When Yi-Han multiplied 14 by 19, the result was 266, not 417. There was not a single correct digit.
Yi-Han asked with a doubtful voice, "Gainando, how do you make a <Lesser Mana Recovery Potion>?" It was the same question his other friends had asked earlier. If it truly was a potion of wisdom, he should have been able to answer correctly as he had before.
"To make it, you cut off the base of the Garamaldu, then chop off the remaining part along with your little finger. At the same time, you need to tear the Snow Fragrance grass finely with your hands..."
He answered with the same calm and composed demeanor as before, but Yi-Han was not fooled. On the cutting board lay the base of the Garamaldu, along with a severed little finger!
"It's not a potion of wisdom, but a potion of confidence," Yi-Han realized.
“...”
The Blue Dragon friends were genuinely disappointed. They could have easily passed all the tasks and exams!
"But can't we sell it as a potion of wisdom to those White Tiger kids?"
"Ohh..."
"What do you mean 'Ohh'? No, we can't."
Yi-Han stopped the students. The princess, who was about to stand up with the potion, caught his eye and quietly sat back down.
"Why not?! Wardanaz. You know how rude and arrogant those kids are! They even insulted you before!"
"I know. But wait, what insult?"
Yi-Han, about to let it go, couldn't hold back and asked.
"They said you're much better at dark magic than the senior students."
'That's hardly an insult, is it?' Yi-Han thought to himself. He understood the intent behind it, but it seemed too mild for an insult. Perhaps to the students of the White Tiger, it was meant to be offensive, but to Yi-Han, it wasn't significant. Remarks like 'Wardanaz will starve to death after graduation' or 'Wardanaz won't graduate and will be dragged away by the professors' would have been far more insulting.
"It's fine. I'll handle my own affairs, so don't get needlessly angry because of me. The most important thing now is the lake."
“!”
Those words reminded the Blue Dragon students of an assignment they had forgotten, or rather, had tried to forget. It was an assignment given by the skull principal.
"Do we really have to go to the lake?"
"Maybe we can just give up on one assignment? To cooperate with such people for it... What's important is honor, not grades."
At that, Yi-Han, Yonaire, the princess, and Asan looked at the student in disbelief, as if he had said something absurd. How could he say grades aren't important??
"Grades are honor. What nonsense are you talking about?"
"Yes, grades are the way to su... I mean, honor."
Yi-Han was about to say 'Grades are the way to success' but stopped himself. Most of the students there thought 'What does it matter if my grades are bad? I have a family to fall back on,' so such words wouldn't have much effect.
And...
'I think it will be dangerous later on if I say something like that.'
Last time, when he overheard Professors Boladi and Kirmin talking, it seemed risky to say something like 'My goal is to succeed as a bureaucrat' in the magic school. It might be better to keep it hidden until he was sure of his position and ready to leave.
"Sorry... I was short-sighted."
The friend who had carelessly spoken apologized, unable to withstand the gaze of Yi-Han and the others.
Ah, I see!
Grades are that important...!
'I was hoping to find something useful in the potion box.'
Yi-Han looked at the lake, feeling disappointed. He had hoped for something like a potion of walking on water or underwater breathing.
No matter how much he thought about it, Yi-Han felt that the principal's latest assignment would involve some tricky situation with water.
Perhaps falling into the water or drinking it...
However, the only confirmed potions in the stolen potion box were the Empire’s Western Grape Wine (delicious), Cantus Potion (bestowed talent for singing), and the Potion of Confidence.
Yi-Han seriously considered secretly feeding the remaining potions to the students of the White Tiger in small doses.
It would be quicker if he could just administer them directly...
'If there were potions like Strength Enhancement or Giant Growth, it would be problematic. They would come after me first.'
Yi-Han, considering the risks, decided against it.
After all, testing unverified potions on people was ethically wrong.
"Shield, unfold!"
Yi-Han chanted towards the lake.
A mage who used water elemental magic became much more comfortable and powerful when water was nearby. The mana and mental power required to summon water were significantly reduced.
...Or so he had heard, but Yi-Han couldn't feel any difference.
'Is it because I'm inexperienced?'
Whether he used the lake's water or summoned it, it felt the same to him. Perhaps it was because he was using lower circle magic. The difference might not be noticeable at lower circles, but it might become apparent as he advanced to higher circles...
Yi-Han experimented with the water shield, changing its form in various ways.
The sole reason he was at the lake on a peaceful Sunday morning was to find a way to cross it.
'It's surprisingly large.'
It was no wonder some students from inland regions mistook it for a sea.
From where Yi-Han stood, he couldn't see the other end of the lake.
He had to find a way to cross it by next week. The skull principal was not the kind to sympathize with a lack of solutions.
"Ferry, appear!"
Yi-Han tried altering his spells in his own way, attempting to transform the water shield into the form of a ferry.
He was trying to summon a ferry made of water.
Professor Garcia would have been appalled at such an absurd attempt by his student.
No matter how confident you are, do you not realize how difficult it is to maintain the shape of a ferry?
Maintaining a water shield and summoning a water ferry to cross the lake were tasks of entirely different magnitudes.
Firstly, the size and density of a shield and a ferry were different.
Naturally, the required mana was vastly different.
Even if he simplified the structure of the ferry as much as possible, it was still incomparably more complex than a shield. And unlike a shield that just needed to be suspended in the air, the ferry had to maintain its shape continuously on the water...
Yi-Han soon realized this fact.
Indeed, summoning a water ferry was not efficient.
'Surely, it's uncertain. Can I maintain it on the lake?'
There was also the possibility of monsters or the skull principal attacking from within the lake.
Considering such scenarios, a water ferry was impractical.
'It's a shame to give up on a successful summoning.'
Yi-Han neatly gave up and released the successfully summoned water ferry onto the lake.
Again, if Professor Garcia had been there, he would have been astonished, saying something along the lines of:
-You can't just release it after you've successfully summoned it!-
'Maybe it's an enchantment after all?'
If neither potions nor a water ferry worked, then the next option was enchantment magic.
There existed a category of spells that etched effects directly onto items, substances, or living beings to maintain their power. Among them were enchantments like the magic of walking on water or underwater breathing.
The issue at hand was that Yi-Han had only learned these enchantments indirectly. He had been introduced to their applications in lectures like <Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic>, but had not yet received formal instruction. And even if he received formal instruction, he didn't think he would be able to learn the magic of walking on water or underwater breathing right away in the first year…
'Dark magic is useless even in times like this. Alchemy and enchantment are closely helpful in real life.'
Yi-Han lamented the limited utility of dark magic in such situations. He imagined Professor Mortum shedding tears over this thought.
'The lightning spirit is equally useless. The ice spirit controlled by Professor Uregor helps with storing food ingredients and reagents... In times like this, it would have been possible to make a road by freezing water.'
These thoughts led Yi-Han to believe that Ferkuntra might also feel overwhelmed.
'In some ways, magic is very weak...'
"Be careful!"
"Don't worry. Let's push it slowly."
Yi-Han, hearing voices beyond the bushes, crouched and approached cautiously. To his surprise, he found his friends from the White Tiger building a boat-like structure, nearly complete even to his untrained eye.
"Can we really launch this?"
"Of course, I've done it many times," Anglago, a satyr, replied confidently. Anglago often accompanied his parents to his mother's homeland for long breaks, gaining experience in building and handling small boats.
"If it works, let's go back and tell everyone!"
"Great idea! What if we find a way to the island?"
"That's brilliant. Moradi would love it."
Anglago nodded.
It was nice to be admired by Moradi and other students, but more than anything…
He was thrilled at the thought of Wardanaz, a master of all malevolent magic, looking at him with a mix of respect and resentment.
-"Curses, Anglago Alpha. I acknowledge you. To find a path I've yet to discover, you're far more remarkable than I thought. I was foolish to underestimate you..."-
In the rustling bushes, Yi-Han emerged, wielding his staff.
"Hey," Yi-Han called, causing Anglago and his friend to instinctively raise their arms, perceiving the staff as a threat.
"This... this is cowardly!"
Anglago felt unjustly aggrieved, so much so that his horn trembled. They had worked tirelessly on the boat, even giving it the name 'Baphomet.'
Desiring to confront Yi-Han but recalling the magic he had previously demonstrated, they hesitated. Yi-Han's staff could swing faster than any sword they might draw.
"My boat! To take my boat like this..."
"Don't move," Yi-Han warned, then regretted it, realizing his inadvertent threat. He had initially approached the White Tiger students to ask them how they planned to sail and how they would find their way, not to intimidate them. But suddenly, the White Tiger students raised their arms as if they had encountered a robber, and Yi-Han suddenly said, 'Don't move' without even realizing it.
"Actually, never mind."
Yi-Han lowered his staff, reflecting on the power of habit.
"There seems to be a misunderstanding," Yi-Han clarified. "I didn't come to steal your boat. I merely wanted to see how you were getting on."
"Is that... really so?"
"But you threatened us with your staff, saying you'd curse us if we didn't hand over the boat..."
Anglago, mid-sentence, realized that Yi-Han had never actually made such a threat. It was a misconception born from his panic.
"There was a misunderstanding," the two students from the White Tiger acknowledged, lowering their arms obediently. Yi-Han, pretending to overlook their earlier reaction, nodded.
"So, you came out here because you're interested in the boat I made?"
"Yes, that's right. But..."
Yi-Han began, then paused, looking at Anglago with newfound curiosity.
This was the boat Anglago had made?
'It might be more dangerous than one made by Gainando,' he thought to himself.
"Why?" Anglago, oblivious to Yi-Han's unspoken skepticism, asked in confusion.
