The carriage flew like an arrow. It seemed not much time had passed before the grand gates of the magic academy came into view.

Yi-Han felt a comforting sense of familiarity, as if he had returned home.

And then, he shivered.

'Could I have been affected by mental magic?'

The snow has melted quite a bit.

In the voice of the skull principal, there was a quiet note of regret. Yi-Han cursed inwardly.

"It melted faster than I thought."

Yes. I thought it would last longer. There was no need to resolve it so quickly, right?

"I'll be more careful in the future."

Yi-Han responded casually and stepped out of the carriage.

There were still places covered in snow, but the bone-chilling cold of a few days ago was nowhere to be felt.

It was a warm spring day.

'At least I didn't lose the entire weekend.'

Priests were visible here and there. Yi-Han's face lit up with joy.

Not having to spend the remaining Sunday alone and instead meeting the priests was fortunate indeed.

If the cold had lasted just a bit longer, we could have avoided them

The principal's voice, filled with regret, came from behind. Yi-Han pretended not to hear and moved on.

"You must have had a hard time."

The priests of the Amphar Order, the flame worshipper, spoke with faces full of sympathy.

The students nearly froze to death in their absence.

Their hearts couldn't help but ache.

"But it wasn't all bad. Thanks to the cold, my training with fire elements became easier."

The priests laughed at Yi-Han's words, thinking it a joke.

"Yi-Han of the Wardanaz family always finds the positive in everything, doesn't he?"

"With such an attitude, you'll be fine no matter what challenges come your way."

Yi-Han, adorned with rings, bracelets, and necklaces of flame absorption, hesitated at their response.

"Did you think I was joking...?"

"Let's go back to fire training then."

Inside the tent, paper birds began to fly around.

The next step in training, after gaining some control over the movement of flames, was to hit moving targets.

For Yi-Han, hitting the targets wasn't particularly challenging.

He had already manipulated other elements with much more complexity and precision.

The challenge for Yi-Han was maintaining a consistent intensity of the flames while moving them to hit the targets.

If his concentration broke even for a moment, the flames would grow and spread in all directions.

Other mages who manipulated fire elements had to infuse mana to maintain the flames they summoned, but Yi-Han had to restrain his mana as much as possible to prevent the flames from raging out of control.

It was a bit unfair, but inevitable.

Whoosh!

The flames swirling around Yi-Han precisely hit the paper birds.

The priests' faces brightened.

The stability of the flames had noticeably improved compared to last time.

Although he was wearing ten rings, four bracelets, and two necklaces of flame absorption, it was still a significant improvement.

"Excellent! Your skills have greatly improved."

"Is that so?"

Despite the praise, Yi-Han felt a tinge of disappointment.

The experienced priests did not miss the hint of dissatisfaction in the young Wardanaz scion's voice.

"Is there a problem or concern you have? Feel free to speak. The priests' ears are always open."

"Well, it's just that..."

Yi-Han slowly began to speak.

In truth, the fire element, compared to other elements, had limited versatility and was specialized in only a few directions.

Water and earth could be flexibly utilized for both attack and defense due to their inherent adaptability, but...

The use of fire was considerably ambiguous.

As such, when handling fire elements, one inevitably became obsessed with their destructive power.

"Focusing so much on controlling the flames, it seems their power weakens even upon success. A few days ago, when I clashed with a monster..."

The priests of the Aphar Order were not surprised by Yi-Han's words.

It was a common concern for anyone who dealt with fire elemental magic.

Though inherently destructive, fire elements proved unexpectedly difficult to apply in combat. It was only meaningful if it actually reached the enemy.

Water and earth were easy to shape and move at speed.

Lightning, difficult to control, was an element condensed with tremendous speed.

But fire was not only difficult to shape but also several times harder to move at speed compared to other elements.

To overcome this drawback, one had to deliberately create and maintain shapes like arrows or spears and add a launching property, which greatly increased the circle level.

This was not a method beginners learning fire elements could attempt.

As a result, novice fire mages often moved flames slowly to attack enemies, summoned a wide area of flames to suppress them, or handled it through enchantment magic.

"It's a concern everyone has, Yi-Han of the Wardanaz family. It's like a transitional period before advancing to a higher level of magic. Fire magic can be particularly frustrating when the opponent is prepared. But if you don't give up and continue to train, your magic level will increase, and your current concerns will be easily resolved. What kind of monster did you feel the lack of power against?"

The priests asked for the name of the monster Yi-Han had faced.

They wanted to give advice after learning about its weaknesses.

It was better to understand the method of defeating the monster than to be anxious about increasing the power of fire magic immediately.

"I heard it was the King of Frost Giants."

"The King of Frost Giants?"

"Yes."

"That's not a problem with fire magic; it's that the opponent is too strong, Yi-Han of the Wardanaz family."

Even the kind priests of the Aphar Order couldn't help but be serious at such a statement.

Wondering how many circles of magic would be needed to feel the power of fire magic against a formidable being like the King of Frost Giants...

"Wait. But how did you end up clashing with the King of Frost Giants?"

One of the priests noticed something odd and asked.

Indeed, it was an oversight.

The name 'King of Frost Giants' was so formidable that it almost slipped by...

Yi-Han was still a first-year student.

There was no reason for him to clash with the King of Frost Giants.

"I was helping seniors, and it happened by chance."

"Which year were they?"

"Sorry?"

"What year are they?"

"Fourth year... but."

The priests murmured among themselves. Yi-Han thought he heard words like 'trash' and 'cowards.'

"But thanks to that, my fire magic has improved."

Still, since they were seniors he would have to face in the future, Yi-Han defended them.

Of course, the experienced priests of the Aphar Order were not fooled by such words.

"Yi-Han of the Wardanaz family, while surviving a dragon's lair can yield many rewards, nobody recommends entering one. You should definitely avoid associating with such seniors in the future. They are very bad people."

"Understood."

Yi-Han nodded, seeing the priests' seriousness.

Defending his seniors seemed to only make matters worse.

"Increase the speed of the bird."

"Yes."

The priests began to speed up the paper bird. Yi-Han concentrated, controlling the flames.

The flame, the size of an index finger, swiftly chased after the bird.

The priests, just recently stern-faced, now wore expressions of satisfaction at his rapid growth.

Though unforgivable for making a freshman encounter the King of Frost Giants...

It seemed that the intense experience had indeed been beneficial.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

"...?"

The priests, increasing the paper birds' number and speed with each of Yi-Han's successes, felt something was off.

As the paper birds were inherently faster, at some point, Yi-Han had to strategically target one at a time.

But now, the boy from the Wardanaz family was simply moving the flames and exploding them.

The flames were faster than the paper birds, no matter how they were compared.

"Increase the speed more."

The priest controlling the paper birds nodded, setting the paper birds to fly faster as if challenging the speed.

Yi-Han was so focused he couldn't hear the priests' conversation. As the paper birds darted through the air, he accelerated the flames.

In terms of speed, it was comparable to other elements.

'Fast!'

The Aphar Order priests, used to all kinds of flames, were astonished by its speed.

To achieve such speed just by control, without any additional magic?

'That's it. The power...!'

An overwhelming amount of mana wasn't just a disadvantage.

The priests had never seen flames move this quickly.

...Of course, they had also never seen a novice mage unable to control flames due to excessive mana...

"Meeting the King of Frost Giants seems to have really helped him."

"Even if that's true, it's not something to be said out loud. Be careful."

"Sorry. I was thoughtless."

Yi-Han, having downed the paper bird and relaxing his focus, paused at the conversation he overheard.

'I'll have to omit the seniors in any future discussions.'

It seemed his situation was perceived even more strangely than he had thought.

Monday morning.

Professor Garcia entered the classroom, her face beaming with positivity.

This positive energy sparked a slight sense of anticipation in Yi-Han.

'What could be the good news?'

Mondays, typically painful after the weekend, were especially so at the magic academy.

Every Monday brought unleashed monsters, traps set by the skull principal, early winters, or attacks by the principal...

But seeing Professor Garcia's face, this week might hold some promise.

Could it really be a peaceful and warm week ahead?

"Is there some good news, Professor?"

"You asked at the right time."

Professor Garcia spoke with an elated voice.

"Last night, we finally caught the monster that had been lurking in the depths of the library. It had been mistakenly summoned and disrupting the students for months. Now, students won't be disturbed in their studies anymore."

"Is that so?"

The first-year students in the classroom couldn't share Professor Garcia's happiness.

None of them had ever ventured deep into the library.

Einroguard was complex enough, but the library was one of its most notorious labyrinths.

There was no systematic categorization of books; the stacks visited today could be found in a completely different location tomorrow a maze of unpredictability!

The first-years, sensible as they were, only sought books near the relatively safe entrance and never ventured further.

"Congra... congratulations?"

"We congratulate you?"

Still, since it was Professor Garcia who had spoken, the students forced themselves to offer congratulations. Professor Garcia nodded and looked pleased.

"Other professors giving lectures will now be able to fetch books without hesitation."

"...?"

Yi-Han, who had been listening blankly, suddenly paused.

He felt an ominous sense of foreboding.

"Uh, Professor?"

"What is it, Yi-Han?"

"Have the classes so far used fewer books out of consideration for us students?"

"There must have been quite a bit of that."

"So, does that mean classes will increasingly use books from the library from now on?"

"It seems likely."

"..."

The students' complexions began to change as they belatedly realized the implications.

Gainando whispered,

"If we set the library on fire, wouldn't it be closed for a while?"