The students of the White Tiger Tower were more narrow-minded than Yi Han had expected.
As soon as the class ended and he tried to leave, three students suddenly blocked his path.
"Wodanaz. Did you think you could win so despicably and just walk away?"
"We’ll teach you a lesson so you’ll never dare to shamelessly attend our lectures again," said a dwarf and an orc student whose names Yi Han didn’t know.
Still trying to grasp the situation, Yi Han decided to probe with a question.
"Do you know that I’m from the Wodanaz family and still dare to act like this?"
"Using your family name to threaten us? How cowardly!"
"Is three against one not cowardly?"
"Shut up!"
Though they tried to hide it, a flicker of fear passed over their faces.
It seemed they had heard of the Wodanaz family’s reputation.
Yet, they were still willing to gang up on him three against one just to boost their dorm’s pride?
‘Aside from the fact that they’re a bit empty-headed... do they have some kind of backing?’
Either they were from a major family themselves or had the support of one.
‘It’s probably the latter.’
If that were the case, then they were indeed severely lacking in brains.
If a conflict arose with a major family like the Wodanaz, their own major family wouldn’t step in to protect them.
They’d likely be used and discarded.
‘There’s a reason people say not to meddle in the fights of major families...’
‘If they were the type to listen to reason, they wouldn’t have attacked in the first place.’
If they were the kind to act without thinking, no amount of logical persuasion from Yi Han would work.
Fists were close, but family influence was far away.
"Who sent you? Probably a family whose power you can’t refuse, right?"
"!!!"
"!!!!!"
The three students were shocked, as if they might faint.
How could a student from another dorm guess the inner workings of the White Tiger Tower so accurately?
"Shut... shut up!"
"Let’s attack!"
"Surround him!"
Realizing that further conversation would only put them at a disadvantage, they began to move cautiously, preparing to attack.
‘Three against one is too much.’
Taking advantage of the moment, Yi Han quickly thought.
Alarung had once told him firmly:
- One-on-one is fine.
Two-on-one is unavoidable if necessary.
But three-on-one? Just run!
Yi Han agreed with that.
All three were likely from knight families and had trained in swordsmanship.
Three against one would undoubtedly put Yi Han at a disadvantage.
The problem was that they were blocking his path.
He had to find a way to shake them off and break through.
‘That’s it!’
At that moment, an idea flashed through Yi Han’s mind.
They knew he was from the Wodanaz family, a renowned magical family.
He had to use that to his advantage.
"Move!"
When Yi Han chanted the spell in a commanding voice, the three students were startled.
Magic? They were still struggling with the simplest light spells!
‘I’ll intimidate them with a low-level control spell.’
Yi Han hadn’t fully mastered the <Low-Level Control> spell yet.
He hadn’t succeeded in properly controlling anything.
But it didn’t matter.
The opponents wouldn’t know that.
In their current state of magical incompetence, Yi Han’s magic was enough to scare them into submission.
Thud!
"......"
Yi Han’s eyes widened in shock.
All he had intended was to levitate a small rock into the air.
Once the rock was floating, he could use it to threaten them.
But Yi Han had overestimated his magical abilities.
Keeping the rock suspended in the air was harder than he thought.
As soon as he cast the spell, the rock shot forward like an arrow and struck the goat-like student squarely on the forehead.
"Wodanaz, you bastard!! How dare you!!"
The remaining two students were stunned by the combat magic they were witnessing for the first time.
A rock arrow spell flying at them without warning? Even for the Wodanaz family, to already wield such powerful magic...!
"... If the next one wants to die too, come closer," Yi Han said coldly.
At this point, he had no choice but to bluff.
"Ugh..."
"You’d better step aside. If you have swords, I have magic."
The two students wore conflicted expressions, torn between fear and pride.
At that moment, Yi Han cast another spell.
"Move!"
"Ah!"
The dwarf student flung himself to the side, but the rock arrow accurately tracked him and struck his stomach.
Thud!
"Ugh... gah."
The dwarf student collapsed forward, unable to breathe.
The remaining orc student was utterly terrified.
Even after dodging, he was hit.
This was no ordinary skill.
‘Did I mess up the spell?’
Yi Han was also inwardly panicking as he looked at the fallen student.
How could he fail to levitate the rock but still manage to hit his target without aiming?
"S-stop! I surrender! I’ll move! I’ll move! Stop shooting! Don’t kill me!"
‘I’m not going to kill you, you idiot.’
Yi Han kept his expression steady.
"Be careful from now on. The name of the Wodanaz family."
"Grr..."
The orc student gritted his teeth but didn’t dare meet Yi Han’s gaze.
Later, when Derku arrived, he was met with a bewildered expression as he locked eyes with Yi Han.
"Are you here to fight too?"
"N-no."
Even Derku, who was usually unshakable, couldn’t help but stammer in this situation.
"Gizel from the Moradi family threatened you like that?"
"No, Gizel..."
"Ah, right. Gizel. The name’s tricky. Anyway, that Gizel from the Moradi family?"
Yi Han was slightly surprised by Derku’s confession.
The atmosphere between the Blue Dragon Tower and the White Tiger Tower was quite different.
In the Blue Dragon Tower, everyone was either from a major family or royalty, so no one really dominated.
They mostly grouped together based on their family connections.
Princess Adenart was the most famous, and a few students followed her, but it wasn’t a command structure.
But in the White Tiger Tower, Gizel from the Moradi family seemed to be pulling the strings.
"What does he look like?"
"Like this."
Derku skillfully drew a picture on the ground with a stick to describe Gizel’s appearance.
Yi Han was shocked.
‘Wait...?!’
Wasn’t that the student who had been overly friendly during swordsmanship class?
"No wonder he was so unnaturally kind despite his good looks... He was hiding his evil intentions."
"Wodanaz, I agree that Gizel Moradi is evil, but I don’t think that has anything to do with his appearance. And calling him good-looking... Are you saying Gizel is a man...?"
Yi Han ignored Derku’s comment.
Why bother defending a good-looking guy with evil intentions?
‘How ironic.’
At first, Yi Han had thought of using Gizel’s apparent kindness to persuade the other students.
But instead, he ended up befriending Derku, who he had initially clashed with, while Gizel turned out to be hiding sinister motives.
‘Was he trying to test me by talking to me?’
Yi Han recalled the conversations he’d had with Gizel.
He hadn’t said anything particularly important or revealing.
‘I’m taking the swordsmanship class to coast on my grades!’ he had said, but that wouldn’t have been enough to provoke an ambush.
If anything, they’d think he was an easy target, not a threat.
"I don’t get it. Why did they attack me?"
"I think there are a few reasons. First, you’re from the Wodanaz family."
"Is there some bad blood between our families that I don’t know about?"
Yi Han was puzzled.
Was there some bloody feud between the Wodanaz, a magical family, and the Moradi, a knight family?
"No, not that I know of. But if Gizel crushes you, a renowned Wodanaz, his power among the first-years will grow."
"......"
Yi Han immediately understood and his expression turned serious.
So, to them, he was... a valuable trophy with the Wodanaz label attached?
‘This is surprisingly annoying.’
No matter how much he tried to brush it off as childish rivalry, it still left a bad taste in his mouth.
"Not all first-years follow Gizel, but if he shows such charisma, more students will start following him."
"Using fellow students to throw punches is charisma? Typical knight family behavior."
Derku hung his head in shame at Yi Han’s words.
He, too, wasn’t free from Gizel’s influence.
"Hey, I wasn’t talking about you. Don’t look so down."
"Thanks, Wodanaz. Let me continue. Gizel is the type who always wants to be the leader. He’ll do anything to assert his power and dominance. So... if you plan to keep attending the swordsmanship class, be careful."
If Yi Han continued to attend the class and performed well, the White Tiger Tower students would inevitably grow jealous.
And Gizel would skillfully manipulate that jealousy to make them follow him.
Derku cautiously suggested,
"You don’t have to attend the class. You could learn swordsmanship privately during breaks."
"Hmm. Derku."
"Yes?"
"Just occurred to me... I’m planning to take <Basic Physical Training> too... Is that also only for White Tiger Tower students?"
"... Wodanaz, no offense, but... isn’t the Wodanaz family a magical family? Why...?"
Derku couldn’t help but voice his confusion.
After parting ways with Derku, Yi Han fell deep into thought on his way back.
Derku’s advice was the simplest:
-Avoid classes that only White Tiger Tower students attend.
If he avoided those classes, Gizel wouldn’t be able to pick fights with him.
In other classes, Yi Han would be with Blue Dragon Tower students, making it hard for Gizel to cause trouble.
And if Yi Han stopped attending, Gizel wouldn’t bother chasing him.
There’d be no point.
But Yi Han had no intention of following that advice.
First, Derku didn’t know that Yi Han had chosen those classes to easily boost his grades...
‘Daring to play politics with me, huh?’
Second, it was a matter of pride.
Letting such petty schemes slide? Yi Han wasn’t the type to take a loss lying down.
Bang!
Yi Han returned to the tower and opened the door to the first-year lounge.
The students who had arrived earlier were chatting in small groups, but when they noticed Yi Han, they waved.
"Friends!"
"...?"
"??"
"Today, I was attacked by White Tiger Tower students. Just because I’m from the Blue Dragon Tower!"
Silence fell.
The students were too stunned to react immediately.
Then, someone flipped a table.
"... Have those tin-can bastards lost their minds!?"
"They’ve got no respect, huh!?"
‘Huh?’
The reaction from his peers was far more intense than Yi Han had expected.
"Spread the word! The White Tiger Tower dared to mess with Wodanaz!"
"Gaenan, maybe, but Wodanaz? They’ve crossed the line!"
"Any way to get weapons? Let’s find some! We’ll kill them!"
As things started to get too heated, Yi Han stepped in to calm them down.
"Wait, wait. You’re all being too kind. You don’t need to go that far. I..."
"No! Wodanaz, we owe you."
"Right! Everyone here has eaten the meat you brought back!"
Seeing how grateful they were, Yi Han felt a little guilty.
"And this is a matter of pride!"
"Let’s crush the White Tiger Tower!"
"Let’s crush the White Tiger Tower!!"