Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 358

“Magestones are just a substitute. To make magic as pure as a wizard can with a magestone…”

“Is that important right now?”

Lee Han pointed at the penguin beastman wizard lying on the ground and spoke to Yumidihus.

He wasn’t really interested in how hard it was to put strong, clean magic into a magestone.

What mattered more was whether the crazy wizard would pass his research project to him.

“Mr. Pengaerin, get yourself together! Even if it’s hard to do with magestones, we can use other ways. What’s really important? It’s the wizard who made the experiment and created the magic.”

Lee Han saw Alsicl flinch.

Hoping he could change Alsicl’s mind, Lee Han grabbed Alsicl’s back and started shaking him.

“Mr. Pengaerin! If you give up now, what about all the frost elemental wizards who started because of you! Will you let them all down!”

“Ow, ow! It hurts!”

Normally, this might have been a nice moment, but Alsicl was screaming.

Lee Han was just too strong.

“Ah. Sorry. Anyway, letting those wizards down…”

“Al, I understand. Calm down. Calm down, I’ll think about it again,” Alsicl said quickly, afraid Lee Han would grab his back again.

Yumidihus thought to himself, ‘I probably could have just attacked him.’

In the end, Alsicl calmed down and got himself under control.

What Lee Han said was true.

When a magic experiment worked, the credit went to the wizard who designed it, not the helpers.

Alsicl, who had made such extreme cold, was clearly a great wizard.

The problem was that the experiments had failed before, but suddenly worked because of Lee Han’s magic.

Alsicl wasn’t dumb, so he figured out why.

Why did a quick fix using the horn of a frost deer, cryogenic jade, Binghan stone, perennial frost, Snow Hwangdan, and other rare ingredients work when they had all failed before?

“The answer was the magic’s quality. No matter how much you try to keep the magic going with ingredients and magic circles, it’s not as pure and good as when a wizard puts their magic in directly.”

“That’s true…” Lee Han said, listening to Alsicl. Then he asked, confused, “But why are you telling me this?”

He didn’t get why he, a first-year student, had to hear this when Yumidihus or Voladi could have.

“Where did the magic that just worked come from?”

“It came from me.”

“Then how do you think you can get that magic?”

“Should I go to frost elemental wizard meetings and put up a sign?”

“…No. It won’t work just because you do that.”

If all wizards’ magic was as pure and good as Lee Han’s, Alsicl wouldn’t have had so much trouble.

“It’s hard to find magic like that.”

“Oh dear. That’s too bad…”

“Help me!”

Lee Han moved back as Alsicl tried to grab his hand.

He had dealt with professors a lot, so he was careful when Alsicl spoke.

“I’m sorry. I can’t.”

“Why!”

“I have a life too. Working here all day and night during vacation is a bit…”

“…I didn’t think about that?!”

Alsicl was shocked by Lee Han’s scary idea.

Even a great wizard would get tired quickly if they had to put in magic and work too much.

Plus, Lee Han was a first-year student.

“I don’t do that many experiments anyway. It’ll probably be two or three times a year.”

“Ah. Is that all?”

“…Is that not enough?”

If it was only that much, he could help, since he owed Alsicl.

Alsicl’s face lit up when he heard this. Alsicl shook his head and said, “Thank you! I’ll give you my secret frost elemental magic in return. Enough so you can take over my research project someday!”

‘I’m not really happy about that,’ Lee Han thought, annoyed that Alsicl kept trying to give him his research, even though he was already struggling.

He seemed like an evil wizard.

“Yes, well… thank you.”

“Good. Let’s start now.”

“Hurry up and teach him since we don’t have much time. I was going to go back to the city this weekend,” Alsicl grumbled at Voladi Begreck and Yumidihus’s urging.

“My secret magic can’t be learned quickly like basic magic…” Alsicl said, then looked at Lee Han and changed his words. “…Well, maybe you can, Wodanaz.”

“No way,” Lee Han said firmly, but the three wizards didn’t even pretend to listen.

Pengaerin’s Frost Elemental Clone was a powerful magic, called a 4th circle magic.

Unlike other clone magics, it looked so much like the caster that you couldn’t tell them apart. It shared the clone’s vision and could even fight using frost elements if needed.

Considering how good the magic was, it was strange that it was in the 4th circle.

Of course, the frost elemental clone magic was one of the hardest in the 4th circle magics.

Lee Han had done 4th circle magics a few times, so his idea of what was hard was now different. But it was definitely too hard for a first-year student to try.

“You know the lower circle frost elemental magics well, but I don’t think you’ll learn this magic quickly.”

“That’s a relief,” Lee Han said, happy that Alsicl was calm, unlike before.

“Ah. I’m not saying you’re not skilled! If it’s you, you’ll be able to do the stage before the clone well enough.”

“…? Isn’t that hard enough?”

Lee Han was afraid that even Alsicl was being influenced by Professor Voladi and Yumidihus.

The easiest clone magic was a clone that had a clear shape but couldn’t move.

Lee Han could already do something like that with illusion magic.

If he used Pahite’s Lesser Illusion and Ogonin’s Mist, it would look like there were many Lee Hans from the outside.

To make it better, he had to change the clone’s shape and add movement to make it more real.

Pengaerin’s Frost Elemental Clone magic was the result of doing both of those things well.

In other words, the stage before meant he had done at least one of the shape or movement.

That alone was at least 3rd circle.

“This magic uses many magics from other schools to avoid being called a high circle magic. That’s why it’s harder…”

‘Did you ignore what I just said?’

“…You said you’re learning transformation magic and enchantment magic, right? You’re very lucky.”

“Yes…”

“It’s too bad that black magic helps a lot when practicing this clone magic. Undead summoned creatures don’t complain even if you use frost elemental magic on them, unlike other summoned creatures. So they’re good for practicing.”

One of the best ways to practice moving multiple clones was to practice with undead summoned creatures.

Undead summoned creatures complained less and didn’t resist much even if you gave them weapons with frost elements or wrapped frost elements around them.

Using frost elemental magic on these undead summoned creatures and moving them carefully was good practice.

“I’m learning black magic too, though.”

“What?!” Alsicle looked very surprised.

“I thought I told you I was learning black magic?” Lee Han said, a little confused.

Yumidihus also looked puzzled. “Yes, you did mention black magic before, when we talked about what you were studying.”

“Really? I don’t remember saying that,” Alsicle frowned.

Alsicle paused, then continued, “…So, you’re saying that summoning undead with black magic is really good practice?”

Lee Han felt a little sorry for black mages for a moment, and then quickly changed the subject.

Alsicle nodded.

“The more you cast spells and try to control them directly, the better you become. Can you summon undead?”

“Yes, I can summon a skeleton warrior.”

“Excellent. A skeleton warrior. The more, the better. Could you manage three, perhaps?”

“Yes.”

“Could you do more? How many?”

“I can manage up to fifteen, though I can’t control them yet…”

Alsicle was very surprised, to say the least.

The fact that the summoned creatures couldn’t move was surprising enough, but the idea of summoning fifteen skeleton warriors was astonishing.

For most summoning mages, trying to summon so many would shatter their souls, drain their magic, or damage their minds badly.

“I’m learning a rather old-fashioned form of black magic.”

When Lee Han explained that he was learning an ancient form of black magic from wicked black mages, Alsicle became very intrigued.

“So it’s harder to control…”

“All the better for practice! You’re incredibly lucky!”

Lee Han understood why Alsicle was Yumidihus’s apprentice.

‘I’m an idiot for expecting anything else.’

Incredibly, and to the surprise of Yumidihus, Professor Volardi, and Alsicle, Lee Han failed to master the Peng Erinn’s Frost Spell during the remaining time.

Lee Han, of course, was not surprised.

In fact, only the three mages were astonished.

“Have I been teaching incorrectly…?”

For the first time in his life, Alsicle began to wonder about his own teaching abilities. Yumidihus, witnessing this, was impressed.

‘I didn’t expect it to go this far!’

“I apologize if I taught you incorrectly.”

“It’s alright.”

“Good to know.”

Lee Han glared at Professor Volardi once before speaking again.

“I won’t forget what you’ve taught me. I’ll keep practicing when I return.”

“I hope you master it soon. I’ll have the next spell ready for you. It’ll be a bit harder, but I’m sure you’ll manage.”

“…Yes.”

Lee Han thought about putting the frost elemental magic on hold for a while.

“Oh, by the way, can I call you this autumn?”

“Autumn is during the Einroguard semester, Alsicle.”

“Oh… when does the semester end?”

Alsicle counted on his fingers, calculating based on Yumidihus’s reply.

If he stayed in school until the end of the year…

“I can’t leave at all?!”

“Did you really think a first-year student could just leave school whenever they wanted?”

Lee Han flinched at Yumidihus’s mocking words.

‘How did he know?’

“Could I visit you, perhaps?”

“An outsider would need permission from Gonadaltes. It wouldn’t be easy.”

“Come on… a great mage like Gonadaltes wouldn’t bother with such small matters. He’d be generous enough to grant permission.”

“Well… do your best. Maybe you can get him to agree if you ask nicely.”

“Yes. I’ll be waiting for your visit.”

Alsicle smiled brightly at Lee Han’s words.

“Alright! I’ll visit in the autumn!”

“Yes.”

As the carriage pulled away from the Magic Tower, Lee Han looked back. The sight of Alsicle waving stayed in his mind.

“…I hope he doesn’t get dragged to the punishment room after meeting the headmaster.”

“He’ll probably be fine… probably.”

Dirette and her friends went to the Wodanaz family’s mansion.

“Senior, I heard a strange rumor… that the professors fought in the streets to drag a first-year from the Wodanaz family away during the holidays. Is that true?”

“Does that sound likely to you?”

“Be serious, please.”

Dirette’s friends, who also studied black magic, corrected their friend.

“But why would someone from the Wodanaz family want to learn black magic?”

“Are you ashamed of black magic?”

“A little…?”

“…Actually, me too…”

“Everyone, be quiet.”

Dirette silenced her friends.

Unlike the other schools with many students, the black magic school at Einroguard was so small that the seniors and juniors all knew each other’s faces and names.

That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Being a black mage was hard enough as it was. They would suffer even more if they didn’t stick together.

So, Dirette would gather her friends whenever they had time, introduce them to each other, and give them time to chat.

“I’m worried that the Wodanaz family junior might not take black magic seriously. I heard they’re a genius and learning many other types of magic, so they might just be using black magic as a line on their resume to boost their reputation.”

“I told you he’s not like that.”

The junior who had been grumbling at Dirette’s warning fell silent.

However, the dissatisfaction didn’t disappear.

‘Hmph. How do we know he’s not looking down on black magic…?’

The black mages who arrived at the Wodanaz family’s mansion were shocked.

Skeleton warriors stood in the mansion’s front yard, wielding bone swords that radiated cold air.

“…See? What did I tell you?”

“He’s, he’s really serious about black magic.”

“I’ve never seen anyone summon undead at a mansion like this before.”

“Isn’t he crazy? What about the cleaning…”

The juniors quickly realized that the new student from the Wodanaz family was serious.

However, they couldn’t be sure if the new student was sane.