Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 660

Professor Voladi, however, didn’t seem to mind much.

He understood what Lee Han was thinking.

“Doesn’t suit your aptitude, I see.”

“What?”

Lee Han was puzzled by the professor’s words.

‘Is there anyone who actually likes Professor Baegreg’s lectures?’

No matter how big the Empire was, it seemed unlikely that anyone would enjoy Professor Voladi’s lectures.

“What aptitude are you talking about?”

“Aren’t you trying to stop your junior because he’s sickly? That’s very thoughtful.”

Professor Voladi praised Lee Han.

Professor Einrogard’s lectures were hard. Many students who weren’t ready or didn’t have the skill were pushed out or failed.

Professor Voladi thought his own lectures were similar. After all, he hadn’t had a student for a long time.

So, it was good that Lee Han was carefully checking on his junior and bringing him to the lecture. He was already doing a great job as a senior.

“I’ll trust you with the students who want to join the lecture. Send them back if they are not ready.”

“…No…”

Lee Han was slow to answer because he didn’t know what to say to such a strange thing.

‘I don’t think you’re in a position to be picky.’

Right now, Lee Han was the only person learning from Professor Voladi’s Combat Magic Theory School (though it was questionable whether it could even be called a school).

He should realize this, change the education plan for the juniors, and maybe even go easy on Lee Han…

If he didn’t, no one would come this year either.

Right now, the only good thing was this: Professor Voladi could say his student numbers went up by 100%. This was true even though he only had one new student.

“I don’t think it’s the right time to send them back…”

“Grrrr!”

“…What’s wrong with you now?”

Lee Han covered his face with his hand and sighed as the junior next to him became agitated and growled.

He was already suffering because of one professor, and now even his junior was causing trouble!

“Not weak!”

Eandurde shouted fiercely at Professor Voladi. It seemed that being called sickly had hurt his pride.

The huffing Gorgon hybrid junior looked at Lee Han, as if begging him to take his side.

However, Lee Han was cold.

“Junior, you are weak.”

“?!!”

“Because you’re weak, apologize quickly. Go on.”

Lee Han was saying this sincerely for the sake of his junior.

What good would it do to prove that Eandurde was actually strong and a master of arena combat?

It would only increase the number of students taking Professor Voladi’s lecture by 100%.

It was something that would make everyone involved, except for the professor, unhappy.

However, the immature junior didn’t understand Lee Han’s concern and looked betrayed.

“Am not weak!”

“Hey…”

“Prove!”

“Hey!”

Lee Han was startled.

Eandurde had charged at Professor Voladi!

‘I didn’t teach him properly!’

When he told him not to charge at the Skeleton Headmaster, he should have also told him not to charge at Professor Voladi!

Eandurde pushed hard off the floor of the toy store hallway and bent his knees low.

He knew that against magic users who attacked from far away, like Professor Voladi, he needed to make himself small and harder to hit.

As he moved, his cloak flew up behind him. It was a simple trick, but in the narrow hallway, it could block Professor Voladi’s view for a moment.

But then, Professor Voladi stomped his foot lightly. Suddenly, the air around them seemed to wobble, and the hallway got much wider. It was like the walls had been pushed back. Eandurde blinked in surprise. His plan to use the small space had failed.

Still, Eandurde didn’t stop. He tried to attack the professor by charging into the blind spot covered by his cloak.

“I am stron…!”

In an instant, Eandurde was thrown sideways. An invisible magic force, like a giant hand, slapped Eandurde.

Eandurde didn’t even realize what had happened to him because the magic was cast so fast, much faster than any mages he had met before.

“Junior, the casting speed of skilled combat mages is on a different level from what you know!”

Lee Han shouted from behind.

Basically, mages learned magic to explore the truth, not to win fights.

Even if you just looked at the Valdrogard students, there were many mages who cast spells slowly or didn’t succeed often.

Since they could take their time and repeat the process in a safe place, it wasn’t a big problem.

However, combat mages were different. They had to focus in tense combat and cast spells faster than others.

They weren’t very interested in casting powerful and complex spells. They focused on casting simple spells quickly and reliably.

And Professor Voladi was the one who perfectly showed the way combat mages thought, so it was natural that Eandurde couldn’t react and was defeated.

‘So, quickly apologize and back off!’

Lee Han looked at his junior with that thought in mind.

However, the junior seemed to have misunderstood Lee Han’s intention.

He snorted happily and gestured to Lee Han. It was a gesture that clearly meant to attack together.

“…No, back awa…”

Before he could finish speaking, he felt something bad was about to happen. Lee Han rolled to the side.

Combat mages had to forget about being proud. It was one of the first things they learned.

Sure enough, Professor Voladi’s attack came flying in. The professor thought that Lee Han would attack together with his junior.

‘What a ridiculous false accusation!’

“Aargh!”

Gainando, who was hit by the attack instead of Lee Han, was hanging upside down. Despite his friend’s pain, Lee Han focused.

If he lost focus in a magic battle, it was over. Even if a friend died, he had to concentrate.

“Lee Han! I’m hanging! Lee Han!”

“Become as agile as the wind!”

Since there wasn’t much time, it was hard to prepare many spells. Lee Han cast a spell to make his junior stronger and ran forward.

It seemed foolish to get close to the opponent, but it was the right thing to do now. If he stayed far away and dodged, he would only be a punching bag.

‘I’ve cast Instant Precognition and Nimble Steps. Next…!’

Lee Han quickly tried to think of which of the spells he had recently learned could surprise Professor Voladi.

Music magic was too slow, and at best…

‘Pocket watch. There’s a pocket watch!’

Before he could finish thinking, bright blue spheres of magical power rained down like a storm along with a flash of light.

Professor Voladi didn’t want to give someone with high magical power like Lee Han any time to prepare.

Realizing that he was a little late, Lee Han decided to endure with his body instead of casting a spell.

He could do it because he had trained hard in swordsmanship. Magic power filled his entire body, and at the same time, his cloak fluttered.

Whoosh!

Arsil’s cloak of defense sensed the danger and blocked the attack. The magic balls bounced off in every direction.

Lee Han watched Professor Volardi and felt amazed. ‘He’s so calm and strong,’ Lee Han thought. ‘I want to be like him one day.’

Professor Volardi, however, remained calm.

Professor Volardi knew that magic fighters often used special objects called artifacts. He usually knew what these objects could do.

When one of the three symbols on the Cloak of Defense faded, Professor Volardi realized that Lee Han’s artifact could only be used a few times a day.

‘One more time, then,’ he thought.

Again, bright blue spheres of magic, glowing like small suns, rained down from Professor Volardi’s hands. But this time, Lee Han didn’t just defend. He moved forward, his eyes focused, showing he had a plan.

‘He’s planning something,’ Professor Volardi thought.

Professor Volardi sensed purpose in Lee Han’s approach.

Professor Volardi knew Lee Han always practiced hard, even when school was out. He thought Lee Han had learned something new.

“Kyaaak!” Ean Durde shouted.

Ean Durde, a student who was part Gorgon, charged forward. Magic made him very fast.

At the same time, his eyes flashed with a magic curse that could turn people to stone.

He had been told not to use it, but seeing Lee Han attacked, he couldn’t help himself.

Professor Volardi didn’t stop the Gorgon’s gaze or defend against the curse. He simply closed his eyes and acted quickly.

Thud!

Ean Durde was knocked down with one hit. He was trapped by magic and couldn’t move.

At the same time, Lee Han got closer.

Professor Volardi wanted to see what Lee Han was trying to do. So, he let his magic cloak use up all its protection.

He thought, ‘Shouldn’t a professor let students show what they can do?’

Clack!

Lee Han’s movements suddenly became very fast. Professor Volardi noticed almost right away.

He knew what magic Lee Han was using.

Water Orb spells blocked Professor Volardi’s escape. Lee Han turned his staff into a spear of lightning and attacked.

Professor Volardi knew all of Lee Han’s normal spells very well. But because he knew them so well, it would be harder for him to react to something new and unexpected!

However, Professor Volardi easily escaped Lee Han’s attack.

“?!”

The secret was simple.

He had sped up time himself.

‘…Blast it!’ Lee Han thought.

Lee Han was annoyed. He thought about a person named Alsecl. He also thought that Professor Beggret should be suspected of making the time-stopping watch Lee Han had.

Just look at him using that time magic now!

When the five seconds were over and he hadn’t gained anything, Lee Han knew he had lost.

The magic was about to hit him back.

Thud!

“…I lost, Professor,” Lee Han said.

Lee Han knelt down because of the magic hitting him back. It was the second time it had happened, so it didn’t hurt as much as the first time.

Professor Volardi nodded, a small smile on his face. ‘Well done,’ he said.

“Huh?” Lee Han asked.

Lee Han wondered why Professor Volardi was praising him.

Was he just being nice because people were watching?

However, Professor Volardi pointed to the collar of his own coat.

It had been cut and burned where Lee Han’s lightning spear had touched it.

The attack had hit!

“Pro… Professor!” Lee Han exclaimed.

” ? ”

“I hit you, Professor!”

“One might say so,” Professor Volardi replied.

Lee Han jumped up and down, pointing at the professor’s coat. ‘I defeated the coat! I defeated the coat!’ he cheered, almost like a little kid.

“Lee, Lee Han. I don’t think that’s quite right…” His friends said, embarrassed.

His friends thought Lee Han sounded like students they had defeated in fights before. Those students would say things like, ‘We still made a hole in that strong guy’s coat, so it was almost a win!’ Lee Han shouldn’t talk like that.

However, Lee Han didn’t care what they said.

His friends didn’t understand how amazing it was to even touch Professor Volardi’s coat.

“I defeated the coat!”

“Lee Han’s gone mad…!” one of his friends said.

“Well done. I didn’t know you could use time magic,” Professor Volardi said.

Lee Han, who had been shouting with excitement, stopped immediately.

He took out the artifact he had used from his pocket and asked the professor.

“Professor, have you ever made an artifact like this?”

“No,” Professor Volardi replied without expression. However, Lee Han thought he was hiding something.

‘He’s not lying because he’s ashamed, is he?’ Lee Han wondered.

“Junior, are you alright?” Lee Han asked Ean Durde.

Ean Durde rose, tears streaming down his face. His voice was shaky as he said, ‘…I am weak…’

He was ashamed to have been defeated so easily.

“Don’t cry. It’s because the opponent is crazy… no, because the opponent was strong. Professors are all like that,” Lee Han said.

“Sniffle, sniffle,” Ean Durde replied.

Lee Han comforted his junior. He would scold him later, but not now, not after being beaten by Professor Volardi.

“I’ll learn that person’s technique… learn it and get revenge…” Ean Durde mumbled.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Let’s talk again after you go back and calm down,” Lee Han said.

Lee Han didn’t want his junior to take this class, even if it meant stopping him by force.

As the noise died down, the shop owner, Tatabatz, slowly peeked out from behind the counter, his eyes wide with worry. ‘I-Is it over?’ he asked in a quiet voice.

‘Oh dear,’ Lee Han thought.

Lee Han imagined big, exciting newspaper headlines in his head: ‘Professor and Student Fight Without Permission!’, ‘Is the School Leader Doing a Bad Job?’, ‘Student Says, “The Head Teacher is Crazy!”‘

“Yes… but that’s…” Tatabatz started to say.

“That was amazing!! You really are a professor!!” the other customers said, clapping.

The customers were happy to have seen such a great show.

“Professor, would you be willing to do that magic here regularly? We will pay you well!” one of the customers asked.

“How much?” Lee Han asked, curious. But Professor Volardi didn’t care. He refused and walked out of the shop.

Lee Han and his friends followed the professor outside. Professor Volardi, who was waiting, looked at Lee Han and said,

“Wodanaz.”

“Yes?” Lee Han replied.

“I look forward to seeing more advanced time magic,” Professor Volardi said.

“…Professor. I used an artifact,” Lee Han said.