Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 49

In the Empire, black magic was like a shadow in a bright room. It looked gloomy and strange, even scary.

Think of dusty old books, whispers in the dark, and the chill you feel when no one is there. The spells were about things people feared: curses that brought bad luck, waking the dead, and powers that felt cold and poisonous.

It’s easy to see why most people felt a shiver of worry when they heard the words ‘black magic’.

-Hello everyone in the village! I’m the new wizard sent to help you. I’m really good with elemental magic, especially fire!

-Wow! Fire magic! We’ll be warm all winter then!

-Umm… hello. I’m also a new wizard… sent here. My magic is… black magic…

-Excuse me? What kind of magic?

-Black magic. I… I specialize in raising the undead.

-…Wizards! Someone stop him going anywhere near the graveyard!

Just like most people, the new students felt uneasy about black magic.

Each of them had come to the school with big dreams, but they didn’t really want to learn black magic, which everyone seemed to hate.

However, Lee Han looked at the professor with interest.

‘A path no one else wants to take,’ Lee Han thought.

Even before school, black magic seemed interesting.

If other students stayed away, it meant less competition for him, right?

And just learning about black magic didn’t mean he had to become a scary black magician forever.

‘I can learn this and then try other things.’

He planned to study all kinds of magic anyway, so why be scared already?

Being a black magician for the Empire might not be so bad.

People might fear them, but because there were so few, they probably always had a job.

A job for life!

“I expected you to react like that,” Professor Garcia said, seeing the students’ faces.

“But, what people think about black magic isn’t always true. It’s actually full of secrets and important rules. You are all new wizards.

To find out what you are good at and what you want to do, you need to try different things. I hope you will be curious about black magic, like true wizards, and not just afraid of it because of what others say.”

Professor Garcia’s words were calm and made sense. The new students looked at him, feeling a little touched.

“Now, who will help Professor Mortoom teach black magic?”

……

……

Of course, that was that, and black magic was still black magic.

The students looked down to avoid Professor Garcia’s eyes.

“Lee Han! Duck down! Duck down!”

Gainan Do pulled Lee Han’s robes, his eyes wide.

“If you get mixed up with black magic, they say you can’t even die properly! You’ll become one of those undead things!”

Lee Han stared at Gainan Do, a little surprised.

“…Are you really a wizard? You sound like someone telling scary stories.”

“I will help you.”

!!

Lee Han raised his hand.

The students looked at Lee Han with surprise and respect.

They knew that the boy from the Wodanaz family was important in the Blue Dragon Tower.

But even so, he was offering to be a test subject for black magic.

Even the students of the Black Tortoise Tower, who had only been scared of Lee Han because of the Wodanaz family rumors, now looked at him differently.

“Lee Han!”

Professor Garcia looked at Lee Han, very happy.

Lee Han knew exactly what that look meant.

It was the worry you feel when you ask another professor to give a guest lecture, and the students just sit there quietly.

How desperate would you be to tell your students in advance, ‘Hey, someone raise their hand and ask a question’?

Professor Garcia couldn’t even imagine how grateful he was to Lee Han for volunteering.

“Cough, cough. Thank you. Come here.”

As Lee Han walked closer to Professor Mortoom, he understood why the room felt so cold.

Professor Mortoom stood still, but a strong magic was coming from him, like a cold wind.

It wasn’t just any magic, but a special kind called ‘yin magic.’

This magic felt cold, strange, and a little scary – like the feeling you get in a graveyard.

It was like a sign saying ‘black magic.’

Magic usually doesn’t have a color, but sometimes wizards need to change it to fit the spell they want to cast.

Black magic often needed this ‘yin’ change.

‘No wonder it’s not popular,’ Lee Han thought.

Even if people didn’t like the idea of black magic, Professor Mortoom was just letting this cold magic spread around, not caring about the students coming closer.

Even students who were curious might get scared and step back.

Some professors just weren’t good at making students *want* to learn from them.

“You have a lot of magic power.”

“Thank you.”

“Yes. Take your wand… I’ll show you first.”

Professor Mortoom coughed a few times and then waved his hand.

At that moment, the messy yin magic suddenly became organized.

“Arise, ye bone servants!”

With a chilling sound, bone creatures appeared in the air among the students.

They spun around in a strange dance. The students looked like they were about to faint.

Professor Mortoom looked at Lee Han and asked, sounding pleased.

“Cough… how is it? Is it okay?”

“Yes?”

“I made it because I thought the students would like it.”

“Hmm. It’s interesting.”

Lee Han didn’t tell the truth so the professor wouldn’t be sad. Professor Garcia looked grateful.

“Of course, I won’t ask you to do magic like this. Cough. It’s too difficult.”

It was obvious, but Lee Han was still grateful for the obvious statement.

Professor Voladi needed to hear this!

“First, let’s try changing your magic to the yin type.”

Lee Han brought out his magic power.

He already knew how to change magic types because he had changed it to light and water before.

Imagine it in your head, and focus on that image to color the magic power.

Pop!

“You’re quite good.”

Professor Mortoom was impressed by how easily Lee Han changed his magic.

“Thank you.”

“Change it more.”

Lee Han focused and kept changing his magic power.

‘No. Is he really that good?’

Professor Garcia, who was watching, felt a little worried.

He felt sorry for Professor Mortoom, but he didn’t want a student like Lee Han to choose a difficult path that no one else wanted, like black magic.

‘If he’s too good, that’s not good…’

Other wizards had more trouble than they expected when they tried to imagine the yin type of magic.

This yin type was a wider and more unclear idea than you might think.

Was it cold?

Ice magic was also cold.

Was it dark?

Darkness magic was also dark.

Because it included so many things, many wizards couldn’t understand it well.

But Lee Han thought simply.

‘Think of shadows, think of the coldest night, think of the opposite of warmth and light,’ Lee Han thought.

He had a special way of imagining things that other wizards didn’t.

He could think in a very open and different way.

Luckily, whatever image he used, it worked! His magic smoothly changed into the ‘yin’ type.

More and more.

And more and more.

And and more and more.

“…Professor?”

Lee Han felt something was wrong.

Saaah-

Even though it was daytime, the lecture hall became dark, and the temperature dropped even further, so his breath showed in the air.

But Professor Mortoom didn’t stop him and instead encouraged him with an interested look.

Professor Mortoom, who had been coughing weakly just moments before, suddenly straightened up. His eyes were wide and bright, and he wasn’t coughing at all. It was like seeing a different person entirely.

“How far can you go? Do more.”

“Professor Mortoom?”

Professor Garcia tried to stop him.

Of course, it was good to see Professor Mortoom so happy, but there were other students in the lecture hall.

A strange feeling was spreading in the lecture hall, and students with sensitive senses were even hearing things that weren’t real whispering.

Professor Garcia thought he had to stop it now.

‘Considering Lee Han’s magic power…’

If he changed as much as he wanted and could, he didn’t know what might happen.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Shouldn’t we stop?”

“Let’s change it a little more. I’m curious how much is possible.”

“You can check that in other situations.”

“But…”

“Stop.”

“Ah. I understand.”

When Professor Garcia became serious, Professor Mortoom gave up.

‘It’s a waste…’

Professor Mortoom looked at Lee Han with disappointment.

One of the most important things in black magic was the amount of yin magic power.

Of course, it mattered in other types of magic too, but if you had a lot of magic power in black magic, there were so many things you could do.

Undead summoning?

Magic power was important.

Curses?

Magic power was important.

The same was true for dark or poison magic…

So he was trying to see how far Lee Han could go, but Professor Garcia was stopping him.

‘Professor Garcia is so strict.’

“Professor.”

Lee Han called Professor Mortoom.

Because he had stopped changing his magic, a huge amount of magic power was slowly disappearing.

“Ah. I’m sorry. Just wave your wand like this and say the spell. Paralyze!”

Low-level paralysis curse.

It was a 1st circle black magic, one of the easiest black magics.

A curse that caused a weak paralysis, like a cramp in the arm or leg.

Everyone had felt a tingling in their arm or leg at some point.

So, it was easy to imagine, and the wand movements were also easy.

“Who are you talking to?”

“Of course, it’s me.”

Unlike other magic, curses needed an opponent.

Lee Han felt awkward.

Professor Mortoom looked so weak that he might fall over if the wind blew.

‘I wanted to cast a spell on the professor someday, but not like this?’

“Are you sure this is okay?”

Professor Mortoom looked a little impatient.

“Of course! Just get on with it.”

“Shouldn’t you… maybe use some protection magic?”

“Cough, cough… It’s just a spell to make your arm or leg a bit numb. What’s the worst that could happen?”

‘He’s right,’ Lee Han thought.

It was probably silly of him, a new student, to worry so much about a professor.

‘Better focus. Don’t want to look like I think I know better than him.’

Lee Han closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. Professor Mortoom just waved his hand, like saying, ‘Come on, quickly!’

Wizards usually had more magic power than others and knew how to control the magic power inside their bodies.

So, they were very resistant to magic attacks.

Even if they were hit by an attack, their magic power would protect them.

And Professor Mortoom, who had been using yin magic for almost his whole life, was even more resistant to yin magic.

A new student’s spell wouldn’t have any effect even if he didn’t defend himself.

‘Once he blocks it, he’ll see how deep and powerful this black magic is.’

Professor Mortoom thought Lee Han would be very impressed if his full-power magic was blocked.

-I didn’t know it would be so useless even though I did my best…! I didn’t know black magic was so great. I want to learn more!

-Cough, I won’t stop you if you want to learn.

It was a professor’s strange, hopeful thought that only someone a little crazy could have.

“Paralyze!”

Lee Han pointed his wand at Professor Mortoom and said the spell.

Then, the magic power exploded and rushed forward, covering Professor Mortoom.

!!!

Professor Mortoom was surprised by the much larger magic power than he had expected.

He quickly tried to resist, but the magic power had already covered his body and was wrapping around him, like he was suffocating.

Then, Professor Mortoom’s eyes widened. He tried to move, but his body went stiff as wood. He wobbled, then crashed backwards, falling heavily to the floor with a loud THUD!

“…Professor! Professor!”

Lee Han cried out, his heart leaping into his throat.

Oh no! Had he just become known as the ‘Professor Disaster’ on his very first day?