Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 747

Lee Han, completely focused on his own problem, didn’t notice the worry lines etched on Dirette’s face. “Senior,” he began, “I need to ask about magic development and 5th Circle spells.”

He quickly explained what had happened earlier that day. “The Headmaster’s crazy double told me I have to master 5th Circle magic, and then, out of nowhere, ordered me to create a telekinetic shield spell.”

Lee Han paused, waiting for Dirette to understand his confusion. A telekinetic shield *could* be a 5th Circle spell, sure. But coming from a Grand Mage, even a crazy doppelganger, it felt like there had to be a deeper reason. Why *this* spell? Why not any of the other powerful 5th Circle spells?

Dirette blinked, pulled back from his own thoughts. “You cast a telekinetic shield… without saying the words?” he asked, his voice a little shaky.

“Senior,” Lee Han said, a little impatiently, “isn’t *that* beside the point? If I don’t figure this out in a day, I’m in serious trouble!”

“…O-okay,” Dirette stammered, almost forgetting his own worries. He nearly snapped, ‘What *is* important then?’ but Lee Han’s anxious tone stopped him.

*He’s right,* Dirette thought, pushing his own problems aside for a moment. His second-year junior had cast a telekinetic shield without incantation, even though he hadn’t learned it properly. That was… incredible.

*I need to ask him about that later,* Dirette thought, quickly scribbling a note on a piece of parchment. No matter how he looked at it, it was astonishing.

“I think I know what the crazy doppelganger is thinking.”

“Really?!”

Lee Han was surprised that Dirette answered immediately. ‘Are they more like Grand Mages than students from the 5th year onwards?!’

“Generally, the difficulty goes up a lot from 5th Circle magic. You also start to enter the microcosm from here… Junior, do you know about the Magic Parrot?”

“What’s that? Is it a rare animal?”

“Hmm, you haven’t heard of it yet.”

The Magic Parrot was something the Skull Headmaster often talked about around the 3rd year.

“Are you a Magic Parrot, not a mage?! You have to think for yourself and use magic. If you can only memorize the magic you’ve learned like a parrot, you’re not qualified to be a mage!”

‘It wasn’t a rare animal.’

Lee Han was a little disappointed inside at Dirette’s explanation. He wondered if there was a parrot that helped with magic…

“Below the 4th Circle, you can just learn and use memorized magic. But from the 5th Circle onwards, you slowly… have to understand it.”

“I don’t understand, Senior. Isn’t understanding necessary for magic below the 4th Circle as well?”

“Yes, that’s right. But that understanding is not the full picture, Junior. Why can’t a mage who has mastered Fire Arrow use Fire Spear? Or Fire Shield, Fire Whip, or Fire Wall?”

Lee Han was amazed by Dirette’s words.

He was right indeed.

Since the basic ideas were similar, the mage should have been able to use Fire Spear the moment they mastered Fire Arrow.

But Lee Han and his friends couldn’t do that.

Why?

“In the end, even if you understand some parts, you don’t completely understand the whole thing. The Headmaster calls the understanding needed for that ‘sudden enlightenment’… but that’s not important. Anyway, if you have a complete understanding like this, you can cast magic almost as you wish, but only in a very limited area. Like I said before, you can use Fire Shield or other spells right away, even if you haven’t learned or studied them.”

‘Microcosm!’

Lee Han remembered what the Skull Headmaster had said.

Wasn’t he pushing people so hard to master 5th Circle magic so they could master the microcosm?

Listening to Dirette’s words, he felt like he knew why the two were connected.

To master 5th Circle magic, you need a much deeper understanding than before, and that understanding becomes the base for the microcosm.

How much understanding would you need to change the world to your will?

“So, you need to master 5th Circle magic to even start microcosm magic!”

“Junior, you’re right… but the microcosm isn’t important right now. Your life is in danger, why are you thinking about other magic?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Lee Han apologized at Dirette’s words.

He realized that the microcosm wasn’t very important right now.

“So, Junior, what area do you think is easiest to understand in that way?”

“I think it’s changing the shape of water or lightning. I’ve tried all sorts of things with water, and I still need to work on lightning, but…”

“Actually, I was going to say telekinesis.”

Dirette was a little embarrassed at Lee Han’s answer.

In fact, Dirette’s or the crazy doppelganger’s idea wasn’t wrong.

First of all, telekinesis was good for Lee Han, who had a lot of mana.

It used the most pure mana of all the elements.

That’s why mages used magic in other ways instead of using complex telekinesis magic.

Also, since it had to be cast only with the mage’s mind without using the power of other elements in nature, it was hard and used a lot of mana.

But for some people, these bad things about telekinesis could be good things.

If you’re a mage who doesn’t control it carefully but uses a lot of mana and keeps going…

If you can unconsciously make a telekinetic shield, you’re already pretty good at it.

‘It seems like it’s because he worked so hard last year.’

Dirette remembered the magic training Lee Han had last year.

He thought that the training of a certain professor, who only had one student, had helped him get good at it.

“Telekinesis, you say?”

“You cast it right away without saying the words.”

“Ah, right. Actually, was I better at telekinesis than water or lightning?”

“…Maybe…”

Telekinesis wasn’t something you were naturally good at like water or lightning, but Dirette agreed to support Lee Han.

“Anyway, Junior, making a telekinetic shield spell like that seems to mean you understand telekinesis well.”

The telekinetic magic Lee Han used now was only Lower Manipulation.

But what if he studied the shield magic he used without thinking this time and completely understood the area related to that magic, even if it was small?

It was like mastering ten or so magic spells below that, not just one 5th Circle magic.

“I understand, Senior. Then what I need to understand here is…”

“First of all… no incantation. You have to be able to cast telekinesis without saying the words.”

“No incantation…”

“And compression.”

“Compression?”

“It’s not just about using mana and focus to summon telekinesis, but about making it stronger by layering telekinesis. That’s how you make it more powerful.”

To make telekinesis have a certain weight or impact, you had to understand compression.

It wasn’t a completely new idea, since he had studied rotation a lot when learning water.

“Compression… But Senior, how do you know compression is part of my shield magic?”

“Compression is needed to block that much attack with just telekinesis. Next is changing the shape. You know that, right?”

“Yes.”

“Multiple manipulation.”

“Why multiple manipulation?”

“You cast it right away. You can’t do that if you have to focus on just one shield. You have to be able to split your focus and do other things while summoning the shield.”

“Multiple manipulation…”

Lee Han cursed himself while thinking.

Why did he use such complex magic without thinking when he could have just been hit?

‘Still, it’s good that I’ve done some of these things before.’

After that, Dirette helped him with a few more things.

“…That’s about it, Junior.”

“Yes?”

“No, never mind. You’ll be able to do it. Ask me if you need anything.”

“Thank you. I’ll do it.”

Dirette closed the artifact and got ready to send a paper bird to Yukbeltire.

He didn’t think it was possible to do this in one day.

Falcreus of the Kitchen Club was climbing the mountain with his juniors.

Falcreus, who usually smiled a lot, was frowning today, just looking at distant places.

“Something’s not right.”

“What’s wrong, Senior?”

“Magic is everywhere.”

Even though they weren’t close yet, they could feel the strong magic from several mountain peaks.

This wasn’t something a giant or a mountain-destroying sheep could do.

It was clear that someone much stronger had come to Einrogard.

“…I think I heard a rumor like this.”

“What rumor?”

“The Headmaster’s crazy double is wandering around Einrogard.”

“Hmm!”

Falcreus thought with a careful face.

There were many rumors in Einrogard, but sometimes some rumors were true.

And the magic from those mountain peaks made the rumor he just heard seem true.

“It’s not, is it?”

“Heh heh. It’s not the Headmaster’s crazy double. It’s just a monster from another dimension.”

“Phew. If it’s just that…”

The Kitchen Club students were a little relieved.

Monsters from other dimensions were scary, but they were better than the Skull Headmaster’s crazy double.

‘I need to save him quickly.’

Falcreus thought to himself.

If it was really the crazy double, he had to save him soon.

The other juniors were excited now, but he didn’t know if they would run away after seeing the crazy double.

…But what was Wodanaz doing to get kidnapped by the Headmaster’s crazy double?

“What are students doing here?”

“!!!”

The Kitchen Club students were scared by the voice from above.

Not many people could talk to them like that.

“It’s a giant!”

“Ikurusha, we don’t want to steal sheep, milk, or cheese. We brought gifts, so please forgive us!”

Falcreus, like a good senior, quickly gave the gifts and moved away with his juniors.

Ikurusha talked the most of the giants, but a giant was still a giant.

If he was in a bad mood or got angry, they had to run away.

“Gifts… hmm… not bad. Students don’t come here often. What’s going on?”

“A junior got lost, so we’re looking for him.”

“Oh dear.”

Ikurusha made a loud clicking sound with his tongue.

“I hope you find him. I’ll take the gift.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Senior, can’t we ask if he’s seen Wodanaz?”

“No, we might make him angry if we bother him.”

“Wodanaz?”

“!”

Falcreus got tense.

Ikurusha, who was about to leave, stopped and looked interested.

“Is there a problem, Ikurusha?”

“I think I heard Wodanaz.”

“He’s a lost junior.”

“Is that true?!”

Ikurusha was surprised.

And the Kitchen Club members were also surprised.

‘Why is he like that?’

‘I don’t know…’

“Yes. Can I go look for him now?”

“No, wait.”

“……”

Falcreus wondered if he should fight the giant.

The atmosphere was strange.

Pooooooo-

Ikurusha blew a long blast on the trumpet around his neck.

Then, with a sound that shook the heavens, giants came from far away, bringing mountain-destroying sheep.

“……”

“……”

The Kitchen Club members were about to faint from fear. Falcreus was confused because he didn’t understand.

‘Are the giants having a party?’

“That human boy is gone.”

“Wodanaz! Wodanaz is lost in the mountains!!”

“We have to save him quickly! He might starve!”

“He wouldn’t… no, he might. Yes. He might starve, so find him quickly.”

Tears came to the giants’ eyes at Ikurusha’s words.

“Let’s find him quickly!”

“You wizard! Help!”

“Yes? Yes! Yes!!”