Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 539

Having finished his celebratory toss, Lee Han, back on solid ground, spoke to the giants.

“So, what needs doing today? Has the… ahem… ‘Mountain-Crushing’ sheep escaped again?”

Saying it was a sheep was not enough; with the words ‘Mountain-Crushing,’ it was closer to a monster. Having seen the Mountain-Crushing Sheep himself, Lee Han thought even a fully grown Basilisk would lose in a fight against it.

‘The size difference alone is just too much.’

-Nay. The sheep has not escaped.

-We caught a Wyvern and put it in with them; they are having a grand time. They were clearly bored.

Lee Han pretended not to hear about catching a Wyvern, the terror of the mountains, to entertain the sheep.

He dared not ask, ‘A Wyvern, you say?’ for fear the giants would drag him off to see it.

“Right then. So, if there’s nothing to be do…”

-Come with us! We want to show you to the wizard!

-Woo! I shall put him on my shoulder!

-Nay! I shall put him on my shoulder!

“Haha, friends, it’s flattering that you’re fighting over me, but could you please not fight over me?”

Lee Han’s voice grew a tad desperate as the giants tugged at him.

The giant who won at giant-style rock-paper-scissors (a game involving slapping each other’s faces) grinned widely, scooped Lee Han up like a toy, and began to lumber off, his footsteps shaking the ground.

-Look at them. Becoming such good friends… Have a good trip.

“And don’t forget your end-of-term exams are coming up.”

Lee Han plugged his ears, pretending not to hear Ikurusha and Professor Volardi’s words from behind.

The giant carrying Lee Han asked, puzzled,

-Why are you plugging your ears?

“It’s a good trick for when you don’t want to hear something.”

-Ooh. I shall have to plug my ears when Ikurusha speaks!

Balpaltan of the Moradi family, a third-year student, was regretting his decisions. On reflection, going with someone from the Enchantment Magic school, no matter how necessary, had been a mistake.

‘Still not good enough, Balpaltan! You almost lost your sword last time, and you’re still being so careless. And you’re a third-year, for goodness’ sake!’

Balpaltan criticized himself, thumping his chest.

Anpagon, another third-year, watched him without expression.

“Finally lost it, have you?”

“Shut up. Honestly, why are all you Enchantment Magic types so rude? Don’t your seniors teach you any manners?”

“What are you talking about? I’m the politest person you’ll ever meet.”

Balpaltan shuddered at that. The fact that Anpagon didn’t seem to be lying was even more chilling.

‘Thank goodness I didn’t specialise in Enchantment Magic.’

In truth, the White Tiger Tower had the most Enchantment Magic students.

Enchantment Magic includes Enhancement magic. Enhancement magic is about changing bodies, your own or someone else’s.

However, few White Tiger Tower students steadily studied Enchantment Magic itself as they progressed through the years. Most White Tiger Tower students branched out into applied Enhancement Magic, leaving pure Enchantment Magic to students from other towers.

Perhaps it was the difficulty of the magic, or the fact that pursuing pure Enchantment Magic meant walking the path of an artifact craftsman…

…a significant number of White Tiger Tower students believed strongly that they’d ‘rather die than associate with the Enchantment Magic faculty and students.’

Balpaltan was one of them.

‘Does the mad professor drive his students mad, or do mad students flock to a mad professor?’

Frankly, Professor Verdus and the Enchantment Magic students crafting artifacts under him looked much the same in Balpaltan’s eyes.

“Alright, alright… let’s just say it was my fault for talking to you.”

“Of course it’s your fault.”

Balpaltan glanced around, lost in his thoughts.

‘Should I draw it?’

Even though Balpaltan was known for being polite and kind, even by White Tiger Tower standards, the Enchantment Magic students had a knack for pushing his buttons.

‘Keep it together.’

But Balpaltan held back. There was something he wanted to ask. It was the reason he’d bothered to bring someone like Anpagon along on this mountain trek in the first place…

“Let’s take a break. We have plenty of time as long as we reach the summit before the sun is directly overhead.”

“I don’t trust your calculations.”

‘Should I just draw it for real?’

Anpagon waved his staff, calculated the direction, and nodded.

“We can rest.”

The two students sat in silence, eating and drinking. Anpagon drank a recovery potion from a clear glass bottle, while Balpaltan sipped red desert lion blood from a leather flask. Both were beneficial for recovery.

Balpaltan glanced at their destination, the peak. Among the countless peaks of the Einroguard mountain range, the one they were heading for today was Giant’s Boulder Peak. The air was crisp, and the sounds of the mountain echoed around them.

Anpagon needed the Yin Stone Crystal from the summit for his research, and Balpaltan needed the bark of the Frost Stone Tree for tanning the new leather he’d acquired. They wouldn’t have had any reason to travel together otherwise, but Balpaltan had a question to ask, and Anpagon needed a decent vanguard, seeing as they were in giant territory.

“Um… speaking of which.”

Balpaltan cleared his throat and got to the point. He’d listened to the annoying Enchantment Magic bloke, so now it was his turn to ask a question.

“I heard there’s a rather unusual first-year in Enchantment Magic. Is that right? At the festival…”

Anpagon nodded.

“Right? But why don’t any of the other Enchantment Magic students know about him?”

“Because I haven’t told them.”

‘What a piece of garbage…’

Balpaltan was shocked. If you had a promising junior, you’d tell the others in your school. That was the normal thing to do. You should spread the word about them, even for the junior’s sake. The treatment you received was different depending on whether people knew who you were beforehand and liked you, or if they didn’t know you at all.

“Why haven’t you told them?”

“They weren’t worth it.”

“What does that… never mind.”

Balpaltan caught himself before he went too deeply into the Enchantment Magic school. The more he got involved with these blokes, the worse his headache got.

“Anyway, that junior. Right? The one who went wild with a sword at the festival. Was he using Enhancement Magic?”

“I don’t know.”

Anpagon genuinely didn’t know. He suspected the junior had used Dark Magic rather than Enhancement Magic, but he couldn’t be sure. After all, they’d ended up in the punishment room together after the festival…

“Ha. You sneaky git. You’re hiding it again? Just tell me.”

“How can I tell you what I don’t know? Did you leave your brain back at the tower?”

Balpaltan held back once more. He still had something to ask.

“Alright. That junior. I asked some of the Dark Magic school blokes, but they kept their mouths shut. It seems like he’s taking Dark Magic too…”

“That’s right.”

“What? Dark Magic? He’s really something.”

At first, Balpaltan had thought Lee Han’s skill was due to his swordsmanship and exceptional Enchantment Magic skills, but hearing about Dark Magic as well astonished him.

“I’m curious about that junior. There’s a rumour going around that he’s from the Wodanaz family. Is that not true? Or is he a Guinan? I looked it up, and it said he was an Imperial Prince?”

Anpagon stared at Balpaltan as if he were a bug crawling on the floor. Even if he was ignorant, how could he confuse the Wodanaz family with royalty?

“Listen… First of all, the Wodanaz family is a great noble family of the Empire. A great noble family famous for magic, but the Imperial family…”

“…You little…! Does anyone not know that! I’m asking what the junior’s name is!”

Balpaltan, having finally exploded, drew his sword. No matter how nicely he tried to ask, he couldn’t stand this bloke’s attitude any longer. He’d just bury him and then ask!

“So, you’re finally showing your true colours. I was prepared for this.”

Anpagon activated an artifact and spoke. A thick barrier protected Anpagon.

Balpaltan got even angrier.

“Let’s see you prepare for this as well. Transform, descend!”

As the spell took effect, Balpaltan’s hand suddenly transformed into the foreclaw of a massive monstrous bird. It didn’t end there. A chilling sharpness formed at the tip of the claws, and they were swung with a speed that even a seasoned swordsman would find difficult to dodge.

Whoosh!

The foreclaw pierced through the thick barrier. However, Anpagon calmly pulled out the next artifact.

By the time you were a third-year at Einroguard, you had to be able to protect yourself, even if you weren’t majoring in combat magic.

Faint clones appeared and scattered in all directions. The quality wasn’t high, and they could be identified with a little concentration, but in the current situation, that short amount of time was enough.

Balpaltan roared again.

“Giant’s Fist, strike the enemy!”

A giant fist made of invisible force covered the area where Anpagon’s clones were. A White Tiger Tower student’s fighting style: no need to distinguish each clone, just wipe them all out.

Crack!

Anpagon clicked his tongue at the roughness and dodged the falling branches. The surrounding trees were collapsing due to the massive attack.

“Giant’s Finger…”

“…Wait, behind you! Look behind you, you moron!”

“You pathetic git. What are you on about? Just get beaten up!”

“You idiot! Look behind you!”

Balpaltan prepared for an attack and quickly turned his head. He saw giant giants dragging clubs behind them.

The two third-year students froze. No matter how much they trained in magic at Einroguard, and no matter how respected they were as wizards outside, it meant little in front of a giant.

As third-year students, they knew how tricky giants were. Magic didn’t work well on them, and they weren’t good at communicating. If they made a fuss and the giants got angry, it would be a real pain.

“Quiet… hold your breath. Invisibility. Invisibility potion!”

“Are you happy now? You should be. You’ve smashed all the trees, so we’ll be spotted!”

“Shut up. Before I finish you off, giant or no giant.”

Meanwhile, lower down the mountain, the giant looked at Lee Han and asked,

-Someone broke these trees. Seems like wizards.

“They are very bad people. Perhaps they are professors?”

-Want to plant these trees again.

“Understood.”

Lee Han nodded. Planting trees was relatively easy. Compared to finding the escaped sheep and somehow dragging it back, planting trees was…

-Want to catch the tree breakers.

“Oh dear. You want to catch the professors? That won’t be easy.”

Lee Han looked around at the broken trees and answered vaguely. However, the giants were more serious than he thought.

-Trees not broken long ago.

-Can find them! Wizard helps. We find them!

‘Huh?’

Lee Han, who had been wondering how to plant the trees, was surprised by the giants’ reaction.

‘Not long ago?’

Someone had come all the way up to the high mountains early in the morning to break trees. He couldn’t understand why anyone would do that.

‘They didn’t even take the wood… are they just venting?’

Lee Han briefly imagined Headmaster Skull spinning around and smashing trees. It was funny, but the headmaster or a professor didn’t seem like the type to do that.

‘This… was cut cleanly. Enchantment Magic? This seems to have been hit with great force.’

Looking around, Lee Han quickly realized that there had been a magical fight here.

“In my opinion, here…”

Rustle-

Lee Han paused as a note slipped into his palm.

-Help me junior Balpaltan, Moradi

“……”

What on earth were they doing here?