Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 282

“…Excellent. I’ll give you full marks.”

“Thank you.”

To the left.

To the right.

Spin three times in place, then do a somersault.

Finally, a graceful ballet.

Luckily, Bonecrusher listened to Lee Han. The commands could have been strange.

“Thank you, Bonecrusher.”

The skeleton warrior nodded quickly, looking a little nervous.

“You can go bac-”

Bang!

Lee Han jumped back in his seat, the wooden chair scraping against the stone floor. He tilted his head, listening intently.

“Something’s strange.”

“A skeleton doing ballet?”

Gainando looked at Lee Han as if to say, “Are you just realizing this now?”

“No. The professor’s expression.”

Lee Han was usually good at understanding how people felt, almost like he could read the emotions of ghosts.

But Professor’s feelings were even easier to read than a ghost’s! The Professor’s face was like an open book.

“Of course,” the Professor said, his voice a little strained.

“Huh?” Lee Han blinked, confused.

“That’s… how you named the skeleton warrior,” another friend mumbled, trying not to laugh.

The friends around them nodded, trying to hide their smiles. Lee Han frowned, scratching his head. “Wait, what? It’s not like you’re hearing the name ‘Bonecrusher’ for the first time, is it?”

“Lee Han,” Gainando said, shaking his head. “Some things you just never get used to, no matter how many times you hear them.” He shuddered dramatically. “‘Bonecrusher’…”

As they were talking, it was Gainando’s turn.

“Gainando, be careful.”

“That’s right.”

Gainando, who was about to go out looking nervous, softened. A small smile touched his lips as he looked at his friends. He felt a warmth spread through him at their support.

“Don’t overdo it and cause an accident; just give up when you need to and come back.”

“Don’t even think about being the only one to succeed. You’re not Wodanaz.”

Gainando snorted at his friends, who were holding him back, saying they had already failed in their first attempt.

“Hmph! Losers!”

“Gainando… you’ll end up coming back here…”

“Gainando, when you swung your staff, did you swing it clockwise or counterclockwise? Try to remember.”

Lee Han was impressed. They were experts at interfering, even though they couldn’t do magic.

“But I’ve already figured out the method.”

Gainando felt confident, thanks to the hints his friends had given him.

Nilia had succeeded in handling the spirit. Lee Han had succeeded in handling the undead. If Nilia approached warmly, Lee Han approached strictly. Since Gainando was also handling the undead, it was right to do what Lee Han did.

“Listen! If you don’t listen to my command, I’ll…”

The skeleton warrior immediately rushed in and slapped Gainando on the cheek.

Enraged, Gainando roared and swung his wooden staff. It whistled through the air as it connected with the skeleton’s bony arm with a *thwack*.

“That’s why I told you to give up when you needed to and come back.”

“Gainando! Break his legs! Break his legs!”

It was swordsmanship class time.

The students weren’t as nervous as they were for other final exams.

The swordsmanship class wasn’t like other classes where they took the exam right there.

“What did you guys bring?”

“Why are you asking that? What about you guys?”

“We’re not going to tell you that easily.”

The students were watching each other carefully, trying to figure out what everyone else was planning.

For this exam, students had to hunt the strongest creature they could find in the mountains. They needed to bring back proof of their hunt.

Besides the grades, it was a matter of pride for the students to hunt stronger prey than their classmates.

“That’s why they’re asking each other like that, Lee Han.”

“I see, Deorgyu. But I don’t think we should ignore the grades.”

Lee Han said coldly. What nonsense was it to have a pride fight that didn’t affect the grades in the final exam? Grades are just more important!

“Well, that’s true, but… it’s a pretty important issue within the White Tiger Tower.”

“Deorgyu, don’t talk nonsense. By the way, did they find out what we brought?”

Since Deorgyu and Moradi belonged to the White Tiger Tower, they often argued with other students. Moradi always took care of his own business, so he would never be found out, but Deorgyu was a bit careless and gullible.

He was the kind of person who might accidentally leak information if his friends asked him enough!

“Don’t worry, Lee Han. No one will know what we brought.”

“Okay. That’s a relief.”

It was important not to reveal your plan in this kind of competitive exam. The moment it was known, the competition would get too intense, and everyone would get tired of each other.

Lee Han didn’t want that kind of fight that only left everyone with scars.

“You understand, right, Deorgyu? We’re being considerate of our friends.”

“That’s right, Choi. Keep that in mind.”

Deorgyu looked at Lee Han and Giselle with a confused expression. He felt something suspicious in the way the two were only trying to persuade him.

Duke Ma of the Jay family looked around. Then Gatono of the Dullac family scolded him.

“The others will notice. Stay still.”

“M-My bad.”

The two looked ahead, trying to stay as calm as possible. Another student from their group asked.

“But shouldn’t we say it now that we’ve come this far?”

“No! We have to submit as quietly as possible. There’s no point in making the others angry.”

“Even so, is it possible to win now?”

The White Tiger Tower student asked as if he couldn’t believe it. There were only an hour or two left, so how could they find and defeat a new creature in that time?

“That crazy Wodanaz might be able to do it.”

“That’s right. Don’t make Wodanaz angry!”

The White Tiger Tower student who asked the question nodded without thinking. Of course, it was nonsense, but the other two friends seemed very serious.

Gatono reached into his backpack. He felt a hard object wrapped tightly in cloth.

Surprisingly, it was…

…a giant’s shoe.

Gatono felt sure. ‘No one else could have found something as amazing as this!’

Wodana, Deurgyu, and Moradi were good with swords, but even they couldn’t do this, Gatono thought.

The other students watching agreed. They looked surprised and impressed.

They had felt so embarrassed and it was so hard to even find a giant. Who would try to do that again?

But Gatono and his friends were different. They didn’t give up.

“-Mr. Geutesse,” Gatono said, stepping forward. “We really want to face a giant. Please, can you help us?”

Geutesse was a hunter from the Wasteland Starseekers. He saw how much these students from the White Tiger Tower wanted his help. They had come to him many times.

Geutesse was there to teach and help them. So, he thought these students were brave for coming to him.

“-I like your attitude,” Geutesse said. “Okay, I will help you, but only this time.”

“-Really?!” Gatono and his friends asked, eyes wide.

“-But,” Geutesse continued, “you have to do it yourselves. I can only help a little.”

“-Don’t worry!” Gatono and his friends shouted. They were very excited and full of energy.

They felt like they could fly, they were so ready to do anything.

“-Now, crawl into that animal pen and bring back the shoes the giant took off.”

“-Uh… aren’t we fighting the giant directly?”

“-Of course not,” Geutesse said, a little smile on his face. “I can’t let first-year students fight a giant face-to-face.”

“-……”

“-What’s wrong?” Geutesse asked, noticing their silence.

“-Oh, nothing,” Gatono said, trying to hide his disappointment.

“-Anyway,” Geutesse said, “you don’t need to fight the giant. Just the shoes the giant wore will be enough to show you did it.”

“-But isn’t the test about defeating prey and bringing back evidence?”

“-If you can sneak up and take the shoes without the giant seeing you, that’s like beating the giant. That’s what we Wasteland Starseekers believe.”

“-Is that so?” The White Tiger Tower students thought about this idea. It sounded good to them.

Really, they would have agreed to almost anything to avoid fighting the giant.

“-Wait. Mr. Geutesse. That animal pen is completely muddy.”

“-That’s even better. The mud will hide the smell, so the giant won’t notice. And if necessary, you can hide under the pigs.”

“-…Is there any other way besides crawling?”

“-Other than facing the giant directly, no.”

The White Tiger Tower students thought about it. It was not a nice idea. But finally, they took off their clothes and crawled into the mud.

The smell was terrible! Even after washing for days, they could still smell it. But they thought it was worth it.

A giant’s shoe.

Who else would have brought something like this?

Gatono was so pleased with himself that he didn’t notice another student approaching from behind.

Tap!

Another student from a different group came up behind Gatono and quickly hit his hand.

The giant’s shoe inside rolled out.

“…!!”

“Isn’t that the shoe the giant was wearing?! It looks like the shoe the giant wore!”

“Friends! Look! They lied to us and went after the giant anyway!”

The other White Tiger Tower students had come closer because they were curious. Now, they were shocked to see the giant’s shoe.

They had all agreed not to try for the giant. So why were these guys cheating?

“You cowards! Can you even call yourselves knights after doing that!”

“I am honest! I did nothing wrong! We promised not to go because it was dangerous. But we went because we knew we could do it. What’s wrong with that?”

“Liar! You hid it because you were scared we would get the giant too!”

“If you’re jealous, just say so. Don’t be so pathetic!”

“Are you talking back to me?!” The White Tiger Tower students didn’t just argue anymore. They started grabbing each other and punching.

Lee Han, who was sitting with Moradi and Deurgyu a little further away, clicked his tongue at the sight.

“How foolish. Breaking a promise and facing the giant behind their friends’ backs.”

“…Lee Han. But we faced the giant too.”

“We didn’t get caught.”

“……”

Professor Inguldel thanked Baishada, a hunter from the Shadow Patrol, and Geutesse, a hunter from the Wasteland Starseekers.

“Thank you for your help,” Professor Inguldel said.

“Oh, it’s nothing, Professor,” Baishada replied.

Geutesse added, “It’s an honor for me to teach young wizards like them.”

‘He’s really good at talking,’ Baishada thought. He was impressed by how well Geutesse spoke.

Baishada understood why Geutesse was famous. He was much better at speaking than the hunters from the Shadow Patrol.

“Thank you,” Professor Inguldel said. “Now, let’s see what the students have found.” The two hunters sat down with the professor.

The students from the swordsmanship class showed what they had caught, one by one. Each time, the two hunters looked very surprised and interested.

“This is a Vampire Shadow Bat! They usually don’t come out of the cave at this time, but you managed to…”

“To catch a walking Flame Mushroom. They must be wizards. Even hunters avoid them because they’re tricky.”

“To bring the fruit of a Vine Hunter. Impressive, isn’t it?”

Then, it was Gatono and his friends’ turn. When they showed the giant’s shoe, Professor Inguldel was very impressed too.

“A shoe that the giant was wearing…! You managed to bring it!” Gatono, with a bruise on one eye, spoke cautiously.

“We couldn’t defeat the giant.”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s even more impressive that you brought it even though you couldn’t defeat it.”

Professor Inguldel said that and looked at Geutesse.

“Mr. Geutesse. Thank you again.”

“Professor,” Geutesse said, “I knew you were smart, but I’m still surprised. How did you know?” Professor Inguldel smiled. “If you hadn’t told them what to do, how would first-year students even think about going near a giant?”

Geutesse cleared his throat, looking a little embarrassed. Baishada watched him and felt jealous.

Fame, popularity, skill, and even being good at giving advice to wizards. ‘This isn’t fair!’ Baishada thought, feeling jealous.

Then, it was Lee Han and his friends’ turn. When Lee Han showed the giant’s hair – hair from Ikurusha the giant! – Professor Inguldel and Geutesse coughed and spat out their water.

Then they looked at Baishada, shocked. Baishada quickly said, surprised, “No, no, no… I didn’t do anything!”

“Yes, I know, Mr. Baishada,” Professor Inguldel said, smiling slightly. “Teachers might think they are not doing much. But sometimes, just one word from a teacher can help students understand something big…” Baishada looked confused.