Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 253

“I don’t think you’ve had a chance to talk with the Phoenix Tower students yet…”

“I’ll get to it later. So, what area of healing magic interests you?”

Two older students crowded around Lee Han. Questions flew at him, one after another, so fast he felt like he couldn’t even take a breath. They were like excited puppies, jumping and wagging their tails.

“Oops!” one of them said with a friendly smile. “Maybe you haven’t found what you like yet?”

“But that’s okay!” the other student chimed in. “We’re here to help! Tell us, what other classes are you taking? We can help you figure out what you’re really interested in!” He leaned closer, his eyes bright with enthusiasm.

“Alchemy. Are you taking Alchemy?”

Lee Han, who had been listening to the upperclassmen’s excited chatter, nodded.

“Indeed! Since you’re taking Alchemy, there’s a field in healing magic closely related to it. Analyzing diseases and creating potions to cure them. That might be a far greater deed than a wizard healing individually.”

“What about Enchantment magic? Enchantment magic?”

One of the upperclassmen teased the other as if he was talking nonsense.

“He said he’s taking Alchemy.”

“Oops… but he could be taking two.”

“Surely not?”

“Didn’t the professor say he’s very studious and takes other lectures too?”

The two upperclassmen, who had been whispering, looked at Lee Han. Lee Han nodded and replied.

“I’m also taking Enchantment magic.”

“Indeed…!”

“Perhaps you’re taking Transformation magic too?”

“Why not say he’s taking Summoning magic as well?”

“I’m taking both?”

“……”

“……”

The upperclassmen thought it was a joke. They were about to laugh. But then they saw Lee Han’s face. He was not smiling. They stopped laughing.

…Was it not a joke?

“All… er? Really?”

“Is something wrong?”

Lee Han’s voice became slightly rough.

Being human, Lee Han couldn’t help but feel a slight surge of annoyance when looking at his timetable, no matter how much he tried to control his emotions.

“It’s not that something’s wrong…”

“So that’s why you mentioned Professor Garcia…”

When Professor Alcacis said ‘he takes all the other lectures,’ they thought he might be taking one or two more in his major at most, never imagining it would be to this extent.

The upperclassmen’s faces turned pale. They looked at Lee Han as if he had just told them he could fly without a broom.

“Are there perhaps any more lectures left?”

“Yes. Well, a few.”

Each time another lecture came out of the junior’s mouth, the upperclassmen’s expressions changed from paleness to horror.

This is…

This is truly…

‘…Even if there’s a shortage of people, is it alright to let even this kind of guy take healing magic? Isn’t that too much??’

The two upperclassmen began to feel a genuine pang of conscience.

Phil and Chill. Those were the nicknames of the two upperclassmen who were taking over the healing magic lecture.

“Are those nicknames?”

“Yes.”

“Why nicknames?”

“You’ll find out later, but healing mages shouldn’t go around announcing their family or name outside.”

It wasn’t good for a healing mage’s identity to be specifically known.

If they were good at healing, requests for help would come flying in whenever something happened, and if they weren’t good, they’d receive calls holding them accountable.

To avoid being dragged out even on their days off, it was best to use a common and hard-to-remember nickname.

“……”

“……”

The Phoenix Tower students did not like the upperclassmen’s important advice.

They stared at the upperclassmen as if they were dumbfounded.

“Trying to avoid those who request help as a disciple is a bit…”

“Quiet! You’re from Phoenix Tower, aren’t you? I have a friend in Phoenix Tower, and he acted just like you in his first year. But this is reality!”

If Professor Alcacis had seen this, he would have said, ‘You crazy bastards, I told you to entice the students, not chase them away,’ but unfortunately, Professor Alcacis wasn’t there.

The two upperclassmen, perhaps triggered by the Phoenix Tower student’s words, explosively vented their pent-up frustrations.

“You can’t use magic properly if you don’t rest! If you’re dragged out to help even on your days off, is that magic?!”

“Who said we don’t dedicate ourselves and serve the Empire?! We just want time to sleep! When I was a first-year like you guys…”

The upperclassmen, who had been exploding and ranting, suddenly came to their senses and paused.

“…I got a bit carried away, didn’t I? Of course, there are some minor drawbacks like this. But healing magic has more advantages.”

“Saving people and receiving heartfelt gratitude.”

“You’re respected anywhere in the Empire.”

“Moreover, you rarely go to the punishment room.”

Lee Han thought to himself.

‘That’s not an advantage…’

The other students might be fooled, but Lee Han wasn’t.

What was the reason the Skull Headmaster didn’t send them to the punishment room often?

It was clear that they were that short-handed.

“…Like this. You understand how good healing magic is, right?”

The upperclassmen, having squeezed out as many advantages as possible, sent pleading looks to the juniors.

Please don’t run away!

Our school will collapse without you!

Fortunately, the freshmen were either kind or naive. They didn’t run away even after hearing such worrying talk.

“Yes!”

“We’ll work hard.”

“…Thank you. Everyone!”

“Working hard isn’t everything, but…!”

After the talk with Phil and Chill, the students moved to another room for their first practical lesson.

‘We’re using dolls?’ Lee Han wondered.

The students were each given a stuffed doll and were fiddling with it. Of course, it wasn’t given to them to play with.

“Heal.”

Lower-level Laceration Healing.

It was a healing magic that healed wounds from stabs or cuts.

Healing magic that dealt with internal organs or bones required a perfect understanding of their complex structure, but wounds on the outside of the skin and muscles were relatively easy to access.

That didn’t mean the difficulty itself was easy.

Just as enchantment magic that directly targeted people was classified separately as enhancement magic, and illusion magic that directly targeted people was classified separately as mental magic, casting on a living person itself was very difficult.

Just like how first-year students were trained with specially made strings when they first learned, the stuffed dolls were also items made in that way.

“The difficulty has certainly increased,” Priest Tizling said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. His body was slightly tired due to the consumption of magical power.

Reattaching a string and sewing up a wound on a stuffed doll might seem similar at first glance, but they were on different levels.

The former was a simple string, while the latter was a doll made to imitate a person.

“It’s definitely become more difficult.”

Lee Han nodded and put down the stuffed doll. He had healed not only the lacerations but also the fractures where the doll’s arms were broken, without breaking a sweat.

“……”

Priest Tizling stared intently at Lee Han.

“I’m someone who believes in Lee Han’s good intentions… but I wonder if others would get angry if you said that?”

“No. Why?”

Of course, those fractures were also included in today’s goals.

However, none of the upperclassmen who presented the goals expected him to heal fractures as well.

It would have been good enough to heal just the lacerations.

But Lee Han, using his strong magic, control honed from other magic, and understanding of bones learned from black magic, had progressed to fractures while the upperclassmen weren’t watching.

“That’s… nothing.”

” ? ”

Priest Tizling changed the subject.

“Come to think of it, there will be an event at the Order during the vacation. Are you perhaps interested?”

“Of course.”

Lee Han was very interested in making a good impression on the priests of the Order. How interested was he that he didn’t stop at one Order and believed in several?

“…Wait. But can I ask what kind of event it is?”

Come to think of it, the Priesinga Order was an Order specializing in curses.

To be more specific, it was an Order interested in wearing cursed artifacts.

He was willing to wear any curse related to magical power, but other curses were a bit…

“It’s a normal event. We invite believers, serve meals, and offer prayers…”

‘Fortunately, it’s normal.’

“We wear the cursed artifacts that the believers bring, and those that can’t be worn are discarded…”

“……”

Lee Han was dumbfounded, then paused.

‘Wait. If they’re discarding them, can I take them?’

Of course, curse removal wouldn’t be easy, but if he could remove them, it might be better than he thought.

“Is it okay to take the artifacts that are being discarded?”

“It’s fine, but… are you thinking of wearing more?”

Priest Tizling looked at him with a gaze that said, ‘Even if your faith is deep, there’s no point in wearing too many.’

Of course, Lee Han had no intention of doing that, but…

“I’ve been found out. My faith.”

“You two over there. Stop talking and focus on the magic.”

The upperclassmen, who had been helping other students, advised Lee Han and Tizling.

Lee Han nodded.

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to be sorry at all. I’m not making you feel bad with my advice, am I? If you do feel bad, I’ll apologize. Just don’t take it badly.”

“…Ah. Yes.”

Overwhelmed by the desperate upperclassman’s force, Lee Han nodded. Of course, he didn’t feel bad.

“Whew. He seems alright, right?”

“Yeah. He still seems interested in healing magic.”

The two upperclassmen walked away, relieved and talking among themselves.

Because of that, they didn’t notice. That Lee Han had healed all the lacerations and fractures on the stuffed doll once each while they weren’t watching!

Lee Han yawned as he walked towards the tower. He had been listening to lectures non-stop, and the sky was already darkening.

‘I need to use up the remaining eggs I brought from the cabin last time. Should I make an omelet or scrambled eggs… How many pieces of bread are left? Should I cut them up and fry them in butter today? I should also continue studying summoning magic in the evening.’

“Block!”

“Push!”

“…Aren’t you guys doing your homework?”

Lee Han was speechless at the sight of the White Tiger Tower students bumping into each other while playing polo.

Originally, it was a game where you rode a horse and hit a ball with a long stick, but if there were no horses, people could hold sticks and run while hitting the ball.

What the White Tiger Tower students were doing now was the latter.

“Why… why are you saying such harsh things? What did we do wrong to you?”

“…I asked if you weren’t doing your homework, right? Didn’t say anything else?”

Lee Han wondered if he had insulted the White Tiger Tower students’ family or something.

“We need to move our bodies to think better!” one of the White Tiger students said.

“Hey… but Wodanaz is in first place.”

A White Tiger Tower student, realizing the flaw in his friend’s logic, nudged him in the side.

“…Do you want to play a round?”

“I’m good.”

Lee Han refused.

There was no need to test the limits of his body with polo.

Lee Han was already testing the limits of his body on his own.

Thwack!

“Ack!”

As soon as he finished speaking, one of the White Tiger Tower students was sent flying. Lee Han clicked his tongue and approached.

“Do you guys get itchy if you don’t cause accidents?”

“My… my ankle…”

“Stay still.”

Lee Han checked the ankle of the fallen student. It didn’t look good at all.

‘I should give him first aid and take him to the healing room.’

“Stick.”

“Call Professor Garcia! Professor Garcia!”

“…Oh.”

Lee Han paused.

Perhaps this happened often, as the White Tiger Tower students were immediately trying to call Professor Garcia.

…Did I cast magic for nothing?

‘If I knew they were going to call the professor, I wouldn’t have bothered with first aid.’

The student with the broken ankle also groaned, then looked at Lee Han with an embarrassed expression, realizing he had been healed.

-You should stop him, shouldn’t you?

That was exactly the expression he had.

Lee Han ignored him, pretending not to see.

You stop him, since they’re your friends!