Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 187

Lee Han finished talking. He looked at his hands and saw they were shaking a little.

He tried to stay calm, but he was really shocked.

‘Even so, isn’t this a bit much?’

“Normally, exams for younger students don’t cause big problems for the school. But exams for older students… they can cause a lot of trouble.”

Dirette, while munching on her red bean rice cake, had said the following:

Younger students, with their less developed magical abilities, didn’t cause much disruption even if they made mistakes or had accidents during exams.

However, the older students were different.

Older students’ magic is much stronger. So, if they make mistakes, it can cause big problems for the whole school.

“Is it okay for seniors to do this to their juniors?”

“If you feel wronged, become a senior and do the same. Besides, it’s not like we do this on purpose. It’s just that when multiple accidents overlap, unpredictable things happen.”

Sometimes, due to the overlapping of summoning magic, the connection to the elemental plane where lava spirits lived became stronger, turning the school into a lava-filled landscape.

Other times, the flow of magical power became so tangled that using magic resulted in entirely different spells being cast.

“Of course, I understand you’re angry, junior. Think about revenge later and be careful.”

“Okay, I understand. I will get lots of supplies ready and try to find special items to deal with anything that happens. I’ll also tell my friends in the Tower to prevent any damage…”

“Well… I didn’t mean for you to prepare *that* professionally, but it’s not a bad idea.”

After finishing his conversation with Dirette, Lee Han returned to the Tower (apologizing to Gainan) and made various preparations with his friends.

They visited the black market in the Black Tortoise Tower to find useful artifacts, organized the supplies stored in the Tower, calculated their resources, and harvested anything edible from the garden…

But despite all that, he couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling.

‘This week is going to be tough.’

“This is the worst Sunday ever.”

“Is this bread or a bludgeon?”

The friends who received the bread and rice in the morning were dumbfounded.

It had already hardened, perhaps due to the cold.

“Did you see outside? We used to have snowball fights in the mansion on days like this…”

“Now is not the time to talk about that. If we don’t clear the snow, we won’t be able to get out the door.”

“Why aren’t the professors taking care of this?”

“Because it’s something the students caused, so they want the students to solve it.”

“Wodanaz!”

The students in the lounge were holding their hard black bread. It was so hard, it was like a club! They looked sad, but then they looked up quickly.

They hoped Lee Han’s appearance would solve the problem.

“Everyone, I’m sorry to say, but this blizzard might not end anytime soon. We won’t be able to get any more ingredients from the garden for a while either. We’re on a frugal diet for the time being.”

“…!”

“Don’t worry, Wodanaz. We’re Einroguard students too. We won’t whine just because we’re a little hungry.”

“That’s right, Wodanaz!”

Lee Han was slightly worried by his friends’ excessive confidence.

‘Those gluttons have quite the appetite.’

While other towers had always lived with hunger, the Blue Dragon Tower had become quite picky eaters thanks to Lee Han.

Will they be alright?

“Today’s meal is canned beans.”

“…C-Can’t we open some other cans? Do we have to eat only beans?”

“No. It’s about saving.”

The students of the Blue Dragon Tower wore gloomy expressions at the thought of eating hard bread with canned beans.

Fortunately, however, Lee Han wasn’t so heartless as to just open a can of beans and serve it in a bowl.

Lee Han put onions, garlic, and mushrooms he had harvested from the garden the day before into a pan and stir-fried them with the beans in oil.

The smell of onions and garlic frying in oil filled the room, making everyone’s stomachs rumble.

Then, he opened another can, added tomatoes, onions, and garlic, simmered it generously, and seasoned it with salt and pepper.

The tomato sauce bubbled gently, smelling sweet and a little spicy.

The faces of the Blue Dragon Tower students brightened slightly. Even the princess, who usually wore an expressionless face, showed a hint of admiration.

Breakfast time.

Even though the blizzard started again outside, the meal was delicious.

“Wodanaz, it looks like we need to gather our strength.”

“That’s right. You need to give us instructions.”

Lee Han pondered at his friends’ words.

The Blue Dragon Tower students were right.

The situation was so immense that it would be difficult to cope without combining their strength.

What was the first thing they needed to do?

“We need to clear the snow in front of the Tower first. We won’t be able to attend classes if we don’t.”

“Surely, the professors will take that into consideration, won’t they?”

“No way.”

“Absolutely not.”

At someone’s naive remark, his friends turned serious and shook their heads.

“And aren’t all our coats spring coats? We’ll freeze to death if we go out.”

His friends’ faces turned grave at Lee Han’s words.

Indeed, they hadn’t considered such a cold situation because of the spring weather…

“I prepared thick winter fabrics for times like this. I didn’t expect to use them so soon, but… let’s make coats after breakfast.”

“???”

“?????”

The friends nodded, then paused.

…Why did you prepare that?

“Wodanaz, did you know this situation was coming?”

“No.”

“Then how…?”

“I bought the thick fabrics thinking there might be a use for them.”

“As expected of Wodanaz. We can’t let our guard down even with a 1% chance.”

Asan said with an admiring expression. Of course, some students were still puzzled, thinking, ‘He’s lucky, but do we really have to go that far?’

“Let’s make as many winter supplies as possible. There must be something useful among the artifacts.”

The advantage of the magic school was that incomplete artifacts were lying around like pebbles on the street.

“This lamp with the frozen fog inside… it’s not very useful right now, is it?”

“Put it away in the corner.”

After finishing their meal, the friends took out the thick fabrics and began searching for useful artifacts.

And Lee Han wore a ring, a bracelet, and a necklace one by one.

With a series of clicks, the flame absorption accessories emitted power.

“Open the door and step aside.”

“Wodanaz, I believe in you…”

“Asan, step aside before I hit you.”

“A-Alright.”

Asan grumbled and moved away.

I said I believed in you, why!

‘I didn’t want to play with fire near the Tower, but I have no choice.’

Opening the Tower door connected to the lounge, a storm of cold air and a mountain of snow greeted Lee Han.

The wind howled like a hungry wolf outside the tower. Snow slammed against the windows. When Lee Han opened the door, a blast of icy air rushed in, making everyone shiver.

He couldn’t possibly break through this to go to class tomorrow. He had to break through it now.

‘Melt it!’

“Burn!”

Whoosh!

With the incantation, flames began to surge.

Lee Han was surprised.

‘What is this?’

Yihan felt a surprising ease as he controlled the flames.

Usually, controlling flames felt like holding the reins of a wild horse, fighting to pull it in the right direction. But now, it was like riding a calm, trained horse.

‘My skills couldn’t have improved so drastically in such a short time… It must be the environment.’

There were advantages to the blizzard-stricken, frigid conditions.

Magic in nature changes with the environment, so the power of flame magic was bound to be weaker in this situation.

For a wizard like Yihan, who had to wear various seals and still worry about causing an accident just to use flame magic once, it was honestly a bit of a relief.

Whirr!

Yihan began to melt the snow by igniting flames in various places.

“It seems that having snow like this isn’t all bad.”

“What are you talking about, Wodanaz? That’s crazy!”

“Come on, no more bad jokes. It’s freezing!”

Yihan shut his mouth.

Was it really that bad of a thing to say?

“Wodanaz, shouldn’t you rest a bit?”

“I’m still fine.”

“Wodanaz, you really should rest.”

“I said I’m fine! Just a little more.”

“No. It’s all melted…”

“Ah. That’s right.”

Yihan raised his head.

Thanks to the work he had done all morning, a path of sorts had been created.

Turning around, he saw his friends giving him looks of astonishment.

‘Is it because of the blizzard?’

“I’m going to visit Professor Swiftfoot’s cabin. I need to get what’s left in the garden.”

“Yihan! I made a potion, so take it with you!”

Yoner, who was making potions with the other friends inside the fireplace of the lounge, gestured.

Inside the cauldron, a cold resistance potion was bubbling vigorously.

Asan picked up a potion bottle and took a sip.

“Wow. It feels like my insides are burning?”

“Dalcard. That’s the alcohol we used as an ingredient. The cold resistance potion hasn’t been bottled yet.”

Professor Swiftfoot had magically cleared the snow near his cabin and was sitting inside, leisurely drinking coffee.

Thanks to the heavy snowfall, the surroundings were quiet and cozy.

‘Not bad.’

This kind of accident wasn’t so bad.

It was much nicer than dealing with scary monsters from another world.

Bang!

“Professor! Please give me the leftover food!”

Professor Swiftfoot was so startled that he almost spilled his coffee.

How on earth?!

“How did you break through all this snow?!”

“I melted it with flames.”

“There’s no way you could do that with such a crude method… I suppose you could.”

Professor Swiftfoot nodded as he spoke.

It was certainly possible for the student in front of him.

His magic seemed endless…

“Still, it’s clever of you to think of making a path with flame magic in this weather. It must be difficult to cast flame magic.”

“It was actually better.”

“?”

“?”

Only after hearing the explanation could Swiftfoot understand what he meant.

‘What a monstrous fellow…!
Of course, understanding didn’t make it any less astonishing.

How much magic must he have surging through him to say that using flame magic in this weather was actually better?

Even with so many control artifacts on him!

“…Wait here. I’ll pack you some food.”

Even though he was a student with monstrous talent, the sight of him coming all the way through this blizzard to gather leftover ingredients made the professor feel a bit sorry for him.

Professor Swiftfoot packed the remaining vegetables, eggs, smoked and pickled sausages and ham, and cheeses.

“Is it impossible to use the garden?”

“If you had any conscience, you’d look at the snow piled up on the garden…”

“Even with the Staff of the Tree Spirit?”

“Even if it were the staff of the Tree Spirit’s ancestor, what can’t be done, can’t be done…”

Professor Swiftfoot was dumbfounded by the student’s continuous lack of conscience.

No matter how much the staff enhanced life force, if there were vegetables growing through a blizzard like this, they wouldn’t be vegetables but plant-type monsters.

“Stop complaining so much and look at the positive aspects.”

“What are you talking about, Professor? It’s already cold enough, why make such a lame joke?”

Forgetting what he had said to his friends earlier, Yihan became serious.

Professor Swiftfoot was about to scold him but remembered that his student excelled in swordsmanship and combat.

The professor generously forgave him and began to explain.

“Of course, life will be a bit inconvenient.”

“It will be very inconvenient.”

“…Yes. It will be very inconvenient. But it will be an opportunity to practice magic you haven’t been able to handle until now.”

“Hmm. Well, in the case of blood magic, I was cautious because it seemed like it would cause a lot of damage to the surroundings, but if the snow is piled up like this, it seems like it would act as a buffer.”

“Why are you talking about blood magic?! I meant ice elementals and spirits!”

Professor Swiftfoot was startled by his student’s crazy talk.

“Ah. Well, I suppose so.”

“Yes. When the magic of nature is focused in one direction like this, the distance to other unseen worlds becomes closer. It wouldn’t be strange for ice spirits to come out of the spirit realm and wander around. Not to mention the ice element itself.”

This bizarre climate became an opportunity to practice difficult elements that one wouldn’t normally encounter.

Ice was exactly that.

“Since you are quite skilled with the water element, you are likely to be a good match for ice as well.”

“Is that so?”

Yihan’s face lit up.

It was always enjoyable to get something for free.

“Yes. Summon water now. You’ll probably understand what I mean right away.”

The magic of ice, abundant in nature, influenced the wizard’s magic.

If he summoned water now, surely…

“Spring forth!”

Seeing the water mass spring forth as usual without freezing or shrinking, Professor Swiftfoot cursed inwardly.

It was difficult to teach talented fellows like this.

“Now. The connection between ice and water attributes is…”

“Aren’t you going to use the water you just summoned?”

“…Listen quietly.”

“Yes. I understand.”