Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 137

Lee Han felt that something was wrong. He didn’t want to be seen as talented at magic because being noticed could bring unwanted attention. So, he had to pretend he wasn’t special. The situation, where he had to insist he was talentless, was a bit strange, but Lee Han tried his best to play it down.

“Isn’t creating magic circles this way, just using a lot of magic power, a rather simple method?” Lee Han asked, trying to sound uninterested.

“Humble too,” Kendrick replied, a smile playing on his lips. “That’s a good quality, not often found in wizards.”

“No, really…” Lee Han started to protest.

“Wait,” Kendrick interrupted, his eyebrows raised. “Were you being serious just now?”

Kendrick looked puzzled, tilting his head slightly.

He had naturally assumed Lee Han was just being modest.

There were two main types of individuals skilled in creating magic circles.

One type was logical. These wizards were good at the theory and structure of magic circles. They studied and understood them completely in their minds before even starting to create one.

The other type was intuitive. These wizards created magic circles through instinct and intuition. They might not have been strong at calculation or deep understanding, but they directly channeled magic power while relying on their senses and gut feelings.

At first glance, the latter might seem simple, but it was actually more difficult.

Magic circles didn’t just appear because of a lot of magic power.

Everything else had to be filled in by the wizard.

Anyone who called this simple repetition clearly didn’t understand magic.

Without a natural talent, no matter how much magic power one possessed, they couldn’t create magic circles in this way.

‘I’m being praised for being suited to something, and yet I’ve never felt less pleased.’

Lee Han felt bewildered rather than pleased upon hearing he had a talent for creating magic circles.

“The latter… also seems suitable for an Imperial official.”

Lee Han passively resisted after hearing the explanation.

However, Kendrick looked at Lee Han as if he were talking nonsense.

“You’re both.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re both. No matter how outstanding your senses are, a freshman completing this many magic circles requires a mind that’s working at full speed.”

Even senses had their limits.

A freshman completing them at this speed proved that, beyond mere senses, his theoretical understanding of magic circles was quite deep.

Knowing how to do just one was enough to qualify as an Imperial official.

What if you excelled at both?

Then you had to dedicate yourself to magic for the future of the Empire.

‘As expected of the professor’s friend, he’s impossible to reason with.’

Lee Han quickly gave up. He thought: Being an official sounds boring. I want to do my own things.

Seeing this kind of reaction, it seemed faster to just persuade someone else and aim for an official position.

There couldn’t be only people like this among the Imperial officials!

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“Yes. Thank you for complimenting our officials. Wizards usually don’t like them.”

“I like them, though…”

“Haha! You’re joking.”

‘I feel like punching him.’

Lee Han inwardly raged at Kendrick’s attitude of looking down on a freshman just because of his higher position.

“Anyway… I saw something good. I’ll cheer you on. Raising a student like this makes me think I shouldn’t look so negatively at Gonadaltez.”

‘You can look negatively at him.’

Lee Han swallowed the words. He never knew when or where the Skull Headmaster might hear.

“Contact me later if you need help. Supporting wizards like you is the role of us officials.”

“!”

Lee Han’s face brightened.

“I’ll try to support you at least once, whatever research it may be.”

“……”

Lee Han’s face darkened again.

He didn’t really need that kind of help.

‘Wouldn’t you support young wizards’ startups instead of research?’

“There will be some external guests this week, so don’t be shaken and stay focused. Understand?”

“Are there others besides the priests?”

“That’s…”

Kendrick hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should tell the freshman.

Lee Han lied without taking a breath.

“I heard it from the Headmaster, so it wasn’t a joke.”

“Ah. You heard? Honestly, Gonadaltez is really… Sorry. I shouldn’t criticize my teacher in front of the students.”

Kendrick opened his mouth, thinking that the Skull Headmaster had spoken first.

“Perhaps people interested in Einroguard are visiting because it’s the festival period. Other magic schools too… Einroguard’s reputation is famous, after all?”

‘From other magic schools?’

Lee Han paused.

That was an unexpected guest.

He had only expected priests…

“I’ll pass on what I saw today to others as well.”

“No… it’s alright.”

“Why? The sooner you gain fame, the better. It’ll be helpful when you do research later.”

“It’s really alright.”

‘He’s from the Wodanaz family, but he’s surprisingly humble?’

Kendrick was amazed but nodded.

In fact, there was nothing bad about an outstanding wizard being humble.

One of the reasons why wizards, notorious among Imperial officials, accumulated grudges was precisely because of their arrogant mouths, wasn’t it?

Thinking about that, Kendrick was newly amazed by Lee Han.

‘I hope he grows up just like this.’

He hoped that he would become an outstanding wizard while maintaining this appearance.

The other people of the Empire would handle the trivial matters of the secular world.

As the sun completely set, Lee Han stopped working and fed the students dinner. The students, who had exhausted their magic power, devoured the meat as soon as it was grilled. The grease dripped down, crackling in the flames.

“Yonel, how are the potions coming along?”

“I managed to identify a few!”

Yonel replied with a bright face.

Thanks to the help of the priests from the Flamen Order, they had succeeded in identifying several potions.

“One of them was alcohol.”

“……”

Lee Han was slightly dumbfounded.

‘Why did they put alcohol in the potion box, and not just one, but several?’

Well, it wasn’t incomprehensible.

Being in this kind of magic school, it was natural for the seniors to reach for alcohol.

“What about the others?”

“A transformation potion. I need to check what it transforms into, but it’s probably an animal type.”

‘Not bad.’

Although it hadn’t been confirmed what kind of animal it was, a transformation potion was likely to be very useful.

If it was a winged animal…

‘I don’t know what the skies of the magic school are like, but it’s worth a try.’

“Oh, and the one Gainando ate last time was indeed a confidence potion.”

“I knew it.”

“And a potion to remove curses. They said it’s a very powerful potion. Oh, right. There was also a calmness potion besides the confidence potion.”

…!”

The students next to him showed interest.

“A calmness potion? If we drink that…”

“Wouldn’t it be dangerous if we got caught by the professor?”

“You have to think about not getting caught.”

The Blue Dragon Tower students were quickly adapting to the magic school.

They had begun to think of the exam not as a fight against themselves, but as a fight against the professor.

“I’m planning to check the remaining ones next week. I’m thinking of finishing the check when the priests are here.”

“Thank you, Yonel. You must be busy.”

“Not as much as you… Professor Thunderstride was worried about you.”

“?”

Lee Han paused.

“What was he worried about?”

“He said he wanted to call you, but he couldn’t bring himself to.”

Professor Thunderstride, who was forced to prepare something for the festival, called the students who excelled in alchemy.

Yonel was naturally called as well.

The called students were puzzled when they didn’t see Lee Han.

-Isn’t Wodanaz here?

-I couldn’t bring myself to call him, he looks too pitiful.

“…Wait.”

Lee Han felt a chill.

He hadn’t expected it, but was the Skull Headmaster really trying to call Lee Han?

‘Wait. Professor Thunderstride isn’t the type to not assign work because of just one Skull Headmaster.’

If it wasn’t just one…

A vampire professor flashed through Lee Han’s mind.

“Aaaargh!”

A Blue Dragon Tower student who had entered the lounge first screamed. Lee Han was startled and looked up.

“Is it the Headmaster’s re-attack!?”

“It’s not!”

“That’s a relief!”

‘Is it a relief?’

Lee Han thought as he moved his feet.

The lounge was a disaster. Tables were flipped over, chairs lay on their sides, and books were scattered across the floor like fallen leaves. Ink pots had spilled, staining the carpet dark purple.

The friends looked at Gainando and asked.

“You didn’t do this for food…”

“You crazy guys! I was with you!”

“Ah. That’s right.”

The culprit was quickly revealed.

Sharkan, who had been left in the lounge for magic circle work, was growling, holding something tightly in his mouth.

Lee Han looked at Sharkan and said sternly.

“Sharkan!”

Sharkan was terrified at the owner’s angry voice, which he was hearing for the first time. The powerful magic power trembled, shrinking the summoned creature.

But for the sake of the poor, misunderstood white horse, he couldn’t help it.

Sharkan growled defensively, holding the potion tightly in his mouth.

“Everyone, I’m sorry. I should have taken Sharkan with me.”

“It’s not your fault. We liked Sharkan too.”

“Who would have known Sharkan would do something like th-! Wodanaz! Sharkan’s escaping!”

Instead of repenting, Sharkan seized the opportunity and quickly ran outside. The Blue Dragon Tower students were flustered and missed Sharkan.

‘I miss him when he was a skeleton!’

Lee Han complained inwardly and ran.

Sharkan used to be a skeleton and never caused problems. But now that he had a body again, he was making trouble.

It was better than trying to kill his owner, but that kind of mischief was quite annoying.

“Yonel. Sharkan stole a potion! What potion is it?”

“That’s… wait a moment…!”

Yonel glared at the potion in Sharkan’s mouth as he ran away.

A clear green.

It was either a potion to remove curses or an animal transformation potion.

“I’m not sure! There’s a similar potion…!”

In the meantime, Sharkan quickly gained distance and arrived at the stable.

As Sharkan entered the stable, a loud noise echoed from inside.

The horses suddenly started to scream like they were collectively terrified.

‘What’s going on?!’

Lee Han ran with tension, filled with fear and worry.

As he entered the stable, he could immediately tell what potion Sharkan had stolen.

“…He stole the transformation potion.”

Yonel, who arrived late, gasped with a surprised expression.

Inside the stable, a creature stood that was like something from a legend. It had the body of a lion, but the head and wings of an eagle. Its golden eyes shone in the dim light, and its sharp beak opened in a silent roar. The air was thick with the smell of feathers and wildness – a griffin! The horses were wild with terror, their eyes wide and white, kicking at the walls of their stalls.

“Into a griffin…!”

“Yeah. It must have been a griffin transformation potion.”

It was natural for them to be in such chaos, as he had transformed into a griffin that ate horses.

Yonel whispered, looking at Sharkan.

“Maybe he was asked by the horse? Monsters like Sharkan have quite high intelligence.”

“To find a potion that transforms?”

“Yeah. It could have been. That… you know. Maybe he wanted to show off his abilities to you.”

Lee Han immediately understood what Yonel was talking about.

Among animals with strong pride, there were those who tried to show off their abilities even more if they were ignored.

Of course, that was a trait seen in monsters, but it was rare for a white horse to have such pride.

As Yonel said, the white horse, frustrated that Lee Han didn’t believe him, might have asked Sharkan to find something that could make him stronger.

“I apologize. I doubted you too much.”

The white horse, transformed into a griffin, or rather, returned to being one, lifted its front feet with joy at Lee Han’s words.

Bang!

As the effect of the potion wore off, the griffin returned to being a white horse. The curse was so powerful that it was impossible to completely resolve it with a potion.

Still, the griffin was satisfied.

Because Lee Han had finally realized his true identity!

Yonel spoke to soothe the griffin.

“You’re smart. I’ll believe you.”

-Puh-hihing? The white horse whinnied sadly, as if asking for understanding.

“But Yonel. Isn’t there a possibility that it’s a real griffin, not just a transformation?”

-Puh-hihing! Puh-hihihing! The white horse neighed happily, as it lifted its front legs.