In truth, Diret had been especially unlucky with lectures this semester.

Not long ago, other professors had sat in on one of his classes because Jowrin had run away. Back then, Diret had thought, There can’t possibly be a lecture more difficult than that.

Today, however, Diret finally understood why mages weren’t supposed to make careless assumptions.

There really were lectures even worse than that one.

“I’m truly sorry, Senior.”

Lee Han apologized with genuine guilt in his voice.

Honestly, it wasn’t as if he had wanted to bring the insane duplicate here either. Who in their right mind would willingly drag someone like this into a lecture hall?

But the insane duplicate had stubbornly insisted.

According to him, he needed to personally supervise and guide Lee Han from the side for the sake of developing his Personal World magic.

Could this be a new kind of pressure tactic?

Lee Han couldn’t help becoming suspicious.

Since the methods the insane duplicate had used so far were no longer working very well, maybe he had switched directions and started using psychological pressure instead.

The thought alone was terrifying.

He would follow him into Professor Garcia’s lectures. Follow him into Professor Verdus’s lectures. Follow him into Professor Bendozol’s lectures too.

...Wait.

Actually, those examples weren’t that bad.

Only then did Lee Han realize he had picked the wrong professors.

“No... it’s fine. It’s not like you brought him here because you wanted to, Junior.”

Having finally regained his composure, Diret accepted the hands Lee Han and Princess Yukbeltire offered and stood back up.

Princess Yukbeltire looked at her friend with noticeably more warmth than before.

“You should’ve told me earlier if this was the reason.”

“What?”

“So all of this was part of a plan to lure in the Archmage.”

If all these seemingly pointless preparations had actually been intended to draw in the Archmage’s projection, then everything made sense.

This wasn’t some trivial lecture. It was an attempt to uncover the secrets of magic itself.

Princess Yukbeltire sincerely regretted having misunderstood her friend’s intentions.

“That’s not it, though?”

“...?”

“I said no. I just prepared this to congratulate my junior.”

“...”

Princess Yukbeltire immediately let go of Diret’s hand with a cold expression.

Lee Han glared at the back of that wicked senior’s head.

“Should I throw her out?”

“Forget it. She’ll leave on her own anyway.”

As Diret spoke, Princess Yukbeltire began packing her bag.

She had already painted the darkness on the walls to repay her debt, so she intended to leave now.

If this had been an opportunity to extract magical knowledge from the Archmage’s projection, that would’ve been one thing, but she had no interest in sitting around watching Diret teach black magic to a junior.

“Indeed.”

“!”

While the three of them were talking, the insane duplicate had already made his way to the front of the lecture hall.

After examining the magic formula for <Crow’s Evil Eye> written on the blackboard, the insane duplicate turned toward Diret.

“Mage. Did you create this spell?”

“...Ah. Y-Yes.”

Diret found himself stumbling over his words without meaning to.

Of course, the person before him was the outrageous mage who had kidnapped his junior, but at the same time, he was also the founder of Einroguard’s dark magic school.

When someone like that asked, Did you create this black magic?, even Diret instinctively tensed up.

Feeling nervous in front of a senior mage was simply the sad fate of disciples.

“The concept is clever, but ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) the finishing work is crude. There’s no need to keep the target within your line of sight. Extend your sixth sense through your five senses. Never forget that mana itself is another sensory organ for mages.”

<Crow’s Evil Eye> was a spell Diret had created for his junior to overcome the limitations of traditional poison-type spells from the dark magic school.

Instead of using physical poison directly, it transformed poison into an intangible curse and transmitted it through the caster’s vision to strike the target.

If mastered properly, there would no longer be any need to struggle to land poison on Princess Yukbeltire—

No, on enemies in general.

But the insane duplicate immediately noticed the spell’s unfinished flaws.

There was no reason to rely on vision alone to locate the target.

Just as wild beasts used whiskers as sensory organs, mages could use the mana permeating the world itself as an extension of their senses.

There was only one reason most mages didn’t.

Fear.

“If you weaken magic out of fear of poisoning others, then you’re abandoning your duty as a mage.”

“...I’ll remember that...”

Having been struck squarely in a vulnerable spot, Diret could only nod silently.

The criticism was so precise that he couldn’t even feel angry.

It was undeniably correct.

If you intended to create magic, then you needed the resolve to bear responsibility for it yourself instead of lowering its level out of fear beforehand. Otherwise, it benefitted no one.

“But Senior, if we revise it the way you described, wouldn’t the difficulty increase dramatically?”

“It would.”

There was a vast difference between cursing a target through direct sight and cursing them by extending one’s senses through mana itself.

“This is magic I’m supposed to learn, right?”

“Yes.”

“...I think I preferred the original version.”

Lee Han tried slyly negotiating with the insane duplicate, but his master ignored him coldly.

Arguments about needing intermediate steps or promises to master it gradually later were completely ineffective.

“Diret still has weak points. Without them, Diret could become an even greater mage.”

“...Senior, weren’t you leaving?”

Lee Han stared in disbelief at Princess Yukbeltire, who had supposedly finished packing earlier but was now sitting down again and listening to the lecture.

What was wrong with this person?

***

Originally, the insane duplicate had only intended to quietly guide his disciple’s Personal World magic from the side.

Unfortunately for him, Einroguard students never left a superior teacher alone.

More specifically, Princess Yukbeltire refused to leave him alone.

Diret and Lee Han both glared at the silver-haired mage as if they wanted to kill her.

“I see. So for this section, you’re saying human shinbones and collarbones would make suitable reagents.”

“That’s right. However, that creates another issue.”

Listening nearby, Lee Han muttered quietly.

“You’d get arrested under Imperial law.”

Princess Yukbeltire and the insane duplicate completely ignored him.

Only Diret silently continued taking notes with his quill.

I thought that was funny.

‘Senior!’

Lee Han looked at Diret with deep emotion.

Indeed, nobody became the Empire’s greatest senior for no reason.

“May I ask one more question?”

“No.”

“!”

Princess Yukbeltire’s expression rippled with visible shock at the unexpected refusal.

“Why not?”

“Mage. Know your boundaries. I answered because you’re my disciple’s companion, but royalty is not your master.”

The insane duplicate spoke firmly.

The earlier question regarding <Ahrak’s Azure Poison> had already been written on the board, and since she was also associated with his disciple, he had graciously answered it.

Strictly speaking, however, asking further questions like this was rude.

Shouldn’t a mage ask such things from their own master?

The insane duplicate glanced toward Lee Han.

“I wonder what sort of incompetent fool that mage’s master must be, for the disciple to seek answers elsewhere.”

“Should I call him over?”

For the first time that entire lecture, Lee Han felt genuinely excited.

Judging by Diret’s slightly raised wings, Diret apparently felt the same way.

Honestly, I really want to see this.

“No need. Whoever he is, he’s probably some worthless fool anyway.”

What a shame.

While Lee Han was still disappointed, Princess Yukbeltire leaned forward from behind and whispered quietly.

“Junior of House Wardanaz.”

“?”

“Ask about methods for enduring the overwhelming external pressure generated inside distorted dimensions.”

“...You did just speak Imperial, right?”

For a moment, Lee Han wondered whether she had spoken in ancient Giant language or the Verdus language instead.

“What are you talking about?”

“It was a joke... Never mind. What exactly did you say?”

Lee Han abandoned the idea of explaining. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

How was he supposed to explain a joke to a tiny golem with no heart?

(He had once believed she possessed one, but apparently not.)

“One of the greatest dangers involved in dimension-related magic is distorted dimensions.”

The concept of multiple dimensions was something all high-ranking mages eventually encountered, but the deeper one studied it, the more maddening and troublesome it became.

The scope of dimensions was simply too vast.

The Spirit Realm and the Undead Realm—places even ordinary people knew about—were dimensions. But so were countless parallel worlds that could never be directly observed.

And even among those, there existed bizarre and twisted dimensions.

Some lacked souls entirely. Some possessed no volume whatsoever. Others contained nothing but pure force.

Among them, the malignant dimensions that could not properly function as worlds themselves and existed only to interfere with other dimensions were known as distorted dimensions.

To mages who explored dimensions, they were like deadly reefs hidden beneath the sea.

Whenever a mage attempted dimensional travel and brushed against one of them, the distorted dimension would crush and twist the mage along with their soul.

...Wait.

Why am I learning this?

Lee Han, who had been rapidly taking notes, suddenly became confused.

He wasn’t even majoring in dimensional magic.

“If you understand, hurry and ask.”

“Understood.”

Lee Han nodded obediently.

Then he turned toward the insane duplicate.

“Master. May I try practicing <Crow’s Evil Eye> now?”

“!?!!”

Princess Yukbeltire’s eyes trembled with betrayal.

Watching her reaction, Diret found himself wondering—

Why does she look betrayed...?

That reaction makes absolutely no sense.

***

Although a certain Archmage had drastically increased the difficulty, <Crow’s Evil Eye> was still an excellent spell.

Most importantly, the fact that it had somehow remained within the fourth-circle despite that madman’s interference proved how outstanding the magic truly was.

Even after the sudden increase in complexity, it was still barely manageable within the fourth-circle.

This is what truly excellent magic looks like.

Lee Han felt secretly pleased.

Then he suddenly realized something strange.

...Wait a minute.

Why am I happy about fourth-circle magic?

Did I get hit with mental interference magic or something?

No matter how he thought about it, that explanation made the most sense.

Lee Han immediately circulated his mana through his body and checked his condition.

“What’s wrong, Junior?”

“I suspect I may have been affected by mental interference magic.”

“What?! Why?!”

Diret was startled.

When his junior suddenly said something like that, it wasn’t the sort of thing that could simply be ignored.

Had there been some kind of symptom?

“I practiced <Crow’s Evil Eye> without complaining.”

“...You’ve always been like that.”

“?!!?!”

This time, Lee Han was the one left shocked.

Diret calmly turned away.

It was impossible to deny.

Looking off to the side, Diret could still see that pathetic friend remaining seated despite the lecture having ended long ago.

“Princess Yukbeltire. Let’s go.”

“I still have questions.”

“...”

Diret let out a long sigh.

Then, wearing an expression that clearly showed reluctance and guilt, Diret cautiously spoke to Lee Han.

“Junior. Could I ask you for one favor?”

“Of course.”

Lee Han agreed immediately and turned toward the insane duplicate.

“Master. What methods exist for resisting the overwhelming external pressure generated inside distorted dimensions?”

“It has been quite some time since you last asked a worthwhile question. The desire to harness the infinite power of outer dimensions is one every mage possesses. However, that power is...”

The insane duplicate immediately launched into an explanation.

Princess Yukbeltire blinked in confusion.

Seeing her friend’s unexpected reaction, Diret asked:

“What’s wrong? Wasn’t that what you wanted to ask?”

“...Why does the Junior of House Wardanaz ignore me, yet immediately listen to you?”