Chapter 48

Chapter 048

"All the priests who have entered the Tower of the Phoenix are devout and good people, but..."

"How can that be when they live among people?"

"Please be quiet. They are in the middle of prayer. Anyway, among such people, there are still those who haven't completely let go of worldly emotions. Emotions like competitiveness and jealousy do not help their faith at all."

Last week, a new priest who had just entered the Tower of the Phoenix made a fatigue recovery potion for the other priests.

He wanted to use the knowledge he had learned in the temple to help others.

He was truly a priest.

'If it were me, I would have sold it for money.'

- Drinking this potion really relieves fatigue. Thank you so much!

- Priest Sianna of the Phleman Order will be impressed too. You really made it well. Could it be that you made it even better than Priest Sianna?

Amidst the friendly laughter and chatter, someone made a joke.

It was more of a compliment, really, rather than a serious comparison.

Priest Sianna nodded with a smile, and no one felt any discomfort.

...But the next day, Priest Sianna brought a fatigue recovery potion.

-??

- I made it too. Everyone, please try it.

- Oh, thank you.

- It's really excellent. You made it well, didn't you?

The next day, Priest Sianna brought a fatigue recovery potion again.

- Thank you...?

- It's really excellent, isn't it?

And again the next day, Priest Sianna brought a fatigue recovery potion.

By then, the priests had realized.

- Priest Sianna's potion seems to be the best!

- Who could compare?

Only then did Priest Sianna stop bringing the fatigue recovery potion.

"...She has a bit of a strong competitive spirit."

Lee Han, who had heard the story, said in a shocked voice.

To keep bringing potions until she was recognized as the best after hearing a joke.

"That's not the only thing that happened."

"......"

'Wasn't that the end of it?'

The priest who made the fatigue recovery potion before Priest Sianna approached her later and praised her.

- As expected, you are Priest Sianna. Not just anyone can make a potion of that quality.

Tizling, who was present, saw clearly.

Priest Sianna pretended not to hear and left the place.

- ...?!

It took several days before Priest Sianna finally acknowledged the priest's greeting.

'How narrow-minded can she be?'

Lee Han, who was listening, was appalled.

No, to react like that just because she heard a slight compliment about a potion...

'What kind of praise did I get in the lecture hall?'

He seemed to have heard all sorts of embarrassing compliments, from being a genius in alchemy to everything else.

Tizling, having said what he needed to say, finished his prayer to Phrezinga.

Lee Han, still not convinced, asked again.

"Is there any chance that Priest Sianna might put poison in someone's food?"

"I don't understand what you mean."

Tizling closed his mouth, indicating he would not say anything more.

Lee Han made up his mind.

'If I have to move with Priest Sianna, I shouldn't eat any food she recommends.'

* * *

Even as pain, despair, and assignments piled up like mountains, the sun set and rose.

'Assignments are one thing, but I'm worried about something else.'

Now, Lee Han had two main concerns.

How to infiltrate the White Tiger Tower?

And how to gather alchemical materials in the mountain range behind the school, and what kind of crazy traps might be there?

'I can't tell which is more difficult.'

But the magic school didn't have time for long deliberation.

It immediately sent students to the next lecture.

Professor Vladi, standing in the lecture hall for "Repetitive Learning of Basic Magic Combat," spoke as soon as Lee Han entered.

"You're 11 seconds late."

"Sorry, I went to the stables early in the morning to take care of the horses."

"There's no need to apologize. The one who suffers from being late is you."

'Do professors learn their tone from somewhere?'

Lee Han thought this as he sat down.

The lecture hall was silent, with only the two of them present.

Professor Vladi wiggled his fingers. Lee Han took out his staff and made the iron ball rotate.

The struggle with the half-mages gave Lee Han a clear realization.

His control over low-level manipulation spells was at a level that couldn't be compared to before.

The iron ball drew a near-perfect circle at a steady speed.

'This is about two years faster than expected.'

Professor Vladi thought with a blank expression.

Fortunately, Lee Han didn't hear it. If he had, he would have taken it seriously.

- What, you chose a training that takes more than two years to just start as the first lesson??

"Good."

"Thank you."

Lee Han knew that when someone like Professor Vladi said "good," it meant "very excellent."

He hadn't expected praise in the first place.

"I heard you learned the water creation spell."

"Yes."

"Show me."

"Spring forth!"

A lump of water appeared in front of Lee Han with the spell.

Thanks to Professor Garcia's "education," he could still maintain its shape.

"Reduce it to the size of a ball."

"I'll try."

Lee Han gripped his staff and focused.

The shape of the water lump in the air distorted, protruding and collapsing in various directions.

For Lee Han, who already had a massive amount of mana, reducing the amount of water and shaping it into a ball was no easy task.

Professor Vladi picked up the iron ball in front of Lee Han.

Lee Han felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding at the sight.

Swoosh!

With a sharp sound, the iron ball flew toward Lee Han's face.

'Ah, this crazy professor...!'

Lee Han instinctively compressed the water lump into a ball. The large water lump was compressed to the size of a fist, increasing its strength and hardness.

Clang!

The iron ball collided with the water ball and fell, losing its momentum.

"...Professor, are you going to keep doing this?"

"What are you talking about?"

"About the iron ball you just threw at me."

"Oh, you mean that. Yes."

"...Isn't it a bit dangerous?"

Lee Han tried to persuade Professor Vladi, as he had done with other students.

But Professor Vladi wasn't convinced like the students.

"But wasn't it efficient?"

"Excuse me?"

"In the fight with the empire's half-mages, sudden danger sharpened your concentration and instincts, improving your control over magic. Why not take the direct route?"

"......"

Lee Han was speechless.

Not because he couldn't argue, but because he was just flabbergasted.

When you hear something too absurd, you lose your words!

"You seem to understand. Now, make it rotate."

From the luminous stone ball to the iron ball, and from the iron ball to the water ball.

Rotating the water ball was definitely the most difficult of all he had done.

He had to maintain the water in a ball shape and rotate it at a steady speed.

He felt his nerves being overworked, as he had during the fight with the half-mages.

A subtle shape, not quite a circle, was drawn in the air, and then drawn again.

And Professor Vladi shot the iron ball.

Clang!

Lee Han blocked it immediately.

Even if he couldn't draw a perfect circle, he could block an attack once as long as he was on guard.

'I knew this would happen!'

But Professor Vladi had expected Lee Han to block. Another iron ball flew in the opposite direction, rotating.

Thud!

"......"

Lee Han hurriedly rotated the water ball, but it was too late. The iron ball hit his back. He gritted his teeth.

'Damn!'

He felt the impact even as he tensed his muscles.

He was reminded of when he was learning swordsmanship from Alarlong.

"Focus."

"......"

Lee Han had no time to answer.

He only moved the water ball frantically to avoid the flying iron balls.

One thing was certain.

'I'd rather have a lecture with a lot of assignments.'

* * *

"Wodanaz looks really tired."

"It must be because of the assignments. I couldn't sleep properly because of the assignments too. Besides, Wodanaz isn't the type to just take ordinary lectures."

"True, the lectures Wodanaz takes must be quite difficult. After all, it's Wodanaz."

"By the way, when are we going to enter the White Tiger Tower?"

"I don't know..."

In the lecture hall for "Understanding Basic Magic," the students of the Blue Dragon Tower were whispering.

Lee Han's face, leaning back with his eyes closed, looked quite tired.

It was the aftereffect of his life-or-death struggle with the iron balls with Professor Vladi.

It wasn't just the Blue Dragon Tower students who were talking. The Black Turtle Tower students were also chattering.

"Is anyone taking the alchemy class? I heard we're going up the mountain tomorrow. Is that true?"

"Already spreading? Yes, the students from other towers are also going up together."

"Is there a way out of the mountain?"

'What a futile dream.'

Lee Han felt sorry for the Black Turtle Tower students.

To think there might be a way out.

They would be very disappointed when they found out the truth.

"Wait, so you're going with Wodanaz? If you make a mistake, you'll be punished..."

"Surely, that won't happen. We're from different towers, after all."

"......"

Lee Han sighed deeply inside.

"Everyone, good morning."

"Good morning, Professor!"

When Professor Garcia entered, the students greeted him politely.

Now, the students felt it.

Professor Garcia was one of the few conscientious teachers in this school.

A professor who didn't understand human emotions was more terrifying than a troll.

"Until last time, we practiced various exercises to become familiar with elemental magic. But in this 'Understanding Basic Magic' class, we will also learn about different types of magic... such as illusions, divination, summoning, and transformation magic, etc. As you advance in your studies, you will specialize in these types of magic."

The world of magic was infinitely vast and deep.

It was impossible to master everything in that world with human capabilities.

Naturally, magicians chose a specific field to specialize in.

Lee Han, who already knew this, wasn't particularly surprised.

"Today, we will learn about the different types of magic. Instead of me teaching directly, a professor who is an expert in this field will speak."

The students' eyes sparkled with anticipation and curiosity.

Each had a field of magic they were interested in.

Some were interested in elemental magic, some in spirit magic, some in enchantment magic...

'I wish I could be an excellent spirit mage! I want to learn spirit magic...'

'I came here to learn physical enhancement and healing. Teach me enhancement magic.'

"Go ahead, come in."

As the door opened, the temperature in the lecture hall suddenly dropped. The students shivered from the sudden cold.

"Nice to meet you all... cough, cough. I am Professor Mordum."

Lee Han thought the professor was a dwarf for a moment. But the professor was just a short human.

Professor Mordum coughed so much that he seemed like he would fall over with the slightest breeze.

"Are you okay?"

"You should go to the infirmary instead of giving a lecture..."

"Cough, I'm fine. I'm fine..."

Professor Mordum spoke weakly, even as he coughed. One of the students raised their hand and asked.

"What kind of magic do you teach, Professor?"

"I teach dark magic."

"......"

"......"

The atmosphere turned icy.

Dark magic was among the types of magic with the worst reputation.