Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 506

Ihan watched the dwarf magician hurry away quickly. He felt a wave of disappointment – he’d been pickpocketed again, or rather, “pocket-placed,” as the dwarf called it. But then, a thought flashed in his mind.

“Wait!” Ihan exclaimed. “Professor, we need to go, now!”

This wasn’t the time to be sad about a stolen coin. Something else was much more important.

“What’s going on?” Professor Volardi asked, puzzled.

Ihan quickly began to push Professor Volardi’s back, urging him forward. His training in Einrogard had taught him to anticipate the other transformation mages’ actions.

‘I need to get out of here!’ Ihan thought urgently.

“I have a question about magical combat!” Ihan said. “I can’t ask it here. I need to ask it somewhere outsiders can’t reach!”

The words ‘magical combat’ seemed to interest Professor Volardi, and he readily followed Ihan.

Ihan led him down a side staircase to avoid the outsiders. He could hear a confused buzz of voices following them.

“-Huh? I think they went this way…”

“-Wait. Why are you here? You didn’t seem like you were coming earlier!”

“-Haha, let’s not blame each other. We’re all in the same boat!”

“-Alright… I understand! Let’s talk together then!”

‘I’m so glad I learned magic to see the future,’ Ihan thought. He silently thanked Professor Krauer for his training, even though escaping the mad mages had nothing to do with seeing the future.

Meanwhile, back in the lecture hall, Gainando, who had brought his backpack for the black magic lecture, looked at Ihan’s face with a puzzled expression.

“Hey, Gral. Ihan looks a bit strange,” Gainando said.

“Wodanaiz was always strange,” Raphael replied, swatting away Gainando’s wand with irritation. “And don’t talk to me like we’re friends. And don’t poke me with your wand.”

Usually, students would respond to ‘Hey, don’t talk to me’ with anger. But Gainando simply ignored it and said whatever he wanted.

“You look tired?” Gainando asked.

“Of course, I’m tired,” Raphael said. “How could I not be tired when I’m learning magic like that?”

“No. You were usually fine with that much,” Gainando said.

Raphael stared at Gainando with a peculiar look, thinking, ‘Is this bloke even my friend?’ A friend should be concerned about his health, not comment on his usual stamina. It was hard to tell if Gainando’s words were genuine or just nonsense.

“Are you… alright?” Raphael asked.

“Huh? Oh. Transformation mages came from outside, so I had to greet them,” Ihan said.

“I see,” Raphael said, but he felt uneasy. He had never heard that transformation mages were coming from outside, and it was strange that Wodanaiz was greeting them. Besides, it wasn’t even the day for transformation magic lectures!

“Transformation mages came? Why are you greeting them?” Raphael asked.

Gainando looked at his friend with pity. “Don’t you know? When the summoning mages came last time, and when the black mages came, Ihan greeted them. It must be the same for the transformation mages.”

“…No… Wait… Hey! Hey!!” Raphael exclaimed, nearly clutching the back of his neck.

Gainando went on with his nonsense and entered the lecture hall, leaving Raphael speechless. That prince had a special talent for irritating people.

“Good day, Professor,” Ihan said.

“Cough. Yes. You’ve worked hard,” Professor Mortuum said, gesturing for Ihan to sit down. “I heard you were out resolving a request?” Professor Mortuum, a bit of a stereotypical coughing professor, seemed tired.

“Yes. Other professors were with me, so it wasn’t too difficult,” Ihan said smoothly. It was almost an instinctive response.

Since he didn’t know how the conversation among the professors would go in his absence, it was best to be cautious.

“It wasn’t difficult? Cough. You were lucky. It will be difficult in the future,” Professor Mortuum said.

His friends were fed up, but Ihan agreed with Professor Mortuum. ‘That’s considered warm and kind concern,’ Ihan thought.

Considering the difficulty of the request he had just completed, there was a possibility that by the time he was a second-year student, he would be sent out alone to hunt a dragon and bring back the change.

“Cough, cough… After all, requests from outside have to meet the standards of the employers who pay in silver, so they’re quite troublesome. And you are… well… black mages,” Professor Mortuum said.

His friends’ faces darkened. If there were any seniors present, they would have said, ‘Professor, please, we’ll find out anyway when we’re second-year students, please keep it to yourself,’ but Professor Mortuum simply told them the truth.

The difficulty of the requests that black mages received was higher than the requests received by mages from other schools. While enchantment magic school mages received requests like, ‘We would be grateful if you could fix our broken artifacts,’ black magic school mages were realistically receiving requests like, ‘A plague zone has broken out in the south, please send some black mages.’

“Well, if we make golems or summons well, wouldn’t there be demand?” Gainando asked, taking out a bone he had picked up from his backpack.

Ihan had definitely said this before. -Ihan, why do I have to study magic like bone armor enhancement? I don’t think people will ask for things like bone armor enhancement.

-Oh dear, Gainando. You don’t seem to know, but bone armor enhancement magic is all the rage among adventurers these days. Everyone is clamoring for it.

-What?! Really!? Then what about bone spear enhancement?

-That’s right. There are so few black mages that there’s even a shortage.

-Then what about skeleton-type summons or golems?! Are they popular too?

-That’s the most popular. I asked the nobles last time, and they said that there are few things that can show off themselves like a bone golem.

-I’ve never heard of that?

-Well, they’re embarrassed that they couldn’t get a bone golem, so they pretend they’re not interested.

-Aha!

“Cough. Ordinary people who don’t know magic wouldn’t be interested in such strange-looking summons. Only black mages use those golems or summons,” Professor Mortuum said.

Gainando’s face fell. He looked like his favorite toy had just broken. But Ihan ignored him as if he hadn’t heard.

“Don’t think about selling strange things, and develop your skills so you can handle any request. Cough. Everyone, take out your bones,” Professor Mortuum said.

The students took out their bones. They were currently practicing magic to further enhance the summons they had summoned from the undead realm.

“Cough. Wodanaiz, go over there and practice dark element,” Professor Mortuum said.

Ihan moved without surprise. ‘Well, I’ve already done undead enhancement several times,’ he thought. He had done it successfully several times, so there was no need to practice it again now.

“Professor, aren’t the seniors here today?” Gainando asked.

Professor Mortuum soothed his throat with hot tea and answered Gainando’s question. “They have to do their own studying… You should be able to do this much on your own.”

‘Indeed,’ Ihan thought. He understood. And this was good for Ihan in the long run.

Considering the lack of personnel in the black magic school, Ihan might have to take care of the first-year students even after becoming a second-year student.

‘You have to be able to do the magic you can do on your own. That’s right,’ Ihan thought.

Besides, since he had encountered Senior Dirett trying to gather information anonymously from beyond his notes last time, it seemed best to keep his distance for a while. People have shame, don’t they?

‘Unless he’s Headmaster Skull, he’ll be a little embarrassed,’ Ihan thought.

Following Professor Mortuum’s instructions, Ihan opened the side door and paused. In front of him, Dirett was wearing a mask.

“Professor? You said the seniors weren’t here?” Ihan asked.

“Cough. That was about bone magic… Would I make you practice dark element magic alone?” Professor Mortuum scolded Ihan with a voice mixed with annoyance.

For Wodanaiz, of all people, to ask such a foolish question, when he wasn’t even Gainando. If you were practicing dark element magic, there had to be a black mage watching you from the side.

“Oh, I see,” Ihan said.

“Hurry up and practice. I’ll be checking your dark element during the final exam,” Professor Mortuum said.

Gainando asked in surprise. “Us too?!”

“Cough. No. Only Wodanaiz additionally,” Professor Mortuum said.

“Phew. That’s a relief,” Gainando said.

Imirgue and Raphael looked at Gainando as if he were trash. Ihan turned his gaze to Dirett, who was wearing a mask.

“Um, Senior,” Ihan said.

“That’s not me?” Dirett replied.

“Yes?” Ihan asked, confused.

“I’m not a senior. I’m a stranger,” Dirett said.

Ihan turned his gaze to the crow-beastman mage he was seeing for the first time, who was wearing a mask.

“Yes… Black mage I’m meeting for the first time. I would like to ask for your guidance on dark element magic…” Ihan said.

“…Please take care of me…” Dirett replied.

The dark element lecture began in an awkward atmosphere.

The skills of the crow-beastman mage he was meeting for the first time were very impressive.

“Dark element is one of the most unique and varied elements,” Dirett said.

“That’s right,” Ihan replied.

“Therefore, you must be even more careful when handling it. It’s better to combine it with magic from other schools rather than using it alone. Transformation magic and enchantment magic are particularly good examples. Just temporarily imbuing dark element can…” Dirett explained the basics of dark element magic.

Even if Ihan was being taught directly by other professors or Headmaster Skull, neglecting these parts was not Dirett’s style.

“But, Senior,” Ihan said.

“Yes… Wait. I told you I’m not a senior,” Dirett replied.

“Yes… Black mage I’m meeting for the first time,” Ihan corrected himself. He pointed to the back and asked, “What is that?”

Behind the crow-beastman mage, there were large straw dolls standing. One would be understandable, but it was impossible not to be bothered by the eerily standing straw dolls that looked similar.

“Ah. Those are straw dolls for practice,” Dirett said.

“Are you releasing dark element into those dolls?” Ihan asked.

Since he had trained in basic elements in a similar way to Professor Volardi, it wasn’t very surprising. Of course, Professor Volardi had made them against living people instead of straw dolls, but there wasn’t much difference.

“It’s not releasing… it’s closer to imbuing… I’m making curse dolls,” Dirett said.

“Curse dolls… you say?” Ihan asked.

The crow-beastman mage, sensing an unusual feeling in Ihan’s voice, suddenly spoke faster and longer. “This isn’t for using in strange places. It’s originally a method often used when learning how to utilize dark element.”

Due to its nature, dark element was mainly used in indirect ways such as imbuing or transforming, rather than direct ways such as transforming or releasing. One of the most commonly used application magics was the dark curse doll.

Just by firmly imbuing dark element into a straw doll, this doll becomes a cursed item that sucks the life out of anyone who has it. Black mages who are skilled at this magic can make cursed items out of all sorts of things.

“Got it? It’s definitely not a strange magic or one that violates imperial law. Junior. Are you listening?” Dirett asked.

“Did you just say junior…” Ihan muttered.

“You misheard. Now, focus,” Dirett said.