Thud! A dull sound echoed.
The iron ball that Yi Han had launched with magic had struck the mud golem squarely.
However, what happened next was not what Yi Han had expected.
"!" Yi Han's expression changed.
The connection with the iron ball had been severed.
The iron ball, now embedded deep within the mud golem's massive body, was no longer retrievable.
'Too careless,' Yi Han clicked his tongue in frustration.
The mud golem was a monster sustained by magic, and any object connected to magic that entered its body would likely be disrupted by the golem's own magical energy.
Clatter— The bone summon waved its hand, as if asking to be sent in.
"Can you pull it out? If so... go!" At Yi Han's command, the bone summon leaped forward.
It scrambled onto the mud golem's back, struggling to retrieve the embedded iron ball.
"......"
"......"
But the iron ball was buried too deeply.
The bone summon strained and flailed its arms but couldn't reach the ball.
"Enough. Come back out."
The bone summon, looking dejected, retreated.
Fortunately, the mud golem didn't attack.
'At least I don't have to use invisibility magic yet,' Yi Han thought.
He had been prepared to flee if necessary, but now he steadied himself and prepared for another attack.
The iron ball was blocked, but...
'A water orb might work.' Reluctantly, Yi Han had to admit that Professor Voladi's teachings were proving useful once again.
Thanks to his training under Voladi, dodging projectiles while practicing magic, Yi Han could now summon a water orb.
The problem was its destructive power. 'Is it weaker than the iron ball?' Even though rain was pouring down all around, Yi Han had chosen the iron ball first because of its sheer destructive force.
Moreover, the process of using the iron ball was simple: lift, focus, and launch.
Its heavy material and ease of concentration made it naturally more powerful.
In contrast, the water orb was at a disadvantage in many ways.
The process was much more complicated: summon water, shape it into a sphere, and then control and launch it.
It required several times more steps than the iron ball.
There was a reason Yi Han, who had mastered the iron ball, still struggled with the water orb and often got scolded by Professor Voladi.
"Rise!" Yi Han summoned the water orb.
Water gushed into the air, quickly forming a compressed sphere.
The rain made the process feel easier.
Thud! 'Still not enough.' The water orb exploded, but its destructive power was weaker than the iron ball.
The depth of the mud's indentation made that clear.
The bone summon seemed to agree, shaking its body in disappointment.
'Let's think.
No matter how heartless the professors are—beasts who've lost their humanity—they wouldn't prepare a golem like this without some way to defeat it.' Yi Han fell deep into thought.
Of course, this golem wasn't prepared by Professor Thunderstep, but Yi Han had no way of knowing that. 'Professor Thunderstep probably knows I'm studying under Professor Voladi.
They must have discussed it.
If I use the magic I've learned from Voladi to its fullest, there might be a way.'
Whirl— Yi Han looked up.
The water orb was spinning in a circle.
He couldn't help but laugh.
Thanks to all the times he'd been scolded by Voladi, he was unconsciously drawing circles even when standing still.
Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind. 'What if I spin the water orb itself?' If he launched the water orb while spinning it, its penetrating power would increase.
Yi Han stopped drawing circles with the water orb and began spinning it instead.
Whoosh!
Meanwhile, Professor Ingeldel seemed thoroughly upset.
The skeletal headmaster sent a telepathic message to Professor Thunderstep.
- Do something about it.
Professor Ingeldel was a rare talent, even for the magic school.
If he were to resign and leave, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The headmaster would have to write reports to the emperor, explain himself to high-ranking officials, and beg the knights for another swordsmanship instructor.
Just imagining it was horrifying.
- Why me...
Professor Thunderstep grumbled but went down to the basement of the cabin and brought up a barrel of dwarf-made honey wine.
After all, the headmaster was his superior.
- Don't forget the snacks.
"......"
Professor Thunderstep grabbed some smoked meats and vegetables from the cabin shelves.
He noticed the vegetables Yi Han had harvested and left behind. 'Ah, I was going to eat those myself.' He had been planning to enjoy the first harvest, but the headmaster's sharp eyes caught him.
- Surely you're not planning to keep the good food for yourself, are you?
'Damn it.'
Professor Thunderstep gave up and brought everything.
Thud!
"Here, Professor Ingeldel. Have some. This is honey wine I made myself, vegetables from my garden, and smoked meats I prepared."
By the heavens! Our alchemy professor's homemade wine! A heavenly taste unmatched anywhere in the empire!
"......"
The headmaster wasn't skilled at compliments.
Fortunately, Professor Ingeldel was a kind elf.
He sipped the wine and praised it.
"It's truly delicious, Professor Thunderstep."
"Thank you."
It wasn't empty praise—it really was delicious.
A skilled alchemist was also a skilled chef and brewer.
It couldn't possibly taste bad.
As the atmosphere lightened, the headmaster spoke warmly.
"Don't worry too much about the students. Back in my day, it was much harder."
"......"
"......"
The two younger professors fell silent at the headmaster's tales of the distant past.
Back then, everything must have been tough...!
"And this year's freshmen are quite interesting. They'll overcome any reasonable crisis on their own."
"That's true," Professor Ingeldel nodded awkwardly.
Hearing the headmaster's words, he felt he might have been overprotective.
Of course, it might have been the alcohol talking.
Right? Just look at the Wodanaz family kid in the mountains.
He's quite clever, isn't he?
The other two professors agreed.
Yi Han was a topic of interest for all three of them, so it was easy to empathize.
As the younger professors empathized, the headmaster felt better.
"Right. So don't worry too much. That Wodanaz kid I mentioned earlier is clever enough to learn my magic books on his own, and the other one..."
"?"
"?"
The two professors, quietly sipping honey wine, paused.
"What did you just say?"
"What?"
"... You said he's learning your magic books on his own...?"
Both Professor Ingeldel and Professor Thunderstep looked at the headmaster in shock.
Of course, professors could personally teach students.
It was natural in a magic school.
But the headmaster was an exception.
As his earlier words suggested, his way of thinking was different from modern professors—he was an ancient madman.
The headmaster realized he had misspoken.
As a mage who had existed since ancient times, he decided to push forward instead of backing down.
"I'm the headmaster and representative of this school. Can't I teach as I please?!"
"......"
"......"
The headmaster sensed the atmosphere turning sour.
The two professors weren't buying it.
Realizing he was at a disadvantage, the headmaster changed tactics.
"It's not just me. Professor Voladi Bagrek is also giving personal lessons, isn't he? And you, Thunderstep, are doing the same!"
Smoothly dragging in absent and present professors alike—truly the skill of an ancient mage.
"No... I only teach at a first-year level. So does Professor Bagrek. But you're not, are you?"
Professor Thunderstep looked baffled.
The tasks he gave Yi Han, while physically demanding, were completely safe.
In contrast, the headmaster was the type to teach bizarre and complex magic even to first-years.
"Professor Bagrek is also teaching magic beyond the first-year level. I heard he's practically teaching third-circle magic."
The headmaster first pulled in Thunderstep, then shifted the focus to the absent Professor Voladi Bagrek.
And this wasn't a lie.
He had indeed heard that Voladi was teaching something akin to third-circle magic.
- Last time, the Wodanaz boy perfectly drew a circle with an iron ball during training.
- Did he? Impressive.
Even for a first-circle spell, that level of control is hard to achieve.
- So we moved on to the next step.
- What was the next step? The water orb spell? That's second-circle.
The difficulty of magic was measured by the number of steps in its casting process.
Summoning water and shaping it into a sphere was a second-circle spell.
- He succeeded in creating a water orb and is now drawing circles with it.
Adding control to that would make it practically third-circle.
Of course, the result was the same, but it wasn't technically a third-circle spell.
A third-circle spell required weaving all those steps into a single wand motion and incantation, manifesting everything at once.
Summoning water, shaping it into a sphere, and spinning it separately didn't count as a third-circle spell.
But even this much was impressive.
After all, if he became more familiar and faster with magic, it would prove he could cast third-circle spells.
For a first-year struggling with second-circle magic, this was remarkable.
Other professors might have been shocked, but the headmaster took it coolly.
- I see.
That's good.
And then he thought, 'If Professor Voladi is doing this, I can probably teach some personal magic too!'
"What kind of nonsense is that?! Professor Bagrek is Professor Bagrek, and your magic is your magic!"
Professor Thunderstep naturally didn't buy the headmaster's excuse.
Frankly, it was questionable whether Professor Bagrek was truly teaching third-circle magic, and even if he was, the headmaster's teachings felt far more threatening.
"I'm teaching safely! Only magic appropriate for their level. I swear on my honor!"
"......"
"......"
"I swear on my magic!"
"Ah, if you say so..."
"Then we'll believe you."
Only after swearing on his magic did the two professors reluctantly let go of their suspicions.
They had been worried the headmaster might teach some ancient, incomprehensible magic to a first-year and destroy their mind.
Fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.
"But what is Professor Bagrek teaching?"
Water-based combat magic.
After hearing the headmaster's detailed explanation, the two professors were impressed.
As the headmaster said, it wasn't technically third-circle magic, but for a first-year to achieve that level of mastery was astounding.
A remarkable result requiring both talent and effort!
"I'm not a mage, so I don't know much, but is it common for someone at that level to achieve so much in their first year?"
"It's very rare. He must have a strong affinity for water. Of course, that alone isn't enough—he needs many other talents too... Wait, Professor Bagrek specializes in magical combat, right? So he's having him repeat training? That must be exhausting, both magically and mentally..."
What a terrible person.
"......"
Well, he probably won't go further than that.
The current training itself isn't problematic, so it's manageable, right? Given the difficulty of the magic, it's unlikely to escalate further.
Whoosh!
'It's done.'
The water orb spun fiercely in place, emitting a sharp sound.
Yi Han, his head throbbing, looked up at the mud golem.