Finally, the weekend had arrived.
Normally, after enduring grueling lectures, they would have celebrated their perseverance, but this weekend was different.
A mountain of assignments awaited them before the final exams.
Even the most audacious students couldn't ignore these assignments.
Ignoring them meant risking punishment, even during the holidays.
Anglago, a student of the White Tiger, yawned.
The morning sun felt unusually harsh.
“Anglago.”
“Why are you calling me?”
“Tired, aren't you? But isn’t there a sense of pride?”
“Actually, there is.”
Anglago nodded in agreement with his friend’s words.
While other White Tiger students slept in their dorms, Anglago and his friend were on their way to Professor Verduus’ Artifact Hall.
Moving for an assignment on a Saturday morning.
Such diligence and sincerity were rare.
Anglago couldn’t help but feel proud of himself.
“The Immortal Phoenix and the Blue Dragon students wouldn’t have started this early.”
“I think so too.”
Clunk-
With those words, Anglago opened the door to the Artifact Hall.
The first-floor classroom of Professor Verduus’ Artifact Hall, opened for students, was dark and silent.
The two White Tiger students mindlessly reached for the luminescent artifact's string on the ceiling...
“Don’t turn it on.”
“Aaaaaah!!!”
Anglago screamed and stumbled backward.
A human voice in a dark, empty classroom was unexpected.
It was funny for a mage to fear ghosts or spirits, but it was unavoidable.
And more importantly...
‘An intruder!!’
Thinking of the intruder who had caused chaos in the academy the previous week, Anglago quickly drew his wooden sword and brandished it.
“Don’t come closer! I'll cut you!”
“Quiet down. Be silent.”
“...Wardanaz?”
“Yes.”
Yi-Han conjured a light in the classroom’s air with a tired expression.
His face, usually unexpressive, seemed particularly weary today.
“How long have you been here?”
“Since yesterday afternoon.”
“...”
“...”
The two White Tiger students coughed awkwardly.
Suddenly, their early morning pride seemed foolish.
“Why were the lights off?”
“I was working on a magic circle. It’s hard to see when it's bright.”
Yi-Han said, sipping his coffee.
Many professors had been pestering him with questions like 'When will the autonomous iron shield be ready?' 'When will you show the shield?' 'I'm curious about the shield.' So, Yi-Han had been focusing on this, postponing other numerous tasks.
He had been so immersed since the end of the weekday classes that he hadn't slept...
Thanks to that, there was some progress.
‘With magic circles, somehow it’s manageable.’
The most difficult and crucial part of the autonomous shield.
It was about instructing the shield to ‘orbit around the owner and automatically protect from any danger.’
For a mage, casting such a complex command solely through staff movements and spells was overwhelming, especially for a beginner.
It wasn’t a lack of Yi-Han’s skill but the complexity of the magic itself.
But Yi-Han didn't give up and approached it differently.
Like he had done with other high-difficulty magic, Yi-Han broke down the autonomous shield into smaller parts.
Breaking it down for approach.
Yi-Han had done this several times before.
Take, for instance, the <Eumidiphos Water Bullet>, a spell that shoots violently spinning water bullets.
Even for a genius like Yi-Han, executing it all at once was impossible with his current skill level…
Astonishingly, Yi-Han succeeded in casting the spell.
He had floated a water bead and spun it until it worked.
Such a feat was possible only due to his immense mana!
With power to spare, Yi-Han had no qualms about breaking down the steps in this manner.
For other mages, who would collapse from magic depletion after a few attempts, this method was virtually impossible.
Even when broken down, the difficulty of this particular spell remained high.
That's why Yi-Han employed magic circles.
As they could replace part of the casting process, magic circles were essential for such high-difficulty spells.
The problem was...
"Is this actually complete?"
"It has the essentials."
"...Eh, could magic circles be completed this quickly??"
From their experience during the festival, they knew magic circles weren't easy to create.
The more complex and challenging they became, the more errors and variables appeared.
And to verify them, a mage had to continually test them personally.
"That's why I stayed up all night."
"..."
"..."
Was staying up all night really the solution?
The two White Tiger students felt something was off but couldn't strongly object.
After all, Yi-Han was the top student of his year, and they were just...
...students.
If Yi-Han said, 'As a student of a magic academy, you should be able to complete an autonomous shield magic circle overnight,' they couldn't argue.
'Something’s odd...'
'If Professor Knighton were here...'
Continuously shaking his head in doubt, Anglago decided to let it go for now.
"Wait. So, is the autonomous shield complete!?"
"No. If I cast it now, it'll fall after a few seconds. The work to amplify the spell’s duration isn’t finished."
Yi-Han's spell, combined with the supporting magic circles engraved on the shield, could somehow make the shield float and move.
But the issue was its duration.
Such a powerful spell consumed much more mana than lower-circle spells.
Without any countermeasures, casting it as is would last only a few seconds.
Hence, amplifying its duration was essential...
Yi-Han rubbed his furrowed brow, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by fatigue.
'Even now, it’s incredibly complex. I worry whether it’s even possible to add duration amplification to this.'
Though he had completed it, the magic circles on the shield were precarious.
Yi-Han himself was amazed at how he had managed to complete such intricately intertwined magic circles!
What were the chances of it not malfunctioning when he added the duration amplification magic circle?
'...There's a 99% chance it will fail. Should I redesign it?'
Even for the tough Yi-Han, the thought of redesigning it from scratch was daunting.
'Directly casting it, without magic circles, would be even harder.'
"Can't I at least see it in action?"
"See it?"
Anglago, sensing Yi-Han’s intimidating gaze, spoke in a frightened voice.
"Ah... No, I didn’t mean to demand a demonstration. Are you angry? You’re not angry, right?"
"I’m not angry."
Yi-Han was simply tired.
"I’ve always wanted an autonomous shield. I just wanted to see how it operates..."
"Okay, I get it. I get it."
"...You’re not angry, right?"
"I said I’m not."
Yi-Han stood up.
Unlike other mages who had to calculate their remaining mana with every spell, Yi-Han could cast one more spell without any consequence.
Since he had already completed the magic circle, he had to check if it worked well anyway...
"If we're unlucky, it'll sink in a second, so watch closely."
"Yes, yes!"
"Ready, Wardanaz!"
The students of the White Tigers spoke with sparkling eyes. Their expressions were visibly filled with excitement.
'Why do these kids love shields so much?'
Yi-Han, who was not from a knight's family, couldn't understand the irrational obsession the White Tiger students had with arms and armors.
For knights, swords, shields, and armors were extensions of their bodies and symbols of their pride.
-Look at that knight. Still using a sword from the Aeron Guild!-
-Using such a poorly made and crudely sold cheap sword. Tsk tsk. A knight should have some dignity.-
Pride drove knights to seek more precious and expensive arms and armors.
"Arise and protect your master, O Shield!"
Yi-Han chanted the spell.
In an instant, the iron shield lying on the desk shot up into the air and began to slowly orbit around Yi-Han.
Anglago exclaimed in amazement.
"It really floated!!"
"Wardanaz! Wardanaz! Can I try attacking it? Not that I want to attack you, but I’m curious about the shield's performance..."
"Do it quickly. Who knows when it will end."
The White Tiger student hastily threw a bundle of papers.
The shield spun and deflected the papers.
"I want to try! I'll throw from behind!"
"Go ahead! Throw!"
'What got into these kids?'
Yi-Han, tired from staying up all night, couldn’t keep up with the students' excitement.
Why were they so thrilled?
Thump!
"It... it blocked it! Even from a blind angle!!"
Yi-Han was about to comment on their poor attacking skills but was too tired to speak.
At least the shield seemed to be a partial success.
Now, if only he could extend its duration...
"Here comes the next one!"
"Alright, this time it's a chair!"
"I'm throwing a wooden sword!"
Clang! Thud! Bang!
The two White Tiger students, thrilled, kept throwing objects.
In fact, they might have been excited just to throw things at Yi-Han.
"...What are you all doing?"
"What are you guys up to?"
Students who entered the classroom later were shocked at the bizarre scene.
White Tiger students throwing junk at Yi-Han was unimaginable.
If it were anyone else but Yi-Han, they would have complained about being harassed by the White Tiger students.
"Wardanaz is helping us test an autonomous shield he made!"
"I think we can stop now."
"Just one more! Let me throw just one more!"
"Fine..."
Yi-Han, too weary to care, sat back down in his chair and then paused.
'Wait. Hasn't it been more than an hour now?'
Huh?
"Moradi, I hope you're not too upset. In a way, this is a stroke of luck for us. Compared to other groups, we have overwhelming power."
Dolgyu tried to lighten Jijel mood.
Few people, except some peculiar ones like the Shadow Patrol students, would want to climb mountains on a precious weekend.
Yet, here they were, gathered in the mountains for one reason.
Both Jijel and Dolgyu guessed that Professor Ingurdel final exam would be anything but easy.
Already, several White Tiger students were venturing into the mountains, leaving other final assignments behind, to find worthy prey in advance.
Even if they failed other courses, they were determined to score well in the swordsmanship class.
Of course, for Jijel, this was maddening.
'Crazy fools, stop dragging down our tower's average grade! That’s why we're looked down upon!'
"Moradi, you know we can't afford to waste time on the weekend, considering the amount of assignments we have to do. Let's not fight and do well together."
"I know, so stop nagging. How much progress have you made with the enchantment magic assignment?"
"Quite a lot, thanks to Yi-Han's help. Would you like to join us?"
"..."
Jijel was lost in thought.
Getting involved with Wardanaz was not without its drawbacks, but...
...Yi-Han's magic abilities were indeed tempting in such circumstances, especially when intellectual advice from other friends in the tower was hard to come by!
"Wardanaz will never agree to it easily."
"Uh-huh. It's true that Yi-Han... might not help wholeheartedly without something in return..."
Dolgyu, having a conscience, refrained from suggesting that Yi-Han would just help without any conditions.
"Yi-Han hasn't finished his enchantment magic assignment either. If we work together and ask him questions, he'll probably answer. He knows that fighting each other won't do us any good with the final exams approaching."
"You two were already here."
"Yi-Han!"
Upon Yi-Han's arrival, Dolgyu turned with a welcoming nod.
Then, seeing the shield orbiting around Yi-Han, he was astonished.
"Ah... No... This can’t be real?? This doesn’t make sense...!"
"What are you talking about?"
