Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 172

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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 172

‘I’ve caused an unnecessary misunderstanding.’

Contrary to his friends’ misunderstanding, Lee Han wasn’t someone so crazy about studying.

He only studied what was necessary.

He was someone who only studied what he needed.

“Nilia. You’re not misunderstanding too, are you?”

“What misunderstanding?”

“I can guess what you’re thinking right now… wait.”

Lee Han, who had been speaking, paused.

‘Is this it?’

The paper that was inside the treasure chest the Skeleton Principal had scattered during the festival.

Magic was written on it, but naturally it couldn’t be obtained easily.

Even when written kindly and in detail, trial and error was necessary, but when written in codes and metaphors that only the mage knew, the time required increased several fold.

Thanks to that, Lee Han had been spending quite a lot of time on it too…

Suddenly, enlightenment came.

Lee Han put down the paper and began frantically scribbling with his quill pen.

The various codes he had noted down organically connected with each other, and finally the overall context of the magic became visible.

“…”

“…”

Of course, to his friends’ eyes, Lee Han just looked like someone who suddenly stared at paper and frantically scribbled with his quill pen like a madman.

Gainando muttered.

“Learning magic is important too, but Lee Han seems too extreme.”

* * *

A dark night with only moonlight remaining.

Lee Han was sitting in the common room with a dejected expression.

‘No…’

It wasn’t because the other students were worse at memorization than expected.

Of course, the other students were worse at memorization than expected, but that wasn’t Lee Han’s problem.

‘…It was invisibility magic.’

2nd Circle Magic, 【Gonadaltes’s Invisibility Cloak】.

Actually, this wasn’t the Skeleton Principal’s fault.

How could he have known that the student who would take that magic already had a belt with invisibility magic on it?

But from Lee Han’s perspective, it couldn’t help but be disappointing.

‘Right. It’s not bad.’

Someday when a situation came where he couldn’t use the belt, that magic would become useful.

…Though if such a situation came, invisibility magic wouldn’t be the problem.

Pararararak!

“?”

The faint sound of pages turning could be heard, along with an unfamiliar scene unfolding before his eyes.

Lee Han immediately grasped the situation.

“You again?”

The book given by the Skeleton Principal was floating in the air with its pages exposed.

‘What’s the criteria?’

He understood it was calling him to learn magic, but he couldn’t figure out the criteria for when the black book summoned him.

When does it call me?

“Can you tell me when you call me?”

Instead of answering, the black book only revealed its pages.

He could feel it telling him not to ask useless questions and just learn magic.

‘Well, a book given by the Skeleton Principal wouldn’t be kind.’

Lee Han muttered.

“You’re not deliberately calling me when I’m busy or having a hard time, are you?”

Parak!

“…?”

Lee Han looked up. He thought the black book had moved just now.

Could it be?

The black book ignored Lee Han’s gaze and shook the page with magic written on it.

Fortunately, the magic in the black book wasn’t as complexly twisted as the magic he had obtained during the festival.

2nd Circle Magic, 【Gonadaltes’ Dark Vision】.

It was magic that could maintain vision even in pitch-black darkness.

‘Pretty good.’

Lee Han was pleased.

For Lee Han, who often had to move around at night, this kind of enhancement magic was useful.

He could summon light, but that wasn’t always possible…

‘But… all of the Skeleton Principal’s magic is kind of…?’

Lee Han felt a sense of unease as he recalled the magic he had learned from the black book.

【Gonadaltes’ Nimble Steps】, 【Gonadaltes’ Sharp Hands】, 【Gonadaltes’ Invisible Cloak】 (though he hadn’t learned this from the black book), and now 【Gonadaltes’ Dark Vision】.

Magic with a mage’s name attached was usually magic that the mage had developed personally out of necessity.

‘What did he do in his youth to need such magic?’

Pararararak!

“Alright. I’ll concentrate.”

Lee Han spoke to the black book and closed his eyes.

Since things had come to this, it would be difficult to leave before learning it.

There was nothing bad about learning it, so he would do his best.

However, Lee Han didn’t realize.

If he didn’t learn the magic given by the black book and cleverly stalled for time, he could buy as much time as he wanted until the next magic appeared.

There was no need to concentrate so hard on learning everything at once like this…

* * *

After Monday passed, fortunately most of the students had recovered from their hangovers.

Lee Han piled up a mountain of egg sandwiches on the common room table as a breakfast substitute.

The eggs from the vegetable garden weren’t enough, so he borrowed some eggs from Professor Thunderstep’s cabin, but surely he would understand.

‘Not bad.’

It was a simple sandwich with mashed eggs spread between soft white bread, but it tasted good.

‘I can save on materials again.’

He felt like he was becoming increasingly skilled at satisfying his friends while saving more and more on materials. Lee Han felt a slight sense of pride.

“Wardanaz. You’re a genius.”

“To make a menu like this when you’re busy with exams…”

His friends, unaware of Lee Han’s wicked scheme, picked up egg sandwiches one by one and thanked him.

“But Wardanaz. Did you deliver one to the Imperial Princess?”

“…Ah.”

Lee Han hesitated.

He had been tormented by the black book while sleeping yesterday and had forgotten while getting up early in the morning to boil and mash eggs.

“Why don’t you guys take it to her?”

Lee Han said, looking at the Blue Dragon Tower students who followed the Imperial Princess.

“W-we’re a bit…”

“??”

“Well, since her bloodline is what it is, we’re a bit hesitant to approach her first and speak carelessly…”

“????”

Gainando, who was munching on an egg sandwich beside them, glared with a shocked expression.

Finding it troublesome, Lee Han encouraged the followers.

“You’re students from the same tower, and one of Einroguard’s rules is equality.”

A place where everyone suffers equally.

That was exactly what Einroguard was.

“But you can’t keep maintaining distance and being cautious like that.”

“Ugh… That’s true, but…”

Despite Lee Han’s words, the followers couldn’t easily change their minds.

They still felt reluctant about approaching the Imperial Princess first to speak.

‘Can’t they just think of her as Gainando wearing a wig?’

While Lee Han was having such crazy thoughts, one of the followers spoke up.

“We’ll pay more silver coins, so couldn’t you deliver it just this once, Wardanaz?”

“That’s fine with me.”

“?!”

Lee Han immediately agreed.

Well, it could be awkward!

* * *

【Basic Riding Training】 lecture.

The time had come to see how diligently they had been caring for their mounts.

“…”

Lee Han looked at Ponrig with a complicated expression. Ponrig whinnied as if asking what was wrong.

‘It’s because you’re a griffin…’

While other friends were leading horses around, thinking that he had a creature that ate horses in front of him made his feelings inevitably complicated.

Professor Lightningstep made a cracking sound with his riding whip and spoke.

“Now! I think I’ve said this countless times, but there’s nothing but steady effort and care when it comes to befriending animals. Other lectures might be manageable by cramming right before exams, but if you’re thinking like that in my lecture, you’d better give up.”

Gainando looked at his horse with a pitiful expression at those words. The horse spat on Gainando’s face.

“Today’s exam is riding horses and running. Go as far as possible within the set time and come back. Any questions?”

Lee Han raised his hand.

“What is it?”

“Are there dangerous rivers like last time?”

Professor Lightningstep thought this guy really held grudges and said.

That wasn’t even something Professor Lightningstep had created!

“Of course there would be. Einroguard’s land is vast and full of all kinds of obstacles. It would be good to move with caution. Then… start!”

Professor Lightningstep didn’t give the students time to prepare mentally.

He immediately blew his whistle to signal the start.

‘Should we collude?’

While mounting Ponrig, Lee Han had other thoughts in that brief moment.

If they all agreed not to go beyond a certain distance, they could take the exam comfortably together…

‘Hmm. That’s absolutely impossible.’

Seeing students from other towers already hurling curses at each other, collusion was absolutely impossible.

“Get out of my way, you Black Turtle bastards!”

“If you want it, try breaking through with skill! Don’t you have that much ability despite calling yourselves knights?”

Lee Han shook his head and clicked his tongue. Then he said.

“I don’t understand why they’re so desperate to devour each other.”

“…”

Yoner looked at Lee Han as if he was ridiculous.

Probably about a third of those students would want to keep Lee Han in check…

As much as Lee Han excelled in other lectures, jealousy naturally followed.

There were definitely quite a few students among them thinking ‘I’ll beat that Wardanaz bastard in this lecture at least.’

And aside from that, Lee Han just had accumulated grudges. Among the White Tiger Tower students, there were fewer who hadn’t been beaten by Lee Han.

Professor Lightningstep warned in a sharp voice.

“Attacking each other is forbidden. Don’t attack by wielding magic or weapons.”

“What!”

Lee Han was startled.

He was even more surprised because he had been planning to deal with those who would charge at him by throwing water orbs once it started.

Yoner was dumbfounded seeing that.

He was pretending otherwise, but he was preparing for battle more thoroughly than anyone else.

“This is mount training, not magical combat training! I’ll allow the horses to bump into each other, but anything beyond that is forbidden. Understood?”

“Yes!”

The students answered Professor Lightningstep’s words.

However, Professor Lightningstep didn’t know.

‘I see. So I just need to handle it by making the horses bump into each other.’

That students like Lee Han would exploit any loopholes if the rules weren’t strictly established!

* * *

Clatter clatter!

The sound of hooves striking the ground rang out loudly as they followed the given route.

Not all students had been lazy during the semester. Those who had consistently cared for their horses had become close enough to ride them and pick up speed.

Naturally, Lee Han was one of them.

“Lee Han! Is it okay to keep increasing speed like this?”

Yoner asked while spurring his horse.

This exam wasn’t simply about going fast and far.

They had to go out and then return.

If they went too far and couldn’t return within the time limit, that would be a problem in its own right.

But with the leading group charging ahead like this, slowing down required considerable courage.

“Everyone has their own thoughts. Don’t worry.”

As Lee Han said, the students in the leading group began to slow down while watching each other.

They knew that continuing to sprint at full speed would tire out the horses.

That wasn’t all.

The students began gathering with their close friends to form groups.

‘This isn’t good.’

Even in a race, running together in a group was much more advantageous than running alone.

Not only was it easier to deal with whatever obstacles appeared, but it was also easier to respond to various collisions.

The problem was…

The students were glancing at Lee Han.

‘Wardanaz is the most threatening.’

‘I need to get revenge on that Wardanaz bastard…’

‘We need to block Wardanaz from moving forward.’

Lee Han put on the most harmless expression possible to ease his friends’ wariness, but it had little effect.

Well, even Lee Han himself would have been immediately wary if there had been a student like him.

An overwhelming first place candidate!

-Pururu.

Ponrig looked at Lee Han.

“What’s wrong?” -Neigh. Hee-hee-neigh.

“Easy. Good boy. You can’t act up right now.”

Ponrig let out a cry as if frustrated. Then he glared fiercely ahead.

Bang!

Before Lee Han could stop him, Ponrig began accelerating like mad.

Seeing this, the other friends looked on with shocked faces.

‘Wardanaz…!?’

‘What is he thinking! If he runs like that, he’ll collapse in no time!’

‘Don’t tell me he has a plan prepared for this too?!’

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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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