Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 89

“Move it.”

The more clumsy and unskilled a wizard was, the more flamboyantly they waved their wands and loudly chanted their spells.

Lacking confidence, they had to act more forcefully to materialize their own mental image.

In that regard, Leehahn hardly waved his wand at all, and his voice was barely a whisper.

Leehahn himself didn’t realize it, but the effects of Professor Voladi’s rigorous training were clearly showing.

“…!”

Yoner was astonished by the sight of the assignments flying so naturally.

Like paper birds, Leehahn and Yoner’s thick assignments smoothly cut through the air, approaching the professor’s pile of work.

Even though it was just flying assignments, he couldn’t take his eyes off it.

This was magic unlike anything Yoner had witnessed before. It was graceful and smooth, a world away from the clumsy, jerky movements of basic magic he knew.

‘Focus.’

Leehahn concentrated his mind.

It wasn’t just about sticking them into the pile of assignments.

He had to avoid being caught by the professor.

-Concentrate.

It was as if Professor Voladi’s voice was ringing in his ear.

“It’s a simple matter of inserting paper between paper.”

The voice of Professor Voladi ringing in his ear became clearer.

“But there’s a barrier in place?”

“You should be able to break through it. You’ve already learned how, haven’t you?”

The voice became disturbingly clear.

This was…

It wasn’t a voice from inside his head.

Leehahn, trembling with fear, turned his gaze.

Two professors were staring intently at Leehahn from behind.

Yoner, as a result, was barely able to breathe.

Professor Voladi said in a cold voice.

“Why are you averting your gaze? Concentrate.”

Leehahn instinctively turned his head back.

Then, the professor next to Voladi, whom he was seeing for the first time, said.

“No. Maybe it’s better to just give up and step back…”

“Ignore that. You can do it. Remember what you learned.”

“……”

Leehahn thought about the misfortunes that had befallen him this week.

No matter how he thought about it, he was excessively unlucky.

Had he been cursed or something?

‘Of all people, I had to run into professors.’

Leehahn thought grimly. *Anything* would be better than Professor Voladi right now, even Professor Garcia’s boring lectures.

Leehahn was seriously considering whether he should look for a potion of luck.

“No, I’m telling you… that barrier is more difficult than you think.”

“You can do it. Do it.”

“Um, professors… I’m sorry, but could you please unify your opinions and give advice…?”

Yoner spoke up, unable to watch any longer, but the two professors paid no attention.

Professor Voladi told him to do it because he could, and the professor he was seeing for the first time advised him to step back.

It was a maddening situation, but Leehahn was still able to figure out a few things.

‘There was a barrier in place.’

He had assumed that the pile of assignments floating in the air and following the professor would be enchanted, but he hadn’t expected a barrier.

The professor he was seeing for the first time said.

“Be careful,” Professor Kirmin warned, his voice softer. “That barrier will make a loud alarm if you touch it. You might not feel them easily, but there are layers of invisible magic, like spinning ribbons, around those papers.”

Leehahn concentrated on feeling the magic after hearing those words.

It was hard to notice because Leehahn was using so much magic himself, but Leehahn’s talent wasn’t just magic power.

In addition to his unparalleled tenacity, his unwavering calculation skills even in moments of crisis, and his useless presence that terrified the spirits, he also had an excellent ability to detect magic.

‘I see it!’

When he concentrated, he could actually feel the bands of magic spread around the pile of papers slowly rotating.

“It’s nearly impossible for a student at your level to approach without touching the magic bands. So, don’t let Professor Begreck’s words get to you and attempt a reckless endeavor. As you know, Professor Begreck doesn’t care about the students at all.”

‘That’s so true.’

Leehahn strongly agreed, but he said something different.

“No. The professor always cares about the students.”

“Is that so?”

Professor Voladi, in his usual strange way, seemed to take Leehahn’s words at face value.

If Leehahn had agreed, Professor Voladi would have judged, ‘Ah, I don’t care about the students.’

But seeing Leehahn say that, Professor Voladi concluded that his current teaching method was indeed caring for the students.

There seemed to be no other possibility.

“Really? You have a very kind disciple.”

“That’s not logical, Wodanaz. Do it. The assignments are moving further away!”

“I’m telling you, it won’t work…!”

Professor Voladi urged him on, and the professor he was seeing for the first time stopped him.

And Leehahn moved.

Pop!

The thick assignment flew smoothly, passing through the spaces where the magic bands were moving.

If there had been even a slight difference, the magic band would have been torn, making a loud noise.

Leehahn didn’t hesitate and sent the next assignment flying. Yoner’s assignment also landed accurately on top of the pile.

Yoner applauded without realizing it. Professor Voladi nodded faintly, barely noticeably.

“…No way! How?!”

“Because I learned it.”

“Yes. Thanks to the professor’s guidance.”

Leehahn said without revealing his emotions. Then, the professor he was seeing for the first time was even more impressed.

Professor Kirmin chuckled, impressed. “Well, aren’t you just the most amazing student! Nice to meet you. You must be Wodanaz? I’m Professor Kirmin Ku. I would normally shake your hand, but I don’t recommend shaking hands with me. There are racial reasons.”

Professor Kirmin was the opposite of Professor Voladi.

A cheerful and bubbly voice, and a neatly dressed outfit without a single wrinkle, like a gentleman. It was strange that he was talking so closely with Professor Voladi.

“What field do you teach?”

“I specialize in illusion magic, especially barriers. You just saw it, didn’t you?”

“!”

Leehahn was delighted.

He had wondered if it was possible after hearing him speak, but he really was an expert in barrier magic.

“I’ll be entering Professor Garcia’s classroom once this semester anyway. I have to teach the students how fun and enjoyable illusion magic is.”

“Illusion magic is useless.”

“……”

Leehahn was shocked by Professor Voladi’s words.

To disregard another professor’s field…

‘Isn’t this going to lead to a duel?’

However, Professor Kirmin simply ignored Professor Voladi’s words.

“Deceiving a wizard above a certain level with illusion magic is several times more difficult than with other fields of magic.”

“Yes. I’ve said it a hundred times. But the wizards of ‘a certain level or higher’ that you’re talking about are just a handful in this vast empire. So, Wodanaz, why were you trying to put those piles of paper there?”

Leehahn pondered for about a second.

He looked at the professor’s atmosphere, thought about whether lying would work, and made the best judgment.

‘It’s better to just be honest.’

“Because I was late submitting the assignment?”

“……”

Yoner blushed with embarrassment. Professor Kirmin also seemed flustered by the unexpected reason.

‘Just because he was a little late submitting the assignment?!’

“I’m sorry. Professor.”

Leehahn apologized to Professor Voladi first. However, Professor Voladi didn’t care, as expected.

“Why?”

“Because the assignment was late?”

“Is it an assignment I gave?”

‘I knew he would say that.’

“I guess so.”

Professor Kirmin looked at the two disciples as if they were something strange.

To be honest, it had been a long time since he had seen someone who could get along with Professor Voladi like this.

Whether they were professors or students, after talking for a few minutes, they would say, ‘I hope the sun rises above your head, you damned vampire,’ and leave…

“So, what lecture was it?”

“>Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic>.”

“Professor Alpen Knighton?”

Leehahn tensed up at the sight of Professor Kirmin mentioning the other’s name.

In the face of friendship between professors, the promise with a student is insignificant…

“Good job. Good job. Honestly, there’s nothing to do for that professor’s assignment.”

“???”

Professor Kirmin praised Leehahn instead. Professor Voladi rarely added.

“Professor Alpen Knighton is a wizard who used to work as a high-ranking imperial administrator. He is more skilled at handling power than magic.”

“Do you know that that bastard cut my research budget in half a long time ago?”

The two professors gnashed their teeth and cursed the >Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic> professor. Leehahn sighed in relief at the familiar sight.

Not all professors were on good terms.

In particular, wizards who went down the path of pure magic research did not look favorably on wizards who received high positions in the empire and were active.

The reasons were roughly ‘the purity of magic this and that’ and ‘the temptations and corruption of the secular world this and that,’ but in Leehahn’s view, it was probably because the latter could touch the former’s budget.

Even a wizard who could collapse the sky and split the earth could not conduct research without a research budget.

In that respect, wizards who worked in high-ranking imperial positions and reviewed research budgets were the enemies of all other wizards.

-My lifelong sense is telling me! This dungeon must be excavated even if we mobilize the entire territory budget. Call all the adventurers nearby…

-Didn’t you say that was your lifelong sense last time? This agenda is canceled.

-I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! You better watch your back!

-If you want to target my back, you’ll have to wait in line. There are thirty-three people on the waiting list.

…These dignified conversations take place every year.

But Leehahn’s thoughts didn’t change even with the two professors’ conversation.

Rather…

‘No, was he from a high-ranking imperial official?’

Leehahn’s eyes sparkled when he heard that the other person was from a high-ranking imperial official.

What did that mean?

It meant that he had powerful connections in the imperial bureaucracy.

And the thing at the very top of Leehahn’s goals was to become an imperial official.

Leehahn suddenly felt his resentment towards Professor Alpen Knighton melt away like snow.

Even the hellish amount of homework suddenly felt like the responsibility of a high-ranking official carrying the empire on his shoulders.

‘I should try to make a better impression from now on.’

“Wodanaz. I’ve heard rumors that you’re very talented. You should be careful. So that you don’t get dragged into becoming an imperial official. If you’re too talented, they’ll send you all sorts of temptations.”

Professor Voladi frowned rarely and spoke at length.

“Stop joking there, Ku. There’s no way Wodanaz would walk such a trivial path of anti-magic.”

“I guess I’m talking nonsense. He’s from the Wodanaz family. There’s no way he’d become an imperial official. Right?”

“……”

Leehahn felt a cold sweat running down his back for the first time in a while.

After hearing Professor Kirmin Ku say that he would see him at the next illusion magic class (Professor Kirmin even ignored Professor Voladi’s interference and recommended that he seriously learn illusion magic), Leehahn headed to meet his Blue Dragon Tower friends with Yoner.

Judging from the exchange of glances outside the lecture hall earlier, it seemed clear that everyone had returned safely.

‘That’s a relief.’

Now, to receive the ingredients and make the potion…

“Everyone worked hard yesterd…”

“Wodanaz! Gainan was kidnapped!”

“!”

The students of the Blue Dragon Tower, who were gathered in front of the tower, rushed to Leehahn as soon as they saw him.

They were all a mess, as if they had been fighting until just now.

Leehahn asked in surprise.

“By whom? Don’t tell me it was the White Tiger Tower guys?”

“No! By a released summoned beast!!”

Leehahn stopped trying to feel relieved.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t a situation to be relieved about.