Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 17

“Impressive!” Professor Ingardel thought as he watched Lee Han kick dirt at Dergyu. *In battle, winning is everything.* Professor Ingardel, usually a stern and quiet observer, felt a genuine thrill.

Nobles trained in swordsmanship for grace and show. They hated dirty tricks. But real fighters, who risked their lives, only cared about winning.

From this point of view, Lee Han kicking dirt was smart, even excellent.

Most students knew these tricks but were too proud to use them. But Lee Han kicked dirt instantly. He was from a great noble family! Only a true fighter, who understood what real sword fighting meant, would do that. Professor Ingardel nodded slowly, a rare smile touching his lips. *This boy understands.*

“Kraaah!” Dergyu cursed, not expecting the dirt.

Dirt got into his eyes, nose, and mouth, disorienting him.

“Damn it! Such a simple trick?” Dergyu was angrier at himself for being careless than at Lee Han for fighting dirty.

He had been warned about this in his sword training! He had wrongly assumed that Lee Han, being a noble, would fight with perfect, controlled moves.

“End it quickly!” Lee Han thought, rushing towards Dergyu, who had lost his balance.

Lee Han had trained in swordsmanship for a long time, but so had Dergyu. Maybe Dergyu had trained even harder. You could tell by his stance.

Lee Han wasn’t sure who would win in a straight fight.

Then he had to create a winning situation.

Of course, Alarong hadn’t taught him to kick dirt.

Because of that, Alarong was unknowingly earning admiration from Professor Ingardel.

*To teach even such things, the master must be a truly cruel person!*

“Kuh… Damn it!”

Dergyu kicked the ground and spun backward like a swallow.

He lost his balance and rolled backward to create distance.

Lee Han didn’t expect Dergyu to fly backward and roll.

“Why is he so desperate?” Lee Han wondered. “Well, I did throw dirt at him.”

He hadn’t expected Dergyu to roll in the dirt, especially since he was from a knight family.

Everyone was shocked into silence.

Only Professor Ingardel clapped, breaking the silence. “Excellent, young students!”

Dergyu wiped the dirt off his face with his sleeve. His face was cleaner, but his whole body was a mess from rolling in the dirt.

But his eyes looked even more ferocious.

Lee Han clicked his tongue.

“Still, it’s not a total loss,” Lee Han thought. Dergyu was probably angry now, getting dirt on his face and rolling around.

Angry fighters often make mistakes.

In a close fight, you need to use mental tactics like this.

“Kraaah!” Dergyu shouted and rushed in, his pride wounded. He had to win, no matter what.

Professor Ingardel was impressed again.

He was already impressed by their attitude to fighting. Now, he was amazed by their pure skill with swords.

He knew they were the best new students, but not *this* good.

Dergyu from the Choi family skillfully used the Gosan Wolgeom style.

His wooden sword made a “whoosh” sound as he attacked Lee Han with fast, light strikes.

Usually, fighters slow down between strikes, but Dergyu kept his speed.

He did this by adding a little magic to his sword.

It would be hard to block even a simple strike, but each sword strike was infused with magic.

It was an excessively harsh attack for a freshman.

But Lee Han from the Wodanaz family was a tough opponent.

*Thud.* “!” *Thud.* “!!” *Thud-* “!!!!” The more Dergyu attacked, the more worried and frustrated he looked.

Dergyu moved quickly, never stopping, trying to avoid Lee Han’s counter-attacks.

With each attack, Dergyu tightened every muscle and lunged forward. He had to, to keep up his speed.

It was a fast and impressive attack, but it used up a lot of energy. Dergyu was already getting breathless.

But Lee Han stood still, like a rock.

With hardly any movement, he simply flicked Dergyu’s attacks aside, *thud, thud*.

It was as if he could see every move coming.

“Damn it!” Dergyu thought. It felt like he was hitting a rock with a needle.

Even though he knew where Lee Han would block, he couldn’t believe how easily Lee Han deflected his attacks.

“Is my attack too weak? Why isn’t he getting tired?” Dergyu shouted in his mind.

Lee Han was thinking something similar.

“This guy looks like he’s about to die, why doesn’t he stop?”

The Byeogam Sword that Lee Han learned was a heavy and strong sword style.

Even if he tried to hit Dergyu, Dergyu was moving around so crazily that it wasn’t easy.

The only good thing was that Lee Han was physically stronger.

Dergyu was excited, rolled on the floor, his movements were much more violent, and above all…

Lee Han didn’t get tired from using a little magic when wielding the sword.

Lee Han was surprised by his own magic power, which he had noticed since he started learning magic.

…He seemed to be using magic in his sword for a long time. Why wasn’t he getting tired?

But even though Lee Han was in an advantageous situation, he wasn’t relaxed.

Honestly, Dergyu’s attack was quite fierce.

Each time he blocked, there was a heavy force, and his spine was chilling.

It was a wooden sword, but if it were a real sword, his collar would have been cut off just by grazing it.

To anyone watching, Lee Han seemed to block easily, with relaxed movements. But inside, Lee Han was putting all his effort into each block.

“Hoo-ahk…!”

And in the end, Dergyu lost his focus in his mind before his body gave out.

It was because his opponent seemed so strong.

Yihan was blocking attacks without changing his expression, like they were nothing!

When he looked into Yihan’s eyes, Dergyu felt like Yihan was being controlled.

‘How unfortunate,’ Professor Ingardel thought to himself.

Even though Dergyu had been the first to give in, Yihan was also tired.

That showed how strong Dergyu’s attacks had been.

If Dergyu had known that, he might have found a little more strength.

But Dergyu thought his opponent was stronger than he was and gave up.

Being so young, it was a mistake that couldn’t be avoided.

Also, Yihan had a cold and serious presence, like a powerful noble.

Whack!

As Dergyu lost focus, Yihan quickly swung his wooden sword, pushing Dergyu’s sword away and stopping his own sword just before it hit Dergyu’s neck.

“Enough! Yihan wins,” Professor Ingardel said gently but firmly, making it clear that he would not allow any more fighting.

The White Tiger Tower students gasped in shock.

Their best swordsman had been beaten!

“No way!”

“He cheated! He threw dirt!”

“But Dergyu rolled in the dirt too.”

“So what? Are you blaming Dergyu?”

“Ah… no, sorry!”

Professor Ingardel ignored the students whispering and began to speak.

“You both showed great skill today! Remember, winning today doesn’t mean you’ll win tomorrow, and losing today doesn’t mean you’ll lose tomorrow. The winner should be humble, and the loser should try to get better. That’s how you both improve. Now, bow to each other.”

Yihan held out his hand, looking at Dergyu.

Yihan thought Dergyu would glare, spit, squeeze his hand hard, or do something else unpleasant.

Since Dergyu had started a fight with Yihan when he arrived at the lecture, he didn’t seem like someone who would back down, and now he had lost in swordsmanship, which he was very good at.

‘If he tries to punch me, I’ll kick his legs out from under him and quickly attack,’ Yihan thought.

Yihan narrowed his eyes, watching Dergyu, ready for a possible attack.

Professor Ingardel was close, but Yihan knew from experience that professors were not always reliable, a lesson he had learned again here.

“…Good fight. I was wrong about you. I thought you weren’t good enough for this class, but I was wrong. You deserve to be here.”

“!”

But Dergyu apologized sincerely.

Yihan looked to see if this was a trick to make him lower his guard before a surprise attack, but Dergyu didn’t seem to have any bad intentions.

So…

“Maybe you were just worried. It’s okay.”

“……”

Tap-

Dergyu took Yihan’s hand and nodded, his eyes showing respect.

Professor Ingardel, happy with how things had turned out, clapped with a pleased expression.

Of course, the White Tiger Tower students looked very unhappy.

“What are you all doing? Why aren’t you clapping?”

“……”

Professor Ingardel’s sword made a sharp sound as he drew it, his face serious. The students quickly began to clap.

Clap clap clap clap clap!

* * * * * *

“You’re not going to let it go after being embarrassed like that, are you? Beat him up.”

At the cold voice, the other White Tiger Tower students nodded.

But Dergyu shook his head with a serious expression.

“I lost because I wasn’t good enough.”

“No! You lost because that jerk threw dirt!”

“No. Even if he hadn’t thrown dirt, I would have lost. And if I lost because of a trick, that means I wasn’t good enough either.”

The students whispered at Dergyu’s words.

As the best swordsman, Dergyu’s words were important to the dormitory students.

However, the student with golden hair spoke coldly.

“I don’t care about that. What matters is that our tower’s honor and pride have been ruined because of you. Take responsibility, Choi family.”

“……”

Jisele, who was from the proud Moradi family, spoke coldly.

Hearing those words, Dergyu’s face became serious.

Since the Moradi family had a lot of power among the knight families of the north, Dergyu couldn’t ignore them.

“I lost because I wasn’t skilled enough, so how am I supposed to take responsibility?”

“It’s simple. You lost alone, so a group of us can go.”

Before she could finish, two students stepped forward and stood next to Dergyu.

“Don’t worry, Dergyu. I’ll help you.”

“Three should be enough.”

“…Aren’t you ashamed to have three knights fight one person?” Dergyu said, trying to calm things down.

Then Jisele smirked.

“You should have won if you were going to say that. Why say it after losing?”

“……”

The White Tiger Tower students had different reactions.

Half of them usually supported the Moradi family.

And the other half thought this was going too far.

But even those students didn’t step forward.

Dergyu bit his lip and said, “I refuse.”

“You’ll regret this.”

Jisele looked away, as if she wouldn’t push the issue.

“The coward is out. You three, go and beat up Yihan a bit.”

“Understood, Moradi.”

“Don’t worry.”

“……”

No matter how well Yihan fought, it was 3 against 1. It was too unfair.

Also, all three had trained in swordsmanship for a long time.

Dergyu made a decision.

He would stand by Yihan’s side to protect his honor.

* * * * * *

Wham!

“Yihan, you jerk!! How dare you!!”

The air became thick with tension. Everyone watched, waiting to see what would happen.

“Who’s next? If you want to get hurt, step forward,” Yihan said coldly. The two students, scared by his cold eyes and stance, took a step back without realizing it.

Dergyu ran to help, arriving a little late, and stared at the fallen student with a surprised and worried expression.

What on earth had happened?