Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 172

Ethan sighed. Gainando had grumbled earlier, “Always studying, Ethan. You’re going to misunderstand everything else, you know.” *Unnecessarily misunderstood,* Ethan thought to himself, a small smile playing on his lips. He wasn’t obsessed with books like some of his friends seemed to think. He just focused on what was important.

“Nilia,” Ethan began, turning to his friend, “you’re not thinking I’m just some bookworm too, are you?”

Nilia looked up, confused. “What are you talking about, Ethan?”

“Never mind,” Ethan said, waving a hand dismissively. “It’s nothing… Hold on a moment.”

He froze, his eyes widening slightly as he glanced back at the parchment on his desk. *Could this be the answer?* he wondered, his heart giving a small thump.

The paper was from the treasure chest that Headmaster Skull had scattered during the festival.

Magic was written on it, but it wasn’t easy to understand.

Even if it was written clearly, he would need to experiment. But it was written in secrets and puzzles only the wizard knew, so it would take even longer.

Ethan had been spending a lot of time on it.

Suddenly, he had an idea.

Ethan put down the paper and began writing quickly with his quill.

The codes he had written down separately came together, and he finally understood the magic.

To his friends, Ethan just looked like someone completely lost in thought and scribbling quickly.

Gainando muttered.

“Learning magic is important, but Ethan seems to be taking it too far.”

The night was dark, with only moonlight.

Ethan sat in the lounge, looking disappointed.

‘No…’

It wasn’t just that the other students were bad at remembering things.

They were, but that wasn’t Ethan’s problem.

‘…It was an invisibility spell.’

2nd Circle Magic, >Gonadalte’s Cloak of Invisibility>.

It wasn’t Headmaster Skull’s fault.

How could he have known that the student who would take that magic already had a belt with an invisibility spell on it?

But Ethan couldn’t help but be disappointed.

‘Alright. It’s not bad.’

If he was ever in a situation where he couldn’t use his belt, that magic would be useful.

Although, if he was in a situation where he couldn’t use his belt, he probably had bigger problems than just being seen.

Flap flap flap!

” ?”

He heard pages turning and saw a strange scene.

Ethan knew what was happening.

“Is it you again?”

The book that Headmaster Skull had given him was floating in the air, showing a page.

‘How does this book decide when to teach me magic?’

He knew it was summoning him to learn magic, but he didn’t know how it chose when to summon him.

When did it summon him?

“Can you tell me when you summon me?”

Instead of answering, the black book just showed a page.

It seemed to be telling him not to ask useless questions and just learn the magic.

‘Well, I didn’t expect the book Headmaster Skull gave me to be friendly.’

Ethan muttered.

“Hopefully, it won’t appear when I’m too busy,”

Flap!

“…?”

Ethan looked up. He thought the black book had moved a little.

Could it be?

The black book ignored Ethan’s gaze and shook the page with the magic written on it.

Fortunately, the magic in the black book wasn’t as complicated as the magic he had gotten during the festival.

2nd Circle Magic, >Gonadalte’s Dark Vision>.

It was magic that allowed him to see in complete darkness.

‘That’s pretty good.’

Ethan was happy.

This kind of magic was useful for Ethan, who often had to wander around at night.

He could summon light, but that wasn’t always possible…

‘But… are Headmaster Skull’s magics all a bit…?’

Ethan felt uneasy as he remembered the magics he had learned from the black book.

>Gonadalte’s Nimble Steps>, >Gonadalte’s Sharp Hand>, >Gonadalte’s Cloak of Invisibility> (which he hadn’t learned from the black book), and >Gonadalte’s Dark Vision>.

Magic spells named after a wizard were usually spells they created because they needed them.

‘What did he do when he was young to need these kinds of magics?’

Flap flap flap!

“Alright. I’ll focus.”

Ethan said to the black book and closed his eyes.

He would do his best to master it.

However, Ethan didn’t realize.

If he didn’t master the magic the black book gave him, he could wait until the next magic appeared.

He didn’t need to concentrate so hard to master everything at once…

Fortunately, by Monday, most of the students had recovered from their hangovers.

Ethan piled up a lot of egg sandwiches on the lounge table for breakfast.

The eggs from the garden weren’t enough, so he borrowed some eggs from Professor Swiftstride’s cabin, but he was sure she would understand.

‘Not bad.’

It was a simple sandwich with mashed eggs between soft white bread, but it tasted good.

‘I can save on ingredients again.’

He felt like he was getting better at satisfying his friends while saving money. Ethan felt a quiet sense of satisfaction.

“Wodanaz, you’re a genius.”

“To make a menu like this when you’re busy with exams…”

His friends didn’t know about Ethan’s plans as they picked up the egg sandwiches and thanked him.

“By the way, Wodanaz, did you deliver it to the Princess?”

“…Ah.”

Ethan paused.

He had been so busy with the black book and making eggs that he had forgotten.

“Why don’t you guys take it to her?”

Ethan said, looking at the Blue Dragon Tower students who were followers of the Princess.

“W-we’re a bit…”

“? ?”

“Because she’s royalty, we have to be careful and respectful.”

“? ? ? ?”

Gainando, who was eating an egg sandwich, glared at him, shocked.

Ethan, feeling annoyed, encouraged the followers.

“We’re students of the same tower, and one of the rules of Einroguard is equality, isn’t it?”

A place where everyone faced challenges.

That was Einroguard.

“You can’t keep your distance and be so cautious like that.”

“Ugh… that’s true, but…”

Despite Ethan’s words, the followers didn’t want to go to the Princess first.

While Ethan was thinking, one of the followers spoke.

“We’ll pay you more silver coins, so could you deliver it this one time, Wodanaz?”

“Sure, why not.”

“? !”

Ethan understood.

They were awkward!

>Basic Mount Training> lecture.

It was time to see how well they had taken care of their mounts.

Ethan looked at Phornig with a complicated expression. Phornig neighed as if asking what was wrong.

‘It’s because you’re a griffin…’

He felt strange thinking that he had a griffin while the other friends were leading horses.

Professor Swiftstride snapped his riding crop and said.

“Now! I’ve said this many times, the only way to become close to animals is through effort and care. You can’t cram for this lecture. If you think you can, give up.”

Gainando looked at his horse with a sad expression. The horse spat on Gainando’s face.

“Today’s exam is riding a horse and running. You have to go as far as possible and come back within the time. Any questions?”

Ethan raised his hand.

“What is it?”

“Are there any dangerous rivers like last time?”

Professor Swiftstride looked at Ethan, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

“Yes, there will be obstacles. Einroguard is vast and full of all sorts of obstacles. Be careful. Begin!”

Professor Swiftstride didn’t give the students time to prepare.

He blew the whistle to start.

‘Should we work together?’

While getting on Phornig, Ethan had other thoughts.

If they all agreed not to go too far, the exam would be easier…

‘Hmm. Impossible.’

The other tower students were already cursing at each other, so working together was impossible.

“Get out of my way, you slowpokes!”

“If you’re good enough, pass me! Are you even a real knight if you can’t ride faster?”

Ethan shook his head and clicked his tongue. Then he said.

“I don’t know why they’re so eager to fight.”

“…”

Yoner looked at Ethan, surprised.

About 1/3 of the students wanted to beat Ethan…

Ethan was good in other lectures, so they were jealous.

Some students thought, ‘I’m going to beat Wodanaz in this lecture no matter what.’

And Ethan had made enemies. There were fewer students in the White Tiger Tower who hadn’t fought with Ethan.

Professor Swiftstride warned in a sharp voice.

“Attacking each other is not allowed. Do not attack with magic or weapons.”

“What!”

Ethan was startled.

He was surprised because he was going to throw water orbs at the guys who rushed at him.

Yoner watched, dumbfounded.

He was pretending not to be, but he was preparing for a fight.

“This is mount training, not magic combat training! I’ll allow the horses to bump into each other, but anything else is not allowed. Understand?”

“Yes!”

The students answered Professor Swiftstride.

However, Professor Swiftstride didn’t know.

‘I can just make the horses bump into each other.’

Ethan would use the rules to his advantage!

Clop clop clop!

The sound of hooves echoed along the path.

The students who had taken care of their horses were able to go faster.

Ethan was one of them.

“Ethan! Is it okay to keep going this fast?”

Yoner asked, pushing his horse on.

This exam wasn’t just about going fast and far.

They had to go and come back.

If they went too far and couldn’t come back in time, that would be a problem.

But slowing down when the others were going so fast took courage.

“Everyone has their own reasons. Don’t worry.”

The students in the front began to slow down, watching each other.

They knew the horses would get tired if they kept sprinting.

The students began to group together.

‘Not good.’

It was better to run together than alone.

It was easier to deal with obstacles and collisions.

The problem was…

The students were looking at Ethan.

‘Wodanaz is the most dangerous.’

‘We have to get revenge on Wodanaz…’

‘We have to stop Wodanaz from getting ahead.’

Ethan tried to look friendly, but it didn’t work.

Even if Ethan was in their shoes, he would be wary of himself.

The overwhelming favorite to win!

-Flutter.

Phornig looked at Ethan.

“What’s wrong?” -Neigh. Neigh neigh.

“Alright. Good boy. Don’t go wild now.”

Phornig cried, frustrated. Then he glared ahead.

Wham!

Before Ethan could stop him, Phornig started to go faster.

The other friends stared in shock.

‘Wodanaz…!?’

‘What are you thinking! He’ll collapse if he runs like that!’

‘Does he have a plan?!’