Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 846

‘How unfortunate.’

Who would have thought that arrogant Duke would end up like that?

Even though I didn’t particularly like Duke Icaldo Ren, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

And the most surprising thing about this was that Yukbeltire had no bad intentions whatsoever.

‘Even if he had meant to be cruel, he couldn’t have done it this well…’

Lee Han thought about it. Even if they had planned it, with one being kind and the other cruel, they couldn’t have done this so well.

Lee Han thought Yukbeltire was like a true student of Professor Verdus. He had a natural gift for torture, even if he didn’t mean to.

‘Anyway, I should talk to my senior.’

Lee Han sighed. “I should probably talk to Senior Yukbeltire,” he thought. “Poor Duke…” He intended to find Yukbeltire and tell him that he would take care of the Duke for the remaining days.

It would be a bit of a hassle, but Duke Icaldo Ren was so pitiful that he felt he had to do at least that much.

Besides, he had already secured sponsorship for two research projects.

“Oh, Senior!”

As he went upstairs and out of the Black Magic Hall, he saw Yukbeltire passing by.

Yukbeltire, his skin as pale as moonlight, wound the spring of his pocket watch. His fingers, long and slender, moved with a delicate precision that seemed out of place in the grim Black Magic Hall. He slowly turned his head at his junior’s call.

“Good day.”

“Yes, good to see you.”

Lee Han quickly threw the staff he was holding into the nearby grave pit, careful not to let the other notice.

Honestly, it seemed like he could show it, but Dirett’s words bothered him for some reason.

Dirett had warned him Yukbeltire could be possessive about his work, even with juniors. If his senior harassed Lee Han with his authority and status, it wouldn’t be good, so it was right to be cautious.

‘Wait. Didn’t the tree spirit dislike places like this?’

Thinking about it after throwing it, tree spirits didn’t like places like grave pits.

As a spirit related to life, it was bound to hate the smell of death or evil energy of the Black Magic School.

‘Well, nothing can be done about it.’

Lee Han quickly gave up.

What could he do? It was already thrown.

And the tree spirit was sturdy and fierce, so it wouldn’t be a problem if it went into a grave pit.

“Senior,” Lee Han asked, trying to sound casual, “what are you doing here?”

Yukbeltire glanced at him, then back at his pocket watch. “Returning a book to Dirett,” he said, his voice flat. “And you?”

“Just… checking on the Duke,” Lee Han mumbled, feeling a little foolish. “Seeing if he was alright.”

Yukbeltire shook his head, a tiny, dismissive movement. “The Duke is perfectly managed,” he stated, as if it were obvious. “Don’t waste your time.”

Lee Han stared, speechless. *Perfectly managed?* he thought. *He almost starved the poor man!*

He was even more dumbfounded by how confidently he said it.

‘He almost starved a person to death and says that so confidently?’

“Did you happen to check today?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Junior from the Wodanaz family, you’ll come to know this too, but what’s important in enchantment magic is efficiency. Just as there’s no need to recalculate a perfectly calculated magic formula, there’s no need to revisit His Grace the Duke, who is being perfectly managed.”

Yukbeltire said without a hint of doubt.

He had put in exactly the amount of food the Duke needed, so there was no need to manage him before the set period ended.

“…Ah, yes. But Senior, may I manage His Grace the Duke from now on?”

“Why?”

Lee Han was about to say, ‘His Grace the Duke wants to kill you,’ but he held back.

He was worried that Yukbeltire might stubbornly refuse.

“As a junior, I want to help you with your work.”

“You’ve thought well, even now. My artificial dimension research is…”

“I don’t want to do that.”

When Lee Han immediately refused, dissatisfaction bloomed on Yukbeltire’s expressionless face.

Why did this junior, who possessed the qualifications, talent, and even respect for his senior, keep refusing?

“I’m a bit too busy to do that. Anyway, can I take over?”

“Do so. But don’t kill His Grace the Duke because you can’t manage him. He’s an important hostage.”

Lee Han clenched his fist without realizing it.

‘The other person is my senior. Never attack. The other person is my senior. Never attack.’

“Yes, I’ll try. Then, I’ll be going…”

“Wait.”

” ?”

Yukbeltire called out to Lee Han, who was about to turn around.

“How is the staff production going?”

“The staff, you say?”

After glancing at the grave pit next to him, Lee Han carefully spoke to test his senior.

“I’m looking for obsidian. But Senior, how would you feel if someone else completed my staff for me?”

“If they complete it, they complete it, I suppose.”

Yukbeltire answered as if it was nothing.

At that answer, Lee Han inwardly sighed in relief.

‘What? Was Senior Dirett worrying for nothing?’

Even though Senior Yukbeltire was a bit strange, he wasn’t the type to get angry or harass his junior just because someone else completed his staff for him.

“Did someone say they would complete it for you?”

“I did hear such a proposal…”

“I think it would be better to refuse. It’s bound to be a low-level swindler. Seeing that they’re trying to steal a work that another enchantment magician has already started, they must be shameless trash.”

Lee Han saw Yukbeltire speak this long and quickly for the first time. He spat it out in one breath without even breathing.

“No… you just said that if they complete it, they complete it.”

“Did I?”

“But the person who proposed it is a swindler and trash…”

“Because they are a swindler and trash. Rather, it’s a mild expression. They deserve to have an eternal curse embedded in their soul and wander hell for the rest of their lives.”

‘I wish he would just get angry…’

Lee Han was dumbfounded by his senior, who said he wasn’t angry but was clearly holding a grudge.

Fortunately, Professor Verdus bore almost all of that anger….

What was unsettling was that some of it could splash onto Lee Han as well.

It was an irrational and unreasonable attitude, but weren’t most Einroguard magicians like that originally?

‘I should tell him later.’

Or never tell him at all.

“I understand. Senior. I’ll keep that in mind. Then, I’ll be going…”

“Junior from the Wodanaz family.”

“Yes?”

“You will reject the offer, won’t you?”

“…Yes. Then, I’ll really be going now…”

“Alright.”

Lee Han turned around with a sigh of relief.

He was planning to come back and pick up the staff once Yukbeltire had disappeared far away.

“Junior from the Wodanaz family.”

“!?”

Yukbeltire, who was walking away, suddenly stopped and called out again.

Lee Han was horrified, thinking his inner thoughts had been exposed.

“Yes?”

“It would really be better to reject the offer. Understand?”

“…I understand.”

Yukbeltire called Lee Han three more times after that to harass him before finally leaving completely.

Lee Han added Yukbeltire to the list of people he should avoid for a while.

Mad Doppelganger

Verdus

Yukbeltire

‘Hmm.’

After pondering, Lee Han picked up his quill and changed the order of danger.

Yukbeltire

Verdus

Mad Doppelganger

* * *

The >Advanced Illusion Magic and Spiritualism Theory< lecture was a third-year course taught by Professor Kirmin Ku. Originally, such advanced illusion magic could be taught to second-year students, but the reason this lecture was taken from the third year onwards was because of spiritualism. Spirits, that is, souls. When illusion magic reached a certain level, the exploration of existence and souls became essential. Low-level illusion magic didn’t actually require access to the soul. Illusion was, in a way, close to the concept of deceiving the opponent, and that deception didn’t necessarily require the soul. Even the Pahite illusion magic series that Lee Han learned last year could be cast without studying the soul, as it distorted the field of vision with the power of fire. “However, that is just a simple thought. To surpass a certain level in illusion magic, you must be able to explore the soul more deeply than magicians of other schools.” Professor Kirmin wrote words on the blackboard with illusion. Sensing the opponent’s soul, recognizing one’s own soul, expanding and contracting the power of this soul, directly interfering with the soul to confuse and strike it… It wasn’t just to pursue higher levels of magic. To cast illusion magic against enemies or monsters with high magical power, this approach to the soul was essential. Professor Volmore said, ‘Deceiving a magician above a certain level with illusion magic is several times more difficult than magic in other fields,’ but this was only half the truth. “Truly excellent illusion magicians cannot be stopped even if you try to stop them. When you sit in the middle of your own defense and sigh, ‘It’s safe here,’ and experience your shadow changing arbitrarily, you can’t underestimate illusion magic. Have I told you the story of how I got one over on Professor Begreck?” “Professor, I think we’ve heard that story over a hundred times.” “Hmph. I understand. I just won’t say it then.” ‘No!’ Lee Han glared at his seniors. They had all heard it and were blocking the opportunity for their junior to learn. He was so upset. ‘Kuh. I’m curious. How did he get one over on him?’ If he knew the weakness, Lee Han might be able to use it later when facing Professor Volardy. “Everyone, remember the last lecture? Let’s continue. Wodanaz, you come up here.” Professor Kirmin called Lee Han separately. He felt the need to explain separately since he had missed the last lecture. “What those friends are doing now is practicing observing and recognizing the soul. Wodanaz, as I just explained, you must start with recognition first. This is more difficult than you think. I’ll understand even if you can’t do it today.” Even for a magician, becoming aware of and recognizing one’s own soul was more difficult than one might think. It wasn’t easy to forcibly recognize a natural sensation as something unfamiliar. So, the students started by recognizing the souls of others, not themselves. The seniors in the lecture hall used various potions and magic to amplify and resonate the power of their souls. The enlarged soul became even easier to see. “From now on, we’re going to have a light astral projection. Wodanaz, you’re going to take a lap and come back, and try to feel the sense of incongruity. Because the soul is there now.” “Um, Professor.” " ?" “I think I can already recognize souls…” "?!" Professor Kirmin was flustered. “Did Professor Begreck also make you recognize souls? Even so, isn’t that too much??” “No, that’s not it.” Lee Han quickly cleared up the misunderstanding. If he stayed still, Professor Volardy, who was innocent—no, guilty, but not guilty in this matter—might be wrongly accused. “That’s…” He had learned ancient black magic last time, and this black magic was a magic that absorbed the pain of others, and to use it more properly, he had to go deep into the soul… It was a vast and long story, but Professor Kirmin, like one of the few ‘relatively normal’ professors at Einroguard, listened patiently. If it had been someone else, it wouldn’t have been strange if they had interrupted several times, saying, ‘Wait, does that make sense?’ ‘Hmm.’ When Lee Han told the story of learning the Falling Star magic from the Mad Doppelganger of the Skull Headmaster, healing other cursed magicians with that magic, and even cursing his own soul to overcome the trials, Professor Kirmin was beyond surprised and suddenly had a question. ‘Then doesn’t that mean Wodanaz doesn’t need to take this lecture?’ The first semester goal of the >Advanced Illusion Magic and Spiritualism Theory< lecture was to recognize and become familiar with spirits. …There was no student who had learned everything on their own before even taking the lecture.