Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 195

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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 195

“…Sorry.”

Lee Han apologized for now.

He really hadn’t imagined that the White Snow Hedgehog would just run away.

‘Isn’t that bastard too cowardly for a monster?’

If it’s a monster, it should charge ferociously regardless of the opponent’s mana, but being so cowardly…

“Ah.”

“?”

Priest Siana beside him made a sound as if she had belatedly remembered something.

“I think it would be good to chase the White Snow Hedgehog. Lee Han of Wardanaz Family.”

“Why?”

Lee Han was ready to refuse whatever Priest Siana said.

When a monster runs away, one should be grateful, not try to forcibly catch it.

Those stupid Black Turtle Tower students were probably having delusions like ‘There’s no way Wardanaz would be satisfied with just driving away a monster’…

“White Snow Hedgehogs like Cold Jade Silkworms, so they collect them.”

“!!”

Cold Jade Silkworms.

It was a material that could only be obtained by breaking through accumulated snow during a blizzard, breaking the surface of a frozen lake, and then going underwater.

Naturally, it was something he had excluded from the start, thinking ‘I shouldn’t even attempt to get this’…

“Let’s chase it! Sharkan. Follow its tracks! Nilia. Help me!”

At his shout, the Black Turtle Tower students looked at Lee Han with expressions that said ‘I knew it would come to this.’

Lee Han was about to hit each of his friends but stopped himself.

* * *

While there were students like Lee Han who coolly judged and collected easy materials first, there were also students who tried to collect difficult materials to catch Professor Thunderstep’s attention.

The White Tiger Tower students were exactly like that.

Surprisingly, they were trying to break the thick ice of the lake in this bitter cold weather to obtain Cold Jade Silkworms.

Crack!

“Got it!”

The White Tiger Tower students who finally succeeded in breaking the lake’s ice with an axe bumped fists with each other.

In such cold weather, even breaking ice was no ordinary task.

If they just swung the axe carelessly, their clothes could get soaked with sweat and freeze, so they had to swing slowly and bit by bit.

“Be careful.”

“I know. Here. Going in!”

One of the students took out a round orb with patterns carved on it.

It was a 【Fake Eye】 that they had bought from the Black Turtle Tower students.

“Show me, eye! The places I cannot see!”

An artifact that clearly shows the user the vision around the orb.

Though it was disposable, this was among the better ones available from the failed works obtainable at the school.

The students firmly secured the orb to a rod and then put it into the lake.

Even though they were wrapped in several layers of leather enchanted with low-grade cold resistance magic, if they fell into the lake, such things would become meaningless.

That’s why the students’ movements were so cautious.

“There it is! The hook!”

The students who discovered the Cold Jade tried to extract it by inserting a hook.

The tightly clumped Cold Jade was gradually being pulled out. The students’ faces brightened.

“We got it out!”

“Keep digging! Let’s take it all!”

-■■■■! ■■■■!

“?!?”

“What!?”

Before the White Snow Hedgehog appeared.

With crackling sounds, the White Snow Hedgehog began charging across the lake surface. The White Tiger Tower students who were focused on fishing were a step too late in responding.

“That… that thing…”

“Don’t come this way!”

Despite the students’ shouts, the White Snow Hedgehog paid no attention and kept charging.

The White Snow Hedgehog aimed for the hole the students had made and rushed at it. The weakened ice broke in a chain reaction, and a massive cracking sound erupted.

Splash!

The White Snow Hedgehog dove straight into the lake.

…And so did the White Tiger Tower students.

* * *

“Why are those guys on the lake? How dangerous!”

Asan was flustered as he watched the White Tiger Tower students fall into the lake in the distance.

But Lee Han saw something slightly different.

‘No. They dug out Cold Jade, didn’t they?’

The basket remaining on the lakeside.

And seeing that basket filled with Cold Jade, Lee Han’s eyes lit up.

To think they succeeded in digging that out.

“We have to help them!”

Nilia shouted urgently.

Wasn’t this accident caused by chasing the White Snow Hedgehog?

At those words, Lee Han, who had been pondering how to borrow the Cold Jade, nodded.

“Right. Let’s help them and borrow the Cold Jade as compensation.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Move!”

Lee Han didn’t answer and sprang into action.

First, let’s rescue the ones who fell in!

Lee Han picked up and moved the pole that the White Tiger Tower students had prepared. The students who were struggling in the lake barely managed to grab onto the pole.

“Get out!”

“Wa… wa… wa…”

The White Tiger Tower students couldn’t even speak properly due to the cold. They trembled as they grabbed the pole and climbed up.

However, not everyone could do so. Some couldn’t exert strength and staggered, as if their arms were paralyzed.

‘I have to pull them up myself!’

In that brief moment, Lee Han’s mind raced quickly.

What method could he use to get the students who had fallen into the water up to the lakeside?

‘By controlling the water below…’

Lee Han cast another incantation.

It was an incantation aimed at the area beneath the feet of the students who had fallen into the lake.

Water elemental magic was the most familiar and comfortable magic for Lee Han.

Now it was cast as naturally as breathing, even in urgent situations.

‘Lift them up!’

Splash!

The students’ heads shot upward. But that was as far as it went.

Rescuing people who had fallen into water with a water net wasn’t easy.

‘It’s not working!’

Due to the distance and the wide range he was trying to control, the water’s force couldn’t be properly maintained.

If it had been water that Lee Han had summoned, his control power would have been much stronger, but the lake water was not easy to handle.

Lee Han clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘Should I summon water separately and put it in? No… the moment I put it in, it would mix with the lake water and become weaker.’

As Lee Han pondered, a cold, bitter wind brushed past his cheek.

At that moment, a flash of inspiration flowed through Lee Han’s arm.

Before he could even think with his head, Lee Han was instinctively chanting an incantation.

It was what could be called a mage’s enlightenment.

“Freeze!”

Crackle crackle crackle!

Just as he had realized how to control the water element while having his life threatened by Professor Boladi, Lee Han felt like he understood what the cold element was.

Forgetting even the current situation, Lee Han became absorbed in controlling the cold. The enlightenment made him forget even the bitter cold.

‘This is impossible!’

Yoner looked at Lee Han in shock.

Unlike other students who would think ‘Wardanaz is someone who can even use evil forbidden arts, so what’s surprising about this?’ no matter what magic Lee Han used, Yoner knew to some extent which magic Lee Han could and couldn’t use.

And ice element magic was magic that Lee Han couldn’t use.

If he had known how to use it, he wouldn’t have struggled so much when storing food ingredients in the first place.

But now Lee Han was using ice element magic.

There was only one reasonable explanation.

He had awakened to it on his own without even learning from a professor!

-Meikin. A good mage learns quickly, but an excellent mage learns to awaken on their own.

-Is that possible?

-Of course. As you continue learning, there will come a time when you realize it on your own. That’s when you can truly be called a mage.

Swoooosh-

A wide sheet of ice formed in the water and pushed the fallen students upward.

The friends hurriedly pulled out the White Tiger Tower students who had become like drowned mice.

“Light a fire!”

“B-but the flint is wet?”

“Are you even a mage!?”

“Ah… oops. Sorry.”

“Bring potions!”

The students hurriedly lit a fire by the lakeside and massaged their White Tiger Tower friends’ hands and feet.

“Yoner, help! We need to make more potions!”

“Huh? Oh, sorry.”

Yoner quickly came to his senses and prepared the potions.

He felt strange.

With so many friends around, Yoner was the only one who realized how amazing what he had just witnessed was.

Just then, Lee Han walked out. Lee Han was muttering something.

Yoner became curious and listened carefully.

What could Lee Han be saying?

‘Perhaps about what he just realized?’

“When I return to the tower, I should practice freezing perishable materials first.”

“…”

Yoner pretended not to hear and turned his gaze to the cauldron.

Life was often unexpectedly mundane.

* * *

“Wardanaz… thank you. I have no idea why the White Snow Hedgehog suddenly appeared.”

“Actually, we were the ones who-”

“It’s fine.”

Lee Han cut off Nilia’s words.

“Even though we’re from different towers, helping students in crisis is naturally the right thing to do.”

“…???”

Nilia looked at Lee Han as if bewildered. However, Lee Han’s expression didn’t change at all.

“Now then, the Cold Jade Silkworm…”

“The White Snow Hedgehog is coming back!”

“!”

All the students turned their gazes in surprise.

Indeed, the White Snow Hedgehog was approaching.

However, it was slightly different from before. The White Snow Hedgehog slowly approached and then dropped something down.

It was a bundle of Cold Needle Jade Grass.

“…!”

“Th-that’s…”

“Wardanaz. The White Snow Hedgehog must have been moved by seeing you save your friends!”

“Such…! It’s a miracle!”

The students present were truly amazed.

To think that a mere monster would be so moved as to leave such a gift.

It was a miracle that warmed their hearts even in the cold snowy weather.

Nilia tilted her head.

“I don’t think that’s it, it looked scared? That’s the habit of giving gifts to tell others not to chase them…”

“Shh. Lady Nilia. It would be better if you stayed quiet.”

Ratford covered Nilia’s mouth.

There was no need to ruin this atmosphere.

* * *

Professor Thunderstep praised the students who had gathered various materials.

Then he processed the materials and stored them in glass bottles so the students could continue using them.

Though he did say a few unnecessary words.

-You got Cold Needle Jade Grass? You actually got this? How did you get it?

-…

Thanks to that, the White Tiger Tower students whose bodies had been frozen also warmed up with anger.

Lee Han had a simple lunch and headed to Professor Boladi’s lecture hall.

‘This week… won’t it be mainly about cold?’

Lee Han thought as he headed to the lecture hall.

Professor Boladi was the most unpredictable among the professors, but even so, he could predict this much.

Since the heavy snow outside wasn’t a common opportunity, there was a high chance Professor Boladi would take advantage of it.

“You’re here.”

“Yes.”

“Among the elements, cold is on the tricky side. Even more so in magical combat. But through proper application, you can overcome those limitations.”

Lee Han wasn’t surprised by the vampire professor jumping straight to the main topic.

He nodded as if he had expected it. Moreover, his expression showed a hint of confidence.

After all, he had just awakened the cold attribute on his way here.

“It’s difficult to maintain and lacks instant destructive power, but frost magic is useful in the following moments…”

Lee Han concentrated and took notes on Professor Boladi’s explanation.

At some point, Professor Boladi finished his explanation.

“Try casting a cold generation magic.”

Lee Han nodded.

“Freeze!”

Cold shot out from the tip of his staff and lowered the temperature of the lecture hall. Frost settled on the desks in front of Lee Han.

Ice Element Magic that would normally require countless trials and errors to get the hang of.

Even in the amazing situation where a new student had learned it on his own, Professor Boladi showed no change in expression.

“Well done.”

‘Huh?’

“I thought it would take a day, but we can move the schedule forward. The next magic you’ll cast is…”

“…”

Only then did Lee Han snap back to his senses.

‘What was I doing?’

He had been spacing out from the joy of understanding the cold element earlier.

…He should have pretended he couldn’t do it a few times!

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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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