Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 449

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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 449

Originally, the atmosphere among disciples studying in a professor’s workshop varied from place to place.

Some places were friendly and close-knit, while others had a dry atmosphere where everyone just minded their own business.

And Lee Han didn’t dislike the latter at all.

‘Honestly, it’s hard to believe Professor Verdus’s disciples are seniors.’

Lee Han still vividly remembered Professor Verdus visiting the manor during vacation and tilting his head in confusion.

If there were seniors among Professor Verdus’s disciples who resembled their master, the number of people tilting their heads in confusion during vacation would multiply several times over.

That absolutely could not happen.

“Come this way.”

Anfargon entered the twelfth lecture hall located on the west side of the main building’s first floor and stacked desks to make stairs.

Then he knocked three times on the red carving engraved on the ceiling.

Swoosh-

A hidden passage appeared. Lee Han saw this and took diligent notes.

‘So there was a place like this.’

“Where is this?”

“My workshop.”

Anfargon said while yawning. The human race wasn’t particularly bad in terms of stamina among the races, but it wasn’t particularly good either.

As such, Anfargon, being human, couldn’t help but feel tired from overwork.

Lee Han took out a thermos containing coffee from his backpack and offered it. Anfargon accepted it with brief thanks.

And he felt something strange.

‘…How does a first-year have coffee?’

“So you work in a workshop rather than a private room.”

“Yeah.”

By their second or third year, Einroguard students would search all over the school to set up their own workshops.

Because…

“In the first year, you can practice in your dormitory private room. But.”

“After just a little time passes, the scale becomes too large to practice in a dormitory private room.”

“!”

Anfargon looked at Lee Han with slightly surprised eyes.

He hadn’t expected a first-year junior to know this.

“That’s right. How did you know?”

“Ah. Well…”

Lee Han recalled the magic he had practiced.

Countless skeleton warriors.

Lightning elements, flame elements, and other destructive elements that destroyed the surroundings.

And dangerous reagents and magic from other schools as well.

There were many things that were somewhat difficult to practice in a dormitory private room.

Even the slightest mistake could cause chaos in the common room.

“…I also felt inconvenience while practicing magic, so I’ve looked for new places before.”

Anfargon raised his evaluation of his junior a bit more in his mind.

Indeed, befitting a junior assigned by the Skeleton Principal, he seemed to be progressing quite quickly despite being a first-year.

“Do you happen to know how to handle 2nd circle magic too?”

“Huh? Oh. Yes.”

‘He knows how to handle it but doesn’t seem confident.’

But it didn’t matter.

Just knowing how to handle 2nd circle magic as a first-year was quite excellent.

Anyway, most of the work would have to be done by Anfargon.

Anfargon wasn’t stupid enough to entrust most of the work to a first-year junior.

“Here. Over here.”

In front of the entrance to the attic-like workshop, Anfargon stopped.

Then he took out a long coat hanging on the wall beside them. It was a hooded cloak that completely covered the entire body.

“Put this on.”

“What is this?”

“Protective equipment. It prevents accidents that can occur during artifact work.”

“Ah. Do upperclassmen wear things like this during lectures?”

When the grade level was low, it wasn’t necessary because the danger level was low, but as the level of artifacts increased, the amount of mana and the danger level of magic involved naturally increased as well.

It wouldn’t be surprising to work while wearing such equipment.

“No. This is something we made. The Professor usually asks why such things are necessary.”

“…”

In Lee Han’s mind, Professor Verdus’s voice played back, saying innocently, ‘Why is this necessary? Just don’t make mistakes.’

“Take a seat.”

“Yes.”

Anfargon took out chests containing reagents and tools, arranged them on the table, and turned on the lights in the attic.

A simple lantern made by carving magic circles into magic stones flickered and then dimmed.

Anfargon clicked his tongue.

“Its lifespan is up. I’ll have to work on this first…”

“I’ll do it.”

“Will you be alright?”

Considering the work that needed to be done ahead, he should conserve mana, but Anfargon was worried whether a first-year junior could carve new magic circles into magic stones.

While 【Light Bestowal】 magic was relatively low in difficulty, it was a different story for first-years.

Moreover, the simple lantern Anfargon had made was small, so the magic stone was correspondingly small as well.

Naturally, carving magic circles into it would become even more difficult.

“Light!”

“…”

However, instead of grabbing the magic stone and carving magic circles, Lee Han simply summoned a light orb inside the lantern.

Anfargon was dumbfounded.

‘No…’

Basically, Anfargon and of course Professor Verdus’s disciples were among the least social people in Einroguard.

As such, when a first-year junior made such a cute mistake, he couldn’t quite think of how to tell him.

If he summoned a light orb directly, it would last at most a few minutes…

‘…It’s too bothersome to point it out, so I’ll just work on it again when it disappears.’

Rather than waste time now, Anfargon thought he would work on it again when the light orb disappeared.

“The exam won’t be too difficult.”

Creating an exam sounded grand, but it wasn’t as difficult as expected.

After all, it wasn’t an exam that created something from nothing.

Anfargon, being a third-year student, remembered the exams he had experienced in his first and second years, and he could just bring those exams for this test.

It was just that the preparation took some time and was bothersome.

“Do you see this artifact here?”

Anfargon took out a small iron rod artifact.

When he swung it once, the tip of the iron rod became incandescent and spewed flames. It was a flame generation type artifact.

“Yes.”

“Now this…”

Bang!

Anfargon swung the iron rod and struck it against the wall. The middle of the iron rod bent slightly.

“…is how you break it. Do you understand why we’re breaking it?”

“For repairs?”

Anfargon grinned, showing his teeth.

Living as an enchantment magic school student in Einroguard meant fewer opportunities to smile, so it felt like he was smiling for the first time in quite a while.

“That’s right. Repair is the exam.”

An excellent enchantment mage had to know not only how to create artifacts, but also how to repair artifacts made by others.

One might think that creation is unconditionally more difficult than repair, but repair had its own difficulties that direct creation didn’t have.

Since it was an artifact made by someone else, they first had to figure out how this artifact worked.

This understanding was more difficult than expected.

Even artifacts with the same effect were made in completely different ways by each mage.

Some mages prioritized stability and focused on the durability of the magic circle’s mana circuits, while others prioritized firepower and focused on the limits of the magic circle’s mana output.

And some mages just ignored efficiency and poured in massive amounts of mana as if showing off how much mana they had…

Since they had to understand these points and accurately fix what was broken, repair had difficulties that creation didn’t have.

“To break something, we first need artifacts.”

“I’ll make them.”

“No. I’ll make them.”

Anfargon once again thought this junior was a bit strange.

Who would assign this to a 1st year student?

“You just check them.”

“Is that really okay!?”

Lee Han was startled.

Anfargon answered in bewilderment.

“Of course it’s okay.”

“Understood.”

“There are some I made in advance in that chest over there, so check those first.”

“Yes.”

Lee Han opened the chest and took out the artifacts inside one by one.

Meanwhile, Anfargon picked up his work tools and began making additional artifacts.

Given the number of students, they might have to work through the night to finish by today.

Sizzle, crackle, sizzle!

Clang, clang, clang-

For a while, the attic was quiet.

There were no words, only the sound of work echoing.

“Um. Senior.”

“What.”

Anfargon turned his head with a slightly irritated voice.

He had thought this was an excellent junior, but was he calling because he couldn’t even check artifacts properly?

‘He wasn’t bribed by the Skeleton Principal, was he.’

“I’m finished.”

“…”

Anfargon blinked his eyes.

At first he thought his junior was lying, but seeing the mana resonance remaining in the artifacts, it was clear he had actually used each one once.

“Al… ready?”

“Yes. Should I help with the creation?”

“…Sure.”

Anfargon handed Lee Han the tools.

Now he was curious to see his skills.

“Do you see the magic circle pattern here? Complete the mana flow and activate it.”

“Yes.”

From what he could see, the amplification and maintenance parts of the circuit were missing.

Since it wasn’t a permanent artifact but a test artifact anyway, Lee Han boldly removed the maintenance part.

Then he poured in excessive mana to operate the magic circle’s pattern.

“It’s done.”

“???”

Hearing Lee Han say he had activated it when less than 10 seconds had passed since he spoke, Anfargon turned his head in confusion.

“Already?”

“Yes.”

Surprisingly, the artifact was indeed working.

Anfargon was amazed when he saw the pattern Lee Han had worked on.

Instead of constructing complex circuits, he had removed unnecessary parts and replaced them with mana.

This was work that only a professor confident in both the quantity and quality of their mana and confident in their control would do.

What was even more surprising was that there was no particular bleeding or cracking around the pattern.

Inexperienced mages often failed to consider the impact on the surroundings when doing such work, and even if they completed the magic circle, they often damaged the artifact itself, but this junior had none of that.

As if he had repeated this kind of creation hundreds or thousands of times.

Anfargon bent his head closer and closer to the artifact as he checked it over and over again.

Then he looked around.

“What are you looking for?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all.”

Anfargon momentarily wondered if the Skeleton Principal was hiding nearby to mess with him.

Ever since he had taken a large budget for experiments last time, the Skeleton Principal had been scolding Anfargon whenever he saw him.

-Oh my. Isn’t this Anfargon, Einroguard’s gold extortionist! You took my gold like that last time and still haven’t produced results?

-…

-Why? Why don’t you take more? Didn’t you secretly submit a research proposal to His Imperial Majesty last time too. Asking to use the gold in my secret storage!

-…I’m sorry…

But the Skeleton Principal was nowhere to be seen.

Anfargon had no choice but to admit that this junior had really made this.

‘Truly amazing.’

Students learning enchantment magic weren’t very interested in each other.

Anfargon also didn’t know much about what the new 2nd year junior was interested in or what he was making.

What mattered was what he himself was trying to make, not his juniors or seniors.

But this junior was impressive enough to force interest where there had been none.

“How is it?”

“Very excellent. But…”

“?”

“We can’t use this.”

“Huh. Is there something I made wrong?”

Anfargon nodded.

“If you make it like this, it won’t break.”

“…”

Magic circle patterns and circuits were more prone to breaking the more complex and intricate they were.

If you finished it as simply and solidly as Lee Han did, it would be hard to break.

Since they needed broken artifacts, they had to make them less sturdy.

“I, I see. I overlooked that. You really are amazing, Senior.”

“…Is this something I should be praised for?”

Anfargon asked back, genuinely not understanding.

It seemed like the praise should go to what his junior had just made…

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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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