Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 984

Lee Han was surprised.

“I didn’t expect this to work.”

Lee Han wasn’t sure his idea would work when he said it. But the other person’s reaction surprised him even more than he expected.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah. Yes. I will guide you now.”

Lee Han answered the Mad Doppelganger without thinking. Then, he understood the problem.

Lee Han understood something important. The Mad Doppelganger wanted to see Senior Caton. But Lee Han wasn’t sure if Senior Caton wanted to see *him*.

If the senior, one of the top fifth-year students in terms of combat ability, held a grudge, life at Einroguard could become a little more difficult.

‘…I’ll have to say he forced me to come.’

“Oh, Junior!”

Caton, a fifth-year student from the White Tiger Tower, looked at Lee Han with tears welling up in his eyes.

These weren’t tears of anger or being betrayed. They were tears of strong feeling.

“To think you would bring such a great person for this not-so-good wizard…”

“…I just like you so much, Senior. Haha.”

Wham!

Caton couldn’t contain his excitement and hugged Lee Han tightly.

Catfolk were generally smaller than humans, and Caton was no exception.

However, his strength was beyond imagination. Lee Han, who had taken attacks from formidable opponents, was about to scream.

“…Ugh! Senior. It hurts.”

“Ah, I’m sorry, Junior. I was too happy.”

Caton quickly apologized.

He was so happy to see the Headmaster’s Doppelganger that he hadn’t controlled his strength.

“To have the opportunity to learn from the Headmaster’s Doppelganger…”

“Why didn’t you ask the Headmaster directly?”

Lee Han was puzzled.

Of course, most Einroguard students didn’t particularly like asking the Headmaster questions.

Einroguard students were known to be crazy, but even they had limits.

They would ask the professors, why ask a crazy archmage?

But in Lee Han’s view, Caton was crazy enough to ask the Headmaster about magic.

Besides, by the fifth year, it seemed rarer not to have asked the Headmaster a question at least once…

“I used to ask him a lot.”

Caton replied in a slightly dejected voice.

“But from some point on, he started avoiding me.”

“……”

Lee Han was honestly impressed.

Caton was so persistent, even the Headmaster got tired of him and tried to avoid him!

‘Amazing!’

“He’s clearly inside, but he says he’s not…”

“How could he tell such a lie?”

“I knew you would think so, Junior. So I broke through the wall and invaded, but ended up in the punishment room…”

“……”

“But I’m so happy to have this opportunity to learn!”

Caton smiled brightly.

However, Lee Han suddenly began to worry.

If even the Headmaster ran away because he couldn’t teach him, would the Doppelganger be any different?

‘He’s not going to get angry at me, is he?’

“I ask for your guidance!”

Unaware of Lee Han’s inner thoughts, Caton paid his respects.

“At least you know basic etiquette. Unlike that wizard.”

‘Meeting Professor Verdus first might have been lucky.’

Lee Han breathed a sigh of relief at the Mad Doppelganger’s reaction.

Perhaps because he met Professor Verdus first, the subsequent wizards were all benefiting from the contrast.

“If you want to receive guidance, show your talent in front of the royal.”

“Yes!”

Caton answered coolly and drew his sword.

Caton, the fifth-year student who often failed his classes, started his sword dance. Lee Han had seen it a few times before.

It was magic with a sword at its best. In fact, it was hard to imagine anyone else in the Empire doing something like this.

When even a simple microcosm was finally realized, the Mad Doppelganger’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

As the reality near the sword changed, and the blazing aura turned into water, the Mad Doppelganger clicked his tongue as if he was dumbfounded.

Even in ancient times, swordsmen with this level of talent were rare.

It wasn’t a commonplace talent such as a keen sense of magic or a sharp ability to perceive one’s own body.

He had the wildness to throw himself into anything and destroy the world!

Some might call it crude or violent, but this was a talent that a swordsman should naturally possess.

If a wizard changes the world, a swordsman tears it apart.

The problem was…

“Isn’t it amazing?”

“What a waste. Why is he doing such inefficient things with such talent?”

…the fact that he kept doing strange things with such talent.

A swordsman should look inside himself. Why was Caton forcing a simple microcosm onto his sword?

“Senior himself is very interested in magic.”

“Then those around him should have stopped him.”

“Isn’t that Senior’s choice? No matter how reckless it seems, if he wants to do it… all I or others can do is offer advice.”

The Mad Doppelganger paused briefly at Lee Han’s words.

When he saw the master’s reaction, Lee Han quickly got ready for something bad to happen.

‘What defensive magic is possible right now…’

“That’s right. That’s quite a reasonable thing to say.”

“!”

Instead of getting angry and saying, ‘What nonsense!’, the fact that he acknowledged it surprised Lee Han.

‘Is he really in an incredibly good mood?’

There was really no other explanation.

“Are you acknowledging it?”

“What?”

“Um… I mean, Senior’s reckless choices…”

“What do I care? He’s not a royal’s disciple anyway. More than that, he’d be useful as a bodyguard.”

The Mad Doppelganger rated Caton much higher than Lee Han had thought.

When wizards become very strong, they don’t need bodyguards. But until then, they need someone to protect them.

There was no harm in having such a swordsman as a bodyguard.

“Good. I will teach you magic.”

“R-really!”

Caton exclaimed with a voice full of emotion. The Mad Doppelganger nodded and said.

“What magic are you curious about? Ancient secrets, black magic, microcosm, reverse magic, incantations, souls…”

“[Low-Level Flame Barrier]>! I want to learn it!”

“…?”

The Mad Doppelganger looked at Lee Han with disbelief. Lee Han subtly avoided his gaze.

“[Low-Level Flame Barrier]>! I want to learn it! Please!”

“……”

The Mad Doppelganger was shocked. Caton was very talented with a sword, but his magic talent was awful!

No matter what, how could his level be so low…?!

The Mad Doppelganger taught in a way that was deep and mysterious.

And too difficult for Caton to understand.

The more he taught the other party, the more the Mad Doppelganger felt how talented his previous disciple was.

“Thank you for your teaching!”

“……”

When the teaching was over, the exhausted Mad Doppelganger turned away without answering.

Lee Han watched carefully and asked Caton.

“Was it helpful at all?”

“Not at all, Junior!”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? I’m happy enough.”

Caton looked at him as if asking what he was talking about.

The history of failures Caton had gone through was too long to be saddened by not learning and realizing immediately.

He wasn’t sad or upset by just this one failure.

Lee Han was slightly impressed by his senior’s unwavering attitude.

He thought he would have been shaken or collapsed, but he had such steadfastness.

‘Respectable.’

No wonder he continued to train without wavering even in the punishment room with that kind of spirit.

While Lee Han looked at him with respect, Caton quickly packed his bag. Lee Han asked with a curious voice as he saw him packing emergency food and some artifacts.

“Where are you going after the lecture?”

“I’m going to visit the Frost Giants’ dimension.”

“Oh. Frost Giants also appeared in the dimension I visited this time, how interesting.”

To be precise, it was the story of the dimension he visited during Professor Milay’s lecture.

Professor Milay told the students to visit and make maps of new dimensions. This was to teach them the basics of summoning magic this semester.

…Lee Han and his friends easily completed it with Arsil’s help, but instead, they were cursed to bring additional artifacts acquired by the Frost Giants.

Trading with evil and powerful beings is always dangerous.

But Caton was going to visit the Frost Giants’ dimension.

It was a strange coincidence.

“That’s the dimension, Junior.”

“…Yes!?”

Lee Han was startled.

Why was Caton trying to go to the dimension that Lee Han and his friends had visited?

“Professor Inguldel asked me to. He asked me to check if it was a suitable place to take the final exam.”

“No, how can a dangerous dimension where Frost Giants appear be a suitable place to take the final exam?”

Lee Han felt betrayed by the professor he trusted. He spoke in a shaky voice.

How could Professor Inguldel, not Professor Volardi, give such a cruel exam?

Caton saw that Lee Han was upset and felt a little awkward.

“I don’t know either… The professor said that since second-year students seem to visit other dimensions often, he wanted to help them prepare for it rather than stop them.”

“What madman spread such ridiculous rumors!”

Lee Han was angry. Then, he suddenly remembered something.

Come to think of it, it was Lee Han himself who submitted the assignment to Professor Inguldel about visiting the dimension with the Pride Demon, the Mad Eye King, and Arsil.

It made sense that Professor Inguldel might have seen Lee Han’s report and thought, ‘Second-year students are going to dangerous dimensions without knowing the risks!’

Could it be?

“Um, if you really want to know, Junior, I can ask the professor and find out who started the rumor…”

“Now that it’s come to this, who spread it doesn’t matter. We’ll just face it calmly like Einroguard students.”

Caton was impressed by Lee Han’s attitude.

Although he was a junior, his dignified and bold attitude was worth learning from.

‘Wait. It might be better to bring out the artifact this time.’

Lee Han was lost in thought.

It was the Mad Doppelganger’s week to watch over Lee Han. But Lee Han didn’t know how long this would last.

Like the Headmaster, that Doppelganger was also eccentric and capricious.

Should he bring out the Frost Giant’s artifact while the Mad Doppelganger and Caton were next to him?

“Senior. I’ll help you too. My next lecture is also empty.”

“You will!”

“Of course, you might be surprised that I, a second-year student, am going with you. But my master will be going with us too…”

“No. I’m surprised that your next lecture is empty, Junior.”

“……”

Lee Han was dumbfounded.

“I thought you might want to go with us since you asked from the beginning. You like that kind of thing, Junior.”

“What kind of senior-junior relationship in any dimension likes that kind of thing… No, never mind. Anyway, I’ll take that as permission.”

Lee Han cleanly backed down, not wanting to waste time and energy here.

He had to persuade the Mad Doppelganger too.

“Master. The lecture is over today, and Senior…”

Lee Han told him about the dimension with Frost Giants and its treasures. The Mad Doppelganger listened without saying anything.

Then he opened his mouth.

“Actually, when you really wanted to come to this lecture, I thought you were trying to avoid studying.”

“!”

How did he know?

Lee Han was thrilled by his master’s sharp guess.

Showing Senior Caton to the Mad Doppelganger was also clearly intended to ease the pressure on Lee Han himself.

“But after hearing what you just said, I was wrong. Is *this* why you came?”

“…That’s right. I’ve been planning it for a while.”