Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 716

Everyone at Einroguard knew about Professor Verdus’s ‘Sentinels’. They looked like simple dolls made of wood or scrap metal, roughly put together. But these dolls were surprisingly strong fighters, not just weak golems.

They weren’t magically powerful beyond belief, of course. Professor Verdus made them from bits and pieces he had left over, using his magic to bring them to life. He knew the materials weren’t great. But with his magic, he made them as strong as they could possibly be.

-Fire element! It’s a fire-element immune Sentinel! And I came prepared with fire magic!!

-Retreat! Retreat!

-Another Sentinel appeared in the rear! Type is… area-of-effect curse! A curse Sentinel!!

-That crazy professor really needs to stop!

Professor Verdus knew his materials were not the best. So, he didn’t make Sentinels that could do everything. Instead, he focused on making each one good at one thing. Other Sentinels could make up for what was missing.

He created Sentinels that couldn’t be hurt by fire, Sentinels with shields that bounced back magic, and, because he thought it was funny, Sentinels that released poisonous fog, and even Sentinels that would explode if you touched them and stun you until you were sent to detention…

These Sentinels worked together to create problems for the students.

Usually, wizards are good at changing their plans quickly. But Professor Verdus’s Sentinels made it hard to do that.

The Sentinel that Sebius had just seen was a magic-absorbing Sentinel, one of the most annoying ones.

It was a nasty enemy that eagerly swallowed most spells.

If you got caught, your magic would just disappear.

To beat it, you had to run away first, then draw magic on the ground and trick it…?

“Swords? You’re using a sword?” Sebius asked, surprised.

Ihan just shrugged. “Is that against the rules?”

Sebius waved his hand. “No, no, it’s just… unexpected!”

Sebius asked, trying to sound casual, “Did you… uh… take sword fighting lessons or something?”

He wasn’t sure his joke landed well, but as the older student, he felt responsible for easing the tension.

“How did you know?”

Right, let’s go! Sebius said, shaking off his surprise.

“Professor Verdus’s Sentinels are connected, so if you destroy one, the others will come. If we have to fight, we need to finish it fast and move on.”

“Is that one coming?”

“Yes. It’s already here.”

Sebius narrowed his eyes, staring at the creaking tin doll coming out of the pile of junk in the distance.

“That one… Ha. Just my luck to run into a tough one today. It has a cutting defense coating and a projectile deflection device.”

It could stop most cutting attacks and bounce back spells, making it hard to fight up close or from far away.

Sebius thought about the path they took, his map, and where they were now.

‘If we turn left and go east-west…’

“Gather, rotate!”

Sebius was very surprised when Ihan cast a spell while he was still trying to figure out how to escape.

“It deflects projectiles! Don’t waste magic…!”

A wizard wasn’t someone who could create something from nothing. Instead, they had to be careful and use their limited magic wisely.

So, he thought his junior was being reckless.

To waste magic like that right away….

A heavy ball of water spun around and flew forward. The Sentinel’s device twisted the water ball, making it go sideways.

But Ihan didn’t stop. He made another water ball.

Making and firing.

Making and firing.

‘Barrage!’

Sebius was shocked when he realized what his junior was doing.

The Sentinel was defending itself by twisting the spells that came at it.

So, what if spells were fired from every direction at once?

The water balls would hit each other, bounce around, and fly in all directions.

It was a very smart idea, especially since he had just thought of it.

…It was also a crazy idea!

Crack!

Finally, one of the water balls that had been deflected hit the Sentinel and broke it. Sebius, instead of being impressed, asked his junior:

“Are you alright? That was a lot of magic!”

Ihan grinned. “Don’t worry, I’m good.”

“…You didn’t, by any chance, take down the Rock Drake head-on like this, did you?”

He had always thought it was defeated with tricks and traps, but now he wasn’t so sure.

He wondered if this guy had just fought it with magic.

The junior asked hesitantly.

“If I take it down head-on, does that mean I can’t join the club?”

“……”

Maybe running into the Sentinel at the start was a good thing, because the next part was easier.

“>Wizard, do not repay the gold coins you were invested in>. Here it is.”

Sebius found a book in the third warehouse and picked it up.

It was damp and smelled bad, probably because it was a warehouse for thick, slimy ingredients.

“Why would Professor Verdus put a book here?”

“We’ll never know what’s going on in the professor’s head. Let’s go.”

Ihan said, sounding surprised, “I never thought I’d say this, but I liked the last warehouse better.”

He missed the junk warehouse where Sentinels attacked and the flooded warehouse where they had to swim.

“The next warehouse will probably be fine. As far as I know, there are no Sentinels or any traps, so it’s a pretty normal warehouse.”

Professor Verdus’s warehouses were connected.

Students would use these connections to open the doors of warehouses that weren’t well guarded and move to other warehouses. Ihan and Sebius were doing the same thing.

But this plan wasn’t perfect. If you wanted to go to Warehouse A, you had to go through Warehouses B, C, and D, but there was no promise that those warehouses would be safe.

The warehouses they had just gone through were good examples of strange warehouses.

‘Is there really a normal warehouse?’

Ihan looked at Sebius, a little suspicious.

A normal warehouse in Professor Verdus’s collection of warehouses.

Was that really…

Creak-

The door opened, showing a new warehouse.

It looked like a café or coffee house in a big city.

There were chairs and tables, things were organized, and there were no enemies…

“Isn’t this a trap?”

“…I thought the same thing when I first came here. This is a warehouse that Professor Verdus forgot about, but students come here sometimes. That’s why it’s pretty normal. Let’s take a break.”

Sebius pulled up a chair and gave it to his junior, then sat down and drank a magic recovery potion while looking at the map.

They still had to go through many warehouses to find the rest of the books.

“Don’t you need a recovery potion?”

“I’m fine. Please, take it, senior.”

Ihan refused, feeling happy inside.

He thought, ‘The senior must think I’m a thoughtful junior who takes care of him!’

‘Is this guy a monster?’

Sebius stared at Ihan, speechless.

He used that much magic and didn’t even need a recovery potion.

Not everyone could take courses from all the different schools.

“We’ll go into the Poison Mushroom Warehouse, use the path to the Hell Swamp Warehouse, and then go to the 2nd basement floor of the Sacred Hall. The Metal Warehouse is too dangerous, so we won’t go there.”

“What are these places marked with an X?”

“Places where we couldn’t find a way in. Professor Verdus has forgotten about many warehouses, but there are also many that he hasn’t forgotten.”

It was a sad truth, but the students weren’t really stealing Professor Verdus’s things.

They could only take things that Professor Verdus had forgotten or didn’t care about. It was almost impossible to get into places that Professor Verdus had locked up on purpose.

So, the students were always eager to try.

-I swear, before I graduate, I will break into the warehouse that Professor Verdus has blocked off! I’ll find out what’s inside!

-Wait, if you can’t break into it, are you going to stay for another year?

-…Do you want to die?

“These places are useless as paths. Even though there seem to be many warehouses on this map, they are only a small part of all the warehouses.”

“……”

Ihan was surprised to see Sebius looking disappointed.

He couldn’t believe his senior was still upset, even after finding so many books. He couldn’t imagine how many warehouses Professor Verdus had built.

‘How many warehouses did this person… build and forget?’

“If you ever find out how to get into these places, try raiding them with the club members.”

Ihan said excitedly, “Let’s raid those hidden warehouses together!”

Sebius sighed, but smiled a little. “I’m graduating this year, you know. Don’t call me ‘brat’.”

‘It was this year.’

Ihan grumbled to himself.

Sebius was a 4th year, so he was a little sensitive about it.

“>Wizard, do not repay the gold coins you were invested in>, >Introduction to Imperial Investment Law>, >Genius Enchantment Wizard Who Received a Hundred Investments>, >Imperial Artifact Trend Overview>, >Imperial Material Encyclopedia>…”

Sebius muttered, looking worried.

Thanks to their quick trip, he had found all the other books, but he couldn’t find >General Gemology>.

When he took out the silver bookmark, it spun around and pointed in a direction. It was pointing to a warehouse that Sebius had never been in.

“…It seems to be in another warehouse.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Let’s give up and go back. We’ve already gotten enough today.”

When moving things, greed was the biggest danger.

He wanted to get the last book, but Sebius decided to go back instead of risking his junior getting detention.

“Can’t we try to find a way in?”

“It’s not something we can figure out by thinking hard. If you don’t believe me, go and check.”

The bookmark was pointing to the warehouse that Sebius had tried to enter many times but couldn’t.

The door was so strong and complicated that it couldn’t be opened easily.

Magic moved and changed as if it were alive, and it was ready to break and fix itself no matter what hit it.

Sebius was annoyed, but he didn’t think he could break through something like that.

Tap tap tap-

The junior stood in front of the warehouse, waved his wand, and knocked on the door a few times. But the door didn’t move.

Sebius smiled a little when he saw that.

These kinds of problems were what made thieves frustrated and helped them get better.

That junior from the Wodanaz family was much more talented than Sebius.

Since he was already so good in his second year, if he became a 3rd or 4th year, he might be able to break into Professor Verdus’s vault.

‘I’ll graduate and won’t see it. That’s too bad.’

“Senior!”

“What is it?”

“I opened it!”

Sebius shouted in disbelief, his voice full of shock, “What?! How?! Don’t tell me you used brute force…?!”

The junior looked a little embarrassed and said,

“Come to think of it, I had the key to this warehouse.”

“……”

‘Just what is this guy???’