Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 235

Lee Han mumbled, “Professor, I’m so sorry again. It’s just… after those intruders last weekend…”

The Professor sighed, a little louder than before. “Enough apologies, Lee Han. I said it’s fine. Now, let’s see a transformation. Stop playing around.”

The fake Guinan stepped up from his seat and instantly changed his appearance.

Suddenly, the fake Guinan shimmered, and his face changed. Lee Han gasped. It was like looking at a statue come to life – every line of the face was sharp and perfect.

*Where have I seen that face before?* Lee Han thought, his mind racing. Then it hit him. *It’s… Headmaster Skull.* But Skull as he was when he was alive, young and strong.

The Professor’s voice was suddenly sharp. “You! Are you trying to make fun of me?”

“Oh, for goodness sake!” the Professor exclaimed, sounding annoyed. “Fiddle-faddle!”

The professor apologized and changed his appearance again.

This time, he became a middle-aged parrot beastman, feathers ruffled and beak slightly open.

“Hmm… Too much like last year, isn’t it?” Lee Han commented.

“Is that so?” The Professor seemed to consider this. “You’re right, it lacks a bit of freshness.”

The professor’s appearance changed again.

With another quick change, he was a young chameleon beastwoman, skin shifting colours.

“How about this?” the Professor asked, tilting his head.

“You did that the year before last,” Lee Han pointed out.

“I don’t think overlapping is that big of a problem… Can’t it overlap…” The professor muttered and tried to transform a few more times.

*“Not again…”* someone whispered.

*“Seriously? No new ideas?”* another student muttered.

*“Even beginners are trying harder,”* a third voice added quietly.

Of course, the reactions were not good.

“…How about this?”

Finally, the Professor shifted again. This time, bones clicked and reformed, and a skeleton warrior stood in his place, skull gleaming. Suddenly, a voice boomed from behind Lee Han, making him jump.

“Excellent!” Headmaster Skull’s voice echoed through the room.

“Heh heh. Thank you.”

“……” What do you think?

Lee Han quickly said, “Wow, Professor! That’s amazing! Everyone will definitely pay attention now.”

The lad. His eye for talent is as great as his magical skill.

Professor Yonlamo Lezi, who was in charge of transformation magic, was surprisingly a doppelganger.

Lee Han was surprised to see a doppelganger, one of the rarest of races.

*A doppelganger professor?* Lee Han thought, amazed. *This school really does have everything. Magic is everywhere here.*

Then again, who could be a better expert at teaching transformation magic than a doppelganger?

Since they are born with the ability to transform as a racial trait…

Headmaster Skull turned to Lee Han, his bony face curious. “So, how did you figure out it wasn’t Guinan?”

Lee Han shrugged. “Well… Guinan always calls me ‘Wodanaz’. It’s like a nickname, I guess.”

“Heh heh heh. So that was the problem.”

Headmaster Skull and Lee Han paused at the skeleton warrior’s sly, frustrated voice.

…Should I tell him to change?

Headmaster Skull summoned bones, grabbed Professor Lezi’s ankle, and yanked.

Suddenly, bones shot out from Headmaster Skull’s robes, like pale white snakes. They wrapped around Professor Lezi’s bony ankle and yanked.

*CRASH!* Professor Lezi, the skeleton warrior, tumbled to the floor with a clatter of bones.

I’ll be going now. Even though Professor Lezi made a foolish mistake, he is an excellent person when it comes to transformation magic. Learn well.

“Yes.”

Come to think of it, you were learning alchemy, right? Transformation magic is also deeply connected to alchemy. Learning it will be helpful.

“I will keep that advice in mind.”

Lee Han paused after Headmaster Skull disappeared.

…Huh? Somehow, it felt like learning transformation magic had been confirmed.

‘That’s strange?’

“Heh heh. Please take care of me, Mr. Wodanaz. I have high expectations for your skills.”

Professor Lezi put his arm around Lee Han’s shoulder, showing friendliness. Just then, *plink!* The bony bridge of Professor Lezi’s nose popped off and bounced onto the floor with a light *clatter*.

“Oops. The part that was hit earlier…”

“…I’m sorry!”

“Heh heh. No, no. It’s the fault of the one who got caught. Headmaster is right.”

Professor Lezi snapped the fallen bone back into place.

Seeing that, Lee Han couldn’t bring himself to speak.

“Professor. Did you get hit somewhere?”

“Heh heh. I fell.”

“But why… a skeleton warrior? Surely what you were going to do this year was…”

“Heh heh. I like this better.”

‘I don’t think so.’

Professor Garcia looked at Professor Lezi, who had entered the lecture hall, with a bewildered expression.

As a doppelganger, it was customary to appear in all sorts of different forms each year, but a skeleton warrior didn’t seem like a good choice.

Professor Garcia thought, *Surely the students are all wondering why Professor Lezi is dressed like that.*

‘But it’s the professor’s choice… Let’s respect it.’

Professor Garcia respected Professor Lezi’s tastes.

If Professor Lezi wanted to go around as a skeleton warrior this year, that was Professor Lezi’s freedom.

“Now. Professor Lezi has come to teach us what transformation magic is today. Professor Lezi is a born transformation magician.”

Before Garcia could finish speaking, Professor Lezi transformed four times.

He transformed into Professor Garcia, then into Professor Volardi – a transformation so sudden and unexpected that Lee Han nearly stumbled back in surprise. Then Professor Alpen, and finally, Professor Lightning Steps.

Exclamations burst out at the sight.

All the students who had been embarrassed until just now had changed their expressions.

“Transformation magic,” Professor Lezi began, his bony fingers tapping on the desk, “is about understanding the secrets hidden inside everything around us. It’s about reaching into the heart of matter itself and changing what it is. Think of it – skilled alchemists are often good at transformation, and the best transformation wizards? They’re usually amazing alchemists too.”

“Students taking alchemy should definitely consider transformation magic,” Professor Garcia continued. “Ah, but Lee Han… well, you’re already doing so well in alchemy, you don’t *have* to, of course.”

Lee Han resented Professor Garcia.

How could he refuse when Professor Lezi was watching next to him?

“No, Professor.”

“Are you really okay?”

“…I’m really okay.”

Guinan, who was next to him, tilted his head.

“It doesn’t seem okay…”

Professor Garcia continued the explanation.

Fortunately for Lee Han, transformation magic was a useful magic in many ways.

Being able to change matter had tremendous significance for a magician.

Being able to somehow replace expensive materials with cheap ones without having to find them directly.

It was a revolution in itself for magicians.

“But why bother?” one of Lee Han’s Blue Dragon Tower friends asked, confused. “Can’t you just buy whatever you need with gold?”

Lee Han sighed, shaking his head slightly. *They just don’t get it,* he thought.

Lee Han’s heart ached at the sight of his Blue Dragon Tower friends spouting nonsense.

They didn’t know how great that was.

Lee Han shook his head and made eye contact with Yoner.

Yoner was also shaking his head.

The two awake students nodded as if they understood each other.

“…Not only that, but you can transform the magician himself and even the surrounding environment. I also get help from Professor Lezi when I’m redecorating my workshop.”

Guinan let out a huge yawn, his mouth wide open.

*Swish!* Professor Lezi flicked his wand. A sudden bright flash filled the air, and when it cleared, Guinan was gone. In his place, a tiny white mouse with twitching whiskers squeaked loudly on the floor. *Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!*

“Oh… Oh oh oh!”

“Oh, my!”

The students’ eyes began to shine again.

They were students who valued noble values such as honor, scholarship, exploration, and truth, but sometimes they had the desire to turn their friend next to them into a mouse.

“Professor Lezi…!”

Professor Garcia growled lowly.

It was a murderous sound that froze the victim’s knees.

Professor Lezi hurriedly waved his wand again.

“Heh heh. Just kidding. Just kidding. Right? It’s okay, right?”

-Yes! It’s okay!

“He says it’s okay!”

Guinan was dumbfounded by Professor Lezi’s imitation of his own voice.

“He’s a great professor.”

“I want to learn that magic.”

“You barbarians! How can you even think that right now!”

Guinan got angry at his friends, but they were already halfway over.

“Damn it. I was fooled.”

“I was looking forward to it.”

“I told you so!”

Guinan scolded the grumbling students.

The students who wanted to know the magic to turn their friends into mice waved their wands with disappointed expressions.

Of course, the magic to turn friends into mice was not a low circle magic.

In fact, it was magic that could only be learned in higher grades.

‘I like this better.’

Lee Han waved his wand to practice the >Component Detection> magic that Professor Lezi had taught him today.

What benefit would there be in turning a friend into a mouse?

In comparison, being able to explore the components of a substance with just a wand was quite beneficial.

“Heh heh heh. To transform a substance is to understand the deepest parts of that substance. Do you understand, everyone?”

“Yes, Professor.”

Lee Han answered seriously to the skeleton warrior’s sly voice.

He wasn’t used to the voice, but the meaning it contained was quite important.

Changing the properties or shape of a substance may seem simple on the surface, but it required a deep understanding inside.

Just as summoning magic may seem like you can easily summon by throwing a potion, but it requires a lot of preparation behind the scenes, transformation magic was the same.

“Professor. I found it.”

“I found it.”

“I found it.”

Students who had found out the composition ratio of the iron bar raised their hands from all over.

‘They’re all familiar faces.’

Perhaps because the students taking alchemy were suited to it, their grades were good.

Professor Lezi clapped with his bony palms as if he was happy.

“Heh heh. Everyone is excellent. Then shall we try one more simple magic?”

Professor Lezi waved his wand again. This time, as the light touched the wool cloak, it seemed to ripple and harden. In a blink, the soft fabric was gone, replaced by a dull grey, heavy-looking lump of iron.

His cloak fluttered and landed gently on the desk. The professor tapped the desk with his hand.

“This cloak is made of sheep’s wool. It’s soft and fluffy.”

“!”

“…!!!”

The eyes of the students gathered near the desk sparkled.

Because they were all students who were seriously interested in alchemy or transformation magic, they showed more enthusiasm for this magic than for the magic of turning friends into mice.

It was a simple magic, but it showed many possibilities.

What if it was changed to a different material than iron?

Or a different shape? Or what if you went deeper and reversed the properties of the wool itself?

*Well, at least you probably can’t get rich quick by turning lead into gold with this magic,* Lee Han thought wryly. *But still, understanding how to change things at their core… that’s amazing.*

Lee Han was thinking something different on his own.

It was a well-known magic, so there were many countermeasures. It was virtually impossible to become rich by making fake silver or gold.

“Heh heh heh. I’m glad everyone is so enthusiastic. Then let’s practice. One piece of advice is that it’s better to understand the properties of wool first than to cast magic recklessly at first.”

As the professor advised, the students began to practice in various ways, such as touching their cloaks, smelling them, and sensing their components.

The princess twirled and waved her wand. The texture of the cloak changed to a hard metal and then released.

“The duration… seems too short.”

“Transformation magic is originally like that, student. If you think about enchantment magic, you’ll understand quickly.”

The skeleton professor explained kindly.

As a type of magic that changes the shape by injecting the magician’s will-woven magic power into the material, that magic was generally difficult to last long.

“There’s no need to be obsessed with the duration. If you learn how to cast it properly, it will gradually increase. The important thing is to accurately control and implement the desired material…”

Professor Lezi finished his explanation and looked around.

Some students were still identifying the components, and some were challenging the >Steel Cloak Transformation> magic.

“How is it? Does it feel like steel?” Yoner asked.

“Hmm… I think it’s strong, but maybe not *quite* steel,” Lee Han replied, feeling the weight.

“Let’s try hitting it,” Yoner suggested.

Yoner cast transformation magic with a cloak in one hand and a wand in the other.

Then he struck the cloak Lee Han was holding hard.

*Clang!*

“It’s definitely harder than before,” Lee Han said, surprised.

“Okay, I’ll try again. Just a moment. Let me drink some potion to boost my magic,” Yoner said, reaching for a vial.

“Sure, take your time,” Lee Han nodded.

Professor Lezi clicked his skull with a satisfied expression at the heartwarming sight of the students helping each other practice magic.

“…?” Then he suddenly noticed something strange.

He struck the cloak, but why did it make that sound?