Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 321

Lee Han looked at Gainando, a question in his eyes. “You okay?”

Gainando fidgeted, avoiding Lee Han’s gaze. “Uh, no, it’s nothing. Just… you’re not mad about the snacks, are you?”

Lee Han sighed softly. “No, Gainando, it’s not about the snacks.” He walked to the window. Outside, the garden was peaceful in the afternoon sun. Birds chirped in the trees, but then Lee Han saw the commotion near the mansion gates.

He pointed suddenly. “It’s Professor Verdus!” he called out, surprised.

Gainando rushed to the window. “See! I told you it was him!”

Down in the garden, knights in shiny armor held Professor Verdus firmly. His robes were covered in dirt, and his glasses were crooked. Professor Verdus struggled, his face pressed into the grass, and his muffled shouts reached them even from inside.

The knights under Allarong asked, bewildered, “But Master, why would the Professor be sneaking in?”

Lee Han wondered the same thing. But he spoke kindly, “Perhaps there was a misunderstanding.”

“What kind of misunderstanding could there possibly be…?”

Lee Han ignored the knight’s question as if he hadn’t heard it. Then he asked the servant, “Is he acting like this because you told him I wasn’t here?”

Given Professor Verdus’s personality, it was highly likely. Even if he heard that Lee Han wasn’t at the mansion, wouldn’t he be the type to break in and wait?

However, the servant’s answer was unexpected. “Ah, no. He just tried to sneak in without asking and got caught.”

Lee Han briefly considered sending Professor Verdus to the Granden City guard.

Brushing off the dirt, Professor Verdus sat down and gnawed on a piece of tree bark. “So, are you ready to make the artifact?” he asked.

Even though the knights had grabbed him at the mansion and buried his face in the ground, Professor Verdus didn’t care at all. He only cared about making the artifact.

Lee Han feigned ignorance. “Artifact creation? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Huh? Weren’t we going to do it together?”

“My memory is bad…”

If it were Headmaster Skull, he would have grabbed him by the collar, saying, ‘Where do you think you’re pulling this trick from?’ but Professor Verdus was rather innocent in these matters.

“Oh. Really? You said you wanted to participate in making the artifact last time. You were incredibly enthusiastic. It’s good that you’re doing it now.”

Lee Han was speechless at Professor Verdus’s blatant lie as soon as he said his memory was bad.

‘What is this guy…?’

‘Ah.’

Lee Han then remembered the Helm of Wisdom. Come to think of it, there was no one more of an expert on artifacts than Professor Verdus.

“Professor, please take a look at this artifact.”

“What is it?”

Professor Verdus received the Helm of Wisdom, looked around, and immediately replied, “A nasty artifact. It’s cursed.”

“Is that so? Is there any way to break the curse?”

“It’ll be difficult, I think?”

There were two types of curses on artifacts. One was when a perfectly fine artifact was afflicted with an evil curse. In this case, the artifact could be used if the curse was broken.

The other was an artifact made with an evil structure from the beginning. In this case, there was no point in breaking the curse. The power of the artifact would disappear the moment it was broken.

The Helm of Wisdom was a typical example of the latter.

“Artifacts usually have a restriction that prevents them from harming their owners, but this one doesn’t. If it wants something, it will put its owner in danger without hesitation.”

“Is that so? I thought you might have a solution, Professor.”

Lee Han muttered without much thought. Then Professor Verdus suddenly got angry and shouted, “I didn’t say there was no way!”

“No… why are you angry?”

Professor Verdus slammed his hand on the helmet. “Quiet! This is delicate work! Don’t distract me with silly questions!”

Professor Verdus put down the tree bark he was gnawing on and began to stare at the helmet.

Lee Han was slightly taken aback by the unexpected reaction. Gainando whispered from the side, “Aren’t you too weak to provocation, Professor?”

“Hmm.”

Certainly, if Gainando was saying that, it was true that he was too weak to provocation. But Lee Han left Professor Verdus alone.

‘Maybe he’ll change it into something useful?’

If that were the case, Lee Han was planning to sell it with phrases like ‘Bibble Verdus, the best artifact craftsman in Einrogard’s masterpiece’.

“There is a way.”

“What is it?”

“Get rid of the function that intentionally selects information to tell you.”

” ? ”

Lee Han wondered what Professor Verdus was talking about.

“But the ability to put the owner in danger remains, doesn’t it?”

“You can just avoid that yourself.”

Whatever the Helm of Wisdom said, as long as it didn’t hide anything, the listener could make a calm judgment. That was Professor Verdus’s argument.

‘Is that… is that right?’

Lee Han felt that there was some truth in Professor Verdus’s logic, but for some reason, he didn’t want to admit it. But it was also true that it was better than not changing it at all.

“Um. Then let’s change it. What do I need to do to change it?”

“I need to cast a few spells to release it and change the spell inside. If I start working now, it’ll be done around sunrise.”

“What can I do to help?”

“You? There’s nothing you can do to help.”

Professor Verdus answered honestly. These were spells that Lee Han couldn’t do yet, and there was no need to utilize the characteristic of having a large amount of mana.

“Is that so? Then I’ll go to bed now.”

“Okay. Go to bed.”

Professor Verdus waved his hand, forgetting his original goal. Lee Han politely greeted him and left the drawing room.

“I should go to bed. Good night, everyone.”

The servant was flustered, but Lee Han greeted his friends and went to his room to sleep. The servant was left alone in the drawing room, watching Professor Verdus holding the helmet, and was confused.

‘Is this really okay…?’

‘Is this really okay!?’

Morning.

Professor Verdus hit the Helm of Wisdom and asked, “Hey. Tell me your purpose.”

‘My purpose is to increase the wisdom within me, even if it destroys my master…’

“Good.”

It was truly an amazing achievement. To fix the performance of an ego-filled artifact in just one night. It was a great skill that most artifact craftsmen wouldn’t even dare to attempt.

Professor Verdus had done something amazing, fixing the artifact overnight. But he didn’t seem to care. He just yawned. “Where’s Wodanaz?” he asked. “I need to make an artifact.”

“Um… Wodanaz went out with his friends 30 minutes ago. He said he didn’t want to disturb you since you seemed to be concentrating.”

Professor Verdus frowned. He didn’t know why, but he felt strangely cheated.

“Are you really sure this is okay?”

Lee Han answered. “I just happened to go out early.”

If he had to work with Professor Verdus against his will someday, it was best to postpone that time as much as possible. Then at least he could endure using it until then.

Ratford glanced back with a worried expression. He seemed concerned about Professor Verdus’s reaction.

“Let’s stay at Gainando’s house today.”

“Really?!”

Gainando bounced on his heels, his eyes wide. He pulled out his deck of cards and shuffled them quickly, a wide grin on his face. Last time, other unfamiliar royals came and disturbed them, but this time it was different. He could call his friends and have a proper good time.

Just as Lee Han, the top student of his year, could easily recite the contents of a magic book even with his eyes closed, Gainando could also easily recite a list of games to enjoy even with his eyes closed.

Wizard card game, polo, pétanque, gambling, Seungma-do (陞魔圖)…

‘I shouldn’t play chess because Lee Han is too strong.’

“Ratford. Did you bring it?”

“Yes.”

“Yonel. You said you brought it too?”

“I always carry it with me.”

Gainando was even more excited by the conversation of his other friends. It was clear that his friends had brought wizard cards with them.

“Did you bring them?!”

“Of course. We need something to do when we go to your house.”

With his answer, Lee Han took a book out of his bag. It was >About Basic Dark Elemental Magic and Its Applications>.

Gainando’s face was distorted with sadness and embarrassment.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh… it’s nothing…”

“You brought a book too, right? Gainando? Let’s study black magic together.”

“I’m going to do some studying that I’ve been putting off today too.”

“It’s nice to study together like this.”

Gainando cried inside as he watched Lee Han, Ratford, and Yonel chatting and laughing cheerfully.

‘Magic isn’t everything in life…!’

‘I see why dark elements are difficult.’

Lee Han, Gainando, Ratford, and Yonel settled into a small private room. The air was a bit dusty, and the only window looked out onto a noisy street. But inside, it was quiet enough to focus. Lee Han closed his eyes and focused on the dark element.

The basics of elemental magic are to feel the element and clearly materialize it. Dark elements weren’t that difficult in that respect. In fact, this was a difficult part for other wizards, but Lee Han had a specific concept in his head that was different from other wizards.

Just as this concept helped him handle lightning elements, it was the same with dark elements. The problem was what came next.

‘It’s similar to fire elements.’

Water elements were unlikely to harm their owner even if control was lost, and lightning elements disappeared before they could spread even if control was lost, but dark elements were not. If control was lost, it would harm the owner and wouldn’t disappear.

These elements, like fire elements, could easily…

Suddenly, the light from the window seemed to shrink back. A thick darkness filled the room, like ink spreading in water. It wasn’t just the absence of light; it felt heavy and cold, making the air itself feel different.

Lee Han threw the leaves he had prepared. Then the vitality of the leaves withered and turned into dead leaves in an instant. It was a characteristic unique to dark elements that depleted vitality.

‘…I might collapse if I’m not careful.’

For black mages who handle dark elements, the accident of depleting their own life force and collapsing is like a companion. First of all, this point must be taken most carefully.

Of course, the power of the dark element learned for the first time is insignificant. You won’t even take a breath even if you stay in such darkness for several hours. So, you must first start by strengthening the power of the dark element…

” ? ”

Lee Han looked at the leaves that had died just by touching the dark element a little while ago. And he looked at the dark element enhancement part.

‘I can skip this part.’

…Thus, if the power of the dark element is sufficiently strengthened, the foundation of full-fledged elemental magic is established. The key to operating dark elemental magic is that the mage must be able to control the characteristics of vitality depletion. If not, the mage is wielding a sword that can cut himself…

‘It would be nice if you could explain it like this usually.’

Lee Han read the unnecessarily detailed book and summoned the dark element again. In short, a mage who handles dark elements must be able to put his hand into the element without being affected at all.

‘In the end, you have to be able to control the characteristics yourself…’

The power of magic increases in proportion to mana. And what goes up with it is the difficulty of control.

Dark elements were even more difficult for Lee Han, who still couldn’t fully handle fire elements and wore various artifacts to handle them. But he couldn’t just get rid of the mana he had…

‘Until I can control it, can I only handle it in the size of a spark like fire elements? Unlike fire elements, dark elements don’t seem to make sense if I do that.’

“Lee Han! Lee Han!”

Gainando knocked on the door of the private room. Lee Han closed the book and answered.

“How many hours have you been studying?”

“…That’s not important right now! A good job has rolled in! It’s something only a black mage can do!”

‘…Can that be a good thing?’

Lee Han was suspicious for a moment.