Chapter 11: Lucia, Plans, and Nickel's Swordsmanship

As Lucia arrived at the classroom, she rubbed her sleepy eyes and approached me.

"Senior, why are you bundled up like that? Isn't it hot?"

Lucia's gaze at me seemed as if she were looking at a pervert. Not only her, but all the students in the classroom turned to look at me.

"I'm not feeling well."

"Then why did you come instead of resting?"

"I have to attend the class."

"It's surprising. Senior, you're so diligent with attendance."

Of course, I have to be. There's a scholarship at stake.

Anyway, this is a strange senior.

"Listen, I'm not talking to you."

As if I'm doing this because I enjoy it.

Because of what happened the previous day, I had no choice but to wear a scarf. If I just wore a scarf, it would be suspicious, so I ended up wearing winter clothes and felt like I was freezing to death.

"When will this end?"

The reason for my behavior is none other than the scars on my neck. The clear marks of fangs couldn't be erased as I wished.

But if I were to show this and let Karn see or find out, he would definitely catch me.

"I survived, but I'm playing these cruel pranks."

Sigh. What can I do?

I have to endure it.

The previous day, Angela bit my neck, promising that I would see her again with just one promise. The promise she kept would save my life. The promise she broke involved killing Karn.

Even without the promise, she could have had enough grudge against Karn to just leave. But that's just a question without an answer.

I was simply grateful that I survived.

"Hem, hem."

The professor of herbal medicine entered the lecture hall. As soon as he saw me, he frowned at the noticeable me.

"Hey, student."

"Yes."

"Why are you like that? Are you feeling sick?"

"Yes, I have a bit of a cold."

"If you're sick, just go in. I'll check your attendance."

Oh yeah.

I immediately stood up and bowed, expressing my gratitude.

"Thank you, Professor."

"Sure. What's your name?"

"I'm Adrias Cromwell."

"Adrias?"

The professor suddenly stopped moving and looked at me, taking his gaze off the attendance book.

But his gaze seemed hostile.

"Ah, so you're that student who invented the new potion?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"And you were the one who mentioned the Hoonpishi in the previous class?"

"...Yes."

What's going on? The atmosphere feels strange.

Why is there suddenly tension in the study room?

"Why did you do all that without asking me, the professor of herbal medicine? Were you burdened by me? I could have given you advice."

So that's why.

He was questioning why I didn't share the knowledge in my field. Is that what he meant?

He's such a funny guy.

When I asked him before, he sarcastically dismissed it.

"I clearly remember that I asked for advice back then."

"What?"

"I asked for advice during the previous class. Those were the ingredients I mentioned. It happened to be the ingredients of the potion I recently invented."

"I didn't mean that. I conducted the lecture without causing any disturbance to other students. Of course, at that time, I conducted the lecture in a way that wouldn't disturb other students."

"Are you saying that I should have come to you separately after the lecture?"

"...You're being aggressive in your words."

Ah, I don't know.

Just let it out!

I'm an 8-ton truck with a broken handle!

Jinhwan Kim, who merged with Adrias, has a personality that can't stand it.

"I don't know why I had to come to you separately for advice. Well, is it a way of telling me to socialize? From the beginning, it was bewildering for me to ask a student who asked questions during class and ridiculed him without any hesitation."

I yelled.

I yelled at him straightforwardly.

His face turned red and trembled.

Well, what can he do?

...Could it be that he will deduct my grades? That's a bit of a problem...

"Well...!"

"Professor."

Just as Professor Beoban was about to explode, Lucia intervened at the right moment.

Professor Beoban tried to give her a look of disdain, but he immediately noticed that it was Lucia and suppressed his excitement.

"I'll tell you, may I? I went to see the professor separately because I had doubts about the ingredients mentioned by a classmate in the previous class. Thanks to that, I was able to be named as a co-developer for this potion."

Suddenly, Lucia's quick response made Professor Beoban frown, but he nodded with a restrained expression.

"If you had asked the professor for advice, we could have made it faster. But it's also meaningful to research on your own with questions and doubts without anyone's help. That's what being a magician is all about, right?"

"Y-Yes, of course."

Professor Beoban raised his voice. He didn't even make a snappy remark this time.

There seemed to be something between them.

What was it?

Even thinking about Lucia in the game, I couldn't think of anything specific.

The only thing I could deduce was that it might be related to Lucia's family, Everlast.

Still, the situation seemed to have turned around thanks to Lucia's intervention.

"Then let's consider Adrias as having returned."

"Uh! You... You can leave if you're not feeling well. Make sure to take care of your health and come to the next class."

Although his expression seemed to want to curse at any moment, it was pitiful to see him trying to hold it back while Lucia was smiling beside me.

"Thank you."

I expressed my gratitude with just the shape of my mouth without making any sound, and I left the place. Lucia turned her head towards me and smiled mischievously.

Yeah, thank you. You.

So, without realizing it, I blurted out the words, "Let's do it together," and he eventually agreed.

It was refreshing to see that he didn't hesitate or act differently when facing me, unlike before.

"Why is he acting so nonchalant? Is he just enduring it?"

In truth, she knew that her own personality was peculiar.

4D? Sociopath? Egocentric thinking? Laziness?

All those descriptions seemed to fit. That's about it.

Although there was no need to attach a reason to how things turned out this way, it seemed that the terminal illness had a significant influence.

Externally, she appeared fine, but her body was already on borrowed time, just like a death sentence.

The despair of knowing that no matter what she did, she would inevitably die had shaped her into who she was now.

"Well, then, Jahas should handle it while minimizing damage to the roots..."

Even the professor lecturing in front of her couldn't cure her illness.

Despite receiving a substantial amount of money.

That's why she studied and researched on her own.

Of course, as she delved into her studies and research, despair and frustration only grew.

Due to this environment, she had no friends by her side.

Initially, people tried to get close to her due to her background and appearance, but eventually, they all drifted away.

Perhaps that's why.

Although it had only been a week, Lucia found it fascinating how Adrias accepted all her peculiar behavior.

Lately, he even started exercising, which was unexpected for a magician.

"A magician doing exercise, huh? And it's that gloomy seaweed Adrias."

By now, it seemed like the gloomy aspect could be removed.

"So, is it Seaweed Adrias? Seaweed..."

Pfft.

As a laugh burst out, the students who were listening to the lecture turned to look at her.

However, after seeing the face of the person who laughed, they shrugged it off and moved on.

"Surely, if it were a senior, they would have said something."

Why is that?

Even though they had just parted ways, Lucia already missed Adrias's nagging.

It had been a while since I had free time.

My lecture schedule was unexpectedly packed, leaving me with no days off except for weekends.

"Even on weekends, I was busy with potion research and such."

If it wasn't for the bet with Bahat, I wouldn't have cared much about potion-making.

Even considering the bet, there were still about four months left this year, so the pressure wasn't too great.

Moreover, Bahat gave me a card and told me to conduct my research without worrying about the cost of materials for this year.

"Plus, I've gained talent in potion-making."

Although it was still in the experimental stage, it wasn't helpful at all.

But...

[Adrias Cromwell: Potion Making - Possibility of Evolution in Buff-Type Potions: 41%]

The possibility of evolution had increased by 9% in the meantime.

It was something I had learned in just a few days, and the possibility of evolution seemed to work like proficiency.

The more experience I gained, the higher the possibility would rise.

"I wonder if I can try again if the evolution fails?"

That was still a question, but just in case, I raised the possibility to a safe level and decided to evolve.

On the other hand, there was no indication that other talents could evolve yet.

It seemed that just like with potion-making, I had to accumulate proficiency...

"The problem is that I can't use dark magic freely."

Currently, it was the biggest issue for me.

Unless I had a hidden personal laboratory like Karon, it was impossible to train in dark magic.

"Wait a moment, even just summoning should increase proficiency, right?"

It was a sudden thought, but I wondered if it would be okay to summon Nickel, dress him in clothes, and hide his appearance.

As long as I only summoned him inside the room, there was no reason to be exposed. And even if by some chance, someone witnessed it, I just needed to make sure they didn't recognize him as a skeleton right away.

With that in mind, I immediately summoned Nickel.

[Summoning One Skeleton Soldier]

Nickel appeared instantly from the shimmering dimensional space.

I wonder what's inside there?

"Long time no see, Nickel. First, let's put on some clothes."

I dressed Nickel in the thick winter clothes that I had worn.

Now, at first glance, he looked like an ordinary person.

"Now, let's see if the proficiency increases."

When I raised my character as a summoner, just summoning alone increased proficiency as well as skill level.

I had to check if the same applied to a necromancer.

Black Magic: Basic Command (20/100) 〉〉 Skeleton Summoning LV3

Hmm, I should leave it for now.

Leaving the proficiency window open, I glanced at Nickel. The fellow struck a peculiar pose and swung his arms up and down.

"What are you doing?"

In response to my question, he seemed bothered by the interruption and looked at me, then quickly wrote something in the air.

"Training?"

Wow, this fellow.

Even though he was just a skull, his concept was clear.

He seemed like someone who would swing his sword and die.

...Wait a minute?

A sudden thought struck me.

"Nickel, can you teach me swordsmanship?"