Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 508

Dirette watched Lee Han, her junior, his brow furrowed in concentration. He’d been working for hours on those strange cursed dolls, and she could practically see the magical energy draining from him, even if it wasn’t quite like normal mana exhaustion. Magic always took its toll, demanding focus like a tightrope walker needed balance.

But Dirette hesitated to interrupt. Lee Han was now pulling out a bone fragment from his pouch, turning it over in his fingers with such intense focus, like it held the secrets of the universe. *Was she being silly, worrying so much?* she wondered, watching him hum softly as he prepared his materials. *Maybe geniuses just worked differently. Who was she to tell him to slow down?*

“Right,” she murmured to herself, “best to let him be.”

“Senior,” Lee Han said, holding up a small bone. “I’m trying to push dark magic into this bone fragment.”

Dirette frowned. “That’s tricky to do without proper tools. I could get you a compression charm from the workshop…”

“Like this?” Lee Han interrupted, holding his palm open.

Dirette’s eyes widened. The bone in his hand now pulsed with a faint, dark light, like shadows trapped inside. He’d done it already, just like that.

Watching Lee Han breeze through tasks that usually took days in the magic tower, a strange thought crept into Dirette’s mind. *Was Lee Han somehow making the professors even crazier?* Einroguard’s teachers were already famously eccentric, but Lee Han’s relentless progress felt like adding fuel to a bonfire. *If he’s this good, they’ll just push him harder,* she thought with a sigh. *Madness.* Dirette shook her head, trying to clear these strange ideas. It wasn’t Lee Han’s fault the professors were… enthusiastic. A normal person would see someone working this hard and say, “Enough! Take a break!” Not these professors. They’d probably just give him *more* work.

*Crackle-snap!* The air filled with the sound of bone grinding on bone. Dirette’s resolve, so firm just moments ago, began to crumble like old parchment. She stared as Lee Han, with a flick of his wrist and a muttered word, conjured not one, not two, but *ten* skeleton warriors. They rose from the ground in a flurry of dust and bone fragments, their empty eye sockets glowing with a faint, unsettling darkness.

Summoning skeletons with dark magic wasn’t fundamentally different from summoning ordinary ones. The trick was controlling the dark magic as you called them forth. For most necromancers, the skeletons were pulled from some shadowy place, the undead realm. But Lee Han was learning an older, harder way – ancient necromancy. He was making them from nothing, from bone and magic alone. It was harder, but not too hard for him, it seemed. He’d summoned skeletons plenty of times before. *Wait… are they flickering?* Lee Han noticed the dark energy around the bones wavering, like black flames about to go out. He quickly focused, pouring more of his own magic into them, steadying the flow. Dark magic was dangerous if it got out of control, but Lee Han was always quick to react. *Good,* he thought, looking at the ten skeletons now glowing with a steady, dark aura. *No need to call on… that one… today.* He was pleased.

These weren’t just ordinary skeletons. The dark magic clinging to them was like a poison, draining life from anything it touched. Normal skeletons were weak against skilled fighters, but these… these were different. Anyone who didn’t know how to defend against dark magic would be in serious trouble. *Summoning worked. Good.* Lee Han thought, watching his dark creations. *Now for the next step.* He raised his staff, ready to break them apart and rebuild them into something stronger. Most necromancers wouldn’t dare to treat summoned undead like this – they’d risk a skeletal revolt! But ancient necromancy was different. He could reshape these beings as he wished. He still couldn’t control ten skeletons at once perfectly. But one, powerful skeleton… that was a different story.

*Rustle!* Before Lee Han could even swing his staff, one of the skeletons shifted, its bony hand twitching. “Huh?” Lee Han froze, staff in mid-air. *Was that… movement?* He moved his staff again, a small gesture, and this time, all ten skeletons turned their empty gazes towards him, their bone joints clicking softly.

“Senior!” Lee Han exclaimed, eyes wide. “They’re moving! I can control them!”

Dirette blinked. “Well… yes? Skeletons usually do move, Lee Han.” She looked at him, a slight frown creasing her brow. It was like watching a prodigy inventor suddenly discover that fire was hot.

“But… I couldn’t control them before!” Lee Han insisted.

“*You* couldn’t?” Dirette’s eyebrows shot up.

Lee Han suddenly looked a bit sheepish. “Right, well, I was… focusing on other things. I was going to get to this, really! Soon!”

Dirette just stared at him for a moment, then a small smile touched her lips. “Lee Han,” she said gently, “these aren’t ordinary skeletons. You made them with ancient magic, and you made ten of them at once. Most mages would be thrilled just to keep them standing, let alone control them. You probably just have so much magic flowing through you, you didn’t even notice you were adapting.”

“It’s probably the dark magic,” Dirette explained, tapping a skeleton’s arm with her staff. The bone clattered softly. “It makes the connection stronger, more… direct.” She looked thoughtfully at Lee Han. “And you’ve been practicing non-stop, haven’t you? All those skeletons you’ve been summoning – you’re learning faster than you realize.”

“Yes,” Lee Han said, a little too quickly. “I used skeleton warriors to fight the Ghoul King when I was shipwrecked. Last time.”

Dirette blinked. “…Uh-huh,” she said slowly, trying not to laugh. She raised an eyebrow, looking at Lee Han. *Skeleton warriors and the Ghoul King? Really?* she thought. She bit back a smile.

*Is that even possible?* she wondered. *Or allowed?*

“Senior. Now that I can move, I want to practice a little more.”

“Okay. I understand. It’s a bit difficult here, so let’s move to another place.”

Dirette led the way to a place where Lee Han could use skeleton warriors.

‘To test the skeleton warriors… Dark elements are involved, so I have to consider that too. Wait. There are many of them, so I have to keep that in mind. The charnel house dungeon is too low in difficulty. Towards the warehouse? Is that too easy?’

While moving, Dirette didn’t realize she was falling into the same trap as the professors she often criticized.

When she talked to Lee Han, she unknowingly raised the difficulty, as if she was hypnotized.

Whoosh!

‘What is it?’

Lee Han was puzzled as he blocked an arrow with a water shield.

Suddenly, the dungeon’s difficulty increased a lot.

The first dungeon was for testing basic dark element curse dolls, and this one was for testing dark element skeleton warriors.

So, it was natural for the difficulty to increase…

However, the difference between the Vampire Weasel Dungeon and the Wooden Man Dungeon was huge.

As soon as the dungeon door opened, wooden soldiers rushed out. They attacked together, like a machine working perfectly.

The wooden soldiers in front raised their shields, the ones in the middle charged with long spears, and the ones in the back fired crossbows.

A typical wizard would have been caught off guard, but Lee Han had already cast enhancement spells before entering.

Lee Han had used spells to make himself faster and more aware of his surroundings. These spells, along with another spell that warned him of danger, made him react as quickly as a master swordsman.

Overall, his physical abilities were enhanced.

There was also the Space Perception magic that detected enemy attacks.

Because of that, Baegreg’s Instant Premonition, which had become more accurate, warned him of the future. Lee Han ran to the side, moving out of the attack range.

“Skeleton warriors forward! Shields, unfold!”

Lee Han spread a huge water shield in the air to strengthen the defense and advanced the dark element-enhanced skeleton warriors.

‘They’re moving properly!’

Honestly, seeing the skeleton warriors advancing slowly but heavily in formation was touching.

Seeing the skeleton warriors work made Lee Han feel happy. All the times his magic had failed before now seemed worth it.

Thud!

The wooden soldiers were made with strong magic, and they were stronger than the skeleton warriors when they collided.

Even with shields, the skeleton warriors were slowly being pushed back.

However…

“Hold on!”

Lee Han had something to believe in.

As expected, the wooden soldiers who touched the dark element began to slow down and lose strength.

If it was a long battle, Lee Han would win.

Lee Han, who had endured and defeated his opponent, sighed in relief and looked at Dirette.

“Senior?”

Dirette thought, ‘Oh no, did I make a mistake bringing him here? Is this dungeon too hard?’ She was surprised by Lee Han’s question and answered…

“Huh?”

“Thank you. But is this a dungeon of the Black Magic School?”

“You noticed quickly. This is a dungeon managed by the Enchantment Magic School.”

“Ah. No wonder.”

It was difficult magic to keep those wooden soldiers working.

It made sense that the Enchantment Magic School managed it.

“Senior, are you also friends with the Enchantment Magic School?”

“No. They don’t socialize well.”

“Then how? Ah.”

“Do you understand?”

“Did we sneak in here?”

Lee Han looked like he understood.

Dirette was surprised and paused before answering.

“…I told Professor Verdus and came in. You’re taking Enchantment Magic too.”

“Ah.”

Lee Han was a little embarrassed.

“I think I’ve checked it. Should we go back?”

“Can I check it a little more?”

“More here?”

Dirette shook her wings, puzzled.

She didn’t understand why he wanted to check more when he had already checked the command by advancing and retreating the skeleton warriors.

Magic power too…

‘No. Magic power will be fine.’

Was he trying to check bone-type weapons or how to use them?

“Can you do more?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Then.”

As soon as Dirette said it was okay, Lee Han led the undead inside.

And a loud noise erupted.

Bang!!!!

“…?!?!!!”

While Dirette stared in shock, Lee Han didn’t even blink. He advanced the remaining skeleton warriors towards the wooden soldiers that had been shattered by the bone explosion.

‘If an explosion of this power happens, I can withstand it with a shield.’

One skeleton warrior was destroyed, but it was worth it. The explosion, mixed with dark elements, slowed down the wooden soldiers even more.

“Senior. I’m also trying to combine poison elements, but would you give me some guidance… Senior? Senior??”