Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 829

“Why are you looking at me like that? Surely you don’t doubt my words?”

“I do.”

“Raphael is my witness.”

“Having Anglago and Raphael here doesn’t prove anything. They could both be tricked.”

Lee Han thought to himself, ‘Isn’t that a bit harsh?’

Of course, Anglago and Raphael were a bit gullible, but were they really that easily tricked? It wasn’t that extreme.

While the two were talking, Anglago approached hesitantly. Entering the disciplinary chamber seemed to have stirred up several painful memories.

Just being near the disciplinary chamber brought back bad memories of being punished for stealing food from the kitchen.

“Wodanaz, are you sure this is alright?” Anglago asked.

Beyond just painful memories, the disciplinary chamber was dangerous. To prevent students from escaping or sneaking in, there were many traps and defenses. Even the most skilled magician could be captured if they weren’t careful.

“Haha, of course. It’s fine,” Lee Han said.

“R-right? Well, Wodanaz, you wouldn’t have come down to a place like the disciplinary chamber without a plan. You must be well-prepared,” Anglago said, sighing in relief as he turned away.

Lee Han looked at Giselle and said, “Doesn’t the White Tiger Tower trust others too easily?”

“Quiet! We need to concentrate,” Giselle snapped.

Lee Han, having brought his friends to the disciplinary chamber, used his courage and smarts to overcome the obstacles.

“Greetings,” Lee Han said.

-Yes. Are you well, student Lee Han?

“I’ll be on my way,” Lee Han replied.

-Oh. Indeed, student Lee Han.

As Lee Han politely greeted the Death Knight patrolling the hallway and passed by, the White Tiger Tower students looked astonished and shocked.

What on earth did we just witness?

“Wait… wait a moment. Wodanaz,” Raphael said.

“What is it? Stop talking to me. I’ll get lost,” Lee Han said, glaring at the map and sounding annoyed when his friends called out to him.

Even in the dangerous Einroguard area, the disciplinary chamber was especially dangerous.

Even with Lee Han having mapped out some key routes, he could easily step into the wrong place if he wasn’t careful.

“Wasn’t that a Death Knight just now?” Raphael asked.

“…Do you not know what a Death Knight is? Raphael, you’re from the Black Magic Department, yet…” Giselle said.

“No, no, I know what a Death Knight is! I mean… how did you get him to just *talk* to you like that?” Raphael asked.

Raphael, suddenly feeling like a failure of the Black Magic Department, was annoyed.

He wondered if Lee Han had used illusion magic to confuse the Death Knights. He knew that these knights of death possessed powerful magical energy, but if it was Wodanaz…

“Ah, that? We just… have a friendly relationship,” Lee Han said with a shrug, trying to look casual.

The White Tiger Tower students fell silent again.

Death Knights were polite, but everyone knew they were really the Skull Headmaster’s scary guards.

What on earth do you have to do to become friends with Death Knights?

Wodanaz has always been somewhat favored by the Headmaster.

Well, that’s true.

Fortunately, Lee Han was too focused on the map to hear his friends’ harsh comments.

“This way. Follow me. Deorgyu, be careful on that path. The moment you touch the statue embedded in the wall, the floor will collapse, and you’ll fall two stories down,” Lee Han said.

“Don’t worry, Wodanaz. No one would be foolish enough to touch something like that after being in second year,” Giselle retorted, seemingly annoyed that Lee Han was paying too much attention to the White Tiger Tower students.

Now that they were all in their second year, they knew better than to touch anything that looked interesting in Einroguard.

Except for Gainando.

Thinking to himself, Lee Han moved forward.

While the seniors of Einroguard couldn’t do it, Lee Han could break through the disciplinary chamber in this way.

Of course, he had to be wary of naturally occurring traps or unexpected situations, but just being able to avoid the Death Knights and the Warden, Perkontra, was a big advantage.

“Excuse me. Where did the Warden go?” Lee Han asked.

Finding the floor where Perkontra should have been empty, Lee Han grabbed a passing Death Knight in confusion and asked.

-Two days ago, students summoned a Void Monster, destroying the surrounding area. He has moved his location to the lower floor. If you push open that grating, you will find the stairs.

“Thank you,” Lee Han said.

“It’s quite different from what I expected,” Lagesa grumbled. He had been following from behind to watch.

He wanted to see the students struggle in the underground dungeon, but this was just an underground tour.

“Why is he following us?” Raphael asked.

“He wants to see the magic of the Einroguard students,” Giselle replied.

“More like he’s waiting for us to step on a trap…” Anglago said.

Just then, someone stepped on the edge of the hallway, and the sound of a trap activating echoed.

Because Perkontra had moved his location, they had entered an unknown passage, and an undiscovered trap had been triggered.

“Finally!” Lagesa exclaimed in an excited voice.

The White Tiger Tower students reacted quickly.

“Keep your distance and hold your breath!” Deorgyu shouted.

“Check above!” Giselle yelled.

The White Tiger Tower students, keeping their distance and checking whether the trap was a cloud-like formation or something falling from the ceiling, were certainly experienced.

Even second-year students could do this much, but… Einroguard always exceeded the students’ expectations.

Right in the center, space twisted, and a shimmering blue sphere appeared, crackling with energy. It pulsed like a heartbeat, ready to snatch anyone who got too close. It was a trap that would send anyone who touched it to another part of the disciplinary chamber.

The students who had already moved were caught off guard. They never expected the trap to target the very place they had dodged to.

“This way,” Lee Han said.

Lee Han immediately used telekinesis.

The students flew over, and the sphere was pushed away.

“The traps seem to be more advanced since we came down here. The ones above were activated nearby, but this one shoots magic directly,” Lee Han said to Lagesa.

If Wodanaz’s telekinesis hadn’t been speed-specialized magic, some of them would have been separated.

“How fortunate,” Lagesa replied with a spiteful expression. Though he said it was fortunate, his face didn’t show it at all.

“…Are you perhaps regretting that I saved them?” Lee Han asked.

“Of course not! Just keep moving. You said you don’t know the path from the stairs down there, right?” Lagesa said.

Lee Han met Lagesa’s expectant gaze with a lukewarm look and immediately summoned the skeleton warrior Gonadaltez.

“You’ll have to search carefully,” Lee Han instructed.

“Hey! Don’t be boring!” Lagesa complained.

Despite Lagesa’s complaints, Lee Han thoroughly checked everything. The other friends supported Lee Han’s method.

“Wodanaz, your way is right,” Giselle said.

“Let’s not fall for the whispers of outsiders!” Raphael added.

Lagesa grumbled inwardly, ‘These second-year students are all shameless.’

Perhaps because of the Wodanaz family’s boy, they didn’t care about appearances or anything else, even with an outside guest present.

Normally, there would be at least one guy who would volunteer to step forward…

‘I found an easy target!’ Lagesa thought.

Lagesa approached Anglago with a sly grin, having found an easy target.

Anglago flinched as Lagesa approached, trying to create distance.

“You’re from the Alpha family, aren’t you? The honorable knights of the sea!” Lagesa said.

“Gasp! Do you know about my family?” Anglago asked.

“Of course, of course! But you’re from such a family, are you just going to rely on your friend and wait?” Lagesa asked.

“W-well…” Anglago stammered.

“Surely a knight wouldn’t pass up an opportunity for glory, would he?” Lagesa subtly pushed Anglago.

Anglago wavered, but finally made up his mind and ran to Lee Han.

“Wodanaz!” Anglago called.

“I’ll go in and check too. I’ve gotten much stronger, so… Ack! Ack! Ack!” Anglago started, before Lee Han tapped Anglago’s back with his staff.

None of the White Tiger Tower students stopped him.

“Anglago is talking nonsense because he hasn’t been hit in a while,” Giselle said.

“If he just waits quietly, Wodanaz will take care of everything,” Raphael added.

Lagesa thought that this year’s White Tiger Tower students were very strange.

Watching their fellow tower friend get hit in the back by a student from another tower, and following along like a flock of sheep…

Gonadaltez, who was running ahead, was immediately unsummoned.

A soul-absorbing trap that detected the undead’s soul had been activated. As a red haze-like energy surged, the skeleton warrior’s soul was sucked in.

“Oh dear! It’s been destroyed. What a pity,” Lagesa said.

“I was thinking of assembling another skeleton warrior and sending it,” Lee Han replied.

“I heard from Professor Baegreg that you use orthodox black magic?” Lagesa asked.

‘When did they talk about that?’ Lee Han wondered.

Lee Han wore a disgruntled expression.

Professor Voladi was subtly talkative, despite not seeming like it.

He felt that way whenever he saw that the other professors knew about his progress.

“Yes, I can use it,” Lee Han confirmed.

“Orthodox black magic is excellent, but it has weaknesses. The puppets you create have no souls. It will be difficult to detect the traps,” Lagesa explained.

Currently, the standard summoning magic of the Black Magic Department in the Empire involved making contracts with beings from other dimensions.

Once a contract was made, it was much more efficient to summon them, so it was a natural choice.

In comparison, the classical black magic summoning that Lee Han had (forcibly) learned involved the magician assembling, fitting, and controlling the undead one by one.

It was much more difficult and had the weakness of not being able to activate traps in situations like this.

‘Should I have just said I would learn the modern method…’ Lee Han thought.

“Shouldn’t the student go in now?” Lagesa asked.

“No. It’s alright. I’ll just summon it again,” Lee Han replied.

“Summon it again? It’s full of complaints after being unsummoned just now? Don’t you know the story of the black magician Oondorgu, who was trapped in the ghoul legion and starved to death?” Lagesa asked.

Regardless, Lee Han summoned the skeleton warrior again.

“Can you go back in?” Lee Han asked.

Gonadaltez politely bowed his head and quickly went back in.

Lagesa’s mouth hung open at the sight.

What kind of undead control is that…?! Lagesa wondered.

‘What a monster!’ Lagesa thought.

Of course, the appearances he had shown so far were monstrous enough, but that was only close to a glimpse of genius.

Usually, only a duke-class demon could have such strong control over the undead.

“You’d do well even if you went to the Demon Realm, kid,” Lagesa said.

“Why are you saying such terrible things?” Lee Han asked, disgusted by the absurd remark.

It took some time, but the solution was as good as determined.

Unlike other magicians, Lee Han could supply magic power to his summoned creatures even if they were destroyed or collapsed, allowing him to send them back.

By repeating this process, he roughly figured out the reality of the newly appeared passage.

“Let’s go down,” Lee Han said.

What brings you here?

Thunder and lightning struck in the distance, and the energy of lightning raced eerily across the walls and floor.

The students tensed up without realizing it, feeling the powerful presence from afar.

“I came seeking help,” Lee Han said.

Help! I haven’t used the power of the contract, so I could refuse, but… since you’ve come all the way here, I’ll hear you out.

Perkontra exclaimed in a voice only Lee Han could hear.

The other students were on alert, as the thunder and lightning grew louder.

Usually, when such signs occurred in Einroguard, an enemy would appear…

“Thank you,” Lee Han said.

What for. I was expecting it, actually. I knew you would come.

“How did you know?” Lee Han asked, surprised.

Does the Thunder King have precognitive abilities?

It’s only natural. You magicians may not know, but the Prideful One never forgets defeat. The Prideful One must have sent a letter, right?

“…No.”