Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 640

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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 640

The Empire’s tombs and ruins were not places to be taken lightly. This was especially true for older sites.

Tombs and ruins built during the ancient kingdom era had various powerful measures prepared to stop intruders, and these measures were more than enough to tear apart unfortunate intruders who entered without much thought.

To break through such tombs, simple strength wouldn’t suffice. One needed to be well-versed in all kinds of studies, especially archaeology, and possess the wisdom and courage to remain calm in unexpected situations.

At the same time, one needed the intuition and luck to flee immediately when things went wrong.

That’s why when such tombs or ruins were discovered, mages would hire adventurers to send them in instead of going themselves.

It wasn’t particularly because they acknowledged adventurers as talented individuals with the above abilities, but because they wouldn’t get hurt even if the adventurers failed.

Gainando unconsciously hid behind Lee Han and asked Arsil.

“Is, is this place okay?”

“It’s decent enough for this level.”

Lee Han let out a sigh of relief.

It looked quite intact compared to what he had been worried about.

“…”

“…”

While Nilia and Gainando stared at Lee Han in shock, Yoner carefully asked.

“Lee Han. What do you mean by okay… in what sense is it okay?”

“It’s not too hot or too cold, right?”

To Lee Han, Arsil was a kind and gentle older brother, but he was someone whose senses had become somewhat numb from associating with spirits for too long.

If they went to places where lava boiled up or where breath froze, it could be quite dangerous for human races.

Compared to that, this ancient tomb was relatively comfortable. Apart from the air being a bit chilly, he didn’t feel any particular danger.

Gainando made a tearful face and muttered.

“I shouldn’t have come to play.”

“What did you say, Gainando?”

“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.”

Nilia asked as if she still didn’t quite understand.

“Wardanaz. I have something I’m curious about.”

“Ask away, Nilia.”

“Is this place your family’s territory?”

“That’s right. It’s the outskirts, but it’s still part of the territory.”

“…Usually when such tombs are discovered in a territory, shouldn’t you call more people?”

Originally, even in noble territories, discovering tombs or ruins was rare.

This was because the more human hands were involved, the faster tombs and ruins were discovered.

Of course, among nobles with vast and remote territories, there were still those who occasionally discovered tombs or ruins within their lands, but even they usually…

‘Don’t they call more people?’

They would send knights or mages under their family, hire adventurers or mercenaries, or at least call reliable experts from nearby mountain ranges, the Shadow Patrol…

Nilia remembered when she was young, someone from a northern baron family came begging desperately.

They said some labyrinth had been discovered in their territory and monsters kept crawling up, causing their retainers to go missing.

“That’s normally what you’d do.”

Lee Han readily nodded.

“But our family territory is so vast, and there are many remote places, so this kind of thing happens more often than you’d think. So we don’t call people for every single incident.”

Arsil nodded as if agreeing with his younger brother’s words.

As any mage would know, bizarre incidents were bound to happen more frequently in places with abundant mana.

Mana accumulated in one place would create all sorts of changes, causing rifts with other dimensions, twisting the rules of reality, and bringing about countless transformations.

For a family like the Wardanaz that conducted magical experiments of a scale among the Empire’s finest in real-time, it was impossible not to affect the surroundings.

After hearing the explanation, Yoner spoke as if he finally understood.

“Ah, so that’s why there were no people around the manor?”

“No. That’s just because our parents find it bothersome to have people around.”

“…”

Arsil made an excuse that ‘there was actually that purpose too,’ but it didn’t reach his friends.

“Anyway, this kind of thing happens often in our territory, so unless it’s something quite serious, we tend to leave it alone. If we tried to respond to everything, our knights wouldn’t have any hands left.”

“What exactly is the standard for something serious?”

“Something like a golem rebellion?”

Nilia was left speechless and couldn’t ask any more questions.

Seeing her friend’s face answering as if it were natural, she felt an overwhelming sense of not knowing where to even begin the conversation.

Gainando looked at Yoner and Nilia and whispered.

“Stop him! Please! I don’t want to go in there! This isn’t even Einroguard, so why!”

“Don’t dark mages like going into tombs?”

“What kind of nonsense is that?! Then do all alchemists like being cooped up in workshops handling materials?!”

‘They do like it though…’

Yoner only thought this to himself.

However, contrary to Gainando’s whispers, Lee Han was quite enthusiastic.

Seeing the tomb in relatively good condition made him greedy.

“Brother. How many accessories are in there? Are there old gold or silver coins too? There are? Oh my. That’s great.”

After hearing Arsil’s explanation, Lee Han’s face brightened as he turned around.

“This is great. You guys. After touring the territory, we can even take some extras with us?”

He had felt a bit sorry that his friends who came to play at the manor kept getting bored, but now they could not only tour the territory but also take valuable extras with them.

As someone hosting his friends, he couldn’t help but be delighted.

“L-Lee Han.”

Gainando called Lee Han in a frail voice.

The moment they entered that ancient underground tomb with its black gaping maw, it seemed like he wouldn’t be able to distinguish whether this was Wardanaz family territory or Einroguard.

“What?”

“…”

However, Gainando couldn’t bring himself to say ‘I don’t want to go in.’

He could feel Lee Han’s excitement about giving his friends an enjoyable experience.

How could he say ‘I can’t go in!’ to that!

“…Y-Yoner has something to say!”

“That, that trash?”

Nilia muttered in shock.

Earlier when the ink made Gainando Yoner’s enemy, she thought ‘isn’t that a bit harsh?’ but seeing this now, it was quite appropriate.

“Yoner? Why?”

Despite the betrayal he had just committed, Gainando sent desperate looks to his relative.

Please!

‘Please stop him!’

Yoner answered with a smile.

“Gainando says he’s really looking forward to the tomb. He said he learned dark magic to use at times like this.”

“You bastard!”

Lee Han patted Gainando’s shoulder as if he was so proud he could die.

When Arsil asked why, Lee Han proudly bragged about his friend.

“This friend Gainando here majors in dark magic… Ah. He’s excellent. Among the students taking dark magic together, he’s in the top five.”

“Aren’t there less than five people taking dark magic…?”

“Shh.”

Yoner covered Nilia’s mouth.

Arsil praised Gainando as if he found him admirable.

He couldn’t tell exactly what was being said, but he could feel the praise, so Gainando nodded even while making a tearful face.

“Th… thank you…”

“Gainando, you’re finally starting to take interest in magical studies. I’m delighted.”

Arsil asked in puzzlement. Lee Han answered with a serious expression.

“No, brother.”

“What did you say?”

“He’s asking if you’re his nephew.”

“…”

* * *

Despite all the fuss at the entrance, the inside of the tomb was surprisingly not dangerous.

Not only were there no particular traps near the entrance, but most importantly, Arsil’s abilities were ridiculously overpowered.

Thud!

With each step Arsil took, new spirits appeared to maintain the path.

Rock spirits repaired the floor that was about to collapse and fixed the cracked ceiling, while sand and earth spirits appeared to fill any potential cracks.

Light spirits illuminated the path so Arsil wouldn’t trip and flew ahead to check for traps. If there were any traps, the spirits would rush to neutralize them.

Lee Han and his friends watching from behind could only be shocked.

“This, this is impossible…!”

Nilia, who was among the most outstanding in terms of spirit affinity here, found what Arsil was showing now beyond imagination.

How could one person receive such blind devotion from so many different types of spirits?

“How is this even possible?!”

“Big brother has always been like this.”

Lee Han answered grumpily.

That was an innate affinity that no theory or magic could explain.

Shocked, Nilia unconsciously muttered.

“But spirits used to avoid Wardanaz because they were scared of him…”

“…”

“Ah. No. S-sorry.”

“I’m fine. It’s the truth anyway.”

“I’m really sorry…! Sorry!”

“I said I’m fine.”

“You’re obviously not fine! Just get angry at me!”

“Why should I get angry when I’m really fine?”

Nilia was desperate, fearing she might end up on the letter blacklist again.

“Is that really so amazing?”

“You don’t know because you only play with undead while doing dark magic. You have no idea how amazing that is.”

“It, it has nothing to do with dark magic!”

Gainando, who got scolded for asking carelessly, flared up.

It certainly seemed convenient.

If undead were even half as respectful as that, being a dark mage would feel rewarding.

“Lee Han. Lee Han. Is something like that impossible with undead?”

“…Gainando. Are you crazy?”

“No, no… I asked because you might be able to do it, Lee Han.”

Of course, Gainando also knew that such a thing was impossible with undead.

Basically, undead were fierce and violent beings, so such detailed care was impossible.

If he commanded undead ‘I’m trying to break through a tomb, so check the floor, check the ceiling, and check for traps ahead,’ they might deliberately trigger traps instead.

But if it was Lee Han…

“Even I can’t do everything, Gainando.”

“But Lee Han, undead are scared of you. So I thought it might be possible.”

“…”

Lee Han kicked Gainando who was walking ahead.

“Why?!”

“You tripped on a stone.”

Tap, tap tap tap, tap tap-

Arsil stopped and knocked on the tomb wall. Yoner asked curiously.

“How did you know there was a path inside here?”

“A spirit told him.”

‘This is really overpowered…!’

He tried not to be envious, but as a magic school student, he couldn’t help envying Arsil’s abilities.

With those abilities, when doing alchemy, he could just summon an experienced and excellent spirit and listen.

When reading various ancient texts, he could summon spirits who knew how to read those languages…

“Inside is a space where knights who guarded the tomb stayed, and there are burial goods made of silver and some books… Ah. Did big brother already take the books? What kind of books were they?”

Arsil got excited at his younger brother’s interest and explained what books they were.

So long, long ago, knights to court ladies…

“They were books with useless novels. Let’s go in.”

“…”

Arsil was dejected but didn’t show it and went inside.

Inside the room sat a giant rock Hecatoncheires. Seeing the monster that could probably overpower any decent giant with brute force, Lee Han’s group was shocked.

“…Big brother. Isn’t that a Hecatoncheires? You didn’t tell me because I seemed uninterested? …Of course I do prefer treasure over monsters, but still, shouldn’t you tell us what’s inside before we enter a room?”

While Lee Han was grinding his teeth, Arsil shrugged his shoulders apologetically and spoke to the Hecatoncheires.

The Hecatoncheires, who had been glaring fiercely at Lee Han’s group, listened to Arsil’s request and turned its head away. Lee Han told his friends.

“Don’t be too noisy and play quietly before leaving.”

“…”

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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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