Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 329

Lee Han looked up from his notes, startled. Father Tizling stood in the doorway of the small temple office, his face etched with worry.

“What is it, Father?” Lee Han asked, setting down his quill.

Father Tizling hesitated, then bowed his head slightly. “It’s… nothing, Master Lee Han.” But his eyes held a shadow of regret.

A pang of shame flickered through the priest. He remembered his initial doubts when Lee Han Wodanaz had first offered his help to the Order. *Just a nobleman trying to impress us,* he’d thought. But looking back, how much had this young man truly given? Even just the countless meals he’d provided for the hungry students of Phoenix Tower – meals the Order itself could never have afforded – were a testament to his generosity. The priests could barely meet Lee Han’s gaze with their own meager offerings.

“I am sorry,” Father Tizling murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Sorry?” Lee Han frowned, puzzled. *What was this about? Was it because I invited him to this artifact event?* To Lee Han, who had his own hidden reasons for being here, the apology felt completely out of place. “No, Father. There’s no need to apologize.”

Professor Verdus, who had been examining a dusty scroll in the corner, chuckled. “He means he’s sorry for pulling you away from your important work, Lee Han. We all know how eager you are to get back to those mana stones. He probably thinks you’re burning with impatience to finish them!”

“Ah,” Lee Han said, a slow smile spreading across his face. “In that case, Father, truly, there is no need to be sorry at all.” He said it firmly, with what sounded like complete sincerity, though a mischievous glint sparkled in his eyes.

The Temple of the Freisinger Order was usually visited by many cursed people. Either they visited a cursed area without knowing it and got cursed, or they accidentally wore a cursed artifact, and so on.

The priests of the Freisinger Order kindly treated all of these guests without exception, purified the artifacts, and sometimes even wore them themselves.

The last part was a bit strange, but in any case, there were few as reliable as the Freisinger Order for ordinary people afflicted with curses.

“Father, please help me! After wearing this bracelet, my arm has turned into an undead’s arm!”

“Father! My race…! I don’t want to live as a smelly dwarf! Waaah!”

“I went on a trip last week, and I must have touched something wrong because my skin is turning bronze…”

As their carriage pulled up to the temple gates, Lee Han saw a line of people waiting, each with their own strange affliction. One man’s arm was grey and stiff like stone, another woman’s hair seemed to be turning into snakes, and a young boy whimpered, pointing to his feet which were now covered in fur.

Professor Verdus looked at the people lined up and said, “Interesting. Good for research.”

“Professor, I think it might be best if you keep your mouth shut until we enter the temple,” Lee Han said.

Saying ‘You are a great research case’ in front of people who are already on edge because of curses could result in a knife being thrown.

“Lee Han of the Wodanaz family!” Priest Mehrid ran out, delighted. He must have worn another cursed artifact while they hadn’t seen each other, as a strange helmet dangled above his head.

“I’ve heard so much about you. Thank you so much,” Priest Mehrid said.

“It’s nothing. I just did what I had to do,” Lee Han answered humbly, but he wasn’t really humble at heart.

Considering the dishes he had actually made for the Phoenix Tower students, Lee Han deserved to be proud.

“…But why is the Professor here?” Priest Mehrid whispered in a flustered voice.

Lee Han knew that he had to act confidently in situations like this. “He came to help.”

“Yes? That Professor? Oh, Professor Verdus! It’s… unexpected, but certainly welcome. We appreciate any help, of course.”

Lee Han understood Priest Mehrid’s reaction very well. Indeed, even Lee Han would be quite surprised if Professor Verdus came to help.

“As an artifact expert, he will be helpful at this event.”

“That’s true, but it doesn’t seem like he’ll be helping… Oh, Professor Verdus! It’s… unexpected, but certainly welcome. We appreciate any help, of course.”

‘He’s subtly cold.’ Priest Mehrid was a priest, but he was not the type to turn a blind eye to reality. He was, after all, a realistic priest.

“Don’t worry. Professor will work hard to help this time.”

“Really? What happened?”

“The event has to end quickly today so he can take me to work.”

“……” Priest Mehrid looked at Lee Han with a complex expression.

Certainly, having an excellent wizard made it easier to help with the Order’s work.

Professor Verdus sat with his arms crossed, and when someone came to him, he would suddenly say, “He’s been cursed with fire!”

“Yes?!”

“I said he’s been cursed with fire!”

Lee Han kindly explained from the side. “The jewelry in the box you’re holding is cursed with fire. You may get burned if you wear it carelessly.”

“Oh, that’s…” The guest who brought the jewelry blinked in fear.

“Then what should I do?”

“Professor, can you undo it?”

“Let me see!”

“Ah, thank you. Father.”

“I’m not a priest. I’m a wizard.”

Professor Verdus received the jewelry and began to undo the curse. The person who brought it repeatedly bowed his head in gratitude.

Lee Han was inspired by this. ‘Hmm. This could be a business.’ Putting up a sign that says ‘We undo curses’…

The problem was that there was a monopoly system called the Freisinger Order. Moreover, the most threatening aspect of this Order was that it was free.

Is there nowhere without the Freisinger Order?

“Look at this. This is the curse of fire. Can you see the pattern engraved here?”

“Even if you say that, it’s magic I don’t know.”

“Memorize it. You have to memorize it so you can do it next time the same magic comes out.”

“Oh…” Lee Han was amazed by Professor Verdus’s shameless words.

It wasn’t ‘You have to memorize it so it will help you later,’ but ‘You have to memorize it so you can do it later.’ Did he really intend to entrust the curse artifact removal work to a first-year student?

‘He’s crazy as ever.’

“Put some magic power into this.” Professor Verdus handed Lee Han the magical tool he was holding. The light flickered, as if the magic power inside had been exhausted.

Lee Han grabbed the equipment and poured magic power into it without much thought. Professor Verdus was very satisfied with the rapidly filling magic power.

“Wow. You’re good.”

‘Oops.’ Lee Han realized he had made a mistake when Professor Verdus made a face that said, ‘I’ve found another use.’

It was of no help to Lee Han’s life, no matter how much Professor Verdus recognized Lee Han’s usefulness.

Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!

“Okay. Take it. The curse is lifted.”

“Amazing!” The priest next to him expressed admiration for Professor Verdus’s skill.

Even the experienced priests of the Freisinger Order couldn’t solve it that quickly. It was truly amazing skill.

“It’s not amazing at all? Simple curse, really. Nothing too complicated.”

“I, indeed…” Lee Han thought that he should just keep talking instead of the professor, as the priest was embarrassed.

“Professor, I’ll just talk for you, so you can just work.”

“Oh? Thank you.”

“This is impossible to undo.” Professor Verdus couldn’t solve all curses.

The bracelet with the ominous pattern engraved on it seemed likely to simply shatter if the curse was undone.

“I knew it was a cursed item? Damn, I had a bad feeling… Thank you. Wizard. I’ll leave it here.” The person who picked up the bracelet put it down with regret.

He came to have it appraised, hoping there might be something good, but it was cursed. Items that could not be undone in this way were usually handled by the Order.

Cursed artifacts were basically difficult items to handle.

“But what kind of curse is on the item?” Lee Han stretched and asked as another guest left.

“Magic power emission suppression.”

“Magic power emission suppression? Is it like absorption?”

“It’s different from absorption. Are you stupid?”

Lee Han nodded at Professor Verdus’s gentle criticism of his disciple’s mistake.

“The trajectory must be different.” The curse of magic power absorption would suck the magic power of the person wearing it, while the curse of magic power emission suppression would limit the person’s ability to emit magic power.

Both were curses used to place restrictions on people who could use magic power, but the methods were different.

“Can I wear it once?”

“Go ahead.”

‘It’s better to understand curses now, even on myself, than to be caught unprepared in Einrogaard,’ Lee Han thought. *Einrogaard was a dangerous place, and practice was always good.*

“It doesn’t seem to have changed much?”

“Use magic.”

At those words, Lee Han summoned a water orb. The water orb that appeared in the air was well controlled without any problems.

“It works fine?”

“Do something more complicated.”

“If it’s complicated…” Lee Han was already proficient in the basic applications of water elements.

If he were to go into a more difficult area, it would have to be evaporation or rotation.

‘Rotation.’ Lee Han had not yet mastered the rotation attribute perfectly. The limit was spending a lot of time or adding it at an incomplete level.

Whoosh!

“!” Lee Han was startled.

The water orb was rotating with a sharp sound.

How could it be this good without spending a lot of time?

‘What is this…? Is that it!’ Lee Han grasped the situation.

For example, the curse of magic power absorption would continuously absorb 1. A person with 10 magic power would not last long, but a person with 10,000 magic power could last much longer.

In comparison, the curse of magic power emission suppression would limit the magic power that could be used to 10, whether you had 100 magic power or 10,000 magic power.

It was a curse that should have been very difficult, but it was a different story for Lee Han.

He usually had a hard time handling such a huge amount of magic power, but when he was forced to use only a small amount of magic power, the control became much easier.

It felt like he had been wearing heavy armor all the time and had changed into light armor.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Lee Han felt a thrilling pleasure in the movement of magic power flowing as he thought.

Wizards felt a thrill close to omnipotence at times like this.

They controlled the power to change the rules of the world themselves. What could be more ecstatic than this?

‘Is this what other wizards usually feel?’ Actually, no.

The reason why Lee Han was able to use magic relatively easily even with so much magic power was because he had that much talent. He was feeling this control now because he was getting rid of unnecessarily large amounts of magic power. Other wizards usually didn’t feel that way.

“Professor. Excellent! I didn’t know there was such an artifact… Why did Professor Garcia give us a magic power absorption artifact instead of this artifact?”

“Well…” Before Professor Verdus could explain, Lee Han’s bracelet shattered.

Crack! A sharp sound echoed as the bracelet, unable to contain Lee Han’s magic, snapped and crumbled into dust.

“……” Lee Han looked down at the remains of the bracelet with bitter eyes. Professor Verdus nodded and said, “That’s what happens.”

“…You should have told me sooner.”

Unlike magic power absorption artifacts, which almost never break, magic power emission suppression artifacts broke far too easily depending on the wizard’s ability.

This was especially true for Lee Han, who had endless magic power. It would simply shatter if he used magic even once incorrectly.

It would be faster to look for it in ancient relics if he wanted something that could withstand any magic Lee Han used.

“Still, there will be at least one more artifact with a magic power emission suppression function today… right?”

“Well? And it’s not a function, it’s a curse.”

‘Oops. That’s right.’ Lee Han regained his senses at Professor Verdus’s words.

He was too greedy…

Fortunately, three more artifacts with the curse of magic power emission suppression appeared after that.

Crack!

No, two more. Lee Han sighed. *This could be a long day.*