Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 932

Lee Han mumbled to himself and picked up the Asen’s Polarizing Lens.

Illusion magic was not very effective against Lee Han.

Also, Lee Han had recently learned a lot about the Principle of Spiritual Decline.

Because he understood souls much better now, it was very hard for illusion mages to hurt Lee Han.

‘I wish it were like this everywhere else.’

Lee Han felt a surge of joy at the unexpected luck.

He wished it would be like this everywhere, but he doubted it. Not all mages had items related to illusion magic.

Not all illusion mages would only use illusion magic for defense…

What happened here in Uap’s workshop was lucky. Lee Han reminded himself not to rely on luck.

“…Hmm. Did I break too much?”

Lee Han paused as he was about to leave, Polarizing Lens in hand.

Before leaving, he checked the workshop and realized that the magic seemed too broken.

…More precisely, all the defensive magic had been destroyed.

It might seem like too much damage, but Lee Han had a reason.

The basement workshop was a maze of glowing lines and strange symbols. Crystals hummed with power, and the air crackled with unseen energy. Spells were woven together like a spiderweb, intricate and dangerous. The magic in the underground workshop was so numerous and intricately linked that Lee Han couldn’t selectively disarm it.

Some spells were so hard to understand that touching them without care could cause unexpected problems. From Lee Han’s perspective, he had no choice but to smash through with full force.

He was still a second-year student; how could he be expected to control his power and show consideration? It was beyond him.

‘In a way, this is also a method of location transfer. The seniors will understand.’

He felt more like a robber than a thief, but Lee Han shook his head.

His identity hadn’t been exposed, he had obtained the target item, and he hadn’t caused any significant damage to the surroundings.

The magic inside the workshop was utterly shattered, but that was alright.

‘Surely, there must be others among the seniors who do things this way!’

Arienne waited on the first floor of the guild hall across the street, looking worried.

“It will be fine. That student is excellent at improvisation.”

“I know that Einroguard students are brilliant, but it is still a mage’s workshop, after all.”

Arienne’s first plan was to contact Uap directly.

To talk to someone who stays in their workshop all the time, you needed a reason to visit.

However, Lee Han had rejected Arienne’s suggestion.

-If we do that, it will be easier to find us later when the item is gone. I don’t want to cause you trouble, Arienne.

-But just sneaking in is dangerous. It’s a mage’s workshop, right?

-Hmm. I’ll try to explore cautiously first. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll ask for help.

The boy from the Wodanaz family declared that he would cast an invisibility spell himself and explore the basement.

He was very determined, so she couldn’t stop him, but she still felt worried.

Arienne knew very well how dangerous mages’ workshops were.

Even if they looked small and normal, mage workshops were stronger and more dangerous than most forts. No matter how much of an Einroguard student and a genius from the Wodanaz family he was, another mage’s workshop was a different story.

One mistake…

“I’m done!”

The two were startled when Lee Han returned with a bright expression.

So quickly?

“Did you find a way in?”

“Ah. No. I was looking around and thought I could just smash it open with force, so I did, knocked the guy out, and took it.”

Lee Han carefully took out the Asen’s Polarizing Lens.

He had to handle the target item with care.

Of course, the two were not very interested in the artifact that Lee Han had brought out. The story they just heard was too surprising to care about that.

“Wait, young master, just a minute! I don’t understand!”

“I thought you’d say that.”

Lee Han nodded as if he expected the reaction.

As expected of an experienced merchant, he quickly noticed the strangeness.

“You are probably reacting to the bad energy coming from this item. I think it is poisoned.”

Magic couldn’t easily find it, but Lee Han could see that the magical path from another world connected to the Asen’s Polarizing Lens had become dark.

It was clear that what you could see through the Polarizing Lens was slowly being poisoned by the power of another bad world.

What was worse was that it was not easy for a mage to notice this.

Even if you checked the magic power right away, there was nothing strange about it, and the power of the other bad world did not have an immediate effect, making it difficult to notice.

By the time a mage felt worried, they would already be too poisoned to fix.

“It’s hard to find the poison, just like I thought, Arienne. You are very clever!”

“…Ah, no. Was it contaminated? That’s not what I meant.”

Arienne quickly tried to fix the misunderstanding, looking confused.

What would she know? Arienne was an experienced merchant, not a mage.

She had heard rumors that Uap was collecting suspicious artifacts, but she had never imagined that the Polarizing Lens would be one of them.

Lee Han was puzzled.

“Then what do you not understand?”

“…Everything that just happened! How did someone who went in to look at the workshop come out with the Polarizing Lens?!”

Amur nodded from the side, like he was saying, “Good point.”

He wasn’t a talkative person, so he was grateful that Arienne was grilling him now.

“Ah. That.”

Lee Han scratched his head, looking like he hadn’t thought about it, and explained what happened.

He cast invisibility, used some illusion magic, passed through the first floor, and went down to the basement, where magic was densely installed. It looked like he could break it with force, so he broke it and went in…

“That’s all. Nothing much.”

They felt like everything they knew about magic was wrong.

…Could the magic of a workshop be broken so easily?

‘Even though he is from the Wodanaz family, destroying Uap’s magic so easily…’

Arienne felt a shiver go down her spine.

It seemed that the evaluation of the young master of the Wodanaz family had to be raised much higher.

To rob Uap’s workshop so easily in broad daylight.

“Excellent. Amazing.”

Amur was the first to come to his senses and praised him. Lee Han said with a humble attitude.

“I was just lucky. I wouldn’t have been able to break it so easily if it had been different magic.”

“Haha. In my hometown, we say that having good luck is also a skill.”

Arienne, who belatedly came to her senses, joined the conversation.

“Young master, is there anything inside we need to worry about?”

If he had summoned a fire or a threatening summon, they would have to send someone.

Otherwise, they didn’t know when the danger of the underground workshop would spread outside.

“Ah, you don’t need to worry. All the magic inside is gone. There is no danger.”

“I, indeed… I see.”

As they stood in front of the Einroguard student, they both thought at the same time.

‘Can this be called getting it back quietly?’

If you were being very precise, it was quiet, but it seemed like he was attacking too boldly…

‘No. It must have been a coincidence this time. The young master of the Wodanaz family wouldn’t deliberately cause a commotion either.’

It was a mansion belonging to a distant branch of the Greenbell family. The mansion was grand and imposing, with tall stone walls and iron gates. Ivy climbed the walls, and the windows were dark and mysterious.

In Granden City, the Greenbell family was a traditional aristocratic family, and their power could not be underestimated. Arienne warned him to be careful.

“Even though they are a collateral family, if the commotion gets too big, the people of the Greenbell family will move to help. Even without that, they are rich, so their defenses will be strong.”

A mansion defended by a patron who could not be ignored and abundant gold coins.

Arienne thought it was time to use a normal plan.

He could pretend to be a merchant bringing gifts and look for weak spots in the mansion.

“Hmm, I’ll go inside and take a look first.”

“…You’re not going to just beat them up and take it again, are you?”

Lee Han laughed at Arienne’s joke.

“Haha! You’re so funny!”

“It was a joke, but…”

‘There was some truth in it.’

“I’ll just look at the mansion and come back.”

The two waited for Lee Han to return at a nearby tavern.

About 30 minutes passed.

Lee Han came out of the alley, made the invisibility magic disappear, and took a deep breath.

“You’re back! Thanks for your hard work. Now, how can I help you get ready?”

“Hmm. That is.”

Lee Han hesitated and lifted his backpack. Then, he took out the squirrel statue artifact from inside.

This copper statue, which was bright red, was the magic item for telling the future that Professor Facellette Krauer wanted.

“Actually, I brought it out.”

Amur almost dropped the tin cup in his hand. Arienne was so shocked she forgot she was a polite merchant and stared at the young master.

What in the world?

“You said you were just going to check the structure and come out!?”

“No… there are circumstances here.”

“Maybe the enemy seemed too easy?”

“What are you talking about? It’s not like that.”

Lee Han waved his hands, seeing their reaction, and tried to explain everything.

He had acted a bit like a robber at Uap’s workshop because he was lucky, but Lee Han was originally a mage who enjoyed quiet and traceless work.

Mages who liked fighting openly and showing off were not the type to join the Location Transfer Club.

So, Lee Han was planning to use the most normal way to get into this mansion.

Secretly look at the mansion, find weak spots, get help from others to visit the mansion, slowly make things confusing to create bigger weak spots…

If many things that looked like accidents were put together in a way only mages understood, the item would disappear quietly without anyone knowing.

They didn’t seem very interested in Lee Han’s explanation. They looked like they wanted him to quickly tell them how he stole from the mansion.

“…Well, when I went inside, a water spirit was guarding the east side of the mansion.”

A shimmering figure of water, vaguely human-shaped, floated in the air. Its eyes glowed with a cold blue light, and water droplets dripped from its form. Not only was there a water spirit, but strong water magic was spinning around inside the east wing, protecting it from anyone who came in.

When Lee Han saw this, he tried to control the water, just to be safe.

It wouldn’t be easy for a mage from outside to control it, but it was worth trying.

And Lee Han controlled the water.

-…Oops.

The powerful magic power and the trained water element magic gave Lee Han the power to steal the mansion’s magic.

The water spirit realized someone had taken control of the water, got angry, and ran towards him.

But when it saw Lee Han, it quickly ran away.

-Uh…

Lee Han realized things were more complicated than he thought and decided to leave.

The rest of the mansion hadn’t noticed anything strange yet, but it was only a matter of time before they did…

-Who is it! Who is messing with the magic… Ack!

-Damn it.

Unfortunately, a nobleman wearing a red silk vest heard the commotion and rushed over.

Lee Han had to knock him out with the water magic he was controlling. He didn’t know who the man was, but he couldn’t just leave him there.

“And then I checked his pockets, and he had this. So I just took it.”

“Is it okay to just show it like this?”

“I don’t know either…”

It was the first time they had met a thief who was so bold while being invisible.