Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 205

The Winter Wraith screamed, its icy body twisting like broken glass in the firelight. Smoke hissed from its form, smelling like burnt snow. Even though Winter Wraiths are weak to fire, this one was strong. It had taken in a lot of magic, so first-level fire spells shouldn’t have hurt it much.

But it *was* hurting. The Wraith twisted and howled because…

Dirette watched, eyes wide. *What kind of magic trick is this?* she wondered.

“Burn, burn, burn, burn!” Lee Han chanted, his voice steady. Small flames danced from his wand, again and again.

It was freezing cold. The air bit at Lee Han’s face, but strangely, this cold helped him control the flames. He made a flame, aimed it, and then made another, faster than anyone Dirette had ever seen. It looked simple, just making small flames over and over. But the speed! It was like a storm of fire, hitting the Wraith again and again. The small flames together became a powerful force.

Dirette forgot her job of protecting the younger students and stared, amazed.

“This is…”

Usually, older students at Einroguard didn’t care much about low-level magic.

Most skilled magicians felt the same way.

It wasn’t that low-level magic couldn’t be improved. You could practice to cast spells faster, make them stronger, and control them better, but…

To be honest, that wasn’t the usual way.

These skills were for combat mages who fought magical battles, not for regular mages.

A mage studied high-level magic to learn about the world and explore new areas that magic hadn’t discovered yet.

Compared to that, spending so much time on low-level magic almost seemed wrong.

However…

Dirette and all the other fourth-year students had to admit it.

Low-level magic, if used in the right way, could beat even skilled mages!

“What are you all doing?”

Dirette snapped out of her thoughts and told her friends to get moving. They nodded quickly.

“Y-yes.”

The usual way to fight a Winter Wraith was to make the area around it warmer, stopping it from moving before attacking.

Attacking it without stopping it first could cause problems.

Winter Wraiths could mess with a mage’s senses using fog or sleet. This could be dangerous for first-year students who didn’t have much experience.

…But now, there seemed to be another way.

Attack the Winter Wraith, then keep attacking it so it can’t fight back!

“…Are we getting in the way? He seems to be doing fine.”

“Yeah, but just watching feels wrong. Should we do something?”

“Maybe a heat barrier?”

Kumandas raised his wand.

He wanted to put a heat barrier around the Winter Wraith to stop it from moving.

*Thwack!*

Suddenly, a piece of ice hit Kumandas on the back of his hand.

Kumandas held his stinging hand and looked at Professor Volardi, confused.

“D-did I do something wrong?”

“Interference.”

“Pardon?”

Kumandas didn’t understand why he was hit.

He couldn’t believe he was hit for trying to help a younger student…

“Because it’s so cold, wouldn’t a spell that covers a large area like a heat barrier bring other monsters here?”

“A-ah, I see.”

Kumandas understood what his friend meant. He agreed that casting a big spell might be dangerous.

A clumsy spell that hits everywhere around could be dangerous in a strange place like this.

It could make other monsters attack.

“I’m sorry, Professor. I don’t have much experience fighting….”

Professor Volardi didn’t answer. Kumandas felt awkward.

“Is he angry about my mistake?”

“It’s okay. You can make up for it later. Show me what you can do.”

But Kumandas didn’t get a chance to make up for his mistake.

Icy Corpse Worm.

-Burn, burn, burn, burn!

-Hoo… He’s good, isn’t he?

-Thank you.

-Then, I’ll get ready to shoot something… maybe a Fire Arrow…

-Hey. He already beat it.

Strigoi.

-Burn, burn, burn, burn!

-Junior… are you running out of magic?

-I’m okay.

-Still, should I help?

*Thwack!*

-?!

-He probably means you shouldn’t steal a younger student’s kill in a weak way, and you should have beaten it from the start.

-A-ah… I see. …But isn’t that junior a bit too fast?

-Use a faster spell, then.

-……

Kumandas hesitated and looked at Lee Han.

To be honest, unless you were a combat mage, how fast you could cast a spell wasn’t that important.

Why would you need to cast spells quickly for research?

So, Kumandas hadn’t worried about casting speed.

Until a first-year student beat him today.

‘…I need to practice when I get back…’

‘Is he okay?’

Lee Han knew the older students were looking at him.

Lee Han felt the strange mood.

‘Could it be…’

They wanted to beat these monsters?

Lee Han didn’t think so, but he couldn’t think of any other reason.

Why would they want to beat them?

Lee Han was doing it because Professor Volardi was holding a wand to his back…

‘I guess I should let them.’

“Professor.”

“I know.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re not happy because the monsters aren’t strong enough, are you?”

……

Lee Han didn’t know what to say.

While his friends were saying, ‘Look at that Wardanaz, beating monsters without even changing his face! He’s a true archmage!’, Lee Han was trying his best in every fight.

Monsters had their own plans and skills.

If Lee Han, who didn’t have much experience, got caught in a monster’s plan, he could get hurt.

So, the safest way for Lee Han was…

Attack first.

Attack so strongly that the monster couldn’t fight back!

He attacked hard, thinking that even a small delay could mean death, and all he got was…

‘Stay calm.’

Lee Han calmed down.

“It seems others want to hunt too.”

Not only the fourth-year students but also the students from the White Tiger Tower were watching him closely.

As expected from knight families, watching Lee Han hunt made them want to join in.

Professor Volardi offered a solution in a not-so-kind voice.

“Tell those students to go away.”

“…Wouldn’t it be better to give them a chance?”

Lee Han did not want to be rude to a fourth-year student. He did not want to say, ‘Clear off, riff-raff.’ So, he spoke as politely as he could.

Professor Volardi sighed, as if disappointed.

“The Headmaster was right, then.”

“Pardon?”

“He said your weakness was your shyness.”

“…I see.”

Lee Han decided that if he ever had to take down Headmaster Skull or Professor Volardi, he would overcome his shyness.

Professor Volardi did not refuse Lee Han’s request.

As Lee Han stepped back, the fourth-year students and White Tiger Tower students began their hunt.

“Everyone, absolutely do not overdo it!”

“Don’t move until I cast my spell. Don’t do anything too quickly!”

The wizards worked together perfectly without Lee Han. It was a very good example of teamwork.

The fourth-year seniors stepped forward first, greatly reducing the monster’s abilities with powerful magic.

Bolts of blue light shot from their wands, striking the monster. The air crackled with energy, and a strange smell like burnt sugar filled the corridor as the monster roared in pain.

Then, the White Tiger Tower students, their physical abilities increased a lot by Professor Volardi’s strengthening magic, charged in.

The White Tiger Tower students’ wooden swords were not ordinary wooden swords. They were filled with magic cast by Kumandas.

This magic caused heat to surge with each impact, dealing additional damage to the monster.

Watching them move together naturally, like interlocking gears, Lee Han couldn’t help but be impressed.

A hunt where experienced seniors led from the front and passionate juniors pushed from behind…

‘…Suddenly, I feel sad.’

A wave of sadness washed over Lee Han. He watched the other students laughing and fighting together, a team. He had always been alone. Was he missing out on something important?

Lee Han tried not to think too deeply.

Watching that hunt that looked perfect made him seriously question what his solo hunts had been all along!

“Professor, I’d like to learn how to fight as a group too.”

“Good idea.”

Professor Volardi praised him with a blank face.

“In that case…”

“You become skilled at fighting in groups by becoming skilled at fighting alone.”

“…Ah. Yes.”

“If you only learn to fight in a group, you cannot fight alone. But if you learn to fight alone, you can also fight in a group.”

“Yes…”

He hadn’t particularly envied the White Tiger Tower students before, but seeing them hunt so well together today made him envious for the first time.

What’s so great about it…

“!”

Lee Han’s expression changed as he grumbled inwardly. Professor Volardi noticed at the same time and nodded.

The fourth-year students were next to realize.

A big change of magical power was felt from inside the corridor.

A monster far stronger than any that had appeared so far!

“Professor.”

Dirett and the fourth-year students called to Professor Volardi with serious expressions.

Such a monster could be dangerous even for them, let alone a first-year.

The professor had to step in.

Professor Volardi nodded as if he understood what they were saying.

“I understand.”

“Thank you.”

Professor Volardi gripped his wand and swung it.

Whoosh!

With a surge of huge power, the fourth-year students and White Tiger Tower students were pushed back.

Dirett could feel it.

Several spells were layered in an instant, creating a massive barrier that pierced through the area ahead.

Not even a strong monster could break through this magical barrier and reach the students.

‘As expected of the professor.’

Dirett couldn’t help but be impressed.

By the time they were fourth-years, magic school students naturally became arrogant and full of themselves.

Even first-year students were treated as wizards wherever they went outside the magic school, so by the time they were fourth-years, they couldn’t help but have delusions like, ‘Aren’t I a key talent in the Empire’s magical world?’

However, such arrogance vanished completely when they saw the true power displayed by the magic school professors.

Wizards who could ably lead Einroguard, which gathered only the Empire’s top geniuses.

They were the faculty…

“…Huh? Huh?? Professor?? Professor??”

Dirett raised his voice in alarm.

The black magic junior was left outside the barrier.

“What is it?”

“That… that junior didn’t get in?”

“I know.”

“…Yes? No…”

For a moment, Dirett almost said, ‘If you know, you should bring him in, you crazy bastard, what are you saying?’ but he caught himself.

The other party was a professor.

Dirett decided to persuade the crazy professor later and called out to Lee Han.

“Junior! Run back!”

“Yes? Why?”

“…Because it’s dangerous?”

“Thank you. I’ll be careful.”

“No, not careful, but…!”

Dirett wondered if he was the strange one and looked at his friends.

Of course, the other fourth-year friends were also in shock.

What is going on??

“Eyes, pierce through the darkness.”

Lee Han reapplied his strengthening spells and waited for the monster to come.

He had to do his best, as it was stronger than any he had faced so far.

‘Strike first.’

The moment the approaching figure revealed itself from the far end of the corridor, he would unleash every spell he could!

“……”

At that moment, Lee Han’s face froze.

The opponent’s magical power, which had been coming from the other side, suddenly increased a lot.

He didn’t know why, but it was clear that the opponent had been hiding their power.

This changed the calculations.

‘Should I break the barrier and retreat? Can I even break it? How strong did Professor Volardi make it?’

Who seeks an audience with the King of the Frost Giants?

“…!!!”

A grand voice echoed very loudly.

A powerful magical force that was too strong even for the first-year students behind the barrier was felt.

But even more overwhelming was the opponent’s size.

A head bowed as if afraid of touching the high corridor ceiling. A massive greatsword held in one hand.

‘Is this fortunate, perhaps?’

Lee Han thought to himself.

A moderately strong opponent would have been more dangerous.

If it had been a ferocious monster that couldn’t communicate, Lee Han would have been badly hurt for misjudging its magical power.

Professor Volardi was behind him, so he wouldn’t die, but…

…probably…

But enemies stronger than that were more likely to be able to communicate.

As beings with intelligence and wanting to know, they would ask questions.

Like this.

You are…

“King of the Frost Giants. A talented challenger has come. He challenges you.”

“……”

Lee Han turned his head to look at Professor Volardi. The fourth-year students also turned their heads to look at Professor Volardi.