Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1019

Lee Han frowned, confused.

The Skull Headmaster’s words were completely unexpected.

“But… what does Professor Begreck coming here have to do with me being away?” Lee Han asked, his voice full of question marks.

“Oh, it has *everything* to do with it,” the Skull Headmaster replied, a strange glint in his eye.

As he spoke, the Skull Headmaster turned a sharp, cold glare towards the Archmage standing beside him. This Imperial Archmage, known for his powerful magic and connection to Yukbeltire and Adenarte, shifted uncomfortably, his head bent down as if trying to disappear.

“You know, Professor Voladi can be a little *too* protective, sometimes,” the Skull Headmaster said.

“Huh?!” Lee Han almost shouted. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It sounded like complete nonsense.

If there weren’t so many people watching, he would have argued right there.

*Professor Voladi, overprotective?*

Lee Han remembered feeling grateful when Professor Voladi had defended him before. But saying he was *overprotective*? That was just wrong.

Even if Erindalber had invited him here with a very careful plan, Professor Voladi might get the wrong idea if he found out. Lee Han didn’t want to worry his professor for no reason.

*Something felt wrong.* Lee Han thought.

As a student of Einroguard and the Skull Headmaster’s best student right now, Lee Han felt a strange unease.

It felt like something bad was happening behind the scenes.

“Perfect. No more lessons needed. More training might just make things worse,” the evil god-worshipping elf next to him quickly said.

From the elf’s point of view, it was better for Lee Han to have a calm and peaceful life, instead of making Professor Voladi angry and getting stronger through more training.

Lee Han was already too dangerous as he was.

*Who is this evil god-worshipper?* Lee Han wondered. *He’s saying sensible things. He doesn’t look like he’s with the expedition team.*

As if reading his mind, the expedition members quickly answered the Skull Headmaster’s question that everyone could see on his face.

“He *is* an evil god-worshipper,” one said.

“Yes, from the Ksak Sarigol Order. He surrendered and let us capture him,” another added.

*Those crazy people? Why would they do that?* Then the Skull Headmaster understood. *Ah, I see. If Wodanaz loses control, it messes up their prophecies, doesn’t it?*

The Skull Headmaster guessed why the elf was talking to Lee Han even before hearing the full report.

To someone obsessed with prophecies, a student who was so unpredictable must seem like a monster who could ruin all their predictions at any moment.

“Exactly! You’re a wizard! Stop making the monster stronger! If the great prophet’s prophecy is messed up, the world will fall into chaos!”

The elf, clearly mad, didn’t even flinch in front of the Skull Headmaster. He gave him a serious warning.

*Isn’t all this chaos because the Skull Headmaster trained his student too much?*

The Skull Headmaster ignored him completely.

*Foolish little creature. He doesn’t even know what real chaos is. Why is he telling me what to do? Get lost.*

With a flick of his wrist, the elf disappeared. Lee Han knew where he had gone.

*Another prisoner in the deep punishment chamber, I guess.*

*Those people have always been useless, just talking nonsense about staying still…* “Anyway,” the Skull Headmaster said, getting back to the point. “Do you understand? You were not here today.”

“Ah, yes. I understand,” Lee Han nodded.

The Skull Headmaster, ready now, unleashed a powerful Archmage-level spell.

Suddenly, the darkness that always surrounded the liches the Skull Headmaster controlled disappeared. A holy light took its place.

The light started as a halo around the Skull Headmaster, but quickly grew, filling the entire area, even reaching into the deep space below.

“Fire Born of Samadhi!” the Skull Headmaster declared.

As he spoke, the light changed into flame. Surprisingly, even as it became fire, it still acted like light, shining brightly and purely.

The expedition members who knew magic stared at this strange and beautiful world, breathless. It was such an amazing sight that no wizard could look away.

Lee Han also watched closely. He felt something familiar in the power coming from the light.

*’Nine Mountains, Eight Seas!’* he thought.

The light from the edge of the dimension…

He could feel the same power in the bright flames now sweeping around them.

The Skull Headmaster nodded slightly, seeing his student’s reaction. “You went to the Yaksha’s palace, so you must have seen this light,” he explained. “Yes. It is the eternal flame of truth, that only those who are truly wise and understanding can create.”

The strange world turned into light and flame, burning everything. Even the spider monsters, who had been fearlessly attacking, seemed to understand something had changed. They quickly tried to run back underground.

But the bright flames didn’t stop. They became like fierce waves of fire. Walls, ceilings, and even water couldn’t stop them. The waves of fire surged forward, breaking through everything and burning up the enemy.

“This fire is my understanding,” the Skull Headmaster said. “Fill your fire with your own understanding.”

“Thank you,” Lee Han replied.

He wouldn’t have understood what that meant before. But now, having been inside the microcosm, he could start to understand what the Skull Headmaster was trying to teach him.

Even the microcosm, this inner world of magic that wizards could share, looked very different depending on each wizard.

If the microcosm, which was like learning to fit your magic into the existing world, was so personal, then it was impossible to just copy someone else’s magic in this unique world. Here, you had to create and grow your own world of magic.

That was probably why the Skull Headmaster had taken the time to tell him this.

Instead of just copying this powerful Archmage-level spell, he needed to create his own magic, unique to him.

“Thank you?”

“Yes? Yes.”

Then you really weren’t here today.

“…Please tell me honestly. Why are you doing this?”

Jinnon, who was going to be the next leader of the Green Luster Magic Tower, was very smart and clever.

So, it didn’t take him long to realize the letters had been mixed up.

*Reading the letter:*

-Greetings. I’m here because of the letter from Lady Erindalber, but…

-Welcome! Are you a student from Einroguard?

-No, I’m not.

-Oh? Really? Please, look at these magical items and choose what you like… Wait a minute. Did you say you’re *not*?

-I’m from the Green Luster Magic Tower.

-I don’t understand! The Archmage clearly said to expect a student from Einroguard. How can this be?

-Um… I think it means the artifact is so amazing that she used “Einroguard student” to mean…

-Ah! I see! Could it be… the letters were switched?

-!!!!!”

Jinnon, being very smart, hurried back.

*If the letters were switched,* he thought, *then a student from Einroguard, someone I don’t even know, is now on a dangerous mission instead of me!*

“This is terrible!” Jinnon said. “The letters must have been switched! We need to go to the exploration team right now!”

“Huhu,” one of the wizards chuckled. “No need to worry.”

“Yes? Why not?” Jinnon asked, confused.

The wizards of the Green Luster Magic Tower stayed calm, even though their future leader was panicking.

“Think about it, Jinnon,” a wizard said. “If a student from Einroguard got the wrong letter and went to the exploration team, would they have just let him join easily?”

-…Ah! Jinnon realized.

-If that happened, they would have figured it out by now and contacted us. Maybe only our letter was switched.

Listening to the wizards’ advice, Jinnon started to calm down.

The experienced wizards of the Green Luster Magic Tower definitely had a better understanding of things than Jinnon, who was still learning.

“Thank you!” Jinnon said. “I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“Huhu. It’s nothing,” a wizard replied. “That’s just the energy of youth, right?”

“What’s happening here?” a voice asked.

“Oh, Professor Begreck!”

While they were talking happily, Jinnon saw someone they were happy to see.

It was Professor Voladi, an important customer and a good friend of the Green Luster Magic Tower.

“It’s nothing,” Jinnon explained. “The letters were switched, but it looks like I was worried for no reason.”

“Hmm,” Professor Voladi said.

He read the switched letter once, then read it again.

Then, carefully, he read it one last time before quickly making a paper bird out of magic and sending it away.

“I have to go,” he said urgently.

“Are you going to the exploration team?” Jinnon asked. “If so, let’s go with you! We’re also involved in this, and we’d feel bad if you went alone…”

But before Jinnon could finish, Professor Voladi was already rushing away.

The wizards of the Green Luster Magic Tower were confused by what they saw.

Even if a student from Einroguard had gotten the letter, there was no way he would have actually joined the exploration team. So why was Professor Voladi in such a hurry?

“!” Professor Voladi stopped suddenly. He had reached the edge of the city and saw the exploration team outside.

Most wizards might have wondered *why* the exploration team was out here so early. But Professor Voladi, like everyone knew he would, being a great fighter wizard, first checked the thing he was most worried about.

Just like he thought, his student was with the exploration team. Luckily, Lee Han was safe.

“Professor Voladi! What a surprise! Haha!” the Skull Headmaster said loudly. “I was just walking around the city with my wonderful student here. Then, when we heard about the monsters coming from another dimension, we came quickly to help!”

“…Should I just tell him the truth?” Lee Han whispered.

“Shhh,” the Skull Headmaster hissed, signaling Lee Han to be quiet.

Lee Han hadn’t realized the letters were switched, but he had a general idea of what was happening.

*He wants to hide that I joined the exploration team,* Lee Han thought.

Honestly, Lee Han didn’t think Professor Voladi would be surprised if he found out. In fact, Professor Voladi might even want to send him to an even *more* dangerous place. But it was always better to be careful.

*What if Professor Voladi gets competitive?* Lee Han worried. *That would be bad for me.*

Alsicl asked, acting like he didn’t understand, “Professor Begreck, what brings you here?”

*Professor Voladi cares about his student, that’s all,* the Skull Headmaster thought. *Don’t ask too many questions. It’s not like you’re trying to praise him too much.*

“No, I wasn’t trying to praise him…” Alsicl started to say, confused.

Wham!

Jinnon arrived just after Professor Voladi. Stopping his magic that made him faster and stronger, Jinnon shouted, “Professor! You didn’t need to hurry so much! …Wait, why is everyone out here?”

“Why are *you* here from the Green Luster Magic Tower?” Alsicl asked, even more confused now.

The nice-looking future leader of the Green Luster Magic Tower replied, looking a little embarrassed, “Actually, the letters were switched.”

“…Switched?” Alsicl repeated, not understanding.

Jinnon explained what had happened. As he spoke, he added, sounding relieved, “But it seems like it’s okay after all. Professor Begreck was worried and came himself, but I trusted you all on the exploration team! Surely, you wouldn’t have let a student wizard join a dangerous mission, right? Even if he’s from Einroguard, that would be crazy.”

……

……

The faces of the exploration team members, including Alsicl, turned completely white, as if all the blood had rushed out of them.

Lee Han, who finally understood what was happening, also looked very unhappy.

*So, now…*

*No,* he thought. *There are too many people to blame. Where do I even start?*

Should he blame Archmage Erindalber, who was bowing his head low in shame? Or the Skull Headmaster, who had said everything was fine without even reading the letter? Or Alsicl, who had grabbed his hand and pulled him along, saying, “Oh, you’re Wodanaz? Let’s go!”…?

“Wait a minute,” Jinnon said, looking closer at Lee Han. “Are you Lee Han from the Wodanaz family? The one all the wizards in the magic tower have been talking about lately?”

“Ah. Yes. That’s me,” Lee Han replied.

“What a coincidence!” Jinnon exclaimed. “Well, now that I think about it, even if Lady Erindalber cares about younger students, there aren’t *that* many Einroguard students that she would write them a special letter like this! What a relief! If you had accidentally joined the exploration team, how angry would our magic tower, and all the other magic towers, have been with us?”

……

The Skull Headmaster shook his head, watching Erindalber sweating a lot.

He looked like he was about to get angry, but his anger seemed to be fading away.