Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 198

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

Chapter 198

How much time had passed?

The Spire Keeper, who had collapsed from the attack that came from behind, regained consciousness and hurriedly got up.

To collapse and leave a new student behind when the intruder attack artifact had awakened.

It was a mistake that would leave him speechless even if he had ten mouths.

The Spire Keeper grabbed his staff and stood up, praying that it wasn’t too late.

“…?!”

However, the scene before his eyes was very different from what the Spire Keeper had expected.

First of all, the inside of the storage was in a half-destroyed state.

The miscellaneous items that had been scattered around were all smashed to pieces and rolling about, showing just how fiercely the battle had been fought.

The Spire Keeper didn’t despair or panic at seeing the items in the Principal’s storage destroyed.

In fact, these items were only precious to the Principal; the Spire Keeper had no particular interest in them. They weren’t his belongings anyway.

Rather, the Spire Keeper was amazed that a new student had fought so evenly against the intruder attack artifact.

Seeing the artifact attacking, it was definitely not at a level that an underclassman should be able to handle.

“Ugh.”

Lee Han raised his body with a groan.

In front of him lay the charred and frozen artifacts.

He had managed to seal them by pouring cold energy over and over again, but his whole body ached.

‘To think Professor Boladi’s teachings were right.’

Lee Han found the fact that he had to acknowledge Professor Boladi’s words more unpleasant than his physical fatigue.

A mage must never let their guard down at any moment!

If his reaction had been even slightly delayed, he would have been pierced by the artifacts and gained several holes.

“Well done, Sharkan.”

Sharkan growled pleasantly.

Without this powerful undead summon, he wouldn’t have been able to capture the artifacts.

While Lee Han unleashed various spells and struck the artifacts with force, Sharkan threw his whole body to pin down the artifacts’ movements.

Without Sharkan, he would have been stabbed in several places already.

‘By the way… are all artifacts this tough?’

He hadn’t thought that inanimate enemies would be this threatening.

The eerie way they remained unfazed even when struck with lightning, exploded with flames, blasted with mana, and cursed.

The artifacts that charged forward targeting only vital points were terror itself.

He had barely managed to bind them by pouring cold energy until the entire room froze.

‘From now on, if I encounter artifact-type enemies, I’ll definitely run away.’

The Spire Keeper, having regained consciousness, approached Lee Han. Only then did Lee Han notice the surrounding situation.

“…This couldn’t be helped.”

Seeing the destroyed storage, a different kind of fear suddenly washed over him.

How would the Skeleton Principal react upon seeing this scene?

‘Surely he won’t blame everything on me.’

Lee Han earnestly prayed that the Spire Keeper wouldn’t back out.

If he had any conscience, he wouldn’t avoid responsibility when this situation arose because of his own collapse…

But then again, weren’t there many people at this magic school who left their conscience at the main gate?

Swoosh-

However, the Spire Keeper acted completely differently from Lee Han’s expectations.

He bowed his head and expressed gratitude.

“…!”

* * *

‘Why isn’t he coming?’

The Skeleton Principal, who had been waiting for the ‘Cold Winter Gloves’ with a joyful heart, felt something was strange.

Could he have noticed?

‘No. That’s impossible. No matter what kind of genius he is, he couldn’t see the magic contained within it beforehand.’

The Skeleton Principal soothed his anxious mind.

The 【Cold Winter Gloves】 were a surprise gift for the students in the lecture hall.

The moment Lee Han brought them in, the weather trapped inside the gloves would be released into the lecture hall, and the students should be cheerfully delighted by the blizzard they’d encounter inside the classroom…

But why isn’t he coming?

Swoosh!

An undead bird of prey flew in from outside the window. A letter sent by the Spire Keeper was tied to its ankle.

At that sight, the Skeleton Principal instinctively felt an ominous feeling.

I think you need to come right away.

‘What the hell?’

The Skeleton Principal couldn’t understand.

Did that Wardanaz bastard notice halfway through and run away?

Or did he try to knock down the Spire Keeper and plunder the storage?

Plausible hypotheses came to mind, but the answer was unknowable.

Tsk. I’ll be out for a moment, so study by yourselves.

“!”

The students’ expressions brightened.

While I’m gone, write ‘I will not use unverified dangerous magic on my own’ ten thousand times.

The students’ expressions darkened.

Regardless, the Skeleton Principal made an eerie sound as he headed toward the spire.

What on earth happened?

* * *

…

The Skeleton Principal felt tears flowing from his empty eye sockets.

In fact, they weren’t real tears. A lich didn’t have tear ducts.

But the Skeleton Principal could feel hot tears flowing down his face.

This… this is too much.

When the Skeleton Principal’s voice trembled with sadness, Lee Han’s fear multiplied several times over.

It would be one thing if he got angry, but to see him like this.

Tap tap-

The Spire Keeper poked the Skeleton Principal and held out a piece of paper.

That new student suppressed the artifact, so I think you should reward him.

…

The Skeleton Principal cursed himself for bringing such an oblivious fool as his subordinate.

How could he be more oblivious than the new student standing right next to him!

Is this the time to say such things? Huh?

But in principle…

Principle or not, my heart is being torn apart! Wait. What artifact caused this rampage?

The Skeleton Principal, who had been getting angry, finally realized something strange.

From what he could see, some artifact had clearly awakened incorrectly in the storage and caused this chaos.

…But the Skeleton Principal had never placed such a thing in this storage.

If he had placed such a thing there in the first place, he wouldn’t have sent a new student or let the Spire Keeper go in.

What is this?

The 【Magic Sword of Enemy Slaying】 and 【Chain of Giant Binding】 that you requested last time have been completed and left here.

-Bibble Verdus

The Skeleton Principal’s mouth fell open when he found the note amidst the chaos.

The artifact he had commissioned Professor Verdus to make after making a big decision and splitting his fortune last time.

…The professor who completed that artifact had left it in the storage.

As a surprise gift!

‘…No. That’s not it.’

Professor Verdus wasn’t the type to give surprise gifts.

He must have just left it in the nearest storage because he was too lazy.

I’m going to kill him! Bibble!

The Skeleton Principal roared with fury.

Due to the pressure of the mana he was releasing, the Spire Keeper’s body trembled violently.

“Principal. The Spire Keeper seems to be having a hard time here…”

Lee Han was afraid, but he spoke up for the Spire Keeper.

The Skeleton Principal came to his senses and stopped releasing mana.

…Wait, am I being worried about by a new student right now?!

The Spire Keeper bowed his head as if he felt ashamed.

The Skeleton Principal, having finished understanding the entire situation, clicked his tongue and looked up at the ceiling in dejection.

It was closer to an accident caused by misfortune and bad luck, not particularly anyone’s fault.

‘No wait. It’s Beeble’s fault.’

The Skeleton Principal came to his senses.

The mental shock was so great that he had almost let it slide.

‘I’m going to kill him…’

Tap tap-

?

When the Spire Keeper tapped him and called again, the Skeleton Principal turned his head in puzzlement.

That new student suppressed the artifact, so I think you should reward him.

…Later. I’ll do it later.

The Skeleton Principal answered in a drained voice.

When you thought about it, the Spire Keeper was right.

The magic sword and chains that the Skeleton Principal had commissioned Professor Verdus to make were no ordinary items.

For a new student to have suppressed them was an amazing feat that even surprised the Skeleton Principal.

…Under normal circumstances!

Right now, the Skeleton Principal was too heartbroken and dejected to have the energy to be surprised or praise anyone.

I’ll do it later. Understood?

“Yes. Sure.”

Lee Han had no complaints whatsoever.

He just wanted to escape this place as quickly as possible.

Pop!

The Skeleton Principal disappeared.

Lee Han inwardly mourned for Professor Beeble.

He couldn’t know exactly what the situation was, but the Principal certainly wasn’t going to praise him.

Tap tap-

“?”

The Spire Keeper pressed a well-wrapped package into Lee Han’s hands. Then he bowed in thanks once more.

I’ll speak to Lord Gonadaltes again later about the reward.

Lee Han was moved.

‘What a truly good person!’

How did he end up employed by someone like the Skeleton Principal…

* * *

Afternoon.

Lee Han headed to Professor Bibble Verdus’s workshop, the Sacred Workshop, to attend the additional Enchantment Magic lecture.

‘How surprising.’

Surprisingly, quite a lot of students had gathered in front of the tower.

Considering that Professor Verdus was the worst educator, this was evidence of just how attractive Enchantment Magic was.

‘I’m starting to feel sorry for Professor Mortum for no reason.’

Sympathizing with a professor was the ultimate taboo, but sometimes human emotions just couldn’t be helped.

“…Wait. But why is everyone standing outside instead of going in?”

“He’s not opening the door for us?”

Lee Han moved through his friends and knocked on the workshop door.

Knock knock knock-

“Professor? Are you there?”

There was a clattering sound from inside, followed by whispered conversations as if they were consulting each other.

-What should we do? Is it really okay to do this? Won’t we end up in the Punishment Room later?

-We got permission to lecture in the professor’s place.

-Still… how can we trust that?

Only after quite some time had passed did the door open.

“!”

“!!!!”

The First Year Students were startled.

Behind the door weren’t Professor Verdus, but upperclassmen they had never seen before.

And the upperclassmen were also startled.

To be precise, only one of the upperclassmen was startled.

‘It’s that new student!?’

Kumandas, a friend of Cohorti and a Fourth Year Student majoring in Ancient Magic-Enchantment Magic, was startled when he recognized Lee Han’s face.

Who would have thought they’d meet like this here!

‘Huh? Wait a minute. Doesn’t he major in Dark Magic?’

Kumandas was momentarily confused.

Of course, double majoring or triple majoring wasn’t unheard of, but it was very rare.

Even if one did double major, they would choose fields that were highly related and easy to study together, like Kumandas.

Otherwise, the student would collapse trying to keep up.

In fact, Kumandas had first specialized in Enchantment Magic, then additionally studied the artifact field in Ancient Magic.

It should essentially be considered a double major connected to Enchantment Magic.

But the student before him was majoring in Dark Magic + Enchantment Magic from his first year…?

‘Learning both sides from the first year would be quite difficult and tough.’

Kumandas was initially puzzled, but upon reflection, he thought it could be possible.

Wasn’t this the first year with talent that would surprise even Diret?

He was a first year about whom friends would say ‘Didn’t the Wardanaz Family cast Grand Magic?’…

Having such grand ambitions was, in a way, only natural.

‘I wonder what kind of thoughts such a genius lives with.’

Kumandas became curious.

Of course, Kumandas was indeed a genius when considering the entire Empire, but this magic school was a place that gathered only the geniuses among the Empire’s geniuses.

The real geniuses who stood out in such a place were on a completely different level.

Just like the boy from the Wardanaz Family right before his eyes!

‘Compared to someone like that, I’m just completely ordinary…’

Lee Han’s appearance, lost in thought with a statue-like expressionless face, gave off an even more mysterious atmosphere.

He felt like a mage who was always immersed in the world of magic except when sleeping.

“Senior.”

“What is it?”

The statue, no, the genius opened his mouth.

“May we eat the snacks on the table?”

“…Huh? Oh yeah. You can eat them…”

“He says we can.”

“Wardanaz, thank you!”

The other 1st year students expressed their sincere gratitude to Lee Han.

At the sight of the new students rushing inside, Kumandas wore a bewildered expression.

Huh?

Huh…?

‘Something… something’s different from what I thought…?’

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