Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 195

“…I’m sorry,”

Lee Han quickly apologized.

He truly hadn’t expected the White Snow Weasel to simply run away.

‘This monster is a coward,’ he thought.

A monster should ferociously attack, regardless of the opponent’s magical power, but this one was timid.

“Ah.”

“?”

Siana, the priestess beside him, made a sound as if something had belatedly occurred to her.

“It might be a good idea to chase after the White Snow Weasel, Lee Han of the Wodanaz family.”

“Why is that?”

Lee Han was prepared to reject whatever Siana said.

He should be grateful that the monster ran away; there was no reason to try and catch it forcibly.

Lee Han knew some students from Black Tortoise Tower might think he was not strong enough if he just let the monster go. They might think he should chase it to prove himself.

“White Snow Weasels like to collect Frozen Jade Buds.”

“!!”

Frozen Jade Buds.

A material that could only be obtained by braving the snow during a blizzard, breaking the surface of a frozen lake, and diving into the water.

Naturally, it was something he had excluded from the start, thinking, ‘I shouldn’t even attempt to get that’…

“Chase it! Sharkan, track its trail! Nilia, help me!”

At his shout, the Black Tortoise Tower students looked at Lee Han with expressions that said, ‘I knew it.’

Lee Han almost hit his friends one by one, but stopped himself.

If there were students like Lee Han who calmly assessed and gathered the easiest materials first, there were also students who tried to catch Professor Uregeoreum’s eye by gathering the most difficult materials.

The White Tiger Tower students were exactly that.

Surprisingly, they were braving the freezing weather to break the thick ice of the lake and obtain Frozen Jade Buds.

Crack!

“Got it!”

The White Tiger Tower students finally succeeded in breaking the ice on the lake with an axe and bumped fists with each other.

Breaking the ice in such cold weather was no easy task.

If they simply swung the axe carelessly, their clothes could get soaked with sweat and freeze, so they had to swing slowly, little by little.

“Be careful.”

“I know. Here we go!”

One of the students took out a round bead engraved with patterns.

It was a >Fake Eyeball> bought from the Black Tortoise Tower students.

“Show me, eye! What I cannot see!”

It was a one-time use item, but it was considered good for something that wasn’t perfect.

The students carefully put the bead on a stick and then pushed it into the lake.

They were wearing several layers of leather with lower-grade cold resistance magic, but that was meaningless once they fell into the lake.

They moved slowly and carefully, each step measured, because falling into the freezing lake would be very dangerous.

“There it is! The hook!”

The students who found the Frozen Jade Buds inserted a hook and tried to pull them out.

The tightly packed Frozen Jade Buds were slowly being pulled out. The students’ faces brightened.

“Got it out!”

“Keep digging! Let’s take it all!”

-■■■■! ■■■■!

“?!?”

“What!?”

Before the White Snow Weasel appeared.

With a flurry of movement, the White Snow Weasel began to dash across the lake. The White Tiger Tower students, engrossed in their task, were a step too slow to react.

“Th-that…”

“Don’t… Don’t come this way!”

Despite the students’ shouts, the White Snow Weasel ran without regard.

The White Snow Weasel aimed for the hole the students had made. The weakened ice shattered in a chain reaction, and a huge cracking sound erupted.

Splash!

The White Snow Weasel dove straight into the lake.

…And so did the White Tiger Tower students.

Asan was flustered, watching the White Tiger Tower students fall into the lake from afar.

But Lee Han saw something slightly different.

‘They harvested the Frozen Jade Buds?’

The basket remained on the lake shore.

Lee Han’s eyes gleamed as he saw the basket full of Frozen Jade Buds.

‘They actually succeeded in harvesting that.’

“We have to help them!”

Nilia shouted urgently.

Wasn’t this accident caused by chasing the White Snow Weasel?

Lee Han, who had been wondering how to borrow the Frozen Jade Buds, nodded at her words.

“Yes. Let’s help them and borrow the Frozen Jade Buds as compensation.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Move!”

Lee Han didn’t answer and took action.

First, save the ones who fell in!

Lee Han picked up the pole that the White Tiger Tower students had placed and moved. The students floundering on the lake barely managed to grab the pole.

“Get out!”

“W-w-w…”

The White Tiger Tower students couldn’t speak properly due to the cold. They trembled as they grabbed the pole and climbed up.

However, not everyone could do that. Some were staggering, unable to exert strength because their arms were numb.

‘I have to lift them up myself!’

In a brief moment, Lee Han’s mind raced.

What was the best way to get the students in the water to the lake shore?

‘By manipulating the water below…’

Lee Han cast a spell once more.

It was a spell aimed at the feet of the students who had fallen into the lake.

Water elemental magic was the most familiar and comfortable magic for Lee Han.

Now, even in urgent situations, it was cast as naturally as breathing.

‘…Lift them up!’

Splash!

The students’ heads shot upwards. But that was it.

It wasn’t easy to pull someone out of the water with a water net.

‘It’s not working!’

The water’s power wasn’t properly maintained because of the distance and the wide range he was trying to manipulate.

If it was water that Lee Han had summoned, the control would have been much stronger, but the lake water was not easy to handle.

Lee Han clicked his tongue in annoyance.

‘Could I make water magic and push them up?’ But then he realized, ‘No, if I use my water magic in the lake, it will just mix and become weak.’

As Lee Han pondered, a cold, harsh wind brushed past his cheek.

At that moment, a flash of inspiration flowed through Lee Han’s arm.

Even before thinking with his head, Lee Han was instinctively chanting a spell.

It was a wizard’s epiphany.

“Freeze!”

Crack crack crack!

Just as he had realized how to control the water element when his life was threatened by Professor Voladi, Lee Han felt like he knew what the cold element was.

Forgetting the current situation, Lee Han became engrossed in controlling the cold. The realization made him forget even the harsh cold.

‘No way!’

Yoner looked at Lee Han in surprise.

Unlike the other students who thought, ‘Wodanaz is a guy who knows how to use evil secret arts, so what’s so surprising,’ no matter what magic Lee Han used, Yoner knew to some extent which magic Lee Han could use and which he couldn’t.

And ice elemental magic was magic that Lee Han couldn’t use.

If he could use it, he wouldn’t have had such a hard time storing the food ingredients in the first place.

But now Lee Han was using ice elemental magic.

There was only one possible reason.

He had awakened it on his own without learning from a professor!

-Maykin. Good wizards learn quickly, but great wizards awaken on their own.

-Is that possible?

-Of course. As you learn, there will come a time when you awaken on your own. Only then can you truly call yourself a wizard.

Whoosh-

A wide sheet of ice created in the water pushed the fallen students upwards.

The friends hurriedly pulled out the White Tiger Tower students, who looked like drowned rats.

“Start a fire!”

“Th-the flint is wet?”

“Are you even a wizard!?”

“Ah… Oops. Sorry.”

“Bring potions!”

The students hastily started a fire on the lake shore and massaged the hands and feet of their White Tiger Tower friends.

“Yoner, help! We need to make more potions!”

“Huh? Ah, sorry.”

Yoner suddenly remembered what he should be doing and quickly started making potions.

He felt strange.

He had so many friends, but Yoner was the only one who realized how amazing what they had just witnessed was.

Just then, Lee Han walked out. Lee Han was muttering something.

Yoner became curious and listened closely.

What could Lee Han be saying?

‘Perhaps about what he just realized?’

“When I get back to the tower, I need to practice freezing the ingredients that spoil easily.”

“……”

Yoner pretended not to hear and turned his gaze to the cauldron.

The world was often more anticlimactic than expected.

“Wodanaz… thank you. I don’t know why the White Snow Weasel suddenly appeared.”

“Actually, that was us…”

“It’s alright.”

Lee Han cut off Nilia’s words.

“We may be from different towers, but helping a student in crisis is something we should naturally do.”

“…???”

Nilia looked at Lee Han as if she was dumbfounded. But Lee Han’s expression didn’t change.

“Now, about the Frozen Jade Buds…”

“The White Snow Weasel is coming again!”

“!”

Everyone was startled and turned their gaze.

The White Snow Weasel was indeed approaching.

But it was slightly different from before. The White Snow Weasel approached slowly and then dropped something with a thud.

It was a bundle of Frozen Jade Buds.

“…!”

“Th-that’s…”

“Wodanaz, the White Snow Weasel must have been moved by you saving our friends!”

“Such…! It’s a miracle!”

A murmur of amazement rippled through the students. Their eyes were wide, and they whispered to each other in wonder.

That a mere monster would be moved and give such a gift.

It was a miracle that warmed their hearts even in the cold, snowy weather.

Nilia tilted her head.

“Isn’t it just scared? That’s its habit of giving gifts so you don’t chase it…”

“Shhh. Lady Nilia. It would be better to be quiet.”

Ratford covered Nilia’s mouth.

There was no need to break this atmosphere.

Professor Uregeoreum praised the students who had gathered various materials.

He carefully cleaned and cut the plants and crystals, putting them into glass bottles. ‘These will be useful,’ he said, and then added something that made the White Tiger students angry.

Professor Uregeoreum’s eyes widened. ‘Frozen Jade Buds? You actually found Frozen Jade Buds? How in the world did you manage that?’

Thanks to that, the White Tiger Tower students, whose bodies had been frozen, became hot with anger.

Lee Han had a simple lunch and moved to Professor Voladi’s lecture hall.

‘This week… won’t it be focused on cold?’

Lee Han thought as he headed to the lecture hall.

Professor Voladi was the most unpredictable person among the professors, but he could still predict this much.

Since the blizzard outside was a rare opportunity, there was a high possibility that Professor Voladi would use it.

“You’ve come.”

“Yes.”

“Among the elements, cold is one of the trickiest. Even more so in magical combat. But through proper application, its limitations can be overcome.”

Lee Han wasn’t surprised by the vampire professor’s direct approach.

He nodded as if he expected it. Moreover, a faint confidence could be seen in his expression.

He had just awakened his cold magic.

“It’s difficult to maintain and lacks instantaneous destructive power, but cold magic is useful in the following moments…”

Lee Han focused and took notes on Professor Voladi’s explanation.

Then, at some point, Professor Voladi finished his explanation.

“Now, try casting a cold creation spell.”

Lee Han nodded.

“Freeze!”

A blast of icy air erupted from his staff, so cold it made the air shimmer. Frost bloomed on the wooden desks in front of him, like delicate white flowers.

Even though it was amazing that a new student learned ice magic so quickly, Professor Voladi didn’t even blink.

“Well done.”

‘Huh?’

“I thought it would take a day, but we can move the progress forward. The next spell to cast is…”

“……”

Only then did Lee Han come to his senses.

‘What was I doing?’

He was so happy to have awakened the cold element that he had lost his mind.

…I should have acted like it was hard for me! Now Professor Voladi will expect too much!’