"Wardanaz…"
"I mean, we came to school to learn magic, right?"
Lee Han found himself instinctively making excuses. That was because Asan's gaze, locked on him, was filled with betrayal.
"Well… yeah. We did come here to learn magic."
"And think about it. Do you really think that headmaster would change his mind just because the two of us asked nicely?"
"…That's true."
Asan nodded, convinced.
Even from Asan's perspective, persuading Headmaster Lich seemed almost impossibly difficult.
"I think there's about a 95% chance we'll fail."
"I'm more surprised the success rate is even 5%..."
Since Asan seemed convinced, Lee Han focused his attention back on the paper explaining the spell.
To cast magic, the key elements were willpower, incantation, and movement.
—Recommended incantations for : Move, Move it, Control...
"Move… Move it… Hmm. Like this?"
After picking an incantation that rolled off his tongue well enough, Lee Han tried copying the spell's motions.
It was a simple motion — lightly swinging the wand clockwise — but every time he did it, the mana gathered differently.
'Magic really isn't… remotely easy.'
Lee Han was struck once again by how difficult of a field magic was.
Even for the simplest spells, intense concentration and practice were required.
One had to focus their will, burn with the determination to cast the spell, amplify their mana with the incantation, and then precisely control the gathered mana without even the slightest mistake.
It felt like trying to ride a unicycle while spinning plates on each hand.
"Wardanaz, didn't Professor Kim tell us not to practice magic outside the classroom?"
"But the headmaster told us to. And the headmaster outranks him."
"…Fair point."
Asan nodded again.
Of course, that didn't mean mana would suddenly regenerate just because he agreed.
After about four attempts, Asan staggered and collapsed to the side.
"Urgh… Sorry, Wardanaz. I'm suddenly so dizzy… Ugh."
"That happens. Just lie down."
Regardless, Lee Han stayed focused on practicing .
"Move. Move. Move. Move!"
He felt the mana gathered at the tip of his wand shoot forward with a small burst.
His target was a feather pen.
The pen, struck by the magic, twitched or shivered slightly.
'Looks like my motion is the problem.'
Lee Han's advantage was his overwhelming mana reserve.
While other students would get exhausted after a few incantations and take breaks, Lee Han could keep practicing without a care.
Tap.
He even brought a mirror in front of him and began casting spells, wanting to directly observe any differences in his movements.
'Maybe I'm swinging too wide here? Let's try swinging less. Feels a bit better. Next is this part?'
"W-Wardanaz… Are you okay?"
Asan, still lying down, asked weakly. Lee Han nodded.
"As expected… from the Wardanaz family… Ugh, my head's spinning too much to think…"
"Move!"
In that moment, Lee Han felt a strange sensation — like his consciousness was linking directly to the feather pen.
It was like a third arm had extended outward and grabbed the pen.
The pen, which until now had only twitched or trembled, began to slowly float up.
Now all he had to do was focus and control it.
'Slowly… no need to rush…'
Pop!
With the sound of a tiny firecracker, the pen shot forward like a dart.
And flew right out the open window.
"..."
"W-What did you just do?"
"...The pen flew away."
"A-Amazing, Wardanaz!? Did you just succeed at magic?!"
"No, not quite."
was a first-circle telekinesis spell, meant for delicately controlling small, light objects.
...Lee Han didn't know much about magic yet, but launching a pen like a projectile was definitely a failure.
'Looks like this spell has two hurdles.'
With , just succeeding in the incantation wasn't enough.
After that, one had to focus and control the object carefully.
Lee Han had succeeded at the first part, but not yet at the second.
'But I should be fine. Since I succeeded in the incantation, controlling it shouldn't be too hard.'
Pop!
Pop!
Pop pop pop pop pop pop!
"..."
Asan Dalkard stared at Lee Han with a horrified expression.
The feather pen had shot forward and embedded itself in the wall next to them.
"W-Wardanaz…"
"…Sorry."
Lee Han regretted his earlier confidence.
Surprisingly, he found it nearly impossible to control the pen finely.
If he even thought about moving it slightly, the pen would instantly shoot off like a bullet.
It was practically muscle memory-level sensitive!
'No way… No way it's because of my mana, right?'
Lee Han recalled what Professor Garcia Kim had told him.
Because of his absurdly large mana reserves, he might experience some inconveniences when casting spells...
'Let's try one more time.'
Clack—
Just then, the door opened.
"Well, have you worked hard enough for today? You may rejoice! I shall write the rest with magic for you."
Headmaster Lich entered.
Ping!
And Lee Han's feather pen, launched just a moment before, shot straight at Headmaster Lich's forehead.
"WARDANAZ…!"
In that instant, Lee Han became a hero to Asan Dalkard.
A freshman had just sniped the headmaster.
Absolutely amazing!
Amazingly, Headmaster Lich wasn't angry.
"You found it faster than I expected. I'll admit — you're slightly better than a regular blockhead."
"Oh! Then does that mean I won't have to do this pointless note-taking anymore?"
"No. If you don't master magic, you'll continue wasting your time meaninglessly."
Asan Dalkard glared at the headmaster, who grinned with delight.
Lee Han carefully asked.
"Respected Headmaster!"
"I hear the sweet sound of flattery. What is it?"
"May I ask for advice on how to control objects?"
"Judging from what I saw earlier, it seems you've succeeded in the incantation. But you're struggling with control?"
"Yes."
"That happens to many novice mages."
"Ah. Is that so?"
Lee Han sighed in relief.
He had thought it was because of his mana reserves, but it turned out all beginners experienced this.
"Ha! I lied!"
"..."
"The incantation is hard — control usually only takes a try or two. And there's no one who launches objects like arrows. What can I say? You'll just have to figure it out yourself."
'He's the headmaster. He's the headmaster. He's the headmaster…'
Lee Han struggled to maintain his expression. Headmaster Lich watched with some disappointment.
Asan Dalkard was fun because, being young, he would flare up if provoked. But this Wardanaz kid had the patience of an old man trapped in a young body.
"Well, don't be too discouraged. Magic improves with practice. Now go eat lunch!"
By the time morning classes ended and lunch break came, the other freshmen had all gone off to other classes or places.
Asan Dalkard, still not fully recovered, said he'd rest in the infirmary.
'I should get some lunch too.'
Of course, lunch consisted of rock-hard black bread and cold rice balls — but Lee Han was better off than most.
He had some smoked meat from a previous hunt.
'Maybe I should go out and look for some vegetables or fruit…'
At first, he wasn't sure, but now he was starting to seriously wonder if the headmaster had set things up exactly for that purpose.
Wouldn't the sharper students already be out searching for food by now?
"…Wardanaz."
"?"
Hearing someone call his name, Ihan turned his head.
Long, flowing silver hair. A cold, sharp presence that made you flinch the moment your eyes met hers.
Standing at the end of the hallway was Princess Adenart.
"What is it?"
Instead of replying, Adenart simply pointed to the piece of paper she was holding.
"...Ah."
Ihan immediately realized why she had called him.
During a recent alchemy class, he had helped the princess with a difficult task. Thanks to that small connection — and because her network of contacts was far wider than his — he had asked her for a favor.
'I asked her to find me some decent lectures, didn't I?'
At Aynrogard, aside from the mandatory courses, students were responsible for finding and enrolling in their own classes.
But for freshmen, tracking down useful courses was like trying to catch stars from the sky.
Especially since they hadn't even had a chance to meet any upperclassmen yet, information sharing between first-years was absolutely essential.
With her usual deadpan expression, Adenart handed him the paper.
"Thank you. ...Hm?"
Ihan took it happily — only to pause when he read what was written.
— List of Popular Lectures —
...
Right from the top, seeing Alchemy listed was suspicious enough. But the rest of the course names weren't exactly what Ihan had in mind either.
And more importantly — this wasn't a list of "easy A" lectures.
It was a list of popular lectures?
"Um... Your Highness?"
"?"
"What exactly do you mean by 'popular' lectures?"
"??"
Adenart's composed expression cracked for a moment. Her eyebrows lifted slightly, as if caught off guard.
Ihan realized he needed to explain further.
"Your Highness. What I asked for were lectures where it's easy to get good grades — not popular ones. In fact, the less popular the lecture, the easier it is to get a good grade."
Ihan was the type of student who didn't let trends or rumors sway him.
Popular Lecture → Filled with talented students → Harder to stand out → Harder to get good grades.
Unpopular Lecture → Fewer competitors → Easier to score well.
Of course, Adenart didn't seem to agree with his rather unorthodox logic.
"..."
She stared at Ihan as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
Was he really trying to coast through with the easiest classes possible?
She couldn't understand why someone from the Wardanaz family — a name synonymous with nobility — would be hunting for such classes.
Without realizing it, Adenart felt... disappointed.
When she'd seen him in alchemy class, he had embodied the very ideal of nobility.
Ssshhh—
Without a word, she held out a different sheet of paper.
While compiling the previous list, she had made a note of the unpopular lectures — purely to avoid them herself.
— List of Unpopular Lectures —
...
'Oho.'
Ihan's eyes sparkled with admiration.
This was exactly what he'd been looking for — he could practically smell how unpopular these courses were.
First, swordsmanship.
Nobody came to a magic academy to start learning swordplay from scratch.
Most students barely had enough time to devote themselves to magic — who would willingly waste their schedule on swords?
Physical training was the same. Time was precious, and nobody wanted to wear themselves out on pointless exercise.
There was a reason mages were stereotyped as physically frail.
As for Repetitive Practice in Magical Combat... well, it was obvious why that was unpopular.
Students came here to unlock great truths through magic — to change the world with knowledge and power — not to become skilled brawlers.
If that was your goal, you'd be better off joining a knight's order or a swordsman's guild.
Sure, every student here had their own dreams and ambitions — but who came to a magic academy with the singular goal of becoming the best in combat?
Magic was the focus. Using it for battle was just a side note.
'But hey, who cares?'
Ihan couldn't care less about that kind of thinking.
Swordsmanship and physical training? He was confident in both — he'd been steadily training under Alar Long even before enrolling here.
And learning how to fight using magic?
That could only help him survive.
Plus, he could rack up easy credits in classes with barely any competition.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
"..."
Adenart gave a small nod, her face still blank.
Disappointment and faint contempt flickered in her expression — but Ihan was too busy studying the list of lectures to notice.
"Well then, I'll see you next time!"
With that, Ihan turned and walked away without hesitation.
Adenart watched him go, about to say something — then sighed softly and turned away herself.
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