Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 640

Tombs and ruins from the old empire were dangerous places, especially the ancient ones. From the time of the old kingdom, these tombs were filled with powerful magic to stop anyone from entering. This magic could easily destroy anyone foolish enough to wander in without thinking. Stories were told of trespassers vanishing in flashes of light, or being crushed by unseen forces.

To get into these tombs, you couldn’t just be strong. You needed to know a lot about old things, like archaeology. You also needed to be smart and brave, and stay calm when things went wrong. You also needed to be quick and lucky enough to escape if things got too dangerous.

That’s why, when wizards found tombs or ruins, they hired adventurers instead of going in themselves.

Wizards didn’t hire adventurers because they thought adventurers were skilled. They hired them because if something bad happened in the tomb, the wizards wouldn’t be in danger.

Gainando stumbled back, almost tripping over his own feet, and grabbed Ihan’s arm. “Is it… is it safe?” he whispered, his voice trembling as he looked at Arsil.

“It’s quite alright, as far as these things go,” Arsil replied.

Ihan breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed much better than he had feared.

…

…

While Nilia and Gainando stared at Ihan in astonishment, Yoner cautiously asked, “Ihan, what do you mean by ‘alright’ exactly…?”

“It’s neither too hot nor too cold, is it?” Ihan responded.

Ihan knew Arsil was nice, but because Arsil was always with spirits, he didn’t notice danger like others did. In places where lava bubbled or the air was freezing, people might be in danger.

But this ancient tomb was pretty nice. It was a little chilly, but Ihan didn’t sense any real danger.

Gainando mumbled with a tearful expression, “I shouldn’t have come.”

“What did you say, Gainando?” Ihan asked.

“Ah, nothing. It was nothing,” Gainando replied quickly.

Nilia asked, still confused, “Wodanaz, I have a question.”

“Ask away, Nilia,” Ihan said.

“Is this your family’s territory?” Nilia inquired.

“Yes, it is. It’s on the outskirts, but it’s still part of the territory,” Ihan confirmed.

“Usually, when a tomb like this is found in a territory, shouldn’t you call in more people?” Nilia asked, still not understanding.

It was unusual to find tombs or ruins on a noble’s land. The more people explored, the faster these places were discovered. Nobles with large, remote territories sometimes found tombs, but they usually called for help.

Nilia remembered a time when a baron from the north begged for help because monsters were coming out of a labyrinth on his land, and his people were disappearing.

“That’s usually the case, yes,” Ihan agreed.

He continued, “But our family’s territory is so big, and there are so many remote places, that this happens a lot. So, we don’t call people every time.”

Arsil nodded in agreement. Wizards knew that strange things happened where there was a lot of magic. The magic could cause rifts to other dimensions, change the rules of reality, and cause all sorts of transformations.

The Wodanaz family did a lot of magic experiments, some of the biggest in the whole empire. This magic changed the land around them.

After hearing the explanation, Yoner said, “Ah, so that’s why there weren’t many people around the mansion?”

“No, it’s just that my parents find having people around annoying,” Ihan replied.

…

Arsil made excuses, saying, “There’s also that reason,” but his friends didn’t believe him.

“Anyway, this happens often in the territory, so we usually ignore it unless it’s a really big deal. If we checked every tomb, our knights would be too busy to do anything else,” Ihan explained.

“What exactly is a ‘big deal’?” Nilia asked.

“Like a golem rebellion?” Ihan responded.

Nilia was speechless and didn’t ask any more questions. Seeing Ihan answer as if it were obvious, she felt helpless, not knowing where to begin.

Gainando whispered to Yoner and Nilia, “Stop him! Please! I don’t want to go in there! This isn’t Einrogard, why?!”

“Don’t black mages like going into tombs?” Nilia asked.

“What nonsense! Do alchemists all like being cooped up in their workshops, preparing ingredients?!” Gainando retorted.

‘They do like it…’ Yoner thought to himself.

Unlike Gainando, Ihan was excited. Seeing the tomb in good condition made him greedy.

“Brother, how many ornaments are inside? Are there any old gold or silver coins? There are? Great. This is great,” Ihan exclaimed.

After hearing Arsil’s explanation, Ihan turned around, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “This is great. You guys can tour the territory and even take a bonus with you!”

He felt a little sorry that his friends were bored, but now they could see the territory and get something valuable. As a host, he was happy.

“I-Ihan,” Gainando said weakly.

The moment he entered that dark, gaping ancient underground tomb, he felt like he wouldn’t be able to tell whether he was in the Wodanaz family’s territory or Einrogard.

“Why?” Ihan asked.

…

Gainando couldn’t bring himself to say, “I don’t want to go in.” He could feel Ihan’s excitement at trying to give his friends a pleasant experience. How could he say, “I can’t go in there!”?

“Yo, Yoner has something to say!” Gainando blurted out.

“That, that piece of trash?” Nilia muttered in astonishment.

When Ink had made Gainando Yoner’s enemy earlier, she had thought it was too much, but now she saw it was appropriate.

“Yoner? Why?” Ihan asked.

Despite the betrayal, Gainando gave Yoner a desperate look, silently pleading, ‘Please stop him!’

Yoner grinned. “Gainando is excited about the tomb,” he said. “He joked that learning black magic might finally be useful here!”

“That rascal!” Lee Han chuckled, playfully punching Gainando on the arm, though he looked secretly pleased.

Arsil, who had been watching them with a confused expression, finally asked, “What’s going on?”

Lee Han puffed out his chest. “This friend here, Gainando,” he announced, “is studying black magic! He’s amazing, really. One of the top… well, *someone* in the black magic class!”

Nilia whispered, “But… aren’t there only a few people in black magic class?”

“Shhh!” Yoner quickly covered Nilia’s mouth, his eyes wide.

Arsil, still looking puzzled but trying to be polite, nodded at Gainando. “Ah, impressive!” he said, though it sounded like a question.

Gainando, unsure if he was being made fun of but liking the attention, nodded tearfully. “Th-thank you…” he mumbled.

“Gainando, I’m glad you’re finally taking your studies seriously,” Arsil added, completely missing the joke.

Arsil then turned to Lee Han, his brow furrowed. “What did he say?” he asked, genuinely puzzled.

Lee Han sighed dramatically. “He’s asking if you’re his nephew, Brother.”

Arsil blinked. “…”

Despite all the fuss at the entrance, the inside of the tomb was surprisingly not dangerous.

There weren’t any particular traps near the entrance, but more than anything, Arsil’s ability was ridiculously overpowered.

Creak!

Every time Arsil took a step, new spirits appeared and managed the path.

Spirits of stone repaired the floor that was on the verge of collapsing and fixed the cracked ceiling. Spirits of sand and earth appeared to fill in any possible cracks.

Spirits of light illuminated the path to prevent Arsil from falling and flew ahead to check for traps. If there were any traps, the spirits would rush to neutralize them.

Lee Han and his friends, watching from behind, couldn’t help but be astonished.

“N-no way…!”

Nilia was among the most outstanding in terms of spirit affinity, but what Arsil was showing now was beyond imagination.

How could one person receive such blind love from so many different kinds of spirits?

“How is this even possible?!”

“He’s always been like that.”

Lee Han grumbled in response.

That was just innate affinity that no theory or magic could explain.

Nilia, in shock, murmured unconsciously.

“But Wodanaz was scared of spirits and avoided them…”

“……”

“Ah. N-no. S-sorry.”

“I’m fine. It’s the truth anyway.”

“Really sorry…! I’m sorry!”

“I said it’s okay.”

“It’s not really okay! Just get angry!”

“Why should I get angry when I’m really okay?”

Nilia remembered a past mistake and worried about upsetting Arsil again. She was desperate not to end up on his ‘blacklist’ – something Arsil jokingly used for people who annoyed him.

“Is that really that amazing?”

“You only play with the undead because you’re doing black magic, so you don’t know. That’s how amazing it is.”

“Bl-black magic has nothing to do with it!”

Gainando, who had asked out of curiosity, bristled at the scolding.

It certainly seemed convenient.

If the undead were only that respectful, he would feel a sense of accomplishment in being a black magician.

“Lee Han. Lee Han. Is it impossible to do that with the undead?”

“…Gainando. Are you crazy?”

“Ah, no… I asked because I thought you might be able to do it, Lee Han.”

Of course, Gainando knew it was impossible to do that with the undead.

Basically, the undead were ferocious and violent beings, so that kind of detailed care was impossible.

If he ordered the undead to ‘check the floor, check the ceiling, and check the traps ahead because I’m trying to break through the tomb,’ they would deliberately activate the traps instead.

But Lee Han…

“It’s not like I can do everything, Gainando.”

“But you’re scared of the undead, Lee Han. That’s why I thought it might be possible.”

“……”

Lee Han kicked Gainando, who was walking in front.

“Why?!”

“Tripped on a rock.”

Tap, tap tap, tap tap—

Arsil stopped and knocked on the wall of the tomb. Yoner asked, puzzled.

“How did you know there was a path inside here?”

“The spirit told me.”

‘He’s really overpowered…!’

He tried not to be envious, but as a student of the magic school, he couldn’t help but envy Arsil’s ability.

If he had that ability, he could simply summon a skilled and outstanding spirit and listen carefully when doing alchemy.

When reading various ancient books, he could summon a spirit that could read this language…

“The spirit says this room was once where the knights who guarded the tomb stayed, and inside there are silverware artifacts and some books… Ah, did you already take the books, Brother? What kind of books were they?”

Arsil, excited by his younger brother’s interest, explained what kind of books they were.

So, once upon a time, the knights to a court noblewoman…

“It was a book with useless novels written in it. Let’s go inside.”

“……”

Arsil was sulky, but he went inside without showing it.

Inside the room, a giant stone Hecatoncheires loomed, its many arms like thick tree trunks, its eyes glowing with a faint, eerie light. Lee Han and his party were shocked to see a monster that an ordinary giant could subdue with brute force.

“…Brother. Isn’t that a Hecatoncheires? Did you not tell me because I didn’t seem interested? …Of course, I like treasures more than monsters, but you should still tell me what’s inside the room before we go in, shouldn’t you?”

While Lee Han was grinding his teeth, Arsil shrugged and apologized, then spoke to the Hecatoncheires. The Hecatoncheires, who had been glaring fiercely at Lee Han and his party, turned its head away after hearing Arsil’s request. Lee Han said to his friends.

“He said not to be too loud and to play quietly before leaving.”

“……”