Summoning Magic Professor Milay entered the classroom, slightly puzzled by the heated atmosphere.
Despite her advanced age, Professor Milay maintained an upright posture, and anyone could tell at a glance that she was a noble from one of the empire's prestigious families.
Nobles from such families carried themselves in a way that was unmistakable, even in the way they walked and spoke.
'Well, the Blue Dragon Tower folks are a bit of an exception, of course.' Though, students who had been locked in the tower and starved were exceptions too.
Whether noble or not, when people were driven to desperation, all sense of dignity went out the window.
Professor Milay adjusted the monocle she wore over one eye.
She looked every bit the strict perfectionist.
But Yi Han wasn’t intimidated.
'Anyone would be better than Professor Boladi.'
Professor Garcia, standing beside her, began a brief explanation.
"Like Black Magic, Summoning Magic is a field you’ll start learning in your second year. However, the reason we’ve invited Professor Milay here today is not only to give you a good opportunity to learn what Summoning Magic is but also..."
■■■■■
Right on cue, a summoned beast that had escaped from the school grounds outside the classroom let out a roar.
The windows rattled.
"...because we thought it would be helpful given the current situation at the school."
"Professor Garcia...!"
"You’re our only hope, Professor!"
Some students pulled out handkerchiefs to wipe their tears.
Professor Milay watched the scene without a change in expression.
Then, in a stern voice, she said, "Professor Garcia, may I begin?"
"Yes, please go ahead."
"Here, who among you is interested in Summoning Magic?"
All the students raised their hands.
Yi Han raised his hand too, though he couldn’t explain why the sad face of Professor Motum flashed through his mind.
'But Summoning Magic is truly a great form of magic.'
Just as Black Magic is divided into various fields like curses, elements, undead summoning, and dark energy, Summoning Magic, despite its name, encompasses a wide range of disciplines.
Spirit summoning, demon summoning, monster summoning, artifact summoning, magical object summoning, and so on.
It includes everything from living beings to inanimate objects (and even overlaps with Black Magic in some areas), making its applications endless.
In old fairy tales, there were stories of magicians who, after a lifetime of hardship, contracted with an exceptional summoned creature and lived happily ever after (albeit lazily).
While you couldn’t take fairy tales at face value, it was true that Summoning Magic, once mastered, could make life much easier.
"Thank you. But I doubt even one of you here is qualified to learn Summoning Magic."
"......"
"......"
Professors had a knack for pouring cold water on enthusiasm, and Professor Milay was no exception.
She spoke harshly, "I won’t sugarcoat it. Summoning Magic is difficult. If you don’t have the ability to learn it, forcing yourself into the second-year lectures will only make things harder for you."
'Now that’s a professor.'
Yi Han was impressed.
If a student lacked the ability to learn, a professor should either discourage them or wait patiently.
Saying, 'Why can’t you learn? Let’s see if you can’t learn even before you die,' was more like a thug than a professor.
"Summoning Magic cannot be learned with just knowledge of one field of magic. Spirit summoning requires a deep understanding of spiritology, demon summoning requires a deep understanding of demonology, and monster summoning requires a deep understanding of monsterology. Even the relatively easier summoning of inanimate objects is no simple task. So, I’ll say it again. If you’re not confident, it’s better not to take an interest in Summoning Magic."
But the students only seemed more intrigued.
At their young age, how many would back down just because something was difficult? Their expressions showed even more determination.
This was the complete opposite of Black Magic, which, despite being easier, had left the students indifferent.
Professor Garcia whispered softly, "They’re all talented students. Could you give them a chance?"
Professor Milay nodded.
Snap!
With a wave of her staff, strange geometric patterns appeared on magical scrolls in front of the students.
These weren’t one-time-use scrolls that tore upon activation, but fixed scrolls with magical circles inscribed on them.
"You’ve all taken <Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic>, right?"
"Yes."
At the mention of the course name, the students’ faces turned as if they’d bitten into a frog.
Few could endure the torture of endless numbers, which were neither magic nor general education.
'Honestly, that’s on the easier side.'
Yi Han swallowed the thought that if his friends had heard that, they might have thrown stones.
"It’s too hard!"
"Then you have no chance of learning Summoning Magic."
"......"
Having spoken up and nearly gotten himself disqualified from Summoning Magic, Gainan-do shut his mouth.
"All of you, make sure to do well in <Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic>. Drawing and calculating magical circles are essential in Summoning Magic."
Yi Han examined the magical circle.
Unlike Gainan-do, whose eyes were already spinning in confusion, Yi Han could tell what kind of magical circle it was.
'I see.
So, magical power flows like this...'
A magical circle was a kind of circuit.
While an electrical circuit carried electric current, a magical circle carried magical energy.
Any magician who had cast spells knew how difficult it was to perform magic.
The higher the level of magic, the harder it became.
The amount of magical power required increased, and the structure of the spell became more complex.
At a certain point, people would say, 'This isn’t magic a human can perform.'
Magical circles were there to help such magicians.
They circulated magical power in various ways—amplifying in some parts, reducing in others, bypassing or blocking in others—to lessen the burden on the magician.
As Yi Han calculated the flow of magical power through the circle and visualized it in his mind, he suddenly saw the illusion of a quill pen.
'...
What’s this?'
In the world of magic, there were no coincidences.
Yi Han realized that the quill pen he had just seen was related to this magical circle.
"This magical circle is for summoning a quill pen."
"A quill pen?"
"Summoning a quill pen...?"
The students were baffled.
Even if it wasn’t a dagger, summoning a quill pen made them wonder, 'Why bother?'
Yi Han shook his head. 'Ungrateful bunch.'
If Professor Milay cleared the desks and threw down a demon summoning circle, saying, 'Summon it successfully unless you want to die,' who would take responsibility?
Fortunately, Professor Milay was different from Professor Boladi.
In the same stern voice, she said, "It’s a magical quill pen made of magical energy. Since the ones you summon won’t last long, focus solely on summoning it for now."
As soon as the professor finished speaking, the students waved their staffs and activated the magical circles.
"Quill pen, appear!"
"Magical quill pen, please come forth!"
With the incantations, magical circles burned or scrolls tore in various places.
Though the circles were designed to withstand magical energy, they could still be damaged or destroyed by a magician’s mistakes.
This was expected, so Professor Milay waved her staff.
The damaged circles disappeared, and new ones appeared.
About 30 minutes later, students began to summon something resembling a quill pen.
The Blue Dragon Tower had the most successful students, like Yonera, Adenart, and Asan, while the Black Turtle Tower and Phoenix Tower also had a fair number of successes.
The White Tiger Tower had the fewest, but some talented students managed to summon something quill-like.
Seeing the students’ beaming faces, Professor Garcia gave a bitter smile. 'They shouldn’t be so happy with that.'
Indeed, Professor Milay’s face remained as still as a stone statue, showing no emotion.
This was the tricky part of Summoning Magic. 'Summoning something similar' was practically a failure!
While elemental magic could be considered a success as long as you managed to cast it, even if the size or form was off, Summoning Magic was the opposite.
If it wasn’t perfect, it was meaningless.
There was no helping it.
As a discipline that imbued summoned beings with will, even the slightest mistake could result in the summoned creature attacking the magician.
At least it was just a quill pen...
"Damn it, Dakard! That quill pen attacked me!!"
"Hey, Gainan-do! The quill pen moved on its own! It’s just a quill pen, though!"
"It’s an assassination attempt on the royal family! An assassination attempt! Yi Han, help me!"
"It’s just a quill pen! What are the odds of dying from a quill pen?!"
Of course, even a quill pen was enough to cause chaos.
Angrago of the White Tiger Tower, from the Alpha family, felt a surge of pride as a sleek quill pen materialized before him.
Given his status, he often felt behind in various forms of magic, but Summoning Magic was different.
Perhaps he was even better than Giselle.
"!"
Angrago felt a smug satisfaction as he looked at Yi Han sitting in front of him.
There was nothing in front of Yi Han—no quill pen, nothing.
For the first time, Angrago felt he could humble the arrogant young dark magician from the Wodanaz family.
"Wodanaz. Did you fail to summon something?"
"......"
"Wodanaz! Don’t ignore me! Look at my quill pen!"
Yonera, sitting nearby, retorted, "Didn’t you have a quill pen at home? Why are you showing off with one?"
"Look at my quill pen here..."
Boom!!!
A loud noise erupted.
Angrago, thinking Yi Han had cast a Black Magic spell, cowered in fear.
Above Yi Han’s magical circle, quill pens began to materialize in droves.
"......"
Yi Han looked at the fluttering quill pens with a blank expression. 'I failed.'
Though Angrago was chattering away behind him, Yi Han didn’t hear a word.
He had been that focused.
Channeling magical energy into a fragile magical circle to complete a summoning spell.
For other students, it was just difficult, but for Yi Han, it was excruciatingly hard.
The slightest loss of control could cause a wave of magical energy to tear the circle apart.
That’s why Yi Han had half given up when others started.
'Maybe Summoning Magic isn’t for me.'
Perhaps Yi Han’s destiny lay in combat magic, like Professor Boladi.
...
But surprisingly, the magical circle didn’t break.
Even Yi Han was shocked. 'Was I this good?'
A perfect understanding of magical circles.
And the recent (forced) improvement in magical energy control.
These two factors combined allowed Yi Han to avoid destroying the circle.
It was an astonishing result.
'Oh no.
The assignment was to summon something.'
Having been so moved by the fact that he could channel magical energy without destroying the circle, Yi Han snapped back to reality.
The assignment wasn’t to not break the circle—it was to summon a magical quill pen.
"Appear, quill pen."
Yi Han muttered softly and waved his staff.
Boom!!!
At that moment, with a loud noise, quill pens began to materialize above the magical circle.
Professor Garcia, startled by this unprecedented failure, turned to look at Professor Milay.
It was the first time he had seen her eyebrows rise so high.
"Yi Han has a lot of magical energy, so such failures are..."
Before Professor Garcia could finish his excuse, Professor Milay returned her expression to normal and calmly said, "That’s not a failure, Professor Garcia."