Ihan gritted his teeth, sweat beading on his forehead. Around him, five wobbly skeleton warriors stumbled and swayed, their bone limbs clicking clumsily. They were weak, barely able to lift their paper weapons, and definitely not intimidating. He sighed, stopping the spell. This wasn’t working.
“Quantity over quality?” Gainando asked, watching the failed summons crumble into dust.
Ihan shook his head. “Not in summoning magic. It’s always quality.”
The reason was clear. Trying to summon many creatures at once took too much effort for too little gain. And the mana! Each skeleton demanded focus, draining his energy. At this rate, he’d collapse before they even learned to stand straight.
If one had mastered summoning a skeleton warrior, they would aim for a stronger skeleton warrior.
And if they succeeded at that, they would aim for an even higher-level undead monster.
“But the Headmaster summoned dozens, even hundreds of summons, didn’t he?”
Yoner and Ihan ignored Gainando’s question, looking at him with disdain.
“Isn’t fifteen too much?”
“Hmm. Did I summon too many? Still, it’s not enough to be a strain.”
Yoner was surprised at Ihan’s words.
He knew that his friend from the Wodanaz family had as much mana as a mad dragon, but he didn’t know it was to this extent.
“I don’t know much about black magic, but… is this originally how you train?”
The Princess shook her head from behind at Yoner’s question.
As someone who knew a fair bit about black magic, she seemed to think what Ihan was doing was strange.
“Originally, you don’t do it this way. It’s an ancient method, almost forgotten, focusing on the *spirit* of the undead, not just the bones.”
“Indeed… Wodanaz. So common necromancy is too *easy* for your great intellect?” Asan said with a mocking bow, as if he understood.
Ihan was about to hit him, but he held back, wondering what sin Asan had committed.
“It sounds grand, but… it’s close to that.”
“Still, this seems too reckless.”
“That’s right. The progress is a bit slow.”
Ihan tapped his staff.
Unlike before, when they hadn’t moved an inch, this time the skeleton warriors all raised their arms simultaneously.
And then they all threw wads of paper at once.
“Ack!” Gainando was pummeled by the flying wads of paper.
“This is the best I can do right now. And even then, it only works about half the time.”
“Oh…”
“I still have a long way to go.”
The students who didn’t know much about black magic just thought, ‘I see.’
However, the Princess was appalled.
Not only had he raised fifteen skeleton warriors in the ancient way, but he was already controlling them enough to fire in unison.
The Princess tapped her foot impatiently, pointing at the skeletons as if to show him.
“Ah. It certainly doesn’t look good. I’ll help Wodanaz clean up. Wodanaz, it seems like the private room isn’t a suitable space for practice, would you like me to help you move?” Neblen said as if he understood.
“I suppose so. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
The Blue Dragon Tower friends rolled up their sleeves and began picking up the bones one by one.
“Sharkhan. Thank you.”
-Grrr.
Ihan thanked him as he loaded the luggage onto Sharkhan’s back.
“Gonadaltes. Take this.”
“W-what-tes???” Asan was horrified and looked around.
Ihan calmed his friend and said.
“Calm down, Asan. The Headmaster isn’t here. This summon’s name is Gonadaltes.”
“Ah… …Wodanaz. I don’t have the right to say anything about someone else’s summon, but isn’t that a bit dangerous???”
As his friends carried their luggage and walked away one by one, the Princess shook her head with a frustrated expression.
Salco of the Tutankha family was walking with his friends. He needed Wodanaz’s help. Rumors were spreading about Wodanaz’s powerful magic, and Salco believed he was the only one who could help them with their plan.
“Wodanaz is currently at Professor Thunderstride’s cabin, I hear. Let’s go.”
“Tu, Tutankha. Isn’t it a little dangerous?”
“Of course, Wodanaz is a fearsome guy who you can never let your guard down against. But he’s not a fool like the White Tiger Tower guys who can’t cooperate at all. If there are reasonable conditions, we can join hands.”
“No. Isn’t it dangerous to go with just this many people? If Wodanaz suddenly attacks…”
“That’s what you meant.”
Salco clicked his tongue as he looked at the Black Tortoise Tower student who was frightened.
“I told you, Wodanaz isn’t the type to attack recklessly.”
“B, but. Imirg. What do you think?”
The Black Tortoise Tower student turned to his friend. The giant mixed-blood student who was taking black magic classes with Ihan was flustered.
“U, uh…”
In fact, even though he was taking black magic classes together, he really didn’t get a sense of what kind of student Wodanaz was.
The Prince seemed a bit foolish, and Raphael seemed a bit rude, but Wodanaz…
If you exclude the fact that he was a genius of magic, he had no idea at all.
“H, he’s good at magic.”
“Wodanaz is indeed outstanding in magic. That guy. Is he really the same age as us?”
“The Wodanaz family is originally famous, after all.”
“No. I’ve seen someone from the Wodanaz family from afar before, but no matter how I think about it, it wasn’t to that extent.”
The Black Tortoise Tower students whispered and walked on.
If there was a moderately outstanding student, they would think, ‘That guy is smart,’ but if there was a student who was so incomprehensibly outstanding, they couldn’t help but react with ‘????’.
Ihan was exactly like that.
His ability to follow along without hesitation while taking lectures from all the schools reminded them of a monster beyond a genius!
A monster who only pursues magic!
“Oh, right. I heard something strange last time. The Blue Dragon Tower guys say that Wodanaz always prepares meals for them.”
“Does that make sense?”
“But didn’t Wodanaz make us vegetable stew last time? It was really delicious.”
“It’s not that he can’t cook. Since he’s good at alchemy, he’ll be good at cooking too. But preparing meals every meal is a separate story. Do you think you could do that?”
The Black Tortoise Tower student was lost in thought.
In Einroguard, where food ingredients were already scarce, he would have to wake up every morning at dawn to wash vegetables, peel them, and mince meat to prepare meals.
“I don’t think Wodanaz would have a reason to do that.”
“That’s right. The Blue Dragon Tower guys are bluffing. Wodanaz has cooked before, so they’re using that to bluff.”
“Those guys. They’re nobles, but they’re telling shabby lies!”
“That’s how nobles are. Among the guys who boast about their bloodline, only a handful show abilities that match. We’re almost there. It’s over there.”
Salco pointed to a cabin near the forest in the distance with his finger.
It was Professor Thunderstride’s cabin.
“Wodanaz! Are you there? I have something to talk about… Aaaargh!”
“Ugh!” The Black Tortoise Tower students screamed at the sight of the skeleton warriors arranged like scarecrows behind the cabin.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d be so scared.”
“W, wait. I’m not scared.”
“That’s right. We were just surprised.”
Salco’s gang of students were all from rough backgrounds in their own way.
They reacted very fiercely to the word ‘scared,’ if nothing else.
“Anyone can be scared when they suddenly encounter the undead. I understand.”
“I’m not, I tell you!!”
“Stop it. Wodanaz. The reason we came here today is to make you a proposal.”
Salco glanced at the skeleton warriors standing blankly all over the garden.
They were the guys he kept looking at even though he didn’t want to.
‘I don’t know much about black magic, but is it originally possible to summon that many?’
“What proposal? Ah. Salco. Are you perhaps wanting to join the undead world with me?”
“What are you talking about? I’m not interested in black magic.”
‘There’s no need to be so serious.’
Ihan grumbled inwardly.
It was just a joke!
“…I’ve found a way to escape.”
Salco said in a low voice. Ihan was surprised.
He’d found a way to escape?
“Ah. Are you perhaps talking about the Rockweed Cave guarded by Gandharva? I think it’s best to give up on that place. I don’t think we’re at a level where we can break through at all.”
“…That’s the first time I’ve heard of that cave. How did you find out about such a cave?” Salco was inwardly appalled.
If the Blue Dragon Tower students had pride in their family, and the White Tiger Tower students had pride in their swords, the Black Tortoise Tower students had pride in their own adaptability.
-We are the ones who roam this vast magic school the most and know it the best!
It wasn’t entirely wrong.
In fact, the Black Tortoise Tower students were generally adaptable, so they were the first to explore various places and find out the necessary information.
However, there were exceptions sometimes.
“I heard about it while wandering around.”
Ihan, who had an adaptability that no Black Tortoise Tower student could match, answered as if it was nothing.
From that appearance, an aura that only a veteran student could exude was emanating.
Slightly overwhelmed, Salco hesitated and continued.
“Anyway, it’s not that cave.”
“Could it be the path towards the mountain range? It’s best to postpone the path towards the mountain range. I followed the White Tiger Tower guys last time and only lost out.”
“It’s not that way either… If you walk west along the bottom of the mountain range, you’ll come to a desert-like terrain. Do you perhaps know it?”
He asked if he knew it as a formality, but Salco naturally thought that Ihan wouldn’t know.
Who would have gone that far for what purpose.
Salco and the Black Tortoise Tower students wouldn’t have gone either if they didn’t have information.
“I know it.”
“?!!??”
“H, how?”
“Last time, Phoneg went berserk… It’s not really important. So what about that desert?”
“Look at this map.”
According to Salco, one of the Black Tortoise Tower students had a strange experience while wandering around the school at night.
It was a small, windowless room, colder than the rest of the school. Dust lay thick on the floor, and there was a strange, echoing silence inside.
When they stepped inside, a whisper flew in, saying that it would grant the student’s wish.
That student said, ‘I want to get out of school!’ and…
“So you received this map?”
“Yes.”
“Interesting. Where is the room located?”
“It had disappeared when I went back.”
‘Suspicious,’ Ihan thought. A room that grants wishes? In a magic school full of strange things, it sounded more like a trap than a gift.
“Anyway, according to this map…”
The map pointed to a desert area located west of the school grounds.
A well was drawn, and if you followed the underground of that well…
“An underground passage?”
“Yes. It’s an underground passage that passes under the castle walls.”
“It says that monsters appear in large numbers near the well.”
“Yes. That’s why we need strong combat power.”
“I don’t have that much combat power…”
“?”
“?”
The Black Tortoise Tower students looked at the skeleton warriors standing in the garden.
And then looked at Ihan again.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Ah, nothing. Anyway, do you have any thoughts?”
“I always want to secure an escape route. The difficulty is the problem, though. I already have a lot of things to do, so I don’t want to waste my efforts…”
At Ihan’s words, Salco gestured with his chin.
Then the Black Tortoise Tower students began to put down the chests they had brought.
‘The Black Tortoise Tower guys know something.’
Ihan looked at them with expectant eyes.
As expected, unlike the other Tower students, the Black Tortoise Tower students were friends who knew what a deal was.
‘Ingredients? Reagents? Magic books? Food?’
“Wodanaz. Look at this. Sculptures and ceramics that can be decorated in a private room. Aren’t they beautiful?” Salco asked, hopefully.
“…Why are you giving this to me?”
“Uh… Don’t nobles like this?”
“Who likes this kind of thing?”
“The Blue Dragon Tower students couldn’t buy it because they didn’t have it…”
Ihan picked up a small, porcelain dog with badly painted eyes. “Beautiful?” he repeated, raising an eyebrow. “What use is this in a magic school?”
To think that his friends were buying such useless decorations without him knowing.
Ihan sighed again, looking at the useless decorations. “Fine,” he said to Salco. “I’ll go to your desert. But if this is a waste of time…” He let the threat hang in the air, already feeling a sense of unease about this mysterious map.