Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 698

Deumcha stared at the strange box in his bag. “Ah, no. Wait, why is *this* here?”

A deep voice boomed from behind him. “-Well, duh. A student put it there. What else would it be?”

Two Death Knights, tall and cloaked in black, fixed Deumcha with cold, unblinking stares from behind their helmets. The green light from the checkpoint archway reflected off their polished armor, making them look even more menacing.

Students in detention always had excuses.

They said they were sleepwalking, or had different personalities. Some even blamed magic that let them see the future.

Of course, most of the excuses didn’t work.

“This doesn’t seem to be my luggage! I clearly gave it to my junior…”

“-So, you’re saying you put it in your junior’s luggage?”

The Death Knights’ eyes grew even colder.

The Death Knights checking luggage knew students from Einroguard would do anything to smuggle things.

Including coaxing innocent juniors to use them as bait.

“-Hmph, looks like the plan went awry!”

“-We will punish you for insulting our master, attempting to smuggle, and deceiving your junior!”

“Damn it, I can accept being punished for smuggling or deceiving my junior, but why is revealing the truth a crime!”

Deumcha knew he was in trouble. Quickly, he dropped his bag, waved his wand, and cast a spell.

The magic exploded outwards with a flash of blue light and a smell of ozone, like after lightning.

“-Attempting to escape!”

“Attempting to escape!”

The Death Knights rushed in and formed a solid barricade. The students created smoke and illusions to escape amidst the chaos.

“Lee Han, are you okay?”

“I’m okay. I’m okay. I got out.”

Lee Han waved to his friends after safely escaping.

What Lee Han had just done was very simple. It was almost embarrassing to call it a trick.

The box in Lee Han’s luggage contained Bone-Snatching Parrots that had their magic dispelled, and he put them into the luggage of the seniors with new magic.

The seniors, who couldn’t have imagined that their junior already knew about the whole plan, were flustered by the sudden appearance of the Bone-Snatching Parrots and couldn’t respond properly.

“The commotion is more intense than I thought. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I think they’ll be subdued soon.”

Lee Han watched the fight with calm eyes. *They are making so many mistakes*, he thought. *Brute force won’t work against Death Knights*.

Deumcha’s group was fighting bravely, but they were limited since they hadn’t expected a battle.

They laid down a burning barrier, spread a magic circle around to increase the power of the flames, and finally summoned spirits to try to reverse-summon the Death Knights with a combined attack, but their opponents were not easy to deal with.

The Death Knights, the moment the burning barrier rose, cut off the next linked magic and unleashed a blow filled with dark energy, dispelling the barrier’s summoning.

At the same time, they borrowed the master’s power to spread dark mist everywhere. The wizards who inhaled the dark energy-filled elements shuddered at the sensation of their life force being sealed and lost control of their magic.

Dark mist poured from the Death Knights, thick and black as ink. It smelled like decay, and students coughed, feeling their magic weaken as they breathed it in.

Deumcha’s group, as a last resort, formed a formation and unleashed all the magic they had prepared, but the Death Knights stood firm with shield walls and the summoning of low-level undead.

They would probably be subdued as soon as that magic ended.

‘Their attack is too straightforward. Trying to fight those many Death Knights with brute force.’

While Lee Han was doing combat analysis that no one asked for, another group of seniors appeared.

Just when it seemed like things couldn’t get worse…

This time, it was Ivanna’s group.

A reckless group trying to move by using both physical enhancement magic and race transformation magic!

“Junior, where are you?”

“Senior Ivanna, I’m here.”

“Now’s our chance. Let’s go!”

The new seniors had no intention of helping Deumcha while he was being attacked.

Rather, they were trying to take advantage of the chaos to pass through the checkpoint.

“Here. Drink this potion! This potion will block the inspection!”

“Yes, I understand.”

The seniors who were trying to trick Lee Han into drinking the potion and turning him into a giant paused.

The transformation was a bit slower than they expected.

“Aren’t you going?”

“J-just a moment.”

“Just wait a bit. The potion needs to take effect.”

Ivanna’s group didn’t know what would happen if a wizard had an absurd amount of magical power.

They instinctively blocked interference from external threats.

“Did you give me the wrong one? Try drinking it once.”

Lee Han took another gulp and handed it to the seniors.

The senior, seeing that the junior was perfectly fine, wondered if the potion was really wrong and tried to take a small sip.

“Kuh… Kraaah!”

In an instant, the senior’s size increased and he began to transform into a giant.

The Death Knights, seeing that, shouted in a disgusted voice.

“-Did you think you could get through by transforming into a giant and charging!”

“-Get the bone ballista! These disgusting students!”

“W-we have no choice since it turned out like this. Charge into the checkpoint!”

“We will pass through the checkpoint! We are not hiding anything!”

“-Don’t talk nonsense! If you’re really confident, stop and wait!”

“We are waiting! If you can’t inspect us right now, we’re going in!”

“Push through!”

Before Deumcha’s group’s commotion could end, Ivanna’s group started causing a ruckus as well.

Other smugglers, seeing that as an opportunity, rushed towards the checkpoint.

“Now’s the time!”

“We’re passing through! Please inspect us! Oh, it’s okay if you don’t? Alright. We’ll pass through!”

“-Crazy students!”

-■ ■■■■ ■■■!

“-Don’t curse too much, elder!”

The Death Knights, as if they expected this, began to gather at the checkpoint, spewing out curses.

Among the remaining seniors, those who were trying to lure more bait desperately tried to coax the junior.

“Junior, drink this potion!”

“Isn’t this a mix of Berserker Potion and Razorclaw Bear Transformation Potion?”

“…How did you know? Did Eoldega betray us?! I thought he was caught by the headmaster!”

“He was caught by the headmaster.”

“Shut up and just drink it! You have to transform into a crazy Razorclaw Bear when you’re a junior!”

“Isn’t it detention if you harass juniors?”

“By that logic, the headmaster should be in detention first! If you don’t want to drink it, I’ll make you drink it!”

Eoldega’s remaining friends quickly waved their wands and extracted the potion from the glass bottle.

Then, they turned the contents into bat shapes and quickly flew them over.

“Be re-summoned as bats, liquid!”

“Ice, float as a shield!”

Lee Han immediately summoned an ice shield to cover the front. The seniors, who were trying to control the potion bats and attack, were a step late due to the quick response, and their attack was blocked.

This gave Lee Han time. He changed the magic the seniors were using against them.

“Is that like the Paper Bird spell?” someone shouted, pointing at the flying potion.

Lee Han watched the paper bird dart towards him. He knew this spell. He’d learned it back in first year. Normally, summoning something from nothing was hard. You needed magic circles or special items. But these upperclassmen were doing it for him! They’d summoned it. All Lee Han had to do was take control.

‘There will definitely be an opening!’

“Break the shield first!”

“It’s tougher than I thought. He must specialize in ice elements!”

The air cracked with the sound of magic, like thunder and snapping ice.

‘It’ll hold for about five more seconds.’

Lee Han checked the remaining strength and focused his magical senses.

In that instant, the flow of magic nearby shifted. The opponent was trying to recast the summoning spell.

“The potion’s slowing down! I need to summon it again.”

“Got it. I’ll cover you!”

“Resummon as a bat— Ack?!”

As if waiting for this moment, Lee Han swung his wand and cast a counter-spell.

This was clever magic. Lee Han could do this because he knew a spell like his enemy’s. He understood exactly how it worked.

The upperclassman, never expecting a second-year student to display such an advanced magical technique as a counter-spell, was caught completely off guard. As a result, control over the bat was lost entirely.

“Be summoned anew, liquid!”

With the incantation, Lee Han seized control of the potion. The potion transformed into the shape of a bird and darted towards him.

“What are you doing!? How could you lose that!”

“Be paralyzed!”

“You think I’ll be affected by a low-level paralysis curse… Kraaah!”

The upperclassman, still dazed from the counter-spell, paid the price.

The older student thought his magic armor would protect him from a weak curse. But Lee Han’s curse was stronger than it looked. It went right through the armor.

In an instant, the potion entered the paralyzed upperclassman’s throat.

Glug!

“No! He’s transforming into a Razorclaw Bear!”

The upperclassman screamed as his body twisted and grew. His clothes ripped apart as fur sprouted, claws extended, and his face turned into a snarling bear’s snout. The potion smell changed to a wild, animal scent.

“…At this point, we’ll lure him to the checkpoint! Damn it. Junior. I’ll remember you! What’s your name!”

“Biblee Verdus!”

“You crazy bastard… Fine! Run to the checkpoint!”

Alde’s remaining gang members, seeing one of their friends transform into a Razorclaw Bear, gave up, realizing they couldn’t waste any more time, and retreated.

Lee Han, victorious, turned to the second-year students and said,

“You all saw it, didn’t you? What kind of scheme the upperclassmen have! Do you still want to smuggle with them after this?”

Lee Han had thwarted the upperclassmen’s proposals not only as revenge for their trickery but also for the sake of his fellow second-year students.

There were too many students who would be blinded by greed and wouldn’t believe him unless he showed them directly!

“Oh, my…!”

As the White Tiger Tower students muttered in shock, Lee Han nodded in satisfaction.

“What did I say? So…”

“That Wardanaz guy can win even in a 3:1 fight against the upperclassmen?!”

“……”

Lee Han was dumbfounded.

He felt like he was showing them something important, but they were still missing the point.

“Is that what you should be saying right now? You almost got tricked, you fools!”

“W-Well, we should honestly prepare…”

The White Tiger Tower students were too honest.

Aside from being helped by Wardanaz, he was the kind of person who would mercilessly cast spells at the White Tiger Tower students if he got angry, so it was an unavoidable reaction.

Considering that the White Tiger Tower students were the most attacked by the tower, it was an unavoidable reaction.

Even the Black Tortoise Tower students nodded in agreement.

‘Hmm. Certainly. Even if you become friends with a dragon, it’s not bad to prepare for when it might bite you…’

If Lee Han heard that, he would overturn the cooking pot.

“I-It’s not that we don’t trust you, Wardanaz.”

“That’s right. It’s like respecting but also fearing the headmaster. We trust you, Wardanaz, but we’re just being a little cautious…”

“Other than that, stop comparing Lee Han to the headmaster!”

Dergyu stopped his friends, seeing that getting any angrier would only deepen the wounds.

“…Moradi. You explain the rest. I’ll get a headache if I explain any more to these guys.”

‘Why is this guy picking on me…’

Giselle wore a reluctant expression.

Anyone would think they were close!

“Why are you doing this to me?”

“…You helped with work at the estate last time. Help me out a bit.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

Students like Angarona Dukema momentarily doubted their ears.

Who helped with what, where?

At that reaction, Giselle gritted her teeth and quickly stood up from her seat.

“Don’t trust the upperclassmen, everyone!”

“Moradi, just now…”

“Regardless of the grudges Wardanaz has built up, the upperclassmen can’t be trusted! You all saw what they just did!”

To change the subject, Giselle quickly shouted, inwardly reciting a hundred curses about Lee Han.

“You’ll end up like that if you get tricked!”

“T-That’s true.”

“Certainly.”

As the upperclassmen who were attempting to smuggle caused simultaneous riots at the checkpoint, the commotion was anything but ordinary.

The second-year students were relieved that they could have easily become one of them.

Lee Han, who was watching the scene with them, suddenly became curious and asked,

“Moradi. Didn’t you participate in the smuggling?”

“I heard the truth from a senior in my family. That’s why I didn’t have any interest.”

“…Wait, you heard about it but didn’t participate?”

“Isn’t that normal?”

Giselle looked at Lee Han as if he were the strange one.

If you heard the truth about smuggling, you would know how disadvantaged the students who had just entered their second year were.

A wise person would naturally give up and back down this year, and Giselle naturally expected Lee Han to do the same.

“…I-Is that so. I didn’t do it either.”

“I figured.”

“Yeah. I didn’t do it.”

“Why are you saying it twice? I heard you.”

“Why are you saying it twice? I heard you.”