Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 514

“How in the world?!” Anglophone exclaimed, his quill clattering onto the wooden table in surprise. Ink splattered slightly on the parchment in front of him.

He stared at the bundle of enchanted papers. This strange artifact allowed anyone to write messages that appeared on every page, like a magical shared notebook. But the mystery was, you could never tell *who* was writing at any moment.

Anglophone quickly glanced around the busy lounge. Had someone seen him write? Was someone watching him *now*?

The lounge regulars were sitting around, arguing. “If we switch to Ironwood, the magic might be a bit less effective, but it will definitely improve in terms of power.”

“This armor is so uncomfortable; isn’t there a way to improve it?” another asked.

“Endure it. You need at least this much to withstand magic attacks,” came the reply.

“True. Thinking about Wodanaz, we might need to make it even thicker.”

The lounge regulars were sitting around, arguing about whose sword was better or trying to increase their combat power by creating new equipment. It was normal in the White Tiger Tower lounge that no one was studying.

Suddenly, a new message appeared on the enchanted paper: ‘There might be a spy.’

Anglophone decided to leave false information on the paper to test Wodanaz.

Almost immediately, a reply appeared: -I’m not Anglophone, you know?

-Yeah, you’re not Anglophone. Tell anyone around here planning to participate in the Saint Iactus Festival that I’ll break their legs. And, by the way, I’ll break your legs too.

Anglophone was horrified. How on earth?

-I don’t know what you’re talking about, Wodanaz. I’m not Anglophone, but it’s a pity that innocent Anglophone is being insulted.

-Alpha. It’s obvious who you are, so stop talking nonsense.

-You might as well just start by writing ‘Alpha’.

The two friends from the Black Tortoise Tower, Salco and Shiles, chided Anglophone.

-More importantly, Wodanaz, why are you stopping the Saint Iactus Festival? I don’t understand.

Ihan was speechless at Salco’s question. ‘What a madman,’ he thought.

Why would I stop it?

-That’s right, Wodanaz. I’m not Anglophone, but stopping the Saint Iactus Festival doesn’t make sense. It’s like a tyrant!

-Regardless of the respect you receive in our tower, if you block participation in the festival, there will be considerable dissatisfaction. Is there a reason?

Ihan resisted the urge to swear.

-I’m just treating the people who got hurt participating in the festival.

Suddenly, all the other friends fell silent.

“Junior, let’s head out,” one of the seniors said.

“Yes?” Ihan replied.

Ihan put the bundle of papers in his pocket and turned his head. The seniors were packing potions and various equipment into chests, getting ready to leave.

“Where are you going?” Ihan asked.

“Huh? To the festival grounds. The festival fever is starting to rise, you know? It’s easier to wait nearby.”

Ihan barely stopped himself from saying something. It wasn’t the seniors’ fault. It was the fault of the other students, who were throwing stones at each other like madmen.

‘More importantly, the festival fever hasn’t risen yet?’ He couldn’t even guess how things would escalate once the fever really kicked in.

“It’s a stone giant!” someone shouted.

“Ram it into the fortress!” another voice yelled.

Ihan felt dizzy watching the seniors wage a siege battle on the plain. In the short time it took him to leave the healing room and descend the main building’s stairs, the seniors had built a fortress on the plain and created a giant to attack it. The seniors were in high spirits, using the open plain to practice their siege magic before the festival crowds arrived.

Boom!

The rock-made giant moved its massive body and rammed into the fortress. The fortress, also made of stone, shook as if it would collapse at any moment, but quickly regained its balance. Powerful magic maintained the adhesion, holding the stones together.

“Fire! Stone giant, fire stones!” a senior yelled.

“Fortress, start firing too!” another commanded.

A surreal scene unfolded before their eyes, with the giant and the fortress firing stones at each other, smashing everything around them. The healing magic seniors didn’t care and set up a tent, hanging the school’s flag.

Whoosh-

A half-shattered piece of rock flew towards the tent. They were fighting so fiercely that they probably didn’t even realize a stone had bounced over here.

“I’ll take care of it,” one senior said.

“Alright,” another replied.

The seniors, used to this, weren’t surprised. One of them stepped forward and waved his staff, causing vines to spring up from the ground and grab the stone.

“Who is it?”

“That one. Blue Dragon Tower. Short hair, hooked nose.”

“Got him.”

The healing magic seniors immediately retaliated. The student who had accidentally thrown the stone this way turned pale, coughed, grabbed his neck, and collapsed.

“What’s wrong all of a sudden?!”

“Ah, you idiot! How could you attack the healing mages! Get him over there!”

The fallen student’s comrades quickly picked up their friend and ran over.

Plop!

“Sorry about that!”

“Just don’t kill him!”

The students, having dumped their pale-faced friend on the ground, apologized lightly and ran back to rejoin the festival.

“Let’s leave him for a bit and then release the airway blockage.”

“Okay.”

The junior from the Wodanaz family, who had been watching from the side, stood silently, and the healing magic seniors realized their mistake. Originally, showing force in these festival situations was almost mandatory. Otherwise, the idiots caught up in the festival fever might even attack the healing mages. But that was just the healing mages’ situation; to a junior who didn’t know any better, it could be a very shocking and terrifying scene. Why would healing mages, gathered for the noble purpose of healing people, launch a preemptive strike?

“Um, Junior, well, you see. This might look a little strange, but…” a senior began.

“Seniors, I have a question,” Ihan interrupted.

“Oh? What is it?”

“The magic you just used, can’t you use it on all the other students too? If you knock them all down, the festival would…”

For a moment, the seniors felt themselves wavering slightly at the junior’s suggestion.

“Ah, no. It’s a waste of mana.”

“I see…” Ihan replied, feeling a pang of regret. To think he couldn’t attack these people because of mana. He had never felt so disappointed that his skills were insufficient to share his mana.

“H-Help me, everyone!” a student cried.

“Damn it, my hand’s turning to stone!” another shouted.

“Get this stone off me!”

As the injured began to flood in, there was no time for conversation.

Also, the injuries were much worse than before.

It wasn’t just simple fractures; some had stones stuck to their bodies (apparently someone had cast a transformation spell on the stones), others had spells backfire on them (one senior had his entire waist turned to stone). It was a strange mix of patients demonstrating the various side effects of failed magic.

Lee Han looked pale and sick as he helped treat them.

Even if complex magical treatments were beyond him, he could assist once the senior healers had finished the emergency care.

That alone was a great help to them.

“Why did this bloke try to merge with an earth spirit?!”

“Are injuries like this common?”

“The higher the year, the more bizarre the injuries become.”

Phil poured a potion to undo petrification, exclaiming.

Surprisingly, the more skilled a wizard became, the higher the chance of them getting seriously injured.

If their magical skill was low, even if they failed, the power wouldn’t be enough to cause significant harm. But once they reached a certain level, they could kill themselves with the flick of a finger.

“Learning magic to use it in a place like this! Don’t you think so?!”

“Yeah, they’re awful people.”

A student lying down groaned at Phil and Lee Han’s conversation.

“To win… at the festival… there’s no choice…”

“That senior doesn’t seem to be in pain. Should we stop giving him anesthetic potions?”

At Lee Han’s words, the senior healing mages looked at him as if he were a marvel.

He was only a first-year, yet he knew how to handle patients so well.

Rumble!

Lee Han was the first to turn his head at the change in magical energy felt in the sky.

Then, some of the students in the area turned their heads, and soon almost everyone had turned.

Magical energies collided and clashed, creating fissures in space, and a cluster of lights reminiscent of white light appeared.

Sensing an ominousness that anyone could see, Lee Han asked,

“Is someone summoning that to throw stones too?”

“Uh… no.”

“That’s… what happens when you use too much magic.”

The senior healing mages said with worried voices.

Magic, by its very nature, distorts the natural order, so it was never a good thing for different spells to be cast disorderly in one space.

It caused dimensional rifts due to magical collisions, just like now.

“Cease battle! Cease battle!”

“Stop the festival for a moment and stop anyone who comes out of there!”

“Stop throwing stones!”

“I was winning! This should be recognized as my victory!”

“Stop talking nonsense and stand by! If we fail to stop it by accident, we’re all going to the punishment room!”

The students stopped the magic they were using on the stone giants and fortresses and gathered in groups of three or five to stare at the dimensional rift.

If they accidentally summoned a monster from another dimension while enjoying the festival and missed it, they didn’t even want to imagine what would happen next.

Perhaps an unprecedented large-scale punishment room sentence might be in store…

“Is Wardanaz here?!”

The cohort of the Dark Magic Department ran over, startling the senior healing mages.

“Cohort Senior! What’s happening?”

“Oh. I heard that a junior from our department is here…”

Looking around, Cohort was pleased when he met Lee Han’s eyes.

“You really were here!”

“How did you know?”

“Earlier, someone from our department said a first-year was helping here, but everyone laughed and said it was impossible. I didn’t believe them, but I had to see for myself.”

Lee Han felt a little sorry that the senior he didn’t know had been cursed at.

“Wardanaz. Can I ask you a favor? Can you come with me for a moment? I need your help.”

“Wait. What are you talking about?”

“Cohort. What do you think you’re doing with a student from another department? Even if you’re friends.”

Basically, the friendship between students of the same department was strong.

Especially in departments like healing magic, which are hard work, and they don’t have many people.

As such, they would never easily allow a junior to be borrowed by another department.

However, Cohort also had something to say.

“He’s also from the Dark Magic Department.”

“…!”

“Ah!”

The healing magic students were surprised, and Cohort frowned.

“Hey. You guys…”

“Ah, no. We knew.”

“We knew, Senior.”

The healing magic students, feeling sorry for the treatment the Dark Magic Department usually received, changed their words.

“If the junior is okay with it, we’re okay with it too. But why are you taking him?”

“Uh…”

Cohort hesitated and muttered softly.

“To borrow some magic power…”

“What?”

“To borrow some magic power…”

Clack!

All the healing magic students in the area drew their wands and pointed them at Cohort with a serious expression.

Cohort had to beg and persuade desperately, almost kneeling.

Of course, he couldn’t stop them from looking at him with trash-like eyes.

‘What a piece of trash. He’s not a senior anymore.’

‘Even if the junior has a lot of magic power, how can he call a junior because he doesn’t have his own?’

‘Exploiting the junior’s kindness. It’s not dark magic that’s evil. It’s that guy’s heart that’s evil.’

“…Let’s go quickly.”

Cohort felt terrible because everyone was staring angrily at him.

He might have been buried there if Lee Han hadn’t helped.

“Is it that urgent?”

“From what’s being summoned now, I think we need to prepare in advance to stop it.”

The reason Cohort was trying to borrow the hand, no, even the magic power of a first-year junior, was because the situation was that urgent.

They had to be strongly prepared as something ominous seemed about to pop out of the dimensional rift.

“I have an old magical object from a friend. It helps with undead creatures here, which are strong. But the problem is that it hasn’t been charged with magic power usually, so right now…”

“Is that what I need to do?”

“…Yes.”

Cohort couldn’t meet Lee Han’s eyes, perhaps feeling sorry. But Lee Han didn’t care much and said,

“I’ll go and charge it. Don’t worry.”

“Junior…!!”

Cohort looked at Lee Han, Cohort was very grateful.

How on earth did a junior like this end up in the Dark Magic Department?

“Ah. Right. That…”

“?”

“Could you keep today’s events a secret from Diret?”

“……”

“I, I think I’ll become an undead if I get caught…”