Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 531
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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 531
“Wh-what? What’s happening?”
“The artifact is activating? Wardanaz. Did you activate it?”
Lee Han answered with a frown.
“No. It activated on its own.”
“What? That’s impossible. An artifact activating on its own. What idiot made it like that?”
Salko said in disbelief.
Safety that only activated when the caster wanted it was the most basic foundation for artifacts.
An artifact that activated on its own without being wanted wasn’t called an artifact. That was usually called a trap.
“The upperclassmen did.”
“…”
“…”
The students fell silent in disbelief.
Are they really upperclassmen?
“No… this is ridiculous.”
“Right. Salko. I’m also speechless.”
Lee Han sighed as he looked at the dimensional gate artifact flickering like flames.
Hard to believe, but the upperclassmen who made this didn’t care about safety at all.
Normally, clear incantations and gestures would be needed to operate an artifact.
But the upperclassmen had omitted all of that to squeeze out even a little more efficiency.
They completed it with a simple, crude method that forcibly absorbed mana the moment you stepped into the artifact’s vicinity area.
This was being generous calling it simple and crude – it was actually a very dangerous method.
The upperclassmen could quickly retreat when they sensed danger since they designed it and had experience, but inexperienced underclassmen could collapse from mana depletion with one mistake.
At the very least, shouldn’t they have installed more safety measures for the underclassmen when they graduated?
‘Are all the upperclassmen just bastards?’
“No. Wardanaz. I was calling you ridiculous.”
“?”
Lee Han looked at Salko as if asking what he was talking about.
“How did you not notice while the artifact was absorbing this much mana?”
“…You might not notice when reading a journal. You bastard.”
Lee Han grumbled at his nasty friend’s attitude of not just letting the mistake slide but scolding him for it.
Of course, the students listening to the enchantment magic lecture didn’t agree with Lee Han’s words.
‘What is this guy saying when he can sense even weak mana flows from several meters away…’
Wooooong. Wooooong. Woooooooong-
The dimensional gate artifact continued spewing loud roars while flickering.
The light gradually intensified and sparks flew through the air, but the dimensional gate artifact didn’t stop and continued operating.
“Wardanaz. Is it really okay? Why is it doing this? The artifact activated but…?”
“It seems like it just started.”
Despite absorbing enough massive mana to shake the surroundings, the dimensional gate artifact had only just begun operating.
To properly form a gate, it needed to absorb dozens of times more mana than what it just absorbed.
Understanding the structure of the artifact greedily absorbing mana, Lee Han waved his hand at his friends.
“Don’t come close. If the mana absorption area expands unnecessarily, you’ll all get mana depletion too.”
“Wardanaz…”
“What. This level of concern is natural.”
Lee Han spoke in a warm voice to his friends who seemed moved.
Since he had worked his friends quite hard earlier, he needed to show a little pretense of worrying about them now.
“No. Aren’t you coming out…?”
“…”
His friends were whispering while looking at Lee Han.
They were whispering about whether it was right to leave Wardanaz alone, no matter how much mana he had.
No matter how they looked at it, the amount of mana the artifact demanded was too abnormal.
That massive amount of mana earlier was just for activation.
Then just how much mana would be needed to properly form a gate?
“I’m fine.”
“Usually when you say that, you’re not fine.”
Gainando muttered.
Usually when Gainando said ‘I’m fine!’ things rarely went well.
“This bastard is being ominous!”
“He’s saying useless things!”
The Blue Dragon Tower students fiercely hit Gainando’s back.
‘Something else is the concern.’
Lee Han actually wasn’t worried about the mana being absorbed like a waterfall.
If he felt distress from mana depletion, he planned to immediately escape, but his body was very fine. His friends’ worry was more embarrassing.
What Lee Han was worried about was this artifact’s durability.
It was already an artifact completed by removing all sorts of functions for efficiency and performance.
What if it exploded while charging with mana?
‘The Skeleton Principal would really laugh loudly.’
After finally defeating that powerful enemy and finding the treasure inside, to be wiped out because of an artifact the upperclassmen made strangely.
It would be a story the Skeleton Principal would giggle about for a week.
“Could everyone set up the table over there?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Got it.”
At Lee Han’s words, the students hurriedly set up the table.
Preparing cover in case the artifact exploded was a wise thing to do.
“Hmm. Salko. I’d like you to cast magic to fill the space with dirt.”
“Got it.”
Salko cast earth elemental magic to reinforce behind the table.
With this, it wouldn’t easily fly away even if shock came.
“Hmm. Imperial Princess. Could you summon spirits to make it sturdier?”
Adenart quickly summoned spirits to strengthen the barricade.
The barricade mixed with sand, water, and gravel became solid enough that it wouldn’t budge with ordinary kicking.
“Hmm. This might be a bit ambiguous. Gainando. Try summoning some bone elements. Let’s mix more to strengthen it.”
“…”
“…”
The students’ expressions gradually became subtle.
If they needed to strengthen the barricade this much…
…shouldn’t they just run away?
Noticing his friends’ expressions, Lee Han quickly made excuses.
“This is just in case. It’s still fine. There’s no particular problem with the mana flow.”
“Earlier you didn’t notice while the artifact absorbed enough mana to kill several mages…”
“Salko. Do you feel good constantly harping on a friend’s mistake like that? Huh?”
“N-no. It wasn’t like that.”
When Lee Han appealed to emotions he usually didn’t, Salko was slightly flustered.
When put that way, there wasn’t much to say…
Crack, crackle!!
“!”
“L-look at that! It’s a crack!”
The students opened their eyes wide.
Amazingly, cracks were forming in the air!
Like when a powerful being from another dimension crosses over to this continent, cracks formed in space and a scenery completely different from the underground warehouse rippled beyond.
“War… Wardanaz!!!”
“You’re a hero!!! You’re our hero!!!”
The White Tiger Tower students who had been grumbling just moments ago saying ‘If that bastard Wardanaz drinks one more bottle of foresight potion, we’re all dead’ now shouted in excitement.
Though they had been half-doubtful, the crack in space now was proof that the dimensional gate artifact was functioning properly.
“Check it! Check! Where does it connect to?”
“I’m, I’m looking. I’m looking but… I can’t see! Ugh! Wardanaz! Can’t I get closer?!”
“Come closer if you want to shrivel up and die.”
“You… you don’t have to put it like that.”
Lee Han tried his best to memorize the scenery visible beyond the crackling dimensional gate.
‘Is it inside a manor?’
At a glance, the place the dimensional gate connected to was quite an elegant manor.
Lee Han wondered if this gate was connected to a noble family’s manor in a village or city not far from Einroguard.
If there had been a Blue Dragon Tower student among the upperclassmen, connecting to a family manor would have been the safest choice.
Creak-
“!”
At the eerie noise coming from the artifact, Lee Han quickly turned his gaze.
The dimensional gate artifact that looked like it was cobbled together from miscellaneous junk.
The artifact’s frame was twisting and creaking, unable to withstand the mana overload.
He had been worried about durability, but for it to happen this soon.
Lee Han gritted his teeth and quickly moved away from the artifact.
“Is it, is it exploding!? Is it going to explode!?”
Seeing Lee Han running toward him, Gainando asked in something close to a scream.
“No. I’m just stopping it for now!”
“Oh… I see.”
Gainando nodded and asked in a slightly smaller voice.
“Exploding?”
“…I said it’s not exploding.”
After giving Gainando a knock on the head for thinking he would lie to others but tell only him the truth, Lee Han turned his gaze to the artifact.
Fortunately, as calculated, the artifact was slowly cooling down as the mana source disappeared.
The dimensional gate vanished, the crack in space closed, and everything became quiet as if what had just happened was a lie.
“…”
“Th, thank goodness. It’s not broken.”
The students treated the dimensional gate artifact as preciously and carefully as a final exam paper.
“Wardanaz. When will you activate it again?”
“…Do you guys even know where that thing connects to?”
Lee Han was dumbfounded by his friends’ eyes that showed they were thinking of entering without even knowing where it led.
But his friends had their own logic too.
“What’s there to know. Anywhere would be better than Einroguard.”
“…”
Lee Han was momentarily speechless.
Was…
Was that so?
“Wait a moment. Let me read the journal again.”
Lee Han, who had stopped reading earlier due to the forced mana charging, reached out with his staff to bring the journal over.
‘Where did they connect it to?’
Lee Han’s face, which had been flipping through pages, suddenly hardened as if he had come face to face with a basilisk.
Yoner looked at the journal curiously, wondering what was wrong.
‘Why is Lee Han acting like that?’
That crazy skeleton won’t even imagine where we’re targeting. Haha. Once it’s complete, your villa in the city will be ours! We’ll scrape up all the treasures to the last bit and then set it on fire!
“…”
“…”
Lee Han let out a deep sigh.
Of all places, why there?
‘The upperclassmen are no help in life.’
“Lee Han. We’re still going, right?”
“Wardanaz. Think of it as a good thing. If it’s the Principal’s external villa, it should be empty!”
“Quiet. Everyone close your eyes.”
Lee Han tapped the floor with his staff to make his friends shut their mouths.
Gainando tried to peek and got hit once.
“Now. As you know, we don’t know how many more times this dimensional gate artifact can operate. We need to use it with the mindset of getting maximum benefit from each use… I want to hear honest opinions.”
There were several students whose eyes had turned red from wanting to go outside right now, but Lee Han was calm.
There was no telling what would happen if they accidentally entered the Skeleton Principal’s villa.
He could act tough and pretend to be strong in front of his friends, but not everyone would feel the same way.
Lee Han didn’t want to force students who didn’t want to go.
“Even if the Principal’s villa is the destination, who wants to pass through the dimensional gate and try going outside?”
Slowly, all the students raised their hands.
“…”
Lee Han was dumbfounded.
‘No, these guys…’
Aren’t you too corrupted by Einroguard?
* * *
“It was really a tough day.”
“Everyone worked hard.”
Lee Han and his friends walked out yawning.
Having fought all night without sleep, dawn was already breaking when they walked out of the main building.
“Wardanaz. We’re going together on the weekend.”
“Yeah.”
“Wardanaz. We’re definitely going together on the weekend. You can’t leave us behind.”
“Yeah.”
“Wardanaz. On the weekend… Ack! Ack!”
Lee Han swung his staff to chase away the White Tiger Tower students.
They had made a promise to gather again this weekend and try again, but they kept being annoyingly clingy.
“No morning lectures, right? Let’s all go in and rest a bit.”
“Thinking about going out on the weekend makes me feel like I can’t sleep.”
“Definitely. The Principal’s villa won’t be easy.”
Lee Han nodded and said.
“That’s why I do have one thing I’ve been thinking about.”
“Oh. What is it?”
His friends were curious about what Lee Han had thought of.
What kind of secret plan had he come up with?
“The foresight potion will be completed soon, so if I drink that…”
“No!”
“Don’t do that!”
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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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