Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 564

“No, no! I didn’t push you into a pit!” Professor Garcia said, sounding relieved.

Lee Han sighed. “Oh, good. That’s a relief.”

Professor Garcia paused, a little confused. *Wait,* he thought. *Did I just say ‘into a pit’?* If not a pit, then what did he mean?

“Lee Han, student…” Professor Garcia started to say.

“Then what pit are you talking about?” Lee Han asked, looking carefully at the professor.

Professor Garcia felt a little sad seeing Lee Han so suspicious.

“It’s the final exam,” Professor Garcia said gently.

“Is that so.” Lee Han’s voice was calm.

“?” Professor Garcia was puzzled. Lee Han’s reaction was too quiet.

He knew Lee Han was usually calm, being from the Wodanaz family and all, but still, this was *very* calm.

“So,” Lee Han continued, still looking at the pit, “are there monsters hiding at the bottom of the pit?”

“Monsters? No!” Professor Garcia’s voice jumped up in surprise.

“Lee Han, you don’t think I’m like the Headmaster, do you?”

“Of course not, Professor! How could I think such a rude thing?” Lee Han said quickly. “But… it’s an exam. And you said ‘pit.’ I just thought… maybe there would be monsters.”

Professor Garcia sighed deeply. “No monsters, Lee Han. I promise. I made this exam to test the magic you’ve learned this semester. Just magic. No monsters.”

Professor Garcia had introduced various schools of magic and taught the basics during the first semester.

And in this second semester, he was in charge of the >Basic Practical Magic> course, teaching students various useful practical spells.

>Underwater Breathing>, >Undead Exorcism>, >Undead Detection>, and >Lower Undead Reverse Summoning> were examples of such spells.

‘Seems like there are quite a few undead-related spells.’

It was just by chance that he taught many spells against undead creatures. But Professor Garcia’s class was the most useful class this semester. He was a graduate of Einroguard and really cared about his students. He only taught spells that students could use right away in real life.

“Oh, but you taught us undead-related magic, but there are no undead?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. When did I ever teach undead-related magic?”

“You taught us >Undead Exorcism>, >Undead Detection>, >Lower Undead Reverse Summoning>…”

“I don’t recall? Aha. Lee Han must be mistaken because he’s been attending so many lectures.”

“……”

Lee Han was surprised, but he understood what Professor Garcia was doing.

If the Headmaster, who was called ‘Skull Headmaster’, found out who taught the undead magic, he might cause even more trouble. So, Professor Garcia was keeping it a secret.

‘He could have just said it.’

But Lee Han was slightly hurt. Even if it was anything else, being poked for attending too many lectures stung.

“I understand. Undead-related magic is excluded… So, is it about >Underwater Breathing>, >Lower Detoxification>, >Waterproofing>, >Vision Amplification>, >Lower Lock Release>?”

“Exactly.”

Lee Han cautiously approached the pit and looked down.

After casting >Gonadalte’s Dark Vision> and infusing magic power into his eyes to enhance his vision, he could see the structure below the pit.

‘The professor must be planning for the students to swim and dive deep after filling it with water.’

Looking at the bottom of the pit, there was a small passage that led to the side.

Inside that passage, there would be simple poisons or locks.

As the water filled, the field of vision would narrow, so overcoming that environment with magic and finding the passage to solve the poisons and locks would be the final exam.

Having thought this far, Lee Han suddenly felt a question arise.

“Professor, if you fill this with water, are we supposed to dive in and find that hidden passage? And there are traps inside the passage?”

“Oh. That’s right. Lee Han, you saw it well.”

Professor Garcia’s face lit up as he answered, impressed by Lee Han’s clear understanding.

“But why are you standing like that?”

“I’m being careful not to fall into the pit.”

“…Lee Han… I told you I’m not going to push you…”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Despite Professor Garcia’s words, Lee Han lowered his stance and balanced himself, observing the bottom of the pit, prepared for someone to push him from behind.

“Anyway, Professor. I understand the structure, but…”

“?” Professor Garcia was confused when Lee Han stopped talking.

He didn’t understand what his student wanted to ask.

“…This is the final exam, but is it okay for me to know this in advance?”

Lee Han was slightly nervous as he asked.

Professor Garcia might belatedly say, ‘Oops! Lee Han, I accidentally told you. I have no choice but to prepare a more difficult exam just for you.’

Of course, Professor Garcia was a kinder person compared to other professors, but he was still a professor after all.

“Ah. It’s okay, isn’t it?”

“…It’s okay?”

“Lee Han is going to get a perfect score anyway. That’s why I called you.”

“……”

Lee Han was momentarily speechless.

No… No…?

‘Is that so?’

Lee Han asked again, feeling like it made sense and didn’t make sense at the same time.

“Still, isn’t it something you can only know after taking the exam?”

“I’ve seen Lee Han use magic several times… It’s okay. I’m sure without even seeing it. Don’t some of the other professors think similarly to me?”

Professor Garcia waved his wand. Suddenly, benches appeared for the students to sit on during the exam. He also made the air around them warm, so they wouldn’t be cold after being in the water.

“Oh… I have met them.”

“Right? Didn’t those professors tell you to do your own work instead of taking meaningless exams?”

‘They gave me something harder.’

Lee Han recalled Professor Alpen saying during the midterm exam, ‘It’s too easy, so I prepared something more difficult.’

But telling that to Professor Garcia didn’t seem like a good idea.

Professor Garcia might react with, ‘Oh, is that a method?’

“It was similar.”

At Lee Han’s answer, Professor Garcia nodded as if he expected it.

While preparing for the second semester final exams, the professors were complaining and listing their own difficulties.

-After all, the transformation potion would be too difficult. But I gave the firework potion last year… It’s annoying, should I call that Wodanaz kid and have him make the exam?

-Professor!

-No, just kidding. Just kidding. How is Professor Verdus preparing?

-Me? I’m going to have them make artifacts with discarded materials.

-No. Isn’t that a pretty good exam? It seems well prepared.

-Yeah. Gonadalte told me to do this.

-……

-……

-That’s right. I should ask Wodanaz to prepare it. I almost forgot.

-Professor Verdus. Would you like to come to the back of the lounge for a moment?

Of course, there were some unscrupulous professors, but basically, even among the professors, there was a strong feeling that ‘Is there a reason for a student who will get a perfect score anyway to take the exam?’

Professor Garcia had also had a sympathetic professor say this to him during his school days.

-Garcia. You don’t have to take the exam. Focus on other exams. And when you hit your friends, can you use your palm instead of your fist?

“So, Lee Han, instead of preparing for an exam that you’ll get a perfect score on anyway, prepare for other exams. Not all the other professors will let you pass the exam.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

Lee Han was honestly grateful for Professor Garcia’s consideration.

Of course, the fact that Lee Han had the skills to get a perfect score played a big role in Professor Garcia making this suggestion…

…But more than that, he wanted to give Lee Han, who was taking too many lectures, a break from at least one lecture.

If he didn’t have to worry about Professor Garcia’s exam, he would have a little more free time.

‘I must never tell him about Professor Alpen’s method.’

“Instead, Lee Han, check the difficulty of this final exam site for other friends. It’s more accurate to see it from a student’s perspective than a professor’s.”

“Professor Garcia is a truly wonderful person. I am fortunate to have met you.”

“Why, why are you suddenly like this.”

Professor Garcia was very embarrassed when Lee Han spoke in a voice choked with emotion.

It was too sudden of a compliment.

“I will do my best to check.”

“You can just check with a light heart…” Professor Garcia felt a little worried as Lee Han started preparing the pit with too much energy.

He just wanted Lee Han to quickly look at it, but now he was worried he was giving this hardworking student too much work.

Splash!

Lee Han came up quickly after only a short time inside.

Lee Han shook off the water by waving his waterproofed cloak and reported to Professor Garcia.

“The water needs to be a bit darker.”

“Ah. Is that so?”

Professor Garcia picked up a quill and made a note.

Water basically becomes darker below when it pools, so he hadn’t added any special magic, but it seemed a bit bright anyway.

‘Is the light source strong?’

“Yes. Shall I summon dark elements?”

“What are you saying. Lee Han doesn’t need to do that. I have to do the preparation.”

Professor Garcia waved his hand and stopped him.

He had called him to hear a simple impression, but the other party was too diligent.

“I understand. Then I’ll just…”

“Ah. There’s no need to go back in…”

Splash!

A moment later, Lee Han came up again.

“Professor. The entrance to the passage is small, but there are no other entrances around, so if you’re a little calm, you’ll be able to find it quickly. How about creating fake passages?”

“Hmm… I understand.”

Professor Garcia made another note.

Lee Han went in again and came out, went in again and came out, went in again and came out without even being stopped.

-The poison seems to be a type that obstructs vision, but wouldn’t a poison that obstructs breathing be better?

-I opened the lock myself, and if you’re a student with good dexterity, you can open it without magic. How about strengthening it more?

-I thought there would be something when I came up, but I was surprised that there was nothing. Wouldn’t it be better to add undead?

“……”

Professor Garcia closed the book he was writing notes in and looked at Lee Han and asked.

“Lee Han. Have your friends done anything to upset you recently?”

“Yes? Not really?”

Lee Han, who came out of Professor Garcia’s lecture room, felt a slight unease.

He was worried that he might not have lived up to the professor’s expectations.

‘Were my suggestions not good?’

Professor Garcia thought of Lee Han and passed the exam and asked, but he couldn’t come up with any useful improvements.

His heart felt heavy thinking that the professor might be disappointed.

‘I should fix it and bring it next time I see him.’

“Lee Han, don’t fix it and bring it next time you come.”

Professor Garcia stuck his head out between the lecture room doors and shouted. Lee Han was surprised and asked back.

“Did you see it with prophecy magic?”

“No. I saw it with the professor’s experience. Anyway, it was really helpful, so don’t fix it and bring it!”

“Yes. I understand.”

Honestly, he didn’t believe that it was really helpful, but Professor Garcia’s sincerity was conveyed.

Lee Han felt a subtle emotion once again and went down the stairs.

“Oh. Wodanaz! Here, here!”

Lee Han pretended not to hear as the walking beaver called him and moved his steps.

Professor Verdus lightly flew up and blocked Lee Han’s path.

“Are you deaf, perhaps?”

“Oh. Professor Verdus!! When did you come? You startled me!”