Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 732

“I would also like to build a solid foundation.”

“Huh?” Dirette looked genuinely puzzled.

Dirette did not think this was needed for Ethan.

“Didn’t you say you can already use poison element magic up to the 3rd Circle?”

“It’s still incomplete, though.”

The undead mage, Verdus, had taught him the creation magic of , which was around the 3rd Circle, but the casting wasn’t perfect yet.

“You are a perfectionist, Ethan. Other students would say they have mastered it just by trying it once.”

“No, I’m saying it’s incomplete because it isn’t complete!” Ethan felt a bit wronged.

Of course, he could summon poison if given time, but wasn’t it still incomplete?

“And your bone element magic was at the 4th Circle.”

Normally, bone element magic is not at the 4th Circle level.

Summoning a skeleton warrior by contracting with one from the undead realm made it much easier.

But Ethan, pressured by some wicked dark mages, had to learn the ancient form of necromancy, which he hadn’t used much lately, and the result was the 4th Circle difficulty .

It was very hard. This magic was not about calling a being from another world. Instead, the mage had to put the bones together one by one.

Still, thanks to that, Ethan’s proficiency in bone element magic had increased considerably, all thanks to wrestling with continuously.

“…Right. But aren’t there still some basics you haven’t mastered?” Dirette was a kind senior. Instead of getting angry when his junior insisted, he quietly did as he wished.

Ethan, who instantly succeeded in the various basic magics Dirette presented, said with a sulky face.

“Let’s go with the difficult magic first.”

“Good thinking, junior.”

“Do you know why blood isn’t commonly used as an element?”

“Yes.”

The reason the Empire’s dark mages didn’t directly handle blood elements, even when dealing with bones, poison, or even dark elements, was its inefficiency.

“But the truth is, it’s not that blood isn’t used as an element at all. Some magical criminals actually use it.”

“The Headmaster?”

“…Junior, when I say magical criminals, I’m talking about real magical criminals, not a metaphor.”

Blood element was not only less powerful than bone element, but it was also difficult to obtain and preserve.

Moreover, some magical criminals often extorted large amounts of fresh blood needed for magic from innocent victims, which only made it more unpopular.

Dirette and other dark magic teachers like Gonadaltes and Professor Mortoom thought, ‘We should not ignore magic just because it’s not popular.’

At the very least, you need to know it well to exploit its weaknesses when you encounter someone who uses it.

Tap-

Dirette took out a small glass bottle and opened the cork, and a red liquid flowed out with a gurgling sound.

It smelled like blood, but it exuded a different magical energy.

“This is artificial blood made with alchemy. Usually, this is used when casting blood element magic. It has good expandability.”

Just like using bone fragments containing magic as a magical reagent, blood element magic also often needed the help of such reagents.

Ethan understood what Dirette meant and asked.

“You mean you don’t use it when using it as a reagent for other magic besides blood element magic?”

“That’s right.” The dark magic school senior answered, flapping his wings as if satisfied with his clever junior’s answer.

When casting blood element magic, the required amount was so large that it couldn’t be helped, but real blood was bound to be more effective than alchemically made artificial blood.

Dirette took out a bone fragment with a bloody aura.

“This is a bone fragment that I periodically feed with my blood. I could have fed it with artificial blood, but there’s an advantage to feeding it with my blood. Easier control of magic, and easy blood element magic in case of emergency.”

“I understand.” Ethan quickly understood Dirette’s words since he had a history of strengthening reagents by imbuing dark elements into bones.

Strengthening bone fragments using blood was ultimately connected to strengthening bone element magic as well.

‘Even if I don’t force myself to use blood element magic, the power increases just by applying it like this.’

“Of course, dark elements or poison elements are generally more preferred. Blood element doesn’t have any special effects, and its usage is a bit limited… but as I said.”

“There’s always a place to use it if you learn it.” Dirette nodded with a deep smile.

“Let’s start with this.”

“Yes. But how difficult is this magic?” Dirette simply smiled and urged him with a gesture without answering.

Ethan was puzzled, but he started sprinkling his blood little by little on the bone fragment.

“Blood, gather here…”

The bone fragment was stained crimson and connected to Ethan much more powerfully than before.

Ethan could understand the advantage of feeding his blood that Dirette had mentioned earlier.

If he summoned a skeleton warrior with this bone fragment, he would be able to control it much more precisely.

“You succeeded.”

“Yes.”

“I figured you would, so I didn’t bother telling you how difficult it was. There’s no point in telling you, right?”

“…Just tell me…”

After that, Dirette explained various magics that connected bone and blood, blood and poison, and poison and bone.

Magic that amplified toxicity using blood, and magic that burst bones using toxicity and scattered them around.

There were quite a variety of difficult things, so Ethan listened without losing focus.

“But Senior, I suddenly have a question.”

“What is it?”

“What year is this lecture for?”

“3rd year. Why?”

“…Don’t you think it’s a bit strange for me to be listening to it?”

“Oh? Not really?”

“……” Dirette took out his pocket watch to check the time and then opened his mouth.

“There’s some time left. We can go and come back.”

“How about resting if there’s time left? I think you need a rest right now, Senior.”

“The place I’m going to now is a rest, junior.”

“Dirette smiled meaningfully and gestured for Ethan to come out of the lecture room. Ethan felt uneasy at that smile.

Usually, he hadn’t had many good experiences with Einroguard mages wearing confident smiles.

“It’s a place I often go to when I’m having a hard time.”

‘Hmm. I’m getting more uneasy.’

If the other person was from the summoning magic school, it would be one thing, but since he was from the dark magic school, he was a bit uneasy.

Wouldn’t it be possible to go into a place like a cemetery or a swamp underground chamber to rest?

Dirette was a good person, but even a good person’s tastes could be a bit twisted.

Dirette opened a side path on the 2nd basement floor and lightly tapped the wall of the endlessly long passage ahead.

Then, the stairs they were standing on swayed and began to run forward.

“!”

“It’s a bit far from the main building.” Dirette explained so that Ethan wouldn’t be surprised.

Since Einroguard was so large, older students didn’t walk around when moving. It would take too long.

One of the most commonly used methods was the side path connected to the main building.

Einroguard’s main building, with its long history, had countless paths connected to the Einroguard territory outside the main building, and if you could find such a path, it became a side path that allowed you to easily go far with a single action.

Thud!

“We’re here. Let’s go out.” Dirette made stairs appear that went upwards and walked up first. Ethan followed behind, worried that a cemetery or a poisonous swamp might appear.

But fortunately, there was no cemetery or smell of rotting corpses. All that could be heard around was the sound of leaves hitting each other in the wind.

The place where the main building’s underground side path was connected was in the middle of a forest.

“Where is this?”

“The Dark Forest. If you look around, you’ll understand why it’s named like this.”

Ethan checked the forest beyond the open space.

They stepped out into a forest that felt like twilight, even though it was daytime. The trees were a deep, shadowy green, their leaves so thick they blocked out most of the sunlight. The air was cool and still, and the only sound was the rustle of leaves high above.

It felt like dark magic was flowing through the trees and bushes.

“It’s a place full of dark elements?”

“That’s right. It’s a good place for dark mages who handle dark elements to recover their magic.” Dirette summoned chairs and a table, as if it were true that he often came here.

Ethan, having confirmed that it was a safe place, sat on the chair and looked around.

‘It’s definitely a good place for dark mages.’

Places like this, where dark elements were strongly formed, were bound to be compatible with students of the dark magic school.

Even if they didn’t directly handle dark elements, the effects would be excellent due to the nature of the magic.

In fact, Dirette, who had used quite a bit of magic during today’s lecture, quickly recovered his magic after taking a few breaths of the forest air.

And apart from that, Dirette’s face brightened, as if he liked the forest itself.

“Oh, and junior, don’t tell the other juniors about this place.”

“Not even the dark magic school seniors?”

“Even more so to them. I didn’t think there was a need to tell them this far. It’s not like they’re going to be promoted to the 5th grade.”

“I understand.” Ethan, who was nodding, felt something was off.

He felt something was wrong in what Senior Dirette had just said.

‘Then does that mean I’m going to be promoted to the 5th grade…?’

“Wait! Over there!”

“?”

“We have to catch that, junior. It’s a Dark Snail!” Dirette, who had discovered a rare animal living in the Dark Forest, urged Ethan.

After summoning his summon, he quickly flew into the air and began chasing the Dark Snail.

“Hold on tight. Here we go!” Dirette, carrying his junior, chased after the Dark Snail, which was running away like an arrow from a bow far away.

Ethan, sitting behind him, checked the rapidly changing scenery around him and tried to prepare for a possible attack from other monsters.

At that moment, the scenery in front of him changed.

“…?!” Ethan realized that he was seeing an illusion due to the sudden scenery.

There was no reason for such a sight to appear in front of him as he was running through the air following Dirette.

‘What is it? Ordinary illusion magic shouldn’t work on me?’ Ethan was confused. He thought he was protected from illusions and poisons.

In the illusion, a magician dressed in antique clothing opened his mouth. The attire was so unique and old that it was impossible to guess where he came from just by looking at his clothes.

-Master. I have come as you instructed. Now answer me. What must I, Antagondals, do?

‘!’ Ethan’s eyes widened in shock as he had heard the name Antagondals before.

Why did that magical criminal come inside Einroguard’s territory?

But the opponent in front of Antagondals was even more shocking.

Surprisingly, it was the Headmaster in the form of a human skeleton.

‘…!!!’ The Headmaster in the form of a human skeleton was not a kind and gentle person even in normal times, but the skeleton Headmaster in the illusion now had an icy and arrogant attitude.

It seemed as if he was ignoring Antagondals despite him being in front of him.

Despite continued pleas and requests, Antagondals had a slightly angry expression as the skeleton Headmaster said nothing, but he held back again and opened his mouth.

-Then I will wait! Master. Until you give me guidance again!

With those words, the illusion ended.

Dirette shouted with joy as he saw the Dark Snail getting closer and closer.

“Junior! Do you see it?!”

“Senior!!”

“Huh!? What?! Why?!” Dirette almost lost his balance and staggered as his junior suddenly grabbed his shoulder tightly and shouted.

But that was nothing compared to what his junior was about to shout.

“We’re in big trouble! The Headmaster has finally gone mad!!!”

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about, so explain slowly!”