Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 1032
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 1032
The Einroguard students murmured at the magic that was far more complex and transcendent than they had expected.
To transform soulless works into living beings.
Among mages, the particularly dangerous type were precisely those who became obsessed with such difficult magic.
When they devoted themselves entirely to challenging magic, surrendering their souls to it, the mages would eventually go mad.
“He seems like a mad mage…”
“The Great Artist is not a madman!”
Bunaljo flared up.
How dare they insult the artist who had inspired so many Petrogard students like that.
“I went out of my way to explain things to outsiders…! Hmph! Get lost.”
When the relatively cooperative Petrogard student got angry, the Einroguard students hurriedly tried to appease him.
If that Great Artist really was a mad mage, they needed to placate their opponent and extract information – they couldn’t just part ways like this.
“Ah, no. It’s a misunderstanding. You heard wrong. This Prince guy here misspoke.”
“Right! Why did you say something that would cause a misunderstanding! Apologize quickly!”
“Ugh. I was wrong. The mad mage was referring to someone else.”
“Someone else who?”
“Uh… our Principal?”
“…”
Bunaljo looked at Gainando with disbelief as he called his own school’s principal a mad mage.
“…Fine. I’ll accept the apology for now.”
“Thanks!”
The Einroguard students were delighted.
And immediately got to the main point.
“Then tell us more about the Great Artist.”
“If there are any weaknesses, tell us about those too. He’s not preparing magic that requires a lot of mana, is he? That would be worrying.”
“…”
Bunaljo looked at the Einroguard students with slightly suspicious eyes.
Were they really asking out of genuine curiosity about the Great Artist?
“This is suspicious.”
“Wh-what are you talking about. We’re just… interested in art. Right?”
“R-right. Art! We love art. Wow!”
“Then prove it.”
“What?”
“I said prove it.”
Bunaljo took out several more leather pouches and poured them onto the floor.
There were painting supplies, sculpting tools, musical instruments, quill pens and paper needed for poetry and novels, and more.
“Each of you grab one and make something. If I can feel your sincerity, I’ll explain about the Great Artist.”
“…Can’t we just solve this the Einroguard way?”
“Shh. This is Petrogard. Let’s not make a scene.”
When students who lacked confidence in art tried to solve things with force, their friends urgently stopped them.
“Ugh. I only drew pictures briefly when I was little.”
“Tutanta would be better off. You’re originally good at sculpting.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. I like making practical buildings.”
Each grumbling, they grabbed tools they were somewhat confident with or that looked easy.
Yoner, who had been planning to teach Nilia the flute on this occasion, was puzzled when Gainando grabbed a canvas and brush.
“Do you know how to paint? Why don’t you just write a short story?”
Of course, any novel Gainando wrote would likely be terrible.
Yoner had already read several times before enrollment the novel Gainando had written himself to submit to an Empire mystery magazine (it was a story about a prince of noble blood who was respected by everyone and made all criminals confess just by making eye contact).
Still, it would be much better than other things…
“No good. The plot twist isn’t fully developed yet.”
“R-right. Then are you confident about painting?”
“Not really, but you just slap some paint on, right?”
Gainando spoke, unaware that Bunaljo was glaring at him with wide eyes from behind.
Yoner shook his head.
Gainando was definitely going to fail, and it seemed like the remaining people would somehow have to create at least one work that would satisfy that picky Petrogard student.
* * *
“Senior! Senior!”
Professor Garcia pounded on the door of the Great Artist’s residence and shouted.
He knocked so hard that the surrounding spatial magic surfaces shook. Alsicle thought to himself.
‘He’s not using knocking on the door as an excuse to attack, is he?’
But that probably wasn’t it.
If that were the case, he would have told Alsicle in advance.
…Probably!
Clang!
The door opened and the Great Artist revealed himself.
Though he was disguising his appearance with completely different clothing from when they had met before, Garcia could be certain from his distinctive aura and movements that this was the Skeleton Principal’s former disciple.
“Ag… No, Senior!”
Professor Garcia quickly changed his words after almost calling out his name.
This was a mage who had abandoned his name along with his disciple status.
There was no need to provoke his anger by calling out his real name.
But Professor Garcia was forgetting one fact.
…That as long as he held the position of professor, whatever he said would inevitably displease his opponent!
“Who said I’m your senior? Get lost!”
Bang!
The Great Artist slammed the door shut and cast an eight-layered overlapping spatial distortion spell on its exterior.
-Gr-Great Artist…
Professor Garcia, who realized too late from outside, called out desperately, but the Great Artist ignored him.
“…Wasn’t that the Professor just now?”
“They were traitors.”
As if nothing had happened, the Great Artist waved his arm again.
Then the bleak walls of the residence crumbled and flipped over, revealing the paintings hidden within.
They were all covered with black cloth so the contents couldn’t be seen, but extraordinary power could be felt from within. They were definitely not ordinary paintings.
“Where did I leave off in my explanation?”
“You said you were trying to breathe eternal life into your works… is that really possible?”
“You’re the Skeleton Principal’s disciple and successor, so you answer. What do you think?”
‘He really holds grudges.’
Complaining inwardly, Lee Han carefully opened his mouth.
“If it’s just temporary… I think it could be implemented with a small world or unique world. Other magic would make the process too complicated.”
Making inanimate objects move like living things was certainly possible, but he couldn’t even begin to imagine how to link magic to breathe temporary life into them.
In that case, just disrupting the laws themselves with a small world or unique world seemed much more feasible.
But…
“Still, wouldn’t that be far from permanent?”
“Right. You’re clever. Word magic, small worlds, even unique worlds… whatever method you use, implementing it permanently is difficult. So I’m thinking of approaching it a different way.”
The Great Artist drew symbols representing human form in the air.
Then he drew symbols representing a unique world within it, and symbols representing eternal circulation.
Understanding the meaning, Lee Han asked in a surprised voice.
“You’re going to summon a unique world within the artwork and then maintain it continuously?”
“That’s right.”
“Is that possible?”
If a unique world could be maintained continuously, that artwork could truly continue to live like a living being with a soul.
Great magic that twisted the laws of reality had that kind of power.
But maintaining a unique world continuously sounded even more impossibly distant than breathing life into an artwork.
Just how?
Lee Han hesitated as something came to mind.
‘No way?!’
“Don’t tell me you want my mana…!”
“By using the essence of primordial magic contained in art… what did you just say?”
“It’s nothing.”
Lee Han coughed awkwardly, hiding his embarrassment.
‘This is all Professor Verdus’s fault.’
Because that professor had become one who only thought about freely using students’ mana, Lee Han had fallen into such paranoid delusions.
The Great Artist, unaware of Lee Han’s delusions, continued his explanation.
“Perhaps… the reason mages cannot transcend the limits of magic is because they define those limits too quickly for themselves. Like fleas trapped in a glass bottle that can’t jump higher even after being released.”
“That’s not actually how it works though.”
“Truth isn’t important. Rather, that observation adds strength to the opinion I just expressed.”
Though the example was wrong, the Great Artist’s words certainly made sense.
Magic, the discipline of twisting reality, was inevitably deeply connected to a mage’s will.
If a mage placed constraints deep in their unconscious saying ‘this is impossible,’ the already near-impossible difficulty would become even harder.
“Indeed… I can relate since I also lack confidence. Self-confidence is important when learning magic too.”
“Exactly.”
If other friends had been present, they would have thrown stones asking if he was joking, but the Great Artist fell for it completely.
Because he wasn’t a professor.
“I intend to break through this limitation with primordial magic. Though random and uncontrollable, those very characteristics can break through psychological constraints.”
‘It sounds absurd but is strangely plausible.’
What the Great Artist was saying sounded like he would gamble with low probability until success, since conventional methods were difficult anyway.
Normally it would be nonsense, but given the goal, there was something that made it seem plausible.
“Indeed… that seems to have the most possibility.”
“Right?”
Though the Great Artist was thoroughly concealed so that not even the smallest part of his skin was visible, Lee Han could sense that the other person was smiling for the first time.
“It’s a realization I gained while escaping into art for a long time. I never would have known this if I had stayed under that bastard.”
“…”
Lee Han didn’t ask who ‘that bastard’ was. Instead, he changed the subject.
“So what kind of artwork are you trying to breathe life into? Perhaps an imaginary lover?”
Recalling the story of a sculptor who wanted to breathe life into a sculpture of his imagined lover, Lee Han asked.
However, the Great Artist responded with bewilderment as if asking what nonsense he was spouting.
“Even when I was at Einroguard, I never heard such ridiculous nonsense. Why on earth would I pour all this magic and art into creating something like a lover?”
“I’m, I’m sorry.”
Lee Han felt very embarrassed.
Of course that wouldn’t make sense!
‘I’ve read too many fairy tales.’
“You’ll be interested when you see it too. Look.”
The Great Artist waved his arm once more.
From somewhere came a song from the ancient kingdom era that Lee Han had heard before.
Simultaneously, the cloths that had covered the paintings disappeared, and statues slowly rose from the floor.
Amazingly, they were all depictions of the Skeleton Principal’s human form!
“…”
As Lee Han stared in shock, speechless, the Great Artist explained as if he had expected this reaction.
“Throw away whatever outrageous speculation you’re making right now. You’re not thinking I’m doing this work out of respect for that person, are you?”
“Uh… I thought you were planning to torture him for revenge after breathing life into them.”
“…What terrible thoughts are you having?!”
The Great Artist was horrified by the youngest member’s cruel imagination.
If he wanted revenge, he should do it to the person directly – why would he do such a thing?
“I’m not preparing all this art and magic out of vengeance. I’m not such a foolish mage. Why do you think the Imperial Mages bow and scrape before that person?”
“The Principal bows and scrapes even more often…”
Perhaps not expecting Lee Han’s answer from the start, the Great Artist continued with his own words.
“The answer is because that evil one carries on the mystical lineage passed down from ancient times. Conversely, if there were one more person carrying on that mystical lineage, it would mean escape from that ruthless tyranny. Can you imagine? A mage with the same abilities as that evil archmage, but with a good and righteous heart?”
“Ah. I’ve met someone like that.”
“…Have you lost your mind?”
—————
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
