Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 627
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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 627
Seeing Wardanaz genuinely feeling wronged, Giselle felt something in her head snap with a ‘click’.
“Who do you think caused me to fight with my sister!”
“Wait. Moradi. Are you fighting alongside me too?”
“…Yes.”
‘Why? Is she planning to stab me in the back while saying she’ll fight with me? Maybe she’s prepared some trap in advance? If it’s a trap…’
As Lee Han made a very obvious expression of contemplation, Giselle gritted her teeth and said.
“I’m fighting with you because I’m worried you might die…”
“Come on. Isn’t that too much of an exaggeration?”
“It’s not an exaggeration, so snap out of it. So why did you unnecessarily flatter my sister…”
Listening to Giselle’s following explanation, Lee Han’s face became serious.
Hearing about the northern knights that Jicklin had destroyed, he realized the problem was bigger than expected.
If he made a mistake, he might have to walk around on crutches for the rest of winter break.
“I’m a guest from outside, so wouldn’t she control her strength?”
“She would, but I can’t trust it. My sister isn’t good at controlling her strength.”
“No, someone who just cuts off dragon necks can’t control her strength?”
“Hey, watch your words. Everyone has things they’re not good at.”
Giselle didn’t allow even the slightest criticism when it came to matters related to Jicklin.
Lee Han fell into thought.
‘That’s too much. Trying to kill me just because I said I wanted to see her swordsmanship once.’
This was Lee Han’s mistake.
He should have noticed and been careful when he was forced into an appointment after suggesting having a meal together!
“Moradi. You said you’d fight alongside me, right?”
“Yes. That way my sister will control her strength at least a little more.”
“What if I grab you and stage a hostage situation?”
Alsicle, who was listening from the side, looked at Lee Han in disbelief.
Was that even worth saying?
However, Giselle answered seriously.
“I thought about that too, but knowing my sister’s personality, it would backfire. She’d immediately take me back and then kill you.”
“I thought so.”
“…”
Alsicle wondered if he was the only sane person in this room.
Looking to the side, he saw Eandurude chewing on his sardine.
“Hey, I’m not the only one who thinks this is strange, right? You think it sounds weird too, don’t you?”
“?”
Eandurude looked at the penguin beastman as if asking what he was talking about.
* * *
An empty wasteland with nothing in the sky or on the distant horizon.
Seeing the dreamscape he hadn’t seen in a while, Lee Han could tell who had summoned him.
“It’s good to see you.”
The black book given by the Skeleton Principal fluttered in the air, revealing itself.
It was the black book that always taught Lee Han new magic in his dreams whenever he faced adversity and hardship.
If nothing else, it was certain that the Skeleton Principal had been considerate of Lee Han in this regard.
Without this black book, Lee Han might have died once or twice at Einroguard.
‘But come to think of it, if it weren’t for the Principal, wouldn’t my hardships be reduced by about half?’
Flap!
The black book fluttered as if telling him not to think useless thoughts, drawing Lee Han’s attention.
“Black book. Tomorrow I have to fight a strange knight and I need help. Please teach me some useful magic.”
Flap flap flap!
The black book fluttered its pages as if telling him not to worry.
Seeing that, Lee Han suddenly became worried.
“But it’s not another close-combat magic, is it?”
The magic taught by the black book was basically magic created by the Skeleton Principal.
This was natural since the black book itself was like an artifact created by the Skeleton Principal.
The problem was that all those spells were biased toward close combat.
【Gonadaltes’ Nimble Steps】 or 【Gonadaltes’ Sharp Hands】. And even 【Gonadaltes’ Surging Power】…
At least 【Gonadaltes’ Dark Vision】, which was non-combat magic, had high versatility, but even this felt like magic developed for close combat.
Close-combat magic wouldn’t seem to help much when fighting a knight like Jicklin.
Would adding a drop of water to an empty cup fill it up?
Flap!
The new magic the black book revealed was 【Gonadaltes’ Quickening Agility】.
“…”
The black book fluttered as if telling him to learn quickly, regardless of Lee Han’s expression.
* * *
Giselle, who had lost sleep last night, chewed her bread while worrying.
She still hadn’t decided how to fight when facing her sister today.
“Moradi. I had a good idea.”
“…?”
When Lee Han appeared in the dining hall and suddenly said such a thing, Giselle was puzzled.
“What is it?”
“We can use magic during the duel, right?”
“It doesn’t matter this time.”
Since this wasn’t a duel between swordsmanship and swordsmanship, but a duel conducted because Jicklin wanted to show Wardanaz her swordsmanship, it didn’t matter much if Wardanaz or Giselle used magic.
“When does the duel end?”
“In the case of this duel… it would end when my sister thinks she’s shown enough of her swordsmanship.”
Knights’ duels had various victory conditions depending on the rules.
Sometimes they really fought to the death until one of them died, sometimes they dueled until the first wound was inflicted, and sometimes they set a special purpose and ended when that purpose was achieved.
The current case was close to the last one.
“Right. I thought so.”
Lee Han nodded as if he had expected this.
“Lady Jicklin can end it when she wants. So I thought of this method. Moradi. Unlike knights, we can use magic, right?”
“That’s right…?”
Giselle listened carefully, wondering what Wardanaz was trying to say.
“Let’s spam magic as much as possible and then lie down claiming mana exhaustion.”
“…!”
A knight who had to cross swords would get scolded by Jicklin the moment they lay down.
Given Jicklin’s rigid personality, there was no way she’d accept excuses from someone who gave up without even fighting.
But mages were a little different.
What could she do if they spammed magic and then lay down saying ‘I’m out of mana’?
…It was a somewhat disgraceful method, but Giselle was tempted.
“Certainly. Since my sister doesn’t know magic, that might work.”
“Right?”
“But the problem isn’t completely solved. First, we won’t have time to cast magic.”
Excellent knights didn’t give mages time when facing them.
Few things were as threatening as a mage with sufficient time.
Jicklin would probably rush in as soon as the duel started and pressure the two like a storm, just as she had done against other knights.
Using magic was allowed, but under such intense pressure, all the two could realistically use was swordsmanship.
“Right. We need to create as much distance as possible.”
“I trust you’re not suggesting I act as bait while you create distance. And that kind of thing won’t work on my sister anyway.”
“Moradi. What do you take me for?”
Lee Han protested to his friend and explained the tactics he had prepared.
Given Jicklin’s skill level, clumsily creating distance while casting magic like usual would be suicide.
No matter how much she held back her full power, they wouldn’t be able to create enough distance with that approach.
They had to focus solely on running away.
“There are two of us. We need to take advantage of our numbers. I recently learned agility enhancement magic, so I’ll carry you and run as far as possible. You bombard Lady Jicklin with magic.”
“I see… Wait a minute. I don’t have any long-range magic suitable for that.”
“What? What have you been doing instead of learning long-range magic?!”
Giselle was dumbfounded by Lee Han’s criticism.
Since most White Tiger Tower students built their combat magic around enhancement or enchantment schools, they were indeed relatively weak at long-range combat.
But even students from other towers couldn’t bombard magic indiscriminately like Wardanaz was suggesting. Bombarding magic itself was an extremely high-difficulty task.
“Bombarding magic isn’t child’s play, and don’t you know you could really get exhausted if you mess up?”
“Ah. I see… You’re right that it would be putting the cart before the horse if you really got exhausted.”
Lee Han, who had been pondering, nodded as if he had no choice.
“Then there’s only one method left.”
“??”
* * *
Jicklin, standing in the training grounds, showed faint surprise on her face at the unexpected sight.
Her younger brother was standing there holding the Wardanaz family boy in both arms.
“Giselle. This right now…”
“…It’s our strategy.”
“I know what strategy it is. Since the mage himself can’t focus on spells while creating distance, Giselle will run away while Wardanaz casts spells, right?”
“!”
The two were startled by Jicklin’s ability to immediately figure it out instead of being surprised by this bizarre sight.
“As expected of Lady Jicklin. You saw right through it!”
When Lee Han, held in Giselle’s arms, shouted out, Jicklin nodded as if it was nothing special.
“Just because someone is a mage doesn’t mean they only use completely unexpected tactics. If you factor in that they’ll use magic, you can predict it easily enough.”
“Indeed.”
“Are you really thinking of flattering her in this position, you bastard?”
Giselle was amazed at Wardanaz flattering while stretched out horizontally.
However, Lee Han was confident.
“Moradi. If we act embarrassed here, it’ll feel even stranger.”
“It’s already strange enough.”
“How’s your condition?”
“I think I still have enough for spells. Fire with full power as soon as we start. We can’t give my sister any openings.”
Before the duel began, Lee Han cast all the enhancement magic he could on Giselle, including 【Gonadaltes’ Nimble Steps】 and 【Gonadaltes’ Quickening Agility】.
This was the only way to achieve speed that would exceed Jicklin’s expectations.
‘This has to work.’
“Then let’s begin.”
The moment Jicklin said “begin,” she was already in front of them.
Giselle desperately exploded mana in her legs and began creating distance.
Her body felt incomparably lighter than usual, but she felt no relief at all.
She’s catching up!
“Mist, spread!”
Fog spread around Giselle. It was an illusion mist that would make it impossible to focus properly when viewed from outside.
However, Jicklin closed her eyes and corrected her direction by chasing the two with her senses. Both Lee Han and Giselle looked sick at the sight.
“Darkness, sweep forth!”
Lee Han spread dark waves in a sweeping motion across a wide area.
Even if the attack power was lacking, the nature of dark elements would surely have the effect of momentarily stopping the charging knight’s feet.
However, Jicklin held her sword in one hand and clenched her other empty hand into a fist, then threw a punch into the air.
With the sound of air tearing, the dark wave was canceled out. She had created such power just by throwing a punch infused with mana.
‘Is she really a monster!?’
Lee Han was shocked, but there was no time for that. He immediately gritted his teeth and chanted the next spell.
“Gather and rotate!”
Water masses gathered in the air and began spinning rapidly.
Water orbs infused with the maximum rotation he could manage flew forth with heavy sounds.
Jicklin swung her undrawn sword along with its sheath, shooting down the water orbs. Even though the impact must have been considerable, her posture didn’t waver at all.
‘Amazing!’
Lee Han admired Jicklin’s swordsmanship.
Moradi’s swordsmanship was also ever-changing twin sword technique, but Jicklin’s swordsmanship was even more splendid, as if asserting that this was the true family swordsmanship.
Even though she was using only one sword, the variations were impossible to follow.
“Sharkan, Gonadaltes. Come forth! Rise, skeletal warriors…”
Lee Han wondered if he should summon even Perkuntra in the worst case.
Summoning Perkuntra in a practice duel was absurd, but the knight charging at them right now had the presence that made him consider it.
If she kept closing in like this…
Tap!
Finally catching up to Giselle, Jicklin extended her sword and stopped it in front of her younger brother’s forehead.
Then she praised them in a gentle voice.
“You both did well. I’m pleased that you exceeded my expectations.”
“…”
“…???”
The two were confused.
Giselle came to her senses first and asked.
“Uh, is this the end?”
“That’s right.”
“It just ends when our limbs are still intact?”
“Giselle. What kind of talk is that? Guests from outside might misunderstand if they heard.”
“…”
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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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