Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 154

Ethan immediately thought of Headmaster Skull when he heard the name ‘Nemesis Detection Potion’. Headmaster Skull was a dangerous enemy he needed to watch out for.

Finding Headmaster Skull was important for more than just his feelings; it could help him stay alive.

‘I could drink the potion every time I’m about to do something dangerous.’

Priestess Siana, a very clever person from the Flamen Order, had created the potion. Ethan wondered, “How do we choose who the potion will find?”

There were several ways to choose the target of a curse or potion, like saying a spell while thinking about the target’s name or face, or using something that belongs to them.

“You just need to add a strand of the target’s hair to the completed potion,” Priestess Siana said.

“Hair.” Ethan repeated.

“Yes, hair.”

Ethan thought. ‘But wait… does Headmaster Skull even *have* hair? He’s a lich, isn’t he?’

Headmaster Skull had no hair. Even if he got hair from when Headmaster Skull was alive, it would have rotted away into dust because Headmaster Skull was too old.

‘I can’t use it on Headmaster Skull, then.’

It was a shame, but there was nothing he could do.

Priestess Siana seemed interested and continued, “If Ethan Wodanaz of the Wodanaz family were to make it, I would help you.”

“But isn’t this potion really hard to make, just the few of us?” Ethan asked.

“But Ethan Wodanaz of the Wodanaz family is someone who enjoys difficult challenges,” Priestess Siana replied.

“…Huh?”

Ethan paused, wondering where such a crazy rumor came from.

‘Are the White Tiger Tower blokes spreading this around?’

“That’s not true,” Ethan said.

“Oh, you’re just being modest! Haha,” Priestess Siana laughed.

“It’s really not true,” Ethan said, a bit annoyed, but Priestess Siana didn’t notice.

“Wodanaz, how should we finish this up here?” Priestess Siana asked.

“Wait. Let’s finish it together,” Ethan’s friends called out to him. They had gathered to complete Professor Alphen’s magic circle.

Thanks to everyone’s help, the magic circle was almost done.

‘Wait a minute. It’s empty?’

Ethan paused while drawing lines on the floor, looking at the book the professor had given him. Part of the magic circle was empty. Ethan wasn’t sure if Professor Alphen had made a mistake or done it on purpose.

Originally, there should have been bright, golden spheres of light floating along the hallway, and illusionary sculptures of mythical creatures dancing in the center.

If it stayed like this, some of the spheres of light wouldn’t appear, and it would definitely look strange.

‘Should I go ask Professor Knighten?’ Ethan wondered.

Asking the professor when something was wrong or when he didn’t know something was more dangerous than he thought.

-You don’t know this? What on earth have you been listening to in my lectures?

-Are you saying I made a mistake? I’m truly dumbfounded. Of course, I left it empty so you could do this much on your own.

Whether it was a mistake or not, Professor Knighten might get very angry, more angry than Ethan expected!

Of course, Professor Alphen didn’t seem that crazy, but the other professors at the magic school had all seemed perfectly normal at first glance.

After thinking about it a lot, Ethan decided, ‘I’ll have to solve it myself.’

He was lucky that he had received enchantment attribute training from Professor Biblee Verdus. Or was it lucky?

Ethan pushed aside his worries and focused again.

“Step aside. I’m going to cast >Light Enchantment>,” Ethan said.

He waved his wand, and the spell was cast.

The >Light Enchantment> magic that Ethan cast filled the missing part of the magic circle. The other students were impressed, but the Princess tilted her head.

For magic circles like this, it was important that everything was connected properly.

Think of it like this: the mana sources were like batteries, and the lines of the magic circle were like wires that carried the power.

But the enchantment magic that Ethan cast to replace the missing part of the magic circle wasn’t really connected to the entire magic circle.

Then the mana wouldn’t be transmitted, would it?

Tap tap-

The Princess pointed to a corner of the magic circle for Ethan. Ethan immediately understood what the Princess was trying to say.

“It’s alright,” Ethan said.

“…??”

Ethan knew because he was the one who prepared this magic circle.

But the magic circle that Professor Alphen had given him wasn’t so easy that a freshman could fix or add to it and complete it.

In that case?

‘It just needs to work while people are watching.’

From the start, the purpose of the magic circle was to decorate this area with brilliant spheres of light and illusionary sculptures. As long as it worked properly while people were watching, there wouldn’t be any problems.

“But isn’t it difficult to keep it working for long?” One of the Princess’s followers asked, sounding puzzled.

Making enchantment magic last a long time was very hard. That’s why magic that lasted almost forever was called an artifact, and artifacts were very special.

If it was enchantment magic cast by Ethan with just a wand and a spell, without any preparation, it would be hard to last more than a few minutes.

“Yes. But don’t worry. I plan to recast it every day. Then it won’t turn off,” Ethan said.

“……”

“…???”

The Princess and her followers were stunned, not understanding.

Ethan called Asan. “Asan, bring the professor here. Before any other problems arise… no, now that we’ve completed it, we should show it to the professor.”

“Alright. Wodanaz!” Asan replied.

Ethan was relieved that the magic circle seemed to be working. Meanwhile, Professor Alphen was busy showing visitors around the school…

Professor Alphen Knighten, who was teaching >Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic> to the magic school freshmen, was walking with his friend Kendry Baku.

Since they were both from high-ranking imperial families, they weren’t alone. Behind them were other guests who had come to the magic school.

“Are you from Valdrogard?” Professor Alphen asked.

“Yes. I came to see Einrogard’s outstanding students and renowned education, but I am ashamed,” the wizard who had led the students from Valdrogard said, looking embarrassed.

Even if they were guests who had come to see the festival, there was some competition between the different magic schools. As a wizard working in Valdrogard, he wanted the students to show something.

Reading his mind, Alphen and Kendry comforted him as if to say it was alright.

“A student’s outstanding talent doesn’t come out by trying to show it forcibly and hastily,” Alphen said.

“Alphen is right. There’s no need to worry about such things. Valdrogard is already doing a great job of teaching its students,” Kendry added.

Except for a few people in Einrogard who were difficult, the officials from the Empire thought very highly of Valdrogard.

The wizards of Einrogard…

-Gold… two thousand seven hundred and eighty coins?? What can I even do with this small amount? If you aren’t going to give me much more, just take it back! Oh no! What if they really take it back…? These unfair officials from the Empire are hurting the free spirit of magic!

In comparison, the wizards of Valdrogard…

-Imperial money? No, thank you. We are not so poor that we need help like that. We are nobles. Please don’t make us look bad by giving us money we don’t need.

Thus, it was no wonder the Empire’s officials favored Valdrogard even more. It was only natural that someone like Kendry might think Valdrogard’s education was somewhat healthier.

Einrogard was a bit… Too focused on magic, perhaps ruining the character of its wizards? “However, I am ashamed that we only showed a poor performance against Einrogard’s fifth-year students. Of course, we couldn’t win since they are older, but we should have been able to show a better performance…”

“…?” Alpen was puzzled. The fifth-year students hadn’t come to the festival, had they?

Kendry quickly and quietly explained the situation to Alpen.

-Professor Begreck hit a Valdrogard student?

-No. Professor Begreck’s student did.

-To a first-year student?!

-Magical combat is separate from magical skill. If you don’t practice separately, you can be clumsy.

-Even if they are separate, a first-year student wouldn’t have had much opportunity to practice magical combat…

-Let’s not unnecessarily hurt someone who came to enjoy the festival. What good would it do the Empire if magic schools fought each other?

-That’s true.

The two nodded and decided to keep it to themselves.

“What were you talking about?”

“It’s nothing.”

Just as they were trying to change the subject, a first-year student came running from afar. It was Asan from the Dalcard family.

“Professor, I have completed what you asked for last time.”

“You’ve worked hard. Let’s go check it out now.”

Asan bowed his head and ran ahead, to tell his friends that guests were coming soon.

Professor Alpen paused, watching Asan walk away and paused.

“…Hmm?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Didn’t he just say he completed it?”

“He did. I saw it once before, and it had progressed quite a bit.”

“I only asked them to start the magic circle, not finish it completely…” Professor Alpen muttered as if he couldn’t understand.

-I’d like to entrust you all with creating a simple magic circle.

He had said he wanted to entrust them with creating a magic circle, not to complete the entire magic circle. In the first place, it was difficult for a freshman to complete all of that. So Professor Alpen had told them to do their best with the help of other friends, up to the possible parts…

“Oh dear. Was there a misunderstanding?”

“There was a misunderstanding.”

“It will be a good opportunity for the students.”

“That’s right. Amazing. I didn’t expect them to complete it…”

“May I hear more details?” The Valdrogard wizard asked, seemingly curious. When Professor Alpen explained what had happened, the Valdrogard wizard praised Professor Alpen.

“Thanks to the professor not setting limits, the students can go further.”

“Your praise embarrasses me!”

“Haha!”

“Hahaha!” The wizards laughed and praised each other.

The second-year students from Valdrogard, who arrived late, asked, puzzled.

“What’s going on?”

The Valdrogard wizard explained the story he had heard. Then the Valdrogard students said in disbelief.

“That level of magic circle so quickly?!”

“No way! It must be incomplete!”

Apart from the difficulty of the magic circle, the speed was unbelievable. Making a magic circle is not just drawing shapes. It needs careful math to figure out the magic power. Even wizards often fail and get tired when they test it.

“That may be the case. But isn’t it amazing that they completed it enough to show it to the professor, even if it’s incomplete?”

“Kuh…”

“That’s… true.” The polite Valdrogard students had no choice but to admit it. Even if it was incomplete, completing it enough to show it was amazing.

“Then shall we all go take a look?”

“Yes, Professor.” Following behind the older wizards, the Valdrogard students whispered.

“But which grade students did it?”

“I wonder…?”

The Valdrogard students, having arrived at the lecture room, nodded immediately.

“They’re fifth-year students.”

“Why?”

“That person over there. They said he’s a fifth-year.”

“I see.” The students nodded, looking at Yihan’s face. The rumors about Yihan were growing every time the third-year students from Valdrogard were beaten harder and harder.

“Wait a minute. That person is… Princess Adenarte?”

“A princess? Why does that matter?”

“I thought she was a year younger than us…?”

“Then she’s a first-year? She must have made it with the older students.” It was not uncommon for older students to do magic with younger students in Valdrogard. Seniors get help from juniors. Juniors get guidance from seniors. This was the school spirit of a prestigious magic school.

‘Did a fifth-year come too?’ Yihan, who was sitting and resting, was puzzled by the word ‘fifth-year’ coming from among the students who came from outside. He didn’t think he had seen a fifth-year student from Valdrogard…

“Wodanaz, that’s excellent.”

“Thank you, Professor.” Yihan bowed politely. This moment of being recognized by the professor. The more difficult the professor, the more glorious that moment was.

“I didn’t give you an assignment to complete everything, but you completed it…”

“…?”

“But you completed that part separately?”

“…Wait a minute. Professor. Just a moment.” Yihan interrupted the professor without realizing it.

What did he just say?