Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 71

Suddenly, an odd image flashed in Lee Han’s mind: Professor Thunderfoot asking, “Wasn’t there a bull? Why isn’t there one?” He shook his head, trying to focus.

“Focus.”

Lee Han shifted his gaze.

Lee Han stared at the spirit bull. It felt strange, like it was glowing with a weird energy. He could sense magic, two kinds actually. One felt like the magic used to make things stronger, enhancement magic. The other was like the magic from potions, working from inside. And then there was something else, a third energy, different from magic but still powerful – maybe spirit energy? He wasn’t an expert on spirits, but he knew this bull was mixed with something magical. It wasn’t just a normal bull. Half of its body was like ice, shining and cold. Every time it stomped its hoof, frost spread across the stone floor, like ice flowers blooming in the dim light. It glared at them, and Lee Han felt a chill that wasn’t just from the ice.

“Lee Han, it’s glaring at us. Do you think it’s going to charge? What do you think?”

“I wasn’t thinking much about it, but maybe it got angry because we turned on the lights.”

Deorgyu and Giselle turned to look at Lee Han.

“What? We have to turn on the lights in the dark. It’s weird if it gets angry just because we turned on the lights.”

“I don’t think we should worry about *weird* right now…”

“Choi, ask him how we can hurt it.”, Giselle said.

‘Is it not over yet?’ Deorgyu sighed deeply as Giselle spoke to Lee Han.

“Probably normal physical attacks won’t work on the spirit part. It’s still too early to add magic to our weapons…”

Among the monsters, there were quite a few that ordinary attacks didn’t work on. To deal with these kinds of monsters, adventurers either carried weapons with magic added to them or learned how to infuse magic into their weapons.

“Is there anyone here who knows how to add even a little bit of magic to their weapon?”

At Lee Han’s question, Deorgyu and Giselle both raised their hands. Lee Han, who asked the question, also raised his hand.

Giselle looked at them as if they were crazy.

Deorgyu was one thing, but how did a guy who wasn’t even from a knightly family know how to add magic?

“I was talking to Deorgyu, but you answered too. Anyway, isn’t it a good thing if all three of us can attack? Let’s spread out and stab it.”

The fact that these three were in the same group was quite fortunate.

Lee Han and Deorgyu were among the top students in the current swordsmanship class, and Giselle was slightly weaker than them, but she also had strong sword skills. Of course, they didn’t get along very well.

“Ask who’s going to stand in the middle, Choi.”

In the current situation, if they started approaching, the spirit bull was very likely to dislike the one in front. Lee Han asked with the intention of respecting the leader.

“Tell him, shouldn’t the leader naturally stand in the middle? Deorgyu?”

Giselle answered with her middle finger. Deorgyu sighed.

“Rock, paper, scissors?”

“Rock, paper, scissors.”

Lee Han in the middle. Giselle on the right, Deorgyu on the left.

Deorgyu thought it was the first time he had seen Giselle smile so brightly.

Fortunately, the spirit bull didn’t charge at them even after they turned on the lights.

The three students’ strategy was simple. Each of them would scatter in three directions and approach until the spirit bull reacted. When it started to react, the targeted student would focus on evasion, and the other two students would inflict damage.

‘The problem is evasion.’

Originally, in this kind of hunt, the person who lured and evaded was important, while the person who stabbed was relatively comfortable. Lee Han regretted his lack of skill in not avoiding the middle.

The spirit bull, which had only been pawing its hooves until just now, let out a chilling sound while exhaling icy breath.

It was like the bull was telling them, with its icy breath and angry sound, to go away.

Instead of approaching further, Lee Han used magic.

“Spring forth, move!”

A water orb sprang forth in the air and flew straight towards the spirit bull. The spirit bull, which had been standing still, was startled and moved its body. The water orb that exploded on the floor burst open.

Plop! Plop!

“Amazing… wait a minute.”

Deorgyu, who had been marveling at the magical skill that could only be admired again and again, felt something was strange.

The direction in which Lee Han was firing the water orbs was somehow a bit odd. He was shooting downwards from above, and the result was as if he was driving the spirit bull to the right…?

‘That bastard is for real.’

Giselle drew her twin swords.

There was no way Giselle wouldn’t notice when Deorgyu had already noticed. In the first place, Giselle had also intended to drive the spirit bull towards Lee Han if it came her way.

Pop!

Giselle leaped diagonally backwards to the left. It was to turn the spirit bull’s attention, which had been focused on her, back to Lee Han.

Giselle had been close to the bull, but she knew Lee Han was the bigger threat. The bull seemed more interested in him.

She had come up with a clever plan, but it was ultimately digging her own grave.

The provoked spirit bull completely changed its angle and began to charge towards Lee Han and Giselle.

“I hide in the night!”

“…?!”

Lee Han’s figure disappeared. Giselle didn’t even have time to curse. She had to draw her twin swords and unfold the Violet Cloud Sword to face the spirit bull.

She lured the spirit bull’s attention by waving the sword in her right hand, and precisely aimed for the bull’s chin with the sword in her left hand. Giselle inflicted damage on the spirit bull, passing by it like a skilled matador.

‘Tch.’

Giselle clicked her tongue at the sensation she felt at her fingertips. The bull didn’t seem to take any damage at all, as if she had attacked the spirit part. Frost formed on the sword she was holding, but the part of the spirit bull that was attacked was instantly restored.

Screech-!

The spirit bull turned its direction, making an irritating noise. It was incredibly flexible and agile for its massive size.

Giselle tilted her head and waved her sword as if to say, ‘Come at me again.’

Wham!!!!

At that moment, the spirit bull flew sideways as if it had been hit by something. Lee Han dispelled his invisibility magic and revealed himself. The sturdy wooden sword he was holding had completely turned to dust.

“…”

“…”

Of course, it might sound like an excuse, but there was a reason why Lee Han drew the attention towards Giselle.

For Lee Han to make a proper attack, someone had to draw the spirit bull’s attention. There was no way Giselle would believe him even if he told her…

It was painful, but he had no choice but to show her the result.

“Is this okay, Lee Han?!”

“It’s fine! We won’t be in the same group after this class anyway!”

Lee Han answered cheerfully and chased after the bull in an invisible state.

“Feet, wrinkle the earth!”

Lee Han’s muttering transformed into a spell that enveloped his entire body. His vision, already sharpened by Concentration, became even clearer, and he could almost grasp the spirit bull’s movements.

Whirr!

It hadn’t been long since he broke his sword last time, but Lee Han mercilessly poured magic power into it. Thanks to the spirit bull’s attention being focused on Giselle, he was able to buy enough time.

Lee Han swung the sword at the spirit bull before it shattered. Of course, the sword shattered along with the attack.

Wham!!!!

Still, the effect was certain. The spirit bull flew sideways. Lee Han shook his hand, which was paralyzed by the impact, and shouted before the spirit bull could get up.

“Now’s the time! Let’s get out of here!”

“O-okay.”

Deorgyu couldn’t bring himself to look at Giselle’s expression. It was too scary.

The goat beastman, Anglago, looked at the exit with a worried expression. Anglago, who had entered and exited with Group 3 earlier, was very worried about Group 4.

“What if Wodanaz uses Deorgyu again?”

“Don’t worry. Moradi is there. Moradi will take care of it.”

“I guess so? Because Moradi is there.”

Everyone said that, but they still had worried expressions. It was like putting a wolf and a sheep in the same place!

As such, the students couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief when the three of them walked out from inside.

‘Thank goodness!’

“You came out, Deorgyu!”

“Moradi, you worked hard!”

“…”

“…”

“…???”

However, the friends who came out realized that the atmosphere of Group 4 was a bit strange.

Wodanaz was originally an expressionless, cold guy, but even Deorgyu had a very awkward expression and didn’t know what to do. Besides, Moradi… For some reason, she felt a murderous aura as if she would kill anyone who spoke to her.

Anglago was too scared to say anything.

“Ah. Anglago.”

“Deorgyu! Did you dodge well?”

“Yeah. I dodged well. How did you guys solve it?”

Deorgyu asked as if he was curious. No matter how he thought about it, he didn’t think the other group students would have solved it in the same way as Lee Han.

“We picked up a torch hanging in the corner, threw it, and ran away while it hated it.”

“We summoned flames, threw them at it, and ran like crazy.”

“Wow. You guys are smart. We didn’t have the ability to do that, so we barely found the exit while luring the bull one by one.”

The students from each group boasted about their exploits. Some groups solved it wisely by using their brains, and some groups solved it by using their bodies in a brute force manner.

Deorgyu’s expression hardened each time he heard the stories.

‘Come to think of it, they told us to face it and go out to the exit, but they didn’t tell us to defeat it, did they?’

Professor Inguldel didn’t say a word about defeating it, but Lee Han and Giselle were talking about how to catch it, so Deorgyu was swept away by the atmosphere.

The groups that entered next came out one by one. Some students came out with ice all over their cloaks or clothes, looking tearful.

“Everyone did a great job. They told you to face it and go out to the exit, but there was even a group that went as far as subduing it. I didn’t originally send you in to do that, but you subdued it so wonderfully that I can only give you praise.”

The students buzzed at Professor Inguldel’s words. Some students tried to ask Giselle, ‘Giselle, was that you?’, but Giselle looked so disgusted that they just backed away.

“How did it feel to face a monster?”

“It was stronger than I thought. Its movements were also fast.”

“I didn’t expect the attacks wouldn’t work at all.”

The White Tiger Tower students shared their thoughts as they came to mind. The elf professor nodded and replied.

“Everyone must have felt that way.”

Deorgyu listened to the professor’s words and wondered where his group had gone wrong.

“Everyone must have felt different things. But you must have realized one thing while avoiding the monster. That there’s no need to be so afraid.”

“That’s right!”

The White Tiger Tower students agreed. Even if it was just running away, they felt less fear than they thought after meeting and facing the monster directly. In order to eliminate fear, you have to face it directly.

“Facing monsters is ultimately the same as swordsmanship. Calmly, figure out what kind of creature the opponent is, and if you can’t win, think about how to escape. I’m glad that you all seem to have gained a lesson today that I can’t teach with words.”

Deorgyu agreed with the professor’s words. Of course, Deorgyu’s group just beat it up…

“Oh, and this semester’s classes will proceed with the groups we drew today. The balance is surprisingly good.”

Deorgyu nodded and listened, then froze. Then he looked at Lee Han and Giselle. Their expressions were frozen similarly to Deorgyu’s. Lee Han asked Deorgyu in a small voice.

“Um. Do you think it’s a good idea to apologize for what happened earlier?”

“…I think it’s better to just have me between you two…”