# Episode 5
Magic power.
Mana, magic power, some Eastern tribes call it 'Qi(氣)', pretentious scholars call it Aether, and stubborn priests call it divine power. This force, known by many names, was the source of wizards' power.
The power to change the world!
Since using magic required drawing and consuming one's inner magic power, it was natural for inexperienced young wizards to suffer from a lack of magic power.
But to still be standing after seven attempts?
"What's your name, student?"
"Lee Han."
The troll professor, Garcia, smiled slightly.
He liked that Lee Han gave his name instead of his family name.
Nobles, especially those from great noble families, rarely refrained from mentioning their family names.
It aligned well with one of the school's ideologies, 'equality'.
"Come closer."
"Uh…"
Lee Han approached nervously.
'Should I have just pretended to be dizzy?'
It was true that standing alone while others were stumbling from using their magic power was peculiar.
He wondered if he hadn't used his magic properly.
"Hmm. Hmm. I see."
As Garcia held Lee Han's wrist and nodded, Gainan whispered to Yoner behind him.
"Hey. Shouldn't we save him?? What if the professor eats him??"
"…The professor can hear you, idiot."
"!?"
Garcia let go of Lee Han's wrist and said,
"Stay after class for a moment, Lee Han."
"Ah. Yes."
* * *
After that, >Understanding Basic Magic> didn't involve any more magic training.
Instead, Professor Garcia gave a stern lecture on the mindset of a wizard.
"When you've exhausted your magic power, you must rest unconditionally. Especially when you're still inexperienced! Don't get anxious about lacking magic power. With training, your magic power will increase, and as you gain more experience, you'll use less magic power. Every year, some overenthusiastic freshmen secretly practice magic and end up collapsing. If you're unlucky, you could get seriously hurt, so never do that. And student, I don't eat people."
"I… I'm sorry."
Gainan trembled and apologized.
"Alright. Today's lecture ends here. Besides the mandatory lectures, other elective lectures are being held throughout the school, so go and attend them to decide what to learn. If you're unsure, you can come to my office and ask."
"..."
"..."
The students exchanged glances.
- Can you go to the half-troll professor's office for a one-on-one consultation?
- Are you crazy?
…That was the exchange of glances.
"Wodanaz. Be careful."
"Yeah. Trolls' weaknesses are fire and acid."
"We don't have either here, though?"
"…Wodanaz. Be careful."
Listening to the other students' encouragement, Lee Han stood before Professor Garcia.
"I actually heard about you, Lee Han."
"??"
Lee Han hesitated at the unexpected words.
What?
"It might be quicker to say I heard it from the principal?"
"…!"
Hearing that the crazy lich principal had mentioned him made Lee Han's face stiffen.
Professor Garcia continued with a smile.
"Don't worry. The principal might seem like a mad bastard sometimes, but he's fundamentally a good person."
"…Excuse me??"
Is that even possible?
But Professor Garcia continued as if he hadn't heard.
"The principal reviews the freshmen every year and gives a brief report to the professors."
The students didn't know, but the lich principal had a very keen eye.
The new freshmen entering the school were various boys and girls who had just become adults in the empire.
To prevent accidents, a sharp eye was necessary.
- Watch out for that dwarf. He looks like he'll burn down the dormitory three times.
- Ha! That's a half-demon. Professors who use holy magic, be careful. Don't get hurt.
- Isn't that a pickpocket from the >White Crow> guild?? Professors, be cautious. I hope no one comes complaining about being pickpocketed by a student. Such individuals will be thrown in the underground prison.
Of course, there were professors who ignored the principal's words.
The lich principal had a keen eye, but…
He also had a crazy personality.
- That orc… he looks like he'd be good with a spear.
- He's from a family of swordsmanship masters.
- Shut up! Tell him to use a spear.
-...
Regarding Lee Han, the principal had said,
- That boy has the potential of a great fool.
-…??
A great fool.
It meant extremely foolish.
Of course, the professors weren't dumb enough to take it literally.
There was a famous saying from the Eastern part of the empire.
- A great fool is a great sage.
An extremely foolish appearance had something in common with an extremely wise appearance.
It was an old saying that one should not be deceived by appearances and seek true wisdom.
In that case, the principal's words meant,
- It's hard to tell now, but he shows potential to become great later.
The professors' reactions were divided.
Some thought, 'He must have some talent if the principal says so,' while others wondered, 'Did he get a good drink from the Wodanaz family yesterday?'
Professor Garcia now thought he understood what the principal meant.
'So that's what it meant.'
"Uh… what did the principal say?"
Lee Han felt uneasy.
Receiving a professor's favor had both advantages and disadvantages.
Favor meant good grades and recommendations. A significant advantage.
But…
Receiving too much favor led to conversations like this,
- Boy. Your talent is too good to waste.
- Thank you!
- Yes. You must come to graduate school!
- Excuse me? I've never thought about…
- Do you know how fierce the competition is if you go out and get a job now? If you go to graduate school and get a degree, you'll get a better job, and you can delve deeper into the subject you love. Isn't that great?
- It sounds good when you put it that way.
It was better to meet a good-natured professor.
But meeting an evil, crazy professor started a nightmare.
And the lich principal…
'Is someone I never want to get close to.'
Lee Han wanted to graduate with good grades and connections, not get close to the skull principal and follow a suspicious path of magic.
"Oh. Sorry. I can't tell you exactly what the principal said… Instead, I'll tell you about your talent. What the principal said is similar."
"!"
Lee Han widened his eyes at the troll professor's words.
His talent?
'Was my talent… something worth mentioning?'
When he was with the Wodanaz family, Lee Han never heard anything special about his talent.
Of course, his magic ability was confirmed.
His father, the head of the Wodanaz family, had said,
- How is my talent?
- Hmm. Your magic talent is quite good.
- Thank you.
And that was it.
But now, suddenly talking about his talent made him nervous.
'Is this a bad thing?'
Lee Han began to seriously consider joining Yoner to start an alchemy workshop.
"Lee Han, you have a lot of magic power."
"…Excuse me? Is that all?"
Lee Han was flabbergasted.
It wasn't 'there's a problem with your magic casting' or 'you can't use light attribute magic due to a physical mismatch' but just that he had a lot of magic power.
It was a relief it wasn't bad, but…
Was it worth mentioning separately?
'I thought people's innate magic power varied and could be overcome with training and skill? Is it that important to mention separately?'
"Of course, that's not all."
"Ah… I see."
"Lee Han, you have an incredibly large amount of magic power."
"…???"
"Really, truly, insanely, incredibly large?"
"Oh."
Only then did Lee Han understand why Professor Garcia had called him separately to say this seriously.
* * *
After hearing the detailed explanation, Lee Han thought,
'Isn't this a good thing?'
To use magic, one needed magic power.
If magic power was insufficient, one had to draw magic from the surroundings, gather it with magic circles, or use magic stones filled with magic.
But if one had a lot of magic power, there was no need for that.
It was a highly useful talent for a wizard…
"It's unfortunate."
"???"
But Professor Garcia looked at Lee Han with a mixture of pity and concern.
Seeing his eyes, Lee Han realized something was wrong.
"Isn't it good to have a lot of magic power?"
"Generally, yes. But Lee Han, you have an insanely large amount. Controlling water in a glass bottle is easy, but controlling the water of a vast ocean is very difficult, isn't it?"
At Professor Garcia's words, Lee Han's expression hardened as he grasped the seriousness of the situation.
So now…?
'Does it mean the difficulty of magic goes insanely high?'
Today, even learning the simplest spell, 'Illumination,' had no successful students.
Magic was that difficult.
Drawing out magic power, concentrating, binding it with will…
All of this required superhuman concentration.
But with an uncontrollably vast amount of magic power, the already high difficulty would increase even more.
"Here. Take these bracelets."
A pair of heavy, crude iron bracelets.
Professor Garcia placed a bracelet on each of Lee Han's wrists.
"These bracelets absorb magic power. They will help."
"!"
Despite the difficulty, Lee Han was touched by the school's immediate solution.
"As long as I wear these, there won't be any problems!"
"What? No. It'll still be incredibly difficult."
"..."
"The magic power is so vast that nothing can be done. It's better than nothing, but still."
Professor Garcia was relatively kind and gentle but still a wizard.
A wizard never sugarcoated such things.
"…Any other advice?"
"Hmm… It might help if you use a lot of magic to deplete your magic power. You can practice basic magic training on your own. You won't have any accidents from magic depletion."
"…Thank you."
In a way, it was a privilege, but Lee Han wasn't particularly happy.
* * *
'Should I take non-magic courses?'
Even though it was a magic school, not all courses involved using magic.
Alchemy, for instance, involved little magic use.
Leaving the professor's office, Lee Han was deep in thought.
'If I set my path and manage my grades well from the first year, I won't regret it when I graduate…'
"You made it out alive!"
Gainan and Yoner were waiting at the bottom of the stairs.
Gainan looked Lee Han up and down, genuinely worried.
"What are you looking at?"
"Checking for bite marks from the professor."
At Yoner's words, Lee Han looked at Gainan in disbelief.
'Well, considering the skull principal, it's not strange to be suspicious of professors.'
"What did you hear?"
Yoner asked curiously, and Lee Han shrugged.
"They told me to practice magic a lot."
"How dare…!"
Gainan was furious as if it were his own matter.
How dare they tell a noble from a great family to practice magic a lot.
How rude!
'If he gets this angry, won't he challenge the professor to a duel if he fails an exam and has to retake it?'
"Never mind me. I want to attend some elective courses before the next mandatory course. Do you have any in mind?"
"Of course, alchemy for me."
At Yoner's words, Gainan scoffed openly.
"Hey. Alchemy is for servants and slaves!"
"..."
Lee Han clearly saw Yoner's fist clench tightly!