Chapter 230
Bahil’s Katarology class was the one every student had been waiting for.
Ranked #1 most respected professor, #1 most admired role model, and tied with Keyzen for the highest course satisfaction alongside Hongpeng.
Bahil always behaved professionally in the lecture hall. Not only was he personally talented, but his ability to distill his vast knowledge into lessons students could easily grasp made him a truly gifted educator.
But even someone as seemingly perfect as Bahil had a recent, pressing concern.
Tap, tap.
Bahil turned around at the feeling of a hand tapping his shoulder.
Head TA Chehekle was sending him a sharp look.
“……Professor. You’re making that face again. That face.”
“Ah, my apologies.”
“Wipe your mouth too, please.”
Bahil lightly dabbed the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, then turned his gaze back to one side of the lecture hall.
It was A-Class’ practicum session.
While the TAs spread out to supervise the students’ curse practice, Bahil’s eyes were fixed in one direction.
“Just so you know, I’m not going easy on you, okay?”
With her sky-blue hair fluttering freely, Maelyn was stretching her arms out.
“Of course. It’d be pointless if you held back.”
Her opponent was Simon.
Maelyn was an all-round elite student with an average score in the 90s across all subjects.
In Katarology, she held a staggering 96. When her Team 7 was first formed in class, she’d volunteered to take the curse lead, showing great confidence in the subject.
Frankly, Simon had little chance of winning with his own curse skills, and the difference in ability was clear.
The two stood facing each other with some distance between them.
“Simon Follentia, Maelyn Villene. Are you both ready?”
“Yes!”
Other 1-on-1 duels were also underway in the room. A TA holding a clipboard shouted out.
“Then, begin!”
Swoosh!
Simon immediately spread his legs shoulder-width apart and thrust his arms forward. Darkness rippled between his outstretched palms, swirling to form the ring of a magic circle.
Maelyn, in contrast, casually raised just her right arm and smoothly completed her magic circle with ease.
“Take this.”
<Exhaust>
The basic, multipurpose curse learned in the first class of the semester, Exhaust, shot forward in a gray gaseous form.
Meanwhile, Simon’s magic circle was still under construction, only about 60% complete.
‘Hup!’
Seeing the curse flying toward him, Simon’s eyes lit up with urgency.
Suddenly, his completion speed skyrocketed, and he thrust the unfinished circle toward Maelyn’s curse even before he realized it was done.
<Cancellation>
Boom!
At the last second, the curse and completed magic circle canceled each other out. The impact made Simon stagger and fall on his rear.
This lesson focused on the counter-curse Cancellation, which nullifies enemy curses.
The whole purpose of this practicum was to learn Cancellation by exchanging actual spells with a partner.
“Do you have time to sit around?”
This time, Maelyn was preparing a Cancellation. Not to be outdone, Simon stayed seated and began casting Exhaust again.
By the time he completed it, Maelyn had already tucked her hair behind her ear and finished her Cancellation effortlessly.
‘……Wow, she’s seriously amazing. The gap between us in curses is massive.’
He wouldn’t win using standard methods.
Simon subtly tilted his Exhaust circle and squeezed some Darkness from his fingertip, adding a few extra glyphs to the formula.
Maelyn’s eyes widened as she caught a glimpse.
‘Huh? What did he just add? I didn’t catch that…!’
<Exhaust>
Simon’s curse fired off instantly.
Maelyn raised her right palm and pushed the Cancellation circle forward, but suddenly the trajectory of the curse dipped downward.
‘A downward-angled Exhaust?!’
The curse bypassed her right hand and flew toward her waist. A confident smile formed on Simon’s face.
‘Got her!’
Boom!
But suddenly, her left hand shot out and blocked the Exhaust.
She staggered a few steps to the side, slightly off-balance, but she was unharmed.
‘A second Cancellation!’
“Idiot! Did you already forget I can dual-cast?!”
She raised both arms and smiled.
Momentum shift. Simon hurriedly prepared another Cancellation, but twin Exhausts launched from Maelyn’s hands.
Simon blocked one but was struck by the other and stumbled back. The TA made a check mark on the clipboard and spoke.
“Alright, good work.”
“Yes! I won!!”
Maelyn threw both arms up in victory. Though Simon let his arms drop in disappointment, he still felt he had put up a decent fight against someone as strong as Maelyn.
“It was a friendly match without a winner or loser.”
The TA said in a cool voice.
“But if we’re being technical, Maelyn loses for breaking the rules.”
“Huh? What? Why?!”
“You were only supposed to trade one spell each. We explained that three minutes ago, forgot already?”
Maelyn looked indignant, mouth agape. Simon burst out laughing.
“You did the same thing in dodgeball last time. Always breaking the rules.”
“Sh-shut up!”
Maelyn shouted, face flushed red.
Simon was about to say something else between laughs when—
“Just now.”
A sudden presence loomed behind him. At some point, Bahil had silently approached, his eyes glinting sharply as he stood behind Simon.
“What formula did you add to Exhaust?”
Simon flinched.
There was a reason professors constantly stressed the importance of sticking to the original formulas. A magic circle was a complex ecosystem, and even the tiniest change could destabilize the whole structure.
Like swatting away too many bugs, only for the flowers to die without pollination, which in turn starves the birds that feed on those bugs.
Explosions caused by reckless modifications to circles were so common they were considered inevitable for necromancers.
Every formula and sequence taught at Keyzen had its reasons.
“Professor, I…”
“Answer the question.”
Bahil wore a very serious expression. Simon stammered.
“I added a load-bearing glyph to the Exhaust’s ejection formula. It made the curse heavier right after casting, causing it to drop downward…”
“And you used that to induce a change in direction.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What made you think adding an extra glyph wouldn’t damage the original formula?”
It was a question that sounded more like an accusation. Simon replied with a firm face.
“I just… had a feeling it might work. I’m sorry.”
He bowed his head deeply.
The mood had turned so grave that even Maelyn stayed silent, only staring at Simon’s back.
That was fortunate.
It was fortunate that neither of them saw the expression Bahil was making at that moment.
‘Genius that drives people mad with impatience.’
Bahil thought of a sentence he might use in his future autobiography.
‘It wasn’t just a hunch. He must’ve understood it in his very skin. The way he added the glyphs was so natural, without hesitation, as if jotting down a passing idea in the margins.’
The corners of Bahil’s lips rose all the way to his ears.
‘Never in my life has this job felt so fulfilling.’
“Professor Bahil!!”
Chehekle, who had been watching, came running over with a panicked expression.
“Professor, weren’t you supposed to be heading to your lab by now?”
“Thank you for the reminder, Chehekle.”
Bahil’s face returned to its usual expression. The two students looked up as well.
“Simon Follentia, come with me.”
“……Yes, sir.”
The two of them exited the classroom side by side.
Thinking that Simon might be headed straight for disciplinary action, Maelyn, steeling herself, followed with a serious look.
“Professor! Please, let me just say—!”
“Stop.”
Chehekle stepped forward to block her path.
“Don’t worry. Professor Bahil didn’t call Simon out to scold him.”
“Assistant Professor……!”
‘Scold him? More like he probably wants to break out into song.’
Sure, from an educator’s standpoint, modifying a taught magic circle at will should be met with a stern warning. This kind of high-level technique was considered upperclassman territory.
But Bahil wasn’t just an ordinary educator.
And, just as Chehekle predicted—
“You did well back there.”
Bahil was praising Simon.
“Keep using that kind of sharp intuition in the future. Of course, this isn’t me speaking as a professor at Keyzen, but as a personal wish.”
“……Huh? Uh, yes?”
“Not the most exciting topic, I know. So, why don’t we make small talk until we reach the lab?”
Bahil brushed off the tension lightly, then said in a calm voice,
“Just, you know, the usual sort of conversation people have.”
Simon gave an awkward smile. Emphasizing “normal” that much was the most abnormal thing a person could do.
As they walked toward the lab, Bahil looked briefly out the window before speaking again.
“How was your break?”
Wow, now that was a normal question.
Relieved, Simon answered,
“I helped my father out with work.”
Bahil’s eyes lit up.
“Oh! What kind of man is your father? A necromancer? What’s his name? His profession? Did he attend Keyzen? What does he do now?”
……Even under threat of death, Simon couldn’t reveal that his father was former Legion Commander Yona.
As Simon hesitated and stammered, Bahil realized his mistake and cleared his throat.
“Ahem, sorry. Of course, some students don’t wish to disclose personal family matters.”
“……I apologize.”
“Let’s return to normal conversation, shall we?”
Bahil smiled warmly.
“What black magic did you practice over break? Learn anything new?”
“Yes! I did! I modified Corpse Explosion and Mud Golem into a rideable type…”
Rumble!
‘Here we go again, Summonology!’
Infuriated, Bahil swung his arm wildly, unbeknownst to Simon.
Curses erupted from Bahil’s rage, crackling as they shot out the nearby window.
“Professor, did you hear something just now?”
“I didn’t catch anything.”
Moments later, a scream came from below, a couple whispering sweet nothings on a bench had suddenly transformed into raccoons and fallen off.
It was a curse that turned people into animals for two hours.
“Sounds like a commotion out there.”
Simon glanced out the window, distracted by the animalistic shrieking. Bahil shrugged.
“Seems a wild beast wandered in. Anyway, how much do you know about the theme of the next test?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I think it might be some kind of trap dungeon using multiple weapons.”
As Simon said that, he carefully watched Bahil’s face, but the professor showed no change in expression.
“Regretfully, professors can’t give students any hints. So, Simon, how are you preparing?”
“With golems…”
Infuriated again, Bahil swung his arm once more.
This time, a group of male students playing ball in the distance suddenly collapsed to the ground, their bones turning into floppy mollusk-like shapes. Their screams echoed.
“What is that noise?”
Simon, startled, looked out the window again, but the chaos had occurred behind the building, so the view remained peaceful.
“Come, let’s go in.”
Without a trace of guilt on his face, Bahil stopped in front of the lab door.
“There’s something I’ve prepared for you.”
From this moment on, the balance of initiative in Simon’s life would begin to shift.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters