Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 517

For a moment, Lee Han’s aura blazed like a hot fire, making the air around him shimmer.

However, Phil blinked, his confusion fading as he watched Lee Han. ‘No,’ he murmured, ‘He’s not just angry! It’s something else entirely…!’

Just as Phil spoke, Lee Han quickly dealt with the ice sprites still grabbing at him. Then, with a roar, he attacked back.

The ice sprites rushing from behind seemed surprised by Lee Han’s sudden power. They quickly lined up, like soldiers forming a wall, trying to stop him.

Long spears of ice shot out, blocking the path like a thick, tangled forest. These weren’t just normal ice spears. They glowed with a cold magic that made the air itself feel freezing, making it dangerous to get close.

‘What do we do now?’ Lee Han asked Anpuresas. He knew they couldn’t just run straight at the ice spears. It was like trying to attack a hedgehog covered in spikes. They needed a plan to break through the defense before attacking.

Lee Han thought Anpuresas was noisy and annoying, but he knew the demon was a very good warrior with lots of experience. Lee Han was actually interested to see what Anpuresas would do next.

Crack!

‘…’ Just like the skilled warrior he was, Anpuresas didn’t hesitate. He charged straight forward.

He let out his aura in a powerful wave, slicing through the ice spears again and again, making a path. Then, he jumped into the middle of the ice sprites, fighting them up close. At first, the ice sprites stood strong, but they couldn’t handle Anpuresas’s powerful attacks and his aura. They started to fall apart.

‘I really shouldn’t call that demon from the bracelet again…’ Lee Han thought, shaking his head. Anpuresas was so reckless! He was wasting his magic and hurting himself! ‘He really is a demon,’ Lee Han muttered.

Thwack! The Morning Star, glowing with aura, hit an ice sprite. Half of the sprite disappeared in a flash. It wasn’t just the aura’s power. The Morning Star was also sucking away the ice sprite’s magic, making it weaker.

Lee Han watched, surprised. Then he had a question. ‘Wait,’ he called out, ‘How did you get aura on the Morning Star?’

Anpuresas didn’t answer. He just kept fighting, muttering like he was in a trance. ‘-Give me the next enemy, and the next, and more!’

‘…’ Lee Han made a promise to himself again: never summon Anpuresas again. Then, he looked closely at the Morning Star. The aura on it wasn’t steady. It kept flashing on and off, changing shape.

Lee Han understood what was happening and was shocked. ‘No…!’ He remembered the Morning Star was a sword that took in magic. Aura was magic too, so it would absorb aura as well. But Anpuresas was constantly adding more magic to the aura, even as the sword was taking it in.

It was a simple, forceful idea: if he put in more magic than the sword could take, the aura would stay there. Lee Han watched and thought, ‘I could try that later.’ Anpuresas might be crazy, but he was definitely a good fighter.

* * * * * Bang! The fight continued, and quickly, more than half of the ice sprites were gone.

Lee Han moved like a cannonball, so fast he was like a streak of lightning. Icicles shot by the ice sprites slammed into the ground where Lee Han had just been standing.

With a loud rip, like cloth tearing, one of the icicles flew back the way it came. Lee Han had caught it and thrown it back hard, smashing into three ice sprites and destroying them.

‘What?!’ Balpaltan, a third-year student from the Moradi family, was in the middle of a sword fight with a penguin swordsman. He stopped, surprised by what he saw happening nearby.

Even in Einroguard, a school for strong fighters, and especially in the North, a swordsman as good as Lee Han was very rare.

Screeeech- An ice sprite tried to block an attack with a thick ice shield. But then, Lee Han’s aura suddenly burst out, like a small explosion. The ice sprites around were thrown back by the force.

Just making aura appear at all was very hard. But this swordsman was using all kinds of special moves with his aura, which was fully formed and strong. Only a swordsman who was very skilled could do that.

Crack! Balpaltan was also amazed by Lee Han’s sword skills. He thought, ‘If the aura is like a beautiful flower in full bloom, then his swordsmanship is like the strong stem and roots that hold it up.’ Any swordsman would see how good his sword skills were.

Lee Han’s swordsmanship was powerful and forceful. It pushed back against everything around him, completely destroying and breaking apart the ice sprites.

“Was there someone like that?”

“What is he?”

“A first-year… wasn’t he? Just now, a first-year…”

“You must have seen wrong. Or maybe it’s one of the Headmaster’s henchmen disguised as a first-year.”

Balpaltan listened to his friends talking next to him and tilted his head, thinking. ‘That face…’ he thought, ‘It looks familiar.’

‘He’s become stronger!’ The Frost Giant King thought, impressed. ‘Mortals are always surprising. They get so much stronger so quickly, even in a short time.’

But even knowing mortals were quick to improve, this mortal in front of him was amazing. ‘How can he be this strong?’ the Frost Giant King wondered. Watching Lee Han fight his way through the ice sprite army, charging ahead, he looked like a warrior who had fought in hundreds of battles. It would be hard to find a warrior like him even in other worlds.

‘Give me your head!’ Lee Han shouted. ‘What fighting spirit!’ the Frost Giant King thought, actually pleased by Lee Han’s angry words. ‘A warrior who has become this strong has the right to say such things.’

‘You will fight him,’ the Frost Giant King commanded. ‘-Yes,’ a voice replied. Suddenly, the ice sprites stopped attacking and started to move back. Lee Han frowned, feeling a strong, heavy presence all around him. He raised his sword, ready.

Then, a penguin appeared. It was much bigger than the other penguin swordsmen, several times their size. ‘-I look forward to fighting you,’ the big penguin said.

‘Why talk so much when you’re just going to lose to my sword?’ Lee Han replied. ‘-You never know who will win until the battle is over!’ the Penguin Baron answered.

The Penguin Baron swung one of his wings hard, making a whirlwind of wind. But it wasn’t just wind. It was a powerful attack that ripped through the air like sharp blades, tearing everything around it.

Of course, Lee Han was too fast to be hit. He quickly jumped back, putting distance between them. Then, he kicked the broken pieces of ice on the ground, sending them flying towards the Penguin Baron.

The Penguin Baron stepped on the flying ice pieces and jumped into the air. He gathered aura on his other wing and then stabbed it down at Lee Han.

Lee Han held the Morning Star sideways to block the attack. Even so, the Penguin Baron’s powerful attack pushed Lee Han down, burying half of his body in the ice.

The Penguin Baron was confused by Lee Han’s move. Instead of dodging, Lee Han seemed to let himself be pushed down, putting himself in a bad position. ‘A smart fighter wouldn’t avoid an attack like that and just take it,’ the Penguin Baron thought. ‘What is he planning?’

-! Suddenly, the Penguin Baron understood. Lee Han’s body, which was half-buried, burst upwards with incredible speed. It was faster than the Penguin Baron had thought possible.

Like an arrow shot from a bow, Lee Han charged forward. The Penguin Baron was surprised. ‘Is he using up so much magic?’ he wondered.

If magic could make his body stronger, then other magic tricks were possible too. Like gathering magic inside his body and then exploding outwards like this. But it seemed like a huge waste of magic. Was he really being so reckless just to trick me and get me closer?

‘Excellent!’ The Frost Giant King thought, impressed again. ‘It’s not easy to get so close to the Penguin Baron. He’s a strong fighter who uses powerful magic with one wing and great sword skills with the other.’

Instead of having a long, boring fight, this mortal had tricked the Penguin Baron into rushing in close. ‘Someone who is afraid could never do something like this,’ the Frost Giant King thought. ‘This is something only a brave and honorable warrior could do.’

Bang! Bang! Dull sounds echoed one after another. The two fighters, now very close, were hitting each other hard. They weren’t just using swords; they were also crashing shoulders and legs together. Powerful shocks went out from each hit, and blood flew everywhere.

Soon, it was clear who had won. The Penguin Baron lowered his wings and backed away. The first attack from Lee Han had been strong, and the Penguin Baron realized Lee Han’s attacks were not just aura, but also magic-absorbing. He knew he couldn’t win if the fight went on for too long.

-Excellent, mortal! I will remember your brave name. I hope we can fight again someday!

‘?’ Lee Han stopped, confused. ‘What did he just say?’ he wondered. ‘Someone else is here,’ the Frost Giant King suddenly said, turning his head. Lee Han saw the Headmaster coming quickly towards them, looking very angry.

‘Go back! Send the signal to retreat!’ the Frost Giant King ordered. Right away, the penguins and ice sprites started to run away quickly. The Frost Giant King didn’t want to fight the Skull Headmaster, so he also retreated back through the dimensional rift.

‘I won’t forget what I saw today! I hope we meet again!’ the Frost Giant King called out. ‘…’ Lee Han just stood there silently. ‘-I’m happy!’ Anpuresas shouted loudly, not noticing Lee Han’s worried face. Then, he was pulled back into the bracelet.

Anpuresas was very happy with the exciting fight they just had. ‘…I’m really never calling you again,’ Lee Han muttered. ‘-???-‘ Anpuresas made a confused sound from inside the bracelet. Lee Han didn’t realize how many enemies he might have made today by trying to help his older classmates.

Lee Han promised himself he would stay away from cold places and anything to do with penguins for a long time. The Skull Headmaster floated over to them, looking around at the messy area as if it was nothing special.

The older students, who had been fighting bravely just moments ago, suddenly looked nervous when the Skull Headmaster arrived.

‘Headmaster,’ one of the older students said quickly, ‘We didn’t cause any trouble, really!’ ‘We even closed the rift!’ another added. ‘Hmm. Amateurs,’ Lee Han thought to himself. He felt a little sorry for the older students, who were already making excuses even though the Headmaster hadn’t said anything yet.

Lee Han knew that only beginners would do that. Real experts stayed quiet and waited for the right moment to speak.

The Skull Headmaster just kept looking around, not answering the older students. Balpaltan didn’t know what the Headmaster was searching for, so he carefully asked, ‘Headmaster, are you looking for something?’

Balpaltan thought the Skull Headmaster wouldn’t act like this just because things were messy. Festivals at Einroguard were always this chaotic. ‘Is there something you’re looking for?’ Balpaltan repeated. ‘Yes,’ the Headmaster said.

‘What is it?’ Balpaltan asked. ‘I was wondering which of you to send to detention,’ the Headmaster said.

“…”

“…”

“Ah, no. This was a festival, and the rift wasn’t really…”

“The buildings aren’t destroyed either…”

“The walls are intact…”

“We didn’t raid the Headmaster’s vault… we didn’t raid it, right? If anyone did, just come out now.”

“…”

Lee Han was amazed at what the older students were saying. The Skull Headmaster looked just as amazed. ‘Making a first-year student fight and then what?’ the Headmaster seemed to think.

‘Excuse me?’ the Skull Headmaster asked, surprised. ‘Where is the first-year student?’ Seeing their confused faces, the Skull Headmaster clicked his tongue in annoyance.

At first, the Headmaster thought about punishing everyone who was part of this festival mess. But then he thought again. Maybe there were reasons to be less strict. With Wodanaaz causing so much trouble, how could the older students have known Lee Han was just a first-year student?

‘Alright,’ the Headmaster said. ‘Let’s just pretend those who don’t know, still don’t know.’ ‘…?’ But then he added, ‘However, some of you will still be punished! Anyone who asked the first-year student for help with magic, step forward now!’

Balpaltan laughed a little at the Headmaster’s words. ‘Who would do something like th… uh?’ ‘???’ Everyone was shocked to see Cohalti and Anpagon slowly walking forward, heads down.

‘What’s going on?’ someone whispered. ‘What on earth…?’ another said. ‘What else could it be?’ Lee Han thought. ‘Shameless guys.’ The Skull Headmaster grabbed Cohalti, Anpagon, Lee Han, and floated away with them.

The students left behind watched them go, their faces still confused. * * * * * Suddenly, the Headmaster’s voice boomed in Lee Han’s mind. ‘You’ve already used the Bracelet of Ten Thousand Mana? How much magic did you put in it?’

The Skull Headmaster knew right away what had happened just by looking around. ‘I didn’t put in much magic,’ Lee Han answered.

The Skull Headmaster made his bony hand appear and pointed it at Lee Han. Cohalti, who was standing in the way, got bumped and looked surprised.

‘Huh?’ Cohalti said, confused. ‘See?’ the Headmaster said. ‘What did you just see?’ ‘I saw that you were angry at Cohalti, Headmaster?’ Lee Han replied.

‘I didn’t mean to hit him,’ the Headmaster said. ‘He just got in the way.’ ‘I think you did mean to hit him…’ Lee Han thought to himself. ‘Yes,’ Lee Han said out loud.

‘That’s your magic power,’ the Headmaster explained. ‘You should have checked how the bracelet changed yourself.’ ‘…’ Cohalti, who had been listening quietly, spoke without thinking, ‘How would a first-year student know something like that…?’

‘Quiet!’ the Headmaster snapped. ‘Mmph!’ Cohalti made a small sound, shutting his mouth quickly.