Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 719

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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 719

Ominous feelings always had a way of coming true.

After rejecting several suggestions that Professor Boladi had come up with after much deliberation (among which were methods to ambush, blind, or knock out the underclassmen upon sight), Lee Han regretted it inwardly.

‘I should have asked another professor!’

“Professor. I want to choose the most peaceful method possible.”

“Why?”

“…Because I don’t want to leave behind strange rumors among the underclassmen? And I don’t want to face retaliation when the underclassmen become second-years.”

“Hmm.”

Professor Boladi inwardly wondered if someone with Lee Han’s skills wouldn’t be fine even if the underclassmen ganged up on him, but didn’t bother voicing it.

There was never any harm in being cautious.

As a battle mage, reducing the number of enemies was a good strategy.

“What I want is… quick invisibility magic, or magic that detects when underclassmen approach. Professor.”

“But that would be excessively easy.”

“…Though it pains my heart, I’ll have to endure it. I suppose I need to learn such magic sometimes too.”

Lee Han couldn’t understand why the word “excessively” was attached before “easy” and why “but” preceded it.

And he was too scared to ask.

Professor Boladi nodded, respecting Lee Han’s wishes.

“Understood.”

“Thank you.”

“You know about silent casting, right.”

Lee Han was horrified at Professor Boladi suddenly bringing up the highest difficulty magic technique.

The process of chanting incantations in magic was an essential process that firmly wove together a mage’s will and concentrated it into magic.

Even if gestures or reagents weren’t used, there was no magic that didn’t use incantations.

This meant that this seemingly simple incantation was a core element of the Empire’s current magic system.

‘Is he telling me to die?’

Such incantations couldn’t be omitted just to save time. Such acts were forbidden even for the mage’s safety.

If magic could be cast with only a mage’s will without incantations, magic could be triggered just by a mage dreaming or becoming emotionally agitated.

In fact, one of the magic accidents that consistently appeared in the Imperial Newspaper was mages who clumsily practiced silent casting and ended up summoning monsters or demons from other dimensions.

To cast magic without incantations required self-control to reach a transcendent level, making it impossible otherwise…

“It’s impossible!”

“I know. Don’t try it secretly since it’s dangerous.”

“…”

Lee Han was impressed by Professor Boladi’s rhetoric that made people even more infuriating.

To think he could be even more infuriating than last year.

Unaware that his disciple was cursing him inwardly, Professor Boladi continued his careful warnings.

“What you need to practice is incantation shortening.”

Incantation shortening. Or abbreviation as it was also called, this technique was literally the skill of compressing incantations into shorter forms.

It was much safer than silent casting but required tremendous concentration and mana consumption compared to regular incantation.

Fortunately, in Lee Han’s case, he had the advantage of adequate mana.

“Wait. What about concentration?”

Human mental strength wasn’t infinite, and no matter how much mana remained, if concentration was impossible, magic wouldn’t be cast. Rather, the mage would collapse.

Professor Boladi understood Lee Han’s question differently and answered.

“It’s fine.”

“…”

Lee Han, who had asked about methods to protect concentration or recover mental strength, looked at the professor as if dumbfounded.

What was fine about it?

“Practice magic storage along with incantation shortening.”

Magic storage.

Simply put, all methods of storing magic in advance fell into this category.

Though primitive, magic scrolls also applied. Magic was stored in scrolls and activated just by tearing them.

However, magic scrolls weren’t preferred by battle mages since they consumed considerable cost to make each one and took up space.

Skilled battle mages drew patterns with magic pigments on their skin to consume during battles, or stored magic on cloaks or objects.

Spirits and summoned creatures were also good storage targets if they could be persuaded…

‘It is reasonable.’

Professor Boladi’s words were logically unassailable.

If you don’t want to beat up or knock out underclassmen, cast invisibility magic faster.

If you load it in advance and carry it around, you can respond much more quickly.

“What method do you use for storage, Professor?”

“The forearm area.”

From elbow to wrist. Since it was the most accessible area for mages, it was also good for storing magic in advance.

Professor Boladi rolled up his sleeve to show several magic spells drawn on his wrist. They were complex and powerful magic spells that couldn’t be grasped at a glance.

“These are magic spells that activate the moment I’m attacked. In order: 【Bagreg’s Retaliation】, 【Random Teleportation】. And this one I can’t tell you about.”

Lee Han was puzzled by the statement that the third magic couldn’t be revealed.

“Is it that dangerous a magic?”

“It’s magic that attacks when its identity is discovered.”

“!”

Battle mages roaming battlefields were objects of fear and simultaneously targets for elimination.

A mage’s power came from the magic they summoned, but the mage themselves was just a mortal made of flesh and blood.

As such, it was better for mages to hide the magic they could use to some extent.

Even Lee Han had magic he saved for later when beating up his White Tiger Tower friends, preparing for the aftermath.

But magic that attacked just from learning its identity.

‘Do you need to go that far to make a name as a battle mage?’

Professor Boladi, understanding Lee Han’s horror as curiosity, encouraged his disciple.

“You’ll have a chance to learn it someday.”

“Yes… well… Wait, Professor. If I happen to learn that magic, wouldn’t I realize its identity when I see that magic?”

“That’s right.”

“Then I’d be attacked by that magic?”

Professor Boladi nodded. Lee Han cursed inwardly.

‘Isn’t this person crazy?’

It was tantamount to cursing him to die someday.

After finishing his round of curses, Professor Boladi explained in detail the method of drawing and storing magic on skin.

3rd Circle magic, 【Lesser Magic Storage】.

It was magic that stored two spells of one’s circle level or below.

This magic originally had enchantment magic principles going quite deep, making its casting difficulty higher than same-circle magic.

The more principles from multiple schools were used in combination, the higher the magic difficulty became.

However, Professor Boladi knew well Lee Han’s skills from learning under Professor Verdus, so he didn’t bother mentioning it separately.

Sure enough, Lee Han drew the magic while consuming reagents a few times and immediately got the hang of it.

“Is this how it’s done, Professor?”

“Correct. Well done.”

“Is this on the easier side by any chance?”

Instead of answering, Professor Boladi smiled as faintly as morning dew. Lee Han interpreted that smile as kindness.

‘It must be easy magic.’

However, what came next was unexpectedly difficult.

Though he had drawn the magic perfectly, strange errors occurred every time he tried to activate it.

“?”

Lee Han wondered if 3rd Circle magic was still not easy to master even if the difficulty was low.

Professor Boladi, who had been watching from the side, spoke up.

“There are many patterns.”

“Pardon?”

“There are many patterns carved by powerful beings.”

Whether they were spirit patterns or patterns of other beings, such patterns naturally possessed power.

The more powerful the being that carved the pattern, the more powerful the pattern’s force became.

For a mage like Lee Han who had embedded patterns of great spirits like Perkuntra and Upinum into his wrists, errors were bound to occur when drawing magic over them.

“I never thought of that.”

“Usually people don’t carve that many.”

“…Isn’t there a way around it?”

“Calculate the margin of error.”

“…”

At Professor Boladi’s words telling him to calculate and draw accounting for the error – in summary, just do it well – Lee Han suppressed his urge to frown and asked again.

“Isn’t there an easier method?”

“Move the position upward.”

It was such a simple yet good method that he wondered why he hadn’t thought of it. Lee Han nodded.

“That sounds good. Then…”

“Here.”

Professor Boladi pointed with his staff to the area between the upper and lower arm, the crook of the elbow.

Lee Han answered with an embarrassed expression.

“There’s a phoenix pattern there, so it would overlap.”

The professor moved his staff a bit more toward the upper arm. Lee Han answered with a slightly more embarrassed expression than before.

“There’s Verdus’s pattern there…”

“…”

* * *

-Wardanaz. It’s been quite a while since we haven’t been able to meet after the new semester started. Though we’re from different towers and our relationship isn’t particularly good, we can’t deny the fact that we respect each other as mages. If you’re willing to meet briefly to catch up and exchange information, come to the place where we all gathered last time.

Salko Tutanta

“It’s not a trap, is it?”

“Salko isn’t the type to set such traps… well, he is. But probably not?”

Lee Han spoke while moving together with his Blue Dragon Tower friends.

In fact, not only Lee Han but all his tower friends were feeling a similar need.

It hadn’t been long since they’d moved up to second year, but far too much information was pouring down like a flood.

If it had been last year, they would have comfortably met and exchanged information, but this year even that was difficult.

-If those White Tiger Tower bastards attack you, let me know. I’ll retaliate for you.

-Thank you, senior.

-Don’t mention it. As a senior, I should at least do this much.

-Then could I have a piece of the bread you’re eating, senior?

-Are… are you insane? How can you say something so rude?

The Blue Dragon Tower seniors weren’t people who showed up often or were particularly kind, but they were very aggressive when it came to fights with other towers.

Things had gotten so bad that incidents like this occurred.

-Oh. It’s Angrago. He’s waving his hand.

-How dare that bastard make insulting gestures at my junior?!

-Uh, senior. Angrago was just waving his hand.

-You must have seen wrong. White Tiger Tower bastards don’t just wave their hands. He must have raised his middle finger when you weren’t looking!

With things like this, it was honestly a bit awkward for the underclassmen to openly gather together.

There was a reason why Salko suggested meeting at the 2nd floor storage where they had gathered last year.

Lee Han checked the surroundings with his friends, entered the 2nd floor storage, confirmed the basement door, and went down.

It was a place that held memories of dealing with the teleportation statue last year and attempting the great escape to the Skeleton Principal’s villa.

“It’s Wardanaz!”

“Wardanaz. Did you really join every club? Really?”

“…”

At the question his friends from other towers asked as soon as they met, Lee Han made a bitter expression.

His friends were already making expressions that said ‘Wardanaz might actually do that.’

“…That’s right.”

“That’s impossible. It’s not like Wardanaz has two bodies!”

“Wouldn’t even two be insufficient?”

“Everyone come over here. Stop bustling around over there!”

Salko’s rough voice could be heard.

Lee Han walked inside.

Then he could see most of the 2nd year students from each tower gathered together having conversations.

“Moradi. Good to see you.”

“Yeah. Good to see you too.”

“…Huh, what, did you eat something wrong?”

“Hey. Switch seats with m…”

Giselle got up irritably. But thinking about it, if she switched seats, Salko would be next to her.

Salko blatantly growled and showed signs telling her to get lost.

“…Come to think of it, Wardanaz is better after all. Sit down.”

“Can’t I just sit somewhere else?”

When Lee Han asked, thinking it would be noisy if he sat between the two, Salko and Giselle each grabbed one of Lee Han’s arms and forcibly sat him down.

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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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