"...Don't make me cry."

Not only Chill, but the other senior healing magic students also struggled to hold back their tears blurring their vision.

In this situation, the junior running away might have been the better choice.

But by not running away, this junior had touched their hearts.

"Did you see that? Today is the day!"

"The junior is in front of us! Show him properly!"

The healing magic students charged forward, shouting.

'Is today the day?'

'If it's not the day, we'll make it the day!'

The day.

Among the healing magic students, it was known as 'the day they overthrow Professor Alkasis and succeed in escaping to rest.'

They had never actually managed it before, but one day, that day would come!

"If you want to rest."

Professor Alkasis swung her staff.

The charging student read the professor's intent and desperately defended.

"Harden like steel, nerves!"

Despite the enhancement magic, Professor Alkasis simply took control of the student's nervous system.

Losing control of the nerves that connected and transmitted signals throughout the body was fatal in such a duel. The student immediately fainted.

"Train your magic skills!"

At the same time, the swords at the professor's waist levitated.

As Professor Alkasis lunged forward, the sword, sheath, and all, swung fiercely, blowing away the students who were focused on defense.

"That way, you can rest early."

"How does it make sense for the same people to keep getting hurt?!"

At the anguished shout of his disciple, the professor slightly swung her staff.

The student panicked, trying to protect their nervous system, but this time it was somewhere else.

A student, robbed of control over his blood flow, turned pale and collapsed.

'...I should have just run.'

Watching Professor Alkasis subdue the charging students with a single staff motion, Yi-Han suddenly felt regret.

The prejudice that healing mages were weak was wrong. Healing magic itself could be used offensively if one was determined.

Moreover, in the case of a master like Professor Alkasis, she could precisely take away the opponent's physical control to subdue them.

To take control of the entire body would require an extraordinary mage to pour in mana, but taking control of a specific part was much less difficult.

Of course, other mages, even if they could take control, would have difficulty utilizing or applying it.

It was a combat method only possible for Professor Alkasis, who had a perfect understanding of the human body.

'Enough with the regret.'

Yi-Han steeled his resolve and prepared.

Not running away and abandoning the seniors was half calculation, half compassion.

In this situation, if he abandoned the seniors and left, there was a possibility they would resent him later.

Now, it was because of their resentment towards the professor, but later, when their minds returned and they were doing additional labor under the professor, they might come to hate the absent junior.

The human heart was complicated like that.

Moreover, seeing the seniors who had been constantly subdued, if Yi-Han left, the seniors might not be able to drag out the time as long.

The seniors knew Professor Alkasis well, but Professor Alkasis knew the seniors even better.

And...

'...I just couldn't leave them behind.'

Yi-Han was usually the type to look after his own interests, but the healing magic majors were truly too pitiful.

How could he just run away and leave such people behind?

Yi-Han had a conscience too.

"Seniors. Please support me!"

"!"

The seniors were surprised by Yi-Han's shout.

Surprisingly, the junior was rushing forward with a sword.

'Close combat?!'

Like the other friends, Chill was appalled.

A mage in close combat?

'I understand, junior, but what you're doing now...!'

Fighting a mage with overwhelming abilities was absolutely disadvantageous in magic, so engaging in close combat to prevent the mage from using magic was also a viable choice.

But...

'...We've all tried that!'

Of course, the healing magic students had already tried that.

Since they couldn't win with magic, they had each cast transformation or enhancement magic and charged at the professor.

The result, of course, was disastrous.

Professor Alkasis' sword at her waist was not just for show. She subdued the students like a rampaging patient.

"Wasting mana."

Professor Alkasis frowned as she swung her staff at the charging Yi-Han.

She had tried to subdue him by taking control of his body, like the other students, but belatedly realized.

'His mana is really insane.'

Thud!

Professor Alkasis lightly tapped the wall of the nearby alley.

The wall then undulated as if alive and rushed towards Yi-Han.

"Water!"

As the wall came crashing down, Yi-Han strengthened his legs and explosively accelerated by infusing them with mana.

Not only that, he summoned water in the air.

"Become a platform!"

"!"

Professor Alkasis was surprised by the magic Yi-Han displayed.

She wasn't surprised by the summoning and transformation of water.

Of course, the fact that a first-year could do it so skillfully was already impressive enough, but what surprised Professor Alkasis was...

'He could immediately be a battle mage right now without any oddity.'

Amidst the chaos and confusion, the speed at which he selected and cast the magic.

It was the innate talent of a combat mage.

Moreover, with such abundant mana, he would be a nightmare for other mages.

Clang!

Not wanting to waste any more mana, Professor Alkasis grabbed the hilt of her sword.

Rather than engage in a magic battle, she intended to go in directly and subdue him.

It seemed he was charging with enhancement magic, but Professor Alkasis was confident she could subdue him.

'Here he comes!'

Yi-Han tensed his entire body.

He had provoked the close combat, but actually engaging in it with the professor made his heart race.

He was several times more tense than when facing an excellent swordsman.

Swordsmen only swung their swords, but the professor could use both swords and magic. With bad luck, he might not even last a few exchanges before being blown away.

'...Pierce through!'

Boom!

Yi-Han's sword and Professor Alkasis' swords clashed powerfully.

And Professor Alkasis was shocked.

"You!"

Yi-Han's sword, Morning Star, was momentarily absorbing the professor's mana.

They both had covered the swords with sheaths, so it went unnoticed, but Yi-Han's sword was made of a special ore called Black Purplestone, capable of absorbing mana.

For a mage sensitive to mana control like Professor Alkasis, it was an annoyingly troublesome sword.

'Given the professor's personality, this will definitely work.'

Yi-Han never intended to truly defeat the professor.

With this gap in ability, how could he win?

What Yi-Han aimed for was a compromise.

From the professor's perspective, she would say something like 'You despicable, filthy brat, I don't need the likes of you.'

With Morning Star in his hand, Yi-Han was an irritating existence for the mana-controlling Professor Alkasis, no matter how she dealt with him.

If she tried to subdue him with the sword, the mana consumption would be excessive.

If she tried to subdue him with magic, the mana consumption would be excessive.

"..."

"Junior, be careful!"

As Professor Alkasis' eyes flashed, the other students frantically waved their staffs.

The wood that had been surging from the ground immediately withered away. Yi-Han felt a chill down his spine.

To have taken advantage of that brief moment when Yi-Han let his guard down, if the seniors hadn't been there, he would have been hit.

Even a moment of carelessness in front of the professor was fatal.

Professor Alkasis clicked her tongue disapprovingly and said,

"Alright, go."

"!!!!!"

The seniors were shocked.

They had never seen Professor Alkasis give in like this.

'Impossible!'

'Is this real? Not a dream??'

Professor Alkasis spoke in a rough, hoarse voice.

"You're quite persuasive..."

"Thank you."

It was clear the professor had the same thought as Yi-Han.

To subdue him here would require an excessive use of mana, and it was counterproductive to expend so much of the professor's mana just for one first-year student.

Regrettable, but what could be done.

"But you won't be able to keep avoiding me."

"...I'll work hard next semester."

At Yi-Han's words, Professor Alkasis nodded slightly, as if understanding.

It meant she would accept the compromise.

"Go."

"Professor."

Looking at the professor like a ferocious beast baring its fangs, Yi-Han carefully spoke.

It felt like his life was on the line with the one sentence he was about to utter.

"Please let the seniors rest as well."

"..."

"..."

The air turned icy.

The watching seniors were so tense they couldn't even breathe.

'That... That madman!'

'You're going to get yourself killed!'

Professor Garcia, who had been controlling the passersby from approaching the scene of the fight, also swallowed her saliva.

"Have you forgotten what I said? Clearly in the lecture..."

"I know. But Professor, there must be other ways. Calling in mages from other regions, or even asking the principal..."

Listening from the side, Chill was worried that the junior was truly insane.

The skull principal wasn't some summoning beast, and there was no way he could summon more healing mages just because they were short.

"...I think I can at least buy enough time for the seniors to rest."

"What will you do if I refuse?"

Yi-Han brandished his sword.

Seeing the intention to go down together, Professor Alkasis eventually sighed and answered.

"I hope my disciples haven't learned any bad habits from you. Alright. ...I've been overworking you all. Go rest. I can somehow buy that much time."

"Professor...!!!"

"Don't cry, just scram. Rest and come back."

The students hurriedly fled, fearing the professor might change her mind.

"Are, are you okay?"

The watching Professor Garcia asked worriedly. Professor Alkasis replied tersely, her voice laced with annoyance,

"Do I look okay? Huh? Do I seem okay to you?"

The respectful demeanor she had shown to his student in front of others was now gone.

Professor Garcia, reverting to a student, hung her head low.

"I'm sorry..."

"It's fine. It's not your fault. The disciples need to rest too. They've worked too hard..."

"I, I'll help too."

"If you have a conscience, you should naturally do that."

"I was wrong."

"And... I should contact the principal. He'll help at least once."

"That's a good idea. He's in Granden City right now."

"Is he? Even better."

Professor Alkasis' authority, who was saving all the patients in the name of Einroguard throughout the nearby regions, was so high that even the skull principal couldn't easily refuse.

He absolutely couldn't refuse a request for help.

...Of course, from the perspective of the skull principal, it would be absurd.

The usually uncooperative Professor Alkasis suddenly contacting him, saying 'Please help my disciples rest.'

"By the way, please don't tell the principal that Yi-Han brought it up."

"Understood."

"Junior! Isn't this exciting? Aren't you excited?!"

"Look at this! Look at this!"

The healing magic students were excited, pointing their fingers.

What they were pointing at was a fountain in the middle of the city square.

"...Uh, is there some complex magic hidden in that fountain? I'm not sure..."

"There's nothing like that, it's just pretty, right?"

"That's right. Sitting and watching the fountain all day long was our wish."

"This peaceful watching... Wait. Junior. Why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying. Something got in my eyes."