Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 289

Professor Ku was surprised by how shocked Lee Han was.

For a moment, he wondered if he had heard the score wrong.

Professor Ku frowned. “One point? It’s just one point. Why are you so upset?”

Lee Han mumbled, “…Right.”

He said he agreed, but his face told a different story. His shoulders slumped, and his eyes were wide with dismay. He looked like a wizard who had accidentally turned a kingdom to dust with a single, clumsy spell.

“Thank you, Professor.”

“Wodanaz, are you really alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Oh, I heard you lost a point!

“……”

Lee Han was very surprised when the floating, flying skull Headmaster appeared.

It hadn’t even been 30 minutes since the exam…

“Losing one point can happen.”

Could it really? If he hadn’t made that mistake, he could have gotten full marks on every exam?

The skull Headmaster wanted to make Lee Han doubt himself and bring out his bad feelings.

Lee Han knew what the Headmaster was doing, so he stayed calm.

He was annoyed at losing a point because of a mistake, but it wasn’t something that would drastically change things.

‘Don’t waver.’

Isn’t that mistake still bothering you?

“Yes. I think there’s a misunderstanding, but I never had the arrogant thought of getting full marks on every exam.”

That wasn’t a lie.

Lee Han would have to be crazy to set a goal of getting full marks in every class.

His goal was simply to do his best.

He was just annoyed at losing a point because that’s just how he was…

Aren’t you feeling rage or hatred towards the professors who dare to test someone like you?

“What insane first-year would think like that?”

I did.

“……”

Lee Han decided to ignore him and didn’t answer anymore.

The skull Headmaster seemed disappointed, realizing that Lee Han wouldn’t take the bait.

Pretending to be humble when you don’t need to…

“I have never been arrogant, Headmaster.”

Isn’t trying to take all the magic classes from every school arrogant enough?

“……”

Lee Han looked defeated. The skull Headmaster, realizing this, was pleased.

Have you finally realized something?

“No?”

Denying it will only make it harder on yourself. Are you preparing well for Professor Verdus’s exam?

Once the Transformation Magic exam and the Enchantment Magic exam are over, the dreadful first semester would practically be over.

The Transformation Magic exam didn’t seem too difficult, so Enchantment Magic was the biggest task left.

“I’m doing my best.”

It doesn’t seem to be going well.

The skull Headmaster easily guessed his thoughts. Lee Han, realizing that denying it was pointless, asked in return.

“How did you know?”

Well, isn’t Professor Verdus’s exam about making something you’ve already created even better? Since you completed something like that in the first place, it’s natural that it wouldn’t be easy.

The skull Headmaster answered as if it were an obvious question. Lee Han had no choice but to agree.

‘I suppose so.’

Creating a floating steel shield was already amazing, but to upgrade it even further in less than a month…

It was only natural that it wasn’t going well.

“Then, would you tell me instead, Headmaster?”

No? You should blame yourself for doing too well in the first place. It’s not for nothing that combat mages are said to hide three-tenths of their skills. This will be a lesson for you.

“That’s a saying for when you’re fighting…”

Still, I’ll give you one piece of advice.

The skull Headmaster cut him off, and Lee Han paused and waited.

What advice would the skull Headmaster give?

‘It probably won’t be very useful advice.’

You’ve created a floating steel shield now, right?

“Yes.”

A steel shield that floats around the caster and automatically blocks incoming attacks.

It used many magic circles, but making it at all was almost a miracle.

What’s your goal?

“I’m thinking of adding… reflection.”

I see. Get rid of all the other magic circles and just put in reflection.

“!”

Lee Han was surprised by the skull Headmaster’s words.

So, you mean…?

“Then it’ll just be a normal shield that only reflects?”

Yes. That’s good enough. Anyway, the performance has been upgraded, hasn’t it? Even if the other functions have decreased a bit.

The skull Headmaster was serious.

Even a student who was trying to take all the magic classes from every school had limits.

Sometimes, you need to choose and give up.

And Professor Verdus was someone who gave exams as he pleased, so there was no need to take his exams too seriously.

The student could just do what they wanted and insist on it.

Even if you only focus on the reflection ability from the beginning, it will be hard to finish in time. Just completing it would be an achievement to proudly talk about, so he wouldn’t be able to deduct points for reduced how well it works.

Normally, it would be impossible. But because Lee Han is so good, the Headmaster thought it would be just barely possible.

“But Professor Verdus might be disappointed…”

What’s wrong with disappointing Professor Verdus? Why is that a bad thing?

“!”

Huh?

‘I guess so?’

Lee Han felt himself being persuaded by the skull Headmaster’s logic.

Professor Verdus…

Wouldn’t it be alright if he was a little disappointed?

Since he set that as the goal in the first place, it was practically his own fault if he was disappointed.

“I’m glad you’d rather disappoint Professor Verdus than torment me, Headmaster.”

You’re really gifted in illusion magic.

“I’m not.”

Well, you did lose a point.

“……”

Professor Verdus was waiting for the students, having put down his equipment and tools.

Anyone who knew the professor knew how surprising this was.

Who was Professor Verdus?

Despite being a professor who was supposed to teach, he would throw a few books at the students in the lecture hall, tell them to study on their own, and then spend his time creating magical items that interested him—a born craftsman.

For Professor Verdus to be waiting without doing anything…

The traders who had come to the school because Professor Verdus had called them felt uneasy and asked.

“Are you alright? Magician? Why aren’t you doing your crafting…?”

“It’s the students’ exam.”

“Oh… right, it is.”

The traders cursed Professor Verdus inwardly.

He usually only answered with ‘uh’ or ‘uh-huh’ when the traders spoke to him, and only spoke when it was convenient for him, so this made him even more annoying.

Regardless, Professor Verdus waited, humming a tune.

It was because of what the skull Headmaster had said.

-Oh, these first-year students are quite something. They’ve made some good stuff.

-Really? I bet they only made trash.

-…Of course, if you look at it coldly, there might be some truth to that, but some of the works are quite good.

-There’s no way.

-If it weren’t for your exam, I would have thrown them in the punishment room. It’s a real shame.

-Why?

-You can think about that later when you’re in the punishment room… and there’s a really good piece too. Like the one Wodanaz made.

-Oh. He finished it?

Professor Verdus’s face lit up.

He had advised him to add a reflection ability to the floating steel shield, and it seemed that Wodanaz had completed it well.

-…Don’t you think that’s a little difficult?

The skull Headmaster asked, trying his best to hold back his frustration.

Of course, Professor Verdus answered confidently, as if he were asking what he was talking about.

-No? Why?

-It was my mistake for asking. Anyway, since he’s completed the reflection ability, make sure to give it a cold evaluation.

-Oh! I’m looking forward to it!

Thanks to that, Professor Verdus was excited.

Of course, in Professor Verdus’s eyes, Lee Han’s enchantment magic still had many shortcomings (Professor Verdus’s genius brain had forgotten that Lee Han was a first-year student).

But even if there were dozens of flaws, if there was one special advantage that covered them, it was interesting enough.

Lee Han’s enchantment magic, which skipped several processes of enchantment magic with his unique massive amount of magic power, was interesting even with its many shortcomings.

Tap-

As the door opened and the students came in, Professor Verdus shouted with delight.

“Submit your work as you arrive!”

“H-here it is, Professor.”

As Professor Verdus seemed strangely happy, the student submitted his work with a glimmer of hope.

If he’s this happy, maybe the assignment…?

“It’s still trash. What’s improved?”

“…D-didn’t the speed increase a little?”

“Next!”

The students came forward one by one, got insulted by Professor Verdus, and were then chased away.

Seeing that, Lee Han felt relieved.

‘Even if I fail, we’ll all fail together.’

It’s more reassuring to fail with friends than to fail alone.

Professor Verdus grumbled and chased the students away, but when it was Lee Han’s turn, his face lit up.

“You’re here? I’ve been looking forward to it! Alright. Show me!”

Lee Han carefully took out the steel shield and placed it down.

All of the previous magic circle formulas had been erased, and a new reflection ability was engraved on the shield.

Clang!

When Lee Han picked up a pebble and threw it, the pebble returned in the direction it came from with a clear sound.

It bounced back with a force that seemed impossible.

“!!”

“It’s reflection?!”

The students were startled.

Wodanaz was the top student of the year, so they knew he was skilled in magic, but to complete a reflection shield following the floating shield from before…

‘This is…’

‘…this might work!’

The students who had just been insulted and chased away looked at Professor Verdus with expectant eyes without realizing it.

Even if he was a picky professor, he would have no choice but to say ‘well done’ at this point.

Surely!

“Where did the automatic defense go?!”

“……”

“……”

The students glared at the professor with contempt.

How could he say something like that when a first-year student had completed the reflection ability in such a short time? He should be praising him!

‘He’s not even human.’

‘Even a mountain range monster would be more merciful than that man.’

“I removed the automatic defense.”

“Why?!”

“To complete the reflection.”

“You could have done it together?!”

“There wasn’t enough time.”

“Why?!”

Lee Han only gave a faint smile instead of answering. He didn’t want to argue with a madman.

“Should I give you more time?”

“Next week is vacation.”

“There’s a room in the Holy Engraving Hall, do you want to stay there and complete it?”

The students couldn’t stand it anymore and stood up in protest at those words.

“Wodanaz has plans with us, Professor!”

“If you keep doing this, we’re really going to send a complaint to His Majesty the Emperor!”

“Why, why?! What did I do?!”

Lee Han was touched by the friendship his friends showed him for the first time in a long while.

Feeding them wasn’t a waste of effort after all.

After the Transformation Magic exam (an exam where you only had to make one of your clothes out of steel) and the Enchantment Magic exam were over, Friday night arrived, and the students of the Blue Dragon Tower began to shout wildly.

“It’s over! It’s over! It’s over!”

“The grades too!”

The friends gagged the prince’s mouth, who was about to spoil the mood.

Bang! Pop pop pop pop! Pop pop pop pop!

Looking out the window, beautiful fireworks with all sorts of patterns were exploding in the dark night sky.

“The seniors must be setting them off!”

“Let’s respond too!”

The first-year students ran to the window and fired off magic spells as they pleased.

They were unimpressive compared to the magic the seniors were sending, but they could be seen clearly thanks to the dark night sky.

“The fireworks are moving!”

The fireworks that decorated the night sky wriggled and transformed into letters.

The first-year students cast their gazes with pounding hearts at the message the seniors were sending.

What words of praise would the seniors, whose faces they hadn’t even seen, give to their juniors?

☆It’s noisy☆Be☆Quiet☆And☆Play☆

☆Seeing☆The☆First-Years☆Having☆Fun☆Shows☆They☆Still☆Haven’t☆Learned☆Anything☆The☆Second☆Semester☆Is☆The☆Real☆Deal☆

“……”

“They’re trash…”