Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 449

Workshops for Professor Verdus’s students were all different. Some were friendly, like a family. In others, everyone worked alone and didn’t talk much. Lee Han liked the quiet workshops best.

Lee Han thought, ‘It’s strange that Professor Verdus’s students are older than me.’

He remembered Professor Verdus visiting his house during the holidays, looking confused about everything. Lee Han imagined if the older students were like Professor Verdus, they would all be just as confused. That would be a disaster.

“This way,” Anpagon said.

He went into lecture hall twelve, on the west side of the first floor. He quickly piled up desks like steps. Then, he tapped a red carving on the ceiling three times.

Creak- A secret door opened in the ceiling! Lee Han’s eyes widened. He quickly wrote in his notebook. ‘A hidden workshop! Amazing!’

“What is this place?” Lee Han asked, looking around.

“My workshop.” Anpagon yawned widely, rubbing his eyes. He looked very tired. Being human wasn’t easy, he thought. Other magical races had more energy. Anpagon felt the strain of working too hard.

Lee Han pulled a thermos from his bag and offered it. “Coffee?”

Anpagon took it with a quick, “Thanks.” He took a sip, then frowned. ‘Wait… how does a first-year student have coffee?’

“You need a workshop,” Anpagon explained, “not just your room.”

“I see,” Lee Han nodded.

Even second and third-year students at Einroguard tried very hard to get their own workshops.

“When you’re a first-year,” Anpagon continued, “you can practice magic in your dorm. But…”

“But soon, your magic gets too big for a dorm room,” Lee Han finished.

Anpagon looked at Lee Han, surprised. He didn’t think a first-year would understand this.

“Exactly! How did you know?”

“Oh, well…” Lee Han hesitated.

Lee Han thought about the magic he practiced. Swarms of skeletons rising from the ground. Bolts of lightning crashing down. Fireballs exploding everywhere. He also used strange, powerful magic from other schools. It was definitely too dangerous for a dorm room. One wrong move, and the whole student lounge could be destroyed!

“…Yes,” Lee Han said. “My magic… it’s a bit much for the dorm. I needed a bigger space.”

Anpagon was impressed. Headmaster Skull was right about this kid. He thought. Lee Han is really good for a first-year.

“Can you do Second Circle magic?” Anpagon asked.

“Yes?” Lee Han said, then more confidently, “Yes, I can.”

‘He can do it, but he sounds unsure,’ Anpagon thought. Doesn’t matter. Second Circle magic as a first-year is still great. Anpagon knew he would still do most of the work himself. He wasn’t going to let a first-year do everything.

“We’re here.” Anpagon stopped at a door that looked like it led to an attic. He took a long coat from a hook on the wall. It was a thick cloak with a hood, covering the whole body.

“Wear this,” he said, handing it to Lee Han.

“What is it?” Lee Han asked, taking the cloak.

“Protective gear. For working with artifacts. Things can explode, you know.”

“Oh, right. Do older students wear these in class?” Lee Han asked, putting on the cloak.

“No. We made these ourselves. Professor Verdus just laughs and asks, ‘Why do you need that? Just be careful!’” Anpagon chuckled.

Lee Han could almost hear Professor Verdus saying in a confused voice, ‘Protective gear? Why? Just don’t make mistakes!’

“Sit down,” Anpagon said, gesturing to a workbench.

“Yes.” Lee Han sat.

Anpagon opened wooden chests filled with strange tools and colorful powders. He put them on the table. Then, he reached for the light. It was a simple lantern hanging from the ceiling. He flicked a switch. The lantern glowed weakly, then went dark.

Anpagon sighed. “Magic stone’s dead. I need to fix this first…”

“I can do it,” Lee Han offered.

“Really? You sure?” Anpagon asked. He needed to save his own magic for the exam prep. He wasn’t sure if a first-year could carve a magic circle on such a small stone. The ‘Grant Light’ spell was easy, but carving a circle was harder, especially on a tiny stone like this.

Instead of picking up the stone, Lee Han just pointed at the lantern and whispered, “Light, appear!”

Suddenly, a ball of bright light floated inside the lantern, filling the workshop with a soft glow.

Anpagon stared, speechless. His mouth slightly open. ‘No way…’

He and Professor Verdus’s students weren’t exactly known for being good with people, Anpagon thought. So, he didn’t really know what to say when a first-year made such a silly mistake. A floating light spell would only last a few minutes.

‘It’s too much effort to explain now,’ Anpagon decided. ‘I’ll just fix it properly later when the light goes out.’ He decided to ignore it for now.

“Don’t worry, the exam isn’t too hard,” Anpagon said. “It sounds big, ‘creating an exam,’ but it’s not really.”

It wasn’t like he was inventing a whole new test. He was just using old exams from his first and second year. “It’s just… takes time to get ready.”

“See this?” Anpagon held up a small iron rod. He waved it, and the tip glowed white, then shot out flames. “It’s a fire-making artifact.”

“Yes,” Lee Han said, watching.

“Now, watch this…”

Bang! Anpagon smashed the iron rod against the wall. The rod bent in the middle.

“…Like that. You break it,” Anpagon said. “Know why?”

“To fix it?” Lee Han guessed.

Anpagon grinned, showing his teeth. Being a magic student at Einroguard didn’t give you many reasons to smile. He felt like he hadn’t smiled in ages.

“Exactly! Fixing it is the exam.”

“A good artifact maker can do more than just build new things,” Anpagon explained. “They also need to fix broken ones. You might think making something new is harder than fixing something old. But fixing things is tricky in a different way.”

“Why?” Lee Han asked.

“Because you didn’t make it! You have to figure out how someone else built it. That’s harder than you think. Even if two artifacts do the same thing, different magic users build them differently. Some focus on making them strong and long-lasting. Others want them to be powerful, even if they break easily. And some… well, some just throw in a ton of magic and hope for the best!” Anpagon laughed. “You have to understand all those different styles to fix them. That’s what makes repair so hard.”

“First, we need broken artifacts for you to fix,” Anpagon said.

“I can break them,” Lee Han offered.

“No, no, I’ll break them,” Anpagon said quickly. This kid is weird, he thought. Why would a first-year want to break things? “You just need to check if they work first.”

“Are you sure?” Lee Han asked, surprised.

Anpagon blinked. “Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Okay,” Lee Han said.

“There are some artifacts in that chest. Check those first,” Anpagon pointed.

“Right.” Lee Han opened the chest and started taking out the small artifacts, one by one.

Anpagon got out his own tools and began making more artifacts. With so many students, he’d be working all night to get enough ready.

Bzzzt! Zzzzzing! Bzzzt! Sparks flew from Anpagon’s tools.

Tap, tap, tap- Lee Han quietly checked each artifact.

The workshop became silent except for the sounds of work. Time passed.

“Um, Senior?” Lee Han said.

“What?” Anpagon turned around, a little annoyed. Was this kid going to complain already? He thought. Headmaster Skull didn’t bribe him to be annoying, did he?

“I’m finished,” Lee Han said.

Anpagon blinked. “Finished… checking them?”

“Yes,” Lee Han nodded.

Anpagon looked at the artifacts Lee Han had checked. He could feel a faint warmth coming from them – the magic still active. No way…

“Al… ready?” Anpagon stammered.

“Yes. Can I help you make more?” Lee Han asked.

“…Okay,” Anpagon said slowly. He handed Lee Han a set of tools. Now he had to see what this kid could really do.

“See this magic circle pattern?” Anpagon pointed to a half-finished design on a new artifact. “Finish the magic flow and activate it.”

“Yes,” Lee Han said, taking the tools.

Anpagon saw that the parts for making the magic stronger and last longer were missing. Since these were just for testing, not permanent, Lee Han quickly removed the ‘lasting longer’ part completely. Then, he poured a lot of magic power into the pattern to activate it.

“Done,” Lee Han said.

“Huh?” Anpagon turned to look, in disbelief. Lee Han had said “done” in less than ten seconds!

“Already?” Anpagon asked again.

“Yes,” Lee Han nodded.

Anpagon picked up the artifact. It was actually working! He stared at the magic circle Lee Han had finished. Instead of a complicated design, Lee Han had made it simple, using raw magic power to fill in the gaps. This was the kind of thing a professor would do – someone who had so much magic and control, they didn’t need fancy circuits.

Anpagon looked closer. There were no mistakes, no messy lines, no tiny cracks around the edges. Usually, when someone tried this kind of shortcut, they messed up the artifact, even if the magic circle worked. But Lee Han’s was perfect. It was like he had made hundreds, maybe thousands, of these before.

Anpagon bent his head low, almost touching the artifact, examining it again and again.

Then, Anpagon quickly looked around the workshop.

“Looking for something?” Lee Han asked.

“No! Nothing!” Anpagon said too quickly. Was Headmaster Skull hiding somewhere, laughing at him? Headmaster Skull had given him a lot of money for the last experiment, and he wouldn’t stop bothering Anpagon about it.

– Hey, Anpagon! Einroguard’s master of getting money! You took my gold last time, and still no results?

– …

– Why don’t you take more money? I heard you asked the Emperor to use my secret gold vault without even telling me!

– …Sorry…

But Headmaster Skull wasn’t there. Anpagon had to admit it. Lee Han really had done it.

‘This is incredible,’ Anpagon thought.

Magic students usually kept to themselves. Anpagon didn’t care what other students were doing, even older students. He only cared about his own work. But this first-year… this first-year was different. He was so good, Anpagon couldn’t help but be interested.

“So?” Lee Han asked, looking proud. “How is it?”

“It’s… amazing,” Anpagon said. “But…”

“But?” Lee Han’s smile faded a little.

“We can’t use it,” Anpagon said.

“Huh? Did I do something wrong?” Lee Han asked, worried.

Anpagon shook his head. “No, you did it too well.”

“Too well?”

Anpagon nodded. “See, the more complicated the magic circle, the easier it is to break. You made it so simple and strong, it’ll be almost impossible to break. We need artifacts that will break. That’s the whole point of the exam.”

“Oh! I get it,” Lee Han said. “I didn’t think of that. Sorry, Senior. You’re really smart!”

Anpagon blinked. “…Should I be happy about that?” he asked, confused. It felt like Lee Han should be praised for making such a good artifact, not him for needing a bad one.