Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 376

Lee Han leaned closer to the skeleton wizard, his eyes full of questions. “Tell me everything about this place,” he urged.

The undead wizard, just as curious about the world outside the dungeon, was happy to talk. “Long ago,” he began, his voice a dry rattle, “this palace was the fortress of the Ghoul King. His best guards protected his throne, and soldiers patrolled everywhere, making sure no one could get near.”

“The Ghoul King was a cruel ruler, but his power was real. Even when chaos was everywhere else, his palace stood strong, burning with dark magic…”

“Burning with magic?” Lee Han frowned. “That’s not what I saw.”

“What?” The skeleton wizard tilted his skull.

“No magic fire,” Lee Han said. “Just a normal stone building. Dusty, a bit broken. We walked right in.”

Even though he was just bones, the undead wizard’s posture showed shock, like a skeleton suddenly frozen still.

“Impossible!” he hissed, his bony fingers clenching. “The Flame of Other-Worldly Freedom… gone? But that was the source of the King’s power! The arrogant King would never have let it die out!”

“Shouting won’t bring it back,” Lee Han said calmly. “It’s just gone.”

The undead wizard, unsure how to react to this unbelievable news from the outside, was bewildered for a moment.

Suddenly, a heavy *clank* echoed from the passage.

“Oh dear! The prisoners are coming!”

“Aren’t you a prisoner too?” Lee Han asked.

“We’re both prisoners, but not the same kind. They like being here,” the wizard said.

The prisoners in the dungeons were all trapped, but they weren’t all the same.

Some, like the undead wizard, were locked up for disobeying the Ghoul King. Others, like the ones coming now, were captured and thrown in because they loved to fight.

These fighters didn’t mind being stuck in prison. They just kept fighting each other.

Even if the undead prisoners were beaten, they would come back to life in a week. It was a perfect place for battle lovers.

“Do you know why there are no bars here? It’s so the King can make the prisoners fight each other,” the wizard explained.

“Understood. So, what should we do?” Lee Han asked.

“Don’t fight back. They like it when you do. It makes them angrier,” the wizard said.

The undead berserkers loved to fight.

If you couldn’t hide from them like the wizard did, fighting back would only make them want to hurt you more.

But Lee Han didn’t agree with the wizard.

‘I can’t come back to life, can I?’ Lee Han thought.

“Let’s fight together,” Lee Han said.

“What do you mean, fight together? Why would I?” the wizard asked.

“If they come, they’ll come after me anyway. You’ll regret it if you don’t help. Let’s fight together from the start,” Lee Han insisted.

“…I don’t know where you came from, but you have the blood of a thousand grumpy goblins!” the undead wizard cursed as he stepped out of the cell.

Maybe the wizard hated the berserkers more than Lee Han, because he gave Lee Han some advice as soon as he came out.

“They’re tough and there are many of them,” the wizard warned.

The berserkers had been in this prison for years, taking the body parts of stronger enemies to make themselves stronger. They were so tough that normal magic didn’t work well on them.

Plus, they traveled in groups, so the wizard didn’t think there was any way to win, no matter what magic he used.

“Magic alone isn’t enough to beat them… so, what kind of magic can you use?” the wizard asked.

Instead of answering, Lee Han cast a spell.

He didn’t have time to explain.

More than ten skeleton warriors appeared in the hallway. The undead wizard looked impressed.

“I don’t know what kingdom you’re from, but you seem to be at least a chief wizard,” the wizard said.

Ogoltos, who was being held up by Lee Han, was too shocked to speak.

“But you’re too slow. You haven’t practiced summoning undead much,” the wizard added.

“Yes. I’m still learning,” Lee Han replied.

Then, Lee Han used frost magic on the spears and bows of the skeleton warriors.

The bone spears and arrows became icy cold.

“You’ve focused more on other things than summoning undead… Frost magic is a good choice,” the wizard commented.

“Park Moo-yeo, spread out,” Lee Han commanded.

The undead wizard was surprised when Lee Han used illusion magic.

“Illusion magic too? Black magicians don’t usually use illusion magic…” the wizard said.

“Hand, tear the enemy apart,” Lee Han ordered.

The undead wizard was beyond surprised when enhancement magic appeared.

“Wait, what kingdom did you say you were from?” the wizard asked, completely bewildered.

If there had been time, he would have asked Lee Han more about his kingdom, but there wasn’t. The undead wizard started getting ready as soon as he had a basic idea of Lee Han’s magic.

“If they break through that entrance, we lose. We can’t win if we fight those berserkers up close,” the wizard said.

The undead wizard made a wall of bones at the end of the prison hallway and put Lee Han’s skeleton warriors there.

Then, he summoned his own undead creatures.

Two armored undead knights appeared, their eyes glowing blue.

You could tell how skilled the wizard was by how strong his summoned creatures were.

“Even if they look strong, they can only block so much. If you don’t help them with other magic, they’ll be broken through quickly,” the wizard warned.

“I’ll do my best to block them,” Lee Han replied.

Lee Han grabbed a bone bow from a skeleton warrior and started casting spells to make it faster, stronger, and able to pierce better.

The old bone bow creaked, but Lee Han kept casting the spells, determined to get through this.

The undead wizard was too busy strengthening the front line to notice Lee Han casting enhancement magic.

If he had seen it, he would have wondered why Lee Han was wasting magic like that.

“They’re here!” the wizard shouted.

Sharkan started to growl.

A huge berserker, easily over 2 meters tall, roared, his eyes flashing.

“Kroooooh!”

He seemed happy to have a worthy opponent. Lee Han shot an arrow right away.

Whoosh!

“What…?” the wizard said, surprised at how weak the attack seemed.

The bone arrow was stuck halfway into the berserker’s chest.

Both the undead wizard and the berserker were shocked that the arrow had pierced through his tough muscles and skin.

“…Explode!”

The undead wizard quickly took control of the bone arrow and made it explode.

The gas inside the bone reacted with magic and damaged the berserker.

“Krooooh…”

The berserker growled and tried to recover. The undead wizard cast another spell.

“Bind him and drag him down!”

Bone fragments covered the berserker’s body. As the berserker slowed down, the undead wizard took a deep breath and gathered his magic.

“Emerge, fang of venom, melt him away!”

Lee Han could tell that the undead wizard’s specialty was poison because he was casting a long and powerful spell.

A strange poison, unlike anything Lee Han had ever seen, shot out like an arrow.

It should have bounced off the berserker’s muscles, but the poison arrow melted the flesh and muscles, creating a path.

However, the berserker didn’t feel any pain. He laughed and started shaking off the bone fragments. Two skeleton warriors were knocked away by his powerful blows.

“Stab!” Lee Han commanded.

The other skeleton warriors stayed in place. Lee Han poured magic into them and gave the order.

The bone spears, unlike the arrows Lee Han had shot, didn’t pierce the berserker’s body, but the frost on their tips slowed him down. The berserker became annoyed and tried to swing his club again.

“Frost, become arrows and be shot!”

Lee Han waved his staff and shot out ice arrows. When the ice hit, frost burst out, stopping the berserker again.

Sharkan roared and charged forward.

The berserker, unable to attack because of the constant attacks on his ankles, tried to deal with the enemies around him first.

Crack!

About half of the skeleton warriors were destroyed in one attack. The undead wizard sighed.

‘I knew summoning undead wasn’t his main skill, but I didn’t know he’d be this clumsy,’ he thought.

‘If I had known, I would have told him to save his magic and use it for other elemental magic instead…’

“Arise, warriors of bone!”

Lee Han quickly chanted the spell. It was a dangerous situation. He couldn’t relax for a moment.

The shattered skeleton warriors rose as if nothing had happened. The berserker stared at Lee Han in disbelief.

“Don’t waste your magic like that!” the wizard shouted.

“I’m calculating it myself, so you don’t have to worry!” Lee Han replied.

“Is that really true? If so…”

The undead wizard didn’t really believe it, but he decided to trust Lee Han for now.

There was no time to argue.

‘He seems to be a high-ranking wizard, so he wouldn’t lie about something like that,’ the wizard thought.

“Poison, poison that melts bones and burns muscles, rise again from within…” the wizard chanted.

Poison wizards had several tricks.

One was to summon poison in advance and store it in their body.

It was dangerous, but it allowed them to react quickly in emergencies. Skilled poison wizards knew how to do this.

The undead wizard vomited out the stored poison and used magic to refill it at the same time.

He could feel his magic running out.

“Bone, offer your magic to your master…” the wizard said, desperately absorbing the magic left in the bones he had shot out earlier.

He looked to the side and was horrified.

Lee Han was firing ice arrows like crazy.

Paf Paf Paf Paf Paf Paf!

Ice arrows exploded, covering the berserker’s body with frost.

The attacks didn’t pierce his body, but the frost slowed him down.

Lee Han calmed himself and quickly thought.

‘Should I use arrows? Time is short, and the damage is limited. Water Orb is… impossible. If only I had lightning…’

As lightning gathered from Lee Han’s staff, the undead wizard shouted.

“Don’t use lightning! It’s a waste of magic. They’re resistant to lightning!”

“Is that so!?”

Lee Han cursed Perkontra.

‘That unhelpful spirit, as always,’ he thought.

“Listen carefully! I’ll tell you my secret, the Other-Worldly Poison. You’ll have to create and use it yourself!” the wizard said.

“I’m not good with poison magic!” Lee Han protested.

“If you’re a chief wizard, you’ll learn it quickly. The theory isn’t hard! It’s the combination that’s difficult!”

“I’m not a chief wizard, and I’m not good with poison magic…”

Ignoring Lee Han’s words, the undead wizard started explaining poison magic.