Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 138

The white horse stamped its hooves on the ground, making a loud noise, as if to say, “Yes! That’s exactly right!”

Sharkan, the small creature, barked happily. He thought he had fixed the problem with the potion, but then he saw Ethan and Yoner looking confused. *Oh no,* Sharkan thought. *They still don’t understand!*

Ethan frowned. This confusion had to stop! He needed to figure out what was really going on.

But Yoner looked at Ethan as if he were talking nonsense.

“What do you mean there’s no possibility it’s a real griffin?”

“You said there were two distinct green potions earlier, right? A potion to remove curses and a potion for animal transformation.”

Both potions were the same color, so when Sharkan looked quickly in the potion box and ran off, Yoner couldn’t immediately tell them apart either.

What if the white horse drank the curse removal potion instead of the griffin transformation potion?

“But… Ethan,” Yoner hesitated, unsure how to correct him. Ethan’s words seemed too absurd.

“Even so, Professor Lightningfoot wouldn’t turn a griffin into a horse and give it to students.”

Ethan and the white horse were silent.

Yoner’s logic was too perfect.

However, Ethan didn’t back down easily.

‘Yoner still trusts the professors a little, but I don’t,’ Ethan thought.

The professors at the magic school were capable of anything, even turning a griffin into a horse and giving it to a freshman!

It was unlikely, but Ethan felt a strange unease.

Besides, the white horse and Sharkan were constantly fussing and being frustrated, which was a little…

“I still want to check,” Ethan said.

“If you say so… how are you going to check?” Yoner asked.

“Let’s check the other green potion.”

“It’s dangerous to carelessly give transformation potions to animals,” Yoner said with a worried look. It was hard to predict how an animal would react when its body changed.

“Of course, I’m not thinking of giving it to Phoneg. To Gainando…” Ethan stopped talking, suddenly concerned about the white horse’s name. …No, could it be?

‘Professor Lightningfoot is the kind of person who would just call a griffin’s name backwards… which is probably right,’ Ethan thought.

Ethan looked at the white horse. The white horse gazed at Ethan with deep, large eyes and nodded, as if to say, Trust me!

“You’re going to give it to Gainando?” Yoner asked.

“Yeah. Is that a bit much?”

“No. That’s a good idea,” Yoner agreed quickly. He wanted to stop them from giving transformation potions to animals, but Gainando was fine.

“Wait. Yoner. Now that I think about it, we could just ask the priests to check again,” Ethan said.

Yoner’s eyes widened. “Oh, right?”

“But they must be busy checking other potions. Should we just give it to Gainando and check?” Ethan asked.

“I’ll leave it to your judgment, Ethan. Whatever you think is best,” Yoner replied.

The two Blue Dragon Tower students, plotting something suspicious, turned back towards the tower.

The white horse tapped the ground with its hooves, its gaze full of anticipation as it watched Ethan’s back. Soon this ridiculous accusation would be cleared!

Sharkan barked as if to tell him to wait a little longer. The white horse lowered its head in gratitude.

Monday arrived. The weekend was over, and a new week began, but Ethan’s heart was far from warm excitement. He had Professor Voladi’s lecture in the morning.

Professor Voladi sighed lightly as he saw Ethan enter. It was the first time Ethan had seen him like that.

‘What’s this? Bloody terrifying,’ Ethan thought. It was always scary when someone did something they didn’t usually do. Especially if that someone was Professor Voladi, it was twice as scary.

Professor Voladi spoke slowly. “I would have said it was excessive.”

“Yes?” Ethan asked.

Professor Voladi spoke in short, choppy sentences, like he was only giving half of each thought. It was always new, and Ethan tensed.

He couldn’t know what the other person would do.

“When you defeated the golem, do you remember?” Professor Voladi asked.

“Yes,” Ethan replied.

Ethan, caught in Professor Thunderfoot’s scheme, had defeated the mud golem blocking his path in order to survive. He had poured immense magical power into completing a giant water orb with special magic.

And Professor Voladi had heard about it and said, ‘Why are you so greedy? Already special magic?’

Ethan had no desire for such things, and even if he did, Professor Voladi shouldn’t have said such things.

‘Isn’t he the most magically ambitious person among the magic school professors right now!’ Ethan thought.

“I would have told you not to be impatient then,” Professor Voladi said.

“So I haven’t used special magic since then…?” Ethan asked.

“I heard you attempted multiple Water Orb manipulation,” Professor Voladi said.

Ethan despaired.

‘Professor Ingledel, how much has this person been blabbing?’ Ethan wondered. ‘I’m going crazy.’

There was definitely a time when the magic school professors gathered. Otherwise, it couldn’t have spread so thoroughly.

“The situation was urgent, so I couldn’t help it,” Ethan said.

“I suppose,” Professor Voladi nodded readily. Ethan wasn’t relieved by the sight.

Professor Voladi was the type of person who would make a convincing expression and then complete a different thought in his own logic.

Professor Voladi was thinking something different.

‘How difficult is teaching?’ he mused. ‘A person who doesn’t go when the path is in front of them doesn’t have the qualifications of a wizard. And the boy from the Wodanaz family in front of him was young, but he was more wizard-like than anyone else.’

The last time Ethan stopped exploring special magic wasn’t because of Professor Voladi’s advice. A true wizard wouldn’t stop just because of such shallow words of advice.

It was only possible when they themselves were convinced.

That’s why Professor Voladi hadn’t prepared additional training, wasn’t it? To forcibly concentrate him.

‘But it’s something that has to be done,’ Professor Voladi thought.

Professor Voladi stood up from his seat. He could tell just by looking at Ethan’s eyes that the boy from the Wodanaz family wouldn’t stop.

Professor Voladi didn’t intend to just give shallow advice like last time.

“Receive this,” he said.

” ?” Ethan was taken aback by the bundle Professor Voladi gave him. What is this?

“Wrap it around,” Professor Voladi instructed.

When he unfolded the bundle, it turned out to be an old cloak. It definitely had magic on it.

“What kind of magic is on it?” Ethan asked.

“Defensive magic,” Professor Voladi replied.

Ethan sighed. What could be the reason Professor Voladi was giving him a cloak with defensive magic?

‘He’s probably going to beat me up even harder than last time,’ Ethan thought. ‘Just how much is he planning to beat me up…’

However, instead of casting magic, Professor Voladi turned around. Then, he opened the door to the lecture room and went outside.

“Follow me,” he said.

“??” Ethan followed Professor Voladi with a slightly bewildered feeling.

The hallway on the first basement floor felt cold and damp. It was dark, and only a few dim lights flickered on the walls. Even though it was morning, it felt like a completely different place.

“Where are we going?” Ethan asked.

“We did elemental detection training last time, didn’t we,” Professor Voladi said.

“We did,” Ethan replied.

He wanted to get angry for demanding an answer to the question, but Ethan persevered. Professor Voladi was originally this kind of person.

“Your elemental detection ability is good enough. There’s no need for more training,” Professor Voladi said.

“Thank you,” Ethan said. Based on Professor Voladi’s standards, that was a huge compliment.

“And I gave you a book on basic lightning magic and its applications,” Professor Voladi continued.

“I’m reading it, but I haven’t completely…” Ethan said.

“I didn’t think you’d understand it all at once,” Professor Voladi said.

Ethan was surprised, not by the words themselves, but by Professor Voladi saying such things. For Professor Voladi to say such normal things?

‘…Instead of being happy, the book’s difficulty is probably much greater than I thought,’ Ethan realized. It wasn’t the time to be happy. Ethan’s heart became gloomy again.

“Elemental detection ability, control ability, shape-shifting ability… all are good enough, so it’s okay to try multiple Water Orb manipulation,” Professor Voladi said.

“Is that so?” Ethan’s face lit up. It was a relief that it was originally okay to try. Wouldn’t Professor Voladi’s teaching be a little less harsh?

The professor closed his mouth and strode down the underground hallway. He swung his staff towards the wall, and a hidden staircase appeared.

‘How many hidden paths are there?’ Ethan wondered, following the professor and memorizing the path.

After a while of silence, Ethan asked again, “So, Professor… where are we going?” He had just asked where they were going, but suddenly he only brought up the training they had done so far and was silent. What is it?

Professor Voladi stopped abruptly and looked at Ethan, his eyes holding a faint bewilderment.

Ethan, like a skilled disciple, understood the situation.

‘Hmm. He seems to think he’s explained everything with what he just said,’ Ethan thought. He didn’t know how that was an explanation, but Ethan wasn’t flustered.

“Could you explain in a little more detail? Starting with exactly where we’re going now,” Ethan asked.

“We’re going to a dungeon,” Professor Voladi said.

Ethan regretted asking for a moment.

Dungeons are strange places with different rules because of the magic that has built up there. It could be an old ruin, or a tower built by a crazy wizard to store things.

It would be nice if only magic was there, but usually there are monsters in dungeons. They are drawn to magic.

Of course, this magic school probably has a dungeon, whether natural or made by someone, on campus…

‘I didn’t want to go in there,’ Ethan thought.

How long had he walked along the hidden underground passage? Gradually, the bricks disappeared and it became natural ground. The magic in the air became stronger.

And from the darkness ahead, he could hear the eerie sounds of monsters.

Ethan looked at the back of Professor Voladi, who was walking ahead.

Would it be easier to beat Professor Voladi and escape, or to fight the monsters in the dungeon? Sadly, it was the latter.

“Professor. Do you have armor besides the cloak?” Ethan asked.

“It gets in the way of magic,” Professor Voladi said firmly.

It was a common idea that battle mages would want armor on dangerous battlefields.

Mages had to focus on magic. Thick, heavy armor made it harder to move and think clearly. The noise and chaos of battle already bothered mages, so it was good to prepare for these things.

‘…But isn’t my life in danger?’ Ethan wondered. He understood Professor Voladi’s words, but there was still a problem.

It’s good to not wear armor when using magic, but… Wouldn’t it be worse if he got hit?

“Ah. Do you block attacks with magic instead of wearing armor?” Ethan asked.

That made sense. Ethan remembered the water shield magic he could use. Excellent mages would be able to use many kinds of defensive magic.

Professor Voladi, who was walking, turned his head again and looked at Ethan.

“Using defensive magic gets in the way of other magic,” Professor Voladi said.

“Then… how do you defend?” Ethan asked.

“Dodge,” Professor Voladi replied.

Ethan made a decision. No matter what Professor Voladi said, Ethan decided to fight while using defensive magic.

‘I wondered when having a lot of magic would be useful, but it’s useful now,’ Ethan thought.