Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 140

Even though Professor Garcia was angry, the old wizard’s face stayed completely calm.

“Back in my day,” the old wizard said, “we taught magic right in the dungeons. The magic there was so strong, it was perfect for learning powerful spells. Plus, strange things often happened in the dungeons, so it was good to learn about them too.”

“Modern wizards don’t learn that way.”

Actually, when I thought about how magic was taught at this school, it didn’t seem very different from the old ways. But Professor Garcia was saying it was.

At least, that’s what Professor Garcia was planning to do.

“Still, it’s not good to make your students too weak…”

“The headmaster messed up a few students by doing that.”

Yumidihus shook his head. “Gonadaltes’ methods are too extreme.”

Yumidihus’ voice was firm.

Even Yumidihus, who believed in teaching students strictly, thought Gonadaltes went too far.

“It’s important to find the right balance in teaching. Volardy Begreck will find that balance, so we don’t need to worry too much.”

The old wizard’s voice was gentle, like a kind grandmother, but Professor Garcia still felt worried.

Even though he hadn’t known the old wizard for long, he had a feeling this wizard was more like the scary Skull Headmaster than like himself.

Can’t let your guard down!

“Do you know Professor Begreck?”

“I taught him for a while, when he was my student.”

“Was he a disciple?!”

“Not really a disciple. I just taught him some things.”

‘Usually, that’s what they call a disciple…’

Professor Garcia thought so, but didn’t point it out any further.

In fact, there were quite a few wizards who were picky about the definition of a disciple.

It was embarrassing to say that they were in a teacher-disciple relationship just because they taught him one magic.

-A disciple must inherit the wizard’s vision and enlightenment!

Professor Garcia, who heard the old wizard’s words, became interested and asked.

“Was Professor Begreck not good enough to be a disciple?”

“We didn’t get along, and I thought one of us would die if we saw each other for too long.”

……

It was a completely unexpected reason, but Professor Garcia sincerely understood.

Certainly, Professor Volardy had a talent for making people angry.

Whoa!

Lee Han was thrown backwards, yelling a curse word he’d never used before.

‘Damn it!’

Lee Han stepped into the dark square. He knew it was a perfect place for an ambush, so he got ready.

He was ready. Any other wizard seeing his preparations would have been amazed, especially for a beginner.

He used Spatial Awareness to sense danger all around him. He moved with Gonadaltes’ Nimble Steps, making him quick and light on his feet. He even created Pahite’s Lesser Illusion to confuse enemies, and wrapped himself in a protective Water Shield.

To block the ghouls from ambushing from any direction.

And Lee Han was almost right.

A screeching sound! Then snarls and growls!

In fact, the ghouls that appeared all over the square could not penetrate Lee Han’s preparations.

Some ghouls were tricked by the illusion and lunged at empty air. Others slammed into the water shield and bounced back, confused.

Lee Han fought back quickly, striking down the ghouls with precise movements.

He sent bursts of flame towards ghouls in the distance, and smashed the nearby ones with blasts of water.

Everything seemed perfect.

Until an unexpected enemy appeared.

Then, a terrifying roar echoed through the square!

……

Lee Han stared, speechless. A Rakshasa Ghoul stood before him, a monster twice the size of the other ghouls.

‘Do I have to deal with this just because I used a few extra spells?’

Lee Han suddenly felt wronged.

What’s so wrong with splitting my water spells a little? Why does that mean I have to fight this thing in class?

But the Rakshasa Ghoul did not recognize Lee Han’s injustice and charged.

Lee Han gritted his teeth and fired magic.

Flames erupted, and blasts of water shot from all sides, hitting the Rakshasa Ghoul hard.

Unlike the other ghouls that would have been knocked down, the Rakshasa Ghoul was protected by a thick, slimy armor.

The flames died down quickly, and the water blasts just slid off the ghoul’s armor, doing no damage.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

The Rakshasa Ghoul slammed into him. Lee Han was sent flying backwards.

If he hadn’t summoned the water shield and blocked it urgently, one or two bones would have been broken.

Lee Han immediately got up.

Cursing or complaining could be done later. What was important now was to face the enemy in front of him.

“Flash!”

The lightning flew and then turned to the side. It didn’t even reach the Rakshasa Ghoul.

…!

Lee Han quickly realized the situation.

The green rock located in the square was attracting lightning magic.

‘What the…?!’

Lee Han quickly understood. The green rock was drawing in his lightning spells! ‘Perkontra’s fault!’ he thought angrily, also blaming Professor Volardy for setting up this trap.

In fact, Perkontra wasn’t really at fault, but…

Yumidihus and Professor Garcia soon found Professor Volardy.

It was the deepest part of the dungeon connected to the underground lecture room.

“Yumidihus.”

“Volardy Begreck. It’s been a while.”

Even with the unexpected visit of the guest, Professor Volardy nodded without any change in expression.

Yumidihus turned to look, not expecting Volardy to make a big deal about their visit.

In front of Professor Volardy, an image made of magic was floating in the air. Professor Garcia sighed.

He knew who it was without even looking closely. It was Lee Han, the boy from the Wodanaz family.

‘He really took him to the dungeon?’

I couldn’t believe it, but he really brought him to the dungeon.

Professor Garcia was amazed. But Professors Yumidihus and Volardy just kept talking calmly, as if this was normal.

“What is the level of that freshman?”

“Element control, shape change, multiple operations.”

“…I was asking which of those he is proficient in. Volardy Begreck.”

Yumidihus sighed.

He was like that before, but Volardy basically had no talent for speaking.

It would be one thing if he was just bad at talking, but he was also too sure of himself, which made people even angrier.

Perhaps he is still thinking, ‘I don’t know why they are doing this when I answered correctly.’

“He is proficient in all of them.”

“…What? Really?”

Yumidihus was startled.

“Gonadaltes isn’t trying to deceive me, is he?”

“No, Yumidihus. I’ve seen the boy myself. He’s really talented.”

Of course, it was natural that Yumidihus did not believe Professor Volardy’s words.

No one expected a first-year student to be this good at magic. It was simply astonishing.

“Professor Baegreg is a very strict teacher,” Professor Garcia said, a hint of doubt in his voice.

Professor Volladi tilted his head slightly, a silent question in his eyes. He didn’t seem to believe Garcia. *Was Garcia suggesting Volladi’s strict teaching was the *only* reason for the student’s skill?* Volladi’s expression remained unreadable.

“He must have taught you well.”

“Thank you.”

As the two wizards talked, Professor Garcia started to respect them less and less.

Yumidihus didn’t notice what Professor Garcia was thinking and went on.

“A student only gets good by having a good teacher. I wondered if you could teach someone well… but now I see I was wrong about you.”

Professor Volladi accepted the compliment like he deserved it. Professor Garcia wanted to run away from this place.

“What are we doing today?”

“Today’s task is to use many spells at once,” Professor Volladi answered.

“The monster?”

“A Ghoul.”

Yumidihus nodded.

Professor Garcia couldn’t bear it any longer and opened his mouth, realizing that he was the only one who would point it out.

“Wouldn’t a Ghoul be a little dangerous for a freshman to face?”

Yumidihus looked at Professor Garcia.

And then he said slowly.

“He’s just a freshman, yes. But if a freshman is good at controlling elements and using many spells, they should be able to handle a Ghoul or two.”

Professor Garcia couldn’t argue.

It was too true.

Professor Volladi nodded in agreement. Professor Garcia clenched his fist.

Yumidihus turned his gaze back to Lee Han. He was a rather intriguing boy.

“Magic…?”

“He has quite a lot of mana.”

“Then it must be difficult to control, but he’s using so much magic.”

Wizards born with a lot of mana usually developed their magic slower.

The more mana they had, the longer it took to control it properly.

But even so, using so many spells was an amazing talent.

It was almost impossible unless they were naturally talented at controlling mana, not just having a lot of it.

-Heat, distort the air. Shield, unfold.

However, even Yumidihus looked slightly bewildered when Lee Han cast additional magic before entering the plaza.

“…Is it alright for that boy to use magic like that?”

“Yes.”

“I wasn’t asking you, Volladi Baegreg.”

Yumidihus, being an experienced wizard, knew who to ask for a real answer.

Professor Garcia said with a reluctant expression.

“Yes… he’s fine to that extent.”

“He must have more mana than I thought.”

Lee Han, ready, went inside.

Lee Han, from the Wodanaz family, used magic that seemed too strong for a first-year student. He quickly defeated the Ghouls that appeared in the plaza.

Yumidihus was really impressed. The Ghouls, which were hidden well, were defeated before they could even reach Lee Han.

“I didn’t know you could teach like this.”

“Thank you.”

Professor Garcia, who was listening, gritted his teeth.

Just when it seemed like the fight was over, another monster appeared in the plaza. It was a Rakshasa Ghoul.

‘…Isn’t that really too much?’

Professor Garcia hesitated to point it out. He felt like the two wizards would just say it was fine again.

“Isn’t that too much?”

Yumidihus said as if he was wondering. Professor Garcia stared at the old wizard, dumbfounded.

“I don’t think we need a monster like that to use many spells at once.”

Professor Volladi said with his characteristic expressionless face.

“That’s right. It’s an unexpected situation.”

“…That’s just like you. I’ll go.”

Yumidihus said to Professor Volladi’s answer as if he expected it.

Professor Volladi still wasn’t good at teaching students.

To Professor Garcia, both Yumidihus and Volladi seemed equally bad at teaching.

“If you’re going to control it, you have to do it right…”

Yumidihus paused as he spoke.

The student, despite having a teacher people doubted, was defeating the Rakshasa Ghoul.

With lightning not working, there weren’t many options.

Lee Han quickly evaded the Rakshasa Ghoul’s attack.

He didn’t want to thank Headmaster Gonadaltez, but because Gonadaltez was quick on his feet, it was easy to dodge.

Because he was trained in real sword fighting and had enhancement magic on him, he could easily dodge the Ghoul’s simple attacks.

‘With the most familiar element.’

Lee Han chose the water element.

The water element was better than the lightning element, which didn’t work, or the fire element, which he wasn’t confident in yet.

Of course, he couldn’t just shoot it out. He had already realized that the impact of the existing water orbs didn’t work.

‘I’ll rotate it somehow. It doesn’t have to be perfect!’

Lee Han began to rotate the water orbs floating in the air as a group.

He didn’t need a perfect rotation like when he defeated the golem last time.

All he needed was enough penetration to defeat the enemy.

He just had to calmly complete it while continuing to evade the opponent’s attacks.

Tap tap tap!

‘It’s not enough. Let’s try again.’

Even though his first attempt failed, Lee Han didn’t panic or rush.

As calm as ice.

Second, third attempt.

As the water orbs hit harder and harder, the Rakshasa Ghoul seemed to get scared.

And…

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

‘Got it!’

It wasn’t a perfect rotation like when he defeated the golem, but the rotating water orbs struck the Rakshasa Ghoul’s body with a powerful impact.

Seeing his opponent staggering and falling, Lee Han shouted without realizing it.

“Go to hell! Voll…”

“Amazing.”

“…Ghoul!” he finished, a little embarrassed.

“That’s not a Voll Ghoul, it’s a Rakshasa Ghoul, isn’t it?”