Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 345

The Princess frowned. Puyo’s words had been sharp, and she tugged gently on Lee Han’s sleeve. *Was that wizard being rude?* she wondered.

Lee Han, however, seemed unconcerned. “He could have said much worse,” Lee Han said quietly. “For a Buyeo wizard, calling someone a ‘simpleton’ is almost polite.”

He could have used truly nasty insults, Lee Han thought, but Puyo had held back. In a strange way, it was almost kind. “Don’t you think so, Princess?” Lee Han asked, turning to her.

The Princess blinked, trying to understand his strange logic. She looked at Lee Han, then back at Puyo, then back at Lee Han again. Seeing her quiet, Lee Han nodded. “You understand,” he said, a little too quickly.

“Wait a minute…” the Princess started to say, suddenly realizing something was wrong with his explanation. But the words caught in her throat. She couldn’t quite explain what bothered her.

“Then, let’s begin the work,” Puyo said, brandishing his staff.

Immediately, the shelves, storage boxes, and drawers seemed to come alive. They rattled and groaned, ejecting the items they held.

Rumble!

The Princess’s eyes widened. Mountains of scrolls, potions in bubbling glass bottles, and strange tools spilled out. *This is impossible,* she thought, her heart sinking.

Aden Artt was one of the best students at Einroguard, known for studying a lot. But the amount of materials Puyo showed them was beyond anything she had imagined.

Surely, they didn’t have to handle all of this themselves?

The Princess looked at Lee Han, her eyes questioning.

Lee Han seemed to understand her worry. He whispered, “If you start stealing materials now, even Puyo might get angry. Let’s just focus on the work for now.”

“…What on earth are you talking about!” Aden Artt blurted out.

Aden Artt, who was always praised for acting like a proper royal, couldn’t help but cry out.

Some people think that wizards will do anything for magic.

Of course, that’s not true for everyone.

Most of the wizards Lee Han knew were like that, but not all of them.

But sadly, Puyo was one of those wizards.

As they started working, Puyo gave them a huge amount to do. It showed why he was known as the best artifact maker in Granden City.

He didn’t care that they were just first-year students.

“Finish refining these staffs,” Puyo ordered.

“Understood,” Lee Han replied.

“When you’re done, cast a make them glow magic on the moonstone orbs in the box.”

“Understood.”

“You’ve finished the work, I see. Good job. Refill these empty scrolls.”

“Underst…” Lee Han started to say, but stopped when he saw the Princess glaring at Puyo.

Her face didn’t show any emotion, but her eyes burned with a cold fire that promised pain.

*This is bad. It’s only been three days,* Lee Han thought.

It was too soon for her to want to kill Puyo.

*If the Princess attacks Puyo and gets kicked out, I’ll have to do all the work myself,* he worried.

Lee Han tried to calm the Princess down. “Princess, please be patient a little longer.”

The Princess, who had become more talkative when she had fewer followers, had gone quiet again as she worked in Puyo’s workshop. Even when Lee Han spoke to her, she didn’t answer, only glaring at Puyo.

“Actually, Buyeo magic is learned harshly like this,” Lee Han said.

“…Is that really true?” the Princess asked after thinking for a long time.

Her voice was icy, but Lee Han didn’t seem to notice. “Yes. Buyeo magic has so many spells to learn and so many materials to handle.”

Really, all magic should be hard if you think about it, but the Princess didn’t doubt Lee Han’s words.

Lee Han had the most experience with harsh training under wizards.

When Lee Han said that, she thought, *Maybe that’s really how it is.*

“I understand,” she said.

The Princess stopped glaring at Puyo and looked down at the materials on the table.

Lee Han sighed in relief and told her to continue with the next task. “I’m glad you understand. Now, please draw magic circles on all these papers. I’ll check them while adding mana.”

The Princess looked at the huge pile of papers, almost as tall as her head. For the first time in her life, she felt hopeless.

“Mana…” she mumbled.

“Mana?” Lee Han asked.

“…You don’t have enough mana…” she said, her eyes showing desperation.

Drawing magic circles took a lot of focus, but adding mana and checking them was also very hard.

It used up a lot of mana.

Aden Artt looked at Lee Han, a hint of despair in her eyes.

“Ah. Are you talking about my mana? I’m fine. Let’s get to work,” Lee Han said.

The Princess laid out the paper and started drawing magic circles with inks made from crushed gemstones and powders that smelled of lightning. She thought about how she had met many people in the Empire, but the boy from the Wodanaz family was the first person she couldn’t understand.

After about three days of working with little sleep, Puyo seemed happy.

“You’ve all worked hard,” Puyo said. “The urgent things are done. Go back and rest. I’ll call you when we have more work.”

Of course, they couldn’t leave right away.

They still had to finish the staff work that Puyo had given them. They tried to ignore their tiredness and yawning.

After working for half a day, they finally finished a good-looking staff.

The Princess carefully gave the staff to Lee Han and waited nervously.

“…This looks good enough. Then, let’s go bac…” Lee Han started to say.

Thud!

Before Lee Han could finish, the chair the Princess was sitting on flew backward because she had stood up too quickly.

The Princess silently picked up the chair and put it back.

“Thank you for your hard work,” she said.

“Ah, Princess, thank you for your hard work too,” Lee Han replied.

The Princess hurried out of the workshop, as if she was afraid someone would stop her.

Seeing that, Lee Han felt worried.

Ethan hoped the Princess would come next time.

If the Princess didn’t come, Ethan would have to do all the work alone. He really didn’t want that.

Ethan thought about visiting her mansion and bringing her back if he had to.

“Are you leaving now?”

Ethan jumped, feeling a chill as Puyo’s voice came from behind.

He hadn’t really expected Puyo to let him go so easily after saying, “You’re done, so go and rest.”

He had heard that Buyeo wizards could be a little unpredictable.

Maybe they changed their minds often.

“I must have given you too much work. I’m sorry,” Puyo said, noticing Ethan’s hesitation with a wry smile.

“I don’t know how to teach gently. I was taught this way too.”

‘This way of teaching isn’t good,’ Ethan thought, feeling sorry for Puyo.

‘If Puyo teaches like this, his students will probably do the same to others.’

“But I can say for sure that these tasks are helpful. What do you think?”

“I’ve definitely learned a lot.”

It wasn’t just lip service; he had indeed learned a lot while working in Puyo’s workshop.

He learned how to prepare an object by aligning it with the flow of magic power before applying Buyeo magic to maximize its effect.

He learned how to engrave various 1st and 2nd circle spells onto scrolls and imbue them into items.

He had to cast each spell himself, which had only been covered in theory at school, so he couldn’t help but gain experience.

Originally, he should have been thrilled and proud of his growth, but he was too tired to feel that way.

“Yes. After all, a Buyeo wizard’s skill increases with experience. No matter how talented you are, it’s hard to shine without training.”

“That’s right. Then I’ll b…”

“I heard you made a wand separately after finishing.”

Ethan regretted sending the Princess ahead.

If he had stopped her, he could have sacrificed the Princess and left first.

“Yes.”

“It’s good to practice, but it’ll be hard to make a decent wand at your current level.”

“Yes, I know.”

There was not a hint of arrogance in Ethan’s attitude.

Puyo was surprised by how humble Ethan was for someone so talented.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up,’ Puyo thought.

“Well, if you know that, there’s no problem with practicing. But… is that wand perhaps a gift from a tree spirit?”

“Ah, yes, it is.”

Ethan nodded.

Magic school students were basically only allowed to use wands provided by the school.

They weren’t even allowed to bring clothes from outside, so wands were no exception.

However, they were allowed if they obtained or made them inside the school. That was why Ethan could use the tree spirit’s wand.

“I received it from an oak tree spirit in the Einrogard mountains.”

“Excellent.”

Puyo gave a friendly smile, a craftsman’s smile rarely seen in the workshop.

As a tree spirit hybrid, Puyo keenly sensed what kind of wand Ethan’s wand was.

The spirit’s unique vitality resonated with the magic power of its owner, amplifying it intensely.

The owner didn’t seem to have noticed yet, but the wand had likely revealed glimpses of its extraordinary vitality several times.

“Have you ever used earth or plant-based elemental magic?”

“I have a few times, but I don’t use it often.”

“I see. And you wouldn’t have learned healing magic yet, being a freshman.”

Puyo was about to ask if he had learned any healing magic that directly utilized life force, but stopped himself.

Come to think of it, a freshman wouldn’t have even learned basic healing magic yet.

“It’s a good wand. I can feel the spirit dwelling in the wand is following its master.”

“Really?”

“…Is that so surprising? Has a wand ever rejected you before?”

“The spirits I’ve met have all avoided me a bit, so…”

“……”

Instead of stirring up Ethan’s wounds with unnecessary explanations, Puyo changed the subject.

“By the way, what kind of gem is embedded in the end of the wand? An ice spirit? No, it’s a bit strange for an ice spirit. What is it?”

Puyo scanned the gemstone carefully, feeling increasingly puzzled.

Since it was a freshman’s wand, he thought it might be a low-level ice spirit, but the energy was rough and overbearing, so it was far from a spirit.

‘Was there a monster among the ice or frost-wielding monsters like this?’

“I don’t know. Can you tell me?”

“Frost Giant…”

“Ah. I didn’t think of that. …Wait, Frost Giants wouldn’t give marks like this, would they?”

“…It’s a stone I received from the king… of Frost Giants.”

“……”

Because of the Frost Giant King, Ethan had to explain for another hour instead of returning to the mansion, even though he was tired.

After hearing the amazing and mysterious story that happened inside Einrogard, Puyo asked the first question that came to his mind.

“Why did a freshman like you have to face the Frost Giant King?”

“…There’s an untold story there.”

Ethan changed the subject.

Seeing Ethan’s bitter expression, Puyo didn’t ask any further.

“This stone is exuding cold air. It might have been a bit dangerous if it weren’t for the wand’s own life force…”

Ethan flinched at Puyo’s words.

He had just embedded something so dangerous?

‘No. If the professors saw it, they should have warned me, why…?’

He was dumbfounded that they just glossed over it because the balance was good now.

Especially Professor Voladi, who would have seen it up close!

“Is it very dangerous?”

“It’s okay now. But there might be something that could happen, so it would be good to add other gems around it to create a safety device. If you’re okay with it, I’ll do it for you. It’s also a connection that we’re working together like this.”

“!”

Ethan was touched by the Buyeo wizard’s kindness.

‘As expected, Buyeo wizards are people of loyalty!’

“The best way is to amplify the fire energy to suppress it…”

“Wait, please wait a moment.”

Ethan said quickly.

He couldn’t just stand by and watch fire energy being added to his wand.