Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 807

Chapter 807

At that moment, Yi-Han turned around.

-Gasp!-

-We didn't think anything, hug... Lord Wardanaz.-

"???"

Yi-Han looked at the Death Knights suspiciously as they were startled more than necessary.

"I was just going to ask how you blocked my lightning magic earlier..."

Before practicing powerful lightning magic, it was essential to prepare defenses around.

Especially for Yi-Han, who had recently damaged Einroguard's main building in an unfortunate accident, this was even more so.

The lightning magic up until now could be practiced in a suitable lecture hall, but if he aimed for more than that, it was right to think about safety measures for the surroundings in advance.

-Aha. What I used was <Maga Ahiman's Shield>. Yi-Han. Since you're from the dark magic school, you must have heard of Mage Ahiman?-

"Yes. He's a famous dark mage, isn't he?"

-That's right.-

"They say he turned himself into an undead because he was too poor and destitute..."

-...Why choose that out of all his many achievements?-

Excluding that he turned himself into an undead due to numerous research failures and bankruptcy in his later years, Mage Ahiman was indeed an outstanding dark mage who left his mark on imperial magic history.

Among them, <Mage Ahiman's Shield> was a convenient magic even the Death Knights serving the skull principal liked to use.

-It can be called a crystallization of precisely arranged negative energy and dark element. This shield absorbs and deactivates the energy and life force around it.-

Basically, beings that could control negative energy or dark element could produce similar effects against living creatures.

Just by contact, it produced an effect that made living beings lose vitality and become exhausted.

<Mage Ahiman's Shield> was this effect very precisely layered and strengthened.

This magic, completed by combining very efficiently, was revolutionary enough that even the Death Knights, knights from a much earlier era, were satisfied using it.

"Can I use it too, by any chance?"

-Of course!-

"Thank you! What Circle magic is it?"

-It's 5th Circle.-

"..."

Yi-Han, who had been happy, turned serious. The Death Knights looked at each other in confusion. They couldn't understand why the successor was turning serious.

-Isn't 5th Circle doable...-

"I'm preparing to learn 5th Circle magic now, so how can you tell me to add another 5th Circle magic!"

At the successor's shout, the Death Knights lowered their helmets dejectedly.

The mad doppelganger coldly admonished at that sight.

[Knights are originally foolish and stupid beings. What would they know when even the brains they had have rotted?]

-...-

-When will the master subjugate that damn bastard?-

The Death Knights gritted their teeth, but the mad doppelganger ignored them and continued his explanation.

[Spirits are beings that are the essence of power from birth. Implementing the spirit's power through magic is close to the folly of mortals imitating immortality. However, mages…]

'This is bad. The explanation is boring.'

Yi-Han realized it was more difficult and sleepy than he thought when the mad doppelganger started a long explanation.

Before, he had maintained full consciousness with the tense anticipation of not knowing when an attack might come, but now that the illusion was just talking, sleepiness started to come immediately.

'Gainando gave up too. I can endure it.'

Yi-Han gritted his teeth, recalling Gainando who had endured to avoid falling asleep in the lecture hall.

After scolding and hitting his friend's back so much, he couldn't collapse himself.

...Therefore, the first thing to do is to increase the power of lightning.

"Indeed! Wow!"

Relieved that the talking had finally ended, Yi-Han reacted excessively more than necessary.

Seeing his disciple's passion, the mad doppelganger showed satisfaction.

"How much do I need to increase the power of lightning?"

[Until the surrounding space distorts. Only then will transformation become possible.]

"Aha. I understand. I'll work hard on it."

[Do it within this week.]

"You can trust and leave it to me!"

Satisfied with Yi-Han's attitude, the mad doppelganger disappeared without further reproach.

A Death Knight watching from behind asked as if he couldn't understand.

-But Lord Wardanaz. I thought you said you weren't confident about learning from this mad doppelganger, will it be alright? You must have many other things to do...-

"It's fine."

The Death Knight was slightly impressed by Yi-Han's confident answer.

Indeed, the skull principal's successor was different, somehow different.

For others, it would already be a suffocating magic learning plan, yet he was adding to it without hesitation.

It felt like witnessing a miracle where water was poured recklessly into a glass already full of water, yet it didn't overflow.

"I'm not going to do it anyway."

-...-

Yi-Han spoke very proudly.

He had agreed to avoid provoking the mad doppelganger's temper, but he had no intention at all of actually learning the magic.

It was physically impossible to begin with.

'It's just an illusion anyway. No matter how much he rages, I'll just apologize saying I tried hard but couldn't do it.'

The mad doppelganger was misunderstanding his disciple.

He thought that even if there was distance and it was an illusion, if he showed the mysteries of magic that Einroguard's lectures couldn't match, he would naturally follow.

But Yi-Han was someone who could shamelessly avoid as much as he wanted unless a knife was at his throat right away.

-Actually, I thought Lord Wardanaz would just learn it.-

"Why on earth would you think such a nonsensical thing?"

  *

The skull principal's mad doppelganger, and the Dargard family ancestor he sent, were actually trivial matters in the context of the entire club week.

Most students didn't even know such a thing had happened. They just talked about how 'This year, a big shot who spent gold coins lavishly came and went.'

For the students, club week had just begun.

Having dealt with generous sponsors who arrived early, it was time for annoying guests to start coming.

"They're here...!"

"Damn it. Why are people without money coming?"

Some seniors who recognized the guests' faces grumbled with voices full of dissatisfaction.

Basically, only people whose identities were confirmed and who were willing to offer imperial gold coins visited Einroguard during club week.

But there were exceptions to this rule.

Members of outside clubs that had exchanges with clubs within Einroguard could be invited without such qualifications.

These club members were usually mages.

And in the empire, mages could be paraphrased as 'people who are always short on gold coins' without much difference...

"Einroguard everyone. Nice to meet you. We are from the <Desert Rootstone> magic tower. We've come like this to see and learn about the famine relief plants you've improved."

"Yes... Well... Are you going to invest?"

"Haha, we spent all our money on research last year, so we don't have money to invest... We'd be glad if we could receive some sponsorship here."

"...I'll show you the warehouse over there. Come with me for a moment!"

As Einroguard was famous in the empire, there were quite a few mages who wanted to visit.

There were also many mages who came just to look around without gold coins, so Einroguard seniors frowned when they saw mages who looked obviously poor.

"These bastards are making rich people not want to come! Mages are always like this!"

"The magic on this cauldron is amazing! How did you maintain this form?"

"You've seen enough! Hurry up and move aside!"

Mages who just came to look around were better.

More troublesome were the mages who arrived with competitive spirit.

"Is this the <Saint Eaktus Soup Club>?"

"Yes, it is."

"What a grandiose name. My name is Bassaden. You've probably heard of me. The one who turned the skinny plains green again..."

"It's the first time I've heard of you."

"What?! You've never heard of me? Einroguard isn't much after all. To never have heard my name. Anyway, I've come to settle the score. Do you see this glass bottle with my potion? Let's see who can make plants grow faster..."

"Puhoo. Guest. Please step aside if you're not going to show magic."

"Ugh, uugh..! Kugh! Cowardly using guards...!"

From the Einroguard students' perspective, they had to earn even one more coin, but these rascals kept interfering, so they couldn't help but be furious.

"Why does the principal keep letting such guys in?!"

"In my opinion, it's definitely on purpose. He's doing this to toughen us up."

"This won't do. We should tell the invited guests to rest for a day. There are too many annoying guys."

As mages from outside loitered on the 7th floor, Einroguard students sighed.

In this situation, they had no choice but to put aside the guests with thick gold coins for a moment and deal with, no, get rid of these guests.

  *

"We've arrived. Is this Einroguard?"

"Yes, that's right!"

The Baldurguard Gourmet Club students nodded their heads repeatedly. Their eyes burned with anticipation and revenge.

How much humiliation had they received last year when they visited Einroguard, led by the kitchen club.

It was an unbearable wound for the honorable Baldurguard students.

Who knew one of the twin carriages leading imperial magic would be so vile.

But the honorable Baldurguard students didn't act the same as their opponents. If one of the twin carriages had fallen, the other had to maintain its nobility.

So the Baldurguard students honorably and nobly hired an outside mage and visited again like this.

'These damn Baldur bastards.'

The outside mage, Garal, had to suppress the contemptuous look rising in his eyes.

Once, Garal had been promising enough to research with Alcicle of the Pengerin family.

But fate is cruel. No one knows when it will show its brutal reverse side.

After three research failures, five accidents, and one attempt to assassinate a sponsor (Garal pleaded it was an accident, but the sponsor didn't believe him) passed like a storm, Garal wasn't given a proper opportunity for a while.

As a result, he had to participate in adventurer parties looking for mages, help guilds urgently seeking mages, and even take on useless missions from idle Baldurguard students.

The first two were at least bearable, though tough.

However, the current mission from the Baldurguard students made Garal sink into self-loathing.

To challenge the still young Einroguard students and flatten their noses.

No matter how good the pay was, he couldn't believe he had to do such a thing.

"Where do we need to go?"

"The kitchen club. Please compete in magic with their members."

"If it's the kitchen club... they must be skilled in alchemy or transformation magic. I'll have to be careful."

"As expected of Lord Garal. You have a discerning eye."

'This is just obvious...'

Expecting kitchen club mages to be skilled in alchemy or transformation magic was all too obvious.

Seeing them marvel at this, Garal felt his vision go dark.

'Sigh. No. This isn't the time for me to be prideful.'

Garal shook his head and pulled himself together. Now wasn't the time to be unnecessarily stubborn.

"On the way, if you see any Einroguard students, feel free to flatten their noses."

"Wasn't it the kitchen club members who insulted you?"

"The other Einroguard bastards who didn't stop them and just sneered are just as vile. Look! There's one right there."

The Baldurguard students urged Garal after spotting a noble boy with statue-like features walking in the distance.

Garal sighed and approached Yi-Han.

"Are you an Einroguard student?"

"Are you perhaps the mad doppelganger's subordinate?"

"What are you talking about? I am Garal. Originally from the Northern Snowflake Magic Tower, though currently unaffiliated... Anyway, I've visited on the kitchen club's invitation."

"Aha."

Yi-Han nodded. It seemed this person was one of those unprofitable guests he had only heard about.

'Wait. Isn't that Baldurguard?'

"I have something I want to ask the student."

"Yes."

"Can you perhaps name substitute materials for juniper, perilla leaves, and talc in Dobruk's Soul Amplification Potion?"

"???"

Yi-Han was flustered. It was etiquette he had never heard of before.

'Do Baldurguard guys perhaps ask this kind of thing as soon as they meet?'

Garal waited for the answer with a tired face.

He didn't feel good about suddenly throwing such a question, but it was unavoidable to satisfy the Baldurguard students.

"Let me think about it for a moment."

"Go ahead..."

Yi-Han turned around and stepped back for a moment. Then he started whispering to his staff.

"Are you there, Master?"