Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 169

Salco opened his mouth slowly, his face shadowed, his eyes looking almost black. “The magic… the magic I was going to teach you is the Tutanta family’s Rock Disintegration.”

“Really? If there was magic like that, you should have told me sooner!”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

Lee Han thought Salco was grinding his teeth.

The Rock Disintegration magic of the Tutanta family is famous because it works very well and is very strong for breaking rocks.

Even if two spells do the same thing, they can be very different. Like tools, some spells are better than others depending on how they are made, how you use them, and the words you say to cast them. So, choosing the right spell is important.

-In this situation, you have to use the Wodanaaz family’s Water Hydra Summoning!

-You imbecile! Your magical skills bring tears to my eyes! There’s no need to use such expensive magic! A simple Giant Water Snake Summoning will suffice!

-Magic of that level can never resolve this burning lava situation!

“I see. I’ve heard of the Tutanta family’s reputation. To think you’d teach me magic from your own family. Are you sure about that?”

“Yes,” Salco answered after a long pause. He felt a pang of regret. Teaching this secret magic felt wrong, even to Wodanaaz.

Lee Han nodded as if he understood Salco. Of course, it wasn’t conveyed to Salco at all.

“Alright then. What’s the incantation?”

Salco told him the incantation, movements, necessary materials (a handful of fragments from the rock to be destroyed), and detailed process of the Tutanta family’s Rock Disintegration.

The Tutanta family’s elf had memorized it far more meticulously and thoroughly than any ordinary magic tome. Thanks to that, Lee Han could easily understand what kind of magic it was.

Of course, that didn’t mean learning the magic was easy at all.

Lee Han felt a throbbing headache.

Apart from magical power, it was closer to a headache caused by the consumption of concentration when using complex magic multiple times.

The difficulty of this Tutanta family’s Rock Disintegration magic was that high.

He tried several more times, but it was hard to endure the headache. Lee Han paused for a moment.

“Tutanta. How long did it take you to learn this magic?”

“I haven’t learned this magic yet.”

Lee Han was confused for a moment. ‘Wait,’ he thought, ‘is Salco serious?’

“I see. Still, this magic isn’t that difficult, is it? What circle is it?”

Lee Han expected around the 2nd circle, or even generously, the 3rd circle.

However, Salco hesitated upon receiving Lee Han’s question.

Then he answered.

“It’s… a 4th circle, but.”

Lee Han stared at Salco with a serious expression.

Is Salco trying to assassinate me in another way since he can’t beat me head-on?

Salco wasn’t really trying to assassinate Lee Han.

He had led the Black Turtle Tower students through the maze, so doing such a thing would be inhuman.

It was just that…

‘Why did I do that?’

Salco simply hadn’t considered that teaching a 4th circle magic to Wodanaaz might be dangerous.

Salco himself couldn’t understand it.

Why on earth?

Before worrying about whether to teach family magic or not, he should have been concerned about teaching such magic to a first-year student…

“Alright, Salco.”

As the atmosphere became awkward, Lee Han spoke to smooth things over.

“Perhaps this Tutanta family’s Rock Disintegration magic is among the easier ones in the 4th circle? That’s why you’re teaching it to me.”

Not all magic of the same circle had the same difficulty.

If this magic was exceptionally easy among 4th circle magic, then it was understandable why he tried to teach it.

“No, Wodanaaz. The Tutanta family’s Rock Disintegration is one of the most difficult magics in the 4th circle. Among the things I’ve heard, some say it’s even harder than 5th circle magic…”

“Um, Tutanta. Maybe we shouldn’t tell Wodanaaz it’s harder than 5th circle magic… it might scare him!” Nilia cautiously advised. Tutanta belatedly realized and shut his mouth.

Of course, the atmosphere had already become even more awkward.

As Lee Han and Tutanta fell into silent contemplation, Nilia, stuck between them, felt like she was dying.

“…The stairs to the 4th floor! Look there!”

“The 4th-floor stairs, indeed.”

“It’s the 4th-floor stairs.”

“Speaking of the 4th-floor stairs, it reminds me of 4th circle magic… Oops. Never mind.”

“…I’m sorry, Wodanaaz.”

Salco apologized.

He never imagined that he would have to apologize for teaching Tutanta family magic.

“No. Tutanta. It can happen.”

Nilia felt that the distance between Lee Han and Tutanta had slightly widened.

They reached the 4th-floor corridor. It was quiet, but an odd feeling hung in the air. Suddenly, a ghostly cry echoed down the hall, and a monster rushed towards them!

“Go down…”

Suddenly, a blinding white light shot from somewhere ahead. It hit the ghostly monster with a flash, and the creature vanished as if it had never been there.

Lee Han could hear faint shouts echoing from further down the corridor, growing louder quickly.

-Get out of the way, quick! Freshmen are in danger!

-That ghost got loose again! Why are there first-years up here?!

-It’s exam week, of all times!

‘I think they need to hide a bit better.’

The upperclassmen of the magic school had come up to the 4th floor to catch the escaped ghostly monster.

It happened so quickly that the other students didn’t seem to notice.

“D… Disappeared?”

“Are we… alright?”

The 4th-floor corridor, where the ghost had vanished, was quiet and peaceful.

In fact, this was the normal state of the school’s corridors.

‘It was the beetle classroom, they said.’

Lee Han walked slowly down the hallway, looking at each classroom door. His legs still ached from the long climb up the winding staircase to the fourth floor. Dust danced in the light from the high windows.

He read the names on the classroom doors: ‘Gryffin Classroom,’ its wooden door polished; ‘Meikin Family Classroom’ (he guessed a rich family had paid for that one), the name in fancy gold letters; ‘Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans Classroom,’ a playful sign with colorful drawings; ‘The Blazing Red Banner Quidditch Team Classroom,’ a banner hanging crookedly… and finally, at the end, ‘The Beetle Classroom.’ A shiver went down his spine.

The students’ eyes widened.

They had struggled to climb to the fourth floor, but they didn’t expect to find the classroom so easily.

“So… it’s starting already?”

“I know, after all that climbing, I thought we’d get a break!”

The students cautiously opened the classroom door.

Inside, a strange figure waited. It looked like a person who was not alive, but moving and speaking. Its skin was pale, and its eyes seemed to glow faintly.

“Welcome!” it said, its voice echoing strangely in the room. “Please, take your seats.”

“…Who are you?”

“I am a summon serving the Headmaster. Please, take your seats.”

Lee Han and his friends hesitated before finding seats. Paper and quills appeared before each of them.

“Now, solve the problems. You may submit your answers and leave when you are finished.”

‘This is so normal, it’s actually weird,’ Lee Han thought.

After all the strange things they had seen, a normal exam felt very strange.

Lee Han grabbed the exam paper.

He had been focused on reaching the fourth floor, but now he knew the real challenge was the exam questions.

First question: Write the Headmaster’s full name correctly.

Second question: In what year did the Headmaster develop the spell >Glory of the Dead Sun