Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 403

Lee Han eyed the spot Professor Lightning Steps had indicated. He felt a sense of unease.

He had to dig a hole in the ground, shaped like a jar, and very deep.

Surely, whatever came out would be quite large.

“Wodanaz?”

“Yes.”

“Supervise your friends’ work.”

“…Professor, I’m also a first-year…”

Lee Han protested, but Professor Lightning Steps ignored him.

“We’ll bring it over, so don’t touch it. No matter what sounds it makes inside, do not open it. Understand?”

“Professor, seriously? You have to put *that* here?”

Professor Lightning Steps ignored him again.

“Huff, huff…”

“Hey, don’t slack off.”

“I’m running out of mana!”

“Who told you to waste magic like that? Move your hands, at least.”

“You little…”

The landscaping work Professor Lightning Steps assigned wasn’t hard, but there was a lot of it.

They had to make new paths across the field for beasts to walk on, and dig deep pits for who-knew-what to be placed inside.

Unless you were an experienced wizard, a first-year student would usually run out of mana before finishing it all. Mana is the magical energy wizards use.

Of course, running out of mana wasn’t a reason to rest. The Black Tortoise Tower students pushed their friends on.

“Pick up your shovels, quick!”

“I’m a knight, using a shovel would be a disgrace to my honor…!”

“Knight or not, if you don’t pick up that shovel, I’ll tell the professor.”

“I’m a noble, using a shovel would be a disgrace to my honor…!”

“Hey, Wodanaz! These guys are talking nonsense!”

“Ah, no! No! Don’t call Wodanaz!”

Lee Han was the only one who could use magic well, but he could only do so much alone.

“Dig, dig, dig…”

“Wodanaz.”

“?”

Several White Tiger Tower students called out to Lee Han, who stopped using his wand and answered.

“What is it?”

“Isn’t now the perfect moment?”

“…What moment? Don’t talk nonsense and get to work.”

Lee Han was careful, thinking they were trying to avoid their work.

The White Tiger Tower students protested, looking angry.

“The golem, the golem!”

“Ah, that die-hard flying skeleton?”

“Shhh!!”

The White Tiger Tower students weren’t as brave as Lee Han. They quickly stopped him and looked around nervously.

‘These guys are too timid for knights.’

“We’re going to change its name anyway… It’s almost done now. We can bring it out if you say it’s okay.”

Angalo and his friends had worked very hard to fix the golem, working day and night.

They even skipped other classes to work on it.

“…Couldn’t you have gone to classes while doing it?”

“Wodanaz, what’s really important in life? It’s not classes, but true wisdom…”

“Usually, the ones who say that don’t have any true wisdom either. Anyway, I understand. If it’s fixed enough to move, you can bring it over.”

Having the golem now would definitely make the work faster.

If they could use it for night duty and tasks like this, it would be very helpful in the future.

“Knowing you’d say that, we’re bringing it now!”

“Want to get hit?”

“Ah… no… Look at the amount of work. We can’t finish it today at this rate.”

The White Tiger Tower students mumbled, not looking at him.

“Wodanaz! It’s here!”

Angalo, with his White Tiger Tower friends, was pulling the golem on a flat handcart, sweating a lot.

He’d wondered how they’d bring it, but they’d just put a board on the ground and added wheels.

“Everyone told Wodanaz, right?”

“Huh? Uh-huh.”

“Y-yes, of course.”

His friends stuttered at Angalo’s question. But Angalo didn’t notice and asked excitedly.

“Alright, then. Wodanaz! Activate the golem!”

“…Me?”

“…Uh, uh? W-well, who else would do it but you?”

At Angalo’s innocent question, Lee Han almost asked, ‘Do you know we’re both first-years?’ but stopped himself.

It was a pointless question.

“I’ve only read about handling golems in books.”

“That should be enough for you, right?”

“…Hey, come over here.”

“Why, why?”

Angalo felt something bad in Lee Han’s voice and slowly backed away. He was more aware than Gainan.

‘Where was the core when it broke last time? Was it around here?’

Golems are artificial beings created by wizards and used by different schools of magic.

Summoning mages, and even dark wizards, all said, ‘We know how to handle golems,’ so there were many ways to use them.

The most common way was to put mana into the core.

Usually, a sleeping golem would wake up when mana was put into its core.

Some golems needed special spells or to know their master to start, but this golem didn’t have those rules, as it had cleaned on its own before.

*Pop!*

Mana was put into the core, but nothing happened.

Lee Han didn’t know, but the golem’s core was old and broken, causing a lot of mana to leak out.

The materials to fix the core were very rare compared to other materials, and the White Tiger Tower students had fixed the golem’s arms and legs first, as they were easier to find.

So, more than half the mana it took in was leaking out.

A normal wizard might think, ‘There’s something wrong with the golem; I need to fix the core,’ but…

*Paaaaaaaat!*

Golem, die-hard flying skeleton activated. Doing commands.

“It’s alive! It’s actually working!” Angalo shouted, jumping up and down.

“It’s working!!!!” Gainan yelled, his eyes wide with amazement.

Lee Han just forced the mana into it.

‘Does a golem usually use this much mana? This is strange.’

Lee Han was surprised, watching the golem’s eyes light up.

When other wizards used them, even if they used a lot of mana, it was normal…

Is this how it’s supposed to be?

“What can you do?”

Lee Han asked what commands it could do. A golem could only do what a wizard had told it to do.

I was created to complete all the chores in Einroguard.

“Good heavens!”

“Such a wonderful…”

The White Tiger Tower students, who had worked hard to gather and rebuild the golem’s arms and legs, sniffled with emotion.

Other tower students, drawn by the noise, were also amazed by the golem’s appearance.

“The White Tiger Tower guys made something like this? How??”

“Wodanaz made it.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

“Wodanaz didn’t make it!! He just helped repair it!!”

“Ah, give it a rest. You’re embarrassing yourselves. What could you have possibly done on that golem? At most, you painted it.”

While his friends argued, Lee Han focused.

A golem wasn’t a smart spirit that could handle a command on its own.

If you gave the command ‘Dig a pond,’ a person would dig correctly, but a golem might keep digging until the end of the world.

Lee Han focused and gave the command, using the small connection he felt with the mana-filled golem.

“Dig this pit.”

Understood.

“…Ack! Aargh!”

A White Tiger Tower student, lost in thought, screamed and rolled aside as the golem suddenly moved to pass him.

Lee Han apologized.

“Sorry.”

“Is ‘sorry’ all you have to say! Wodanaz!”

“Then will you control it?”

Lee Han’s question was immediately met with a lot of criticism from his friends.

“Wodanaz can make mistakes, you idiot!”

“Don’t you know that if Wodanaz doesn’t control that golem, we’ll be stuck here until tonight? If you want to complain, go back to the dorm and complain!”

‘I can hear everything…’

Lee Han focused again and gave the golem another command.

Fortunately, the golem began digging the pit slowly without any more accidents.

“Oh? Where did you get a golem?”

Professor Lightning Steps returned and was amazed to see the golem working.

No matter how he looked at it, it wasn’t a summon a first-year student could create.

“Wodanaz…”

“Ah, Wodanaz made it? You’re quite talented.”

“…Repaired it.”

“Ah.”

Professor Lightning Steps felt a bit awkward.

Now that he heard it, he felt strange for thinking a first-year student could make it.

Why did he think that?

“Controlling a golem isn’t easy, but you’re managing to give it commands.”

Lee Han concentrated to reply.

“It’s only doing simple tasks… so it’s manageable.”

“I suppose so.”

*Thud!*

Professor Lightning Steps waved his wand. Then, cages covered with cloth were stacked behind him.

The field was dusty under the hot sun. The air smelled of dirt and sweat as the students worked.

■■■■■■■■…

Strange, muffled cries echoed from inside the cages. Lee Han shivered, a cold feeling creeping up his spine.

‘What on earth is that?’

“Cough. Are you perhaps controlling a golem?”

“Ah, Professor Mortoom.”

Professor Lightning Steps stopped what he was doing and greeted him politely.

“Professor Lightning Steps… Cough, are you controlling a golem right now?”

“That’s right.”

Professor Mortoom’s eyes sparkled at the answer. Lee Han felt uneasy about the professor’s misunderstanding.

“Wodanaz. Already using dark magic to control a golem…! Cough, impressive! I can understand why Professor Garcia is trying to kill me! I almost abandoned such a talented student…”

“Huh? Who’s trying to kill who…?”

Lee Han was about to ask again, doubting his ears, but Professor Mortoom continued to babble excitedly.

“Dirette will be so happy to see this. Dirette also…”

“Oh… Professor Milrei.”

Professor Lightning Steps flinched at the sight of Professor Milrei, who had come to check on the landscaping.

For some reason, he felt that the two professors shouldn’t be together.

The old professor, walking over, noticed the golem from afar and was surprised, but composed himself and asked calmly.

“Wodanaz, have you succeeded in summoning a golem with summoning magic? Amazing.”

“Uh…”

Lee Han looked at Professor Mortoom next to him.

Professor Mortoom’s eyes were pleading.

They begged him to say it was done with dark magic, not summoning magic.

“It would be great to show this at the summoning mages’ festival next week.”

Unable to watch any longer, Professor Lightning Steps cleared his throat loudly.

Professor Milrei turned, startled, and noticed Professor Mortoom’s presence.

“Ah. Perhaps with dark magic?”

“Repaired it. Both of you. Repaired, I say.”

“……”

“……”

The dark magic professor and the summoning magic professor were very embarrassed.

“Ah… I see.”

“Indeed, that makes sense.”

The two embarrassed professors nodded and offered Lee Han some words of encouragement.

What to keep in mind when controlling a golem, which materials are better for mana efficiency (Professor Mortoom wanted to find fault with Professor Milrei’s words but held back), how to give commands…

After the two professors left, Professor Lightning Steps looked at Lee Han and said.

“…You’ve worked hard. Really.”

“Professor.”

“What is it?”

“Are there any more outsiders coming next week?”

Professor Milrei’s mention of the summoning mages’ festival made Lee Han think it would be held in Einroguard, and his voice was sharp.

Thinking about the festivals the priests held, there was no reason to be angry, but Lee Han was sure it wouldn’t be like that.

Why would wizards come for no reason!

“…Are you angry?”

“No? Why would I be angry? What are you talking about?”