Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 215

Pacelette Krauer spoke quickly, “Professor Garcia, I admit it. I was wrong about something, but please, you don’t need to be angry.”

Professor Garcia looked at her, a slight frown on his face. “Angry? Pacelette, I’m not angry.”

Pacelette studied Professor Garcia’s face. “You say you’re not angry, but you seem… almost too calm. Are you sure you’re alright?”

Professor Garcia nodded slowly. “Yes, Pacelette. Perfectly fine. As I said, everything is okay.”

Professor Pacelette looked closely at Lee Han, her eyes moving from his head to his shoes and back again. Turning to Professor Garcia, she asked quietly, “Is this the student?”

Professor Garcia nodded. “Yes, Pacelette. This is Lee Han.”

Lee Han felt a strange shiver. ‘Why do I feel like something is about to happen?’ He paused, wondering if it was because of the stone magic he was trying.

Professor Pacelette was lost in thought.

There was a reason why she insisted on having the students foresee a day into the future—an impossible task—even though she could have given them easier precognitive magic, like seeing one or two seconds into the future.

It was meant to fail from the start.

She believed it was better for young wizards to fail at first than to succeed without understanding the risks.

Even if magic was used as a means, seeing the future was a dangerous act that required a price.

It was fortunate if the price ended with magical power, and if successful, a more fatal payment could occur.

“Stop now.”

With a flick of her wand, Professor Pacelette sent the stones scattering across the desk in front of Lee Han.

That freshman was fearlessly continuing to attempt stone divination.

Because he had so much magical power, he didn’t care about the price he had to pay for failure.

“First year. You shouldn’t try precognitive magic as if you can try it multiple times like other magic. The price you have to pay for failure is relatively small, but you don’t know what will happen if you repeat it.”

“But Lee Han seems fine?” Gainando asked innocently.

Professor Garcia gently waved his wand, silencing Gainando with a soft *poof* of air.

There was no point in provoking Pacelette.

“I understand, Professor.”

“Good. Keep that in mind.”

Lee Han really understood.

‘This magic is truly unpredictable,’ Lee Han thought. It felt like the most unreliable magic of all.

The further into the future you tried to see, the greater the price you had to pay; the more accurate and clear you saw that future, the greater the price; and even if you failed, the price could increase if you repeated it.

Just because you had a lot of magical power didn’t mean you could keep trying.

‘I need to be more careful.’

Lee Han didn’t have great ambitions for precognitive magic.

Some wizards who dreamed of seeing the future wanted to see far ahead, even to ‘the end of the world.’ But Lee Han was happy just to know what tricks the Headmaster was planning.

That was enough to call himself a precognitive wizard anywhere.

Of course, Professor Pacelette didn’t believe Lee Han.

“Professor Garcia. We need to keep a close eye on that student.”

“Yes?”

“He knows he has a lot of magical power, right? Now that he knows about precognitive magic, he’ll never hold back. He’ll keep trying precognitive magic, even if he has to pour out all his magical power.”

Professor Pacelette was starting to believe it.

She knew the temptation of seeing the future was very strong, like nothing else.

There was no way a wizard who was only a freshman could hold back. It was dangerous if they weren’t monitored for a while.

“Lee Han isn’t that kind of person.”

Professor Garcia waved his hand dismissively, as if it was no problem at all. Professor Pacelette was even more surprised now. She was seeing a side of the usually gentle Professor Garcia she hadn’t expected.

What on earth…?

“Professor Garcia, you know how first-year students are – their heads are full of air and dreams, but not much sense…”

“I know, Pacelette. But Lee Han is different.”

“Is it because he’s a genius? You know that geniuses are more dangerous in these cases.”

It was different if they had no talent, but in magic, talented people were more dangerous.

“It’s like diving into a deep, dark lake of magic without knowing how to swim…”

“That’s right. But Lee Han isn’t that kind of person.”

Professor Garcia spoke firmly. He knew Lee Han’s personality. He was sure Lee Han wouldn’t be reckless. It wasn’t just about talent; it was about who Lee Han was.

“…???”

Of course, Professor Pacelette couldn’t help but be even more bewildered.

‘What on earth is really…?’

While Professor Pacelette was speechless and just opening and closing her mouth, Professor Garcia turned his gaze to the students.

He had warned them enough about the dangers of precognitive magic, so now it was time to tell them about the advantages of precognitive magic.

No matter how dangerous precognitive magic was, wizards were ultimately a species that jumped into danger.

If they were just going to say it was dangerous and not be interested, there was no reason to become a wizard.

“Okay. Everyone must have been very surprised that precognitive magic is so different, unique, and alien from other magic.”

The students nodded. Some students were lying on the floor, just wiggling their fingers. They were students who had failed to attempt divination.

“But the magic we tried today was quite… difficult magic. Precognitive magic doesn’t only have such difficult magic.”

‘Maybe he should have taught us the easy stuff first,’ Lee Han thought, listening with a slightly annoyed look. He had accidentally tried the hard magic many times already.

It was fortunate that he had a lot of magical power, or else he would have been passed out on the classroom floor with his friends.

“From finding objects hidden in this classroom to the knowledge you’re missing or have forgotten, to mistakes in the magic circles you’ve created, precognitive magic can be used in various ways. Many wizards who learn magic from other schools also learn a little precognitive magic.”

If you go too far into it, precognitive magic is the most dangerous kind. But if you only learn a little, it’s very useful and can do many things.

As it assists the wizard’s brain, it goes well with any type of magic.

“So, students who are interested in precognitive magic might want to take classes under Professor Krauer. Of course, don’t forget to always be humble in the face of the future.”

Even though things were chaotic at first, Professor Garcia spoke well, and many students decided they wanted to learn precognitive magic.

As they walked out one by one after the lecture, the students talked about what they could do with precognitive magic and what they would do.

“You worked hard, Professor Krauer.”

“What did I do? Professor Garcia did it all.”

At Professor Pacelette’s words, Professor Garcia shook his head.

“Professor Krauer is the one teaching it. I’m just worried that too many students will want to learn because of me.”

Professor Mortoom, who taught dark magic, would be very jealous.

It was a great thing for a professor to teach magic that everyone wanted to learn!

However, Professor Pacelette replied as if she didn’t care.

“Most of them will only learn the easy parts anyway.”

Not many students continued with precognitive magic for long, unlike other subjects.

It was only natural, as it was useful enough to learn to a moderate level, and the higher the level, the more dangerous it became.

As such, Professor Pacelette wasn’t very interested in finding disciples.

If she was lucky, she would get one; if not, so be it.

“But did you see any students who seemed really good at it?”

“It’s not easy to spot talent in precognitive magic right away, unlike other magic. Professor Garcia, you were a very special case.”

Professor Pacelette grumbled.

Professor Garcia cherished the students so much, but Professor Pacelette didn’t think much of it.

It was almost impossible to show talent in precognitive magic in the first year.

It was difficult to discover talent even if they practiced ‘relatively’ easy precognitive magic throughout the first year and started divination in earnest from the second year.

First, it was very hard to actually see the future. You needed a special feeling, a kind of inspiration. And then, you had to understand what those unclear visions meant…

“And what about him? Is he really alright? I heard other professors are interested in him. They won’t blame me if something goes wrong later, will they?”

If her precious disciple secretly practiced precognitive magic and collapsed, vomiting blood, who would the other professors be angry at?

Professor Pacelette didn’t want to take that risk.

“He’s okay, I tell you.”

‘I’m uneasy…’

Just then, Lee Han and his friends walked out. Professor Pacelette listened carefully. She was going to listen to the conversation the first-year students were having.

“I’m going to practice hard and remember card orders! Lee Han, you were throwing stones and trying to see the future. Did you see anything?”

Professor Pacelette sighed to herself as Gainando asked. He hadn’t listened at all! She thought Gainando’s mind was too easily distracted for this kind of magic.

‘I told them they wouldn’t see anything if they failed,’ she thought.

“Well,” Lee Han said, “I saw quick flashes, like pictures…”

Professor Pacelette’s eyes widened.

What?

‘He failed… Wait… This isn’t the time to scold the first-year students.’

She had assumed that he had failed, but when she thought about it, Lee Han hadn’t said a word about the stone divination failing. He had surprisingly succeeded and tried again!

‘He must have paid the price for succeeding,’ she thought.

Even a quick, unclear glimpse of the future cost a lot.

But he did it several times without showing any sign…

‘He’s truly gifted!’ she realized. This was a special talent for precognitive magic. It might sound strange, but it was the most important thing. If one wizard paid with blood to see the future, and another paid with magic, the one using magic was much better off.

That student clearly had a constitution that paid the price with magical power.

‘But it must take a huge amount of magic to pay that price!’ She knew he had strong magic, but Professor Pacelette was still puzzled.

Even if he had a lot of magical power, he paid all the price of success with magical power and repeated it several times…

Was that possible?

Was it possible that the first-year student was mistaken?

It was common for young wizards to mistakenly believe that they had seen the future.

The professor listened even more carefully than before. To continue listening to the conversation.

“What did you see?!” Gainando asked, bouncing with excitement. “Tell us!”

Lee Han shrugged. “I was… cooking roast beef.”

Gainando’s eyes widened. “Roast beef?! You saw roast beef? That means… tomorrow’s menu is roast beef!”

“It might not happen,” Lee Han said. “You said the future can change.”

“No, Lee Han!” Gainando said, his voice bubbling with excitement. “We can *make* it happen! Tomorrow *will* be roast beef!”

“What are you talking about?”

“The menu for tomorrow is roast beef.”

“Roast beef?! I like that! What kind of meat do they use?! Maybe lamb?”

“What roast beef?”

“The Blue Dragon Tower guys are eating roast beef tomorrow.”

Professor Pacelette sighed, a slight frown appearing on her face. “Honestly,” she muttered, “those boys are missing the point entirely.”

“First of all, what I saw was roast beef made with beef.”

“Beef…!”

“Beef is good!”

“Those guys. Did they come to magic school to eat? You can’t become a great wizard if you’re full!”

Despite the jealous words of the White Tiger Tower students, Professor Pacelette’s mind was elsewhere.

Even if you succeed in divination, how you see an image and how you see it is different for each wizard.

But she knew one thing was important: how clear and detailed the vision was. The clearer the picture, the better the future-seeing.

If he could see the type of meat…

Professor Pacelette muttered with a dazed look.

“Beef… beef… beef…!”

Professor Garcia stepped out from behind her, looking completely confused.