Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 209

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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 209

You’re probably pondering it even now, albeit vaguely. What must one do to reach the truth? Which path should one walk?

‘…I wasn’t though.’

He had thought about what government position might be good, but he hadn’t been contemplating things like what he should do for the sake of truth.

But Lee Han remained silent.

The Skeleton Principal was being serious, and it didn’t seem like telling him he was thinking about government positions would do any good.

Considering the hostility toward bureaucrats that several professors had shown last time…

Let me give you some useful advice. In my human days, I was a prince.

“What?????!!!!!”

Lee Han was shocked enough that his heart nearly stopped.

What was that reaction just now?

“No wonder you overflowed with such dignity.”

Thank you. I was the prince of a beautiful small kingdom. Even so, I had many worries from childhood. Why must I begin dying from the moment I’m born? Why must the people of the kingdom suffer from the eight sufferings, seven emotions, and five desires?

“I… I see.”

Lee Han was completely overwhelmed by the Skeleton Principal’s young days, which had been far more normal and admirable than expected.

Then I gained enlightenment and abandoned my flesh. I became a lich.

“…Uh, didn’t you skip way too much of the story?”

What would be the point of hearing boring tales of training? Anyway, what’s important is that by abandoning my flesh, I was able to overcome the limitations I just mentioned.

“…”

The higher a mage’s level became, the more virtues they had to cultivate.

It wasn’t simply about controlling mana and understanding magic, but also governing one’s inner self and nurturing one’s mental imagery.

From that perspective, emotions were also enemies that mages had to fight against.

If one was swayed by the five desires, seven emotions, and eight sufferings, even the most brilliant mage would easily lose their way.

The Skeleton Principal had cut through such agonizing shackles with a single stroke.

…Though his method had been the extreme one of abandoning his living flesh.

“I’m not really interested in becoming a lich…”

I’m not telling you to become a lich.

The Skeleton Principal didn’t particularly care that Lee Han showed reluctance.

I’m telling you about the path I walked. Abandoning one’s flesh isn’t necessarily the only answer. There are infinitely many paths toward truth.

Though only a skeleton remained, flickering with blue light, an undeniable profound mystery could be felt from that form.

For the first time, the Skeleton Principal looked like a sage to Lee Han.

Usually he felt like a boss monster from an evil castle…

In my view, you should be able to govern yourself without necessarily becoming a lich.

“Why is that?”

Lee Han felt slightly hopeful.

No matter how eccentric someone was, he was still an archmage.

There was no way he wouldn’t be happy when such a person gave him high praise.

It’s not easy to deliberately suffer under various professors at your age. Such ascetic practices help cultivate the mind and body. You’ve made an excellent choice. Keep doing that.

“…”

Lee Han’s expression grew serious.

It was praise, but for some reason it made him feel very bad.

* * *

‘This isn’t Philone Village.’

Lee Han was surprised by the prosperous cityscape visible outside the carriage.

Philone Village, the closest village to Einroguard, was also quite a thriving village due to its special nature.

Originally, typical villages didn’t have so many mages, adventurers, mercenaries, or merchants.

However, the city before his eyes overwhelmed even Philone Village. Wherever he looked, it overflowed with vitality and prosperity.

‘This must be Granden City.’

The city closest to the magic school.

This was the very city he’d heard about when he went to Philone Village: “The family members who were waiting outside for students have all gone to Granden City.”

Lee Han looked around with fresh eyes.

Given his background, he wasn’t surprised to see a great city, but it was certainly refreshing in many ways.

When he was with the Wardanaz Family, he had only stayed at the family manor and territory.

Go buy a gift.

-Yes.

“?”

Lee Han hesitated when the Skeleton Principal gave orders to his summoned creature outside.

What kind of gift?

We’re visiting Ogonin’s tower. It would be rude to visit without a gift.

“…”

He thought going there for revenge was already rude enough, but Lee Han said nothing.

Oh. Buy some snacks for this blockhead too.

-Yes.

A moment later.

Several prettily wrapped boxes of sweets flew into the carriage.

The boxes contained licorice candy, red bean jelly, honey cookies, and such. The Skeleton Principal looked at the selection and complained.

These sweets have no class whatsoever. Aren’t these the kind of sweets only children like?

-I bought the sweets that young people purchase most frequently.

I should have known. What a foolish creature.

-I apologize.

Never mind. Eat up.

However, Lee Han didn’t rashly reach for the sweets. The Skeleton Principal was puzzled.

What’s wrong? They’re not poisoned.

“If I eat these, the reward you promised me last time won’t disappear, will it?”

…

Last time, he had promised to give a reward for cleaning up Professor Verdus’s mess.

The Skeleton Principal was truly impressed for the first time in a long while.

Among all the countless disciples he’d seen, there had never been one so cautious.

That’s separate. I promise.

“Thank you.”

…But don’t put the sweets in your coat pocket.

Seeing the new student about to immediately put sweets in his pocket, the Skeleton Principal reflected very slightly on the school rules he’d established.

By the way, I heard the spire keeper gave you a gift.

“Ah. Yes.”

It seems like too generous a gift though…

‘Hmm.’

Lee Han recalled the bundle the spire keeper had given him.

Certainly, the necklace in that bundle was a decent artifact.

…Except for the fact that it had invisibility magic on it.

For Lee Han, who already had an invisibility belt and invisibility magic, an invisibility necklace was a somewhat excessive gift.

“But I’ve already learned invisibility magic.”

What? That’s fast. Which one did you learn?

“【Gonadaltes’s Invisible Cloak】.”

At Lee Han’s answer, the Skeleton Principal showed both surprise and satisfaction.

I didn’t expect you to learn it so quickly. Your progress is quite fast.

‘Damn. I really didn’t need to learn it all at once after all.’

The magic I created is better than other invisibility magic. You can take pride in that.

“You’re always like that.”

And even artifacts with the same effects aren’t useless. Even if you’ve already learned the same magic. Think about it carefully.

“?”

Lee Han tried to think about what the Skeleton Principal had said, but the Skeleton Principal didn’t give him the chance.

The Skeleton Principal looked at the gift his summoned creature had brought and grumbled.

What kind of gift is this supposed to be? No matter what, this pile of cards is ridiculous.

-But it includes cards with Master Ogonin on them.

Just because Ogonin appears on the cards doesn’t make them all gifts. Good grief…

The Skeleton Principal grumbled as he made the card pile flutter through the air and threw it into a corner.

And why does Ogonin have such good performance stats anyway?

-But Master, you said last time that card performance doesn’t matter, it’s the mage using them that’s important…

The summoned creature speaking from outside fell silent. Lee Han was certain the Skeleton Principal had cast a silence spell.

Take this.

‘I already have a complete deck though.’

However, Lee Han obediently accepted it.

The Skeleton Principal might become even more spiteful otherwise.

“…”

The card the Skeleton Principal threw wasn’t Ogonin.

It was himself.

Put it in your deck and use it well. It’s a good card.

“Uh… yes.”

Lee Han’s deck was an agile, low-cost deck that relentlessly targeted the opponent mage’s health from early in the game and quickly whittled it down.

The Skeleton Principal card, which required a lot of mana to summon, would be difficult to use, but…

Lee Han immediately put the card into his deck right in front of the Skeleton Principal.

Flattery should always be done with sincerity.

Indeed, the Skeleton Principal was pleased by Lee Han’s action.

I’ll have to go buy them myself.

“What? Is that okay?”

Lee Han hesitated.

No matter how accustomed the Empire people were to seeing all sorts of bizarre mages, it was questionable whether they could remain calm seeing a lich with just a skull floating around.

But before Lee Han could finish his question, the Skeleton Principal had already transformed into human form.

Draped in ceremonial robes made of dark blue silk and holding his staff with the uniquely elegant movements that only nobles could display, he looked like a nobleman from a great Empire family to anyone who saw him.

Lee Han wasn’t surprised by the transformation itself. It would be more surprising if an archmage of the Skeleton Principal’s caliber couldn’t wear a human disguise.

What surprised Lee Han was that the Skeleton Principal’s human face was familiar – a face he’d seen somewhere before.

‘The statue…!’

The statue he’d seen while wandering the Main Building’s third floor, guarding the passage that led to the Forgotten Beast Statue.

Back then he’d thought ‘I don’t know who this is, but he’s annoyingly handsome’…

What’s wrong?

“I was simply admiring your overflowing dignity.”

Your second greatest virtue is that very heart that knows what dignity is.

The Skeleton Principal nodded, seemingly pleased by the flattery.

Lee Han thought to himself.

‘Dark magic is truly terrifying.’

Even the full moon wanes, but how many people could look at that statue and think of the Skeleton Principal?

Let’s go.

“Yes.”

The two master and disciple stepped out of the carriage.

Even in the bustling crowd, the two immediately drew everyone’s attention.

The Skeleton Principal opened the door of a bookstore luxuriously decorated with brass and bronze ornaments.

It was a bookstore with a sign reading 【Ikalten’s Hall of Absolute Folly】.

“Welcome.”

A neatly dressed employee straightened his posture and bowed. He had guessed their status at first sight.

“Do you have magic books?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Give me the easiest introduction to illusion magic. Wrap it up nicely.”

“…?”

Lee Han wondered what the Skeleton Principal was up to.

Of course a bookstore of this scale would have magic books, but the easiest introduction to illusion magic?

“Don’t tell me you’re giving that as a gift?”

“You’re quick to catch on.”

Lee Han decided to say nothing.

‘This is none of my business. The two of them need to work it out themselves.’

Nothing good came from getting caught between two feuding mages.

Lee Han turned his gaze away and browsed through other books. Then he spotted a familiar name.

“Is this a book written by someone named Ogonin?”

“Let me see… That’s right. Something he wrote in his youth, Advanced Applications of Illusion Magic in Barriers… Ah. Good idea. I should buy that too. Let’s read it in front of him.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“No need to wrap this one. I’ll be carrying it.”

“…”

As the time to visit Ogonin’s Tower approached, Lee Han began to feel anxious.

The Skeleton Principal could pick fights anywhere and have nothing to lose, but Lee Han was someone with a long road ahead of him.

If the illusion mages held a grudge against Lee Han instead of the Skeleton Principal…

‘Should I use invisibility magic?’

* * *

After finishing their gift shopping, once the carriage left the city, it began traveling through the sky.

A mage’s tower could be seen rising sharply in the middle of a mountain range filled with layers of rocky cliffs.

The Principal, having returned to his skeleton form, suddenly spoke.

Life departs, death returns.

Even the same words carried different meaning when spoken by a mage.

And the words the Skeleton Principal had just uttered were no different.

Lee Han realized those words had become a trigger, activating enormous magic.

The world was being shaken.

A mage was a being who understood the world’s order and knew how to cunningly twist that order, but occasionally there were mages who rewrote the world’s order itself according to their will.

The Skeleton Principal was a mage who had reached such heights.

…The problem was that he was using it to pick a fight at someone else’s tower!

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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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