Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 758

“Still, I’d like to catch up on the lectures I missed.”

“Which lecture is that?”

“Uh… >Prophecies Ripe for Madness>.”

“Hmm? That’s a third-year class, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is.”

Lee Han replied to his senior’s question, sounding a little annoyed.

“Even if you’re taking courses from every department, there’s no need to rush into prophecy magic,” the senior advised before asking, “What kind of divination have you learned, by the way?”

“Last year, I mainly used stone divination.”

‘It seems like it’ll be hard to keep up…’

Prophecy wizards use divination to protect themselves.

Peeking into the future puts a huge strain on a wizard.

Divination protects the wizard’s mind by breaking the future into uncertain, symbolic pieces.

It protects them by looking at small parts of the future, instead of seeing the whole thing directly.

Of course, there are downsides. It’s less accurate, and it’s harder for the wizard to understand.

The stone divination that the first-year students practiced last year was a simple way to answer easy questions. Even then, many students had less accurate predictions or felt bad effects afterwards.

The senior doubted that a junior who had only learned stone divination could handle >Prophecies Ripe for Madness>.

“Senior, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, ask me.”

“…Why are you in the form of a golem?” Lee Han couldn’t help but ask. He was very curious. He tried to be polite, but he had to know.

Even though Einroguard was known to have all sorts of rare races, he had never seen a bronze golem race before.

He had planned to stay quiet, since his senior was acting like it was normal, but he couldn’t hold back any longer.

“It’s because of a side effect of prophecy magic.”

“Is there a spell in prophecy magic that makes you become a bronze golem as a price?!”

“Not exactly. I have to pay a price for looking into the future. If I take it head-on in my normal body, I could die. It’s better to be a bronze golem for a while.”

“…Ah, I understand.”

Lee Han could see why the prophecy magic department had so few people, like the dark magic department.

No matter how confident the seniors were, they wouldn’t want to become bronze golems or go crazy.

“Bronze Golem Sen… I mean, Senior, what’s your name?”

“Ah. I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“This week is an unlucky week to introduce myself.”

Lee Han decided he would just have to call the other person Bronze Golem Senior.

He was afraid that knowing the name would make them too close.

“Golem Senior, can you at least tell me about the lecture content?”

“Of course. I honestly doubt it will be okay, but since the professor let you listen…” The Golem Senior gestured for him to come in with creaking bronze fingers.

Just as Lee Han was about to step forward, the senior quickly stopped him.

“Wait.”

“What is it?”

“Could you step in with your right foot first? For the next three days, you’ll have good luck if you step with your right foot first.”

“Okay.”

Lee Han accepted it without surprise.

He wasn’t surprised by one more crazy senior at this point.

As he followed behind, stepping with his right foot first (the Golem Senior whistled sideways once every five steps), Lee Han cautiously asked, “Can you explain a little more about… that… strange… no… anyway, these actions?”

“It’s not hard to explain.”

The Golem Senior explained kindly to the few juniors.

The wizards in the prophecy magic department try to read the uncertain future as accurately as possible with different divinations. At the same time, they also think about how to use that future in the best way.

One way is to ‘avoid bad futures and move towards good ones.’

“Is that possible? The more you see the future, the more you have to pay…”

“We don’t see the future directly. We just find out the restrictions. Actions that avoid bad luck and bring good luck.”

The Golem Senior was a great prophecy wizard.

To find out which actions brought good luck and avoided bad luck, they used three types of divination and five types of magic every week.

‘Amazing.’

Lee Han was amazed by the senior’s magic theory.

He knew that prophecy magic was strange among the magic departments of the Empire, but he didn’t know that something like this was possible.

“How well does it work?”

“I didn’t find many lucky actions this week, so it’s not great, but…” The Golem Senior rummaged in their pocket, found dice, and threw them. They rolled a 6 five times in a row, and then a different number came up on the last roll.

“Oh dear. It would have been better last week.”

“Wow!” Lee Han was startled. The luck was much stronger than he had thought.

Crack!

At that moment, the ceiling of the workshop fell apart, and a brick was about to hit the Golem Senior’s head.

Waving his wand without thinking, Lee Han used telekinesis to push the brick away.

“Are you alright?!”

“How did you do that…? More importantly, get out of the way!”

“Huh?”

As soon as they said that, a spirit whirlwind happened inside the workshop, and a strong wind pulled the brick back.

The brick hit the Golem Senior’s head.

Clang!

“Ugh. I guess I didn’t put enough restrictions on luck this week.”

“What was that just now?!”

“Luck and misfortune are like two sides of the same coin. If you use luck, misfortune will come. Don’t worry about it. That’s why I became a golem in preparation for this. Here. This is the lecture content from this week’s >Prophecies Ripe for Madness>.”

The Golem Senior waved their wand and pulled out this week’s lecture content from a book.

>Prophecies Ripe for Madness> will cover complex and powerful divinations beyond simple ones… (omitted)… The divinations that a prophecy wizard can try are:

Spirit Gold Coin Divination: Throw five gold coins that have been prepared in a special way and give the gold coins that land heads up to the spirit you summoned. The more gold coins you offer, the more accurate the spirit’s prophecy will be…

‘That sounds terrible and cruel.’

Five Demons Divination: Summon the demons that live in the future and write down five prophecies. If you can’t find the two false prophecies, you will be cursed with bad luck…

‘Oh. This one is much better.’

The Golem Senior, feeling worried about the junior who was taking notes, said, “This isn’t about practicing or learning these all at once. It’s just about learning that these advanced divinations exist. There’s no need to rush. Understand?”

“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”

“Don’t practice alone. Practice in this Heo Suk Hall (虛宿館). Now that we’re talking about it, would you like to try one now?” The Golem Senior didn’t trust the junior.

If they were so eager for magic and knowledge that they were taking courses from every department, they might go back to their room and try those divinations one by one.

Lee Han, who had no plans to practice alone, thought, ‘As expected of a senior from Einroguard, they’re harsh.’

They told him not to overdo it, and then immediately made him practice.

You really couldn’t trust what the seniors of Einroguard said.

“I would like to practice the Five Demons Divination.”

“Hmm. Very well.” The Golem Senior was even more sure that the junior would cause trouble when they chose the demon divination instead of the gold coin divination.

Wizards were divided into two types: those who tried easy magic first and those who tried difficult magic first!

Unlike other departments, the prophecy magic department had a higher dropout rate for the second type. They had to watch him closely.

“Arrange the preparations and summon the demon that lives in the future. Summoning the demon is hard, so don’t rush. Understand?”

“Yes.”

Lee Han took out the ingredients one by one, as described in the book.

The death cap mushroom picked during the new moon, a bone from the demon world, writing the name of the future in red ink…

“At the cost of my misfortune, I seek five prophecies, tempting demon, come forth.”

“Try again slowly.”

The Golem Senior watched the junior’s movements, incantation, and use of magic, and thought that he would make fewer mistakes than expected.

They had been worried about whether he could keep up with the third-year lecture, but there was a reason why the professor had allowed him to listen.

“Senior, isn’t it summoned?”

“What?” The Golem Senior turned their head, their bronze joints creaking.

They were shocked to see the glittering mouth of a demon in the middle of the magic circle.

“?!?!”

This junior had summoned a demon in one try!

“Does he have any demon blood in his family tree??”

“Not that I know of.”

“Is the Wodanaz family involved with demons?”

“Uh… a little…?” Lee Han replied, wondering if capturing demons and using them as slaves counted as being deeply involved.

The Bronze Golem Senior was a little convinced by those words.

Wizards with demon blood or families with contact with demons were better at using related magic.

It was like wizards with spirit blood being better at spiritism.

…Still, summoning it in one try was amazing…

“I didn’t know you could summon it in one try. So that’s why you chose the demon divination? Clever, aren’t you?”

“Haha. Thanks.”

That wasn’t the reason, but Lee Han nodded because he wanted to make a good impression on his senior.

“I thought you were the type to rush into magic like the professor, since you took all the departments and even came back to listen to the lectures you missed.”

Lee Han cursed the Bronze Golem Senior in his mind.

They were rude, maybe because they had a cold metal heart.

“Then go slowly. Ask it to tell you the prophecies.”

“Tell me the prophecies.”

-You will face an ancient being…

“Isn’t that a lie?” The Golem Senior guessed.

Even in Einroguard, meeting an ancient being was rare.

-You shall not wander outside during the day or night…

“Hmm. That seems like a lie too.”

This was a restriction, but it was too harsh.

The Golem Senior looked suspicious.

Of course, they were also using restrictions to increase their luck and stop misfortune, but this was too much.

-You will trample on the wizards of other cradles…

“Isn’t this a lie?” Lee Han asked.

The Golem Senior shook their head.

“The most likely of the three so far. ‘Cradle’ must mean other magic schools. You’ll run into them often enough.”

“Aside from meeting them, why would I trample on those people…”

“That’s just how wizards are. Be quiet. You’ll miss the prophecy.”

-You will be addicted to the Stele Mountain…

-A spirit will tempt you…

“I think it’s the first and second.”

“I think the fourth and fifth are false!”

“?!”

-Too bad… I will await your arrogance and ruin…

The demon disappeared, sounding disappointed.

The Golem Senior blinked, amazed by the junior’s talent.

‘The professor didn’t just leave him behind because they were annoyed!’

When Professor Facellette left a note saying, ‘The student can follow the progress well enough without having to ask about the missed content,’ they thought they had just left it because they were annoyed, but it was true.

“Senior, I want to learn about ways to change the future that came out in the prophecy!”

“Oh dear. Don’t rush. The more you rush, the more dangerous it becomes.”

“I think it’s more dangerous to stay still right now…”