Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 405

Professor Milrei considered Lee Han’s objection for a moment, then accepted it.

“Very well. Let’s see you try it then.”

“…”

Despite Professor Milrei’s permission, Lee Han felt uneasy.

This was because Professor Milrei was intently watching Lee Han’s every move, her expression unchanging.

It was hard not to feel nervous under the gaze of such a strict and upright professor.

‘Did she ever put this much pressure on the other students during practice?’ Lee Han wondered.

Grumbling about the perceived unfairness, Lee Han unfolded the magic-inscribed paper.

Very powerful mages could make summons instantly, without help. But for most wizards, preparing beforehand was very important.

Potions, scrolls, artifacts—these were all essential tools.

The Paper Bird Summon also needed preparation.

Without a scroll with the magic circle, the wizard had to create the summon’s structure piece by piece. In a way, drawing this magic circle was the most important part of the magic.

The quill scratched softly on the old paper, leaving a trail of shimmering ink. Lee Han’s brow was furrowed in concentration as he carefully drew each line of the magic circle. The air in the room seemed to hum with quiet energy.

Paper Bird Summon was a famous spell in the Empire, and its magic circle was well-known, but recreating it depended on the wizard’s skill.

If magic was just tracing lines, why would so many students cry and struggle so much?

The magic circle of Paper Bird Summon was not simple. Even Einroguard students often made mistakes.

‘…Is the suffering I endured under Professor Verdus helping in this way?’ Lee Han wondered.

Lee Han was surprised.

Even to him, the magic circle looked exceptionally well-done.

He hadn’t noticed his improvement because he had only drawn it once during the semester and not at all during the vacation…

When did his skills improve this much?

Seeing it, Professor Milrei slowly spoke, as if she had expected it.

“Let’s add a voice.”

Lee Han began to weave in the letters with even more care than before.

Modifying a magic circle wasn’t just adding lines and letters.

You had to understand the magic circle’s principles and predict the resulting changes.

If you forcibly changed it, the paper bird might stab the wizard instead of speaking.

‘Inscribe it here… I need to add more ink. Is the circuit running properly? A short circuit will occur here, so I need to detach this…’ Lee Han thought.

Focusing with all his heart, Lee Han didn’t even realize he had finished. Professor Milrei spoke first.

“You’ve finished it.”

“Ah. Yes. But I need to check if it works properly…”

“No need. It would be good to increase the difficulty.”

Professor Milrei turned away as if there was nothing more to say.

At that moment, the scroll Lee Han had made transformed into a paper bird.

The paper bird flew to the White Tiger Tower students and shouted loudly.

“-Focus on the lecture!!!”

“Aargh!”

“I, I was focusing!! What is it! What is it!” The White Tiger Tower students, caught off guard, looked around in surprise.

It was a perfect modification.

The Blue Dragon Tower students next to him looked at Lee Han and said.

“It would be good to increase the difficulty.”

“It looks like we should increase the difficulty. Wodanaz.”

“…You guys have no dinner.”

“!??!”

Professor Mortuum shuffled his feet, avoiding eye contact. A faint blush crept up his neck, making his pale skin look even whiter. He cleared his throat, the sound a little too loud in the quiet room when Lee Han arrived.

“Did you control the golem well?”

“Yes, Professor. Is Ogoltos doing alright?”

“He’s fine… Usually, Ogoltos should be worrying about you, not the other way around.”

Ogoltos, a senior student, was worried about Lee Han, a junior. But Professor Mortuum didn’t blame Ogoltos.

It wasn’t because he feared losing students.

It was because he understood Ogoltos’s feelings.

Frankly, even if there were other students, it wouldn’t have made much difference!

“Today’s lecture is on dark elements, right? What should I prepare?” Lee Han asked.

Despite the strange situation where a student who arrived two weeks late understood the lecture better than the others and even tried to prepare, Professor Mortuum wasn’t surprised.

Why would he be surprised by this now? Professor Mortuum replied calmly.

“The other students will continue with dark elements… You will be doing bone element magic.”

“??

Lee Han was taken aback.

“Uh. Is it because I missed some progress?”

“No. You already know how to use dark elements.”

“But there are still many areas where I’m lacking…”

Professor Mortuum ignored Lee Han’s answer.

It was nonsense that he didn’t even want to answer.

“More than that, I heard from Ogoltos… It was such an unbelievable story that I waited to confirm it myself.”

“Ah. Are you talking about the Ghoul King?” Lee Han replied as if he had been waiting for it.

“Surprisingly, he was indeed the owner of that palace. Unlike what he does, he really…”

“-Ahem, ahem! Who was curious about that?” Professor Mortuum retorted.

Of course, he knew that the Ghoul King owned that undead palace.

Who else would own it if not him?

“Then what is it that you find hard to believe?”

“You summoned more than ten undead and struggled to control them, but you were surprised that you could control them only after leaving one…”

Lee Han felt ashamed for the first time in a while.

“That’s just a habit from practicing…”

“How can that be a habit?”

Even for practice, summoning ten undead should make a wizard panic! They should feel like their magic is almost gone.

He should be panting and wanting to reduce the undead just by breathing, but he had forgotten the simple truth that ‘it becomes easier if you reduce them’.

“Anyway, I learned that it becomes a little easier if you reduce it to one.”

“That’s… not something you learn… it’s something that any human being would naturally know… Alright. Let’s get back to the main point.”

Professor Mortuum kindly embraced his student, who had missed a truth that even the Empire’s biggest idiot would know.

“As the headmaster also agreed, the reason I gave you the Ancient Basic Necromancy book is because I thought you had the ability to continue the progress of ancient necromancy.”

“Is that…? I see.”

Lee Han stopped himself from saying, ‘Wasn’t it to torment me?’

While other students were summoning undead that had made contracts in the undead realm, Lee Han was being forced by Headmaster Skeleton and Professor Mortuum to summon undead in the old way.

The ancient method of necromancy was to create undead using only the wizard’s own magic, unlike modern methods that relied on contracts with spirits.

This made it much harder and more tiring. There was a reason why the old method was the old method.

“Now that you’ve become somewhat accustomed to controlling them, and you’re trying various enhancements…”

“There are still many areas where I’m lacking…”

He could only control it smoothly by combining it into one, and the enhancement of that summon was only possible with simple methods such as amplifying it by combining other bones.

He was still far from being an outstanding dark wizard.

Of course, Professor Mortuum ignored him again as before.

“…It’s time to move on a little further.”

Originally, the goal for this year was to control about one undead summon, but now that he had already succeeded, there was no reason to stay still.

Instead of explaining the original goal to Lee Han, Professor Mortuum presented the next one.

The reason why enemies feared dark wizards skilled in bone element magic was because of its unique tenacity.

Unlike other summoning magic, it allows for rapid recovery after destruction, and even if destroyed, the broken debris itself becomes a means for the wizard again—an infinite engine.

If you get caught by a wizard skilled in this technique, you’ll be dragged in as if you’ve fallen into a swamp.

“Conversely, it means that bone element wizards must continue to cast spells even after summoning, without staying still.”

“I understand.”

“What bone element magic can you use now?”

The bone element magic that Lee Han could use was limited to fragment launch, summoning armor, shields, or restraints.

It was excellent enough for a first-year student who took all the magic from other schools to be able to use 1st and 2nd circle bone element magic, but it lacked flair for a wizard who could summon a skeleton warrior with ancient necromancy.

“I’ll have to learn bone explosion magic.”

Bone explosion magic, which ignites the gas inside the bone with magic power to cause an explosion, was essential for dark wizards who wanted to handle firepower easily.

“Huh? Doesn’t that start from at least the 3rd circle?”

“Doesn’t it? Is there any problem?”

“…It’s nothing!”

Lee Han gave up asking when Professor Mortuum asked back as if it was obvious.

There would be no useful answer if he asked that crazy face.

“Of course, it won’t be easy. Do you know what you need to pay the most attention to when you learn bone explosion magic?”

“Hmm. Isn’t it the connection of magic power?”

The farther the wizard was from the object, the harder it became to directly apply magic power to that object.

A wizard who summons and handles bone elements had to control the bone so that it could be sent far away and simultaneously cast magic on that bone.

To do that, you need to pay even more attention to the connection of magic power…

“Wrong.”

“Is that so?”

“What you need to pay attention to is controlling the power of the explosion. So that the explosion doesn’t hurt you too.”

Lee Han was speechless at the very realistic advice.

No…

“I’ve set up a defensive magic circle here, so practice inside. Call me right away if the magic circle looks like it’s about to break. And try not to blow up the entire room, alright? Rebuilding it is such a bore.”

“Yes…”

Gainan, Raphaël, and Imirg wondered what the loud noises were that had been erupting from inside.

“Isn’t Lee Han being tortured…?”

“Hey. You stupid prince. Why would the professor torture Wodanaz?”

“You’re the stupid one, you bastard. Then why does the headmaster attack us?”

“…”

“Everyone, focus.”

Everyone was startled by the professor’s words and turned their attention.

But the loud noises continued to bother them.

“Oh, Professor.” Raphaël carefully raised his hand. Professor Mortuum turned his gaze as if to say, ‘Speak.’

“I heard that summoners are visiting this time. Is there anything we need to do?”

You might wonder why dark wizards would care about the summoners’ festival, but the two areas overlapped more than you might think.

Wasn’t one of the areas of dark magic undead summoning?

Of course, there were dark wizards among those participating in the festival.

Given Professor Mortuum’s personality, he wouldn’t want to see the dark wizards being pushed back in front of other summoners.

“It’s alright. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Ah. Is that so?”

“Yes. Just enjoy yourselves comfortably.”

Raphaël was slightly surprised.

He thought the professor would give detailed instructions regarding the festival.

Gainan chided him from the side.

“What do you think of the professor? How many spells do we have to learn now? Why would he care about the festival?”

Imirg nodded as if he agreed.

No matter how strong the professor’s pride was, he wouldn’t bother sending his disciples to the summoning magic festival to prove it…

“Wodanaz will be in charge of proving it there. You guys can just play.”

“…”

“…”

It felt like the loud noises coming from inside had stopped.