Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 509

Ethan felt a strange distance growing between himself and Dirette. He called out to his senior again, his voice a little louder this time.

“Senior?”

Dirette turned, a surprised look on his face. “I… I didn’t know you were practicing Bone Explosion magic,” he said, his voice quiet.

Black mages who use bone magic are very strong in big fights. They can make undead stronger, attack, and defend.

Bone Explosion is a powerful ability, so enemies try to defeat those mages first.

When it explodes correctly, it can destroy a lot.

But it also has some problems.

Bone Explosion magic uses a lot of mana and is hard to control.

If you use it too close, it can hurt the mage. Using it from far away is even harder because it’s difficult to control magic over long distances.

The best way is to use Bone Explosion on undead summons, but even they don’t like blowing themselves up.

But Ethan could do it because of ancient necromancy and a lot of mana.

He protected himself with a water shield and exploded the undead. Even experienced black mages can’t do that easily.

…But was it really necessary to practice such dangerous magic in the first year???

“Ah. Professor Mortum told me to practice Bone Explosion.”

“Hmm… Professor Mortum told you to practice Bone Explosion?”

Dirette thought, *Professor Mortum meant practice in the training room, not in a dangerous dungeon!* But he didn’t want to criticize Ethan directly.

“Bone Explosion is the magic that causes the most accidents. Since you’re using dark magic with it, you need to be extra careful.”

“Yes. I’ll always keep at least one shield up and only explode summons from far away.”

Dirette felt his undead summons trembling in fear through their connection and quickly reassured them, “I have no intention of making you self-destruct like that, so rest assured.”

“So, do you want to try using poison magic with it?”

“Yes.”

Using dark magic is unusual. Bone magic is usually used with other elements.

Poison is the most common element to use with it.

Bone magic with poison is very strong and deadly.

“That’s normal. You might not have many poisons now, but it’s good to practice.”

Dirette forgot what he was thinking and started talking about magic again.

“But to use poison magic, remember a few things. The Bone Explosion needs to be weaker… Try making it weaker. No. You need to make it weaker. Again! Why can’t you make it weaker? That’s the easiest part!”

Dirette and Ethan finished in the wooden mannequin dungeon and went back to the Black Abyss Hall.

Professor Mortum was putting together a flesh golem after his lecture. He saw Dirette and asked,

“Cough. You’re back late. Was there a problem in the Vampire Weasel Dungeon?”

“Ah. No. We went to the wooden mannequin dungeon to practice necromancy with dark magic.”

“…?”

Professor Mortum thought for a moment, then asked, sounding confused, “Cough. I only asked you to help him with a cursed doll. Why did you take him to the mannequin dungeon and teach him advanced magic like Bone Explosion? Did Ethan do something to upset you?”

“Yes? No! What… uh?”

Dirette was surprised. He tried to deny it, but then he thought about it.

Uh…

Uh-oh??

*Wait a minute… why *did* I do that?*”

Gainando was happy to see Ethan in a good mood for once.

Usually, Ethan would be tired and say, ‘I wish Einrogaard and the professors would disappear into the lake,’ which surprised Gainando. But today, Ethan was smiling as he stirred the pot.

“Is something going on today?”

“Ah. Gainando. I was able to control several undead.”

“……”

Gainando frowned and looked at Ethan. He didn’t expect Ethan to be so happy about controlling undead.

“Isn’t controlling undead not that joyful…”

“Gainando. Do you know what it means for a black mage to control several undead?”

Other mages need guards, but black mages who can summon undead can go alone.

That means they can take jobs and keep all the rewards without sharing.

“Eh… but it’s lonely.”

“Gainando. Magic is a lonely path anyway.”

“And the professor said that if a black mage goes around with several undead alone, they’ll get reported.”

“……”

Ethan stopped. Gainando had hit a nerve.

That was actually a good point.

*I’ll have to summon them inside the dungeon when I’m outside.*

Inside Einrogaard, people would think, ‘Oh, he must be a student from the Black Magic School.’ But outside, they would probably scream, ‘Kyaaah! Guards! Guards!!’

“Then, will you give me a chocolate?”

“No. Don’t eat snacks before dinner.”

Ethan said firmly. Gainando grumbled and sat at the table.

Students were gathering at the long wooden table in front of the Phoenix Tower.

There were priests from the Phoenix Tower, friends from the Blue Dragon Tower, and even some students from the Black Tortoise Tower and the White Tiger Tower…?

“Why are you guys here?”

Ethan asked, confused.

They had eaten together during the flood, but the flood was over, so why?

“Huff. Wodanaz.”

“?”

A student from the White Tiger Tower frowned and came closer.

He gave Ethan a rare Radiant Spirit Ink as a bribe.

“Please take care of us.”

“…S, sure.”

The students from the White Tiger Tower winked and sat down. Ethan was confused, but he put the bribe in his pocket.

*What are those guys doing?*

“Wodanaz. Please take care of us too.”

“No. You can eat at your own tower. Today’s meal isn’t special.”

“It tastes bad…”

“……”

The students from the Black Tortoise Tower sounded very sincere.

Even Ethan, who was usually cold, couldn’t say no.

“O… okay. Sit down.”

He wasn’t lying. Tonight’s dinner was simple.

It was just a stew with vegetables and chicken, buttered toast, bird skewers, and rice balls…

Slurp slurp!

“Hey. Someone tell the White Tiger Tower.”

“I’ll go.”

The students from the Blue Dragon Tower were shocked to see the White Tiger Tower students eating so much and so quickly.

Lee Han focused on his dinner. He had a lot of work to do later.

“Hey! Hey!”

“Yes? Nilia.”

Just a moment ago, Nilia was happily eating a grilled bird skewer with her hands, like everyone else. But now, she was using a knife and fork, carefully cutting the meat. Lee Han was surprised.

“Why are you using a knife and fork?” he asked. “I thought we were all eating with our hands.”

Nilia looked at him blankly. “What are you talking about? I always eat like this,” she said, acting as if she didn’t understand.

“But you were just eating with your hands…”

“Never mind that for now. Did you hear the rumor?”

“What rumor?”

“The professor is preparing a dimensional gate, so we can become partners with even stronger summons than before.”

“!”

It was welcome news.

Even though the Empire gathered the best students, the first-year students still had weaknesses.

The best way to fix those weaknesses was, of course, with summons.

“That’s good. If I can become partners with a stronger undead…”

“Oh? No… I heard it was about spirits…”

Nilia said hesitantly.

The rumor was that Professor Milrei was preparing to connect to a new spirit realm for the first-year students taking summoning magic, but she had never heard of the undead realm.

“They’re not opening the undead realm?”

“I think I only heard about spirits.”

Nilia cautiously watched Lee Han’s reaction.

“They’ll open the undead realm too. They opened it last time, didn’t they?”

“Y-yes! Of course!”

Nilia agreed quickly, hoping very much that Professor Milrei would open the undead realm too!

“I have recently discovered a suitable spirit realm for us to access. After careful examination, it appears sufficiently safe for student exploration.”

Professor Milrei said, looking around at the students with an unwavering, upright posture.

Lee Han raised his hand and asked.

“Professor, may I ask a question?”

“What is your question?”

“What about the undead realm, perhaps?”

“There will be no undead realm on this occasion.”

“……”

Disappointment clouded Lee Han’s face. Nilia, who was next to him, fidgeted and whispered.

“You don’t necessarily have to become partners with an undead, do you? You can become partners with a spirit!”

“Yeah, well… That’s like saying I’ll find a treasure chest full of gold on the street and become the richest person in the Empire. It’s not likely.”

“……”

While Nilia was speechless, Professor Milrei looked at Lee Han and said.

“Lee Han, it’s wrong to think too quickly that you can’t make a deal with a spirit. It’s true that spirits usually avoid people with strong magic. But some spirits are different.”

Lee Han, slightly cheered by the professor’s words, asked again.

“Then, if I don’t give up and keep searching the spirit realm, can I find a decent spirit?”

“Sometimes, it’s important to know when to stop trying. Lee Han, you need to understand when to give up, even if you can’t find a spirit you like.”

“……”

“……”

Lee Han looked back at Nilia at Professor Milrei’s honest truth. Nilia quickly put her head down on the desk and pretended to read a book.

“The following are the spirits that can be found in the spirit realm…”

One by one, the students who were ready went through the magic circle into the spirit realm. Then it was Lee Han’s turn.

Nilia, who was behind him, asked cautiously.

“Shall we go in together?”

“No. If we go together, maybe neither of us will find a spirit.”

“……”

Nilia was actually worried about that too, so she couldn’t refute it right away.

‘She was secretly worried that I might accept while asking!’

He could see Nilia’s worried face. She was asking him to go together, but she was also afraid he would say yes!

“I’ll go in first. See you later.”

Lee Han stopped bothering Nilia and stepped towards the magic circle.

It was disappointing that this lesson didn’t go well. But he knew he couldn’t do perfectly in every lesson.

Of course, he would need to study harder in other lessons to make up for this one. But Lee Han accepted it.

‘I should just relax and explore today,’ he thought.

Pop!

He felt like he was floating, like his body was being pulled to a different place.

The air changed instantly, filling his nose with the sharp, salty smell of the sea, like standing right at the ocean’s edge. He could almost taste the salt on his lips. It was like being dropped alone on a deserted island – just water and sky all around, with no land in sight.

‘Sea, water, or a marine-type monster?’

The environment was the primary clue given to wizards trying to negotiate with beings from other realms.

Smart and experienced summoning wizards could even guess the spirit’s name just by looking at the environment.

Splash!

A spirit that looked like a dolphin poked its head out of the water in the distance.

Lee Han carefully greeted.

“Hello. Dolphin Teacher?”

The dolphin went under the surface instead of answering and did not come out again.

“……”

Lee Han felt disappointed.

‘Should I just try to catch it by force?’ he wondered. He knew it was dangerous and foolish to fight spirits in their realm. But it seemed better than just talking to nothing…

Faaat-

“?”

The pattern Lee Han had received from Upinum after he helped stop the spirit flood that had threatened their world began to shine.

At the same time, the sea in front of him parted to both sides like the tide receding, revealing a path on the seabed.

It was like a signal to come in.

‘The spirit is thanking me!’

Lee Han felt a rush of excitement. Even small creatures repay kindness, so a great spirit like Upinum must be even more grateful!

Professor Milrei, sitting in her chair, frowned when she saw the magic circle changing.

The magic circle was supposed to protect the students with its magic. So, any change in it was worrying.

‘What is it?’

Checking the magic circle, she saw that one of the students was going outside the safe zone protected by the circle, into the dangerous outer area.

‘It’s Lee Han.’

Professor Milrei immediately suspected who it was, even before she could clearly see which student was causing the problem.