unusually tired look on Ihan’s face as he worked behind the hut in the vegetable garden.

Of course, exhaustion was something every student at the school suffered from, but the Wodanaz boy was much tougher than the others.

But to look so worn out…

“What have you been doing to be so tired lately?”

“Really? I’m fine.”

Ihan tossed potatoes into the basket. Even as he tried to act casual, his fingers twitched greedily around the potatoes.

“Tell me your daily schedule.”

“It’s really okay.”

Ihan explained his routine as if it were nothing.

First, he got up early at dawn, went to the stables, threatened the stubborn horses into eating, gave them a wash and a brush, and took them out for a walk. Then he headed back and picked ingredients that would spoil soon and made breakfast in bulk with dishes easy to scale up.

After making sure the Blue Dragon Tower students were well fed, he attended morning class, then came back for lunch, prepped the food again, and went to his afternoon classes…

“……”

“What’s wrong?”

“A-ah. Keep going. Which classes do you take, by the way? Now that I think about it, I’m curious.”

“Today I had Professor Boladi’s ‘Repetitive Drills in Basic Battle Magic’ class.”

“……”

Quickstep’s face twitched with a storm of emotions.

Of all the classes, why take the madman Boladi’s class…?

“…Anyway, I just take classes then come here to tend the garden.”

“You truly were born to be the representative of Blue Dragon Tower.”

“?”

“Never mind. So… even after that rough schedule, you don’t have any complaints about working the vegetable garden?”

Ihan hesitated for a moment.

Normally, when professors asked “please tell me if you have complaints,” you had to be suspicious. It was often a trap.

Regardless, Ihan had no real complaints about garden work.

“Not really.”

Ihan answered, holding a potato and a carrot in each hand. He was very satisfied with the payment for his labor in the garden.

Quickstep felt a sudden, pointless pang of guilt at the sight.

…Can the empire’s top talents really be allowed to live like this??

“Well, right. Ah, by the way, there’s a cow I brought in behind there, so if you want, you can take some milk whenever you need.”

“Professor…!”

With a respect he’d never shown before, Ihan looked at Quickstep. The professor was at a loss for words and held himself back from saying anything more.

• * *

While Ihan worked in the garden, Professor Quickstep, perhaps bored, kept up a string of questions.

They talked about spirits running away in fear (even though he had a wood spirit?), how thanks to the wood spirit the crops in the garden were thriving so maybe Ihan could try growing more things (don’t let Thunderstep get any), and so on…

After finishing up, Ihan washed his hands in the flowing brook and shook them dry, then suddenly remembered to ask.

“Professor, by the way, is it possible to get a flying mount at school?”

“…W-why do you ask that?”

Quickstep’s voice broke in an odd way, but Ihan didn’t notice.