Published at 6th of March 2026 6:15 am

Chapter 685

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

There were various ways for mages to borrow power from beings of other dimensions.

First, there was the forceful method.

Subduing beings from other dimensions and then making them submit so they couldnt escape.

If one had the ability to subdue and make them submit, it was the simplest and cleanest method. The lord of a certain magic school or the family head of a certain family enjoyed using this method.

Next was trickery.

Making contracts with beings from other dimensions while inserting all sorts of complex deceptions into those contracts to benefit the mage.

This method worked well on beings like demons who were greedy and targeted people.

In the end, if youre greedy, youre bound to be deceived.

There were as many demons who fell for mages tricks as there were people who fell for demons tricks.

Lastly, there were contracts.

Building friendship and camaraderie with beings from other dimensions and helping each other.

This was a method commonly seen with beings like spirits who were friendly and gentle toward people.

And surprisingly, Diret was attempting to research a quasi-perpetual motion machine using demonic mana through this last method.

Huh, is that possible?

Lee Han was even more surprised than he had been moments before.

While he didnt particularly hold prejudices against demons, basically demons were beings who would stop at nothing to achieve their own purposes.

Even if the demons seen in the Wardanaz Family or Einroguard appeared kind and docile, that was only because they were bound by contracts, and it wouldnt be strange if they immediately bared their fangs the moment those contracts were released.

Its not impossible. Though I am encountering some difficulties

I think forcibly extracting mana would be much better.

Hey, I told you to drag that person away!

When Yukveltire offered advice from afar, Diret shouted in an irritated voice.

***

Lee Han was able to leave the exchange venue only after another three hours had passed.

It wasnt because recovery took a long time. In fact, he had recovered enough to move around after about 30 minutes.

The following 2 hours and 30 minutes were spent talking with the mages who participated in the exchange.

-Our magic tower is researching the cultivation of Extreme Magic Whale Stoekul. Are you perhaps interested?

-I dont know much about sea creatures.

-Haha. Just having that insane mana no, that tremendous mana would be enough. Youre most welcome!

-

-Our guild is researching the Empires spirit forests and their influence. We absolutely want to have Lord Wardanaz join us.

-I dont get along very well with spirits though.

-Uhahaha! What a joke! How could someone who borrows the power of such great spirits not get along with spirits?

-

Of course, most of the proposals ended up making Lee Han sad.

Fortunately, there were a few tempting proposals. Lee Han diligently took notes to refer to when accepting requests after returning to Einroguard.

-Ignore the proposals from the mages here. Ill make you an offer you cant refuse. My research

-No, why does this person keep slipping out? Drag him away quickly!

There were incidents where the troublesome senior interfered and caused a ruckus, but somehow he managed to barely escape.

Im exhausted

Diret, who had barely managed to bring Lee Han out, muttered in a voice full of fatigue.

Come to think of it, this seemed to be the first time forcibly extracting a popular junior from other mages.

Basically, students from the black magic school were usually far from this kind of attention.

Who knew it would be this tiring!

Junior. This way.

Im fine now though.

No.

Diret spoke firmly.

Even though he had received help from healing magic as well as his own mana, the aftereffects of unifying with a great spirit were not something to take lightly.

Even if he seemed fine now, a rebound could suddenly return and make him collapse.

Its not simply a matter of mana or stamina, but the amount of magical information can also damage a mages brain. Didnt you feel magic different from usual when you unified with the great spirit?

!

Lee Han realized what Diret was talking about.

The power of lightning that Perkuntra used was completely different from the lightning magic Lee Han had used until now.

From how to handle lightning elements to what level magic could be extended to.

That intense memory remained to some extent even now that the unification had been released.

Forcibly practicing magic that doesnt match your level is dangerous, but forcibly stuffing it into your brain is even more dangerous. You need to be careful for a while.

But Professor Bagrek forcibly made me practice magic that didnt match my level. The Principal even forcibly stuffed things into my brain

At his juniors question, Diret pretended not to hear.

Hm?

Professor Bagrek and the Principal

What did you say?

Its nothing.

Instead of catching his seniors evasion, Lee Han resolved to be careful for a while.

It seemed right to not recall the magic Perkuntra had shown him and take care of his body until he was ready.

Still, this seems like worrying a bit too much?

Lee Han stared intently at the back of the head of Direts summoned creature, a high-rank demon, that was carrying him.

-?

Ah. Its nothing. Thank you for carrying me.

The high-rank demon nodded with a stoic expression. Seeing this, Diret said,

He says he was surprised that you have a kind personality despite your appearance.

I get that misunderstanding often. Really, beings that judge people by their mana.

Lee Han spoke indignantly. Diret wondered if it was really only because of his mana.

I dont think you can contract with a great spirit just by having a lot of mana

More importantly, Senior.

Huh, huh? I wasnt thinking anything?

What? No, I was wondering about all those people gathered on the street over there. Whats going on?

!

At his juniors words, Diret looked over and was startled.

The streets of Plahur City where darkness had fallen since dawn had not yet come.

The light from mana lamps dimly illuminated the silhouettes of people on those streets.

It was clearly not an ordinary number.

This is bad!

Are they suspicious people? Perhaps Anti-Magic Extremists?

Theyre not that suspicious! Those are mages!

What mages?

Mages who heard rumors about the exchange!

Since Plahur City was a great city, there were many mages, and among them, there were far more mages who didnt participate in the exchange.

Not all mages were interested in exchanges.

But there were occasional exceptions.

When rumors spread that would make even mages sitting in their mansions jump up, mages would swarm like this.

Ugh. Senior told me to ive Senior Yukveltire a blow, so I did

I didnt know youd give such a blow! How could anyone predict that!

Diret felt this was really unfair too.

No professor could have predicted this would happen in that situation.

Cant we just push through?

There are too many for that. Even just exchanging a word with each would take several hours. Junior. If you want to work as a mage for a long time, research is important, but

The ability to secure research funding is also important, right?

No, no. Not that.

Diret was flustered when his junior gave a more realistic answer than expected.

Diret didnt yet know that the junior before him had received the praise of Bureaucrat Destroyer from the Skeleton Principal during vacation.

Thats important too, but the lesson I wanted to share was not to associate with strange mages.

Ah.

Lee Han nodded.

It was certainly sound advice.

Do you mean people like Professor Verdus or Senior Yukveltire?

No people even stranger than those two.

Diret almost answered yes for a moment but shook his head and came to his senses.

Though it wasnt something an Einroguard student should say, there really were many strange people among mages.

It would be better if they were simply mages obsessed with research.

Fraudsters who had no real interest in magic but tried to deceive others to extort gold coins, criminals who used magic to pull off big scores, brokers who tried to earn commission by introducing mages to other guilds or magic towers

Since the path of magic was treacherous, there were surprisingly few mages who seriously wanted to walk that path.

Therefore, mages who seriously walked the path of magic had to avoid associating with suspicious characters.

Getting involved with them would only waste ones own time!

There was once a senior who was popular in that way.

From the Dark Magic school?

No. From another school Hey. What did you mean by that?

I was just asking to confirm.

Anyway, that senior often had such people come to him with proposals, and there seemed to be something tempting among them. He accepted a proposal and did something together with them.

What happened?

It appeared in the Empire newspaper that an Einroguard graduate mage was caught committing fraud with magic

Diret spoke in a dejected voice.

Even though time had passed, it was still a painful memory.

He still vividly remembered how the Skeleton Principal had flown into a rage and conducted searches of the students.

Oh no.

Lee Han listened even more intently since it wasnt someone elses business. He himself had dreams about business ventures.

I definitely need to be careful.

If theyre mages participating in exchange meetings, theyre at least somewhat decent, but theres no need to associate with every single one of those mages.

Wait. Isnt that Senior Yukveltire over there?

What? Thats nonsense

Diret narrowed his eyes at Lee Hans words and looked ahead.

Yukveltire was standing on the main road with her guards.

When you find him, explain my research and make the proposal.

Yes. Understood.

These mages here are getting in the way. Buy off anyone who can be bought.

Instead of dispersing the petty merchants for his juniors sake as a senior should, seeing her trying to buy them off for her own use, Diret hung his head low.

She was his friend who would be embarrassing anywhere.

Lets go around back theres an alleyway over there

Cheer up.

Im fine

Despite saying that, Direts wings seemed particularly droopy today.

***

-No, why are you mages doing this in the middle of the night? The citizens are frightened.

-Were just trying to find someone

This wont work. Lets go inside.

Diret chose to enter a building when he saw there were more mages than expected.

When dawn broke, they would give up and disperse.

Do you know a place?

Theres a workshop nearby.

Since the exchange meeting venue itself was located in the mage district of Plaher City, there were several workshops of guilds and magic towers nearby. The same was true for workshops established by Einroguards schools themselves.

Hmm?

Lee Han brightened up but then hesitated.

Come to think of it, he wondered if it was okay for the Dark Magic school to have a workshop here.

Even if it was the mage district, shouldnt it be in a more secluded place on the outskirts, near a cemetery?

Is it really the Dark Magic schools workshop?

Alchemy school.

Ah.

Right, well. The Dark Magic school probably shouldnt even have a workshop here.

No, senior. Why are you saying that? I just thought the location wasnt suitable because of reagent supply. But can we enter an Alchemy school workshop?

Im relatively close with the Alchemy school kids I even got permission from Professor Thunderstep to enter. And there wont be anyone inside.

Diret cast a spell. With a clanking sound, the workshop door opened. A pungent smell of various mixed reagents wafted from inside.

-Whos there?

Were screwed.

Diret muttered quietly. Lee Han climbed down from the high-rank demons back and asked.

Whats wrong?

There happens to be a junior Im not close with. Someone called Ilendil Oh. Wait. Junior.

Diret, who belatedly recalled the memory, looked at Lee Han expectantly.

Lee Han answered firmly.

Im not close with them either.

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