Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 273

‘Maybe the Professor was right after all,’ Lee Han thought, wiping sweat from his forehead as he walked back from the school gardens. The scent of freshly turned earth and blooming moonpetal flowers usually calmed him, but today, his mind was still buzzing with the image of the fiery phoenix.

The creature was definitely making it impossible to study. But perhaps getting too worried about it was the wrong approach. Fighting against something as wild and unpredictable as a phoenix… that sounded like it would only end in trouble.

Maybe, he decided, he should just accept the phoenix. Treat it like he treated Headmaster Skull – another strange, unavoidable part of Einroguard. He would just have to try and get on with his work around it.

“Wodanaz!! Wodanaz!!!”

White Tiger Tower students came running towards Lee Han as he walked from the cabin.

Since there were few people around, Lee Han issued a warning.

“Hold it. Speak from there. Don’t come any closer.”

“There’s no time for that! Follow us!!”

“Sounds even more suspicious.”

“…Ah! I’m serious! Please believe me!!!”

The White Tiger Tower student screamed, rolling around on the ground.

Even his friend looked ashamed of him.

“…Alright, lead the way.”

If he was pretending, he was doing a very good job. Lee Han felt he had to follow, even if it was a trap.

Lee Han was so shocked he couldn’t close his mouth.

The students from each tower who had gathered were wearing similar expressions.

Whoosh!

The warehouse containing the >Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic< final exam assignments was on fire. “…The warehouse is supposed to be fireproof, isn’t it? How is it on fire?” “The phoenix broke into the warehouse and went inside.” Even if the warehouse walls were supposed to be fireproof because of magic, there was no way it could stop a phoenix inside, especially after it broke down the door and started moving around. Lee Han looked around. Some students were laughing hysterically, while others were sobbing and pounding the ground with their fists. This was normal. Their final exam for 'Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic' was burning! “Everyone, let’s put out the fire first.” “Huh? Oh… Okay.” “Isn’t it impossible to put it out now?” The students murmured, but Lee Han showed them what to do. He used magic to pull water from the air and throw it at the fire. It was a simple spell, but only Lee Han could continuously summon massive amounts of water against the phoenix’s flames. After throwing water many times, the fire went down. Lee Han looked at the ashen warehouse with a bitter expression. 'I worked so hard on that.' “This won’t do.” “???” “Let’s catch the phoenix before we study.” “Wodanaz…!” The students’ eyes widened at Lee Han’s words. Was he really thinking of catching the phoenix? “I’ll join you!” “I’ll offer my sword to you, Wodanaz!” “At this point, I don’t care about the final exam!” “That’s not true.” “U-uh, right.” Of course, no matter how angry he was, Lee Han wasn’t foolish enough to go after the phoenix with only his friends. “Professor, would you be willing to help us hunt the phoenix?” “…Pardon?” Professor Garcia was taken aback but didn’t stop the students or refuse. “Of course, these experiences help a wizard grow, but I’m worried that hunting the phoenix might be too difficult…” “I plan to ask other professors for help as well.” Professor Garcia hesitated when Lee Han said this. *‘I don’t think it will work,’* he thought. Professors at magic schools usually didn't like helping students. People often said wizards needed to learn on their own to get better. But Professor Garcia thought the professors just found it annoying to help students all the time. “Um, Lee Han? The professors are actually quite busy…” Professor Garcia tried to talk Lee Han out of it gently. However, Lee Han already knew. “I know.” Professors were meant to give students work, not help them with it. But there were exceptions. Bang! “Professor Verdus! Please help our freshmen!” “What? No!” Professor Verdus was busy with a hammer and chisel. When they opened the door to the Sacred Artifact Hall, he immediately said no. Lee Han continued without panicking. “If you help us, I’ll help you with your work!” “Then I’m in!” Professor Verdus jumped down from his chair. Professor Garcia, worried, asked. “Um, Lee Han? Professor Verdus is one of the busiest professors…” Even if they needed Professor Verdus's help, promising something like that without thinking was risky. “Don’t worry.” “??” “We haven’t decided what kind of work it is. We can just do something simple and say it's enough.” Professor Garcia blinked. “…S-so, you’re deceiving him?” “No, Professor. It’s not deception, it’s clever rhetoric. Headmaster will agree.” Professor Garcia wondered if the students were learning to be good people at all. Bang! “Professor Beggrec! We’re trying to hunt the phoenix, could you help us?” Professor Volardi was sitting down. He raised an eyebrow a little, nodded, and stood up. Then he saw all the students and looked confused. “Wasn’t I supposed to face it one-on-one?” “…I’m not that strong.” Professor Garcia had initially been hesitant, but with Professor Verdus and Professor Beggrec joining, his thoughts changed. Of course, Einroguard’s professors were only supposed to help students to a ‘reasonable’ extent. They couldn’t just defeat the phoenix for the students. But the story changed if they received a reasonable amount of help from several people. And with no one watching, who would say anything if they helped a little more… Good! I’ll join too! The warm atmosphere among the freshmen and professors suddenly froze over. Headmaster Skull seemed confused. 'Why is everyone acting like this?' he asked. “They seem moved by the fact that Headmaster is helping us.” Headmaster Skull said, sounding pleased with himself, 'That student... he's good. I understand everything.' Lee Han cursed inwardly. 'Damn it. I should have somehow hidden the Death Knights’ eyes.' There was no way Headmaster Skull had just come to help. He must have heard from the Death Knights that the professors were helping and come to get involved. How petty! Now then… how do you plan to catch the phoenix? Tell me. Surely an Einroguard student isn’t trying to rely on the professors without any plan? “I do have a plan.” Shhh! Professor Garcia spoke, and Headmaster Skull quickly covered his mouth. Be quiet. I won’t allow you to communicate with secret codes! “There’s no such thing…” Headmaster Skull didn't care if Professor Garcia was confused. He was very serious about it. Professor Garcia was the only one among the professors who would help Lee Han. 'Aren’t the other professors stopping him? …Hmm. There’s no need to stop him, I suppose.' Lee Han looked at Professor Verdus and Professor Volardi and nodded. Looking at them, he understood why Headmaster Skull wasn’t stopping them. “Of course, I have a plan.” The phoenix was hard to catch. It could heal itself so quickly that attacks didn't even seem to hurt it. It seemed impossible. But every creature had a weakness. The phoenix was no exception. First, weaken the phoenix’s regeneration and inflict damage to subdue it. 'It’s a good method, but it’s beyond my current level.' He couldn’t even guess what kind of high-level magic he would need to weaken the regeneration of a being like the phoenix. Another option was to deplete the phoenix’s stamina. Specifically, they needed to drain the phoenix's magic. Phoenixes are magical creatures. They use their own strong magic to move and live. If this magical power was depleted as much as possible, the mystical phoenix would inevitably be summoned back to another dimension. “…This is how we’ll deplete its magical power.” You’ve been thinking, at least. It’s reckless, but… Headmaster Skull didn’t say it was nonsense, but he didn’t say it was a good method either. It was too crude to be called a good method. The plan was to make the phoenix use up all its magic until it was tired. It sounded good, but it was likely the humans would get tired first. Of course, this was the only method the freshmen could use right now… “Then let’s proceed. Professor Verdus, please cast fireproofing magic on the students.” “Huh? All of them?” Professor Verdus, who hadn't said anything for a while, asked in surprise. “I don’t want to. It’s a waste of magical power.” A wizard’s magical power was a precious resource. Especially for Professor Verdus, who spent all his free time working on magical objects. Wizards didn't usually waste magic. They were careful with it. Saving magic was normal for them. “Don’t worry, Professor Garcia!” “I’m listening, Lee Han.” “Please absorb my magical power.” “I will… what?” The students buzzed with chatter. Headmaster Skull also asked with a dumbfounded look. Have you… absorbed magical power before? “No?!” Professor Garcia said in horror. Magical power was like life to a wizard, so absorbing it arbitrarily could lead to misunderstandings. Especially since the other party was his student, he had to be even more careful. “There’s no way I would do such a thing!” I see. You’re not the type to do that, not like Bible. Sorry. “I didn’t do anything like that!” Professor Verdus grumbled. Seeing that, Lee Han suddenly remembered something. 'Wait. Didn’t Professor Volardi try to absorb my magical power?' Didn’t he try to use Mana Drain because I had too much magical power and couldn’t control the iron balls? Lee Han looked at Professor Volardi in bewilderment. Professor Volardi, sensing his gaze, gave him a puzzled look. “Do you want to fight one-on-one after all?” “…No.” “I see.” Lee Han turned his gaze to Professor Garcia. “You can absorb my magical power and give it to Professor Verdus.” Professor Garcia looked very unwilling. 'Do we really have to do this?' he asked. Headmaster Skull also wondered if it was needed. He didn't think they needed to do so much just for Professor Verdus, who wasn't about to die from low magic. Professor Verdus, unconcerned, held out his arm. “Give me magical power quickly.” Please, just shut up. Like giving someone blood, giving someone magical power was also difficult. A wizard's inner magic was like a whole world inside them. Moving parts of that world to someone else could cause problems. Of course, Professor Garcia was good enough to make those problems less bad. Woooooo- A ball of magic appeared in the air. It was about the size of a head. But it held a huge amount of power. It was pure magic, squeezed together, with all the extra stuff taken out and made clean. “Lee Han, tell me if it’s too difficult.” “I’m fine, Professor. I’m not feeling anything.” “…Just pretend it’s difficult from now on.” “?!” Lee Han realized his mistake a little late. “Then I'll connect the magic.” A line extended from the sphere of magical power and connected to Professor Verdus. “Power… power…!” Be a little quieter. Headmaster Skull scolded. “I think this is enough?” Already? “Yeah! It’s enough.” Professor Verdus could be greedy, but he wouldn't rush things just to help a student. Headmaster Skull and Professor Garcia, who knew that well, looked at each other. 'The magic... it's so pure...' '...Just how pure is it?'