Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 349

“…Don’t make me cry,” Chil choked out, his voice thick with emotion.

Tears welled up not just in Chil’s eyes, but in all the senior healing mages around him. They blinked rapidly, fighting to keep their vision clear.

Running away would have been the smarter choice for the junior. Anyone would have understood.

But this junior surprised them all by standing his ground. He wasn’t backing down.

“Did you see that?” one student yelled, his voice cracking with excitement. “Today is the day!”

“He’s facing a junior!” another shouted. “Show him what you can do!”

With a roar, the healing magic students charged forward.

*Is today the day?* one thought, hope flickering in his chest.

*If it isn’t the day, I’ll make it the day!* another resolved, clenching his fists.

That day. Among the healing magic students, it was whispered about in hushed tones – ‘the day’ they would finally defeat Professor Alcasis, escape his relentless training, and get a moment to breathe.

It had never happened, not once. But they still dreamed it would someday.

“If you want to rest.”

Professor Alcasis waved his wand.

The student who was running towards him saw the professor’s intentions and desperately tried to defend himself.

“Harden like steel, my mind!”

Despite the enhancement magic, Professor Alcasis simply seized control of the student’s nervous system.

Losing control of his nerves in a fight like this was dangerous. He fainted instantly.

“Go on, then! Get better at magic!”

At the same time, the swords that the professor wore on his waist floated into the air.

As Professor Alcasis shot forward, the swords, still in their sheaths, were swung around, knocking away the students who were focused on defense.

“Then you can finish early and rest.”

“Seriously? It’s always the same lot getting hurt and coming back for more! Makes no sense!”

At the student’s angry shout, the professor waved his wand again.

The student was terrified and tried to protect his nervous system, but this time it was elsewhere.

The student, who had lost control of the blood flow in his blood vessels, turned blue in the face and collapsed.

‘…Should I have just run away?’

Seeing Professor Alcasis subdue the rushing students with a single wave of his wand, Lee Han suddenly regretted his decision.

It was wrong to think healing mages were weak. Healing magic itself could be used aggressively if one was determined enough.

Professor Alcasis was a master. He could defeat people by precisely controlling parts of their bodies.

Controlling a whole body with magic was hard, even for powerful mages. But controlling just parts was much easier.

Of course, even if other mages were to seize control, it would be difficult to utilize or apply it.

It was a combat method only possible for Professor Alcasis, who had a perfect understanding of the human body.

‘Stop regretting it.’

Lee Han steeled himself and prepared.

Staying to help his seniors wasn’t just kindness; it was also a bit of a plan.

If he abandoned his seniors in this situation, there was a possibility that he would be resented when he met them later.

Right now, they were sending their junior away because of their resentment towards the professor, but later, when they came to their senses and were doing extra labor under the professor, they might resent the junior who wasn’t there.

That was how complex people’s minds were.

Moreover, looking at the seniors who had been suppressed so far, there was a high possibility that the seniors would not be able to buy as much time if Lee Han left.

Because Professor Alcasis knew the seniors much better than the seniors knew Professor Alcasis.

And…

‘…I just couldn’t leave them alone.’

Lee Han was usually the type to look after his own interests, but the seniors majoring in healing magic were just too pitiful.

How could he run away alone, leaving those people behind?

Lee Han had a conscience too.

“Seniors, please support me!”

The seniors were surprised by Lee Han’s shout.

Surprisingly, the junior was running forward with a sword in hand.

‘Close combat?!’

Like the other friends, Chil was shocked.

A mage in close combat.

‘Junior, I understand, but what you’re doing now is…!’

Fighting a mage with overwhelming skill in magic was absolutely disadvantageous.

In that case, it was worth trying to engage in close combat to prevent the opponent from using magic.

But…

‘…We’ve all done that before!’

Of course, the healing magic students had already tried it.

Since they couldn’t win with magic, they each cast transformation magic or enhancement magic and charged at the professor.

Of course, the result was disastrous.

Professor Alcasis carried those swords for a reason. He immediately subdued the students as if he was suppressing a rampaging patient.

“Wasting magic power.”

Professor Alcasis frowned as he saw Lee Han running towards him and was about to wave his wand.

He realised he was about to use the same trick he used on the others.

‘His magic power is really crazy.’

Bang!

Professor Alcasis lightly tapped the wall of the alley next to him.

Then, the stone wall rippled and bulged, like thick mud suddenly animated, rushing towards Lee Han with a low rumble.

“Water!”

As the wall rushed towards him, Lee Han put strength into his legs, infused them with magic power, and accelerated explosively.

Not only that, but he also summoned water from the air.

“Become a foothold!”

Professor Alcasis was surprised by the magic that Lee Han showed.

It wasn’t just the water magic that surprised him.

Of course, it was amazing enough that a first-year student was doing it so skillfully, but what surprised Professor Alcasis was…

‘He could really jump into combat mage right now and it wouldn’t be strange.’

The way he quickly chose and cast magic in this chaotic and frantic situation.

It was a talent born for combat mages.

Moreover, since he was born with such great magic power, he would be a nightmare for other mages.

Clang!

Professor Alcasis, who didn’t want to waste any more magic power, grabbed the hilt of his sword.

He was thinking of running straight in and suppressing him rather than wasting time playing mind games with magic.

It seemed that he was running towards him with enhancement magic cast on himself, but Professor Alcasis was confident that he could suppress him.

‘He’s coming!’

Lee Han tensed his whole body.

He had induced close combat, but his heart was pounding when he actually faced the professor in close combat.

He was several times more nervous than when facing a skilled swordsman.

The swordsman only wielded a sword, but the professor could use both a sword and magic at the same time. If he was unlucky, he could be sent flying without even lasting a few exchanges.

‘…Let it work!’

Clang!

Professor Alcasis’s swords and Lee Han’s sword collided strongly.

And Professor Alcasis was shocked.

“You!”

Lee Han’s sword, Dawn Star, had absorbed the professor’s magic power in an instant.

They hadn’t noticed because they were covered in scabbards, but Lee Han’s sword was made of black amethyst, a special ore that absorbed magic power.

It was a sword that was so annoying that mages who were very sensitive to magic power management, like Professor Alcasis, would hate it.

‘Given the professor’s personality, it will definitely work.’

Lee Han had no intention of actually beating the professor in the first place.

How could he win when the difference in skill was so great?

What Lee Han was aiming for was a compromise.

To make the professor say, ‘You’re a dirty, despicable bastard, I don’t need a guy like you’.

For Professor Alcasis, who meticulously managed his magic power, Lee Han with Dawn Star was an annoying existence no matter how he dealt with him.

Even if he tried to suppress him with a sword, it would consume a lot of magic power.

Even if he tried to suppress him with magic, it would consume a lot of magic power.

……

“Junior, be careful!”

When Professor Alcasis’s eyes flashed, the other students were terrified and waved their wands.

Then, the tree that had sprung up from the ground withered away. A cold dread snaked down Lee Han’s spine, each vertebra prickling with icy fear.

To attack like this, taking advantage of the short moment when Lee Han had relaxed his guard. If it hadn’t been for the seniors, he might have been hit directly.

In front of the professor, even the slightest carelessness was fatal.

Professor Alcasis clicked his tongue as if he was displeased and said.

“Fine. Go.”

The seniors stared, mouths agape, surprise widening their eyes and stealing their breath.

‘No way!’

‘Is this real? Isn’t this a dream??’

Professor Alcasis said in a rough, hoarse voice, “You’re quite persuasive…”

“Thank you.”

The professor must have been thinking the same thing as Lee Han.

Defeating him here would waste too much magic. It wasn’t worth using so much magic just for one student.

It was a shame, but what could he do?

“But you won’t be able to keep avoiding it.”

“…I’ll work hard next semester.”

At Lee Han’s words, Professor Alcasis nodded slightly as if he understood.

That meant he would compromise with that.

“Go.”

“Professor.”

Lee Han carefully opened his mouth, looking over the professor as if he was looking at a beast with its teeth bared.

He felt like his life was on the line with every word he spoke.

“Please let the seniors rest too.”

……

……

The air turned cold.

The seniors who were watching from the side were so nervous that they couldn’t even breathe.

‘That… that crazy bastard!’

‘You’re going to die!’

Professor Garcia, who was keeping people away from the fight, also swallowed nervously.

“Have you forgotten everything I said? I clearly said in class…”

“I know. But Professor, there must be other ways. Call in wizards from other regions, or ask the headmaster…”

Chil, who was listening from the side, was worried that his junior was really crazy.

The skeletal headmaster wasn’t some kind of summoned beast, so there was no way he could call him in because there was a shortage of healing mages.

“…I think I can buy enough time to at least let the seniors rest.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

Lee Han shook his sword.

Professor Alcasis eventually sighed and replied, meaning that they would all perish together.

“I hope my disciples don’t learn bad habits from you. Fine. …I’ve been overworking you too much. Go and rest. I can somehow buy that much time.”

“Professor…!!!”

“Don’t cry and get out of here quickly. Go and rest.”

The students ran out in a hurry, afraid that the professor would change his mind.

“Are you, are you okay?”

Professor Garcia asked, worried for no reason. Professor Alcasis said bluntly in an annoyed voice.

“Will I be okay? Huh? Do I look okay?”

The appearance of respecting the disciple as a professor in front of the other students earlier was nowhere to be found.

Professor Garcia, who had returned to being a disciple, lowered his head.

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. The disciples need to rest too. They’ve worked too hard…”

“I, I’ll help you too.”

“If you have a conscience, you should.”

“I was wrong.”

“And… I should send a message to the headmaster. He’ll help me out once.”

“That’s a good idea. He’s in Granden City right now.”

“Is he? That’s even better.”

Professor Alcasis’s voice, who was saving all the sick people in the nearby areas in the name of Einroguard, was so loud that even the skeletal headmaster couldn’t easily ignore it.

He could never refuse if he asked for help.

…Of course, it would be absurd from the skeletal headmaster’s point of view.

Professor Alcasis, who never did that, would suddenly send a message saying, ‘Please help the headmaster so that the disciples can rest’.

“Oh, and please don’t tell the headmaster that Lee Han brought it up.”

“I understand.”

“Junior! Aren’t you excited! Aren’t you excited?!”

“Look at this! Look at this!”

The healing magic students were so excited that they stretched out their fingers.

What they were pointing at was the fountain in the middle of the city square.

“…Uh, is there some kind of complex magic hidden in that fountain? I don’t know…”

“There’s nothing like that, it’s just pretty.”

“That’s right. It was my wish to sit still and watch the fountain all day.”

“To sit here and watch peacefully… Wait. Junior. Why are you crying?”

“I’m not crying. There’s dust in my eyes.”