How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 134
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magic Family (134)
The next day became the first day of school attendance after the exam.
Of course, that’s only for me—for other students, it’s already the second day of attendance.
But the school still hadn’t escaped from the aftermath of the grades.
That was only natural. With the Imperial Newspaper and countless other media outlets still putting my articles on the front page, how would the students be any different?
[Lucas Ascanien, Return of Ascanien’s First Mage]
[Yozhua Kreis Imperial 1st Education Institute Department of Magic Honorary Professor: “The Greatest Light in Ascanien History”]
[[Editorial] Not just Ascanien, but the highest level in Imperial history… If properly educated, would have become the Empire’s greatest mage]
According to Elias, these were articles that came out today.
The reason I say this is because I didn’t read them directly—Elias loudly read the titles in the hallway.
“Video analysis results show a total of 36 types of magic used… Urgh?”
“Stop reading.”
I hit Elias’s mouth and quickly entered the classroom.
I feel like I’ve aged about a year just from stopping that guy’s mouth.
“It’s good to analyze the problems that will come, but you need to read articles like this. And the same goes for the other guys.”
Elias followed me into the class, his eyes sparkling as he spoke.
Still, negative reactions weren’t dominant.
How do I know? Because without doing anything, my favorability had already hit +80. Just now, popups appeared one by one from directions where no one was visible. Probably people beyond the building or from the next class.
Unlike Elias and Leo getting heated up, those who attributed my grades to magic power were only a minority.
It was a characteristic that only appeared among those with mediocre grades, and those who had been filling their self-esteem by looking down on other students bit by bit.
‘I need to be careful since those guys are stirring up trouble.’
I looked around the suddenly quiet classroom and sat down.
The students who had talked with Leo yesterday were huddled together.
Right after experiencing some shock, people just waste time being flustered, and then comes the stage of denying and doubting what they saw.
And after being shown reality a few more times, they finally adapt.
It’s natural for this atmosphere to continue until they realize again that what they saw wasn’t an illusion.
And now it was time for them to realize.
Just then, even without me stepping forward, a student approached on his own.
“Lucas, would you like to practice with us after regular classes today?”
“…”
I smiled as I looked at them.
Though his impression is quite vague, I remember he’s a friend who was always regrettably pushed out of the department’s top 10. The same went for the students beside him.
“Hans Fritsch, right? Sorry, I already have a partner, so that would be difficult.”
“Partner?”
“Yeah. I’m supposed to take the exam with Julia, so it would be hard to train separately.”
At those words, the students’ faces stiffened slightly.
Someone cleared their confusion and spoke up.
“Um, actually, it’s also the first time we’ve seen you use magic, and we’ve been sparring partners for each other since first year, but we’ve never done that with you. Won’t you try it with us once?”
“Hmm…”
I pondered for a moment, then nodded.
“Alright. If it’s just for a bit, that should be fine. Then let me know where we’ll spar.”
* * *
Lucas Ascanien accepted our request.
After the first morning class ended and break time came, Hans looked around at his friends, cast a sound-blocking spell, and muttered.
“This is my first time talking to him.”
“Same here. But seeing how he accepted so readily, I guess he doesn’t know yet?”
“Of course he doesn’t know.”
How could they reveal that they wanted to spar to verify his real skills?
Actually, they knew Ascanien was outstanding.
“…”
Hans Fritsch looked down at Lucas’s match footage on the front page of the Imperial Newspaper and pressed his lips together.
The entire Empire was going wild over that 58-second video.
The Imperial Newspaper had published a self-congratulatory article about recording the highest sales volume in history.
No matter which newspaper you opened, red magic power decorated the front page, and no matter which page you turned, two or three articles containing his name were featured.
The public was reacting explosively to the return of an incompetent invalid who had gained the qualifications to become a ruler.
He acknowledged it.
He envied that brilliant talent that was impossible to catch up to.
He envied that innate genius that had captivated the public in less than a minute.
That colorful and diverse magic power that was like Ascanien’s essence, the ability to instantly embody theory, and that eloquence more befitting a member of a ruling family than anyone else—now he envied it all to the point his mouth felt bitter. Even being Adrian Ascanien’s younger brother.
‘…Still…’
Still, having talent and being worthy of receiving a 1+ grade instantly are different things.
Even if he cleanly acknowledged everything else, he couldn’t accept this one thing since he had seen it directly.
Hans muttered.
“Julia said she’s partners with him.”
Julia and Leonard were friends who had been famous since the 3rd Education Institute. First, both were descendants of ruling families, and as such, they had been educated by the Empire’s top mages, so their magic skills had been outstanding since childhood.
Both of them had lukewarm reactions, and now one had even become Ascanien’s partner.
His friend cursed and answered.
“Right. I don’t understand why those two are working together.”
Hans himself didn’t understand either.
Why bother?
Let’s exclude the fact that if you push through with magic power, you can handle things like time quickly.
No matter how you looked at it, the incantation seemed like a complete beginner’s, basic amplification formulas, and nothing that could be called special anywhere.
What did he do from start to finish other than just ‘pushing through recklessly’?
It was hard to acknowledge up to 1+. Maybe 2+ like himself would be understandable.
If they didn’t speak up about this ambiguous grade evaluation, they didn’t know what would happen to the student military selection and the subsequent midterm and final grade evaluations.
If you could receive a 1+ with such simple movements of pushing through with power, there would be no point in learning techniques. With such evaluation, they too should be able to rise to 1+, or at least to the 1st grade level.
‘It would have been nice if students like Leo or Julia who received the same grade as Ascanien had stepped forward.’
Still, although he had slipped a bit this time, Hans himself usually received 1st grade level as basic in practical skills, so Ascanien wouldn’t be an impossible opponent to face.
Hans thought while steeling his resolve in his own way.
* * *
‘Asking if I can spar with them.’
Of course I can.
I need to sweep up favorability points.
Actually, I’m curious about what would change if I upgrade not just charm but also the retry characteristic by one level.
‘I should quickly end the kids’ games too.’
The place they called me to was the 2nd Year Training Ground.
Actually, it’s excessively wide for individual versus individual sparring. It was natural since it’s usually a place where 50 people enter at once.
But personal training grounds or the gymnasium would have been unsuitable. Since they’re indoors, people couldn’t easily watch.
When the appointed time came and I went out to the public training ground, I doubted my eyes.
‘As expected.’
Laughter burst out without me realizing it.
‘Just how many people is this? This many people gathered for just a spar between students?’
Not even half a day had passed, but the rumor must have spread widely—dozens of people had gathered here. At this rate, we’d probably hit 100 people soon even though we hadn’t started yet.
‘What a diverse gathering.’
There’s no distinction between departments either.
They must have been that curious about my skills.
The students here would have been curious about my magic, and also curious about whether I was truly someone with the skills to receive a 1+ grade.
After all, these three guys aren’t the only ones questioning my grades.
These three just stepped forward and stood out, but there are more students who share the same opinion as them.
And seeing how they let this many people come to watch, their mindset is obvious too.
‘He must be confident in his skills.’
Of course, I’m grateful for that.
I’ll gladly accept the favorability points in advance.
I put on the mana restraint device I had prepared beforehand on one hand and smiled.
* * *
‘Hm?’
What is he putting on his hand right now?
Hans, who had arrived at the training ground, squinted his eyes and looked into the distance.
‘Cheating so openly like this?’
That guy probably has never sparred before. At most, maybe once or twice.
Even though he boldly accepted, he might have felt a bit anxious about this situation of sparring with me.
‘Is he planning to win using artifacts?’
Surely not.
No matter what, he’s not that weak of a guy, is he?
Hans waved his hand while calling out to Lucas.
“Lucas.”
“Oh, you came?”
Lucas answered with a gentle smile.
‘…Why is he smiling?’
Hans instinctively felt uneasy.
Usually this kind of reaction would be either an attempt at image-making or genuinely good personality that welcomes people well, but somehow he felt an ominous feeling beyond those two options.
Just as he thought that, a smug expression briefly crossed Lucas’s face, leaving Hans standing there bewildered.
Only then did Hans’s friend point to Lucas’s wrist.
“What’s that, Lucas?”
“Oh, this.”
Lucas showed the bracelet wrapped around his wrist and flicked his hand. Unlike the flames he had seen before, a weak flame briefly rose and disappeared.
“A mana restraint device.”
At those words, Hans had to think again about what he had just heard.
‘Hmm.’
A mana restraint device.
Mana…
‘…’
What are you putting on when we’re about to spar?
“W-wait a minute. What are you talking about? Can I try it on?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
Lucas took off the bracelet and handed it over.
When he put the bracelet on his hand, he felt the blood vessels in that area being constricted and dried up.
He had never been arrested in his life so he hadn’t tried it before, but judging by its function, it was definitely a mana restraint device.
When Hans instinctively frowned and took off the bracelet, the watching students stirred. They had the same confusion and questions that Hans was feeling.
Lucas, who had been quietly watching them, chuckled.
“Oh, wait a moment before we start.”
Lucas shouted to the people watching from afar.
“Elias.”
As soon as those words fell, Elias, who was standing far away, threw something like a thin bracelet.
Lucas caught it and put it on his left wrist. Then he waved his wand a few times and grinned.
“Good, it fits perfectly.”
“That’s why I told you to bring two~”
“…”
The students hesitated.
Hans furrowed his brow trying to understand what this situation was.
Lucas looked at Hans’s face for a while and then opened his mouth.
“I heard that I received the highest score based on mana quantity alone. I can understand that. It’s true that it’s easy to be misunderstood. There are plenty of people who think you’re only skilled if you swing a sword impressively or use special abilities clearly.”
“…”
“Hans, you’re always in the top ranks for practical skills. Except for this recent 1-1 test, you’ve never missed the first grade level. Right?”
“…Yeah.”
Hans answered while narrowing his brow.
“When I got the chance to spar with an excellent friend like you, I wanted to test it once. Whether I really received the highest score based on mana quantity alone or not – I should find out, shouldn’t I? To find that out, it would be better to limit my mana.”
Lucas’s tone was kind from beginning to end.
But it was immediately clear.
‘…He noticed.’
He deliberately agreed to the spar.
Even when I mentioned the public training ground, there’s no way he wouldn’t know the school facilities, yet he readily agreed.
I didn’t think deeply about it then, but now I understand.
Lucas Ascanien came to completely deny the doubts I raised.
For that, he even got restraint devices from somewhere.
‘Does this mean he can easily beat someone like me even while wearing these?’
Hans’s eyes sank low.
If he’s coming out like this, then things are different.
I was planning to just test him enough to raise objections, considering he had never learned magic before, but that won’t be necessary.
We welcome this.
Because Ascanien’s skills will be revealed completely, as they truly are.
‘It’s a bit concerning that he’s so calm even with so many people watching…’
Why? Lucas’s gentle smile keeps catching my eye.
The feeling that I’m stepping onto the wrong path won’t go away.
‘…No.’
This is an opportunity. An opportunity to verify Lucas’s real skills.
Hans tightened his grip on his wand and nodded.
“Alright, shall we start?”
Hans stepped back and continued speaking.
“You go first, Lucas.”
“Hmm, no. You go first.”
“…”
He’s refusing the opportunity to attack first like this?
Someone who learned for just a few days is yielding this opportunity to me – how ridiculous.
Hans erased his expression and took a ready stance.
Then Lucas performed not the Imperial 2nd Education Institute’s ready stance, but the Ascanien Family’s ready stance.
When his ready stance was complete, Hans drew mana from his core.
Fortunately, perhaps because his condition was good today, he could feel the mana flowing more smoothly than usual through his blood vessels to his wand.
‘Good.’
I will pour out all the skills I’ve learned over the past 15 years in this place.
Hans now enjoyed the tension in his own way and changed his wand to a staff. Then he struck the ground.
Boom―!
At that moment, with the explosive sound, Lucas opened his mouth.
Kwaaaaang―!
[Let the rock where I always hide and take refuge become my shield.]
Hans squeezed his eyes shut.
The light and noise from the impact with the barrier scattered his senses.
‘That was a barrier spell just now.’
There would be no point in defending.
Beginners only think of attacks that push forward when they strike the ground with a staff. That’s actually the most commonly used method. Naturally, defense can only focus on the front.
And the attack I used was precisely aimed at that conventional wisdom.
By layering concealment magic, you can buy time for mana to disperse in all directions around the target.
Kwagwang— Kwaang—!
Even though the color of mana wasn’t visible, explosive sounds rang out from all directions with minute time differences. Hans pressed his attack to give Lucas no breathing room.
‘But…’
Strangely, there’s no reaction?
The moment he thought that, Hans hastily swung his arm.
Kwaang—!
A light so bright it stung the eyes flashed as crimson flames scattered.
‘…!’
His face nearly got blown off. If he’d been even a second late putting up the barrier, it would have happened.
As he reflexively stepped back from the barrier, a crackling sound reached his ears.
It was the sound of cracks forming in the barrier.
The impact sound just now had been brief. It meant Lucas had launched his attack lightly without exerting much force.
Wasn’t he supposed to be controlling his mana output?
‘Then, my barrier was broken by his mana reduced by restraints?’
He was so dumbfounded his mind couldn’t work quickly.
Amid the noise, Ascanien’s calm voice could be heard.
“That’s applied magic taught at the Imperial 3rd Academy, isn’t it? I see you’ve memorized the concealment magic combination formula.”
“…!”
Hans roughly thrust his wand forward, dispelling the barrier and releasing mana. In the center of his secured field of vision, Lucas stood completely unharmed without a single injury.
‘Though I don’t know how a friend who didn’t even attend the 3rd Academy knows that…’
There’s no mental capacity for conversation right now.
Hans thrust his arm forward like throwing a punch, putting force into his wand with a hardened expression. His dark green mana flew swiftly. Just before the mana reached right in front of Lucas’s nose, a flash occurred in the time it took Hans to close and open his eyes.
Kwaang—!
“…”
Lucas still stood in the same spot, lightly extending his wand with one arm.
His barrier showed no wavering whatsoever. As if the barrier had absorbed the mana, the green light quickly disappeared without a trace.
He tilted his head with a perplexed expression as if experiencing this kind of sparring for the first time.
“…Hmm, this is unexpected. It would be boring if I just keep blocking like this.”
Lucas gestured with his other hand as if to say ‘come on.’ A subtle playfulness seeped through, as if he’d now respond in a different way.
Hans’s eyes momentarily filled with intensity.
‘If the barrier is this strong, the best approach is to simply push with quantity like that guy did.’
It’s not easy to go that route after making it an issue until now, but… thinking about it, the situation is different. Right now it’s a situation where quantity attacks must be used strategically, so it can’t be helped.
Besides, those who know that aren’t actually present here. It would be good to feint by pouring out quantity for a moment and then attack from all directions.
The student finished thinking and gathered mana into his wand.
* * *
The Antagonist once again condensed mana into his wand and thrust it forward like throwing a punch.
Kwaang—! Bang—!
Instead of putting up a barrier, I swept my wand following the exact path of the Antagonist’s attack.
At the thunderous roars that erupted each time my mana made contact, the watching students slightly flinched.
That aside…
‘This is sparring?’
I feel both gratitude and absurdity toward Leo simultaneously.
So people normally call this kind of thing sparring and live their lives.
If this is sparring, then I just got one-sidedly beaten by Leo all this time, didn’t I?
‘…Leo, that bastard, really…’
I’m even starting to suspect he suggested three people spar together instead of just me and Elias alone because he was afraid I’d discover the truth.
Of course, this had its advantages too.
For Grade 1 level, this is by no means lacking skill.
Getting Grade 1 in practicals every midterm and final at the Imperial 2nd Education Institute meant you could freely choose between Imperial Court employment or escalator admission to the Imperial 1st Education Institute upon graduation.
The Antagonist’s confidence in coming out to face me definitely had solid grounds.
But right now, the Antagonist’s movements feel utterly ridiculous to me.
“Your movements seem big. How about reducing them a bit?”
Perhaps thinking I was giving useless advice without knowing his intentions, the Antagonist swung his wand with an unpleasant expression.
I continued speaking.
“You’re probably thinking of dispersing my attention with big movements. And…”
Looking at the Antagonist’s mana mass that flew right up to my eyes, I felt the guided magic attack make a sharp turn and rush toward my back. I stepped aside and put force into my shoe heel, spinning my body around.
Kwaang—!
When I struck the Antagonist’s attack with my staff, the green magic disappeared without a trace.
I planted my staff on the ground, scattering the residual attacks into the air, and opened my mouth again.
“And you were probably thinking of launching your real attack when I blocked that decoy attack, right?”
“…!”
The Antagonist flinched for a moment then quickly feigned composure. Even so, bewilderment was dripping from all his attacks, making it meaningless.
Anyway, seeing this, I think I understand why Leo got angry.
Seeing the Antagonist move like this, it must have been a technique of sorts, but I didn’t know this was a proper technique.
‘I think Leo made me do this on the first day of training.’
Whether Leo, who made me do this when I’d never properly held a wand, is crazy, or this friend’s level is low…
It’s probably both.
And now there’s something worth thinking about.
The Antagonist’s main weapon isn’t a wand. In Magic Swordsmanship class, the Antagonist was among the top tier.
So, the Antagonist will now draw his sword to defeat me completely. It’s not bad since he can claim technical justification too.
Of course, because of that aspect, the Antagonist was the optimal person for solidifying my position within the school.
There will be countless guys in the future who doubt or want to test my skills in various subjects, but thanks to facing this Antagonist now, I can finish even swordsmanship all at once.
‘I shouldn’t get tired until then.’
The Antagonist, not me.
I deflected the Antagonist’s attack and spoke gently.
“Calm down, Hans.”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
