Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 328

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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 328

‘Wait. How many years has this project been going on?’

Lee Han looked at the dates written here and there and the worn traces, feeling puzzled as he asked.

“How many years have you been working on this?”

“Uh… 20…”

“!!”

Twenty years.

Lee Han was shocked.

He knew Professor Verdus was crazy, but to think he’d been clinging to one project for 20 years.

“…30… 40…? I don’t think it was 40 years… I can’t remember.”

“…”

The numbers were even going higher.

Lee Han was at a loss for words.

“Aren’t you holding onto this for too long?”

“That’s true.”

“Is it perhaps that it just takes a long time but there’s definite progress? If that’s the case…”

If it was just too complex or intricate but completion was possible, he could understand pouring time into it.

“No. There are many blocked parts, so it’s impossible in the current state.”

“I see.”

It was absurd, but also somewhat admirable.

To continue challenging a project with no progress and many blocked parts without giving up.

He was a madman, but an academically-minded madman was somewhat respectable.

“Even without going to actual production, this level would have cost quite a bit. You must have spent a lot of your own money.”

“Huh? Uh… did I? I don’t really know. I think quite a bit of my money went into it though.”

“???”

Lee Han was confused again by Professor Verdus’s words.

Of course, given Professor Verdus’s personality, it was obvious he had no interest in gold coins.

But not managing the budget while proceeding with such a project made no sense.

Without getting money from somewhere, the project itself wouldn’t be possible, right?

“If you don’t know well, Professor, where did the money come from?”

“I got investment from Gonadaltes, and… that. I forgot the name, but I got investment from some duke over ten years ago, and… uh… anyway, I got investment from someone else too. I forgot.”

“…”

Lee Han began to seriously worry about Professor Verdus’s life.

‘It wouldn’t be strange if assassins came looking for him.’

To receive investments like that and then default for over ten years. If Lee Han had been an investor, he would have seriously gone to challenge him to a duel first.

“Stop asking boring questions! I called you here to let you participate in this interesting plan.”

“Wow…”

“Exciting, right?”

“Ah. Yes.”

Professor Verdus couldn’t distinguish well between ‘Wow!’ and ‘Wow…’

“But Professor. What I can follow here is… um… this, this, this, and this at most.”

Lee Han pointed to the forward sail and mast, the bow and watchtower.

Though they were filled with magic too complex to follow, he could roughly guess from the structure that it was based on the principle of gathering and amplifying wind.

Actually, for a 1st year student to grasp this much at a glance was quite impressive. Even the Skeleton Principal would have acknowledged it.

But Professor Verdus was cold.

“That’s because you’re stupid.”

“Ah. Yes.”

“Study that later and catch up, what’s important now is the hull here. The bottom of the hull is the key. See it?”

The large keel supporting the center of the hull’s bottom was carved with countless magic circles.

They were so complex and numerous that Lee Han felt dizzy just looking at them.

Not a single magic circle worked independently. The sight of all magic circles connected like gears, working organically together, sent chills down his spine.

Obsession.

The mad result of a genius pouring countless years of his life was before his eyes.

Lee Han felt an awe similar to when he saw the Skeleton Principal’s unique world.

‘Is that… a magic circle possible through human wisdom?’

“I can see it.”

“This now has to make the sailing ship’s weight lighter, reverse gravity, gather wind, create lift, and strengthen the hull’s durability too.”

“…”

Though Lee Han still didn’t know much about enchantment magic, he could tell that Professor Verdus was greedily ambitious.

‘I think you should give up on some of those functions.’

“Wouldn’t it be better to just hire mages and put them on the ship?”

“Then why would I do this? Idiot.”

Professor Verdus grumbled at Lee Han’s common-sense criticism.

“Ah. Yes. So?”

“These outer magic circles now play the role of gathering, maintaining, and amplifying the mana needed for the magic circles, but they’re apparently insufficient.”

“I suppose so.”

To maintain all those functions, it seemed like mages would need to permanently reside and endure rather than using magic circles.

No matter what, there should be some limits.

“So I had this thought, there are mana stones placed in these outer magic circles, right?”

“Yes.”

It would be nice if magic circles could draw all the mana they needed from nature, but in reality, it was often difficult to cover all mana needs that way.

In such cases, gems containing condensed mana like mana stones were used as auxiliary batteries.

Of course, these weren’t just used or placed casually either.

They all had to be processed to fit the magic circles and have enchantment magic cast on them to be used like batteries.

The outer magic circles Professor Verdus pointed to had mana stones placed so densely they were uncountable.

Whoever made that would probably cry tears of blood.

“We’ll make all these mana stones into a mana oversaturated state and place them.”

“Will that provide the necessary mana?”

“How would I know? We have to experiment to see how much effect comes out when made into an oversaturated state. It’s too complex to calculate.”

“I see…”

As Lee Han listened, a thought suddenly occurred to him and he asked.

“But Professor. Who will make them into a mana oversaturated state?”

“You have to do it.”

“…Besides me?”

“Huh? There’s no one else.”

Professor Verdus answered with an innocent face.

Where else would there be a mage like Lee Han who had nearly infinite mana and could overcharge every time he cast enchantment magic?

“Aha.”

Lee Han nodded and looked around.

‘Shouldn’t I kill him now?’

* * *

Fortunately, Professor Verdus had no intention of making all the outer magic circles needed for the sailing ship right now.

…The creepy part was that he might make them someday, but basically Professor Verdus’s goal was confirmation.

How much mana could be secured using such a method?

“Carpet. I’ve roughly carved magic circles into this carpet. We just need to prepare the mana stones to go in here.”

“Professor?”

“Yeah?”

“Please be quiet since it’s noisy.”

“Okay.”

Lee Han’s voice, working late into the night without even eating dinner, had a slight hint of venom in it.

If he cast poison elemental magic right now, it would probably produce quite a strong deadly poison.

The magic Lee Han had just learned from Professor Verdus was 【Vible’s Mana Emission Enchantment】.

When cast on magic stones, they gained the property of slowly emitting the mana contained within.

And this magic was a 3rd circle spell.

‘Should I have just insisted it wasn’t working?’

Lee Han regretted his past self who had casually waved his staff a few times and finished with ‘Is this how you do it?’ ‘Like this?’ ‘Ah, I see.’

Embedding dozens of magic stones one by one into the magic circle and connecting them by drawing lines with magic ink made him feel like his mental strength was wearing away even though his mana was fine.

Regardless, Professor Verdus hummed beside him while manipulating the carpet’s magic circle.

“Do you know why there are so many mages in old fairy tales who ride around on carpets?”

“No.”

“Usually mages who ride around on things like this make contracts with summoned beings and ride them rather than using their own magic. Otherwise the consumption is severe.”

“Yes.”

“But back then there were far more people who didn’t know about magic, so riding around on carpets like this must have looked impressive.”

“Yes.”

“Interesting, right?”

“Hehe.”

While Lee Han mechanically rotated through three responses, someone knocked on the door.

Diret poked his head in with a worried expression.

“Isn’t the junior going to sleep?”

“It’s fine. It’s fine.”

‘What’s fine about it?’

Diret momentarily couldn’t understand what Professor Verdus meant by fine.

I asked the junior, so why are you…

‘Oh right. What am I saying to a crazy person.’

Diret came to his senses.

He’d spent years at Einroguard, yet he chose a direct approach with a professor.

“Junior!”

“??”

“Are you okay?! Your injuries didn’t get worse, did they?!”

“…!”

Diret conveyed his meaning through his eyes.

Lee Han was surprised by this sight.

And impressed.

‘That’s the dignity of a senior…!’

“Cough, cough. Suddenly my mana feels like it’s twisting…”

“That’s why I told you earlier not to overdo it! You got beaten up so badly by that undead chimera!”

“I’m, I’m sorry. The enchantment magic was just so interesting.”

“Even so, that’s too much. You were even poisoned earlier by the thorns the undead chimera stabbed you with.”

“Cough. Cough.”

“Can’t you endure just a little more?”

Professor Verdus asked regretfully, but the two students ignored him, pretending not to hear.

“You need to rest. Junior. Go lie down quickly.”

“Thank, thank you. Professor. I’m sorry.”

“What time can I wake you up tomorrow?”

The two students again pretended not to hear and left the room.

* * *

Early morning.

As soon as Lee Han woke up, he checked his surroundings first.

Fortunately, Professor Verdus wasn’t waiting for him in the dormitory rooms.

“Young master.”

“Shh. Is Professor Verdus nearby by any chance?”

“Huh? He’s not here…”

“I see. Thank you.”

“But you have a visitor.”

“…”

Lee Han, who was about to escape the manor through the window, hesitated.

“Is it a professor by any chance?”

“No… it’s a friend. A priest from the Frisinga Order…”

“Ah.”

Lee Han felt relieved.

Fortunately, it seemed he had avoided the worst-case scenario of another crazy professor coming.

‘Is it the order event they mentioned before?’

Since he had promised to participate in the Frisinga Order’s event, Lee Han was planning to go.

It would also serve as an excuse to run away from Professor Verdus…

‘Wait.’

Lee Han fell into thought.

Come to think of it, there were few people as skilled as Professor Verdus when it came to artifact expertise.

What if he brought Professor Verdus to the Frisinga Order?

‘Not only could I avoid the frenzied work, but I might be able to obtain useful artifacts and purify them!’

“Professor! Professor!”

“Huh!? What!?”

Professor Verdus, who had been sleeping, jumped up in surprise.

* * *

“Can’t you cancel the promise?”

“Yes. It was a promise I made staking my personal honor, my family’s honor, and my pride as a mage.”

“Aw…”

Professor Verdus grumbled, but when Lee Han said that much, he couldn’t say anything more.

How could he stop him when he had staked his personal honor, family honor, and mage pride?

“If you help me, Professor, the work might finish quickly. And if the work finishes quickly…”

“I can work on the magic stones!”

“…Yes.”

Lee Han bit his lips tightly as he answered. Professor Verdus nodded.

“Alright. I’ll help.”

“…????”

Tiziling Priest was bewildered listening to Lee Han and Professor Verdus’s conversation.

Was it really…

Such a heavy promise?

“Was it… such a promise? I don’t think it was like that…?”

“Tiziling Priest. Memories tend to change. I think I made that promise with that kind of resolve back then.”

“…”

Tiziling Priest stared intently at Lee Han.

It was something she’d been feeling lately, but this Wardanaz Family Boy might not be the cold and rational person he appeared to be on the outside.

‘He seems more flexible than I thought…?’

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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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