Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 168

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 168

-…I won’t be fooled.

Lee Han, who had briefly considered sacrificing the Black Turtle Tower students, answered coldly.

This was something he had already experienced.

-If I sacrifice one person, you’ll open the path a little, then ask for another sacrifice. I won’t fall for such deception.

-What on earth are you talking about? Who would do such a dishonorable thing?

However, the Labyrinth Statue responded as if bewildered by Lee Han’s words.

-I have worked at this school for so long that I cannot remember when I started. Following the rules set by the mage who created me. There is only one rule in this labyrinth. If one person goes to the punishment room, another goes to the opposite side. There are no other rules besides that. Who would do such ridiculous things?

‘The principal of this school.’

Lee Han answered inwardly.

But in any case, he could understand two things.

That what the Labyrinth Statue said was not a lie, and that the Skeleton Principal had even less honor than the Labyrinth Statue.

“What’s going on that you stopped walking…”

Salko, who was behind them, took a step forward and heard the same telepathy.

Then he looked at Lee Han and nodded.

‘We need to pair up in twos and send at least one person forward.’

Salko didn’t say things like ‘How can we abandon our friends!’

He already knew that such things were a luxury in this magic school.

Some sacrifice was necessary to get what you wanted!

The Black Turtle Tower friends going to the punishment room would surely understand.

“What is it? What’s happening?”

Nilia also stepped forward and heard the telepathy.

Then she shouted with an angry expression.

“How dare you ask us to sacrifice our friends!? Do you think Wardanaz or Tutanta would agree to such a proposal?!”

“!”

“!!”

Lee Han and Salko flinched.

Uh…

Uhh?

“Wait. Nilia.”

Salko tried to stop Nilia.

He couldn’t tell how much the difficulty would increase if they rejected that proposal.

It might be wiser to accept the offer given now…

“Why?”

“Think carefully. We don’t know how difficult that statue will become if we reject the proposal now. We might not be able to pass through that path. The friends who go to the punishment room can come out later and try again. Wardanaz thinks the same way. Don’t you?”

Salko looked at Lee Han. Nilia also stared intently at Lee Han with a shocked expression.

Lee Han cursed Salko.

‘What a tactless fool.’

He should ask when Nilia isn’t looking – how could she agree if he asked when she was watching?

Lee Han answered with a serious expression as if asking what nonsense he was talking about.

“No. I absolutely cannot accept such a dishonorable proposal.”

“See!”

“Indeed…”

Not only Nilia but even Ratford was impressed.

The Salko Gang also looked surprised.

“As expected of Wardanaz…”

“The leader of the Blue Dragon Tower students isn’t one for nothing.”

Regardless of his wickedness, they had to acknowledge Lee Han’s dignity as a leader.

Such unwavering resolve, not yielding an inch even when Salko was backing down.

“Are you watching, Labyrinth Statue! We do not engage in such sordid deals!”

Nilia immediately nocked an arrow and shot it. The Labyrinth Statue answered resolutely.

-Then prove your honor with skill!

With a rumbling sound, the corridor began to transform.

‘I’m already starting to regret this…’

* * *

When the corridor finished changing, Lee Han found himself standing in the middle of a labyrinth.

He wasn’t alone. Whether it was fortunate or not, he had ended up in the same area as Salko.

Salko looked at Lee Han and asked.

“Do you still think we shouldn’t have accepted?”

“…Of course.”

Lee Han answered without changing his expression at all.

Though he was regretting it inside, there was no reason to reveal that to Salko.

At that cold face, Salko nodded as if acknowledging him.

“I may not know about other things, but I have to acknowledge your honor.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

‘Can’t you let me out if I offer Salko even now?’

Lee Han thought to himself, but the Labyrinth Statue didn’t answer.

Salko raised his staff and chanted an incantation.

“Gather, Earth.”

Salko was so talented with earth elements that even Lee Han from another tower had heard rumors about him.

Earth gathered beneath the labyrinth wall and formed a slope they could climb.

“Excellent, Salko.”

Not knowing how complex and vast this labyrinth was, trying to escape through conventional methods would be foolish.

“Huff… huff.”

However, Salko himself knelt down with a pale face.

He had exhausted all his mana creating the earth mound.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m… I’m fine. Let’s climb up and look at the path.”

The two stepped on the earth mound and climbed up onto the labyrinth wall.

Then the vast landscape of the labyrinth came into view.

…Is this really a corridor?

“…”

“…”

The two students were at a loss for words. Lee Han quickly regained his composure and spoke.

“It’s a bit wider than expected, but let’s use magic to create a path and move in a straight line.”

“It’s… impossible. Just crossing one wall uses this much mana.”

“No. I’ll do it. Don’t worry.”

“What difference would it make if you do it?”

Salko spoke as if asking what nonsense he was talking about.

No matter how outstanding Lee Han was at magic among his year, it wasn’t a problem that could be solved.

If crossing one wall consumed this much mana, what would be different about Lee Han?

At most, after crossing two or three walls…

“Gather, Earth. Gather, Earth.”

Lee Han checked the incantation and swung his staff.

Although he had never handled earth elements due to prioritizing training other elements, fortunately the magic Salko had just used wasn’t very difficult magic.

He should be able to learn a 1st Circle 【Earth Creation】 on the spot.

Salko asked curiously.

“I thought water and lightning were your main attributes, but did you also learn earth?”

“No. I’m learning it now.”

“?????”

Behind him, Salko stared at him like he was looking at a madman, but Lee Han didn’t notice.

“Gather, Earth!”

“!”

He was lucky. The incantation succeeded on the first try.

‘Perhaps because I’ve struggled with other elemental magic, this feels easy.’

It was gratifying that all the suffering he endured from Professor Boladi and various other villains wasn’t completely useless.

An earth pile began rising from the ground.

Salko watched this and thought.

‘To achieve that level while learning it now… truly impressive.’

While it was nothing new to be amazed by Wardanaz’s magical abilities at this point, it was still remarkable.

To succeed on the first try when learning it just now.

Even Salko, who had considerable pride in earth elemental magic, had to acknowledge it.

Kwarrrrrreuk!

“…?”

As the earth pile accumulated larger than expected, Salko’s expression changed strangely.

Uh…

How long is this going to keep happening?

Rumble!

The sound of the surrounding labyrinth walls shaking could be heard.

The 【Earth Creation】 magic wasn’t a spell that created something from nothing. It was closer to magic that drew earth from nearby areas.

Right now, by forcibly drawing the soil that had been supporting the walls from beneath the floor, the labyrinth walls were losing their balance and shaking.

Salko was horrified.

“Wardanaz! What on earth…?!”

The earth pile that had accumulated enough to easily bury several people toppled the wall with its weight, and not stopping there, brought down the weakened surrounding walls as well.

Then the labyrinth walls fell in a chain reaction, creating a large path.

“…You were aiming for this?!”

Salko couldn’t help but tremble beyond his horror.

To aim for this and create a path in such a short time.

How could this be something a student of the same year could think of?

“Exactly right, Salko.”

“…!!”

While Salko was trembling, Lee Han inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

‘I really need to practice new elements carefully in safe places from now on.’

He had almost died buried under earth from being overconfident.

* * *

“Gather, Earth!”

“Gather, Earth!”

“Gather, Earth!”

“????”

Lee Han broke through eight more walls. Of course, not in the same way as before.

He obediently piled up earth mounds and climbed over them by stepping on them.

Salko asked, not understanding.

“Wouldn’t doing it like before be faster?”

“I need to conserve mana.”

“Ah. I see. That certainly makes sense.”

Meanwhile, friends who had been scattered in other places also joined them.

“Wardanaz!!”

“You came to rescue us!”

“Gather, Earth!”

“Wardanaz? I said thank you?”

“Gather, Earth!”

“Wardanaz…!”

The Black Turtle Tower students who had initially been delighted to see Lee Han and Salko coming to rescue them were gradually starting to become frightened.

Lee Han was just repeating incantations like a mage possessed by some evil demon.

“Wardanaz, you’re really okay, right?”

“Don’t talk to me. It interferes with my concentration. Gather, Earth!”

Lee Han chanted the incantation over and over and over again.

The students who joined late were bewildered.

“Isn’t… isn’t he going to collapse?”

“How is he not collapsing?”

Using magic continuously three or four times was at the level of ‘wow, amazing’, but when it went beyond dozens of times in a row, even such reactions didn’t come out.

It was simply marvelous.

“Tutanta. Aren’t you amazed by that?”

“Not at all!”

Tutanta had seen Lee Han make the walls vibrate and create paths with earth piles several times larger than that before coming here.

Such continuous magic wasn’t surprising anymore.

“!”

‘Tutanta…! He’s not amazed by that!’

‘Does that mean Tutanta can do it too!’

The Black Turtle Tower Students could only feel admiration. To not be surprised by that continuous magic!

‘When we meet those White Tiger Tower Students later, I should tell them that Tutanta can do things like that too.’

* * *

‘What’s this?’

Lee Han, who had been rapidly breaking through the labyrinth in a straight line, hesitated.

Surprisingly, as he piled up the earth, the wall began to rise accordingly.

The Labyrinth Statue spoke to Lee Han.

-I commend you for using your wit to break through the labyrinth. However, if you try to pass through the wall without finding the labyrinth’s exit, there are naturally restrictions.

‘Well, it was too easy after all.’

While other students found their way using all kinds of wisdom and magic, Lee Han had simply broken through by summoning an infinite earth pile with mana…

-Now if you break through this wall, you’ll be outside. Go ahead and try if you want to try, young students.

Hearing what the Labyrinth Statue said, Salko pondered seriously.

Salko had a way to break through this final obstacle.

‘Should I tell Wardanaz about the family magic?’

The Tutanta Family, the Empire’s foremost stonemason family, had several secret magic spells passed down through generations.

Salko himself wasn’t skilled enough to learn them yet, but he had secretly memorized magic that he would learn once he gained the skills someday.

Although he was a bit reluctant to tell Wardanaz about that magic, he couldn’t not help when Wardanaz was breaking through the labyrinth alone.

After seriously pondering alone, Salko reached a conclusion.

“Wardanaz. I have magic to teach you.”

CRASH!!!!!

As soon as those words ended, a massive water sphere struck the wall directly.

The rotating water sphere that made a fierce sound tore through the labyrinth wall.

The Labyrinth Statue praised Lee Han.

-Excellent. Young student. You have proven your honor with skill! You may pass! May blessings be upon your path ahead!

“Thank you.”

Lee Han swung his staff to shake off the water.

The labyrinth wall that waited quietly was an easy opponent compared to the monsters Lee Han had faced so far.

He had been able to prepare as much as he wanted before launching his attack.

“…”

“But Salko. You said you’d teach me magic?”

“…Yeah.”

Salko’s expression was dark. Lee Han was puzzled.

‘Why is he acting like that?’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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