Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1160

“I knew you were strong with magic, but you’re also amazing at catching spirits!” Lee Han said.

Saratan’s smoky form puffed up with anger at Lee Han’s quiet words.

*That little wizard!* Saratan thought angrily.

Spirits hated being bossed around by humans and made to work. It was even worse when it was embarrassing, like being caught in a clumsy trap. Saratan, a tough spirit known for causing trouble in his own world, felt his smoky face burn with shame.

Saratan was known as a troublemaker in the spirit world and was proud of it.

The fact that a human wizard had captured him and forced him to work was a secret he wanted to keep forever.

“Don’t you dare tell anyone! If you do… if you do…!” Saratan threatened.

“Alright, alright. Who would I even tell?” Lee Han replied.

Some wizards, like Nilia, are liked by spirits and chat with them about unimportant things. But Lee Han was very different.

He didn’t know many spirits, and the ones he knew were strange.

‘I can’t have a normal conversation…’ Lee Han thought.

If he summoned Perkontra and tried to talk about his day, that lightning spirit would immediately call Headmaster Skull.

Saratan thought Perkontra would make a big fuss and say, ‘Your student has finally gone crazy!’

“But how did you get caught? Can you tell me?” Lee Han asked, sounding curious. Saratan felt a chill.

‘This… this guy, could he be…!’ Saratan wondered.

“I don’t remember. Not even a little!” Saratan said.

Saratan had never felt close to other spirits, but now he felt responsible.

He had to protect them from that scary wizard!

“Is that so? How sad,” Lee Han said, disappointed. He thought even less of Saratan now.

‘He really is not good at anything if he can’t even remember this,’ Lee Han thought.

‘He seems to be the worst spirit I know.’ Lee Han mused.

Lee Han remembered Saratan’s mistake with the Hwacheon General warning. He thought Saratan was not good at anything except fighting.

If Saratan was talented, the Talking Oak Trees wouldn’t have handed him over to Lee Han so easily, even if he was a criminal.

“What are you thinking about?” Saratan asked, feeling nervous as Lee Han went quiet.

Was Lee Han planning to capture more spirits?

“Ah. I was wondering what kind of magic might be inside if it really is the Bakhantalla ruins,” Lee Han said calmly. Saratan believed him.

Saratan said, -Bakhantalla made many ruins for magic research. He captured good spirits and forced them to work.

‘How wonderful,’ Lee Han thought.

He didn’t understand why Headmaster Skull’s actions seemed bad, but this unknown wizard’s actions seemed good.

“Developing high-level magic costs a lot of money and time. It’s normal to create new ruins,” Lee Han said.

He meant the costs included ingredients, location, and workers.

Pure magic power from the environment was needed for high-level magic research.

If wizards couldn’t get that magic power, they would build their own facilities.

Those facilities would later be found as ruins.

-Bakhantalla was a perfectionist, Saratan said.

“Some wizards are like that, but not all of them are perfectionists,” Lee Han said.

-That’s why he destroyed the ruins of failed magic, Saratan said.

Saratan almost swore. He realized Lee Han had tricked him, and he tried hard to stay calm.

‘That was close,’ Saratan thought.

“Were you about to curse?” Lee Han asked.

-Absolutely not, Saratan replied.

“Hmm… I see. Anyway, if the ruins are still there, there’s probably finished magic inside, right?” Lee Han asked.

What if he found magic that Bakhantalla had researched but no one else had found yet?

Lee Han was very excited.

How much could he do with that power?

Saratan, watching from inside the staff, became curious and asked, -What’s the first thing you’re going to do if you get it?

He knew Lee Han was not normal.

He wondered how Lee Han planned to change the empire with powerful magic.

“First, I’ll make Professor Verdus crawl on the ground… No. He’s already crawling. Then I’ll make him roll around. I’ll threaten to not show him the magic if he doesn’t listen to me. I’ll make him do my chores every day…” Lee Han said.

-…… Saratan was speechless.

Saratan was embarrassed that he had thought Lee Han was someone to respect, considering his silly desires.

“Oh, right. I almost forgot about Senior Yookbeltire. I’ll make that person do Senior Dirett’s chores every day. Make him polish Senior Dirett’s shoes and prepare Senior Dirett’s breakfast…” Lee Han continued.

-Alright, please stop… Saratan begged.

Garko of the Arjo family was a wizard of the Transformation Magic school, as expected from his family.

Some people even said that if Garko was a penguin beastman instead of an elf, he would be more famous than Alsicle of the Pengaerin family.

Most people liked penguin beastmen, but elves were not as popular.

Garko would get angry if he heard those words.

-Alsicle of the Pengaerin family is a genius wizard who will lead the next generation of the Imperial Magic Academy! Don’t insult such a wizard! Garko would say.

-But, Garko, Pengaerin has ignored your letters, someone would say.

-He must be busy. Being so focused on magic proves he’s a genius wizard! Garko would reply.

Most wizards of the Transformation Magic school were friendly, but Garko was especially so.

He kept sending letters to Alsicle, even though Alsicle didn’t reply and stayed in his tower.

The adventurers who followed Garko respected him.

“To be honest, I was worried about this job, Wizard. I’ve had some bad experiences with wizards,” one of the adventurers said.

“Oh dear. I’m sorry about that. Wizards are so focused on magic that they often forget their manners,” Garko said, feeling bad.

It was a common mistake that wizards made when dealing with others.

They were so focused on magic that they didn’t realize they were being rude.

To avoid this, they needed to go to social events and talk to people, but many wizards didn’t do that.

“No, don’t worry about it. I wasn’t worried about the wizard, but about the rumors around here. The north has been scary lately,” another adventurer said.

The northern part of the empire was already dangerous, but it had been worse recently.

Monsters were everywhere, there were rumors of evil god worshippers, and criminals from the west were coming for some reason.

Usually, criminals from the north went to the west because it was hard to live in the north, but the opposite was rare. It didn’t make sense, even if there was a disaster in the west.

Some old adventurers thought it was part of a big plan.

“Indeed. It’s a worrying matter,” Garko said.

“Is that so? I thought you wouldn’t be afraid since you’re a wizard. You hired us and came into the ruins,” an adventurer said.

“What does death matter when magic is waiting?” Garko asked.

“Haha, you’re funny… Wait, you weren’t joking,” the adventurer realized.

“Oh dear. My jokes are so good that you misunderstood! That wasn’t a joke,” Garko said.

The adventurers felt uneasy.

It wasn’t good that the client wasn’t afraid of death.

The client knew the most about the ruins, but if he was reckless and fearless…

“Of course, I don’t want to die! There seems to be a misunderstanding. I mean that if I die for magic, I can accept it. I can die with honor,” Garko explained.

Despite Garko’s explanation, the adventurers felt scared.

They remembered the saying, ‘Don’t get too close to wizards.’

They hadn’t thought about it because Garko was so friendly, but now it made sense.

“Ahem, hmm… By the way, what exactly is in the ruins?” an adventurer asked, changing the subject. The other adventurers nodded, curious.

They were escorting Garko down to a cave ruin on the side of the mountain.

So far, there hadn’t been any dangers. There were no traps, and the paths were well-paved stone passages.

Other travelers couldn’t go any further and left after taking what they could, but Garko had found a secret passage leading underground and opened the door.

That’s how they had come down here.

“Oh dear. If I told you about the magic, I would have to imprison you and erase your memories,” Garko said.

“…That’s not a joke either, is it?” an adventurer asked.

“Yes? That’s right. I wouldn’t joke about that. You don’t think I’m silly, do you?” Garko asked.

“Absolutely not,” the adventurer replied.

The adventurers started to wish they were with the other wizard they met before.

That wizard was very rude because he knew magic, but at least he wasn’t scary or creepy when they talked.

His life goal was to earn money and retire. What a nice goal.

Wa… It… Is… Com… Ing…

“D, did you hear that?” an adventurer asked.

It wasn’t a human voice. The adventurers were scared by the ominous voice.

But Garko immediately ordered, “Finally! It seems to be the guardian of the ruins. Let’s move forward.”

“How should we deal with it?” an adventurer asked.

Even though they were nervous, the adventurers did their job.

They were going to deal with the guardian based on Garko’s instructions.

“I think I can only know how to deal with it after seeing the guardian,” Garko said.

“I see… Wait, you do have some information, right?” an adventurer asked, just in case.

Surely Garko wouldn’t just go in without any information.

‘That can’t be,’ the adventurer thought.

Garko was trusted by several magic towers in the empire and had found the secret passage, right?

He must be acting so confidently because he had information.

“I don’t. But I promise to do my best,” Garko said.

“……”

“It’s coming! Block the way!!” an adventurer shouted.

The adventurers had to act quickly without asking questions.

“Everyone, even if we get useful magic, only I can threaten Professor Verdus,” Lee Han said.

“No one wants that, Wodanaz,” a student replied.

The White Tiger Tower students looked at Lee Han like he was crazy.

They just wanted to be known for finding a great magic ruin.

That was enough for them.

And it seemed like only Wodanaz could learn the magic from the ruins.

2~3 circle magic wouldn’t be in these ruins…

-It was a good idea not to say whose magic it was. Even friends can betray you, Saratan whispered to Lee Han.

‘I didn’t say it because I thought you’d be wrong,’ Lee Han thought.