Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 357

“Finished.” Lee Han said, putting down the last jar.

“What?” Alsecle blinked, surprised.

He stared at the neatly organized shelves and the clean workbench. Just moments ago, it had been a chaotic mess! While Alsecle had been chatting with Yumidihus, Lee Han had cleaned everything.

“Already? All of *that*?” Alsecle asked, his jaw dropping.

Yumidihus turned to Alsecle, his eyebrows raised. “And what exactly were *you* doing?” he asked, his voice sharp. He didn’t need to say he was annoyed; it was clear in the way he looked at Alsecle.

To leave that much work for a first-year student to clean up so quickly, simply piling it up and neglecting it…

“Ah, no… I was going to tidy up too… It’s just that… it was very complicated to sort out!”

“Stop talking nonsense and come along. Let’s prepare together.”

Yumidihus and Alsecle sat down and began to sift through the organized materials.

The data was important, but showing the experiment to the inspector was also crucial.

They had to present the most promising and suitable experiment directly to the inspector.

“This twenty-third experiment looks promising.”

‘You’ve scribbled quite a bit,’ Yumidihus thought, looking at Alsecle’s notes.

“If we’ve confirmed that objects fall more slowly, that’s quite an achievement.”

“But that requires a Frost Deer’s horn.”

“…Then what about this forty-fourth experiment? The fact that the brick lost its shape and transformed arbitrarily is quite a significant result.”

“But that needs Ice-Cold Mountain, that rare ice crystal from the highest peaks.”

“…Then who told you to waste the materials!”

Enraged, Yumidihus summoned a club of water, it swirling into existence with a whoosh, and whacked Alsecle on the back.

Alsecle whined and made excuses.

“Who knew the inspector would come… And even if they did, there’s no guarantee these experiments would succeed. They failed more often than not.”

“We need to show results soon, and you’re only saying encouraging things. Well done, indeed,” Yumidihus said with sarcasm.

Yumidihus sighed.

Even saying this, Yumidihus wasn’t entirely without responsibility for Alsecle’s predicament.

“If we don’t have it, we’ll have to make do. This Snow Jade Mushroom must have been added to control the surrounding moisture and increase stability when maintaining the cold. I’ll take care of it.”

“Th, thank you.”

“Eternal Frost… you were trying to amplify the ice element attribute, right?”

“Yes.”

“I have no choice then. Wodanaz, would you mind lending me some of your magic power?”

“???”

“Yes, I don’t mind.”

“?????”

Alsecle was confused by the conversation between Lee Han and Yumidihus.

Huh?

“No, Master Yumidihus…”

“Just be quiet, Alsecle. We don’t have time.”

“But that’s…”

The Eternal Frost placed in the magic circle was a powerful ingredient that amplified the power of the ice element dozens of times.

Replacing it with magic power wasn’t impossible, but even a rough calculation showed that the amount a young first-year student could handle was absolutely not enough.

‘Is he bullying him?’ Alsecle wondered.

“Ice-Cold Mountain must have been used to stabilize the amplified cold… Voladi Begrek.”

“Yes.”

Alsecle was relieved when Yumidihus called Voladi Begrek.

Unlike Lee Han, he didn’t feel too bad about exploiting that guy.

“I’ll control the amplification, so can you use Wodanaz’s magic power to stabilize it?”

Professor Voladi nodded.

Of course, Alsecle’s eyes widened.

“Master Yumidihus!! This is really not…”

“Silence him. We don’t have time.”

Yumidihus, not wanting to bother explaining how much magic power Lee Han had, ordered Professor Voladi.

Meanwhile, in another part of the tower…

“Good heavens! I can see why His Highness the Prince has so many followers!”

“Heh heh.”

Gainando was having a pleasant time with the inspector.

“Lightning spirit cards are overrated. Avoiding fights and draining the magician’s stamina? How cowardly!”

“Indeed. I’ve always thought so too.”

The two magician card enthusiasts were having a heartwarming conversation, evaluating cards.

“By the way, what kind of deck does His Highness the Prince use?”

“I use… Krhk!?” Gainando screamed.

His friends had stepped on both his feet from either side.

“What’s wrong?”

“Gainando mainly uses honorable knight cards.”

“Ooh, I see.”

Gainando wanted to say, ‘Why would I do something so boring?’ but his feet hurt too much to shout it out.

“Inspector, the experiment is ready.”

“Ah, has the time already…! I apologize. The conversation was so enjoyable…”

“It’s alright.”

“?”

The inspector sensed something was off.

Lee Han wasn’t coming out from inside the tower and was just standing still.

‘Focus,’ Lee Han thought.

Lee Han shuddered, feeling the immense flow of magic power rushing through him like a river through a narrow channel.

The movement of magic power flowing in the lab inside would inspire awe in any magician.

Alsecle, who had argued at first, was now desperately cooperating as the magic circle was prepared and the magic power began to move.

“Are you okay? You’re really okay, right? Really okay? Not pretending to be okay because you’re being threatened? Really?”

“……”

Lee Han didn’t answer, his eyes fixed on the magic circle, his brow furrowed in concentration.

Rather, Alsecle was distracting him by talking.

Professor Voladi, sensing the unstable flow of magic power around Lee Han, kicked Alsecle’s leg. Alsecle yelped, jumping in surprise.

“I told you to focus, Alsecle!”

“Yes, yes…”

Alsecle turned his gaze at Yumidihus’s shout.

Yumidihus was on Lee Han’s left, and Voladi Begrek was on Lee Han’s right, each absorbing magic power and transferring it to the magic circle.

When they said they were replacing Eternal Frost or Ice-Cold Mountain with a first-year student’s magic power, Alsecle thought Yumidihus had gone mad in the meantime, but surprisingly, the magic circle was working properly.

‘Is he okay? Is he really okay? He seems okay so far. Can this be happening? Isn’t he going to collapse, coughing up blood?’ Alsecle worried.

“Mr. Alsecle Pengerein?”

“Ah, ah. Let’s begin.”

Alsecle, who had been internally agonizing over all sorts of worries, waved his wand at the inspector’s words.

The inspector stepped into the research lab. It was surprisingly tidy. Stacks of books stood straight on shelves, and shining glass tubes were arranged on a workbench. On a wooden table, a thick research log lay open. The pages were filled with neat handwriting and careful drawings of magic circles. The inspector picked up the log and began to read. As he turned the pages, his eyebrows rose.

“Amazing!” the inspector exclaimed, looking up at Alsicle. “It’s not often you find wizards who keep things this organized, you know.”

Alsicle blushed slightly, fidgeting with his robes. “O-of course,” he stammered. “It’s just… my job to do it properly.”

Yumidihuth and Volardi stared at Alsicle, impressed. Alsicle blushed, feeling their eyes on him.

“The things we saw are… Oh! Amazing. Significant progress indeed,” the inspector said, his voice filled with excitement.

Alsicle didn’t say that these amazing results might only happen once in many experiments.

“If things keep going like this, the investors will surely be happy. What will you show us today?” the inspector asked.

“It’s better to see it with your own eyes, I think,” Alsicle replied, avoiding a specific answer.

He had taken away some things he needed and was now doing it in a new way, so he didn’t know exactly what would happen.

“Understood! Show us, then,” the inspector urged.

“Magic, circulate and amplify as prescribed. Circulate and amplify. Circulate…” Alsicle began to chant in a deep, intense voice.

Wizards who fight in battles liked spells that were quick and short. But most wizards did not care about that.

The wizards’ goal was the completion of magic, not combat.

For them, getting it right was more important than how long the spell took.

“Frost, swell. In exchange for eternal ice. The amplification of that power.”

‘Was there eternal ice?’ The inspector tilted his head.

‘I don’t think I saw it in the magic circle?’

“Frost, linger. In exchange for…”

Bzzzt!

At the center of the research lab’s magic circle, magic so thick it shimmered like water was compressed to the point of distorting space.

It was like a powerful wave of magic, like when a strong wind pushes against you.

But today, the purpose was different.

The magic was converted into frost, and it began to lower the temperature inside to near absolute zero.

Plink, plink-

“Ooh!” the inspector exclaimed.

An icicle in the shape of a sword formed inside the magic circle.

Pure magic was put into that icicle perfectly, without any loss.

The inspector nodded, a big smile spreading across his face as he watched the clear magic flowing along the blade of the icicle. He was clearly very excited.

The icicle could hold all the magic perfectly, without losing any of it, even after the spell was finished.

It was a material that all imbuing wizards dreamed of.

“So, this is what you were trying to show us!” the inspector said, his voice full of awe.

“This is ridiculous!!” Alsicle shouted.

“???” The inspector looked at Alsicle, confused.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” Alsicle said, belatedly coming to his senses.

The result was better than any experiment he had done so far.

‘What is going on?’ Alsicle wondered.

Whooosh-

“Look there! The snowflakes aren’t falling!” Yumidihuth exclaimed.

“Are you kidding me!” Volardi added, equally surprised.

“??!” The inspector was astonished.

“I, I’ve been studying magic alone for so long that I’ve developed a disease,” Alsicle mumbled.

“Oh… Oh dear,” the inspector responded, concerned.

First, the magic wasn’t used up at all. Then, it looked like time stopped!

Normally, he had to add special ingredients to see each of these things happen, and even then it would only last a short time.

But two amazing things at once, and lasting for several seconds like this.

He was happy and touched, but also confused at the same time.

‘What!? What?!?’ Alsicle thought, his mind racing.

Clap clap clap clap-

The inspector applauded. Alsicle was starting to get scared.

“Could it be…” the inspector muttered, his eyes wide with wonder.

“Look at the water droplets inside! The properties of the water droplets are changing!” Volardi exclaimed.

“……” Alsicle remained silent, overwhelmed.

“Alsicle Pengaerin is a genius of magic! He kept three amazing things happening at the same time for so long!!” the inspector declared.

“I’m… I’m nothing,” Alsicle mumbled, trying to downplay his achievement.

“So humble, too!” the inspector exclaimed, even more impressed.

“I said I’m nothing…” Alsicle repeated, his voice barely audible.

The inspector was extremely excited and recorded the results. He noted that Alsicle was able to keep three amazing things happening at the same time, and for 7 seconds!

If the investors saw it, they would be moved and decide on additional investments, saying, ‘As expected, a genius is different.’ The Frost Elemental Wizards Society would also be moved and decide on a field trip, saying, ‘A genius has done it.’

However, the genius who had accomplished that great feat was groaning and lying inside.

“Are you alright? Did the experiment strain you too much…” Yumidihuth asked, concerned.

“It might be a mental illness,” Alsicle replied gloomily.

“Yes?” Yumidihuth was confused.

“It’s nothing. Anyway, I’m glad you were satisfied,” Alsicle said, trying to change the subject.

“Yes! Today, my eyes have truly been opened. I already knew that Alsicle Pengaerin was a great wizard, but I never knew he was this great! If someone asks me who the best of the young wizards in the empire is, I will unconditionally answer Alsicle Pengaerin!” the inspector declared enthusiastically.

Inside, Alsicle’s mournful coughs burst out in succession. Yumidihuth decided to send the inspector out quickly for his disciple.

“Yes. Thank you. I hope we have a chance to meet again,” Yumidihuth said, trying to usher the inspector out.

“Yes! Goodbye!” The inspector waved as he left.

Yumidihuth and Lee Han went over to Alsicle, who was lying down.

Alsicle turned his body with a gloomy face.

“Such a simple thing until now…” he mumbled.

“It wasn’t simple, Alsicle. You were able to do it today because of those many trials and errors. Think positively. You could have wandered even more,” Yumidihuth said, trying to console him.

Despite Yumidihuth’s consolation, Alsicle burst into tears.

“That’s right! The Frost Element must have been dissatisfied with me researching it. If Wardanaz had researched it, he would have shown the truth much faster,” Alsicle sobbed.

“The Frost Element isn’t a person, what nonsense are you talking about,” Yumidihuth said, exasperated.

“I’m going to send letters to the Frost Element wizards as soon as I get up… I’ve lived my life in vain, and Wardanaz will take over my research,” Alsicle continued, lost in his self-pity.

“…?” Lee Han, who had been listening silently, paused.

‘What the heck?’ Lee Han thought.

“What kind of… No, what kind of ridiculous words are you saying, Pengaerin?” Lee Han asked, finally speaking up.

Lee Han had been quiet because he thought he would come to his senses on his own if he left him alone, but if it went like this, the story would be different.

“My research should be done by a genius like you…” Alsicle mumbled.

“No, Pengaerin! What are you talking about! Pengaerin did all the magic circle and magic preparations here. To make an analogy, we just sprinkled salt on the finished soup!” Lee Han exclaimed.

“Is that analogy right…?” Alsicle asked, still doubtful.

“Honestly, who can’t inject this much magic! It’s also possible with magic stones!” Lee Han insisted.

“It’s impossible,” Alsicle countered.

“It is impossible,” Yumidihuth agreed.

“……” Lee Han was frustrated by the sight of Yumidihuth and Volardi, who were comforting him while arguing about whether it was magically right or wrong.