Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 395

Angalo and the White Tiger Tower students looked down at their feet, too ashamed to speak right away. They shuffled their boots in the dirt.

Ian was quick-thinking. He looked at their embarrassed faces and the broken wooden dolls scattered on the ground and understood what happened. He raised an eyebrow. “You dimwits skipped class and got caught by a monster?!”

“Class…” one of the students mumbled, “it’s not really important right now, is it?” He tried to make it sound like a question, but it was a weak excuse.

The White Tiger Tower students felt even more embarrassed because Wodanaz seemed angrier about them skipping class than about the monster. Professor Ingardel would be furious if he found out.

*CRASH!*

The sound of trees smashing together came from behind them, making everyone jump.

Ian clicked his tongue.

The broken wooden dolls split apart, and new wooden dolls appeared.

‘Which professor made these?!’

The dolls could even make more of themselves when they were broken!

As a fellow magician, he couldn’t help but admire the skill, but as a student attending the lecture, he was disgusted by their tenacity.

Ian took a deep breath.

With the ghost tree behind him, there weren’t many options.

‘Finish this as quickly as possible and deal with the ghost tree!’

Thwack!

‘Amazing!’

Angalo admired while hanging upside down.

There were many problems with his personality, but Wodanaz’s swordsmanship was undeniable.

A solid swordsmanship reminiscent of a walking fortress!

The Rock Armor Sword that Wodanaz had mastered didn’t have many forms, and its changes weren’t complex or bizarre.

Compared to all sorts of complex and difficult high-level swordsmanship, the Rock Armor Sword seemed like a low-level swordsmanship at first glance.

But there was a reason why the Rock Armor Sword was famous, even though it looked simple. It didn’t have many moves or fancy changes.

It was a simple swing, but if you couldn’t avoid it once it was unleashed, there was no attack as powerful as that.

The simplest attack is the most powerful.

To truly master the Rock Armor Sword, you needed patience and hard work to perfect this simple but powerful style.

“What are you doing?!”

Angalo forgot he was hanging and shouted.

While he was admiring, Ian was using some strange tricks.

Suddenly, the length of the wooden sword increased, and the wooden doll flinched and stepped back. That was fine, but seeing that it didn’t do any damage even when it touched…

It wasn’t a real sword attack, just a trick to fool the wooden doll.

“Don’t talk to me. You’re breaking my concentration.”

“N-no… why are you using such techniques…”

He was admiring pure swordsmanship, but it was a bit of a letdown to see strange tricks being used together.

He wanted to see the beautiful Rock Armor Sword, completed without a single gap…

Of course, Angalo’s expectations meant nothing to Ian. Ian poured out all the tricks he had recently learned to defeat the wooden dolls.

The wooden dolls couldn’t react to the sudden, unexpected tricks and crumbled.

‘As expected, tricks are the best.’

Of course, using these unexpected tricks against a truly skilled swordsman was suicidal and wouldn’t work…

Ian never planned to fight someone who was really good at swordsmanship anyway.

If they were really skilled, he should avoid them!

“Wodanaz! Be careful!”

Before Angalo’s shout could finish, Ian had already kicked off from his spot.

A branch shot up from under the spot where Ian had been standing. It was the ghost tree’s attack.

“H-how?!”

“Of course, I was being cautious.”

Ian dusted himself off and said.

Fortunately, he finished off the wooden dolls quickly, so he didn’t end up in the worst-case scenario of being attacked from both sides.

“You used the >Spatial Awareness< spell… wait. Didn't you guys use the >Spatial Awareness< spell?" "......" "......" The Spatial Awareness spell was very hard, even harder than circle magic. It wasn't something you could just use easily like Ian did. Even if the White Tiger Tower students succeeded, it wouldn't be easy to maintain the duration for more than 10 seconds. 'I almost ended up cheering for the ghost tree.' Whoosh! An attack flying from behind. Ian dodged it by stepping to the side, as if he had already anticipated it. The ghost tree made a frustrated cry. It had realized that a surprise attack wouldn't work on him. Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack! The branches were swung like whips, and the attacks burst out again. Ian dodged while keeping his distance. He skillfully threw himself and rolled, and the ghost tree made a mocking sound. -■■■■… It sounded like the ghost tree was making fun of Ian for not attacking directly and just staying away. Ian was slightly taken aback by the mockery. 'Isn't that thing misunderstanding something?' Now wasn't the time for the ghost tree to be acting leisurely. Because… "Burn." A dozen or so flames bloomed in the air. They were small but vicious flames, imbued with powerful magic. He didn't use ranged magic when fighting the wooden dolls or in Professor Ingardel's lecture, but the ghost tree didn't fall into that category. He was planning to cast a spell as soon as he created distance, but it was acting leisurely. The ghost tree should have tried to get closer to Ian to stop him from making space to cast spells. -■■■■! Perhaps realizing this belatedly, the monster began to rush in a fluster. However, it was already too late. The flames that Ian had created streaked a brutal trajectory towards the ghost tree's exposed trunk and exploded. Splash! Ian splashed a lump of water on the White Tiger Tower students. He was worried that the fire that had spread to the ghost tree might splash onto the students. "Are you alright?" "...You didn't really need to splash water on us." The students were soaked and looked like wet animals. They groaned as they stood up. They had been swinging back and forth like a pendulum while hanging upside down, so they were more than a little dizzy. "Is everyone alright?" "!!!" The students were startled when they heard Professor Ingardel's voice from above. "Why is the professor here?!" "Wo-Wodanaz. You didn't… sell us out…?!" "...You crazy bastards. You were messing around instead of being in the lecture hall." Ian was dumbfounded. He had gone out of his way to save them… "We-we have to run away!" 'They're not completely clueless.' Even if Angalo and his friends were clueless, they knew that facing a professor after skipping class wasn't a good idea. "That's enough. Stay still." "Why?! Yo-you're not going to sell us out…" "...Shut your mouth before you get hit." Ian thought the White Tiger Tower students were so suspicious because of the Skull Headmaster. He had trapped them in the middle of the night and made them run around… "It's all the Headmaster's fault that they are misunderstanding me," "Headmaster? No, it has nothing to do with the Headmaster…" "Quiet." Angalo wanted to say, 'We're suspecting you because of what you did, not because of the Skull Headmaster,' but his mouth was shut. "What are you all doing?" Professor Ingardel, who had come down, looked at the situation and spoke with a puzzled expression. Ian answered with a pitiful tone. "Angalo and his friends were caught by the ghost tree. Because of this, they couldn't attend the lecture, and really…" "???" "...Th-that's right!" Angalo was the quickest to catch on. He belatedly realized and matched his words. "You were caught by the ghost tree? What are you all doing here?" "They were practicing swordsmanship in the forest." "Oh dear…" Professor Ingardel looked very moved. He knew that the White Tiger Tower students were serious about swordsmanship, but he didn't know it was to this extent. "Everyone, stay behind after class today." "Yes?" "You must be very upset right now. I understand. I will help you so that you don't lose to the ghost tree." "......" The White Tiger Tower students stared intently at Ian, but Ian ignored them and scanned the ghost tree to see if there was anything to salvage. "Wodanaz…" "Work hard." "Our golem repair…" "You can do that and this too. Work hard." Ian patted Angalo's shoulder. Angalo didn't understand kindness and just frowned. "Wodanaz did well. You lured the wooden dolls away well." "Thank you." "Ah, right, Wodanaz. About the Beech Knights story earlier. They said they would visit the school sometime…" "Yes??" Ian was startled. The knights' speed of action always surprised Ian. Knights always visited for a meal when he said, 'Let's have a meal sometime!' "Of course, I have to get permission, but…" "This will be hard to arrange, won't it?" "...This time, fortunately, the Headmaster also gave permission." "Yes???" "I don't know about other groups, but the Beech Knights always give a lot of money. It seems like a good thing." Professor Ingardel nodded, as if his reasoning was highly likely. And this time, Ian's face was contorted. "Why, do, we, have, to, move, this…" "Blame your friends." After the lecture, while Angalo and his friends were taking supplementary lessons, Ian moved the lumber with the White Tiger Tower students. Angalo was crying and begging, saying, 'We finally found it, but if we don't take it now, we might not be able to get it later,' and was being a nuisance, but… 'If the golem can be repaired, it might be useful.' At first, it seemed too unlikely, so he didn't pay much attention to it, but as this many people gathered, Ian's thoughts slowly changed. How much easier would things be if they had a golem of that size? With Einroguard giving him more and more tasks, that golem would be a reliable helper. "Ian, I heard about the warehouse. How about searching the warehouse more?" Dergyu wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked. To find the materials needed for the golem, they had to search every nook and cranny of the school. The warehouse, which was now piled with junk, looked like a junkyard at first glance, but if they searched carefully, they might be able to find something good. Junk and trash are almost the same thing, right? Ian thought. Ian smiled. 'Dergyu, you're clever!' he thought. "Dergyu. You sly dog. Are you saying we should take advantage of the White Tiger Tower students while they're being deceived to quickly clear away the chores we have to do at night? Genius." "...N-no! It's not?!" "Good idea. White Tiger Tower guys! Let's go! There's another place to get materials!" Ian shouted to the White Tiger Tower students who were putting down the lumber. The White Tiger Tower students were deceived by the atmosphere and unconsciously followed Ian. Ian was pleased with the sight. Whatever else, their loyal and simple nature was what made the White Tiger Tower students special. 'I hope we can finish everything before the weekend.' If that happened, he could leisurely catch up on his studies on the weekend. Clang! Bang! The White Tiger Tower students, who had rushed to the warehouse, took out the luggage one by one, just like they had done last week. "How much of this trash is there that there's no end to it?" "Oh. Is this basalt? It looks like we can use it if we trim it?" "That's monster poop." "......" Thud- " ?" Ian felt something kick his foot and lowered his head. A heavily rusted bronze doorknob was connected to the floor door. "Wait, everyone, come here." "Wo-Wodanaz. We weren't playing around!" "...I'm not scolding you, so come quickly." Ian resolved to treat the White Tiger Tower students a little more gently. "Have you ever seen this before?" "...Huh?!" 'They haven't.' From the White Tiger Tower students' reaction, Ian realized that this floor door connected to the basement had never been discovered. It was clear that it had been discovered as the mountains of junk were cleared away. "Th-this… Wodanaz… isn't that… that???" "What is it?" Ian asked with a slight expectation at the White Tiger Tower student's reaction. Did they know something? "A secret underground passage that the seniors made to escape outside…!" "...I don't think there's an underground passage connected from the 2nd floor of Einroguard to outside the school walls."