Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1163

Lee Han frowned, his eyes narrowed slightly. *Don’t be fooled by appearances,* he reminded himself. *How many times have I fallen for that?*

He sighed inwardly. *From now on, just assume every wizard is a little bit crazy.* It was safer that way.

Looking at Garco, who was now excitedly pointing at a crumbling wall, Lee Han thought, *Well, Garco is definitely on the gentler side of wizard madness.*

Garco claimed that an ancient wizard was from his magic school, which was a bit unbelievable, to say the least.

*My claim that the skull headmaster was a virtuous prince in his youth would sound just as crazy to the people of the Empire.*

“Indeed. I didn’t know. I only knew about the Buyeo Magic School,” Lee Han said.

Lee Han spoke up. Garco became more energetic. He could sense resentment in Lee Han’s voice.

“The Buyeo Magic School is always like that. They act cunningly, pretending to be artisans and knowing nothing. Not all Buyeo wizards are like that, but some are unscrupulous!”

“Professor Verdus is on that list… Ah, it’s nothing.”

Lee Han was curious and almost asked, ‘Is Professor Verdus also on that unscrupulous list?’ but he stopped himself.

He couldn’t badmouth a professor to an external wizard unless they were fellow Einroguard students.

“Do you know why I came to this ruin among the many ruins in the north? It’s because of this ancient book.”

Garco took out an old book. The title, , was written in green letters on the well-bound cover.

“This ancient book deeply analyzes where lost transformation magic might be hidden.”

Wizards had different goals. Sometimes, even one wizard’s goals changed suddenly.

Garco’s goal was to discover and restore lost transformation magic.

Discovering lost magic was never easy. There was a reason why it hadn’t been found yet.

Undiscovered ruins were relatively less dangerous, but sometimes they had to explore remote areas that had been cut off from people for hundreds of years.

*Indeed. He’s skilled at responding.*

Subduing a chimera that he was facing for the first time without information was not something easily done.

“Student Lee Han, I don’t want the magic of this ruin. I only want one thing.”

Garco’s eyes blazed. Lee Han was slightly nervous. Those who claimed to have no desires in these situations were often the scariest.

“What is it?”

“If Bakwantallana’s magic is not Buyeo magic, please don’t hide it! If you announce it later, I hope you will tell the truth.”

“…Al, alright.”

It was a more trivial request than he thought, but Garco was sincere.

What if Bakwantallana’s undiscovered magic was not Buyeo magic?

Even if it was transformation magic?

*It’s quite possible.*

Unlike Lee Han, a wizard with no principles who took classes from all schools, Garco, who was born into a family of transformation mages, had deeply analyzed Bakwantallana’s magic and even formed his own theory.

Looking at magic like , he felt a deep understanding of transformation magic.

A wizard who didn’t know much about transformation magic couldn’t create such magic.

Surely there are powerful transformation magics among Bakwantallana’s magics!

Garco began to explain the intertwined history of Buyeo magic and transformation magic, using his friendly nature.

Lee Han regretted not having Catton or Giselle by his side. There was no one to cut off the conversation.

*Anglago, come here and cut off the conversation.*

When he signaled, Anglago, who was shaking his staff and looking for patterns, tilted his head.

Then, he clapped his fist as if he understood.

“Wodanaz told me not to disturb this side. Let’s check the other side first.”

……

Fortunately, the pattern was discovered after 30 minutes.

Lee Han walked on, worried about the thought that some of the Buyeo magic he knew might actually belong to the Transformation Magic School.

“Then… I’ll open it,” Saratan said, swallowing nervously in the staff.

If the password to go down here didn’t work, it would be very embarrassing.

Unlike creatures vulnerable to contamination, these mechanical devices or magic devices didn’t change much, so it seemed okay, but…

*If it doesn’t open, I have to pretend to be dead.*

Saratan was even thinking of becoming a dead staff and keeping his mouth shut if it didn’t open.

Rumble-

Fortunately, that worst-case scenario didn’t happen. The pattern glowed, and the wall split open, revealing a path leading down.

-It worked! Haha, it worked! It worked!

“…Be quiet and speak softly,” Lee Han said.

Lee Han was grateful that only he could hear the spirit’s voice in the staff.

If everyone else could hear it, it would have been quite embarrassing.

“What should I be careful about from here on out?”

-From this deep layer, it’s all natural.

The upper levels had rooms for workers, visitors, and storage for tools and magic items. There were many different rooms.

But the lowest level didn’t need fancy things. It only needed to extract the necessary magic power from the natural environment.

-That doesn’t mean there’s no danger. There are three main things to watch out for. First, spirits.

“Everyone, be careful of spirits,” Lee Han said.

The students and adventurers became more alert.

Spirits that appear in places with abundant natural magic power are often powerful and ferocious, making them extremely dangerous.

What kind of spirit will it be?

“Since there is a lot of bedrock nearby underground, it is likely to be a rock-type spirit.”

“It might be a dark spirit.”

“…I don’t feel the energy of the spirit?” Lee Han said.

Lee Han, who was also on edge and sensing the surrounding magic power, felt something strange.

Aside from the fact that spirits disliked Lee Han, Lee Han was good at detecting magic power, and this also applied to detecting spirits.

But there was no energy of any spirit felt around here.

-Surely… surely hiding g…

“If the guardian above was contaminated, isn’t it possible that the contaminated energy has gathered here and the spirit has left?”

-…That’s very likely!

Saratan exclaimed in surprise.

Certainly, when he heard it, it made sense.

……

Lee Han seriously considered hitting the spirit.

How absurd would the wizards or adventurers feel?

*Is this bastard doing this on purpose because it’s not his reputation at stake?*

“What’s the second thing?”

-The second is a magic trap. Bakwantallana is an excellent Buyeo wizard.

There was no more threatening obstacle than a Buyeo wizard’s trap.

Lee Han checked his surroundings again with a serious expression.

There were various movements of magic power in nature, but to find magic traps among them, he had to find regular movements.

It will take some time, but…

-You don’t need to find it with your senses. As I said, I’ve built these ruins several times.

“Several times?”

-…Don’t nitpick. Here. There. Bakwantallana often used stone towers with stones piled up haphazardly as markers. Shoo…

Lee Han carefully grabbed the stone tower with his hand.

Then, a huge torrent of magic power soared from under the stone tower and flowed through Lee Han, like lightning flowing through a person’s body.

The difference was that the torrent of magic power that had just flowed didn’t affect Lee Han. No matter how much magic power there was, it was insignificant compared to Lee Han’s magic power.

-…I was going to tell you not to touch it carelessly. I was,

Saratan sounded confused. He didn’t think a clever wizard like Wodanaz would touch it without being careful.

“Why didn’t you tell me not to touch it first?” Lee Han grumbled.

In fact, apart from Saratan’s words, Lee Han grabbed it because he was sure.

Traps that give blows with pure magic power rather than creating separate physical effects were difficult to have much effect on Lee Han.

…Of course, he didn’t know that all the connected traps would be destroyed like this.

Lee Han found another stone tower and destroyed it neatly. The friends behind him didn’t seem to notice what had happened.

“Wodanaz, what are you doing?”

“I’m destroying the traps,” Lee Han replied.

“…Are you kidding me?”

The friends were confused and stared intently.

It was rare for Wodanaz to joke about such things, but even considering that, it was an incomprehensible sight.

Disarming a magic trap was usually a louder and more flashy affair. At the very least, the movement of magic power had to splash everywhere.

But Wodanaz approached a stone tower where no magic power was felt and just scattered the stones as if he was playing a prank.

*Was that even a trap in the first place?*

Garco explained instead.

“Very excellent. To break through magic traps in such a way. The reason why traps are not felt near those stone towers is because Bakwantallana’s magic is so excellent. The floor you are standing on now may feel like ordinary rock, but this rock is a magical substance made with transformation magic. Thanks to this, it is not easy to notice even if there is a trap underneath.”

“In, indeed…!”

“Amazing!”

The students who heard the explanation were shocked and buzzed.

They were White Tiger Tower students who were often scolded by Lee Han or Giselle, and sometimes Catton, to ‘Take an interest in magic!’, but they were basically Einroguard wizards.

No matter what, they were not lacking in knowledge of magic.

As such, they knew how great the story they had just heard was. To have already cast a spell so that visitors would not notice at all.

Lee Han finished removing the traps. Then, he suddenly thought of something.

*Wait a minute. If the floor is made of transformation magic, it’s not natural.*

Lee Han was furious that Saratan kept leaving out information.

Lee Han thought angrily about Saratan. ‘You liar!’ he thought. ‘He’s even more shameless than Gainando!’

“What’s the third thing?”

-In fact, there is a high possibility that there is no third thing. Not all ruins have it.

“Indeed.”

Lee Han nodded and said to the group, “Everyone, get ready. There is a high possibility that there is something dangerous.”

-……

Saratan was angry and twitched his lips, but it wasn’t visible because he was inside the staff.

-That’s right! Bakwantallana would add more magic to this deep layer, limited to the magic he cherished. Sometimes competitors or adversaries would come and attempt theft or destruction. The third is the doppelganger. Bakwantallana’s magic doppelganger. But the number of cherished magics is small…

“Everyone! There is a high possibility that Bakwantallana’s doppelganger will appear!”

!!

-…Don’t blame me if it doesn’t come out!

He shouted with a lot of resentment, but Saratan still explained the performance of the doppelganger.

It casts Bakwantallana’s pre-designated magics in order, and those who know about this magic could easily prepare for it, but intruders who didn’t know were swept away as they were.

Are you the master?

Suddenly, psychic waves echoed throughout the deep layer. Lee Han, who was listening to Saratan’s explanation, asked with a puzzled expression, “What is this process?”

-Uh, I’ve never heard of this.

Saratan was very embarrassed.

It sounded like the voice of the doppelganger, but did the doppelganger talk to the intruder like that?

Confirmed spirit slave. Matches. Checking race… Does not match. Excuse me. You are not the master.

……

-……

Did it think he was the master because he was using Saratan like a slave right now?