Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 193

Ethan made a sensible choice. He decided to call for help.

The hallway around them was a mess. Colors swirled in the air like paint mixing in water. The stone walls seemed to ripple and shift. This floor was full of mixed-up magic, old magical objects, and strange spirits. It was a dangerous place.

No one knew what bad creature might crawl out from the shadows and try to trick them. Whispers seemed to echo from the darkness, promising things they couldn’t understand.

Maybe calling Professor Mortoom right away was a bit much, but Ethan didn’t want to take any chances. It was better to be safe than sorry!

“You’ll regret this, young wizard. You’ll need the power!”

“Wait… hold on. Isn’t it a waste? Shouldn’t we at least hear what they’re offering?”

Even Raphael agreed with Gainan.

What if the entity inside had some good gifts to offer?

‘The magic school is corrupting the students.’

Ethan thought.

They were pushing the students so hard that they were tempted by even such suspicious offers.

“Gainan, when someone you don’t know makes a tempting offer, the first thing you should do is be suspicious.”

“Cough. Well said.”

Professor Mortoom came quickly and agreed with Ethan.

One shouldn’t be tempted by offers when they didn’t even know what kind of entity was lurking inside.

Beings from other dimensions, like demons, could pretend to be kind.

“Begone, insignificant creatures!”

Kraaah!

Ethan could feel the presences inside the corridor quickly scattering because of Professor Mortoom’s spell.

Gainan, now understanding, nodded and said,

“Y-yes, Professor. You’re right. Sorry, I was being silly. I won’t have any interest in such places in the future.”

“Cough. That’s not the point.”

“Pardon?”

“A place where other dimensions have mixed is a place where valuable knowledge can be found, a place that wizards can’t ignore.”

Demons and spirits, as well as strange beings from other, unknown dimensions, had knowledge that wizards didn’t.

Forgotten secrets, magical objects, spells, and treasures were tempting to wizards.

“Indeed, that’s true.”

“Cough. So, you need to learn how to explore safely. Take this chance to explore it.”

“…Pardon?”

Gainan could not believe what he was hearing.

Was he really being told to explore a place where frozen undead crawled out, where chilling frost pulsed, and where he thought he had just heard the wails of a demon?

“Cough. You’ll learn a lot by looking inside there.”

Professor Mortoom spoke with pure goodwill.

Sometimes, a single experience could teach more than hundreds of words.

Some parts of the hallway were made of black magic.

If the freshmen saw such places up close, they would feel the power of black magic even more strongly.

‘I was uneasy from the moment I brought him.’

Professor Mortoom raised his wand and cast a spell to protect them. After finishing the preparations, the professor said,

“Cough, cough. Divide into two groups and walk around. Don’t get lost.”

Gainan quickly said,

“I… I want to go with Ethan.”

“I will go with Imirg.”

At Gainan and Raphael’s words, Professor Mortoom flipped a coin.

“Wodanaz and Imirg, walk to the left. Cough. You two, start to the right.”

“……”

Both Gainan and Raphael were unlucky. They set off looking sad.

“Shall we start too?”

“Y-yes.”

Fortunately, no enemies came close because of the magic that Professor Mortoom had cast.

Ethan moved slowly.

‘Never let my guard down.’

If there was one thing he had learned from Professor Voladi, it was to always be careful.

Ethan looked around, being as watchful as possible.

Suddenly, spirits gathered on the roadside where frost was forming, making flower buds.

The buds wiggled as if trying to bloom, and the ground beneath them began to shake.

“That…”

Before Imirg could speak, Ethan was already casting magic.

Wham!

A heavy ball of water hit the ground. Lightning struck it, and flames burst out.

The ground, where something was about to rise, became still as if nothing had happened.

Tap tap tap tap tap! Tap tap!

However, Ethan didn’t stop and kept casting magic. The frozen ground turned black, burned, and empty.

“Wo… Wodanaz. I don’t know what it was, but isn’t it already gone?”

Imirg said nervously.

Honestly, Ethan was a little scarier than the thing that had tried to come out and disappeared.

“Maybe so.”

“It’s not ‘maybe so,’ it looks like it definitely ran awa…”

Ethan cast lightning one last time, just in case.

“Looks like it’s gone, right?”

“……”

“Imirg, we should probably get closer. The professor’s protective magic might be getting weaker.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Why are you using honorifics?”

“S-sorry.”

“Diret, thank you so much.”

“Drop dead.”

“…Diret. Thank you again, really.”

“Just drop dead already.”

“…I said I was sorry…”

Cohorti, a fourth-year student studying black magic, apologized to Diret again.

Diret had been called because Cohorti and his friends made a big mistake. If Cohorti was in Diret’s place, he would also be very angry.

“How long has it been since you got out of detention?”

“I already got an earful from the professor.”

Cohorti was very sad, having been scolded by Professor Mortoom.

As a fellow student studying black magic and a friend in the same year, Diret could understand Cohorti’s feelings.

“So what? Drop dead.”

But he could never forgive being called to help clean up the mess when he was already busy.

“Hurry up and go inside to take care of it, or just drop dead. The school is covered in snow because of you guys.”

“We’ll… we’ll go in soon.”

The way to fix the dimensional problem and environmental changes caused by the incomplete summoning was simple.

Go into the area and defeat the summoned entity.

Even if different kinds of magic and things were mixed, the main thing was the summoned entity.

Of course, it was simple to say, but not easy to do.

They had to go through a hallway full of monsters from other dimensions and defeat a very angry spirit.

It was a task that even the older students would find hard.

The wizards who had caused the accident made excuses, watching Diret’s reaction.

“We’re slowly taking the magic from the area. The entities inside are actually getting weaker.”

“If we’re right, it will be weak enough for us to enter soon.”

The wizards were making holes in the corridor area to let magic leak out.

If the magic in the area decreased, the power of the entities would also decrease.

Once they were done, it would be weak enough for the students to enter.

Diret asked in a softer voice,

“How many hours will it take?”

“……”

“…Don’t tell me it’ll take more than a day?”

“……”

“…How many days, you cursed people? Tell me quickly!”

“A… about a week?”

“Just go in and die! How much magic did you use that it’ll take a week!”

“S-sorry! Diret! Sorry!”

Diret cursed and cast a pain curse with his wand.

The magic wasn’t leaking out by itself.

During that time, older students, including Diret, had to watch to stop the undead from coming out of the corridor.

For a whole week!

“Aargh! Diret! Forgive me!”

“D-Diret! Look over there! There!”

“What nonsense are you…”

Diret turned his head.

The freshmen were slowly walking around inside the area.

“…Ah. The professor must have brought them.”

For a moment, Diret was surprised, but he quickly understood.

Professor Mortoom must have brought the freshmen to show them this strange sight.

It was a magnificent sight in terms of black magic.

“Is it okay for freshmen to be walking around in a place like this?”

“Professor Mortoom has cast a spell to protect them. It’ll be hard for most entities to approach.”

“But they’re freshmen. Even if evil entities can’t approach, they might get scared and cause an accide…”

Before he could finish, one of the freshmen started firing off magic like crazy.

Before the spirit flower could even show itself, it was beaten and quickly disappeared into the ground.

“……”

“S-shouldn’t we stop him? He’s going to collapse!”

It was obvious what was happening.

Losing control because of fear, leading to wild magic.

It was the easiest mistake for a freshman to make.

It was okay now, but when his magic ran out…

“Leave him be. He’s fine.”

However, Diret was calm because he knew that Ethan had a lot of magic.

“That junior from the Wodanaz family is a naturally gifted wizard.”

“O-oh, I see.”

Wham! Tap tap tap tap tap tap!

“……”

“…Is he really okay?”

The older students looked at Ethan with confused eyes.

Even if he was gifted, it seemed like he should be collapsing soon.

Diret also became a little worried.

He knew that Ethan had a lot of magic, but Diret wasn’t sure how much.

“W-we have to stop him! He’s going to collapse!”

“That cursed skeleton headmaster…!”

In the end, Diret became worried too. Diret prepared for detention and grabbed his wand.

As a senior learning black magic under the same master, he couldn’t just watch his junior collapse.

Wham!

However, Ethan returned to normal as if to make the seniors feel silly.

After casting the last spell, he started walking again without changing his expression.

“……”

“…What the heck is that guy?”

The seniors weren’t fooled by the name of the Wodanaz family.

The freshmen didn’t have enough experience, so they thought, ‘Oh, it must be because he’s from the Wodanaz family,’ but the seniors knew.

Even if he was from the Wodanaz family, that level of magic at that age was crazy!

‘Did the head of the family do it with a dragon?’

‘Did he sacrifice a thousand lives to make a contract with a demon?’

‘Is the headmaster transformed into a freshman?’

“Diret. I’ve come up with a good idea. We can shorten the time by using this method!”

“What method? Don’t tell me you’re trying to drag that freshman in when you’re already in your fourth year. Tell me.”

“…That’s right… P-please! Don’t point your wand at me and listen to me, Diret! Don’t use a curse! Don’t use a curse! I’m just borrowing magic power! Just magic power!”

“Cough. How was it?”

“It was truly inspiring and beneficial.”

” ? ”

Imirg looked at Ethan as if he were strange.

‘We walked together, so why is his impression so different?’

Imirg felt like he was walking around a freezing graveyard…

“I thought so.”

Professor Mortoom said, pleased.

If you were a wizard interested in black magic, you would be impressed by that strange dimensional area.

“Cough. Tell me if you want to look around again. You might learn something valuable.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Ethan replied, hiding his true feelings. Of course, he didn’t want to come again.

Thud!

“……”

Gainan and Raphael rolled over from the other side, grabbing each other.

They were a mess from arguing.

Professor Mortoom clicked his tongue, watching them.

“Cough. To waste such a good chance… Maybe Wodanaz should guide you next time.”

“You rude fellows. The professor gave you a chance, but you wasted it fighting! Go back and look around again!”

“There’s no need to go that far… Cough.”

Professor Mortoom looked at Ethan with a pleased expression, even while refusing.

He was the most promising student among the freshmen.