Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 343

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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 343

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

Lee Han regained his composure.

While the Imperial Princess’s group’s extravagant sense of money was dizzying, it was certainly helpful in the current situation.

‘Besides, there’s nothing good about going to the professors and asking for favors.’

Even if he asked Profes… no, the professors for help, there was a high chance they wouldn’t readily comply.

In that case, it was more convenient to receive the goodwill of sponsors.

“Then let’s go get the staff.”

However, Lee Han’s face was contorted.

Seeing this, Rowena whispered in a worried voice.

“I’m worried that the effects from the earlier battle might still remain.”

“True, knowing Wardanaz’s personality, he probably wouldn’t say anything even if he was struggling.”

“We should stop by on the way and have him examined.”

* * *

Upon arriving at the staff shop, Lee Han asked in confusion.

“Why did we just meet with a healing mage?”

“Well, I just wasn’t feeling well, so I thought I’d…”

“You’re not feeling well? Wouldn’t it be better to rest?”

Lee Han wondered if Rowena had been overworking.

So he quietly said to Clteran so only she could hear.

“Does the Imperial Princess make you work too hard?”

“?!”

The Imperial Princess’s eyes widened with injustice.

“It, it’s not like that.”

“You’re stuttering, which seems suspicious.”

“I said it’s not like that?!”

The healing mage they had just met examined Lee Han and confirmed that he couldn’t be any healthier.

Even when Rowena and Clteran said ‘He fought a Toxic Contaminated Entity!’ ‘That’s right, please examine him more thoroughly!’ it was no use.

He really had nothing wrong with him, so what could be done?

Instead, the other three got scolded.

-It seems you’ve been overusing magic recently. There’s still damage remaining because you went to the brink of mana depletion.

-It looks like you practiced alchemy all night, but if you handle reagents without proper ventilation, even mages can get poisoned, so be careful.

Clteran quickly opened the door, thinking that saying more would only lead to strange misunderstandings.

A sign reading 【Puyo’s Banyan Tree Staff】 spun around as the door opened.

“Master Puyo is the finest staff craftsman in Granden City.”

Located in the central district of the city and with quite an antique exterior, it didn’t look like it had a short history.

That alone showed he was an experienced artifact craftsman.

“Does he know Professor Verdus?”

“Well…? I’m not sure about that.”

Rowena also tilted her head.

The Imperial Princess’s group was able to visit Puyo’s shop because their sponsors were acquainted with Puyo, not because they themselves were close to Puyo.

In fact, Puyo was far from being someone the new students could easily befriend.

An experienced artifact craftsman meant a seasoned enchantment mage.

It wasn’t easy to become close with mages who were decades older than oneself.

“Is this perhaps your first time meeting him?”

“I did greet him once outside before, but this is the first time visiting like this…”

“Did everyone come?”

A tree walked out from inside.

To be precise, Puyo was a wood spirit half-blood. His face, hands, and arms were like tree branches, which is why they mistook him for a tree.

“It’s an honor to see you again, Master Puyo.”

“Enough with the pointless greetings.”

Puyo disliked troublesome formalities.

If it hadn’t been for the earnest request of the sponsors, he would never have let young students into his workshop.

“You said you needed staffs with no magic cast on them?”

“Ah, yes, that’s right.”

Overwhelmed by Puyo’s presence, Rowena stuttered slightly.

Of course, Lee Han didn’t particularly mind.

Among the professors, there were far more crazy people than Puyo.

In fact, if someone like Puyo was blunt but told you exactly what needed to be said, they belonged to the top 5% in terms of personality.

Clatter-

When Puyo gestured, several boxes stacked on the shelves opened and long staffs poured out.

They were staffs made purely of wood, with no magic cast on them yet.

“Work only on this side. Don’t come inside. Don’t touch anything in the shop carelessly, and since you’re Einroguard students, you must have learned the basics of enchantment magic.”

The students nodded.

“Then I trust you won’t cause any pointless accidents.”

With those words, Puyo went into the inner part of the workshop.

Only then could Rowena and Clteran breathe a sigh of relief.

“I was nervous.”

“Right. I thought I was going to suffocate. …Wardanaz. What are you doing?”

“Huh? Oh. I was looking to see if there were any useful staffs.”

Lee Han had been looking around regardless of whether the two were talking about Puyo or not.

He was thinking of taking something if there was anything decent.

“Didn’t you have any thoughts about Master Puyo?”

“Not particularly. Didn’t he just say what was necessary?”

Work here, don’t cause accidents, don’t touch other things.

He had only said what was truly necessary, so there was no reason to be scared.

“Let’s sort the staffs first. Long ones over here. Short ones over there.”

“Got it. Huh. But Wardanaz. Why are we sorting them like this?”

At Clteran’s question, Lee Han stared at Clteran as if looking at Gainando.

Then he smiled and answered.

“Longer staffs tend to have stronger effects, don’t they?”

“Ah… That, that’s right!”

Staffs were artifacts that most directly assisted mages in casting magic.

As such, staffs’ performance varied greatly even with minor changes in materials.

Generally, the longer the length, the greater the staff’s power, and the higher the durability, the more solid the magic became.

Naturally, anyone who handled staffs should memorize these general tendencies like laws.

Of course, Clteran didn’t really know this, but answered as if she did.

“I think that was it!”

“Clteran. If you don’t know, just say you don’t know.”

“…Sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Did you sleep during enchantment magic class? It’s content from the textbook.”

“…”

Clteran felt wronged.

‘You told me to say it…!’

If she had been a Blue Dragon Tower student, she wouldn’t have fallen for such a simple trick, but inexperienced Clteran had no choice but to fall for it.

* * *

Puyo was trying to focus on his work when he put down his tools.

With other people in the workshop, it wasn’t easy to concentrate.

While he couldn’t refuse given how earnestly Puyo’s patrons had requested this, he was honestly regretting it.

It wasn’t simply that he felt uncomfortable with other people entering his workshop.

No matter how much they were Einroguard students, they were still new students.

Even if they had learned enchantment magic, the time was short and they likely lacked experience.

Giving quality staffs to such students was close to wasteful.

The staffs weren’t properly processed yet and had infinite potential, but thinking that this potential would be worn away by the students’ clumsy magic and become failures made his heart ache.

‘I can’t stand this anymore.’

Puyo approached the door and sneakily glanced at how the students were working.

No matter how much the Imperial Princess and his patrons had asked, if they were working too absurdly, he wasn’t planning to just stand by.

He would make some excuse to stop the work and send them out…

“Now. Clteran. You said you understood, so tell me. A mage who specializes in fire elemental magic and summoning magic has come here. This mage’s race is dwarf, and the staff they used before was a maple wood staff with a fire spirit stone embedded in it. So what kind of staff would you recommend?”

“Uh… uh…”

“Start with the length.”

“We-well, since it’s fire elemental magic, prioritizing power, so make it long…”

“Wrong. Even with fire elemental magic, power isn’t necessarily important. Control might be more important instead. Above all, since the opponent is a dwarf, recommending a long staff might just make it inconvenient to carry around. Did you really learn enchantment magic?”

“Hng…”

Clteran was completely deflated. Rowena beside him was also terrified and stuck close to the Imperial Princess. If she moved away even a little, she felt like she’d receive a barrage of questions like Clteran.

‘????’

Puyo, who was watching, was surprised by the unexpected situation.

He had expected the students to thoughtlessly handle the staffs and waste them uselessly, but they were actually preparing systematically.

It was surprising.

“But can’t we just try them one by one to get a feel for it…”

Smack!

Lee Han hit Clteran once with his staff.

“Are there staffs to spare?”

‘There are plenty though…’

Clteran grumbled inwardly but was too scared of Lee Han’s staff to say anything more.

“You need to calculate perfectly before going in. Now. Clteran. Answer me. Among water element, wind element, and light element, which should be enchanted first? And which of these staffs would suit it?”

“…Can’t you ask Rowena too?”

“!!”

Rowena was so startled that her long ears perked up.

She looked at Clteran with eyes full of betrayal, but Clteran wasn’t in the right mind to care about such things.

‘I need to save myself first!’

“Uh, um, Your Imperial Highness?”

“…”

Adenart stared intently at Rowena. Rowena hung her head low in embarrassment.

Instead of saying anything more to her followers, Adenart picked up a staff.

“Zelkova wood staff. Good choice. Clteran. The reason water element should be enchanted first is because it’s more stable compared to other elements…”

“Argh…! I should have just said it! I could have gotten it right! Really!”

“Just listen.”

Listening to the students’ conversation, Puyo wondered if he should change his thoughts from just moments ago.

He had heard a lot from the followers about how outstanding the Imperial Princess’s talent was, but seeing it like this, she was indeed exceptional even among the outstanding geniuses gathered at Einroguard.

Moreover, that boy over there was also remarkable.

It wasn’t just knowledge about enchantment magic.

As an excellent craftsman, Puyo could tell a person’s skill by watching them prepare for work.

In that regard, that boy looked familiar with this kind of work, as if he hadn’t done it just once or twice.

No matter how much he had learned at Einroguard, becoming this familiar so quickly didn’t make sense. He would have learned the same as other students.

It was clearly innate talent.

‘Truly amazing. To think such talent is possible.’

Puyo, unaware that Lee Han had been overworked under other professors, was purely amazed that such things were possible through talent.

“Now. This is the magic circle we’ll use for the water element today.”

While Puyo was admiring, Lee Han searched through a book and chose a magic circle.

Clteran asked timidly.

“Wardanaz. Is there a reason you chose this among water elemental magic?”

“It’s a magic circle I’m familiar with because I’ve done it a lot.”

“I see. …Huh? This was never assigned as homework though?”

“I did it separately with Professor Verdus.”

At those words, Clteran was impressed.

To work separately with a professor.

That was Wardanaz indeed.

“Amazing. Wardanaz. I’m envious…”

“Clteran. Before saying you’re envious, think again about what you’re saying.”

“…”

Clteran thought again.

And thinking again, he wasn’t really envious.

Even if not as much as Lee Han, students learning enchantment magic all felt Professor Verdus’s madness to some degree.

Rowena asked puzzledly.

“But when did you find time during the semester?”

“We did it together during vacation…”

“Ah…”

Suddenly, a heavy silence lingered.

Even the Imperial Princess, who was usually accustomed to silence, was flustered and looked around, not knowing how to resolve this atmosphere.

“Were you Professor Verdus’s disciple?”

It was Puyo who broke the silence.

When Puyo walked out from inside, Lee Han hesitated.

‘…I won’t get attacked if I say I’m his disciple, right?’

No matter how he thought about it, if this person knew Professor Verdus, there was a high chance they didn’t get along.

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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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