Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 877

Professor Facellette stared at Ethan, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He looked as if he thought Ethan was speaking gibberish.

The purpose of this midterm exam was to teach the students how to use the Star Guide and have them find a star.

The Star Guide was very complicated. Just learning how to use it was enough for the exam.

Ethan spoke calmly.

Making a deal with a star is not as hard as you might imagine. It’s different from talking to ghosts or evil spirits. You don’t need to argue, beg, or fight. Instead, you need to explore, understand, and show you are worthy by following the star’s rules.

‘Did he read some strange ancient book or something?’

Even brilliant wizards could sometimes spout nonsense. This often happened when they became obsessed with forbidden ancient books that no one else would read, driving them to madness.

The words of the boy from the Wodanaz family weren’t quite madness, but they seemed halfway there.

Making a deal with a star was difficult.

Finding a star was difficult, and even learning how to use the Star Guide was difficult.

And finding the rules of that star and proving your worth was even more so…

“Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

Ethan nodded, then suddenly ran to the window and shouted loudly.

His shouts were loud and unclear. Words like ‘Yaksha King’ and angry curses were mixed in.

“?!!”

“???!!”

Professor Facellette, as well as the other professors, looked at Ethan in surprise. Professor Bendozol suspected Professor Verdus.

“Isn’t it because you’ve been turning his stomach inside out?”

“When did I ever do that?”

‘Suspicious indeed.’

Professor Facellette agreed with Bendozol’s words.

How much had Professor Verdus been turning his stomach inside out while his student was looking for the artifact? It didn’t take magic to see the future to know that.

“Oh.”

Professor Facellette looked closely at the Star Guide. He noticed marks inside it – signs of powerful star magic!

A remnant that would have no reason to be there unless he had used this artifact to make a deal with a star!

“Did you perhaps use the artifact?”

Ethan, who had been shouting out the window, stopped abruptly and returned. Then, he silently nodded.

“You found a star too?”

Another nod.

“…You don’t mean you made a deal with it?”

Yet another nod.

Professor Facellette looked at his student with a sense of wonder.

Why would a fellow with such outstanding talent do something so dangerous when no one asked him to?

Perhaps that was the destiny of those of the genius persuasion.

The three professors sat down and began a brief lecture.

He had already found a star and contracted with it, so there was nothing to say, but they still had to tell him the precautions.

“Be careful of the asteroid belt,” Professor Verdus said, chewing on birch bark.

“It looks like a group of stars, but it’s a trap! If you get too close to make a deal, you can be badly hurt by all the space rocks.”

The asteroid belt was a trap that wizards trying to contract with stars easily fell into.

At first glance, it felt like a powerful star, but if you approached it, you would suffer great damage from the space rocks.

“Yes… I’ve encountered it before.”

Professor Facellette and Professor Bendozol’s expressions hardened. Professor Verdus asked, puzzled.

“Then is there any need to learn this?”

“No one asked you to offer your opinion.”

“Be quiet, Professor Verdus.”

Professor Verdus closed his mouth again.

He didn’t know why, but the other two professors seemed uncomfortable. They were truly emotional people.

“And watch out for dark nebulas,” Professor Facellette added seriously.

“Just looking at one can steal a wizard’s soul…”

“Yes. I’ve seen that too.”

Professor Facellette wondered what ancient book he had read and followed to have seen the asteroid belt and the dark nebula.

Was the title of the grimoire perhaps >How to Self-Destruct Among the Stars>?

Jo-Ulin tilted her head.

Ethan didn’t seem to have anything to learn…

“No, Dragon! Although I didn’t mention it, detecting stars requires mastery of all sorts of laws and principles!”

Bendozol, who didn’t want to be an incompetent professor in front of the dragon, reacted sensitively.

“I was going to explain that one by one from now on. Now! Do you know about the law of preemption?!”

“Yes.”

“Why do you know?!”

Professor Facellette simply gave up and decided to just explain how to operate the Star Guide.

“Like this, if you operate it in this direction, the direction of the soul’s vision will move accordingly. Since stars move quickly, some prediction is essential. Even with the Star Guide, wizards need to be good at magic that lets them see the future.”

“Indeed.”

“This week is when the Spirit Star is closest to the continent. Did you happen to see the Spirit Star?”

“Yes.”

“Ah. Did you contract with the Spirit Star?!”

“No… it rejected me.”

The atmosphere in the room instantly became awkward. It was extremely rare for the Spirit Star to reject someone, let alone ignore them.

Ehandurde, who didn’t understand, asked.

“Why did the star reject him?”

Shhh. Ehandurde. There are bad stars too.

“He’s so powerful that the spirits might dislike him. That must have led to the Spirit Star’s rejection.”

Professor Verdus nodded as if he understood. Ethan glared at him.

“Well… what’s done is done. What else should I teach you? Then what star did you contract with?”

“I heard it was the Guest Star Arna.”

The conversation had stopped and the atmosphere had been awkward several times today, but there had never been an atmosphere as heavy and shocking as this.

Professor Facellette and Professor Bendozol looked at Ethan with faces distorted in shock. Even Professor Verdus dropped his bark.

“…Did I make a dangerous contract?”

“A second-year student contracting with a star is just dangerous in itself. More than that… um… a catastrophic prophecy… no.”

“Arna is… hmm… fate is… no… it’s just superstition. Superstition is part of prophecy, but…”

‘Not helping at all.’

Even when pressed persistently, the professors wouldn’t tell him.

Ethan guessed that the fates of wizards who contracted with Arna were generally not good.

Well, it was the star that Headmaster Skull had contracted with…

‘That’s terrible. To think that it’s a star that could make you the headmaster of Einroguard if you contract with it.’

“Ah. Wait. There’s one last thing I forgot to teach you about how to use this artifact.”

Professor Facellette said, calling out to Ethan, who was about to get up.

“What is it?”

“It’s best to use this artifact for only a few minutes a day. Looking at the stars for too long can be much more tiring than you realize.”

Shouldn’t that be attached as a warning on the front of the artifact?

Jo-Ulin, who had been watching Ethan’s expression as he returned to the tower, asked cautiously.

“Ethan?”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

Was he taking the exam early because of Jo-Ulin…?

It was natural for Jo-Ulin to be wary.

Originally, exams were put off until the day before, then studied urgently (Jo-Ulin, who learned from books, had a slightly distorted view), not taken a week in advance and the final exam perfectly written and handed in.

But Ethan kept finishing the next week’s exams in advance, so Jo-Ulin couldn’t help but be concerned.

It seemed like he hadn’t done that last year…

Ethan immediately replied to the clever dragon’s reasonable guess.

“What nonsense are you talking about, Your Highness?!”

‘Oh dear. This is a problem.’

Ethan was horrified to realize that he was treating Jo-Ulin more and more like Gainando.

At this rate, he might be accused of insulting the imperial family and be prosecuted in the imperial court someday.

“I’m sorry. I was flustered and spoke as I usually do to my friends.”

“No! Jo-Ulin likes it when you talk to her like you talk to your friends!”

Jo-Ulin flapped her wings and her eyes sparkled.

Jo-Ulin was a little sad that Ethan treated his friends differently from how he treated her, but the opportunity had finally come.

“No. Still, Your Highness is who you are, so you should be polite.”

“No! No! I don’t want to!”

Jo-Ulin threw a tantrum, rolling from side to side.

When the dragon rolled around with such bulk, the furniture in the Blue Dragon Tower lounge was smashed to pieces with a cracking sound. Gainando, who was playing a wizard card game in the corner, screamed and wailed as his winning hand flew away.

“Jo-Ulin commands! Wodanaz must treat Jo-Ulin as he treats his friends!”

“Hmm… if you really want that…”

Jo-Ulin’s face brightened. Ethan spoke frankly.

“Then stop talking nonsense.”

……

“Perhaps it would be better to be polite…”

“No! Jo-Ulin is totally fine!”

Ehandurde thought he saw tears welling up in Jo-Ulin’s eyes, but he only thought it to himself.

It was his own way of showing friendship to his large dragon friend.

“More than that, Your Highness. I’m not deliberately taking the exams early.”

“Really??”

Jo-Ulin, as well as Ehandurde, were startled.

“…Why are you surprised?”

“Of course…”

Ehandurde counted, folding his fingers one by one.

>Wand Materials and Magic Amplification>, >Hideously Beautiful Creatures>, >Poisons, Bones, and Blood>, >Precognitive Magics Ripe for Madness>…

There were too many coincidences, so Ehandurde naturally thought that this Iron Man senior was finishing the exams in advance according to a perfect plan.

“It’s a random accident.”

“Hmm…”

Hmm…

‘Did I put the two of them together for nothing?’

Putting the two of them together, who were young in mental age, only seemed to teach them to suspect each other.

-Hmm…

“…Aren’t you scared anymore?”

Ethan spoke to the baby basilisk in his sleeve. As a dragon with keen ears, Jo-Ulin stared intently into his sleeve.

‘I thought I just heard the baby basilisk’s voice.’

-M-MasterI-I-I’m scared!

“Then why did you talk…”

“Wow!”

Jo-Ulin, who found the baby basilisk, was delighted and rushed over.

-Master. I was wrong! Help me! Ee-ing…

“So cute!”

While Jo-Ulin hugged and played with the baby basilisk for a while, Ethan took care of the remaining assignments.

‘The real exams have been reduced.’

“Wodanaz. Paper bird.”

“It’s not a paper bird sent by Professor Verdus, is it?”

“If it were, I would have shot it down, of course!”

The Blue Dragon Tower friend said, laughing as if wondering what kind of person he thought he was, and passed by.

Ethan checked the paper bird with relief. It was a paper bird sent by his club seniors.

I heard you took the >Hideously Beautiful Creatures> exam in advance? Congratulations. If you’re thinking of taking the >One Drop of Potion Instead of Complex Magic> exam in advance, would you let me know?

Are you perhaps thinking of taking the >Elemental Magic and Its Application> exam in advance, junior? If so, I’d really appreciate it if you’d let me know…

The contents of the letters were all similar.

I need to help my club junior study for the exam, but if you’re going to take it even earlier, let me know so I can reduce the trouble of organizing it in advance…

Ethan grumbled at the coldness of Einroguard.

A junior should be worried about whether it’s okay for a senior to take another exam in advance or tell them not to overdo it, but instead they’re asking them to tell them if they’re going to take another one in advance!

“Gentlemen. Is there a Wodanaz student here?”

“It depends on the professor’s purpose, doesn’t it?”

A familiar voice was heard from the main entrance of the lounge.

It was Professor Zorzic of the Benmalfa family, who had a dashing seagull-shaped mustache.

A friend who didn’t know Professor Zorzic well asked, puzzled.

“Wodanaz. What kind of person is that professor?”

“He’s not a bad person. He takes good care of the students.”

“Oh…”

“And he’s aiming to be the next headmaster.”

The Blue Dragon Tower student who heard Ethan’s answer was horrified and ran away upstairs.

‘That’s a completely crazy professor!’