Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 391

Lee Han felt a headache start. He always got headaches when things were confusing.

“Alright. Listen up, you White Tiger Tower lot.”

Lee Han did his best to explain just how advanced this golem was.

At first, the White Tiger Tower students thought Wodanaz was showing off his magic skills. But they soon sensed something was off, and their faces clouded over.

“No… No way.”

“You can’t do it? Wodanaz??”

“I’ve been saying that since earlier.”

The White Tiger Tower students were so shocked they couldn’t even reply.

They looked so dejected as they shuffled away that even their fellow students were worried.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m getting worried…”

“It’s fine. They will cheer up soon.”

However, the White Tiger Tower students remained gloomy the next day, contrary to Lee Han’s expectations.

They were more invested in the golem than he had thought.

‘They will cheer up soon.’

Lee Han did not worry about it.

Not until the White Tiger Tower students suddenly started being nice to him.

Tap-

“Wodanaz. They say autumn rabbit is delicious.”

“Angalo offered a piece of rabbit meat that smelled smoky and delicious.”

“?”

Tap-

“Wodanaz. Here’s a deer hind leg.”

“Another student shyly pushed forward a large deer leg, still covered in fur.”

“??”

Tap-

“Wodanaz. Here’s special ham.”

“Where did you get this?”

“The kitchen… Shhh.”

‘I thought I saw two fewer of them; did they get dragged off to the room for punishment?’

He could have kept accepting the gifts, but Lee Han felt it was wrong to take them.

Lee Han sighed and called Angalo and his friends together.

“I appreciate the gifts, but no means no.”

“…What if we bring you a whole wild boar next time…?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to because I have the ability, it’s that I can’t, you idiot.”

“Ack!”

Lee Han finally snapped and whacked Angalo on the head with his staff.

“You’d be better off asking someone else.”

“Like who?”

“Maybe Professor Verdus…?”

“There’s no way that professor would help us.”

Angalo said as if he were stating the obvious.

Of course, they knew that Professor Verdus was very good at enchantment magic.

But what good was skill if he had no intention of helping?

“I suppose not.”

“Ah, but maybe it’ll be different if it’s that Wodanaz…”

“That’s right, he’s his favorite student!”

One of the White Tiger Tower students spoke with hopeful anticipation, but Lee Han shook his head firmly.

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“…Isn’t he?”

“No. We’re not that kind of relationship. I’ll mention it since I’ve received gifts, but don’t get your hopes up.”

As it happened, Lee Han had a meeting with Professor Verdus that afternoon, so he decided to at least mention it.

After receiving this much, he could at least say something…

“Golem? Bring it next time.”

“!”

Lee Han, as well as Angalo and the White Tiger Tower students, were astonished.

Lee Han was so surprised that he didn’t speak as carefully as usual.

“Professor. Are you feeling unwell, perhaps??”

“Wo, Wodanaz. The professor said he likes it, why are you doing this…!”

The White Tiger Tower students were horrified and tried to stop him.

Why would he try to provoke Professor Verdus?

“I’m fine. Except that Gonadaltez is giving me too much work. More importantly…”

Professor Verdus hesitated and looked at Lee Han.

Lee Han suddenly felt a sense of dread.

It’s always scarier when a rude person suddenly becomes polite.

Professor Verdus, who usually said whatever he wanted without hesitation, was now hesitating and looking around, which sent shivers down his spine.

What was he going to ask for?

‘Is he going to try to extract my blood or bones?’

“I heard you’re raising a basilisk?”

“…Yes.”

Lee Han answered, trying to suppress a sigh.

He wasn’t even curious about how he found out anymore.

‘I should just assume that all the professors are connected by telepathy.’

“Can I come watch?”

“Excuse me? Why are you asking me that?”

“You’re raising it in Professor Begreck’s lecture hall, right?”

“Probably.”

“If I go alone, Professor Begreck might attack me.”

“Why… What did you do to him?”

“I don’t know. He just attacks me.”

Professor Verdus replied with the innocent face of a beaver.

However, Lee Han wasn’t fooled by the cute animal appearance. Professor Verdus had done too many things to be taken in by that.

‘Though, he’ll probably attack you even if I go with you.’

Lee Han thought, but didn’t say it out loud.

After all, it was Professor Verdus who would be getting hit.

“Anyway, if you come watch with me, will you help with the golem?”

“Huh? A golem is a golem. Watching is watching. What are you talking about?”

Come to think of it, Professor Verdus wasn’t clever enough to make deals like that.

He had just agreed to the golem thing because it looked fun, and the offer was separate.

“It’s nothing. Then let’s go together after it’s over. I had to visit you once anyway because of the lecture before dinner.”

Professor Verdus’s face brightened.

“Great! Then tell Professor Begreck not to attack me!”

“Oh… um… well, I’ll mention it.”

After the enchantment magic lecture ended (several students were carried to the healing room after burning themselves trying to take out heated stones from the bonfire with fire resistance magic on their hands), Lee Han walked with Professor Verdus.

“Professor. Are you going to focus on enhancement magic in the second semester as well?”

They had learned the basics of enchantment magic and practiced enchanting inanimate objects in the first semester, so it made sense to practice enchanting living things directly in the second semester.

“Huh?”

“…Aren’t you?”

“Did I? I just followed the order of the book. Maybe I did.”

Lee Han smiled faintly at Professor Verdus, who treated the students like pebbles rolling down the street.

There was no point in being surprised now!

“Then what did you teach for the past two weeks?”

“What did we do last week… um… ah. That’s right. Arrow blocking.”

“Excuse me?”

“Blocking arrows that are flying at you. It’s good for checking enhancement magic.”

‘Should I have come even later?’

“Then there’s a high possibility that you’ll continue to focus on enhancement magic until the midterm exam.”

“Is that what it says in the book? Then I guess so?”

“…Is the midterm exam artifact creation like last time?”

“No. The midterm exam for the first-year freshmen in the second semester is…”

Professor Verdus frowned and thought hard before saying,

“That’s right. Preparing traps for each other and throwing them in.”

“…Excuse me??”

“Wait a minute. Gonadaltez told me not to say anything. It’s a secret.”

“Ah. Yes. That…?”

Lee Han was more confused than understanding, even though he had gotten a hint.

What kind of midterm exam was ‘preparing traps for each other and throwing them in’?

“We’re here, Professor.”

Lee Han knocked on the door and went inside. The lecture hall was large and dusty, with rows of empty desks. In the center, on a raised platform, was a huge egg.

Professor Volardi was sitting next to the table as always.

The only difference from usual was that a large, familiar egg was located in the center of the lecture hall.

“That’s the basilisk, right?”

Professor Verdus asked, his eyes sparkling. Professor Volardi didn’t answer, but immediately raised his wand and attacked Professor Verdus.

The professor who looked like a beaver screamed and flew to the side.

“Stop him!”

“What ability do I have to… More importantly, Professor. Why are you attacking Professor Verdus?”

“He was trying to steal the basilisk.”

“…Professor…”

Lee Han looked at Professor Verdus with a pathetic expression.

“No, I wasn’t!”

Professor Verdus cried out, sobbing.

“I was just trying to touch it because it looked interesting!”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Lee Han scoffed.

Professor Verdus, who was rolling along the hallway, looked up, wondering why Lee Han was acting like this.

“There’s no way you came here with such pure intentions, Professor.”

“…I really didn’t!”

Professor Verdus felt wronged for the first time in a long time.

“Of course, I was going to take some materials after the basilisk was born!”

“Without permission?”

“With permission!”

“Ehhh…”

Professor Verdus felt truly wronged for the first time in a long time at Lee Han’s suspicious gaze.

Professor Verdus, who usually had an iron will and didn’t care what anyone said, felt strangely wronged because it was Lee Han.

Was it okay for a student to suspect his teacher like that?

“I’m telling you, I didn’t!”

“Alright, get up.”

Professor Verdus took Lee Han’s outstretched hand and got to his feet.

At that moment, Professor Volardi’s magic was fired again from inside the lecture hall. Professor Verdus was hit head-on and rolled down the hallway.

The artifacts he was wearing were so powerful that he didn’t get hurt, but the impact was so great that Professor Verdus coughed.

“I told you to stop him!”

“Well… you’re not someone who can be stopped just because I tell you to stop.”

“Try it and then say that!”

Lee Han shrugged as if he couldn’t help it and said,

“Professor. Could you please stop attacking Professor Verdus for a moment?”

“Alright.”

Professor Volardi lowered his wand.

“……”

“……”

Professor Verdus glared at Lee Han.

Wasn’t he hit one more time than he needed to be!

Even with the basilisk egg present, Professor Volardi’s lecture didn’t change.

“How proficient are you with dark elements?”

“I can perform basic casting, but…”

“What about lightning elements?”

“I’m practicing shape transformation.”

“What about water elements? Summoning magic? Enchantment magic?”

Professor Verdus sat next to them, watching their conversation blankly.

Another professor might have reacted with ‘Isn’t that a bit much?’, but fortunately, it was Professor Verdus, so he didn’t think anything of it.

“We need to catch up on the areas where your progress is lacking.”

At Professor Volardi’s words, Lee Han nodded and slowly moved to the side.

He was planning to use Professor Verdus as a shield if an attack came.

‘He probably won’t attack directly with the professor here.’

No sooner had he finished thinking than Professor Volardi began firing dark element bullets. Professor Verdus, who was sitting next to him and suddenly got hit, screamed and fell to the side.

“You said you’d stop!”

“I didn’t attack you.”

“Ah. I see.”

Lee Han wanted to say, ‘What do you mean, you see?’, but he was too busy dodging.

Fortunately, Professor Verdus was acting as a solid obstacle thanks to the artifacts he was wearing, even though he had fallen over.

Lee Han quickly grabbed the fallen Professor Verdus and lifted him up like a shield. The dark element bullets bounced off easily.

“When will this end?”

“You’ll have to wait a little longer!”

30 minutes later.

Professor Volardi, who had improved Lee Han’s sense of dark elements with simple basic training, declared a break.

“Utilizing the environment is good, but basic skills come first.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“Then take care of the basilisk.”

“…?”

Lee Han was slightly taken aback by Professor Volardi’s words.

“Uh… well… aren’t you going to teach me?”

Usually, when you tell a first-year student to take care of a basilisk egg, you tell them things like, ‘You have to do this and that, and don’t do this kind of thing,’ right?

Of course, Lee Han had asked Professor Lightning Steps about this and that before he came…

“I was going to say that anyway.”

“Thank you.”

Tap-

Professor Volardi threw a book. Lee Han thought it was fortunate.

Professor Volardi was better at explaining things with books than with words.

“I wrote it based on the Blue Dragon Tower, but there won’t be much difference with the Phoenix Tower.”

“…Excuse me?”

Lee Han paused as he was about to skim through the book.

What was he talking about?

Professor Verdus, who was next to him, said,

“Do you want me to help you move the egg if it’s too hard?”

“……”

Realizing that he had to raise it in the dormitory, not in Professor Volardi’s lecture hall, Lee Han seriously considered transferring to the White Tiger Tower.