Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 596

‘How on earth did he summon giants?’ Lee Han thought, surprised.

It was much harder to summon giants than Death Knights. Asan didn’t even know giants were living in the underground warehouse of the main building.

How did he do it?

“Wodanaz! Save me!!” Asan screamed.

But it wasn’t Wodanaz who answered.

Asan was in a panic. This was very different from how he usually acted. He was normally calm and collected. But anyone would be scared if they ran into a group of giants while asking for help!

Lee Han realised, ‘He didn’t summon the giants…’

‘He just ran into them when he was trying to summon Death Knights.’

—WE WILL SAVE YOU! roared a giant.

—WE ARE HERE TO HELP, WIZARD! shouted another.

The giants behind Asan yelled, but their words did not comfort him at all.

To Asan, everything the giants said sounded like, ‘We’re going to eat you!’

“…Thank you!” Asan squeaked out, nervously.

“Wo, Wodanaz! Are you trying to give me to them as food?!” Asan cried, tears welling up in his eyes.

But Lee Han didn’t have time to explain. The blood-sucking monster was now attacking other students. They were easier targets.

The blood-sucking monster saw that things were changing. It turned away from the giants. It started attacking other students. They were weaker and easier to catch.

It was a dangerous moment. Suddenly, the giants’ help was exactly what they needed.

“Giants, take the front lines!” Lee Han ordered.

—UNDERSTOOD! they roared back.

The giants rushed forward and stood in front of the wizards. It was their duty as warriors to protect the wizards, who were more easily hurt. That’s why they were here. They moved without any hesitation.

Asan, who had been so afraid of being eaten, stared in shock as the giants moved.

“Uh…?” Asan mumbled.

“Asan! Get in formation!” Lee Han called out. “It’s dangerous to be alone!”

“B-but…” Asan stammered, “Isn’t it… isn’t it more dangerous *over there*…?” He pointed towards the giants.

To be honest, the giants looked much scarier than the blood-sucking monster.

Asan stumbled back to his friends, feeling dazed. Luckily, his friends looked just as confused as he did.

“A-are we really okay with… giants doing this?” Asan whispered.

He felt a little better seeing his friends were also unsure. Maybe he wasn’t being strange after all.

Asan shook his head, trying to focus. He had been scared, but he needed to think clearly now.

“Everyone, stay calm,” Lee Han said, trying to sound confident. “The important thing is to catch that blood-sucking monster.”

“But… but there’s a giant right in front of us!” one student exclaimed, eyes wide.

“We’re students of Einrogaard,” Lee Han said, trying to sound like Professor Alcassis. “We should be able to handle giants.”

“R-really?” another student mumbled. “I don’t think so…”

*Thud!*

The blood-sucking monster jumped at the giant.

It was different now. In the underground warehouse, it had backed away. But here, in the open, it had space to move. It flew through the air with sharp, twisting movements and attacked the giant.

—Ugh! groaned the giant.

The giant stumbled back, hit hard. The blood-sucking monster moved even faster, trying to rip open the giant’s arm with its sharp tail.

—Ack! yelled the giant, looking at the red scratch on its arm. The other giants laughed loudly.

—Don’t scream like a sheep! one giant boomed. Embarrassing!

—It hurts! the hurt giant whined. It really hurts!

The blood-sucking monster was now truly angry.

Its attack hadn’t even broken the giant’s skin!

The monster’s body twisted and changed, becoming even sharper and more dangerous-looking.

*Bang!*

The blood-sucking monster moved so fast it was just a blur. It attacked again and again. The giant bent down low, trying to protect its weak spots. The monster saw the giant defending itself and felt even more confident. It attacked again…

*Crack!*

The blood-sucking monster was suddenly smashed and thrown through the air. The giant, who had been pretending to be scared, had swung its club hard and knocked the monster away.

—UHAHAHA! roared a giant.

—We tricked you, you fool! Tricked you! another laughed.

—Surround it! Don’t let it get away! yelled a third.

‘Amazing!’ Lee Han thought, truly impressed.

The giants couldn’t beat the monster if they tried to be faster. But they were smarter.

They had pretended to be scared. This made the monster feel safe and stop moving so quickly.

—My turn! Watch this! shouted a giant.

—Now me! Get ready! yelled another.

—There’s no such thing as ‘ready’! the first one shouted back.

—There is when I hit you!

The giants started hitting the blood-sucking monster with their clubs, like it was a ball. They knocked it back and forth to each other.

The monster couldn’t attack back. It was too busy healing itself from the giant hits.

While the giants played with the monster, Lee Han caught his breath. He quickly cast the spells he needed and summoned the Dark Skeleton warriors.

“Sharkhan,” he called out. “Bring Guinan Do here!”

This was the perfect time. The blood-sucking monster was confused and hurt. The Emerald Jade Leopard, Sharkhan, ran quickly and climbed a tree.

But instead of going to Guinan Do, Sharkhan bit Guinan Do’s coat. Then, he seemed to go limp, as if something had taken control of him.

“…Sharkhan?!” Lee Han shouted, surprised and a little betrayed.

It was so strange for Sharkhan to act like this. It wasn’t like him at all.

Sharkhan heard his master’s voice and seemed to wake up. He quickly grabbed Guinan Do and ran back to Lee Han.

“I saw that,” Lee Han said sternly.

—Grrrr… Sharkhan growled softly, looking down at the ground. He felt ashamed.

‘What is so special about this coat?’ Lee Han wondered.

He decided he would take the coat to Professor Mortum after the fight. Professor Mortum knew everything about strange objects. Lee Han was really curious now.

—RRRRAAAAAWWWWWRRR!

Just then, the blood-sucking monster realised its coat was gone. It let out the loudest, angriest scream it had made all day.

The monster’s healing powers became even stronger, fueled by its rage. It healed itself in mid-air after being hit by the club. Then, wings grew from its back, and it flew up into the sky.

—Eek! cried a giant.

—That sneaky, sheep-like thing is using tricks! another grumbled.

—Come back here! roared a third.

“Block it!” Lee Han shouted. “It’s going to try and get the coat back!”

—Coat? a giant asked, confused.

“Yes! It wants this coat!” Lee Han held up Guinan Do’s coat.

The giants looked at the coat in Lee Han’s hand.

Then, they stepped back in disgust.

—Ugh! one giant groaned.

—It feels horrible! another said, wrinkling its nose.

—Don’t hold that thing! It’s cursed, Wizard! a third warned.

The giants grabbed the coat from Lee Han’s hand. And then, they ripped it into tiny pieces.

Lee Han had thought the monster’s earlier scream was as angry as it could get.

He was wrong.

When the monster saw its coat torn to pieces, it screamed again. This time, the sound was so loud it felt like it could be heard all over Einrogaard.

—Ugh, my ears! a giant groaned, covering its ears.

—That thing has gone completely mad! another said, surprised.

The blood-sucking monster was never really sane, but even the giants thought it was crazy now.

What they saw next was truly insane.

*Snap, squish, crack!!!*

The monster changed shape completely. It lost its monster-like form and grew bigger and bigger, turning into a giant, shapeless blob like slime.

‘Is it using up all its blood in a crazy rage?’ Lee Han wondered.

Blood was powerful in magic. It had a special magical meaning and was connected to someone’s soul. That’s why blood monsters were so strong. They used blood as their power. The blood-sucking monster’s fast healing was because of the blood it had collected.

But for these monsters, blood was like their life force.

To use so much blood just to get bigger was not normal at all. It was a complete rampage!

‘Can it really be this crazy just because of a coat?’ Lee Han thought, more confused than scared.

It had taken hits from Death Knights and giants without going crazy. But losing a coat made it lose control?

Lee Han climbed onto a giant’s shoulder. The monster’s movements looked dangerous.

—IT’S COMING! roared a giant.

The blood-sucking monster swung its huge body. It was now bigger than the giants.

Lee Han saw it coming and shouted quickly, “Giants, step back! Two steps back!”

—Giants never retreat! one giant declared proudly.

“…Is that really the best thing to say right now?!” Lee Han muttered, annoyed.

The giant bravely raised its club, trying to block the attack.

*Thud!*

But the monster was too strong. The giant was thrown backwards, crashing into the building next to them.

Lee Han, still on the giant’s shoulder, was thrown through the air too.

For students in the Healing Magic School, exams were never easy. They were almost always like real battles.

—Okay, class, today’s midterm exam is… wait a minute… hmm. There’s a sickness in Dry Falls Village. We’re going to Dry Falls Village.

—This year’s final exam will be in the Red Lake Desert. A group of knights has been badly hurt, I hear.

—Hold on. More for the midterm exam. The sickness has spread to the next village. Finish quickly and move on.

Because of this, Healing Magic School exams were always like real fights. There were always real problems outside the school that could be used for exams.

But even these students had a secret hope.

Maybe…

Just maybe, one day, if nothing too bad happened…

Could they have a normal, easy healing exam?

“…Everyone, stay calm,” Professor Alcassis said, his voice tired.

“I-I’m calm,” one student whispered, nervously.

“The professor hasn’t said anything yet, right?” another asked quietly.

“I think so…” a third student hissed. “Shhh! Don’t say it out loud! You’ll jinx it!”

Professor Alcassis looked at his pocket watch. He also checked a piece of parchment that seemed to glow slightly.

The students could feel that no message had come yet. No emergency.

*Please!* they thought.

*Please! Please!*

As if their wishes had been heard, Professor Alcassis snapped his pocket watch shut.

In a voice that was rough with tiredness, he said to the class, “Today’s exam will be a simple oral exam…”

“Waaaaaah!”

Without thinking, the students cheered, stomping their feet and clapping.

“Don’t shout,” Professor Alcassis said, his voice even more tired. “It’s echoing in my head.”

“Sorry, Professor,” a student mumbled.

“Don’t waste your energy,” Professor Alcassis continued. “And remember the old saying: ‘A loud healing wizard will have a bad end.’”

“Yes, Professor…” the student replied, feeling a little scared.

But inside, they were still a bit annoyed.

Did learning healing magic mean they couldn’t even be happy?

How often did they get good news like this?

*Thud!*

Just then, the classroom wall exploded inwards. The top half of a giant crashed right into the room.

The students screamed and jumped back, terrified.

—Ugh… My head is spinning! groaned the giant.

“I-is it a giant attack?!” a student shrieked.

Just then, the student who had been on the giant’s shoulder jumped down and landed in the classroom.

He rushed over to Professor Alcassis and shouted, “Professor! I’m so sorry! A crazy monster is attacking us!”

“Hmm,” Professor Alcassis said, looking calmly at the giant in the wall. “This seems a bit much for a final exam, even for us.”

“It’s not the final exam!” Lee Han yelled back, frustrated. He slapped the giant’s cheek hard. “Wake up! You have to wake up!”

—I can’t… I can’t wake up… I’m too dizzy… the giant mumbled weakly.

Professor Alcassis looked at the giant stuck in the wall. Then he looked at Lee Han. Finally, he looked at the older healing magic students.

The healing students suddenly felt a sense of doom. They knew that look.

“Has anyone here ever healed a giant before?” Professor Alcassis asked, raising an eyebrow.

Silence.

More silence.

“I thought not,” Professor Alcassis said, a hint of a smile in his voice. “Well, what a wonderful opportunity. Everyone, get your wands. Come over here.”

The students slowly walked towards the giant, their faces looking very unhappy.

Lee Han, of course, couldn’t see the older students’ faces. He was focused on the giant.

“These symptoms,” Professor Alcassis explained, pointing at the dizzy giant, “are usually caused by problems with the brain and balance. Normally, we’d use a spell to check, but giants are very resistant to magic. So, what should we do?”

Lee Han didn’t think Professor Alcassis was talking to him. He just stood there, looking around for the older students.

“…Do I need to ask again?” Professor Alcassis said, his voice a little sharper.

“Ah! Were you talking to me, Professor?” Lee Han asked, surprised.

“Yes, Mr. Lee Han. There’s no one else here but you and a giant stuck in the wall.”

“Um… I would use a stronger spell,” Lee Han said simply.

Silence.

More silence.

The older students stared at Lee Han, their mouths slightly open. They couldn’t believe he had said that.

Professor Alcassis was not someone who liked jokes. A silly answer like that could get you into serious trouble.

But the Dark Elf professor just sighed deeply.

“Perhaps,” he said, shaking his head, “I asked the wrong person.”