Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 8

Families often don’t know what others say or think about them.

The Wodanaz family was very rich. Their mansion was bigger than most castles. Their land was as large as a small city.

Those who lived or worked there would hardly speak carelessly about the Wodanaz family…

“Is there something wrong with the Wodanaz family?”

“Ah… no, nothing at all. Absolutely no problem.”

Nilia took another step back.

“Whatever rumors you’ve heard, they’re all nonsense.”

Even though Lee Han spoke, Nilia stayed watchful. Yoner spoke reassuringly.

“It’s common for the noble families of the Empire to have ridiculous rumors attached to them. Nothing to worry about too much.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course, the Wodanaz family is a bit extreme, but…”

Nilia didn’t find that very comforting.

While the two were talking, Nilia seemed to have sorted out her thoughts and spoke in a determined voice.

“Right. There’s no reason for me to be scared just because it’s the Wodanaz family.”

“What rumors did you hear?”

Nilia hesitated, wondering if she should tell him or not. It felt awkward to say these rumors to someone from the Wodanaz family.

-The head of the Wodanaz family is actually a dragon. During the undead rampage in the western continent, it flew in and burned all the undead to ashes with its breath.

-The bloodline of the Wodanaz family received immense magical power in exchange for a contract with powerful ancient spirits, but they lost their emotions.

-Wodanaz family wizards have no blood or tears. A city disappeared because of the Wodanaz family wizards who appeared during the separatist riots in the Empire.

The image of the Wodanaz family was much more terrifying than Lee Han had imagined.

To the commoners of the Empire, they were seen as ‘ruthless magical monsters who don’t appear usually, but suddenly show up and wipe everything out when something happens.’

“If a big incident breaks out in the Empire, wouldn’t grand mages naturally have to come?”

“That’s right. Don’t worry about it too much.”

Lee Han looked a little hurt by the rumors. Yoner patted him on the shoulder, trying to comfort him. Nilia thought to herself at that reaction.

‘The rumor about losing emotions seems to be definitely false…?’

“Wait.”

” ? ”

“Something’s strange. Look here.”

Nilia pointed to the ground.

The hill was covered in grass, making it hard to see. But Nilia, with her sharp Dark Elf senses and training from the Shadow Patrol, spotted faint marks on the ground.

“See it? Something quite large stepped here and passed by.”

“Isn’t it too shallow for something that big?”

“Good point. It must be quite clever. It moved without leaving traces by controlling its strength, but it made a mistake here while eating this fruit.”

Yoner wasn’t paying attention. Alchemy and herbs were far more interesting to him than animal tracks. Yoner was looking around to see if there were any herbs.

‘Tch.’

Nilia was slightly annoyed inside.

When she was in the Shadow Patrol, everyone was on the same wavelength.

Everyone was a hunter or ranger, and most of the villagers had hunters or rangers in their families, so they could talk about anything and understand each other.

-I almost got in trouble. I wanted to catch it no matter what because its fur was beautiful…

-Haha! I can understand that. When I was young…

People who could talk for an hour just by bringing up the prey they saw while hunting.

In comparison, there were too many different people here.

-Um, this is what happened to me in the mountains…

-Mountains?

-Yeah. I went hunting…

-Hunting?? Why?

-Well, because I’m part of the patrol…

-Can’t you just buy it with money?

-…You son of a… Do you want to die?

-Eek!

From Nilia’s perspective, who had experienced conversations like that, Yoner’s reaction was bound to be slightly annoying.

But what could she do?

‘Right. Not everyone is a hunter, so I have to adapt.’

“Oh. Interesting. Is there anything else?”

Lee Han’s reaction was beyond Nilia’s expectations. Lee Han was listening seriously with a very interested expression.

Nilia was flustered and asked.

“Interesting?”

“Was it not supposed to be interesting?”

“…No, I mean, I wasn’t trying to be interesting, exactly. It’s just… important to notice things like this, you know?”

Lee Han was taken aback by the other person’s rambling.

‘Did she come here drunk?’

Nilia herself seemed to realize that she was saying strange things and quickly returned to the main point.

“Okay! Anyway, when you find traces of such a large prey, it’s good to be careful. Can you see how the grass is cut here? It has quite large claws.”

“I see.”

Lee Han was naturally curious and loved learning new things. He was the kind of person who would even go to graduate school, even if his professor was a bit dishonest!

Even if it wasn’t just magic, this kind of hunter’s wisdom was quite interesting.

“Can you also tell the identity of the opponent?”

Nilia said with her arms crossed, as if she was disappointed.

There was a saying that a veteran hunter could guess the identity just by looking at the footprints, but that was a fantasy.

The reason why a hunter can guess the identity just by looking at the footprints is because they have lived in that area for a long time and know all the monsters in that area.

You can’t immediately guess what’s around here without knowing what’s around here.

“Besides, I’ve heard that there are all sorts of strange monsters around the magic school.”

“Ah. I’ve heard that story too.”

Yoner nodded.

Einroguard itself was located on such a magically rich land that monsters were bound to appear due to the influence of that magic.

And apart from that…

“Monsters created during experiments are said to be wandering around the school. Rare slimes are also often created because of discarded magic potions.”

Lee Han’s eyes widened. ‘Don’t these wizards have any rules about safety?’ he thought, shocked.

From magic potions to artificial creatures created with magic.

These things should be thoroughly managed.

But it was natural that these problems would arise if they just threw it away carelessly.

“We need to be more careful.”

“Good point! We’ll basically move while following these traces. The chances of being ambushed will decrease.”

“Can I also learn how to read traces?”

Nilia blinked at Lee Han’s words.

Lee Han thought he had said something rude and said again.

“If it’s difficult to teach me, you can just ignore it…”

“…It definitely won’t be easy, you’ll probably give up learning halfway? Do you know how difficult this skill is?”

“If you just teach me, I’ll try hard not to do that.”

“…Hmph. I’ll teach you, so go ahead and try!”

Yoner asked in a small voice so that Nilia couldn’t hear.

“Is learning that really necessary?”

“Why? It looks fun.”

” ? ”

“Found it. Poison Ivy.”

While Nilia and Lee Han were on guard, Yoner found the herb.

Lee Han was impressed to see the herb hidden among the densely grown bushes.

‘He found it by luck.’

“There are only two.”

“If we find one more… Why is everyone so quiet?”

Yoner turned his head.

And he realized why the two had gone silent.

-Grrr…

A pig with an enormous build was staring at them very intensely.

Lee Han spoke, though his voice was steady. He could feel magic coming from the pig.

Whether it ate the leaked potion around it, or received a special experiment…

“This isn’t the time to say that! Be careful!”

Nilia whispered in a hurried voice.

Pigs were never weak animals.

A heavy build, quite nimble movements. A pig with fangs was even more dangerous.

Besides, the opponent now was not a docilely raised livestock, but closer to a completely wild beast.

If it had eaten something strange and gained magic, it was better to see it as a monster.

“Think of it as a wild boar! Don’t provoke it! Everyone, slowly move back!”

Nilia said to the two.

Yoner gave strength to his trembling legs. Lee Han supported Yoner and slowly stepped back.

-Oink!

However, the pig made a sound and strode towards them.

It was quite angry, puffing out air and panting.

“It would be dangerous to retreat any further.”

Lee Han stopped and held up his staff.

Holding the staff strongly with both hands like a spear and standing forward looked quite plausible.

‘That’s right…! He was from the Wodanaz family, wasn’t he?’

Only then did Nilia remember which family Lee Han was from.

From the great mage family of the Empire, the Wodanaz family.

As such, he might have learned some magic before coming here.

‘Earlier, he said that his role was to chase away wild animals or monsters when they appeared around him, right?’

Nilia asked Lee Han in a small voice.

“Are you confident?”

“I’m not sure, but maybe?”

“If you fail, carry that redhead and run! I’ll lure it away!”

Among the people here, Nilia herself was the fastest at running through the mountains and hills.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Lee Han’s magic, but a skilled hunter always had to prepare for the worst.

If things went wrong, Nilia was planning to lure the pig away and shake it off.

Lee Han looked a little touched by Nilia’s words. Yoner felt the same way.

“To go that far for us…”

“It’s not like that!? It’s because it’s something only I can do, that’s why?!”

“Okay. Anyway, thank you. I’ll count on you in case of an emergency.”

Lee Han didn’t talk anymore and focused.

The pig was getting closer and closer.

‘Three. Two. One.’

Lee Han calmly counted the numbers and measured the distance to the opponent.

Nilia, who was watching from behind, swallowed nervously.

What kind of magic was he going to use to deal with that pig?

WHACK! The sound of the staff hitting the pig’s head was sharp and loud.

Lee Han’s choice was to swing his staff.

-You are the king of black weapons, but you must not only handle swords. Swordsmanship must be prepared even in situations where there is no sword. Sword, spear, staff, dagger, bare hands, all of them.

-I see.

-…It’s not my place to say this, but aren’t you complaining?

-Why?

-Ah, never mind.

Alar Long was not someone who would easily teach or do things just because he was a direct member of the family.

He taught Lee Han strictly and harshly, just like he had been taught.

And Lee Han learned really well.

Other nobles would have said, ‘Why should I do such a difficult thing!’, but Lee Han was the opposite.

‘People pay to exercise, so isn’t this worth it?’

When he was in graduate school, he couldn’t even exercise if he wanted to, but now Alar Long was teaching him everything in detail, so there was no reason to be dissatisfied.

Besides, if his body was tired, the servants would immediately rush over to offer food, drinks, and magical potions…

-Lee Han. You must be wondering by now. Why I’m not teaching you how to cover weapons with aura like other knights.

-I wasn’t even thinking about that? Can someone like me who is learning reach such a great level?

-…If it’s not because of the aura, then why did you say you would learn swordsmanship??

Alar Long stopped teaching and looked at Lee Han as if he was dumbfounded.