Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 531

Lee Han jumped back, eyes wide. “What, what is it? What’s going on?” he shouted, looking around the dusty room.

“The artifact is activating? Lee Han (or Wodanaz), did you activate it?”

Lee Han frowned as he replied.

“No. It activated on its own.”

“What? That’s absurd. An artifact activating on its own? What kind of idiot made it like that?” Salco said, sounding incredulous.

Normally, artifacts only work when someone wants them to. That’s the most basic safety rule.

If an artifact starts working by itself, it’s not an artifact anymore. It’s a trap!

“The seniors who made this,” someone mumbled.

“……”

“……”

The students were speechless with disbelief.

“Are they *really* seniors?” someone whispered in disbelief.

“No… this is just absurd.”

“Yeah, Salco. I’m just as dumbfounded.” Lee Han sighed, looking at the dimensional gate artifact that was flashing furiously.

It was hard to believe, but the seniors who made this hadn’t cared about safety at all.

Originally, a clear incantation and action were needed to activate the artifact.

But the seniors had omitted all of that to squeeze out even a little bit of efficiency.

The seniors made it very simply, but dangerously. It sucks in magic as soon as someone gets close to make it work.

This was, to put it nicely, a simple and crude method, but it was a very dangerous one.

The seniors had designed it themselves and had a lot of experience, so they could retreat immediately if they thought it was dangerous, but inexperienced juniors could collapse from magic power exhaustion with just one mistake.

Why didn’t they put in safety features for the younger students before they left?

‘Are all the seniors just… thoughtless?’

“No, Lee Han (Wodanaz). I said I was dumbfounded at you.”

“?”

Lee Han looked at Salco as if asking what he was talking about.

“Why didn’t you notice while the artifact was absorbing this much magic power?”

“…You might not notice while reading the logs, you know. You jerk.” Lee Han mumbled, annoyed that his friend was criticizing him instead of just ignoring his mistake.

Of course, the students listening to the enchantment magic did not agree with Lee Han’s words.

‘He’s the one who can feel even the slightest magic power flow from several meters away, what is he saying…?’

The dimensional gate artifact roared – a deep, vibrating ‘Woooong, Woooong, Woooong’ that echoed in their chests and made the dust dance on the floor.

The light flashed brighter. Sparks flew! But the gate kept going.

“Lee Han (Wodanaz), are you sure you’re okay? Why is it doing this? The artifact has activated, but…?”

“It seems like it’s just getting started.”

Even after taking in so much magic that the room shook, the gate was only just starting.

To make a real gate, it needed much, much more magic – maybe fifty times as much!

Lee Han understood how the artifact was pulling in magic. He waved his hand to his friends.

“Don’t come near. If the area absorbing magic power increases unnecessarily, even you guys will suffer from magic power exhaustion.”

“Lee Han (Wodanaz)…”

“What?” Lee Han said, a small smile touching his lips. “Of course I’m worried about you all.” His friends looked surprised and pleased.

He needed to show a little bit of concern now, as he had overworked his friends a bit earlier.

“No. Aren’t you coming out?”

“……”

The friends were whispering and looking at Lee Han.

They were whispering about whether it was right to leave Lee Han (Wodanaz) alone now, no matter how much magic power he had.

No matter how they looked at it, the amount of magic power the artifact was demanding was too abnormal.

The massive amount of magic power from before was only enough to activate it.

Then how much magic power would it need to form a proper gate?

“I’m fine.”

Gainando muttered, “Usually, when *I* say ‘I’m fine!’, it’s a disaster.” He had a habit of jinxing things.

“You jinx!”

“You’re talking nonsense!”

The Blue Dragon Tower students fiercely hit Gainando’s back.

‘I’m worried about something else.’

Lee Han wasn’t actually worried about the magic power being absorbed like a waterfall.

If he felt any pain from magic power exhaustion, he was going to get out immediately, but his body was perfectly fine. He was almost embarrassed by his friends’ concern.

What Lee Han was worried about was the durability of this artifact.

It was an artifact that had been completed by removing all sorts of functions for the sake of efficiency and performance.

What if it exploded while being charged with magic power?

‘The Skeleton Headmaster would laugh,’ Lee Han thought grimly. Imagine! They beat the enemy, found treasure, and then died because of a badly made artifact! The seniors were going to be the death of them all.

“Everyone, could you set up the tables over there?”

“Uh, uh.”

“Okay.”

At Lee Han’s words, the students hurriedly set up the tables.

Preparing cover in case the artifact exploded was a wise thing to do.

“Hmm. Salco, I’d like you to cast a spell to fill the space between with earth.”

“Okay.”

Salco cast an earth element magic spell to reinforce the back of the table.

With this, even if an impact came, it wouldn’t be easily blown away.

“Hmm. Your Highness, can you summon spirits to make it even stronger?”

Adenart quickly summoned spirits to reinforce the barricade.

The barricade rose quickly, a solid wall of packed earth, reinforced with shimmering water spirits and sharp gravel. It looked surprisingly strong, a makeshift fortress against whatever might come.

“Hmm, I’m not sure if this is strong enough. Gainando, get some bone elements! Let’s mix them in to make it even stronger.”

“……”

“……”

The students’ expressions gradually became subtle.

If they had to reinforce the barricade to this extent…

…Shouldn’t they just run away?

Lee Han, noticing his friends’ expressions, quickly made an excuse.

“I’m doing this just in case. It’s still okay. There’s no problem with the magic power flow.”

“You didn’t notice while the artifact was absorbing enough magic power to kill several mages…”

“Salco,” Lee Han said, with a hint of annoyance, “do you really have to keep pointing out my mistakes?”

“Ah, no. It wasn’t like that.”

Salco blinked, surprised. Lee Han *never* tried to use feelings to get his way. He quickly agreed, “Ah, no problem.”

Bzzzt! Bzzzt!!

“!”

“L-look at that! Cracks!”

The students’ eyes went wide.

Suddenly, the air split open! Like a crack in glass, a line appeared. Through the crack, they could see a place that was not the warehouse. It looked completely different.

“Woah… Wodanaz!!!”

“You’re a hero!!! You’re our hero!!!”

The White Tiger Tower students, who were just complaining, “If Wodanaz drinks one more precognition potion, we’re all doomed,” now cheered. They were almost sure it wouldn’t work, but this crack in space proved the gate was real.

“Look! Look! Where does it go?”

“I’m looking, I’m looking, but I can’t see! Hey, Wodanaz! Come closer! Can’t you see anything?!”

“Come closer if you want to get sick and die.”

“Hey, no need to be mean!”

Lee Han tried hard to remember what he saw through the crack.

‘Is that a big old house?’

The place looked like a grand old house, with tall windows and a roof covered in dark tiles. Lee Han wondered if it was a rich family’s house in a village near Einroguard. If Blue Dragon Tower students had made this, a family’s house would be the safest choice.

Creak-

“!”

A scary sound came from the gate. Lee Han quickly turned.

The gate, made of strange bits of metal, old pipes, and glowing stones, all stuck together in a messy way, was twisting and creaking loudly. It was breaking because there was too much magic. Sparks flew from the messy parts. The air around it seemed to wobble and shake. They worried it would not last long, and now it was already happening!

Lee Han gritted his teeth and ran back.

“I-is it going to blow up?! Is it going to blow up?!” Gainan yelled, almost screaming, when he saw Lee Han running.

“No. We’re stopping it now!”

“O-oh, right.” Gainan nodded, his voice quieter now.

“Blow up?”

“…It’s not blowing up.” Lee Han flicked Gainan’s forehead for thinking he was tricking everyone else. He looked back at the gate.

Luckily, like he thought, the gate was losing power and slowly cooling down. The crack in space closed, and everything became quiet, like it was all a dream.

“……”

“W-well, that’s good. It didn’t break.” The students looked at the gate like it was something very precious.

“Wodanaz, when will you turn it on again?”

“…Do you even know where that thing goes?” Lee Han was surprised that they wanted to go in without even knowing the place.

But his friends had their own idea. “Who cares? Anything is better than Einroguard!”

“……” Lee Han was quiet for a moment.

Well… maybe they were right.

“Wait. Let me read the journal again.” Lee Han, who had stopped reading because of the magic, pointed his wand and brought the journal to him. ‘Where did they connect it to?’

Lee Han read, and suddenly his face went white, like he had seen a ghost.

Yoner looked at the journal, wondering why Lee Han was acting like that. ‘Why is Lee Han like that?’

*That crazy skeleton won’t even guess where we’re going. Haha. When it’s ready, the rich house in the city will be ours! We’ll take all the good stuff and then burn it down!*

“……”

“……” Lee Han sighed deeply. Why did it have to be *this* place? ‘Those seniors are no help at all.’

“Lee Han. You’re still going, right?”

“Wodanaz. Think of it as good luck! If it’s the headmaster’s house, it will be empty!”

“Quiet, everyone. Close your eyes.” Lee Han tapped the floor with his wand to quiet them. Gainan tried to peek but got tapped too.

“Okay. You know this gate might not work many more times. We need to use it carefully each time… I want to know what you really think. Does anyone want to go through the gate and leave, even if it’s the headmaster’s house?”

Slowly, all the students raised their hands.

“……” Lee Han was speechless. ‘Are they serious?’ Had Einroguard really made them this desperate?

* *

“That was a really long day.”

“We all worked so hard.” Lee Han and his friends yawned as they walked out. They had been working all night, and the sun was already coming up.

“Wodanaz. We’re going together on the weekend.”

“Yeah.”

“Wodanaz. We are definitely going on the weekend. Don’t leave us!”

“Yeah.”

“Wodanaz. On the weekend… Ack! Ack!” Lee Han waved his wand and chased away the White Tiger Tower students who were bothering him. They had promised to try again this weekend, but they wouldn’t leave him alone.

“We don’t have morning classes, right? Let’s go rest.”

“I can’t sleep thinking about going out on the weekend.”

“For sure. The headmaster’s house won’t be easy.” Lee Han nodded.

“So, I’ve been thinking.”

“Oh? What is it?” His friends were curious. What was his secret plan?

“The precognition potion will be ready soon, so if we drink that…”

“No!”

“Don’t do that!”