Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 744

“Haha! I’ll pick first, Senior!”

The music magic students lined up, ready for the lottery.

“Oh!”

“What’s wrong?”

“You’re lucky! It’s a pan flute piece. Since there are no words, it should be easier to play.”

The senior, thrilled with his instrument-related piece, beamed with joy.

The next senior happily drew a trumpet piece.

‘Huh?’ Lee Han thought, a bit puzzled.

It seemed strange that everyone was drawing pieces that suited them so well.

Focusing his senses, he felt a complex flow of magic inside the lottery box.

“Ileg Senior, maybe this box…”

“Shhh,” Ileg said, raising a finger for silence. Lee Han immediately stopped talking.

The senior, a bear beastman with glasses, squinted and said.

“As expected, you have talent to notice this. Yes. This isn’t an ordinary lottery.”

This box used magic like Yukbertire’s Calendarium.

As fifth-year students, Ileg borrowed magic from Yukbertire to make a simple lottery box.

He couldn’t do everything the Calendarium could, but this magic was enough to make a special lottery box.

“Shouldn’t we tell the seniors what this box really is?”

“No. It’ll feel much better for them to think they drew it with their own luck.”

“!”

Lee Han was impressed by Ileg’s thoughtfulness.

He had even prepared this lie to give the other students a sense of accomplishment.

‘Why does the Phoenix Tower have a fifth-year like this?’

The fifth-year students of the Black Tortoise Tower and the Phoenix Tower were respectable people who could teach most professors.

Lee Han’s tower’s fifth-year student was like Professor Verdus’s disciple…

‘I hope the fifth-year of the White Tiger Tower has a terrible personality.’

Lee Han stood in front of the box with these thoughts.

-Refuge in the Shadow Fortress, Violin

‘Another dark element?’

Lee Han looked at Ipadur, who explained the song as if he had been waiting.

“’Refuge in the Shadow Fortress’ is a famous piece. Lee Han, you’ve drawn a good piece.”

“Is it a dark element enhancement piece?”

“I don’t think so. The ‘Shadow Fortress’ here is like a symbol. It’s not really a place for wizards who use shadow magic.”

Ipadur explained the origin of the piece.

“Refuge in the Shadow Fortress” was based on an old story about a young prince, a brilliant wizard, who ran to a fortress to escape death.

The young prince used tricks to change the fortress, and in the end, death didn’t dare to enter and left…

“…Why does that suit me?

“Well, because it’s a violin piece?”

Lee Han took the sheet music, a little disappointed.

Anything was good as long as he could play it, but he wanted a more useful score.

‘I wanted something like luck or intelligence.’

He couldn’t guess why this sheet music was chosen.

Was it to prepare for a dangerous second year?

“Everyone, read the sheet music carefully. We’ll meet during class next week.”

“Yes!” The students nodded and stood up.

They had gathered separately today because of the special nature of music magic.

“See you next week.”

“Wait, Lee Han.” Ileg stopped him.

Lee Han paused, feeling nervous even though he had done nothing wrong.

“What’s the matter?”

“Don’t come to music magic class next week. Get some rest. You worked hard today.”

“…Senior…!”

Even though the night was dark, Lee Han walked with a warm heart because of Ileg’s words.

‘There’s someone like this in the world.’

He felt bad for complaining while preparing for music magic.

Lee Han decided to support Senior Ileg from now on.

δόξαβασιλείας…

“!”

A humming sound came from somewhere.

Screams, shouts, and spells were common in Einroguard. Lee Han didn’t stop at every noise anymore.

But this sound was different.

‘Word Spirit Magic!’

The presence in the voice was shaking reality.

Only Word Spirit Magic could do this.

Only one person in this school would be humming Word Spirit Magic in the middle of the night.

“…Headmaster?”

No answer came.

Lee Han quickly drew his wand, used the magic in his bracelet, and began to cast enhancement magic.

Despite his quick movements, his instincts screamed.

His sense of magic told him how powerful the opponent was.

Pop!

The skeleton headmaster walked out of the bushes, as if taking a walk.

But Lee Han knew this skeleton headmaster was different.

The usual skeleton headmaster was unpredictable, but this one felt inhumanly cold.

“Is it you?”

“Who are you?”

Instead of answering, the headmaster waved his hand.

The mist and his ice shield broke apart with one wave of the hand. Something unseen and powerful hit the ground where Lee Han stood.

**BOOM!** Lee Han’s magic sense warned him just a moment before. He jumped back, just in time to escape the blast.

‘Whoa!’ Lee Han thought, shocked. ‘That was powerful! And it looked so easy for him.’ Cold sweat ran down his back.

Lee Han used his magic to try and see what his enemy would do next. But the strange copy of Headmaster Skull just stared blankly. He seemed calm, not worried at all, unlike Lee Han who was ready to fight.

“I came because I heard music magic,” the doppelganger said, his voice flat. “But it was terrible! It hurt my ears. You have wasted the royal family’s time. What will you do to make up for this?”

‘This guy *is* crazy!’ Lee Han thought. Now he understood why they called it a ‘mad’ copy. ‘He heard music and rushed over, just to complain? Even Headmaster Skull himself isn’t this rude!’

“Music magic? I don’t know anything about that,” Lee Han said, pretending to be confused. He thought, ‘What can he do if I say I didn’t use it?’

But he was wrong. Madness is hard to guess.

**BOOM!** Another blast of invisible force shot towards him.

Even though Lee Han was using his magic to see the future, he couldn’t see *this* attack coming! He realized the doppelganger had seen his magic and was using it too!

When two wizards try to predict each other, it becomes almost impossible to know what will happen.

If Lee Han hadn’t used all his magic to block it just as it hit, he would have been defeated instantly.

“Oof!” Lee Han grunted as he blocked the attack. He was glad he’d trained with swords last year. ‘If I only knew magic,’ he thought, ‘that attack would have hit me for sure! I need to make my future-seeing magic stronger, so I can see further ahead!’

Lee Han stumbled back, thinking fast. He had to find a way to escape, even if the doppelganger made a small mistake. ‘My future-seeing magic only works for a second,’ he thought. ‘I need to make it last longer, just for a moment, to confuse him.’

‘Using future-seeing magic takes a lot of energy. He only used it for a moment to block me. He can’t keep it up for long. I just need a chance…’

“You can see the future pretty well,” the doppelganger said suddenly.

And just like that, Lee Han’s future-seeing magic stopped working.

Lee Han understood. The doppelganger had seen the future first and blocked all the paths Lee Han could take. Lee Han’s magic, coming later, was useless.

‘I know what he’ll do next!’ Lee Han thought.

He pushed all his magic power into his future-seeing ability. For a brief moment, he could see further ahead.

The doppelganger’s eyes narrowed. He realized Lee Han was getting away.

“Darkness, take him!” the doppelganger shouted.

Lee Han threw out blasts of dark magic, then made a copy of himself out of ice to distract the doppelganger and give himself space.

**Rumble-** The ground around them suddenly turned into tall stone walls. Lee Han trusted his magic and used a spell to break through the rocks.

But as he made a hole, the outside of the wall turned into quicksand! Before he could move, the sand rose up, trying to trap him.

Luckily, Lee Han had a speed-boosting spell ready.

Using this magic, he shot power into his feet and jumped high into the air, using the air itself to push off from.

He finally escaped the stone walls, but then he froze in fear. The mad doppelganger was standing right in front of him.

It was like he had teleported. Lee Han hadn’t even seen him move.

“Your music magic was awful and made me angry,” the doppelganger said. “But your other magic is… acceptable. Good. I will make you my student.”

“What?” Lee Han asked, confused.

**BOOM!** The mad doppelganger got angry because Lee Han, his new student, was being disrespectful. He attacked again.

Asking a question when told to be a student, lying about the music, not showing respect… No matter what family he came from, this was very bad behavior.

Lee Han braced himself. This time, he didn’t fly backwards. He somehow managed to block the attack! The mad doppelganger looked surprised for the first time.

“That magic just now,” he said, “did you do it without thinking?”

Lee Han didn’t know what had happened.

He just knew he had to block the attack. He’d seen how powerful it was going to be, and somehow, his body had reacted on its own.

“That’s a good shield spell,” the doppelganger said. “Remember to practice it.”

“Th… Thank you,” Lee Han mumbled.

He was so confused by the doppelganger’s advice that he forgot he was in danger and just answered politely.

**Whoosh!** The mad doppelganger opened a doorway in the air. With a wave of his hand, he pushed Lee Han through it.

**Plop!** The doppelganger stepped through after him, and suddenly, the forest path in Einrogaard was empty.

It was so quiet, it was hard to believe a fight had just happened there.

“Sit down.”

Lee Han sat, trying to look calm, even though his heart was racing.

He looked around. He didn’t know where he was, but it looked like Einrogaard.

‘Mountains?’ he thought. ‘Just rocks and cliffs everywhere. No houses, no people, not even any animals.’

Lee Han’s eyes went to the ring on his finger. He thought about calling Headmaster Skull for help.

But the mad doppelganger spoke before he could even move.

Lee Han didn’t know how the doppelganger knew what he was thinking, but he felt sure that if he tried to use the ring now, it wouldn’t work.

“You’re probably wondering why the royal family chose someone like you to be my student,” the doppelganger said.

“Yes!” Lee Han replied quickly.

“It’s easy,” the doppelganger said. “I need someone to carry on my great name.”

“Can I… can I ask something?” Lee Han asked, nervously.

“Only if it’s important,” the doppelganger warned.

Lee Han knew he would be in trouble if he asked the wrong thing. He took a breath and asked anyway.

“Um… doesn’t the royal family already have lots of great students?”

“What rubbish are you talking about?” the doppelganger snapped. “I don’t have any.”

Lee Han was silent.

Now he understood. The doppelganger didn’t think Headmaster Skull’s students were real students at all.