As the saying goes, just as the bird singing the most beautiful song dies the quickest, mages with exceptional talents often had short lifespans. Unlike those without talent, who did not covet more than they needed, talented mages tended to desire as much as their abilities allowed.
Magic was akin to the sun—too close an approach, and one would burn to death.
‘Is there no one to tell him?’ Direth bit her lip in frustration. The malevolent professors of this magic academy only cared about their own fields. When a talented freshman appeared, they would eagerly suggest a new spell to learn, paying no heed if the student was already learning another. Often, by the time these naive freshmen realized what was happening, it was too late—they were trapped in an inescapable magical hell.
‘Only eccentrics like Professor Garcia could withstand this!’ Direth thought, especially now that the midterm period had just ended and more magic fields were to be explored.
Someone had to warn him. Now!
"Junior!" Direth strengthened her resolve and shouted.
"Be careful! You're being deceived by the professors..."
"???" Yi-Han, startled by the sudden cry from behind, turned around.
But there was no one there.
"What... what was that?"
"I'm not sure, but it feels ominous," Yi-Han murmured, frowning at the faintly familiar mana in the empty corridor. "It feels like the energy of the skull principal..."
Could it be?
As the potion in the cauldron began to bubble and slowly turn leaden, Yi-Han carefully extinguished the fire. Only the final step of the <Vitality Bone Regeneration Potion> remained.
‘Just need to add freshly picked thistle flowers,’ he thought.
"Why is mine blue? Why is it blue?"
"Doesn't this look leaden to you? Doesn't it?"
Ignoring his friends in denial, Yi-Han exchanged glances with Yonaire.
"Let's go pick thistle flowers!"
"The exams end tomorrow," Yi-Han noted, and Yonaire nodded. It felt like several weeks had passed, even though it was only one.
"We have to do this again..."
"It was really tough."
"Yes. For me too."
“...”
Yonaire had to suppress the urge to say, "Yi-Han, you're digging your own grave," because Yi-Han was not just any student.
“Did you do well on all the tests?”
"So so."
"Huh?"
Yonaiere was puzzled by Yi-Han’s words.
Yi-Han had always been exceptional. Among the first-year students, many were good at their studies, but Yi-Han stood out. Where others showed weaknesses in certain lectures, Yi-Han seemed to have none. His excellence was consistent across all subjects.
"You made a mistake in Dark Magic? How did you score?"
"No. I got a perfect score."
"Then in Summoning Magic?"
"No."
"...Illusion Magic?"
"I got perfect scores there too... Huh. Now that I think about it, I did well. Sorry, Yonaire. It's just a habit."
For the first time, Yonaire almost lost her temper with Yi-Han.
"What's happening?"
Students were gathered and buzzing at the spot where the thistle flower field should have been. Yi-Han approached, curious, and then stood in shock.
"...!"
The thistle flowers that had once flourished were now completely gone.
"Did you all pick them?" Yi-Han asked, striving to be polite, though his voice lacked warmth and carried a hint of menace. The gathered students flinched and stepped back.
"No, it's not us, Wardanaz. When we arrived, someone had already picked them!" they insisted.
"How can I believe that?" Yi-Han questioned skeptically.
"Think about it, Wardanaz! We need freshly picked thistle flowers too. Why would we pick them first and render them unusable for ourselves?" A student from the White Tiger argued, trembling while clutching a wooden sword. Due to previous incidents, a saying had circulated within the White Tiger: "When dealing with Wardanaz, always move in groups of at least four."
To face him alone was unforeseen.
"You have a point."
Yi-Han lowered his staff, and the White Tiger student sighed in relief.
'Wait a minute.'
"Move aside."
Near the thistle flower bed, the ground was littered with footprints, obviously left by the students who had arrived earlier. However, Yi-Han focused on a particular set of footprints inside the flower bed, which looked familiar.
'This is...'
He carefully examined and measured the footprints.
A student from the Black Tortoise, surprised, asked, "Are you distinguishing the footprints of those who entered the flower bed first? How?"
It was baffling to him how Wardanaz, who was not a hunter by any means, knew such skills.
To this, Yi-Han asked, perplexed, "Don't you have Nillia in your tower? Why haven't you learned?"
"...Because I'm not a hunter?"
Yi-Han gave him a look of incomprehension. The Black Tortoise student felt unjustly at fault, wondering, 'Where have I seen that look before?'
He then realized. It was the same look professors gave when they regarded someone with disdain.
'Why should I learn hunter skills...'
"Yonaire."
Yi-Han approached Yonaire with a serious expression and whispered, "I think I know who the culprit is."
"Who? A student from the White Tiger?"
"No. Professor Uregor."
"..."
Professor Uregor walked with a well-crafted bottle of brandy. The professors from Einroguard, having arrived earlier, were scattered, relaxing with ease, as the midterm exams were nearing their end.
"You've worked hard, Professor Garcia," Professor Uregor greeted, pouring a glass of brandy for Garcia, a young half-troll professor, who accepted it with a shy expression.
"It was nothing much."
"Not at all. Who else works as hard as you, Professor Garcia?"
Professor Uregor genuinely respected this half-troll professor before him. While other professors immersed themselves in their own magic fields and Gonadaltes indulged in all sorts of evil whims, Garcia quietly did her duty, caring for the students. Without her, Einroguard would have been a much more hellish place.
"You're almost done too, aren't you, Professor Uregor?"
"Yes. The students will submit their work tomorrow."
"It must be hard with such a long duration."
If it were the skull principal, he would have sarcastically remarked, 'Alchemy is just setting problems and drinking while waiting; isn't it a lazy man's discipline?' (Though Professor Uregor partially agreed with this sentiment).
However, the kind-hearted Professor Garcia always found a positive aspect.
"You will have to keep taking care as the students need to gather and prepare the materials."
"That's true."
Although Professor Uregor didn't quite attend to it as Garcia suggested, he nodded in agreement anyway. There was no need to outright reject a compliment and cause discomfort!
And there was some truth to it.
"Just yesterday, I had to go to the flowerbed and uproot all the thistle flowers."
"Why did you do that?"
"For the students," Professor Uregor said, somewhat excitedly explaining.
The freshly picked thistle flowers were essential for the final stage of the <Vitality Bone Regeneration Potion>. The students were all aware of this flowerbed's location. But what if these flowers suddenly disappeared? With the tight deadline, there would be no time to find or procure new ones. The students would have to complete the potion without the thistle flowers.
"It's still possible to complete the potion without them, though the quality will suffer. It's up to the students' wisdom to overcome this," he stated.
Garcia's face clouded over. Should she praise this or not?
'Why not just tell them to make it without thistle flowers from the start?'
Was it necessary to cause them shock and confusion?
"Indeed. That sounds like a good approach."
"Thank you, Professor Garcia. It's because of my affection for the students."
Professor Uregor sipped his brandy contentedly.
But he had forgotten one thing: a student who has raided a professor's workshop once could do it again.
"We're going to the Gaksu Pavilion."
Tired from a day of exams, Yi-Han didn't hesitate for even a second. The deadline was the next morning; time was tight. He knew that the second floor of Professor Uregor's tower, the Gaksu Pavilion, surely had the thistle flowers.
"If we call the other friends..."
"There's no time for that, Yonaire. Plus, more people mean more risk."
Yi-Han was aware this was his second time; the danger had escalated.
Quietly and swiftly.
"But let's call Nillia."
"Good thinking."
Yonaire nodded. It would be pointless to later say 'We didn't call you because it was dangerous.'
"Let's call Ratford too."
"Okay."
"And Asan..."
"...Maybe we should just call everyone?"
"Yeah. That's better."
Yi-Han gave in and decided to call all his friends.
30 minutes later, Yi-Han and his friends, each cloaked in dark coats, gathered. Yonaire suddenly wondered, 'Doesn't anyone have any qualms about thievery at this hour?'
They all seemed too natural...
"Let's go."
No further explanation was needed. They had already synced up several times before.
Yi-Han led the way.
Having been here before, it wasn't too difficult...
"!"
What caught Yi-Han's eye were students from the White Tiger, clumsily trying to break into the Gaksu Pavilion's main entrance, masked.
'What's this?'
At first, Yi-Han thought they were other students who were taking Alchemy. But on closer inspection, they were not.
Could they be trying to raid the professor's workshop in the middle of the night to prevent Yi-Han from securing the thistle flowers?
'...That can't be it.'
Even for them, that was going too far.
"They seem to be here for a different lecture," Yonaire whispered from behind.
"A different lecture?"
"They're students from the <Basic Dance and Social Etiquette> class. There's been talk in their lecture about a potion in Professor Uregor's tower that supposedly makes one dance well..."
Yi-Han was taken aback.
He was surprised first by the sheer number of students attending a course like <Basic Dance and Social Etiquette>, and secondly by the fact that they were resorting to a potion just to dance well.
"Shouldn't they rely on their own abilities instead of resorting to theft?"
"It doesn't seem like our place to judge," Yonaire interjected.
Before Yonaire could finish, a rustling from the bushes ahead revealed another group of students.
They were from the Black Tortoise Tower.
"Are those students also from <Basic Dance and Social Etiquette>?"
"No. I've seen them in <Basic Music>..."
Yi-Han shook his head in disbelief.
Three different groups, each with their own agendas, had coincidentally met in front of the workshop in the middle of the night.
"Even if it's theft, is it acceptable to use a potion for an exam?"
"I was curious too and asked a professor. They said it was alright."
“...”
