Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 236

“Hold on. What is this?”

“Huh?”

“Is that a cloak?”

“Ah, I transformed it.”

Lee Han answered casually. Like the other students, Lee Han had succeeded in >Steel Cloak Transformation>.

Of course, the result was a little different from the other students.

“When?”

“I think it’s been a few minutes…”

“…Didn’t you notice anything strange?”

Professor Yonlamos Lezhi asked, sounding dumbfounded.

Lee Han smiled as if it was nothing.

“Professor, the duration was long even during the enchantment magic.”

“That’s right. Lee Han’s magic duration is long because of his mana.”

Yoner also chimed in, smiling as if it was nothing.

Professor Yonlamos was flustered.

‘Am I the only one surprised? Am I the only one who’s surprised?’

Both enchantment magic and transformation magic were among those with short durations.

However, if you had to compare, transformation magic was much shorter than enchantment magic.

Casting magic on a substance to change its properties, and casting magic on the substance itself to change its properties.

The latter consumed more mana and had a shorter duration.

As such, the fact that he maintained the transformation magic for more than a few minutes after casting it for the first time was a groundbreaking talent in this school of magic, but…

“Wodanaz, can I test it out a bit too?”

“Go ahead.”

“Okay. Hold on tight.”

“You know what will happen if you accidentally miss, right?”

“…Now that you mention it, I’m suddenly nervous.”

The other students didn’t seem very surprised.

They were even testing whether their own cloaks were properly enchanted against Lee Han’s cloak.

Professor Yonlamos looked at the Princess and asked.

“Don’t you have any thoughts after seeing Wodanaz student’s magic?”

“Not really. Is this the right motion?”

“Counterclockwise rather than clockwise would be better… Really, you don’t have any thoughts?”

“???”

The Princess looked at the professor as if he were strange.

Professor Yonlamos had to feel for a moment that he was the only strange one.

In a land of fools, a sane person is the fool.

“Professor Garcia… Where did Professor Garcia go?”

“Professor Garcia went out for a moment to bring a cloak that’s good for practicing magic, Professor.”

Lee Han spoke very politely.

He wanted to score points with the professor, especially because he had accidentally injured the professor’s nose before in class.

Of course, Lee Han’s good intentions felt a little different to Professor Yonlamos.

“Oh… I see… Thank you.”

Professor Yonlamos slowly distanced himself.

He thought of an old saying: people who are alike tend to stick together.

Originally, those of the same kind stayed close to each other.

He thought about how the people who were close to Lee Han were people like the Skeleton Headmaster or Professor Voladi.

Of course, from Lee Han’s point of view, he would be upset, thinking, ‘That’s not fair! I only meet them because I’m taking their classes. Why does that make us the same?’ But that’s how it looked to Professor Yonlamos.

Being close to oddballs like the Skeleton Headmaster or Professor Voladi was also something to be wary of, and Lee Han’s display of talent was the final straw.

To have such insane talent and also be humble and polite?

There was only one answer: tremendous ambition!

It was hard to understand unless he had the ambition to easily aim for the position of Einroguard Headmaster.

Think about it.

There was no need to be afraid of talented but arrogant geniuses. These guys were the same inside and out.

But if there was a genius who was talented, humble, and friendly with all the professors at other magic schools, including the Skeleton Headmaster…

At that point, you could consider him ambition itself walking.

Of course, this wasn’t a bad thing.

There was nothing wrong with dreaming of grand goals when you were young.

The problem was that from Professor Yonlamos’s point of view, whose motto was ‘thin and long,’ meaning he preferred to be careful and avoid big risks, Lee Han was a slightly overwhelming disciple!

If he got too close and received requests like, ‘Professor, please support me in the meeting so I can become a magic school teaching assistant,’ ‘Professor, please support me in the meeting so I can become a magic school professor,’ ‘Professor, I’m trying to become the headmaster of the magic school, please help me with the rebellion’…

‘Just thinking about it makes my stomach tingle.’

Professor Yonlamos decided not to get too close to that ambitious disciple.

He had to be as careful as possible, because if he kept his distance awkwardly, he could cause resentment!

“Did you feel like the professor was avoiding me a bit?”

“Did he?”

“Isn’t it just your imagination?”

The friends were puzzled by Lee Han’s words.

“It must be because you’re doing so well. Top of the class!”

“That’s right. He must be admiring you.”

“…?”

Despite such comfort, Lee Han felt uneasy.

‘Could it be because I accidentally hurt him?’

It was entirely possible.

No professor would like a student who shattered their nose bone.

“Then, Wodanaz, see you next time.”

-Yeah. Wodanaz. See you next time.

“……”

Lee Han pretended not to hear the friendly greeting from the Death Knight standing next to the hallway and waved to his friends.

‘Hmm. I thought I had a lot of experience… This situation is difficult.’

He thought he was prepared for every situation he would encounter as a disciple training under a professor, but this situation was difficult even for Lee Han.

How to become friends again with a professor whose nose bone you shattered?

“Greetings.”

Professor Voladi nodded slightly and pointed ahead. It was a signal to sit down quickly.

Seeing that, Lee Han suddenly felt wronged.

‘I’m even friendly with professors who try to shatter my nose bone.’

Then shouldn’t a professor also forgive a student for accidentally hurting their nose bone?

“You fought the >Maple Tree Snake>?”

“Yes.”

“You were lucky.”

Lee Han did not deny Professor Voladi’s words.

It was definitely a fight where luck had followed him.

He didn’t know what would have happened if the opponent hadn’t made strange assumptions or misunderstandings and had rushed at him with all their might from the start.

The training exercise was over, but my heart was still racing. My robes were a little smoky, and I could smell burnt magic in the air. “I was lucky to survive that,” I muttered to myself.

Then Professor Voladi spoke, his voice sharp and clear. “What did you feel?”

‘Wait,’ I thought quickly. ‘Did he really just say *I* was lucky? Could he mean meeting *me* was lucky for him?’ It seemed impossible.

I answered him quickly, without really thinking. “Adventurers are strong because they face so many different dangers. It’s not just about fighting skills. They know how to find a wizard’s weak spots, just like they know how to find a hunter’s. They learn from everything they experience. They get ready for any problem.”

Adventurers, those from the Maple Tree’s Serpent group anyway, weren’t just strong fighters…

When they meet a wizard, they use the wizard’s weaknesses.

When they meet a hunter, they use the hunter’s weaknesses.

Having faced all sorts of situations, adventurers get ready with different ways to solve any problem.

Lee Han was lucky to block the attack. With normal magic, he would have fallen when the first scroll blew up.

“You understood it well.”

Professor Voladi said, and he looked a little pleased.

Seeing that, Lee Han felt a small regret.

‘Damn it. He looks so pleased with himself.’

Thinking about it, what Lee Han just said could have sounded like, ‘Professor Voladi, I’ve always thought your teaching was right. Please keep teaching us like this!’

‘Professor Voladi should be the one who is surprised for once…’

“Wizards can easily become too proud because of their magic. But remember, enemies on the battlefield will attack wizards first.”

“Yes. I understand that now. Still, I’m glad you taught me well, Professor. Thanks to you, I was able to hold on.”

“…”

Lee Han was surprised when Professor Voladi suddenly stopped talking.

‘Was I too obvious with my flattery? Did he know I was trying to make the lesson easier today?’

I thought it would be okay, but I was caught.

It seemed my flattery skills were not as good as before because I spend too much time with students my age.

“!”

Lee Han looked up and was shocked.

Professor Voladi was smiling.

He had seen small smiles a few times, but this was the first time he had seen him smile like that.

Because he seemed so cold, it felt more like a crazy wizard’s warning than a smile…

Anyway, a smile is a smile.

‘…Did it work?’

“I’m glad to hear you say that. Let’s start the lesson then.”

Professor Voladi waved his wand as he spoke.

Suddenly, fire spears he had never seen before fell from the air.

“?!”

“I opened the wrong one. I wasn’t supposed to take this out yet.”

Professor Voladi put the fire spears back into the space pocket where they had been.

Of course, it was already scary enough for Lee Han.

‘Didn’t he just say he wasn’t supposed to take it out yet?’

Then when is he going to take it out?

“I say sorry. I made a mistake because I was happy.”

“It’s alright.”

Lee Han promised himself never to flatter Professor Voladi again.

If he flattered him twice, he might take Lee Han to the Demon World because he was too proud.

Using different kinds of magic together to be ready for any situation.

…It sounded like nonsense, but anyway, it was the goal that Professor Voladi made Lee Han follow.

So, today’s lesson was on transformation magic.

“When an attack happens suddenly, transformation magic, along with enchantment magic, is one of the best ways to react quickly. The difference is that enchantment magic often needs to be prepared ahead of time because it takes time to cast. Transformation magic is the opposite. It needs more speed.”

Lee Han asked, writing notes with his quill.

“Do you know Professor Yonlamo Lezi?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what he likes?”

“No.”

“Then do you know anyone who is close to Professor Yonlamo Lezi?”

“No.”

Professor Voladi answered and then stopped for a moment, thinking.

Then he spoke.

“The headmaster might be close to him.”

‘Hmm. I shouldn’t have asked him.’

Lee Han, hearing Professor Voladi’s crazy answer, suddenly felt like cold water had been thrown on him.

He was someone he should never have asked.

“Did you learn >Steel Mantle Transformation> or >Steel Scarf Transformation> first?”

“I learned >Steel Mantle Transformation> first.”

Professor Voladi nodded without expression.

Students who learned quickly learned >Steel Mantle Transformation> first, while those who learned slowly learned >Steel Scarf Transformation> first.

Anyway, that wasn’t important…

“You must have learned it perfectly. Let’s go on to the next one.”

“No, how can you be so sure?”

Lee Han was so surprised that he answered back for a moment.

“Haven’t you learned it perfectly?”

“I have learned it, but…”

“Let’s go on to the next one. The mantle.”

Lee Han gave the mantle to Professor Voladi. Then, Professor Voladi shook the mantle and made it disappear.

“!?”

“Don’t just use transformation magic on things you know.”

Another mantle, one he had never seen before, flew in from the air.

Professor Voladi started to float magic power in the air like a sharp dagger.

“…Wasn’t it a bead?”

“Beads are not good for mantles.”

“It seems good… Transform into steel, mantle!”

Lee Han stayed alert even as he answered.

As expected, daggers started to fly right away.

“Don’t move, block them.”

Lee Han didn’t answer even at Professor Voladi’s words.

He was so busy blocking, he almost couldn’t answer.

Whoosh!

‘Damn it. What is this mantle made of?’

Transformation wizards usually know a lot about the equipment and items they carry.

It makes sense because they need to understand each material to use transformation magic quickly.

However, Professor Voladi wanted them to be able to use transformation magic with just a feeling, without knowing the material.

His unfairness was too much.

“Shield, appear…”

Lee Han tried to slow things down with a water shield. Professor Voladi removed the shield right away.

Lee Han tried to trick him with a clear mantle. Professor Voladi stopped the casting right away.

Lee Han tried to call skeleton warriors. Professor Voladi’s eyebrows went up.

…Did I teach him too much?

Not blocking with the mantle I told him to use…