Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 317

“Is he perhaps… angry?”

Of course not… I am the Helmet of Wisdom. My only job is to give wise answers to those who seek them, not to be upset over small things…

‘He sounds angry.’

Lee Han thought to himself.

Lee Han thought people who talked for so long were usually angry.

Of course, the Helmet of Wisdom was an artifact, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t hold a grudge.

“Hmm. Helmet of Wisdom… an artifact with a self, able to answer questions once a month, must be quite rare, wouldn’t you say?”

Yes, that’s right.

The Helmet of Wisdom replied, sounding happier.

It seemed this young student was finally realizing its value.

The Helmet of Wisdom wanted to explore and learn all the knowledge in the world.

The Helmet didn’t mind if Lee Han got into danger to find knowledge.

To reach its goal, the helmet’s owner had to trust it and keep asking questions…

But Lee Han was rude for throwing it in a pile of old things and ignoring it for so long.

Still, it seemed he was finally realizing its value, so it could forgive him.

“Thank you.”

Wait… why isn’t he asking any questions? He can ask once a month, so he should ask as many as he can!

“No, I can’t. It will be harder to sell if I do.”

M…!

Lee Han carefully packed the helmet and put it in a wooden box.

He was happy at the thought of selling it for silver coins along with the ring.

Yoner sighed as she watched Lee Han walking towards her.

Her friend was walking into the Valley of Darkness, and she felt like she couldn’t stop him.

“I’m serious, okay? Don’t blame me later!”

Yoner said worriedly, again and again.

The Joane N. Meikin Alchemy Workshop was in the guild district west of Granden City.

All alchemists knew it was a very harsh alchemy workshop.

It was a place where they didn’t allow any mistakes or wasted time.

Yoner had been so scared when she visited the workshop as a child, holding onto her sister’s skirt, that she had avoided going there ever since.

“Yoner, the only thing I’ll say to you later is ‘thank you.’”

“…Lee Han. I like silver coins too… but life might be more than just silver coins.”

Yoner had never thought she would say such silly, embarrassing words.

“Silver coins aren’t everything. I know. But life is easier with silver coins, isn’t it?”

“I suppose so.”

They were too similar to disagree with Lee Han’s words. As Yoner agreed, Lee Han opened the door to the workshop and went inside.

“Wait a se—”

Plop!

The first thing Lee Han saw was an alchemist splashing a potion on another alchemist’s face.

“You made garbage. Get out. I don’t need people like you.”

“W-what! Do you even know where I’ve worked before?! At the Cheongsong Guild and the Klassen Workshop…!!”

“I don’t care where you’ve worked. I only care about your skills now. And you wasted my time with useless words.”

Before he could finish, a golem appeared. The golem grabbed the alchemist and threw him out the door.

The alchemist who gave the order didn’t even say, ‘Get back to work.’

The alchemists inside didn’t even look up, focusing on their own work.

“Is this Einrogard?”

“That’s what I told you…”

Yoner said weakly.

She was worried she might lose a friend after the vacation.

Joane N. straightened her amethyst spectacles with a gloved hand as she greeted them.

“Welcome. I’ve been expecting you. You’re here earlier than the time we set?”

“I heard this workshop is the best in the city, so I was very excited to start.”

Yoner looked at Lee Han with a complicated look.

She knew her friend was good at flattery, but this was really… something.

Joane N.’s eyes softened behind her amethyst spectacles at the flattery.

“To have such a mindset already, even though you’re still a student… there’s a reason why the rumors are so widespread.”

“Thank you. Wait. What rumors are you talking about?”

“I heard you easily won the duel against the wizard from Valdrogard?”

“There’s some misunderstanding in that rumor…”

“And you caught a basilisk in the Imperial Family’s mansion.”

“That’s true, but there’s also…”

“I heard you defeated an evil being from another world a few days ago.”

‘Does this city have something like a professors’ bulletin board?’

Lee Han was scared by how fast information spread in Granden City’s high society, like among the professors of Einrogard.

Of course, it wasn’t bad for his reputation to spread.

But having a reputation that didn’t match his level would only be harmful.

What if they thought Lee Han was someone who liked ‘reversing the summoning of evil beings or catching basilisks’?

Lee Han had already had that experience once in Einrogard. He didn’t want it to happen again.

“I don’t think he defeated an otherworldly being? It must be a false rumor.”

Yoner said, confused, taking Lee Han’s side. Lee Han said sadly,

“Actually, I did.”

“…When?!”

“After signing up as an adventurer with those White Tiger Tower guys. Those guys rushed in for no reason…”

Yoner gave up defending her friend.

At this point, it seemed like Lee Han’s bad luck wasn’t just bad luck, but his own fault.

“You don’t have to worry too much. The tasks you’ll be doing in the workshop aren’t dangerous.”

“Really?”

Yoner said with a worried voice.

She already felt like she was going to lose a friend soon.

“Of course. Think about it, Yoner. The alchemists working here are all skilled with at least ten years of experience. No matter how talented you are, they wouldn’t put a first-year student to work right away.”

“I guess so?”

Yoner was a little convinced by her sister’s words.

Well, even if Lee Han was talented, he hadn’t learned all the complex secrets of alchemy yet.

Ihan, who had been listening, whispered to Yoner.

“Well, Yoner, I don’t want to say this, but you can take advantage of people even if they are weaker than you.”

Just like Professor Verdus, even if Ihan’s magic wasn’t perfect, he had one big advantage.

An incredible amount of magical power.

“So…”

“Oh, right, Yoner. Could you give this letter to Mrs. Onette? She’ll be happy to see you after so long.”

Yoanen interrupted and handed Yoner the letter.

Yoner took the letter and looked at Ihan, worried. He seemed afraid something bad would happen to his friend if he wasn’t watching.

“Go on. I’ll be fine.”

“…Be careful, Ihan. Remember what I said.”

When Yoner left and closed the door, Yoanen asked curiously.

“Can I ask what your brother said?”

“He said life is about more than just money.”

“He wouldn’t really say that, would he?”

Ihan was surprised at how much Yoanen trusted his brother.

“Well, now that he’s gone, should we start working?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go.”

Yoanen got up and walked down the workshop hallway.

The strong, mixed smell made it clear this was an alchemist’s workshop.

“Do you know where this is?”

“Is this Master Maykin’s workshop?”

“You guessed right.”

Yoanen waved his wand, and the ingredients in the cupboard floated over.

Water rushed into the cauldron, and medicinal herbs were crushed on top. The flame under the cauldron was lit, and heat rose.

“Today,” Yoanen said, her eyes gleaming, “we’re making Dobruk’s Soul Return Potion. Have you heard of it?”

“Just the name,” Ihan replied. “I know it’s a Soul Return Potion.”

Professor Woolegulum liked to joke around, Ihan thought, but he wasn’t unreasonable like some professors who would ask first-year students to make impossible potions.

Even so, Dobruk’s Soul Return Potion was known to be incredibly difficult. Too hard for Ihan at his current level.

It needed spells he hadn’t learned yet, and the ingredients and steps were much more complicated than anything he’d tried before.

“Just knowing about it is good. Today, I want you to prepare and add the main ingredient, Drapilla. You’ll be my assistant.”

It sounded simple, but Ihan was careful.

The world wasn’t so easy that you could earn money without effort.

“Is there anything I should be careful about when adding it?”

Yoanen’s eyes lit up at Ihan’s question. As a top student, he understood quickly.

“Prepare it like this picture shows. Do you know the Ingredient Amplification spell? I don’t think you’ve learned it yet. It makes ingredients stronger.”

“If you teach me, I’ll learn it.”

“We have a schedule, so please learn it in 30 minutes.”

Yoanen started to show how demanding she was.

If Yoner were here, he would have stopped her, saying, ‘Please, that’s my friend!’

What kind of wizard asks someone to learn a new spell in 30 minutes?

“Understood.”

Ihan wasn’t worried. He had met many crazier people at Einrogard.

Yoanen quickly explained the wand movements, incantation, and flow of magic.

“Think of it as an extension of the Ingredient Separation spell.”

“I understand.”

“Try it.”

Ihan waved his wand and succeeded right away.

Yoanen was impressed.

She had expected it to take 30 minutes, but he succeeded on his first try.

She was excited that she had found someone truly talented.

“Excellent.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, extract and amplify the liquid from the Drapilla plant.”

This was simple to explain, but not easy to do.

Drapilla was a tricky plant. Its precious liquid was locked tight inside its tough roots, making it very hard to extract.

If you forced it, the roots would break before the liquid came out, making a mess.

You needed excellent magic control and knowledge of the water element.

Crack!

With a sound like squeezing a rag, the liquid was extracted from the Drapilla.

If other alchemists were there, they would have been shocked.

A first-year student was already this good.

But Yoanen shook her head.

“There are impurities. Do it again.”

This was the demanding side of Yoanen that Yoner worried about.

She was a perfectionist. Even if someone did 99 things right, she would tell them to do it again because of the one mistake.

If other alchemists were there, they would have said, ‘Master Maykin, this is why you can’t find an assistant, please calm down.’ But no one else was in the workshop.

“Understood.”

Ihan extracted the liquid again. Yoanen said, sounding disappointed.

“There’s some waste. Do it again.”

“Yes.”

“There was a problem with the amplification. The quality changed, so do it again.”

“No problem.”

Usually, if someone succeeded at this difficult task but was told to do it again for small reasons, they would get angry and leave after the second or third try.

But there was no sane person in this workshop right now.

“How about this?”

“Almost there. Do it again…”

“Yes.”

Yoner opened the door, panting.

“I’m back! Did anything happen?!”

“Nothing much.”

“I was doing fine.”

Ihan and Yoanen greeted Yoner with gentle smiles that seemed to say, ‘Why are you making such a fuss?’

Yoner felt uneasy at their smiles.