Chapter 49

In the empire, black magic could not help but have a bad image.

For one, its appearance was rather dull, dark, and eerie.

Moreover, the spells it dealt with were ominous and unsettling.

Curses, undead summoning, dark elements, poison elements, and negative energy, among others.

It was only natural that people found it unsettling.

- Hello, everyone in the village. I am the newly appointed dispatched magician. My main specialty is elemental magic, particularly fire.

- Oh! We won't have to worry about the cold in winter!

- Ah, hello. I am the newly appointed dispatched magician. My main specialty is... black magic...

- Pardon? What did you say?

- Black magic, specifically undead summoning.

- ...Sir, please stop him from going to the grave.

Most people found it unsettling, and the new students who entered here were no different.

Each had come to school with their own grand ambitions, but they did not want to be persecuted by learning black magic.

However, Lee Han looked at the professor with an excited gaze.

‘There’s often a path where others don’t go.’

Even before entering, Lee Han thought black magic had considerable value.

For one, there would be fewer students, so the competition would be less.

And just because he took black magic classes, it didn't mean he had to become a black magician.

‘I can just get the credits and go in a different direction.’

After all, he would be taking various other magic classes, so there was no reason to worry about it now.

Moreover, from Lee Han's perspective, the life of an imperial black magician wasn't that bad.

People were afraid of them, but the number of magicians was so small that once hired, they would never be fired from their official positions.

An iron rice bowl!

“I expected everyone to react this way.”

Professor Garcia seemed to have noticed the students' mood and spoke up.

“But black magic, contrary to popular prejudice, is a field rich in deep mysteries and principles. You are all still unpolished magicians. To find out what you are talented in and what you should aim for, you need to keep challenging and experiencing things. I hope you will learn the subject with the curiosity of a magician rather than discarding the opportunity due to prejudice.”

Professor Garcia's words were calm and reasonable. The new students looked at him with a slightly moved expression.

“Alright. Is there anyone who can help Professor Mortem with the black magic lesson?”

“......”

“......”

Of course, that was one thing, and black magic was another.

The students bowed their heads to avoid Professor Garcia's gaze.

“Lee Han. Bow your head! Bow your head!”

Gayanado pulled on Lee Han's collar and urgently shouted.

“If you associate with a black magician, you might not even die properly and become an undead soldier!”

“...Are you really a magician?”

Lee Han looked at Gayanado with a bewildered expression.

Sure, ordinary people who don't know much about magic might believe that, but why do you believe it?

“I will help you.”

“!!”

Lee Han raised his hand.

The students looked at him with a mix of surprise and awe.

They knew that the young man from the Wodanas family was the leader in the Tower of the Blue Dragon.

But even so, they didn't expect him to volunteer for the black magic test.

Even the students from the Tower of the Black Turtle, who had been wary of Lee Han due to the Wodanas family's reputation, changed their expressions.

“Student Lee Han!”

Professor Garcia looked at Lee Han with a very pleased expression.

Lee Han knew exactly what that expression meant.

It was like when you ask a close professor to give a lecture, and the students just sit there like honey-sweetened bears.

How could you not prepare your students in advance to ‘raise your hand and ask a question’?

From Professor Garcia's perspective, how grateful he must have felt for Lee Han standing up.

“Cough, cough. Thank you. Come here.”

As Lee Han approached Professor Mortem, he understood why the temperature in the classroom had dropped.

A considerable amount of magic power was emanating from the standing Professor Mortem.

It wasn't just any magic power, but negative (陰) attribute magic power.

This cold and eerie negative magic power was a symbol of black magicians.

Magic power was basically colorless, but it often needed to be changed to match the magic being performed.

Black magic often required changing magic power to the negative attribute.

‘That’s why it’s unpopular.’

The image was already bad, and to casually scatter such magic power around students who were trying to approach.

This would scare off any student who was trying to approach with interest.

Professors, whether here or there, were generally not very good at enticing students.

“You have a lot of magic power.”

“Thank you.”

“Yes. Hold your staff... I'll show you a demonstration first.”

Professor Mortem coughed a few times and waved his hand.

At that moment, the chaotic negative magic power suddenly aligned in an orderly manner.

“Rise, servants of bone!”

With a chilling clatter, bone summons appeared in the air among the students.

They performed a strange dance, circling around. The students looked as if they were about to faint.

Professor Mortem looked at Lee Han with a pleased voice.

“Cough... How is it, is it good?”

“Pardon?”

“I prepared it because I thought the students would like it.”

“Hmm. It is quite interesting.”

Lee Han avoided hurting the professor's feelings by telling the truth. Professor Garcia expressed gratitude with his eyes.

“Of course, I won’t ask you to perform magic of this level. Cough. That’s too difficult.”

It was a reasonable statement, but Lee Han felt a renewed sense of gratitude for this obvious fact.

Professor Vlad should hear this!

“First, try to convert your magic power to the negative attribute.”

Lee Han drew out his magic power.

He had already converted it to light and water before, so he knew the technique of attribute conversion.

He visualized an image in his mind and focused on it, infusing his magic power with it.

Pfft!

“You’re doing quite well.”

Professor Mortem was impressed by the smooth conversion.

“Thank you.”

“Try to convert it further.”

Lee Han concentrated and continued to change his magic power.

‘Isn’t this good?’

Professor Garcia, who was watching, was slightly taken aback.

It was a pity to say to Professor Mortem, but he didn’t want a student like Lee Han to go down the thorny path of black magic.

‘If he’s too good, that’s not necessarily a good thing...’

Other magicians often encountered many trials and errors when thinking of the negative attribute.

The negative attribute was a broad and ambiguous concept.

Cold?

Ice attribute was also cold.

Dark?

Darkness attribute was also dark.

Since it encompassed various attributes, many magicians struggled to grasp it.

However, Lee Han thought simply.

‘Think of something roughly like non-Euclidean geometry or imaginary numbers... a bizarre mathematical image.’

This was Lee Han's unique advantage that other magicians couldn't follow.

His broad way of thinking.

Fortunately, such an image seemed to match perfectly, and his magic power smoothly converted to the negative attribute.

More and more.

And more and more.

And more and more.

“...Professor?”

Lee Han felt a sense of discomfort.

Sssssss-

Even in broad daylight, the classroom darkened, and the temperature, which had already dropped, fell even further, causing his breath to become visible.

However, Professor Mortem, instead of stopping him, urged him on with an excited expression.

The man who had been coughing just moments ago now had a gleam in his eyes and didn’t even cough, looking like a completely different person.

“How far can you go? Try to do more.”

“Professor Mortem?”

Professor Garcia tried to stop him.

Of course, it was good to see Professor Mortem so pleased, but there were other students in the classroom.

The classroom was filled with an eerie atmosphere, and sensitive students could hear the whispers of the undead.

Professor Garcia thought it was time to stop.

‘Considering Student Lee Han’s magic power...’

If he converted as much as possible, who knows what might happen.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Shouldn’t we stop?”

“Let’s try a bit more. I’m curious how far you can go.”

“That can be confirmed in other situations as well.”

“But...”

“Stop it.”

“Oh. I understand.”

When Professor Garcia put on a serious face, Professor Mortem backed down.

‘What a waste...’

Professor Mortem looked at Lee Han with a regretful expression.

One of the most important aspects of black magic was the amount of negative magic power.

Of course, there was no magic field where magic power wasn’t important, but in black magic, the more magic power you had, the more possibilities opened up.

Undead summoning?

Magic power was crucial.

Curses?

Magic power was crucial.

The same went for dark elements and poison elements...

He wanted to see how far Lee Han could go, but to be stopped like this.

‘Professor Garcia is really mean.’

“Professor.”

Lee Han called out to Professor Mortem.

Due to stopping the conversion, a massive amount of magic power was slowly dissipating.

“Oh. Sorry. Just wave your staff like this and recite the spell. ‘Paralyze!’”

A low-level paralysis curse.

A 1st Circle black magic, one of the easiest black magic spells.

It causes a weak paralysis, like a cramp in the arm or leg.

Everyone has experienced a tingling sensation in their limbs at some point.

Therefore, it was easy to visualize the image, and the staff movement was simple.

“To whom?”

“Obviously, to me.”

Curses, unlike other spells, required a target.

Lee Han was taken aback.

As everyone knew, Professor Mortem looked so frail that he could fall over with a breeze.

‘I wanted to cast a spell at a professor someday, but not like this...’

“Is it really okay?”

Professor Mortem answered with a tone of annoyance.

“Of course. Hurry up and cast it.”

“Don’t you have any defensive magic... or something?”

“Cough, cough... It’s just a spell that paralyzes an arm or leg. How much could go wrong?”

‘That’s true.’

Lee Han was convinced.

Thinking about it, it was presumptuous for a new student like him to worry about a professor.

‘I need to focus more. I might get marked as arrogant by the professor.’

As Lee Han closed his eyes and concentrated, Professor Mortem shrugged, urging him to hurry.

Magicians generally had more magic power than others and knew how to control the magic power inside their bodies with their will.

Therefore, they had strong resistance to magical attacks.

Even if they were hit, their magic power instinctively protected their bodies.

And someone like Professor Mortem, who had dealt with negative magic power almost all his life, had even stronger resistance to it.

A new student’s spell wouldn’t affect him at all without any defense.

‘Once it’s blocked, he’ll realize how deep and vast the study of black magic is.’

Professor Mortem thought that if the spell was blocked, Lee Han would be deeply impressed.

- I used my full power, and it had no effect...! I didn’t know black magic was so amazing. I want to learn more!

- Cough, if you want to learn, I won’t stop you.

It was a professor’s optimistic thinking, something only a brain-numbed person could do.

“Paralyze!”

Lee Han pointed his staff at Professor Mortem and recited the spell.

The gathered magic power burst forth with intent and enveloped Professor Mortem.

“!!!”

Surprised by the unexpectedly large amount of magic power, Professor Mortem was momentarily taken aback.

He tried to resist, but the magic power that had already enveloped his body wrapped around him like a suffocating blanket.

...In the end, Professor Mortem fell backward, completely paralyzed.

Thud!

“...Professor? Professor!!”

Lee Han was shocked.

A dishonorable title like ‘Professor Killer’ flashed through his mind.