"What are you talking about?"

"Look at his face."

"I can't see because of the smoke."

"...Are you a freshman?"

At those words, Coholti took out a monocle with a jeweled lens from his pocket. It was an artifact that could see through the smoke.

"Ah!"

Coholti let out an exclamation as he recognized the identity of his junior.

That one from before...

"The poor freshman who got wrongly caught by Professor Mortum!"

"He must be the thankful junior who cleaned up the mess you made. You piece of trash."

Direth looked at Coholti with a contemptuous gaze. If a senior received help from a freshman, they should bow their head for a few years, but look at what he was saying!

Coholti seemed to realize this as he cleared his throat with an embarrassed look.

"Of course I'm grateful. I'm still grateful now. It's just that his being with Professor Mortum left such a strong impression..."

'That was certainly true.'

Direth couldn't deny that much. She would never forget how Professor Bagrak pushed a freshman to fight the King of Frost Giants. She had seriously considered sending an anonymous letter to His Majesty the Emperor for several days.

Well, at least the person in question seemed to be doing fine...

"Anyway, there's no need to pay too much attention to him since he's unusual."

"I thought he was only good at suppressing demons, but he's really skilled at other dark magic too? Professor Mortum will be pleased."

Coholti marveled at the talent of the new junior. To be so proficient in dark magic as a freshman - Professor Mortum, who had been saddened by the lack of students wanting to learn, would surely be overjoyed.

After all, one genius was more precious than a hundred mediocre talents.

"Well..."

"??"

As Direth trailed off, Coholti looked puzzled.

"He might not continue taking dark magic..."

"What kind of nonsense is that?"

Coholti couldn't understand. Of course, it was true that dark magic was less popular compared to other magic. However, with that level of talent, no matter how unpopular it was, it would be difficult for the mage himself not to learn it.

Just by reading grimoires and practicing spells, one's achievements would constantly increase, so which mage could resist such temptation?

"That's true, but..."

Direth looked at her junior with a conflicted gaze. The problem was that he was too good at other magic, not just talented in dark magic.

'At this rate, will he even come back for the second semester?'

After finishing the dark magic exam, Gainando spoke to Ymirg and Raphael.

"How was it? How was it?? Did you all do well? Did you do well?"

"..."

As Raphael's expression crumpled, Gainando's eyes sparkled.

Gainando shouted in a voice filled with delight, "You didn't do well!"

'Should he be so happy while saying that?'

"Right? You didn't do well?!"

"Shut up! You damn prince!"

Raphael exploded in anger. That prince had shown quite outstanding abilities in dark magic, if not in other lectures.

It was only natural that he would do better compared to Raphael, who didn't like dark magic that much. Of course, apart from that, it was detestable how he came running so excitedly just because he did well.

The same guy who had been hanging his head as if the world was ending after taking exams for other lectures!

"I, I didn't do that well. The exam was difficult."

"Haha. I understand. The dark magic exam was a bit tough."

Gainando responded to Ymirg's words with a magnanimous laugh.

"The, the curse and poison I succeeded on the first try, but the bone magic took me three attempts..."

"...Huh? You succeeded on the first try?"

Gainando faltered. Ymirg had done better than he thought.

"Uh, uhh."

"I... I also succeeded at the bone magic on the first try."

Raphael, who had been listening, asked without much thought, "What about the curse and poison?"

"You won't answer how you did, but you have the nerve to ask me! Are you really a knight?!"

"What the hell is wrong with this crazy bastard..."

"Wa, Wardanaz, how did he do?"

At Ymirg's question, Gainando replied with a serious face, "It's rude to ask about that."

"..."

"..."

In the face of their friend's cunning refusal to inquire about someone who had clearly outperformed him, the two students couldn't help but be amazed. So this was what a royal was like!

"Currently, there is a magic spread in the lecture hall that temporarily nullifies contracts."

Professor Millei spoke in her usual strict voice. The students facing the exam had tense expressions as they looked at Professor Millei.

"Remember the contracts you all made in the other realms last time."

Most students had done so in the spirit realm. Students like Yi-Han had done so in the undead realm. Everyone had attempted to make contracts as an assignment before the final exam.

"Take turns summoning the beings you contracted one by one."

"...?"

One of the listening students asked again, not understanding, "Professor? Isn't the lecture hall in a state where contracts are nullified right now?"

Beings from other realms were fundamentally unpredictable, capricious, and dangerous existences. Such beings could not be summoned recklessly.

Even if they were bound by strict contracts, accidents still happened, so if there were no contracts, how much would they run wild as they pleased?

Of course, the entities contracted by first-year students were only capable of simple feats like igniting a campfire or refilling an empty leather water pouch...

But the freshman students were suitably weak as well, so they absolutely could not let their guard down.

"A good point. The purpose of this exam is to master ways to protect yourselves as mages even when there are no contracts to protect your bodies."

"..."

The words sounded plausible, but the students were already feeling uneasy.

"Isn't Professor Millei going too far? How is this any different from throwing monsters and telling us to fight?"

"We, we did something similar in swordsmanship class before. But I didn't expect summoning magic to be like this too."

While his friends whispered, Yi-Han rummaged in his pocket and took out some bone fragments. Then he said to his friends, "What are you doing? Are you all not preparing?"

"...We'll do it, but we can still complain a little!"

"I get it, so everyone get moving. If you're not fully prepared, you'll only be hurting yourselves."

Faced with Yi-Han's merciless attitude, his friends grumbled. To not complain even while taking such an absurd exam - Wardanaz truly was someone who made no compromises when it came to magic.

'It won't be that difficult of an exam.'

Unlike his friends, Yi-Han was slightly happy. The exam difficulty was easier than he had thought.

"O spirit of wind. I trust you."

Asan tried his best to speak in a gentle voice. However, his voice was filled with an undisguisable tension.

"So listen to my words and d... Urk!"

Smack!

The formless, rippling wind spirit accurately struck Asan's abdomen.

'Oh dear.'

In Yi-Han's view, the wind spirit wasn't doing this out of hostility or malice. From the perspective of someone who had fought countless monsters with hostility and malice, if it had those, the attack would have been much sharper.

This was closer to playing around. As the wind spirit was also a lower-ranked spirit that wasn't very strong, rather than being angered by the mage's command, it seemed to just be showing a playful side...

"Ack! Stop! Stop!"

Asan rolled to the side, dodging the attacks while dropping his staff. The wind spirit persistently chased after him, attempting to headbutt him.

Unable to watch any longer, Professor Millei swung her staff to separate the two.

"No matter how close you are, attempting to persuade with words in a situation without a contract is a foolish choice. Remember that a firm warning is also necessary when your words are not heeded."

"I, I apologize. Professor."

Asan's failure became a lesson for the other students. The next student who stepped up immediately held their staff, ready to attack if the spirit refused the command.

"Magic..."

Swish!

Before the magic could be cast, the earth spirit scattered sand. The spirit had sensed the mage's hostility first.

"Puhek, puh! Pupupuh!"

The earth spirit continued to throw sand. If it wasn't a student who had been trained to maintain composure while casting magic even when receiving various attacks, it was impossible for a freshman to calmly cast magic in such a situation.

The student who failed the incantation due to the sand escaped while shedding tears.

"I, I trusted you...! I trusted you!"

"You were about to attack right away."

At first, the students had charged in with some confidence, but more people were failing than expected. Professor Millei had the failed students wait in the back.

She had thought that not many students would succeed on the first attempt anyway.

'Thoughtlessly offering a carrot is no good, but thoughtlessly wielding a stick is the same.'

The way for a mage to persuade a spirit when there was no contract binding them. The core of that was understanding in the end.

How much do I understand the spirit?

Mages who had somehow formed a contract with a spirit but thoughtlessly issued commands without any special interaction were exposed at times like this.

Not knowing what habits this spirit had or what personality it had, they also didn't know how to approach it. Whether it was a carrot or a stick, understanding the other party came first.

The students who failed on the first attempt now would naturally come to have interest in their summons as they kept repeating.

"...Don't attack me. Got it? Really don't attack me. I treated you really well. Listen to me just once. Okay? If you have complaints, I'll listen next time..."

The water spirit Nillia summoned was a spirit Yi-Han was also familiar with. Wasn't it that spirit that had avoided Yi-Han and contracted with Nillia on the island last time?

Although he had said 'hmph, I don't really like spirits either' in front of Nillia, he couldn't help feeling upset.

"Isn't that method too clingy?"

Gainando, who had been watching from the side, was puzzled. No matter what, that seemed too unsightly...

"!!!"

"It, it worked!"

The students let out exclamations. Even without a contract, the water spirit didn't refuse Nillia's words and diligently followed her instructions.

'They're certainly close.'

Unlike the other students, Yi-Han could somewhat sense the emotions in the mana emanating from Nillia's spirit. With his innate ability to respond to mana, and having trained in illusion magic to perceive emotions, it would have been stranger if he hadn't sensed it.

The water spirit Nillia summoned treated Nillia much more intimately compared to the other spirits.

"Indeed. I see."

"What?"

"Nillia probably summoned the water spirit to chat whenever she was bored, so they couldn't help but be closer."

"...Why, why would she do such a lonely thing?"

Although Gainando reacted as if he couldn't believe it, Yi-Han had actually hit the nail on the head. Professor Millei highly evaluated Nillia's method.

'She has built intimacy over time.'

Although her attitude lacked some confidence, a spirit that had become that close wouldn't refuse commands. It was an excellent method.

"O great spirit! I... Kek!"

"Please help me just once... Kuk!"

There was a surge of students who hadn't noticed the intimacy Nillia had built with the spirit, thinking that they just needed to politely prostrate themselves, only to be chased away.

Professor Millei shook her head as if it was unfortunate.

'Oh dear...'

"Yi-Han. It's your turn."

"Ah. Okay."

Yi-Han began casting various enhancement magic and floating water orbs in the air. At the sight of him calmly working, the other spirits that had been summoned earlier trembled and hid behind their masters.

Professor Millei felt a different kind of frustration from earlier. Of course, that was also one method, but this exam wasn't looking for that!