Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 896

‘Are these people magical criminals?’ Ethan wondered.

After hearing everything, he thought, *Maybe these knights are even worse than criminals who use magic.*

*Criminals with magic can’t hurt me directly,* Ethan thought. *But these knights are hurting me right now, aren’t they?*

“How can you even say such a crazy thing?” Ethan asked, his voice rising.

“It’s not *that* crazy…” one of the knights mumbled, sounding a little offended.

They really thought it was a good plan.

“Crazy! It *is* crazy! Seriously, what kind of test is it to make someone fight lots of people at once and then attack them all together in secret?” Ethan was usually polite to people in charge, but today was too much.

And these knights seemed too mean to even pretend to be nice. *They’re not even trying to look good,* he thought.

“Well, the good thing about this test is you don’t even know it’s happening! You don’t realize it, the students don’t realize it, but you’re getting tested in a way that’s perfect for you. You don’t need to be worried or scared. Isn’t that great?”

“It’s not great at all. It’s the worst test ever,” Ethan said firmly.

The knights went quiet, looking annoyed at Ethan’s words.

*Typical Einroguard wizard,* one of them muttered. *So proud. Can’t even hide it.*

“We were just trying to help a friend, you know.”

“Yeah! And it’s mostly because of you!” another knight added.

“…Wait, why is this terrible and mean group attack *my* fault?!” Ethan exclaimed, confused.

“Think about it! How hard is it to make a test for a student who rides a dragon and fights monsters? Huh! Professor Ingledell did his best!”

Ethan was so surprised, he couldn’t say anything.

The knights, who thought they had won the argument, nodded and smiled proudly.

“Now do you see how kind Professor Ingledell is? Isn’t he a great professor?”

“Riding a dragon and fighting monsters isn’t the only good test, wizard. Our group attack is a good test too, in its own way!”

“…Okay, everyone, stop teasing Wodanaz now,” Professor Ingledell said, stepping forward to stop his friends. He looked a bit uncomfortable.

After a moment, Ethan, remembering something important, asked, “Aren’t you going to catch the person who broke in?”

The knights suddenly realized they had forgotten about the intruder.

“Oh, well… compared to the dragon contract, someone like that is just a small thing,” one knight said dismissively.

“Hmm… letting a criminal be scared is good too. If we just catch him right away, he won’t learn anything,” another added.

*Are you serious?* Ethan thought angrily to himself.

*Shouldn’t they be chasing the intruder instead of watching the dragon contract?!*

“Oh, Professor Begreck!” Professor Ingledell said, turning away from Ethan, who he was about to speak to. He saw Professor Volardy walking towards them from the lower part of the training area. Beside Professor Volardy was Caton, a student from the Jahan family.

“Jahan? What are you doing here?” Professor Ingledell asked.

“Jahan! Long time no see!” one of the knights boomed. “Have you thought about our offer from last time?”

“The Knights really need someone like you!” another knight added.

The knights pushed Professor Ingledell aside and crowded around Caton. Their eyes shone with eagerness to get him to join the Knights.

Ethan watched calmly, as if it wasn’t his problem. “Senior Caton must be having a tough time,” he said. “You’re so popular! Haha.”

Caton just stared at him.

Professor Ingledell was surprised. *This boy, Ethan, from the Wodanaz family, will have to go through this even more intensely than Caton later on…*

*No, wait. Wodanaz has had enough trouble today. I don’t need to tell him about more problems coming in the future,* Professor Ingledell thought to himself.

Even though the knights tried hard to convince him, Caton didn’t change his mind.

“Thank you for the offer,” Caton said politely, “but I want to follow the path of magic.”

“Krrr…! Einroguard, you enemy!” one knight roared dramatically.

“This terrible magic school! There are lots of other wizards out there!” another knight yelled.

The knights were angry at Einroguard for keeping all the talented people. *They take talented people from everywhere in the Empire anyway,* they grumbled. *They could let one person go.*

*Caton from the Jahan family might be a good wizard,* they thought, *but he would be even better as a knight!*

“?” Ethan asked, confused, as he listened to them arguing. “Professor, what do you mean when you say Senior Caton is a great wizard?”

Ethan wondered if Professor Ingledell meant Caton’s way of using magic with swords. *That is a very unique magic,* Ethan thought. *No one else can do that.*

Professor Ingledell leaned closer to Ethan and whispered, looking a little embarrassed. “…Those knights don’t really know much about Jahan’s magic.”

*We shouldn’t talk about Einroguard’s teaching methods to outsiders,* Professor Ingledell thought. *And if they knew about Caton’s magic, they would try even harder to get him to join them.*

And Caton himself was quite bold when it came to magic.

“Hehe,” Caton chuckled. “I’ve actually made some really amazing progress in magic lately.”

“Krrr. Stop it, Caton!” one knight growled. “Don’t brag about being a wizard to us!”

“Well,” Caton said, smiling, “since you all asked me so nicely, I’m just answering you honestly.”

“Hoo…” one of the knights sighed. “Well, since you’ve chosen magic, we should at least celebrate your success. The Empire has lost a great knight, but Einroguard has gained a good wizard.”

*No, he’s being too bold!* Ethan thought, a little surprised by Caton’s confidence.

*What is he even talking about, “amazing progress in magic lately”?*

“Lightning Transformation. Well done,” a calm voice said.

Ethan was watching Caton calmly when he suddenly heard Professor Volardy’s voice right behind him. He hadn’t even noticed Professor Volardy coming closer. Ethan jumped in surprise.

“Yes? What is Lightning Transformation?” Ethan asked, turning around.

“It’s a more developed way to use lightning magic,” Professor Volardy explained kindly, even though he knew Ethan might not understand everything.

Professor Volardy continued, “You’ve been studying many different kinds of magic lately, without anyone telling you to.” He listed them off. “You’re improving the Water Orb spell, learning to use Azure Flame with Professor Zorzik, studying soul magic with Professor Kirmin, and even working on higher undead in black magic… and now, Lightning Transformation in lightning magic.”

“Maybe,” Professor Volardy continued, “because you made a contract with a powerful lightning spirit a long time ago, you’ve become very interested in the power of lightning.”

“Lightning Transformation is also related to that spirit’s power. To be exact, it’s how a wizard understands and uses that power. Even if a spirit can do something as easily as breathing, a wizard has to understand it and turn it into magic.”

“Lightning Transformation is a powerful magic for fighting. It changes your body into lightning for a short time by mixing lightning magic with magic that changes your shape. That’s Lightning Transformation.”

“Unlike Percurtra’s power, which is called Flash Lightning, the magic you’re trying to do, Lightning Transformation, is a bit more limited and controlled. But that doesn’t mean it’s weak or easy.”

“You can see that it’s powerful just from the fact that you defeated that demon monster.”

“It’s like you’re adding your own wizard’s power to the already strong idea of lightning. By adding this idea, you’re changing simple lightning into an attack that has a deeper meaning.”

Professor Volardy thought for a moment. “Maybe you felt you had to defeat the demon monster quickly because of Jo-Urin. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have used magic that wasn’t finished and attacked so quickly.”

“Oh, okay,” Ethan said slowly.

“Wait, did *I* use Lightning Transformation magic?” Ethan suddenly realized what Professor Volardy was saying and his eyes widened.

*I did that?!*

*Is Professor Volardy tricking me?* Ethan wondered suspiciously. *Is he making the fight sound better than it was to trick me into thinking I can do this magic?*

“Yes,” Professor Volardy confirmed.

“Your Highness? Your Highness?”

“Huh?” Ethan turned to Jo-Urin, who was still crouched down, watching him. “Jo-Urin, did I use lightning magic?”

*Yes, you did,* Jo-Urin replied in his mind.

“But wasn’t it just normal lightning magic? Like Percurtra’s lightning…” Ethan asked.

*Ummm!* Jo-Urin thought hard.

*It was a messy fight, but my excellent dragon brain remembers everything perfectly!* she thought. *I don’t think it was normal lightning magic! Here’s why: First, if it was normal lightning, you should have said magic words first. Second! If it was normal lightning, it should have come from your wand, not your empty hand! And finally, in my opinion, the lightning was different! It was stronger and went through things more easily than normal lightning! It was something special!*

“…Why do you know all that so clearly, but you still just shoot fire breath and try to fight up close?” Ethan asked, a little annoyed but also impressed.

?!

Jo-Urin, who had been explaining excitedly, suddenly started to cry when lightning shot towards her.

*Oh no!* Ethan thought. *I remember now too.*

Hearing Jo-Urin’s words, Ethan suddenly remembered. Now that he thought about it, he realized he hadn’t noticed because everything was happening so fast, but his hand that wasn’t holding the wand seemed to have turned into lightning.

He didn’t think he had said any magic words either…

*And the power was different from normal lightning,* Ethan thought. *Normal lightning doesn’t go through things like that, no matter how much magic you put into it.*

*It makes sense if the power was different because I myself had turned into lightning,* he realized.

Ethan decided to stop showing Jo-Urin detective books when they got back. *She’s too smart about things that aren’t important right now,* he thought with a smile.

“I’m sorry, Professor,” Ethan said. “It took me a while to remember what happened.”

“Don’t be upset,” Professor Volardy said kindly.

“!” Ethan was happy to hear Professor Volardy’s kind words.

*Is he saying I can learn Lightning Transformation later, since I have other things to learn now?* Ethan wondered hopefully.

“It’s normal for magic that works in a dangerous situation to not work again easily,” Professor Volardy explained.

“Ah. Is that what you meant…” Ethan said, a little disappointed.

“?” Professor Volardy raised an eyebrow, confused by Ethan’s change in mood.

“It’s nothing,” Ethan said quickly, trying to hide his disappointment.

“?” Professor Volardy looked at him questioningly.

“It’s nothing,” Ethan repeated.

Professor Volardy understood. He was being kind to Ethan.

*Learning a very hard magic isn’t something you can do just by doing it once,* Professor Volardy thought. *To really learn magic, a wizard has to be able to use it whenever they want. If it only works once, it’s not really learned.*

*This is even more true when it works in a dangerous situation like this. Ethan shouldn’t rush. He should practice slowly.*

“Yes, you’re right,” Ethan agreed quickly. “It was probably just good luck, and maybe it was a coincidence, and maybe the heavens helped, and maybe the dragon’s power made me stronger, and maybe it was a lucky day because of fortune telling magic, that made the magic work. I don’t know if I can do it again in the future. I’ll have to practice slowly and carefully.” Ethan listed as many reasons as he could think of. *It’s better to make my point clear now, for later,* he thought.

“So, you want to make a dangerous situation again?” Professor Volardy asked, thoughtfully.

*Is he serious?!* Ethan thought angrily to himself. *He’s actually saying that!*

“Wouldn’t it be hard to make that happen on purpose?” Ethan asked, hoping Professor Volardy would say yes.

“Not at all! If you let me, I can set it up without you even knowing,” Professor Volardy said, sounding enthusiastic.

The knights behind him quickly agreed, “Yes, we can help!”

Ethan ignored them, pretending he didn’t hear. “Professor,” he said quickly, “I think I need to practice Lightning Transformation by myself first. It’s too embarrassing to talk about with anyone else right now.”

“?” Professor Volardy looked confused.

“??” The knights stared, wondering what crazy things Ethan was saying. But Ethan ignored them again.

“So, please pretend you didn’t see anything and just forget about it, Professor,” Ethan pleaded.

“Hmm,” Professor Volardy thought for a moment, looking at Ethan. Then he nodded slowly.

“Professor Yonlamos asked me about this before,” Professor Volardy said quietly. “But I won’t say anything about it.”

“…What did Professor Yonlamos ask?” Ethan asked, curious.

“It was about Lightning Transformation,” Professor Volardy replied.

Professor Volardy liked to share information about students with other teachers in the teachers’ lounge. So, it made sense that Professor Yonlamos, who taught magic that changes shapes, would be interested in Lightning Transformation.

Professor Volardy remembered their conversation:

*-Are you really helping Ethan learn Lightning Transformation magic?* Professor Yonlamos had asked.

*-Yes, I am,* Professor Volardy had replied.

*-If he really does it, please tell me! If he can do that, he doesn’t need to take the test anymore!*

*-I understand,* Professor Volardy had said.

“…Just tell Professor Yonlamos and forget about it?” Ethan asked, feeling defeated. *That’s probably not going to happen,* he thought.