Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 481

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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 481

“Actually, the reason the Meikin Family entrusted you all with this request was because Nilia suggested it.”

Though he sensed the atmosphere suggested his words wouldn’t get through, Lee Han spoke anyway.

That way he could make excuses to Nilia later.

-I definitely told them, but the hunters ignored me.

“Uwahahaha!”

“Puhahahaha!”

“…”

As expected, the Shadow Patrol’s reaction was even more intense.

Impressed by Lee Han’s joke, they gasped for breath and laughed until tears formed in their eyes.

Lee Han began to understand a little why Nilia disliked the Shadow Patrol.

“…Please make sure to ask and confirm with the Meikin Family people later. Please.”

“Wait.”

Professor Thunderstep, who had been listening from the side, sensed something strange and tilted his head.

“What do you mean the Meikin Family made the request because Nilia suggested it?”

“…Professor Bagrek! I have something to ask you about fighting at sea before boarding the ship!”

Professor Boladi, who had been on the ship first, flew over without a sound as soon as he heard Lee Han’s shout.

It was a speed that surprised even the Shadow Patrol members.

* * *

The people of Isran City had strong pride in their city.

Starting from the castle gate with its romantic legend of being made from mermaid tears, to the water statues left by ancient mages, the city was full of various sources of pride, but among them, the city’s harbor was particularly notable.

The harbor located in the south was where all vitality gathered, reminiscent of the city’s heart.

Newly arrived sailors disembarked from merchant ships that filled the seemingly endless vast docks, and the Empire tax collectors waiting for them ran here and there, checking goods and shouting to see if there were any smuggled items.

Turning one’s gaze beyond that, one could see various races running around the harbor boulevard. The road was wide enough for eight carriages to pass, but there were so many people that you’d bump shoulders every five steps. Everywhere, merchants in suspicious attire spread their wares and threw out enticing words to pick the pockets of curious travelers.

Workers and tax collectors who had worked at the harbor for a long time passed by calmly, as if accustomed to this breathless scene.

Even when ships of strange shapes, completely different from other vessels, launched by dwarf or elf craftsmen occasionally appeared, they weren’t surprised.

“…”

“…Ugh!”

However, the northern hunters riding swift speedboats were different.

They managed to surprise even the experienced sailors.

“Turn 90 degrees to the right and let’s chase!”

“Hunter sir. Ships can’t move like that!”

“Ah. Really? Sorry about that! Then turn 270 degrees to the left and let’s chase!”

“…”

The hunters aboard the swift speedboats flying the Meikin Family flag conducted violent hunts on the deck.

“This won’t work. Throw me!”

One of the hunters tied his body with rope, connected it to the mast, then grabbed a spear and jumped into the sea.

Shortly after, he climbed back up with a shark-like monster skewered on his spear.

“Hunter sir! You don’t need to hunt the Rock Shark! It’s a monster that doesn’t target ships of this size!”

“But couldn’t it target small fishing boats?”

“…Isn’t that something for those people to handle themselves!”

‘Hmm. I think I understand why Professor Thunderstep came.’

Lee Han thought to himself as he listened to the conversation between the hunters and sailors.

The Shadow Patrol were capable hunters, but they weren’t without flaws.

First of all, they basically loved hunting too much.

Given the limited manpower, they only needed to confirm the location of the Sangoria flowers and deal with just the necessary monsters when going there, but whenever they saw monsters, they rushed at them desperately, wasting unnecessary time.

“Everyone please calm down. We’ll identify which monsters need to be caught.”

Professor Thunderstep sent a pleading look to Professor Lightningstep.

Professor Lightningstep nodded and gave instructions.

“First, the Rock Shark doesn’t need to be bothered, so let’s skip it…”

Undisguised disappointment appeared on the Shadow Patrol’s faces.

For hunters who had spent their entire lives in the Northern Mountains, logic like ‘that monster isn’t dangerous, that monster is dangerous’ didn’t work well.

In the Northern Mountains, non-dangerous monsters could easily become dangerous.

If you see a monster, you catch it.

Having lived their entire lives following this principle, staying still was extraordinarily difficult for them.

“To wait until orders are given.”

“Can’t we catch them secretly?”

“I can see a Blade Squid over there…!”

Professor Lightningstep, being an experienced explorer, knew well about the ecology of such hunters.

If they obediently listened just because orders were given, their reputation wouldn’t be so high.

Their persistence and tenacity as hunters were deeply connected to such stubborn personalities.

In such cases, persuasion was necessary.

“Wardanaz. You’ll need to look after the hunters while we search for the flower’s habitat. Stop them from rashly going hunting.”

“…”

Lee Han found it absurd that this task was being given to him, but he couldn’t deny that he was the only one available to do the job right now.

Professor Thunderstep needed to concentrate on finding the flower’s habitat, and Professors Lightningstep and Boladi needed to concentrate on understanding the ecology of the surrounding monsters…

“Understood.”

‘I wonder if this will go well.’

Though Lee Han had heard many stories about the Shadow Patrol from Nilia, he still lacked confidence.

Could he get along well with these eccentric Northern Mountain hunters?

“Oh. Aren’t you Nilia’s friend?”

“No. When I asked earlier, he said he was from the Wardanaz Family. He’s just the same year, not really a friend.”

“We are friends though.”

“Sure. Haha. ‘Friends’ right.”

Lee Han glanced at the ship’s rail.

Should he push them overboard?

‘They’d probably climb back up anyway.’

Considering the physical abilities the hunters had shown, pushing them overboard probably wouldn’t mean much.

Lee Han decided to endure it.

“Is there anything I can help with as a mage? Please feel free to tell me anything.”

To appease the hunters’ complaints, he needed to redirect their attention.

Lee Han planned to converse with them until Professor Thunderstep found the flower’s habitat.

“Oh, there is one thing.”

“What is it?”

The hunter lowered his voice and spoke quietly.

“We’d like to take these enchanted arrows back to the mountains…”

“…”

The other hunters looked slightly embarrassed but had expressions saying ‘I’d like to take some too if possible.’

The arrows provided by the Meikin Family were of exceptionally high quality.

Shafts made from seven-year-old quality willow wood, fletching made from pegasus feathers, and various enchantment spells activated by intricately carved patterns.

“I’ll speak to the Meikin Family about letting you take any that remain.”

That wasn’t particularly difficult. Given the Meikin Family’s generosity, there was a high possibility they’d give any remaining arrows as gifts after everything was finished.

“The thing is…”

However, the hunters hesitated even at Lee Han’s words.

“We don’t think there will be any left.”

“At the rate we’re using them now, they’ll all be gone and then some…”

‘Then they should just hunt less.’

Lee Han thought so, but maintained his kindness as he spoke.

“How about mixing in some regular arrows?”

“That’s not possible. The sea monsters have quite thick shells and hides, so without arrows like these, it’s difficult to reliably cut off their breath. If we accept a commission but cause problems by being stingy with arrows, wouldn’t that be putting the cart before the horse?”

The Shadow Patrol was thorough in this regard, being experienced hunters.

There was nothing more foolish than underestimating enemies and getting hurt while trying to save resources.

‘So if they reduced their hunting…’

Of course, from Lee Han’s perspective, this was utterly absurd.

If they reduced their hunting, that problem would also be solved!

“If that’s the problem, I also have a way…”

“Couldn’t you cast magic on regular arrows, Master Mage?”

“!”

The hunters finally brought up their main point.

They hadn’t spoken without thinking – they had it all planned out.

The reason for using such expensive arrows was to use magic even when no mage was present.

Conversely, if a mage was available, there was no need to use such expensive magic arrows. They could just cast magic on regular arrows.

The problem was…

‘It doesn’t work that way.’

Lee Han was slightly flustered.

Those who didn’t know much about magic had no concept of schools, so they would often go to dark mages and say, ‘I have food poisoning, please heal me.’

Of course, such things were impossible for dark mages who hadn’t learned healing magic. At best, they could revive someone after death.

The current situation was similar.

He didn’t know where the Meikin Family purchased their arrows, but they probably bought them from a workshop established by excellent enchantment mages.

From the arrow shaft to the fletching, they selected high-grade materials one by one, then carved all sorts of complex magic circles in minute detail so that magic could be maintained semi-permanently…

Even a casual glance was enough to admire the technique and skill involved.

And now Lee Han, a 1st year student, was trying to replace such arrows with regular arrows enhanced with a few spells.

There would definitely be a huge difference in performance.

‘The only advantage I have is that I cast it on the spot, isn’t it?’

Since the only advantage was casting it instantly, Lee Han explained this point to the Shadow Patrol hunters.

“So this was made by a great mage and I’m still just a student…”

“No!”

“???”

What do you mean no?

“Master Mage. I don’t know anything about magic, but I dare say one thing. Work is something you can’t know until you try it.”

“That’s right. Our work is similar. Novices always think they can’t take down their prey. But when you give a novice a bow and arrows and make them face prey one-on-one, the novice realizes they have hidden abilities.”

“…”

Lee Han was so dumbfounded he was speechless.

‘Are they perhaps Einroguard hunters? Were they bribed by the Skeleton Principal?’

What kind of ridiculous logic were they spouting?

By that logic, Lee Han could also face the Skeleton Principal one-on-one and have a chance of winning.

“We think you can definitely do it, Master Mage!”

“Don’t be discouraged just because it was made with expensive materials as a luxury item. Believe in yourself, Master Mage!”

The Shadow Patrol, who knew nothing about magic, were very brave.

They urged Lee Han on, pushing him to try it once.

“No… Fine. I’ll show you directly once.”

Lee Han held back a sigh and decided he just had to show them.

If he didn’t show them, they would probably keep pestering him with ‘You’re a mage and the person who made these arrows is also a mage, so why wouldn’t it work!’

“The magic on the arrows… Wow, this is really… amazing.”

Lee Han couldn’t help but admire as he examined the arrows the Meikin Family had bought.

These were magics he had seen when studying at Professor Verdus’ workshop.

【Zenbaya’s Eternal Penetration】, 【Zenbaya’s Eternal Enhancement】, 【Zenbaya’s Eternal Accuracy】…

Compared to the basic enchantment magic Lee Han knew like 【Lesser Penetration Enhancement】, 【Lesser Weight Increase】, 【Lesser Accuracy Enhancement】, these were sophisticated high-level magics of a completely different dimension.

Beautiful works that solved the weakness of enchantment magic – rapidly weakening effects over time – through the brilliant wisdom of mages!

As a fellow mage, Lee Han had to pause and admire them.

“Cheer up, Master Mage!”

“You can do it too, Master Mage!”

“…Yes. Well.”

Lee Han prepared his magic feeling very embarrassed.

It felt like drawing a crude sketch when there was a masterpiece painting in front of him.

Flash!!

“I cast penetration, weight, and accuracy for now, but there’s too much difference in completeness and it’s rough…”

Lee Han tried to explain the difference in magical completeness between this arrow and that arrow, but the hunters just pretended to listen and nodded.

‘I have no idea what he’s saying.’

And as soon as they received the arrow, they nocked it and drew the bowstring.

Swoooosh!

The hunters’ eyes widened as they looked at each other.

“This one is better, Master Mage!”

“You’re not trying to keep the arrows for yourself right now, are you?”

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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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