Chapter 496

"Now. What is the difference between the blood magic used by Professor Bagrak and the human sacrifice rituals favored by magic criminals?"

"When Professor Bagrak uses it, it's a legitimate magic permitted by Imperial law, but when magic criminals use it, it's illegal, right?"

"...That's also true, but focus on the magical aspects."

Professor Bagrak's blood magic was ultimately a ritual that amplified mana by using his own blood as a medium.

No matter how much a mage's blood was the most powerful and ancient reagent, offering one's own blood could not be good for the body.

As it went to higher magic, the structure of magic became more complex and the risks that the mage had to bear also increased, so how unstable would it be if this blood magic was added on top of that?

It could be sufficiently inferred just by seeing that the mage who developed blood magic also died in a magic accident.

So the magic criminals approached it cleverly.

-Do I need to bear the risk? It's enough if someone else bears it.-

"That's the human sacrifice ritual."

"Yes. It's a technique to avoid risk by offering the bodies of others, not the mage himself."

The skull principal made a tsk-tsk sound as if displeased.

Yi-Han was very slightly moved.

He thought he was just a crazy mage, but to think he also knew how to be angry at the harm mages inflicted on the people.

It felt like seeing a different side of the skull principal.

"Such expedient methods are a self-defeating move that diminishes one's own skills. Magic is not a convenient technique that grants everything as desired. If there is something to gain, there is something to lose, and the accompanying danger is also magic, so if you forget that, you are bound to fall in the end."

"...Ah. I thought you were angry at the magic criminals' evil crimes."

"Well, I was angry about that too."

The skull principal spoke roughly.

"So the things you need to learn are as follows."

The artifacts clattered and lined up in a row.

"Familiarize yourself with the unique mana patterns felt in their rituals. It will allow you to recognize magic criminals first."

"Indeed."

"Ah. If you recognize them first, kill them right away. Don't try to show mercy and get caught."

"...Yes... Well."

"And you'll need to learn dispelling too."

"Ah. I'm confident in that."

Yi-Han prepared what was called the <Mana Hammer>, which he had learned from Baldoorn.

The skull principal was dumbfounded at the sight of his disciple trying to simply blow it away with mana in a crude way.

'Since he has a lot of mana, he can continue to do such crude things without getting hurt!'

Originally, if it were another mage, they would have suffered a harsh fate after doing it once or twice and reflected, 'Ah, I was too crude! As a mage, I should dispel magic with intelligence, but I tried to break it with mana like a beast!' But this disciple had too much mana, so he had no opportunity to reflect.

"Not such a crude method... Shouldn't you be able to immediately block it when you see them casting it?"

The skull principal did not deny the act of crudely wielding mana to break completed magic itself.

If other students had blabbered, 'Why do mages need to study? You can just cut it with mana in one stroke!' he would have immediately hung them upside down, but at least for Wardanaz, that method was the right method.

However, that method was not invincible.

A truly outstanding mage would have designed the magic to block shocks coming from the outside as well...

Above all, with Wardanaz's level of talent, there was no need to crudely gather strength and break it. He just needed to use his head a little.

"You also know about the concept of countering magic, right?"

"Yes."

Counter.

Also called reverse magic, this concept was something that enchantment mages or healing mages in particular needed to know well.

A mage changes reality in accordance with his own will and at a corresponding cost to manifest magic.

Then how should one dispel that magic?

The standard method was to first completely understand the structure of that magic and twist it one by one starting from the weak link.

Sometimes it was okay to break it from the outside with a huge force...

All these concepts were called counters.

"It may not resonate with you yet, but it will become more and more important as you go up. Cast a magic."

Yi-Han quickly prepared Water Bullet. Towards the skull principal's white and round skull.

In an instant, the skull principal's eyes flashed.

Then the magic Yi-Han was preparing became tangled. As if impurities had gotten into the structure being formed with mana.

"Do you understand?"

"Did you insert mana into the weak link?"

"Yes."

The skull principal spoke with satisfaction.

It was extremely satisfying from a teaching standpoint that he could immediately figure out what had happened without any special explanation.

"When you become familiar with counters, you can do this too. Interfering with the opponent's magic casting itself."

If one could grasp and dismantle the structure of a completed magic, one could also intervene while that magic was being completed.

Just inserting one's mana into the weak link of the opponent's magic was enough to make delicate magic waver, slow down, or be canceled.

"But that's not all."

The skull principal shot mana at Yi-Han's wrist.

Just as he had inserted mana into the weak link of the opponent's magic, a similar thing could be done to the mage's body as well.

It was much more advanced and complex, but if successful, the opposing mage simply became powerless.

"The moment mana flows, the counter I inserted will be triggered and deal a blow. Try it."

Boom!

A huge mana flowed out of Yi-Han like a wave and shattered the needle of mana the skull principal had inserted.

"?"

"..."

For a moment, an awkward atmosphere flowed.

"...And that counter can also be dispelled. Like this just now."

"R-Right."

Yi-Han didn't say anything.

Although the last part was a bit strange, the concept of countering magic was indeed useful.

A technique not only for dispelling completed magic but also for interfering with casting and actively restraining enemy mages.

To use this against magic criminals, one had to understand the magic that magic criminals frequently used.

"You're already familiarized yourself with the mana patterns felt from the artifacts, right?"

"No..."

Yi-Han was dumbfounded at the sight of the skull principal trying to move on right away after lining up the artifacts and not giving much time to look at them.

"You just showed them now and only talked about magic. Wait a moment... Hmm. I've familiarized myself with all of them."

"You're really the best at exaggerating in the Empire. Now. Next is the weak link. You felt that too while familiarizing yourself with the patterns, right? Just confirm it."

'How did he know?'

Yi-Han thought he was not a Great Mage for nothing.

The skull principal's seasoned skill of completely blocking his intention to slow down the progress was felt.

"How did you know?"

"Are you asking sincerely?"

The skull principal looked at Yi-Han with the eyes of looking at an idiot.

To think you lack this much self-objectification?

"Now. Let's try it directly. I will cast, so try inserting mana into the weak link."

"Understood."

"Hurry up! After finishing all this, you need to learn the magic effects on the artifacts as well."

"..."

Unfortunately, the skull principal's ambition was not realized.

As the dawn and morning passed and the sun of Friday rose above his head, the skull principal reluctantly released Yi-Han.

"I guess we'll have to analyze the artifacts next time. Tsk. Are you sleepy?"

"Yes."

"If you become a lich, you don't need to sleep."

"..."

Yi-Han walked out while cursing the skull principal.

He felt like his head was full from learning too many things at once while practicing reverse magic.

'The sun feels unusually dazzling...'

As he came out to the courtyard, he saw his friends working and sweating profusely here and there.

Although they received a day off, it actually had little meaning.

There was a lot of work to do as many things had been blown away by the flood.

Yi-Han sighed.

'I need to restore the vegetable garden too. I hope not many trees were blown away. Unlike vegetables, fruits will take some time... Are the guys from the Blue Dragon Tower doing well? I'll have to check once since the lounge was flooded. Was the oven blown away too? It's a pity since I just added it...'

"Mr. Wardanaz. Mr. Wardanaz."

"Hmm?"

Yi-Han turned his head.

Ratford was calling Yi-Han happily.

"Where have you been? I was worried since I didn't see you since yesterday."

"I was caught by the principal."

"Oh no...!"

Ratford was sincerely sympathetic.

Then he lowered his voice and asked.

"I heard when I was young that His Majesty the Emperor is a fair person and reads every accusatory letter one by one."

"...Ah, no. It's not to that extent."

No?

Yi-Han was about to say something but became confused about what 'that extent' meant.

"It's a day off today, right? What are you doing?"

"I was getting some materials needed for the reconstruction of the black market."

Ratford shook the wooden planks he was holding.

Yi-Han thought the wooden planks were similar to the material of the lecture room desks but didn't say anything.

"Ah. Ratford. There's a place I need to check, can you come with me as a guide?"

Although he was busy going out due to the mission, Yi-Han did not forget about the graduated senior who was trapped in the deep punishment room.

-Take this. It's the location of the room my friends and I used. There will be some useful things left.-

If there were useful things, he had to go first and claim them as soon as possible.

One thing Yi-Han learned while at Einrogard was that there was nothing good about being thrifty.

"That's not difficult. But before that..."

Ratford hesitated. Yi-Han asked in puzzlement.

"Is something the matter?"

"I think you should sleep a bit."

"I'm fine though?"

Instead of explaining, Ratford held out a mirror. Yi-Han saw himself transformed into a vampire race in the mirror and nodded.

"I'll sleep for a bit and come."

Usually, a tired person could not sleep for just a bit.

Yi-Han was the same, and when he woke up, it was already evening.

-Shouldn't we call a professor...-

-His pulse was normal...-

-Priestess Siana. No matter what, isn't it strange to sleep like a corpse like that...-

"...Thank you, everyone."

Yi-Han thanked the priests of the Immortal Phoenix Tower and went to meet Ratford.

Yi-Han, who was walking with a sandwich in one hand, with tomato, bacon, cheese, and lettuce sliced and inserted between rye bread, spotted Ratford approaching from afar.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Yi-Han glanced behind Ratford.

A group of Black Tortoise Tower students were heading somewhere with fishing rods.

"Where are they going?"

"Ah. To retrieve things from the newly created reservoir due to this flood..."

'I should go later.'

Although it was very interesting news, Yi-Han was intrigued, but the map was the priority now.

'3rd floor of the main building.'

The main building, which was the oldest building in Einroguard, was an unpredictable totality of magic as much as its history, but there were general rules.

The lower the floor, the relatively stable, and the higher the floor, the more eccentric it becomes.

In that sense, the 3rd floor of the main building was safe enough in the main building that even 1st-year students could occasionally set foot.

The fact that the room the seniors used was located on such a 3rd floor of the main building...

'I'm lucky.'

Indeed, it was right to have good luck sometimes after suffering so much.

Yi-Han nodded, thinking like that.

The two 1st-year students climbed the broken corridor on the 2nd floor. The Polymorph Forest, where <Forest Mouse> was, was not visible today.

'Pass the blue handkerchief lecture room, turn left, and then knock on the ceiling to open a new corridor...'

Clank, thud, clang, rumble!

Walls disappeared, ceilings became floors, and non-existent paths were created, but the two 1st-year students were already used to it and didn't even glance at it.

"...Wait a moment."

"What is it?"

Yi-Han frowned.

He couldn't understand the text written on the map.

[...Next, if you walk on the ceiling, a new lecture room appears...]