Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 82

Ihan looked at the small, fiery puppy. He looked like it was the puppy’s fault that it had run away. But the puppy with flames licking its fur was already far away.

Students from the White Tiger Tower watched and whispered to each other. Their faces seemed to say, “We knew this would happen.”

Ihan felt sad and angry because it wasn’t fair.

“Don’t worry, Ihan!” shouted a student from the Griffin Tower. “Being scared by a puppy doesn’t mean you are a bad person!”

“Yes, Ihan of the Wodanaz family, you are great!” added another from the Serpent Tower.

Friends from other towers cheered him on, but Ihan still felt bad.

Ihan thought, ‘Puppies either try to hurt me because they are mean, or they are like zombies. Maybe everyone will run away from me unless they are mean or zombies.’

With a sad feeling, Ihan reached into his coat pocket and rustled around. The flaming puppy barked.

“What?”

Professor Lightning-Stride wondered what Ihan was doing.

Surprisingly, Ihan pulled out a sweet potato. Gainan instinctively tried to step forward but was held back by his friends.

“Come here.”

Ihan beckoned with his finger, shaking the sweet potato. The flaming puppy stopped barking, sniffed the sweet potato, and slowly began to approach.

‘Quite resourceful,’ Professor Lightning-Stride smiled.

Really, this class was not about using sweet potatoes to make puppies come to you. It was about how to handle a flaming puppy that is angry…

His idea was good.

Instead of forcing the monster, he was figuring out what the monster wanted.

That was the first step in taming a monster.

The boy from the Wodanaz family knew that well without being taught. Seeing him act like that…

Thwack!

The moment the flaming puppy, distracted by the sweet potato, turned its gaze away, Ihan quickly pounced and hugged it.

Then he lay down to prevent it from escaping.

“Gotcha.”

Professor Lightning-Stride blinked. *Well, that’s one way to do it,* he thought, a small smile appearing on his face.

Hey!

Woof! Grrrr! Woof! Woof woof! Whine… Whimper, whimper.

Initially surprised and barking, the puppy became scared within seconds. It instantly became calm, looking up at Ihan.

Ihan, still lying on the ground, scratched the puppy’s belly. The puppy panted and wagged its tail.

It was a bit different from the taming Professor Lightning-Stride had imagined, but it was still taming.

…Even if it used fear and trickery.

“Professor, look. We’ve become friends.”

“Yes. Well done. Keep hugging it for a long time,” Professor Lightning-Stride said, trying to hide a smile.

Lapadiel of the White Tiger Tower, seeing Ihan hugging the flaming puppy without getting up from the dirt floor, looked disgusted.

He was truly a tough one.

Even though Ihan was from a rich and important family, not a family of fighters!

Did he have to be that tough to possess such dark magic abilities?

Time went by. The sun started to feel warmer on their backs. Then, someone yawned.

How much time had passed?

Several students followed suit.

Only then did Professor Lightning-Stride realize something was wrong.

‘Has it been this long?’

In fact, the flame resistance potions Professor Lightning-Stride had prepared each had different durations.

This was to prevent the students from predicting in advance.

But no matter how long, it shouldn’t have been this long.

‘What…’

Professor Lightning-Stride stared closely at Ihan.

And he realized.

Incredibly, the potion’s effect had ended a while ago. Even searching for the aura of flame resistance in his body, there was none to be found.

Ihan was simply… releasing magic from his entire body, pushing away the flaming puppy’s flames.

Even though the puppy whined and spat out flames, they couldn’t reach Ihan at all and were pushed to the ground, where they died out.

Not creating a magic barrier, nor casting other spells, but simply blocking the flames with pure magic release.

That wasn’t a magician’s technique, but a swordsman’s.

‘What a brute!’

Ihan misunderstood the gaze Professor Lightning-Stride was sending him.

‘Professor, don’t I need to survive too?’

Ihan had something to say as well.

Wasn’t it dangerous to rely on a single potion and risk his life hugging a flaming puppy in the first place?

Ihan had instincts too, so he had no choice but to protect his body in his own way.

Of course, that method was an extraordinary one that others could never imitate…

Ihan hadn’t yet realized that the flame resistance potion had worn off. Even if he protected his body with magic, he thought he would feel the heat if the potion’s effect had ended.

‘But I feel strange stroking this puppy.’

A kind of grandiose feeling.

It was as if a confidence that he could use fire elemental magic a little better was welling up inside him.

It was similar to the certainty he felt that he could handle the orbs a little better after almost being killed by Professor Voladi.

The latter had a basis, but the former didn’t.

‘…Is it a trap?’

Ihan stared intently at the puppy. The flaming puppy wagged its tail and panted.

Ihan seriously considered whether this puppy was playing a trick to avenge being deceived by the sweet potato.

“The potion wore off a long time ago.”

“Yes? Is that true?”

At Professor Lightning-Stride’s words, Ihan snapped out of it and was astonished.

Seeing that, Professor Lightning-Stride thought to himself.

‘Next time, I’ll have to bring a monster that can’t be blocked with magic.’

Ihan, unaware that he had dug his own grave, asked Professor Lightning-Stride.

“Professor, can the flame puppy hypnotize people, by any chance?”

Professor Lightning-Stride raised an eyebrow, a hint of a smile in his voice. “Did you have a little drink instead of your potion, perhaps?”

After listening to Ihan’s explanation, Professor Lightning-Stride said it like it was not a big deal.

“That’s not hypnosis or trickery, but that you’ve truly gained a better understanding of the fire element.”

“Haha. Is that so.”

Ihan replied in a tone of utter disbelief. Professor Lightning-Stride almost hit him but stopped himself.

“It’s true. You’re learning basic elemental magic now, aren’t you? What’s important when using basic elemental magic? Familiarity with that element.”

What was important when using basic elemental magic was how vividly and strongly you could picture the image of that element.

Students who grew up in hot and scorching places with the fire element.

Students who grew up on wavy beaches with the water element.

There was no choice but for there to be such differences, as they were influenced by the direction they had each lived.

Thinking about it the other way around, if you continuously come into contact with a specific element, your understanding of that element increases.

“Theory is important, but don’t lose your intuition as a magician, Wodanaz. Your understanding of the fire element has actually increased,” Professor Lightning-Stride said seriously.

Ihan had listened with skepticism, but it wasn’t a bad story.

He had only hugged and endured the flaming puppy, but his understanding of the fire element had increased.

“But seeing it increase like that, you must have had a talent for the fire element?”

“Yes? I have a talent for the water element, though.”

Ihan replied, puzzled. It was usually difficult to have talents for opposing attributes.

“If you didn’t have a talent for the fire element, you wouldn’t have gained such an understanding from stroking a flaming puppy for dozens of minutes,” Professor Lightning-Stride replied as if he was talking nonsense.

Come to think of it, Ihan hadn’t had many opportunities to test his talent for the fire element.

Professor Garcia had stopped him, saying it was dangerous, and he had almost died a few times outside after using fire magic the wrong way…

Wait?

‘Did I actually have a talent for the fire element?’

The experience of burning with anger towards the professor might have become a talent for the fire element.

The water element might have just become familiar because Professor Voladi kept bothering him…

“Wodanaz, don’t say what you can and cannot do too soon. It’s best to try everything yourself and learn by doing.”

“Thank you.”

“You’ll be able to learn how to use the flame resistance potion next time. I’ll prepare a monster that suits you.”

“Thank you… Wait a minute. Professor! Professor!”

Ihan desperately called out to Professor Lightning-Stride, but Professor Lightning-Stride coldly passed by among the students being beaten by the flaming puppies.

Evening.

Ihan was diligently sewing with Nilia. Other friends were also sitting together, moving their needles.

Everyone had burnt holes here and there in the corners of their clothes or coats. They were scars left by the flaming puppies.

Nilia looked at the fabrics Ihan had bought from outside with a moved expression.

It was like the expression an old artisan made when looking at their apprentice.

“You have an eye for things, Wodanaz. You bought well…!”

“It’s all thanks to your teachings.”

“Sturdy, tough, and doesn’t let water in easily. That’s right. The cloth to wrap around as a coat should be like this.”

“Now that I think about it, we need to prepare for camping too.”

To do the task that Headmaster Skull had ordered, they had to cross the lake. If they were unlucky, they might have to sleep there overnight.

“Me! I know camping well!” Nilia’s eyes shone.

At Ihan’s words, Nilia raised her hand excitedly.

The Blue Dragon Tower students all exclaimed and looked at Nilia.

Seeing Nilia’s long ears perk up, Ihan suddenly felt a pang of sympathy.

‘Those Black Tortoise Tower guys seem too stingy with praise.’

Such a kind friend…

“What should we prepare, Nilia? A camping tent?”

“It’s okay! All you need is a coat!”

“Ah. Then what about a camping blanket to lay on the ground?”

“It’s okay! All you need is a coat!”

“…Don’t we still need a blanket?”

“It’s okay! All you need is a coat!”

Nilia was thrilled to share the wisdom of the Shadow Patrol with her friends.

That wisdom of being able to sleep in a cold valley with just a coat was essential for her friends.

However, the Blue Dragon Tower students’ complexions were darkening.

Ihan, unable to listen anymore, interjected.

“Nilia is joking, so don’t misunderstand.”

“Ha… Haha! She was joking! Hahaha!”

“I thought it was a joke with a 100% probability!”

Nilia looked at Ihan as if he was talking nonsense.

“It’s not a joke? All you need is a coat for luggage… Mmph.”

Yoner quickly covered Nilia’s mouth.

There were some minor problems, but the friends finished repairing their clothes and preparing.

The newly made cloaks and masks made of dark cloth would protect them in case of an emergency.

Ratford said with a satisfied expression.

“You all look like excellent thieves.”

“Haha. It’s not that much.”

“How embarrassing.”

Ratford’s praise made the Blue Dragon Tower students feel awkward.

Was it that cool?

“It’s time. Let’s go.”

Ihan and his friends stood up from their seats.

Tonight, they would rob Professor Lightning-Stride’s laboratory!

The students were divided into two categories.

Students who had already come out at night several times, and students who had never come out at night.

Ihan was naturally the former. Now, he had no hesitation in walking around the school at night.

It was as natural as taking a walk.

“Ihan of the Wodanaz family. Do you have a way to open the door to the Gaksuk Hall?”

Ihan nodded.

Ratford for the physical locks.

Ihan for the magical locks.

‘I’ve already finished checking.’

The Gaksuk Hall was used for classes, so it was easy to check the first-floor front door lock. Ratford had already made a fake key.

“Follow me quietly.”

Ihan said that to his friends and approached the Gaksuk Hall’s front door with Ratford.

The friends carefully followed behind.

“!”

Surprisingly, there was a large hole in the front door of the Gaksuk Hall. It was a hole that looked like something huge had charged in and broken it.

“Whoa!” gasped Yoner.

“…What is this?”

“???”

The students were startled by Ihan’s bewildered voice.