Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 286

“Strange?”

Gainando is acting like a sacrifice, you mean.

Even if tough times change someone, can they really change this much?

Yoner looked puzzled. Leehahn didn’t give his friend time to think about it.

“We need to move fast, Yoner! No time to waste!”

“Ah… right! Okay!”

Gainando’s charge worked better than anyone expected.

Maybe the curse magic worked well, or maybe his bold run annoyed it. Whatever the reason, the Sand Octopus stood up from its spot and started chasing Gainando.

Even Professor Lightningfoot, who had said, “I told you not to attack the Sand Octopus!” was impressed.

He had managed to get the Sand Octopus to come out!

“Getting it angry is a skill. Excellent!”

Gainando ran like crazy, twisting and turning to avoid the Sand Octopus’s huge legs.

“Help me! Save me!”

“What’s Gainando saying?”

“Can’t hear him! Ask later, just run!”

“Now’s our chance, friends!”

Leehahn and his group, and all the other students from the Tower who had been waiting, kicked their horses hard and raced forward.

Leehahn cast a spell on his friends’ horses, just in case.

“Be filled!”

The horses, filled with Ogonin’s ‘Filled Satisfaction’ magic, stayed calm even with the sand wind blowing around them.

Neigh!

Phonegrug grumbled, as if asking why he wasn’t getting the same magic.

“Run! It’ll be dangerous if it comes back!”

Clop clop!

Everyone was racing as fast as they could.

It was a tough race, because the first student to the turning point would get the best score.

Thud!

Leehahn bumped into a student from the Black Tortoise Tower who was rushing in from the side. Phonegrug growled angrily.

“Hold on, Phonegrug.”

“Wodanaz,” the student said, “I won’t say you are a coward. This is a race, so I will keep going!”

“Understood.”

Leehahn quickly flicked his wand and sent a water orb flying.

The Black Tortoise Tower student didn’t think Leehahn could use magic while running so fast, and was knocked out.

Neigh…?!

Phonegrug was confused, even while running as fast as he could.

I can’t attack, but my master can?

Gainando came back late, dusting the sand off his clothes and shouting.

“Hey, you cowardly ba…”

“I’m impressed. You lured the monster away by yourself to help your friends,” Professor Lightningfoot said, sounding both admiring and surprised. Gainando quickly answered.

“…It was hard, but I thought it was my duty as a member of the royal family to do it.”

‘He learned that from Leehahn,’ Yoner thought, looking at Gainando.

He hadn’t been that clever before.

When he thought about who Gainando could have learned from, there was only one person.

“Thank you, Gainando.”

“We passed because of you!”

“I didn’t know you’d sacrifice yourself like that!”

Other Tower students also came to thank him.

He had lured the Sand Octopus away all by himself, so they were grateful. Even students who didn’t like him because he was annoying thanked him.

Gainando looked at his friends, feeling happy, then nodded and said.

“It wasn’t an easy choice.”

“But what were you saying earlier?”

“I told you to take care of things.”

“Was it that long…?”

While Gainando was talking in the back, Leehahn checked his score with Professor Lightningfoot.

“Full marks.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

“No need to say much, you all did well… but I’m curious, why did you think the Sand Octopus was a Hydra earlier?”

Leehahn paused.

After thinking for a moment, he said.

“I heard that Professor Thunderfoot brought a Hydra.”

“What? Really?”

Professor Lightningfoot seemed surprised.

Leehahn was confused because even the professor didn’t know.

‘What is going on?’

“If that’s true, he managed to bring it here. It was hard to get before, and it’s even harder now. Should I ask him to show it to me?”

“You didn’t know either, Professor?”

“I didn’t hear about it. Maybe he didn’t want to ask me for advice.”

Professor Lightningfoot was a famous explorer in the Empire and knew a lot about monsters and animals.

So, if Professor Thunderfoot had brought a Hydra, he would have given him advice on how to take care of it.

“Do you know why Professor Thunderfoot might have brought it?”

“Hmm? I don’t need to know everything about him. Maybe he needs it for potion research?”

Wizards usually only care about their own research.

Even if Professor Thunderfoot had secretly brought a Hydra, that was his business, not Professor Lightningfoot’s.

But he was worried about whether the Hydra was being taken care of well…

“Is it possible that a question about the Hydra might be on the final exam?”

Even as he asked, Leehahn hoped Professor Lightningfoot would say, ‘Of course not!’ or ‘That’s crazy.’

“Oh! I didn’t think of that.”

But Professor Lightningfoot looked at Leehahn like he had a good idea.

“That might be possible.”

Leehahn sighed to himself.

‘I should have waited to surprise him the day he brought the Hydra.’

He didn’t think he would pay such a price for not being careful!

Professor Thunderfoot waited for the students with his arms crossed and a happy look on his face.

“You’re here?”

“Hello, Professor.”

“The test you’re about to take might destroy your soul.”

“…”

“Good luck!”

The student who went in glared at him, but Professor Thunderfoot didn’t care.

He was excited about the test he had made.

He had carefully made a final exam question that was almost too hard, but not quite so hard that Headmaster Skull would say, ‘Isn’t this too much?’

With this test, he could crush the spirits of those students who did well on their midterms or pre-final assignments and thought, ‘I know a little bit about alchemy now.’

“Hello, Professor.”

Leehahn came in with a serious look on his face. Professor Thunderfoot nodded.

The student who had gotten full marks on the assignment that was made to stop anyone from getting full marks was here, so the exam had been made harder.

Maybe the student knew what was coming, because he looked serious.

“The exam will be harder than last time.”

“I expect so,” Leehahn said, trying not to sigh.

He didn’t understand why the professors were like this.

Isn’t it good if the students do well on the exam?

‘The professor taught well, so they did well, so why are they upset?’

“Yes. That’s right. Heh heh heh…”

“…”

Professor Thunderfoot was so happy that he forgot that his student might try to hurt him after graduating.

Leehahn stared at Professor Thunderfoot and promised to surprise him next time.

‘What is he planning to do with the Hydra?’

He had talked about it with his friends before coming, and while coming, but he couldn’t guess.

-Should we hunt the Hydra and use its venom for the potion?

-Are you crazy?! No way. But we should at least try to get its venom.

-That’s crazy enough.

-The test might not be about the Hydra at all? That could be true.

-Are you even a wizard? How can you think that? It seems like we need to get ingredients from the Hydra.

-The Hydra might be guarding the ingredients…

“Please let me know when you’re ready, because I am.”

“Alright. Let’s start?”

Professor Thunderfoot walked forward.

The students waited, feeling both nervous and excited.

What kind of test will it be?

Giolla’s Cinnabar Potion

Irjunden’s Night Mist Potion

Aurum’s Soul Amplification Potion

Dobruk’s Mercury Sulfide Potion

The names of the potions filled the blackboard.

Some of them were potions they had never heard of before.

Professor Thunderfoot enjoyed seeing the students’ reactions.

“You’re not picking one of these. By the end of today, make and submit as many of these potions as you can.”

Each one of them was a potion that took a lot of work and was hard to make.

Some of them couldn’t be made without mixing other potions first.

He had made a list of potions that he thought could never all be made!

It was a very tricky test.

Professor Thunderfoot smiled and looked at Leehahn. Even the best student looked unsure, maybe because he was nervous.

“Professor?”

“What is it? Ask anything you want.”

“Will the Hydra be there?”

“Hydra? What… no, wait! How did you know?!”

Professor Thunderfoot was surprised.

How did he know that he had secretly brought it in at night so the other professors wouldn’t see it?

“I saw it by chance.”

“What a fool… well, I can’t help it if you saw it. I spent a lot of money to buy it. I might need some help taking care of it later.”

He wanted to get the Hydra’s venom slowly, but a full-grown Hydra was too expensive and hard to handle.

So, Professor Thunderfoot had to buy a baby Hydra.

If he raised it a little, he could get the same result.

“Is that all?”

“What? Do you think I secretly brought it in without telling anyone? Absolutely not! Everything was done with permission.”

Professor Thunderfoot said firmly, worried that Leehahn might misunderstand.

He couldn’t hide the fact that he was bringing in the Hydra from Headmaster Skull.

“That’s not what I meant…”

” ? ”

“Wasn’t the Hydra going to be on the test?”

“Why would the Hydra be on the test?”

Professor Thunderfoot looked at Leehahn like he was crazy.

Why would the Hydra be on a first-year alchemy exam? That was silly.

“…I guess that’s true.”

“Right?”

Leehahn went back to his seat, looking convinced.

Professor Thunderfoot realized that he hadn’t heard Leehahn’s thoughts on the test because they were talking about the Hydra.

‘Oh. Too bad.’

He wanted to see him struggle with the difficulty of alchemy and feel small…

Tap tap tap-

Leehahn quickly took out potions from his backpack and lined them up.

Each one of them was a potion that was hard to make.

And they were good quality, like they had been carefully made in an alchemist’s workshop.

‘No…?!’

Professor Thunderfoot was shocked.

He thought Leehahn had gotten the potions from somewhere else, but he thought he would only have a few.

How could a student who couldn’t bring them in and had no money have so many?

While Professor Thunderfoot was too shocked to speak, Leehahn started working.

He lit a fire under the cauldron and started making the potions he could make with the materials he had…

‘Lucky me.’

He was worried about what the Hydra would do, but it had nothing to do with it.

The exam wasn’t too hard because of that.

He had gathered all sorts of potions for this, right?

After mixing three of the finished potions and waving his wand, Irjunden’s Night Mist Potion was done.

“Isn’t it lucky that the Hydra didn’t show up? I was worried, but I’m relieved.”

“Leehahn. The professor is glaring at you,” Yoner whispered, feeling Professor Thunderfoot’s stare.

He was so shocked that even his beard was shaking.