Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 422

Just like Lee Han, other friendly students in the White Tiger Tower were also called.

“Professor Inguldel wants us to come?” Giselle said boredly, slumped deep in her armchair. “Tell him I have a broken leg.”

Durkieu asked, his face showing worry. “Still, Moradi, what if the professor needs our help?”

“Then you go,” Giselle replied quickly.

Durkieu hesitated.

Frankly, he was a bit reluctant to deal with Deputy Head Jangcliffe.

Any student in the White Tiger Tower who had met Lord Jangcliffe at a gathering knew just how difficult an opponent he was.

People say once he catches you, there’s no escape. Some even say he’s scarier than an ogre.

“Lord Jangcliffe is still a great knight; wouldn’t there be much to learn from talking with him?” Durkieu asked.

“Then you go,” Giselle replied quickly.

“You go, you idiot. Don’t send Moradi,” Bartrek said.

A student who didn’t know him added quietly, only to be scolded by his friends and shrink back.

Giselle frowned and bit her lip.

“Just thinking about it gives me a headache… Anyway, I’m already invited to a gathering this week, no need to meet him early and get tired,” Giselle said.

“Moradi, can I ask you something?” Durkieu asked cautiously.

“Go ahead,” Giselle replied.

“It might be a rude question…” Durkieu hesitated.

“Then don’t ask it?” Giselle shot back, and Durkieu cleared his throat.

“About Lee Han inviting you,” Durkieu said.

Giselle nodded with a blank face, then pulled out a dagger and stuck it into the table next to her.

Durkieu was surprised.

“I’m thinking of sticking one in for every rude thing you say. It’s too much to remember them all individually,” Giselle said.

Durkieu held back and spoke. “I was wondering if Lee Han and you had some… friction or something.”

“What are you talking about?” Bartrek, who was next to him, looked puzzled.

As someone who had also received an invitation, he didn’t understand what the question meant.

“Friction?” Bartrek asked.

“Well… it’s just that,” Durkieu said.

Giselle twirled her hair with her finger and said, “That Wodanaz guy invited us, but he wouldn’t do it without a reason. There must be some kind of trap. If there’s a trap, why would it be there? There must have been friction. That’s what he means, right?”

“Not necessarily… ahem. Ahem,” Durkieu said, embarrassed. Bartrek protested as if he had been wronged.

“There wasn’t any friction… well… because we escaped, Wodanaz almost got caught, but that was just an unavoidable act of nature!” Bartrek exclaimed.

Every student in the White Tiger Tower—the one reading a magazine in the lounge, the one carving a sweet potato with a knife, the ones wrestling, the one reading a strategy book—paused.

“Hey. It’d be better to avoid that Wodanaz guy for a while…” one student said.

“He must be really steamed,” another added.

“Damn. I was going to do some bartering,” a third student said.

“That guy needs to release supplies quickly to stabilize the market,” a fourth student said.

Giselle, shaking her head at her whispering friends, sighed. “Who cares if Wodanaz is angry? He’s always angry anyway.”

‘That’s because you’re always trying to suppress him first, Moradi…’ Durkieu thought, but he kept quiet, considering Giselle’s pride.

“The important thing is that once you’re invited to the Knight’s gathering, you can’t not go. Choi, could you not go?” Giselle asked.

“That’s… not possible,” Durkieu admitted.

For those who were still only apprentice knights, being invited to a gathering of knights was a great honor.

If it were Durkieu, he would have gone even if Headmaster Skull was there.

“Then… just remember this,” Giselle said.

Instead of answering, Giselle prepared to stick another dagger into the table and signaled him to speak.

“Go there, keep as much distance as possible from Wodanaz, stick with the other knights until the gathering ends, and…” Durkieu started.

“…why don’t you just tell me to carry a white flag around,” Giselle interrupted.

Giselle was speechless, but Bartrek honestly found it tempting.

If other knights were nearby, wouldn’t that Wodanaz guy restrain himself a bit, even if he was angry?

Lee Han thought, when he was learning under Professor Voladi, how much better it would have been if the professor had been a little more talkative.

Explaining things with attacks instead of words, wasn’t that the way of beasts?

But after meeting a truly talkative person, his thoughts changed a little.

“I’ve heard so much about you. I’ve wanted to meet you and hear your story in person since then; it’s truly amazing. Isn’t the Wodanaz family the Empire’s best magical family? I remember seeing the head of the Wodanaz family from afar when he visited on official business quite some time ago. When a great drought occurred in the western part of the Empire due to magical backflow, the head of the family moved the entire sea, removed the salt, and created a reservoir. Did you know that reservoir still exists? The reservoir’s name is…” Professor Inguldel continued.

‘This is driving me crazy,’ Lee Han thought.

Lee Han looked at Professor Inguldel with betrayal in his eyes.

He had come because he was called so urgently!

Are professors, in the end, fundamentally beings who betray their students?

‘I’m sorry,’ Professor Inguldel apologized with his eyes as well.

He couldn’t think of any other way.

“Come to think of it, you’re from the Alpha family, aren’t you? What do you think? How do you feel about this?” Professor Inguldel asked.

“Uh… uh-oh,” Anglago, who had been brought along and was now sitting and listening to the conversation, was dozing off and suddenly startled.

What conversation were they having?

‘Help me…!’ Anglago thought.

Ethan sighed. Someone was talking for a long time, and Ethan wanted to say something too. He spoke to Sir Jean-Clef.

Ethan said, “By the way, Sir Jean-Clef.”

Jean-Clef stopped talking and looked at Ethan. “Oh? Do you want to ask something?”

Jean-Clef straightened his clothes. He was a parrot beastman, with bright feathers of many colours. His clothes were just as showy and colourful as his feathers. Looking at him, you might think he was a dancer, not a knight.

“I’ll be attending the Knights’ gathering this week. Since it’s a gathering of knights, I wouldn’t want to show a shameful display of swordsmanship.”

Professor Ingardel’s face brightened when Ethan spoke. He nodded quickly, looking excited. Professor Ingardel had been talking and talking for a long time. It seemed they were finally going to talk about swordsmanship!

“Don’t worry,” Professor Ingardel said. “Why? Because you are a Wodanaz! Everyone knows the Wodanaz family is famous for magic. So, the knights will be very impressed that you are also good at swords!”

“But I still want to practice!” Ethan said quickly, stopping Professor Ingardel. He didn’t want Jean-Clef to start talking again, even for a second. Jean-Clef was like a swordsman who keeps attacking and doesn’t let you speak.

“In that case, I will explain about each knight’s swordsmanship in detail…” Professor Ingardel started to say.

“How about showing us directly, Sir Jean-Clef!” Professor Ingardel said quickly, seeing his chance.

Jean-Clef paused for a moment. Professor Ingardel didn’t see it, but Ethan understood. ‘He doesn’t want to stop talking!’ Ethan thought. Some professors were like that. They liked to talk and talk without listening to anyone else.

“Very well. Let’s do it.” Luckily, Jean-Clef stood up. He held a long sword decorated with shiny gold.

As Jean-Clef walked away, Ethan started to doubt. ‘Is he really a great swordsman?’ Ethan wondered. Moradi had said so, but Ethan didn’t trust anything Moradi said. All the amazing swordsmen Ethan had met before looked like they only cared about swords. They wore old coats, carried simple swords, and their eyes were bright and focused. They looked like real masters. But Jean-Clef was wearing perfect, clean clothes and had a fancy sword. Ethan felt unsure…

“Ack!” Ethan cried out as he flew backwards. Just like when Professor Ingardel hit him, Jean-Clef’s sword smashed through Ethan’s strong defense.

No change needed, it’s clear.

Jean-Clef clapped his hands, looking impressed. “Amazing! I didn’t know you were so good!”

Ethan coughed and spat. He had flown backwards from the hit. He had used all his magic power in his sword and even put magic power around his body to protect himself. But the hit was still very strong. ‘That sword is powerful!’ Ethan thought.

Jean-Clef was different from how he looked. He used a sword with incredible power. He didn’t use any tricks or fancy moves. He just attacked in the straightest, fastest way possible. Each attack was full of power. If someone blocked his attack, they could get hurt too, but Jean-Clef didn’t seem to worry about that.

“Sir Wodanaz, very few knights can get up so fast after a hit like that. Young knights should learn from this. Oh, did you know? Magic isn’t just for spells. You can also use it to control your body perfectly. Like how you blocked my attack…”

Ethan quickly kicked his leg out. Dust flew up. Jean-Clef looked at Professor Ingardel with admiration. ‘For a young boy from the famous Wodanaz family to use such tricks!’ Jean-Clef thought. ‘There’s only one reason. Professor Ingardel must have taught him!’ Jean-Clef said, “To teach him even these kinds of things!”

“Ah, no…” Professor Ingardel said, looking confused. He hadn’t taught Ethan that, not really.

Jean-Clef hit Ethan again, sending him flying. Ethan rolled on the ground and quickly got ready to fight back. “I know Sir Allarong’s Wall-Breaking Sword very well,” Jean-Clef said. “It’s probably the heaviest sword style in the Empire. Sir Wodanaz, you have probably learned the first few moves? Because you haven’t mastered your aura yet.”

“That’s right,” Ethan said.

“Your Wall-Breaking Sword is similar to my style in some ways. Watching you reminds me of when I was younger…” Ethan became tense. Was Jean-Clef going to tell a long story now? Luckily, Jean-Clef didn’t. “I want to show you a technique,” Jean-Clef said. “Watch this.”

Jean-Clef tightened all his muscles. He gathered his magic power and then thrust his sword forward like a rocket. The attack made a loud boom that seemed to rip through the air. The move itself looked simple, but the magic power inside it was scary.

“You might be wondering why I’m showing you this move. You’re right, you are already good at the Wall-Breaking Sword. You don’t need to learn a whole new sword style. ‘But I did learn lots of other techniques before,’ Ethan thought. “But,” Jean-Clef continued, “I’m showing you this move because you can use a lot of magic power now.”

Jean-Clef was surprised when he fought Ethan. He realized Ethan could use magic power. And not just a little bit! Ethan was using so much magic power that you could even see it. If someone used that much magic without knowing how, they would quickly become weak and useless. Only a swordsman who could control magic power well could do that.

‘Just a little more, and he could even create an aura!’ Jean-Clef thought. ‘To be this good at such a young age! Amazing!’ Of course, Ethan wasn’t close to using aura. He was just using magic power without thinking, wasting it. But Jean-Clef didn’t know that.

“This move will not only help you use more magic power, but it will also help you understand how to use aura.”

“Can… can I really learn something like this?” Ethan was a little surprised. He felt uneasy. Favors were scary when people didn’t want anything back. Jean-Clef had just taught him a sword technique, which was a big favor.

“Of course!” Jean-Clef said loudly. “Shouldn’t all knights help young knights in the Empire? Become a great knight! I hope to see you again when you are famous!” Jean-Clef was acting very dramatic. He turned around with a flourish. He had made a grand speech, and now it was time for a grand exit.

Ethan and Professor Ingardel watched Jean-Clef leave, speechless. Then they blinked and looked at each other. “Wait…” Ethan said. “Isn’t this… Einrogard? The place where we train wizards?” Professor Ingardel added. No matter how much swordsmanship they taught here, they wouldn’t get knights.