Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 392

“Professor, I’ve been thinking, and keeping a basilisk egg in the dormitory is just not possible. What if it hatches… by accident?”

“By accident?” Professor Verdus asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, by accident! If it hatches, something bad could happen.”

Lee Han wished he could step on Professor Verdus’s foot, but he was a little too far away. He felt a pang of regret. He really wanted to show Professor Verdus he was serious.

“But,” Professor Volardi continued, “an expert advised me that it would be best if *you* cared for it.”

“An expert? Who… if you don’t mind me asking?” Lee Han wondered if the Headmaster, known for his strange ideas, had suggested this.

“Professor Lightning Steps.”

After “Professor Lightning Steps,” Lee Han blinked, surprised. Professor Lightning Steps? That was unexpected.

Lee Han took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, and listened to Professor Volardi. Inside, his mind was racing. Professor Lightning Steps? Why him?

Professor Volardi explained that Professor Lightning Steps had answered his questions very seriously.

Professor Lightning Steps had said, with concern, “You know, raising something isn’t just about books. You need to really *want* to do it, to have a feeling for it.”

Professor Lightning Steps, sounding worried, had suggested: “-Wouldn’t it be better to let a student take care of it?”

“-Yes, perhaps,” Professor Volardi had agreed, deciding to trust the expert’s advice.

“Yes, but Professor,” Lee Han pointed out, “Professor Lightning Steps isn’t saying to keep it in my *dormitory*.”

“Oh, really?” Professor Volardi seemed surprised.

“Let’s find a different place then, a ‘third space’. We’ll need to get a lot ready to care for a basilisk anyway.”

Lee Han thought hard about where they could put it.

Professor Lightning Steps’s cabin came to mind. It was far away from everyone else, and they could easily add things to it.

*Thinking to himself:* “Hmm, I shouldn’t make the person who gives us food angry.”

But he knew Professor Lightning Steps well enough to guess he would be very upset if they asked to put a basilisk egg in his cabin. He’d probably sulk for days.

Lee Han sighed and said, “I’ll find a place. You two can build it.”

“Huh? Me?” Professor Verdus blinked. He pointed at himself, looking surprised.

“Well,” Lee Han said, “you said you’d get the materials.”

“Yes, but what does that have to do with *building* it?” Professor Verdus looked truly confused.

Lee Han smiled. Professor Verdus was a genius at magic, but sometimes everyday things went right over his head.

He turned to Professor Volardi. “Professor, could you explain it to him?”

“I will,” Professor Volardi nodded.

A minute later, Professor Verdus grumbled but agreed. Professor Volardi just smiled knowingly.

“Hot days, cold nights…” Professor Verdus muttered, “We’ll need a fireplace, and somewhere to make it extra cold.”

“Heat magic, cold magic,” he grumbled. “Both are so boring.”

Lee Han ignored Professor Verdus’s complaining and started walking. He needed to find the perfect spot.

*Thinking to himself:* “Basilisks need water, so near a stream would be good. And it needs to be hidden, away from everyone… Professor Verdus will get all the building stuff.”

Lee Han walked north from the main building, carefully looking through the trees at the edge of the mountains. He wanted a place that was hidden but also practical.

“Build it here,” Lee Han said, pointing to a small clearing.

“Understood,” Professor Verdus replied, without looking up. He waved his wand. The ground beneath their feet turned hard as stone, then began to sink down, digging itself into the earth. Logs seemed to appear from nowhere, rising up and fitting together, quickly forming the walls of a house.

In moments, a log house stood before them. It wasn’t huge, but it looked cozy and strong. Professor Verdus pointed his wand again, casting a warm glow over the place where the fireplace would be, and then a frosty chill over the opposite corner.

*Thinking to himself:* “This is a really well-built little house. Maybe I can use it to store food later, after the basilisk is bigger. It would be a shame to waste it.”

Lee Han gently placed the basilisk egg in the center of the cabin. It was surprisingly heavy, and he could feel a faint warmth and a strange pulsing energy coming from within.

“Oh, wait,” Lee Han said suddenly, “We need to protect it, keep people out, right?”

“Professor!” Lee Han exclaimed, surprised.

“Yes?” Professor Verdus asked, looking up from his wand.

“I… I’m impressed,” Lee Han admitted. “I didn’t think you’d think of that.”

*Thinking to himself:* “Actually, I was going to ask them to do that. But Professor Verdus is already on it.”

Professor Verdus answered, puffing out his chest a little. “Of course! What if someone tried to steal our basilisk?”

“Ah, right,” Lee Han said, hiding his real thoughts. He watched as Professor Verdus continued to wave his wand.

Professor Verdus explained, “If you don’t follow the path marked by the red leaves on the trees, you’ll get completely lost. No one will find this place by accident.”

“Perfect,” Lee Han agreed.

“What are you doing now?” Professor Verdus asked, wrinkling his nose.

“Making dinner for our guest,” Lee Han replied. He opened a bag of basilisk feed that Professor Lightning Steps had given him and poured it into a pot, adding water. As it heated up, a truly awful smell filled the little log house. It was a smell like rotten eggs mixed with old socks and something vaguely fishy.

“Ancient books say,” Lee Han explained, trying to ignore the smell, “that to hatch a basilisk, you need to feed the egg ‘seven chickens, four sheep, five pigs, two bulls, and sixteen fish *every day*.’ But thankfully, Professor Lightning Steps made this special feed, so we don’t have to do all that.”

*Thinking to himself:* “Thank goodness for Professor Lightning Steps!”

Professor Verdus coughed, waving a hand in front of his face. “This smell is terrible! Do I really have to be here while you make this?”

Lee Han smiled sweetly. “Well, you could always go and catch seven chickens, four sheep, five pigs, two bulls, and sixteen fish.”

Professor Verdus’s eyes widened. “Okay, okay! I’ll stay here and suffer the smell.”

“Good,” Lee Han said, ignoring Professor Verdus’s dramatic sigh. “Now, hand me that spoon.”

“Why?!” Professor Verdus exclaimed.

Lee Han ignored Professor Verdus’s complaints and carefully offered the porridge to the egg.

The basilisk egg seemed to drink it in, the thick liquid disappearing as quickly as water into a sponge.

*Thinking to himself:* “Does it actually like this stuff?”

The egg gave a little shake, and a faint pulse of warmth spread out from it. Lee Han wasn’t sure, but it felt like… happiness?

Lee Han, still carefully spoon-feeding the egg, looked up at Professor Verdus. “Professor, could you take over for a minute? I need to get ready for the next step.”

Professor Verdus grumbled again about the smell, but he took the ladle and held it out to the egg.

Immediately, the egg vibrated again, but this time it was different. A wave of cold, prickly energy pushed outwards, making the air around them feel unpleasant.

“Professor, maybe… maybe I should do it,” Lee Han said quickly, taking the ladle back. As soon as he held it, the negative energy faded.

*Thinking to himself:* “To be disliked by a basilisk before it’s even hatched… that’s a new one.”

He was honestly amazed. “That’s… that’s quite a skill, Professor,” he said, trying to keep a straight face.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Professor Verdus asked suspiciously.

“Oh, nothing, Professor,” Lee Han said quickly. “Next, we need to give it… magic power.”

“Now,” Lee Han said, “we need to give it magic power regularly.”

For most wizards, giving away their magic power every day would be a pain. But for Lee Han… it was easy.

*Sound Effect:* *Whoosh!* Lee Han sent a surge of magic into the egg.

He could feel the egg vibrating with pleasure, even more than before. *Thinking to himself:* “Maybe it really *is* happier now that Professor Verdus is further away.”

*Thinking to himself:* “I might have to make sure Professor Verdus stays away from the egg as much as possible. I don’t want to upset it and make it grow up grumpy.”

*Knock, knock, knock.*

“Professor Volardi?” Lee Han called out. “Is that you?” He opened the door.

Professor Volardi stood there, arms full of bags.

“What’s all this?” Lee Han asked, surprised. “Canned food? We have basilisk feed already.”

“This is for *you*,” Professor Volardi said with a smile. “Food for you to eat.”

Lee Han’s eyes widened. “Professor…!”

Professor Volardi stepped inside and gently but firmly pulled Professor Verdus, who had somehow managed to find an armchair and lie down, out of it. He piled the bags of groceries in the armchair instead.

Here,” Professor Volardi said, unpacking the bags. “Canned meat, canned fish, canned fruit… coffee, sugar…”

“Professor, you shouldn’t have!” Lee Han exclaimed, touched.

“You’ll need food while you’re here taking care of the basilisk,” Professor Volardi explained.

“But Professor,” Lee Han said, his face serious, “I’m going back to the dormitory tonight.”

Evening fell.

Lee Han went to the warehouse and found the White Tiger Tower students waiting, looking as cheerful as rainy Mondays. “Let’s get started,” he said, and they all began cleaning, just like before.

But this time, the air was filled with sighs. For every box lifted, every shelf dusted, there was a heavy *Haaa…*

“If only we had a golem…” one student mumbled.

“Oh, right,” another sighed. “No more golems…”

“Don’t worry,” Lee Han said, trying to be encouraging. “You can fix it tomorrow. You’ve been busy today.”

But the White Tiger Tower students just kept sighing.

“Busy doing what?” one grumbled. “Studying? That’s not *real* work.”

“Magic is important, sure,” another said, “but you don’t understand what’s *really* important. Wodanaz doesn’t understand people’s hearts.”

Lee Han sighed himself. “I was busy preparing a place to hatch a basilisk egg, on Professor’s orders. Okay?”

Suddenly, the White Tiger Tower students stopped sighing and looked at him with wide eyes.

*Thinking to himself:* “I knew there was more to Wodanaz than they thought.”

“Wodanaz,” Priestess Siana said gently. Lee Han turned to see Siana, a priestess from the Phoenix Tower, looking at him with concern.

“You don’t have to work today,” she said. “You did it last time.”

“Oh, but I arrived late,” Lee Han explained. “And I’m from a different tower, so I should do more.”

*Thinking to himself:* “The Blue Dragon Tower students would never be this nice. But the Phoenix Tower priests are always kind.”

But Siana shook her head firmly. “No, there’s a problem.”

“What is it?” Lee Han asked.

“It’s prayer time,” Siana said. “You’re missing your prayer time because of this.”

“Oh, right!” Lee Han realized.

Another priestess spoke up. “It’s my turn to pray now… Did these White Tiger Tower students *make* you come here? Did they force you to help them?”

“What?! No!” The White Tiger Tower students were outraged.

“No, no, no!” one of them stammered. “Lee Han asked *us* to come! Not the other way around!”

They were so upset by the misunderstanding, they could barely speak.

“But why else would you be here?” the priestess asked, still suspicious. “Unless… were you pressuring them to fix the golem again?”

“It wasn’t pressure, it was a *request*!” a White Tiger Tower student insisted.

“Yes, yes, a ‘request’,” the priestess said, her voice full of doubt.

“Wizards are slow to cast spells, that’s true,” a White Tiger Tower student argued, “but that doesn’t matter to Wodanaz! He’s the kind of person who would ambush you before you even knew he was there!”

“Wodanaz? Ambush someone?” a priestess scoffed. “No way. He’s much too polite.”

Silence fell over the warehouse.

Lee Han, and even the White Tiger Tower students, felt a little awkward.

*Thinking to himself:* “I never thought my polite greetings would come back to haunt me like this.”

What was even more surprising was that the other priests seemed to agree.

“That’s right,” one whispered to another. “Wodanaz? Never. He’s too nice.”

“Well…” Lee Han said hesitantly. “I actually… I do ambush people sometimes.”

The priestesses looked at him with pity. “Oh, you’re just saying that to be kind, because you don’t want the White Tiger Tower students to be embarrassed.”

“No, really, I do!” Lee Han insisted.

He tried to explain, as gently as possible, “I really did come to help. They asked me to help with the golem.”

“Yes, well, if you say so…” the priestess said, still unconvinced.

*Thinking to himself:* “Explaining isn’t going to work.”

He could hear the other priests whispering nearby.

“-Did the White Tiger Tower students *force* Lee Han to come? He’s from the Wodanaz family, after all…”

“-Well… I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but look at how they’re ‘treating’ him now…”

Suddenly, a White Tiger Tower student turned to Lee Han. “Hey, Wodanaz! Go and rest! You’ve done enough.”

“But I brought you all here,” Lee Han protested. “I’d feel bad if I just rested.”

“Are you crazy?!” another White Tiger Tower student exclaimed. “This is *not* the time to be polite!”

The White Tiger Tower students learned something important that evening.

It was far worse to be seen as someone who *threatened* Wodanaz than to be seen as someone *threatened by* Wodanaz!