Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 971

Chapter 971

Looking to the side, it seemed the other two hadn't noticed the faint illusion of the crown.

Moreover, even Yukbeltire lost sight of the crown's form if she lost focus for a moment.

It was clearly a crown that couldn't be seen by ordinary means.

Yukbeltire calmly chanted a spell.

"Pierce through."

As <Baqwantallana's Blue Eyes> was cast on her pupils, expanded information was directly transmitted to her brain.

Then the faint illusion of the crown came slightly into focus, and its form became a bit clearer.

It was a modest crown.

The crown, made by weaving bronze, copper, and branches, was so modest that it felt more like a crown of thorns.

A crown should bestow authority and dignity upon its wearer...

'That looks like it would rather peel the skin and make one bleed.'

But unlike its alien appearance, the power dwelling within was real.

This was no ordinary crown. As befitting a future artifact craftsman, Yukbeltire quickly recognized the crown's essence.

An essence engraved and divided across numerous parallel realms.

The sum of power called from each of those concepts!

Though in the form of a crown, this was a pure mass of power.

Though she couldn't guess which grand mage had created this magic, Yukbeltire felt a chilling thrill. Any mage would have felt a similar sensation.

Magic that splits existence countless times, eternally engraves it in each realm, and then calls forth that power.

When a mage tries to call forth power beyond a certain level in one place, they inevitably encounter powerful resistance.

As much as the world dislikes imbalance, it also dislikes powerful grand magic.

However, that crown bypassed such strict constraints as if mocking chains.

When the world tried to somehow disperse the extremely condensed power, it scattered across numerous parallel realms, then gathered again in the form of a crown...

Because of all those elements, that crown was difficult to even properly perceive. It would be hard to see without the senses of an experienced realm traveler or one who could pierce through realms.

'...What's the purpose?'

Though she was sufficiently curious about why her junior had come to wear that crown or what qualifications he had to wear it, what she was most curious about right now was the purpose of that crown.

She could tell it had gathered power in one place that was difficult to implement by ordinary means.

Then for what purpose was that power gathered?

All magic has its own purpose. Yukbeltire was genuinely curious what purpose that crown's magic served.

It didn't even seem fully complete yet...

"Whew."

The junior who had been pouring out mana sighed and stepped back.

Even a junior overflowing with mana had become fed up when the vein trapping Jarun was too sturdy.

"Should I just give up..."

As the junior muttered, Yukbeltire witnessed the crown above his head momentarily become fainter.

If the incomplete crown disappeared like this, further evaluation or exploration would be impossible. Yukbeltire instinctively shouted.

"No!"

"??"

"You can do it. Don't give up, focus."

"...Senior. This is the first time you've said such warm words."

Yi-Han was slightly touched.

It seemed the time spent with Direth wasn't completely in vain.

To think this human-shaped small golem had left a warm heart.

"Alright. I'll try again. Well, this level of hardship is nothing."

As the fading crown became slightly clearer again, Yukbeltire let out a sigh of relief.

"Junior of the Wardanaz family."

"I've received your encouragement, so please be quiet now."

"..."

The crown above the junior's head, who had silenced his senior, began to intensify.

For a moment, the ground they were standing on moved quietly. It was a silent movement like a stream flowing.

Unlike the other students who were only focused on the vein, Yukbeltire's eyes, observing the surroundings without gaps, grew slightly larger.

What was this phenomenon?

The movement didn't just occur on the ground. The rock walls of the cave beside the passage also moved. They moved as if alive, revealing the veins hidden inside.

It was as if everything around was helping the junior easily extract Jarun.

'Small world!'

Faced with an obvious anomaly that couldn't be explained by a single magic, Yukbeltire realized the nature of the magic.

The power of the crown didn't stop. The nature of the vein trapping Jarun began to change.

As if to ensure it wouldn't waste Yi-Han's time by resisting any longer, the vein changed to a nature that easily melted to mana.

"It worked!"

Focused on the circulation of mana, Yi-Han didn't notice the changes in his surroundings. The crown, having finished its work, quietly fell asleep beyond realms again.

"...Cough!"

Jarun rolled forward with a cough. His whole body was stiff from being trapped in the vein for so long.

"Cough, hack, hack! You... you..."

"Are you alright, Senior?"

"...I didn't ask to be saved! I absolutely can't pay any gold coins!"

After checking the surrounding students, Jarun shouted with a deeply furrowed brow.

It wasn't a good thing to shout first for someone who had just been rescued (especially in a vulnerable state with his body not loosened up), but fortunately, no one got angry.

The enchantment magic school seniors had no expectations for Jarun in the first place, and in Yi-Han's case, he had terribly trained patience.

Patience trained by Verduus, little-Verduus, Verduus's disciple, Verduus-like guys, and so on couldn't be scratched by such words.

"I have no intention of asking for gold coins. I just saved you."

"What?"

The gruff dwarf made an expression as if he had been slapped.

He probably wouldn't have been so surprised even if the junior had threatened him or held a knife to his throat.

"More importantly, Senior. What happened to the orichalcum vein? Did you find it by any chance?"

"As if he found it."

Sigunting, who was behind, couldn't hold back and muttered.

Looking him up and down after freeing him, it seemed he hadn't found even a copper vein, let alone an orichalcum vein.

"Orichalcum? How did you bastards... Y-you bastards! You vile bastards! You spied on my application!"

"We didn't spy. Rumors spread in the school."

"Vile bastards! Thieving sons of bitches! You only think about stealing a dwarf's blood and sweat..."

"Let's stop there, Senior."

Sigunting cut off the other's words as if annoyed to hear them. Anpagon also nodded as if agreeing.

They had gotten him out because of the junior's stubbornness, but in fact, there was nothing good about talking to someone like Jarun for long.

Just as students from other schools were reluctant to interact with enchantment magic school students, enchantment magic school students were also reluctant to interact with students from other schools.

Especially if it was a madman like Jarun, even more so.

"Senior Yukbeltire. Please."

"Alright."

Yukbeltire immediately took action.

Jarun was hung upside down with a squawk. His body was too weak from being trapped in the vein.

"Compass. An ordinary object without any magic."

"Silver piece. Isn't this dug from the healing magic school area? When did he go there?"

"Map. No magic, no vein markings."

"Lump of mold. Is it a reagent? It's strange for a reagent..."

"...That's the bread I was eating!"

Jarun, enraged by the forced body search, shouted angrily. The enchantment magic school students who finished the search put Jarun back down and returned his belongings.

"Junior. We checked, but there's no trace of an orichalcum vein."

"Let's quickly discard this and go back. Staying longer would just be a waste of time."

"I understand."

Yi-Han obediently acknowledged.

In the first place, Yi-Han was closer to 'Let's just get him out and ask since we've come this far', not really seriously expecting an orichalcum vein.

"Ugh."

Jarun, whose body was still stiff, staggered.

Grumble-

Seeing his emaciated appearance that looked like he might collapse at any moment, like Gainando who had skipped two meals, Yi-Han cautiously asked.

"Would you like something to eat?"

"I don't need it!"

"...You don't have to pay gold coins. I'll give it to you for free just this once."

Though Yi-Han usually disliked giving things for free, he made an exception for someone who looked like they might collapse at any moment.

Just once wouldn't hurt...

"Don't lie!!"

Jarun's voice grew even louder.

A kitchen club member giving food without money? That was nonsense.

"It must be a trick!"

"..."

Fortunately, the senior was in a very vulnerable state. Yi-Han immediately subdued him with magic and poured warm meat broth down the dwarf's throat.

"Ah, no! My gold coins! My gold coins!!"

The enchantment magic school seniors looked at Yi-Han with expressions that said 'Why on earth is the junior wasting time like this?', but Yi-Han ignored them and moved.

A surprisingly large amount of food quickly went into Jarun's stomach, including bread and sausage cut with a pocket knife, pickled vegetables, and canned food.

Yi-Han dusted off his hands, released the dwarf, and said.

"When you recover, come up carefully. Don't forget to be careful since other people are looking for you too. If you see people, shout that there's no orichalcum first."

With those final words, Yi-Han moved his feet to follow his seniors.

Jarun, whose limbs had regained strength, stared blankly at Yi-Han's back before bursting out.

"...Wait!"

"???"

"Come here for a moment."

"If you want more food, pay money. You have gold coins, don't you? I'll accept payment later too."

"It's not about that! Can't you come quickly?!"

Jarun, who had regained strength after eating, was different from the vulnerable senior earlier. Yi-Han grumbled as he walked over.

"What is it?"

"Keep this to yourself. The orichalcum vein... actually exists."

Jarun swallowed hard.

It was the first time in his life he had told someone else about a vein he had discovered like this.

In fact, even as he was telling him, Jarun wasn't sure if he had made the right judgment. Perhaps his judgment was impaired from being trapped in the vein for so long.

But Jarun didn't regret the choice he had just made. It seemed better to clear the debt like this than to keep feeling uneasy.

"Yes. Well, it must exist somewhere in the world?"

"...It's here in the mining area!!"

Jarun flared up at the junior's lukewarm attitude.

"That too might be found somewhere if you look..."

"I, found, the exact, location, you idiot!"

"???"

Yi-Han looked at Jarun as if to say 'What nonsense are you talking about?'

Yi-Han himself didn't realize it, but hearing what Jarun was saying, he suddenly realized.

'I really didn't believe this person at all!'

Though he had said with his mouth that they should check directly, when Jarun actually said it existed, he only thought 'What nonsense?'

His trust in the other person was at a level that could pierce through the underground floor.

"You found the location, but you were wandering around this area empty-handed without a single ore in your pocket?"

Jarun's face reddened at the very humiliating point for a western dwarf.

"That... there were circumstances."

"Senior. Do you know the story of the giant shepherd? The one who looked after the mountain-destroying goat..."

As the junior scraped at his insides, Jarun nearly collapsed from anger and humiliation.

Enduring with superhuman will, Jarun gritted his teeth and growled.

"Shut up and listen?! Be quiet! I'll explain!"

Whether the senior was raging or not, Yi-Han took out a cracked pocket watch and checked the time.

Then he said with a strict attitude.

"I'll give you 5 minutes."

"...What?"

"The other seniors have been waiting too long. I can't make them wait any longer since I have manners. Finish within that time no matter what. You can't exceed even by 1 second."

Grrrr-

Jarun fell backward, foaming at the mouth.

To think there was such a bastard in the world who treated an orichalcum vein like this...