Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 175

Lee Han wasted no time in casting his spell, knowing he had to act fast with a White Tiger Tower student in danger before a Rakshasa Ogre.

“Space, be recognized.”

He used Space Recognition magic. It was simple, but in the dark dungeon, its power was amplified, especially considering how rocks and pebbles scattered on the floor could change a fight.

“Hands, tear the enemy apart! Eyes, pierce the darkness!”

Lee Han rapidly cast enhancement spells in succession.

Durkheim nodded, looking tense. He knew Lee Han was a magic master, even though he was just a first-year student. Even if Durkheim didn’t know much about enhancement magic, he knew that casting enhancements in such quick succession wasn’t typical.

‘Amazing, Lee Han!’

Durkheim gripped his sword tightly, ready to jump down with Lee Han once those spells were finished.

“Flash!”

Lee Han swung his staff, unleashing a lightning bolt.

The Rakshasa Ogre, which had been charging forward, was struck and roared in pain.

Lightning, the most destructive element, damaged the Rakshasa Ogre even with a simple spell. Even though the creature could withstand quickly thrown water orbs with its thick armor, it couldn’t block electrocution.

“Flash, flash, flash, flash!”

Lee Han rapidly chanted the short spell. Bolts of lightning exploded from his staff, hitting the Rakshasa Ogre again and again. Each time, the Rakshasa Ogre flinched and paused.

Durkheim, who had been staring as if possessed, snapped out of it and asked,

“Lee… Lee Han, wait. Didn’t you say you were going down there? You did all those enhancement spells…”

He had cast so many enhancement spells, yet he wasn’t coming down, just continuously shooting lightning; it was rather perplexing. When was he planning to go down?

“Go down? Why bother? I can hit it from up here.”

“Huh?? But… you cast all those spells…?”

A wizard’s mana wasn’t infinite. As such, using it all without a plan was foolish. Efficiency above all. Only the magic needed for the current situation. If Lee Han had cast enhancement spells, it was to engage in close combat… or was it?

“Ah. Enhancement magic? I just cast it out of habit. There’s no need to go down if I can catch it from a distance.”

Durkheim loosened his grip on his sword.

‘Attack it little by little.’

Lee Han didn’t rush. He had the advantage in both position and situation. One lightning strike didn’t deal significant damage to the Rakshasa Ogre, but it was clear that he was steadily accumulating damage.

Continuous drops of water will eventually pierce a rock.

Of course, this hunting method was only possible for Lee Han, who possessed a vast amount of mana. Other wizards couldn’t even conceive of defeating a monster by constantly using weak magic. If they did such a thing, the wizard’s mana would be depleted first, causing them to collapse, no matter how weak the magic was.

“Flash, flash, flash… Shield, unfold!”

Lee Han changed his spell. Instantly, water swirled in the air, taking the form of a shield. And then, with a whoosh, a sharp rock thrown by the Rakshasa Ogre slammed into it head-on. THUD!

“Hmm. That’s strange. I thought it would be fine since there was an enemy with a sword in front of me.”

Durkheim stared at Lee Han, dumbfounded by his muttering.

‘If you keep shooting lightning like that, anyone would get annoyed, even with an enemy in front of them!’

Even if there was an enemy with a sword in front of him, it was only natural that the Rakshasa Ogre would target Lee Han first after being bombarded like that.

“It’s coming up!”

“Block it!”

The White Tiger Tower students formed a line on the slope. At the same time, magic from other students rained down from above. However, unlike the ogres, the Rakshasa Ogre’s thick armor deflected mediocre curses and low-circle magic.

Fueled by its momentum, the Rakshasa Ogre climbed the steep slope, its fingers hooked like claws. The faces of the White Tiger Tower students were filled with horror as the creature leaped up in an instant. They had only seen it from below, so they didn’t realize it was this fast.

‘It’s breaking through!’

Durkheim tightened his grip on his sword again. Looking at it this way, Lee Han’s enhancement magic wasn’t entirely useless. It allowed them to cope even in this kind of emergency…

“Everyone, duck!”

Whizzing water orbs, spinning wildly, slammed into the Rakshasa Ogre’s face as it climbed the cliff. Not just one, but dozens in a row!

Even a Rakshasa Ogre with thick armor couldn’t withstand being hit like that in an unstable position. It rolled back down.

Lee Han swung his staff again, firing a lightning bolt.

“Flash!”

Why did he even cast enhancement magic?

The Rakshasa Ogre couldn’t even climb up and eventually collapsed. Durkheim descended the slope without a word.

“Are you alright?”

“Th-thank you. Choi.”

The White Tiger Tower student stood up awkwardly. Then, he said as if he couldn’t understand.

“I was sure there weren’t any Rakshasa Ogres around here, so where did it come from?”

“…Who knows? You never know what might happen in a dungeon. It’s probably best to just forget about it.”

“I-is that so?”

As he came up, the students who had been celebrating their successful hunt glared at the White Tiger Tower student.

“I told you not to move so rashly.”

“I’m… I’m sorry, everyone.”

The White Tiger Tower student was intimidated by their gazes. Not many could withstand being glared at by everyone present, even if they were from a knightly family.

“Alright. As I said, anyone can make a mistake. No one was hurt, so let’s understand and move on.”

“Wodanaz…”

The White Tiger Tower student was moved once again. Not only had he been saved, but he wasn’t even being scolded. Perhaps Durkheim wasn’t brainwashed, but rather moved by this aspect of Wodanaz.

‘I need to change the subject quickly.’

Lee Han opened his mouth before the conversation could drift towards the topic of ‘Where did the Rakshasa Ogre come from?’

“By the way, why did you go down there?”

“Because of this helmet.”

The White Tiger Tower student pointed to the helmet. A bluish light emanated from it.

“Ah, so this helmet called you.”

“No. I was just curious because it was emitting light.”

Lee Han looked at the White Tiger Tower student with the same gaze he gave Gainando. The White Tiger Tower student noticed the look and avoided his gaze.

“I… I was reckless.”

“It’s alright, we all do silly things sometimes. But it was good that you didn’t touch the helmet.”

It was dangerous to touch it rashly without knowing what kind of artifact it was, especially if it was an artifact located beneath this underground dungeon.

“Oh… I already touched it.”

“…Sorry.”

“It’s alright, we all do silly things sometimes…”

Bikelints, the respected knight of the White Poplar Knights, looked at the still young apprentice knights. These apprentice knights didn’t belong to the White Poplar Knights. They were boys and girls from various knightly families of the Empire.

They were rigorously trained and would return to their respective knightly orders or families in the future, becoming pillars that would firmly support the Empire. There was only one reason why these apprentice knights had come to Einroguard with Bikelints.

“We can’t lose to those magic-learning brats.”

“Shh. Watch your mouth. You’ll get scolded if someone else hears you.”

There were also wizards within the knightly order, and they were usually respected. How much work would a wizard in a knightly order located in a remote or dangerous area have?

However, these were still inexperienced apprentice knights. They weren’t broad-minded enough to consider such things before speaking.

“Aren’t you upset? Those guys who don’t even train in the knightly order received so much praise from Sir Bikelints?”

“Of course, I’m upset!”

The trigger for this incident was that Bikelints had gone to Einroguard and enthusiastically praised the students there.

-They were truly excellent. One of the students even defeated me…

-Is that really true? How astonishing!

Those words ignited the pride of the apprentice knights. They, who were undergoing rigorous training, were being outranked in evaluation by knights who were just learning magic at a magic school. It was absolutely unacceptable.

-There must have been some kind of mistake.

-Since it’s a den of wizards, there might have been some trickery. Maybe they set a trap with some kind of magic?

-Sir Bikelints is honorable and generous, so he might have overlooked the wizards’ tricks…

In the end, the apprentice knights resolved themselves. They would confront them directly and shatter that illusion!

When the apprentice knights unanimously requested a match, Bikelints hesitated but eventually obtained permission. He had obtained permission to enter the magic school under the pretext of midterms.

“Alright, everyone.”

Bikelints opened his mouth quietly. Bikelints treated even the apprentice knights with respect, but his voice contained an irresistible power.

“This is Einroguard, a sanctuary for wizards. As such, I trust that you will not act in a way that loses the dignity, honor, and pride of a knight.”

The apprentice knights felt a pang of conscience at Bikelints’ words. It was clear that Bikelints had noticed the emotions they were harboring.

“We swear it, Sir Bikelints.”

“We will uphold our pride as knights.”

“Thank you, everyone.”

The apprentice knights lined up and walked through the main gate of the magic school. They noticed the magic school students with gaunt and haggard faces wandering around the school, muttering to themselves.

‘That’s why wizards are so…’

‘Eccentric and untrustworthy.’

They spotted Professor Inguldel and the swordsmanship class students gathered ahead. The apprentice knights whispered among themselves.

“So, which one is that guy?”

The one with the ridiculous rumor of having defeated Bikelints. That was the apprentice knights’ top priority.

“Is it from the Choi family? I heard a rumor that someone from the Choi family entered the magic school.”

“It might be from the Moradi family.”

“The Dullac family…”

While they were talking, a boy with a face like a sculpture approached. The apprentice knights scanned the boy from head to toe. From his appearance to his movements, he clearly wasn’t from a knightly family.

‘Does anyone recognize him?’

‘I don’t. Isn’t he from a great noble family?’

If he was a magic school student who wasn’t from a knightly family, he had nothing to do with the swordsmanship sparring. He couldn’t have defeated Bikelints, and he couldn’t have received praise, so the apprentice knights’ faces relaxed.

“Are you perhaps… here for the swordsmanship sparring?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Lee Han’s expression brightened at that answer.

‘As expected, Professor Inguldel still has some conscience left!’

Indeed, fighting the knights of the White Poplar Knights last time was too crazy. He had brought apprentice knights of the appropriate age and skill level.

Of course, the skills of the apprentice knights, who trained morning, noon, and night, were also impressive… ‘Everything is relative.’ To Lee Han, who had been prepared for the knights of the White Poplar Knights, apprentice knights were a sufficiently satisfactory opponent.

“I welcome your visit.”

“Thanks for the welcome. Family?”

“Wodanaz.”

“Wodanaz! That Wodanaz family?”

“Yes. Please take care of me.”

Lee Han waved his hand and returned to his seat.

Only then did the apprentice knights sense something was off and looked at each other. Why did that boy from the Wodanaz family say ‘Please take care of me,’ and why is he sitting among the magic school students from knightly families?