Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 37

“Success.”

Inside, Lee Han wanted to shout curses at Professor Voladi. *That crazy old man!* But years of being a student in this harsh magic school had taught him control. Outwardly, he showed nothing. A true student learned to hide their anger, their fear, everything.

Lee Han maintained his composure and bowed his head.

“Thank you.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for. You solved it with your own power.”

Despite the praise, Lee Han felt a surge of resentment.

Just now, Professor Voladi had genuinely fired the bead with intent.

If it had hit him squarely, it would have fractured at least a bone.

It had been a truly dangerous moment if he hadn’t quickly levitated the bead with Lesser Manipulation to block it.

‘Professors are really something…’

“Let’s try again.”

This time, Professor Voladi took out an ordinary iron bead instead of a spirit stone. Before the fist-sized iron bead could fall, Lee Han’s Lesser Manipulation spell took hold.

“Move!”

The iron bead froze in the air.

Lee Han hoped that this iron bead might accidentally fly out and knock Professor Voladi’s jaw off, but once Lesser Manipulation had been mastered, it wouldn’t waver so easily.

Professor Voladi pointed upwards.

“Up.”

Lee Han moved the iron bead upwards. It trembled slightly, but the iron bead moved quickly.

“Down.”

Again, the iron bead descended.

“Left. Right. One revolution clockwise. Two revolutions counterclockwise.”

Professor Voladi gave instructions. He did not stop. Finally, he nodded.

“It’s not perfect, a little forced, but acceptable. For now. From now on, we’ll train with this iron bead instead of the spirit stone bead.”

“Isn’t it too early, since I haven’t perfectly drawn a circle with the spirit stone bead yet?”

“Let’s try again.”

Lee Han put down the iron bead and poured magic power into the spirit stone bead. Then, he drew a circle.

Surprisingly, he drew an even more perfect circle than before he had faced the near-death experience.

Professor Voladi continued, as if reading Lee Han’s thoughts. “Intense experiences make wizards grow. You faced danger, and your magic became stronger. The spirit stone bead was an auxiliary tool for wizards with insufficient ability, so you won’t need it anymore.”

“Understood.”

“Draw a circle with the iron bead again. When your skills improve to a certain extent, I’ll prepare another trial like the one from earlier.”

“…Excuse me?”

Professor Voladi believed that there were two types of people in the world: those who froze when faced with a life-threatening crisis, and those who reacted more fiercely and nimbly.

Naturally, the latter was more suited to be a combat mage, and the boy from the Wodanaz family before him possessed such qualities.

If that was the case, then it was only natural to make use of those qualities.

Of course, Lee Han couldn’t help but feel complicated, having just received a death threat.

‘Ah, this school, really!’

Even though he had almost died just now, the school continued to function.

Professor Voladi handed Lee Han the iron bead as the class ended.

-Keep drawing circles whenever you have time.

-Yes.

-And never let your guard down.

-…What do you m… No, I understand.

Lee Han felt uneasy even as he left.

Was Professor Voladi waiting for him? Could he be ambushed?

Of course, he knew it sounded crazy, but this school was making Lee Han increasingly paranoid.

“Did you wait long?”

“No, I didn’t.”

Lee Han waved to the demon-hybrid girl in the priestly robes.

Tiziling, a priestess of the Freisinger Order.

-Could you possibly take care of Tiziling?

The Phoenix Tower students, being mostly from priestly backgrounds, were frugal, and Priest Mehred was worried that Tiziling, who was still growing, might collapse.

Lee Han, who had received three baskets of groceries in return, intended to keep his promise.

‘I’ll feed her well and get more baskets at the next meeting.’

With such a determined thought, Lee Han sat down with Tiziling.

Evening had fallen, painting the sky in violent streaks of red and orange. The mountains that surrounded the school, usually a calming green, now looked like they were on fire, their peaks silhouetted against the fiery sky.

‘If this wasn’t a school, it would be really nice… No. Why do I feel like a prisoner?’

Lee Han shook his head, trying to clear the thought. *I’m not a prisoner.* He repeated it to himself, but the cold stone walls of the school, the constant tests, the feeling of being watched – it all pressed in on him. *This is a school. It has to be.*

“I brought the priestly robes here.”

“Ah. Thank you.”

Tiziling carefully handed over the neatly folded priestly robes. In return, Lee Han offered her a round loaf of bread, its crust golden brown and smelling faintly of yeast. He had spread it generously with bright orange marmalade, a sweet treat far better than anything the school provided.

“I’m fine.”

“Is there a reason you’re refusing?”

“The Freisinger is suffering for us, so it would be impolite for me to enjoy delicacies alone.”

Lee Han paused, about to say, ‘What nonsense is that?’ It was because he remembered that he had joined the Freisinger Order.

‘Oops. I almost added another blemish to the Wodanaz family’s reputation.’

Lee Han calmly nodded.

It wasn’t easy to force someone with such strong faith to eat.

He had to probe little by little.

“Ah. This bread really doesn’t taste good. It seems like it’s gone bad because it’s old. I don’t think it would be impolite to eat this, would it?”

Tiziling shook her head.

“This canned corned beef tastes really awful, doesn’t it? Maybe it wouldn’t be impolite to eat this?”

Tiziling shook her head.

“The person who baked this bread baked it with all their heart to serve you, and the person who made the jam worked hard to make it for you. If you don’t eat it, it’ll just be thrown away like this…”

‘Did it work?’

Lee Han thought it had worked when he saw Tiziling’s eyes wavering with guilt.

“…Wait. Those breads weren’t baked separately for me, were they? I saw them on display last time.”

Lee Han clicked his tongue as Tiziling recognized it with her keen eye.

He was so close to succeeding…

Tiziling gave a apologetic look as Lee Han continued to try to feed her.

“I’m really fine. I’ll tell Priest Mehred that I ate it, so it would be better to give it to someone else.”

“Hmm…”

Lee Han was tempted.

Actually, it would be easier for Lee Han. It was just that he felt a bit uneasy about having to lie.

Priest Mehred had asked Lee Han to take care of Tiziling because she was worried about her (even giving him extra baskets), so it felt wrong to just ignore that.

He wouldn’t hesitate for even a second to break a promise with the Skull Headmaster, but Priest Mehred was a kind person.

While Lee Han was pondering, Tiziling took out a rough wooden cup, put green tea leaves in it, and poured warm water. Steam rose from it.

“Wait.”

“?”

“Could I possibly make you some tea?”

Tiziling pondered for a moment and nodded.

She couldn’t refuse that as well, feeling sorry for refusing the food.

“Yes. Thank you.”

“You’re really going to drink it?”

“Of course. Why…?”

“It’s nothing.”

Even the Freisinger Order enjoyed coffee and green tea to some extent.

Of course, it was a drink made only with coffee grounds and tea leaves, with no sweetness at all.

It wasn’t just the Freisinger Order that was strange; other orders were the same. They also mainly drank their beverages without adding any additives.

The awakening effect of coffee or tea leaves allowed the priests to meditate for a long time.

Naturally, Tiziling thought that the tea Lee Han was trying to make was a drink with a bitter and deep taste like green tea, which would help with mental training.

But that was a misconception.

‘I’ll give you plenty of nutrients.’

A mischievous glint sparked in Lee Han’s eyes. *Nutrients indeed.* He took Tiziling’s simple wooden kettle, filled it with water, and then, with a flourish, added a generous handful of fragrant black tea leaves. As the water began to bubble, a rich, warm aroma filled the air, a stark contrast to the usual bland smells of the school.

To enhance the aroma, he lightly ground spices like ginger and cinnamon that he had received from Ure’s cabin.

That wasn’t the end of it. Once the black tea was boiling, Lee Han generously poured in sugar. Tiziling, who was startled by the sight of him adding sugar, opened her mouth.

“What are you doing!?”

“A… Are you doing this because you don’t like the tea I’m brewing right now? It’s our family’s secret recipe, you know?”

Lee Han said with a genuinely hurt expression.

Tiziling was flustered by that expression.

“Ah, no. It’s not that I don’t like it, but it’s too lux…”

“You’re saying my family’s secret recipe is too luxurious!?”

“…It’s nothing…”

Tiziling closed her mouth, afraid of hurting him if she said any more. Lee Han nodded with a satisfied expression.

Tiziling gave him a slightly suspicious look at that sight.

Could he be acting…?

‘What blasphemous thoughts am I having.’

Lee Han, a brother who believed in the same faith and was from the Wodanaz family, couldn’t possibly be lying, even invoking his family’s name.

Unlike Tiziling, who was a demon hybrid, the Wodanaz family was one of the empire’s leading magical families.

Meanwhile, Lee Han, having finished adding sugar, even poured in milk to complete the spiced milk tea.

“Here. Try it.”

Tiziling carefully brought the teacup to her lips with a flinch. She felt a sweet and rich, never-before-experienced taste spread in her mouth.

‘I guess she likes it.’

Lee Han realized that she liked it when he saw Tiziling’s expression soften.

How delicious would it be, having only eaten bitter and tasteless things, to suddenly have something sweet?

Tiziling drank it all faster than he had expected. Lee Han immediately poured her another cup from the kettle.

Tiziling sipped without refusing, but then belatedly realized and flinched.

“You wouldn’t possibly leave any of the tea brewed with my family’s secret recipe…”

“I understand, so please stop.”

Since the milk tea worked better than expected, Lee Han prepared the next drink.

He added sugar, cinnamon, cocoa powder, and milk to boiling water, mixed it well, and then added cornstarch.

The thick concoction was closer to soup than a drink.

‘Truly an evil scheme.’

Lee Han admired his own scheme.

Starting with a drink and then gradually serving something closer to soup to break down the other person’s values.

When the cocoa soup was complete, Lee Han even floated biscuits on top.

By the time Tiziling realized it, she had already emptied the bowl.

“Now that you’ve eaten it today, you can’t say you won’t eat it in the future. Keep coming here at the appointed time.”

“…There’s no need to say it so dramatically…?”

Tiziling was grateful to the boy from the Wodanaz family for being considerate of her, but she was also bewildered by the unnecessarily villainous atmosphere.

Anyone would think Lee Han was threatening her.

Night.

A time when new students, with sad expressions, clutched their hungry stomachs and went to their rooms, or played chess or cards in the lounge for a piece of bread.

At that time, Lee Han was leaving the tower’s gate.

‘I am a priest of the Freisinger Order. I am a priest of the Freisinger Order.’

Lee Han, dressed in priestly robes, looked like a Phoenix Tower student who had come out for prayer to anyone who saw him.

Lee Han’s goal was simple: to find the passage for outsiders entering and leaving the school!

If he could find that passage, he could disguise himself as an outsider and escape from the school as well.

‘I’ll conserve the Invisibility Magic as much as possible. I don’t know what kind of traps there might be.’

The reason why he bothered to disguise himself in priestly robes despite having Invisibility Magic was because all sorts of traps were lurking in this school.

If the Invisibility Magic were to be dispelled after entering a certain place, his life would be in danger.

To survive in this school, one method wasn’t enough.

‘…Suddenly, I’m getting a bit confused about whether I actually enrolled in school.’

Lee Han felt a fresh wave of sorrow.

How did it come to this…

The first floor of the main building, which was usually filled with passing freshmen, was empty.

Giant central staircases leading to the second floor or the basement, and corridors connecting to the lecture hall areas on both sides.

When the sunlight shone, it was noble and elegant, but when shrouded in darkness, it all exuded an ominous atmosphere.

‘If there’s a place where workers from the outside come and go, it’s likely to be on the first floor.’

Lee Han cast his gaze towards the area behind the central staircase.

It was an area with banquet halls and large halls. It wasn’t a lecture hall area, so the freshmen had never set foot there since the entrance ceremony.

“…?!”

Lee Han was startled at that moment. Another student was already sneaking towards the back of the central staircase in the darkness ahead. What were they up to?