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Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 677

Added 2024-07-21 03:20:05 +0000 UTC

Chapter 677

"Ah, no. The professor took such good care of it..."

As Yi-Han spoke in a bewildered voice, the skull principal replied indifferently.

"That's that, and this is this. Don't expect the same loyalty from magical animals like unicorns as you would from people."

Although Professor Bentozol had taken care of it diligently, the unicorn had a duty to choose the best environment to raise its foal.

Having seen the foal get scared of Professor Bentozol earlier, it had no choice but to carefully consider.

Regardless of how excellent the magic was or how great the devotion, it had to first gain the foal's favor.

"The professor will be sad if he knows."

"I don't think so. Professor Bentozol will be pleased that the unicorn is smart."

"..."

Yi-Han had to agree with the skull principal's words.

Professor Bentozol was the type of person who would love and dote on the unicorn no matter what it did!

The unicorn, which had been pondering, let out a low cry. The skull principal made a 'hmm' sound and put his hand on his chin.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's making a request. I'll grant it. It's not a difficult request anyway."

'What kind of request?'

When Yi-Han asked quizzically, the skull principal kindly explained.

"It's asking for you, the reliable one, to take care of it. I said alright."

"..."

Yi-Han, who was speechless from disbelief, quickly regained his senses and said,

"Why should I do that?!"

"You'll do it anyway."

"Pardon?"

"Why are you pretending not to know? When the next semester starts, you'll study under Professor Bentozol, and if you study under Professor Bentozol, you'll end up taking care of all the vicious monsters he raises. Then won't you take care of the unicorn too?"

"The professor could take care of the unicorn directly. And the professor doesn't seem to like me very much."

Yi-Han resisted desperately.

However, the skull principal answered coldly.

"Even if the professor tries to take care of the unicorn directly, the foal will dislike it, so he'll call you. Regardless of Bentozol's likes or dislikes, you have a talent for being loved by certain monsters."

Gainando, who was hanging upside down, asked with a face reddened from blood rushing to his head.

"What kind of monsters?"

"You're especially attractive to monsters that are drawn to you rather than being scared and running away because of your abundant mana."

"..."

It wasn't pleasant at all.

It was annoying how the nameless hunters next to him nodded in agreement.

The skull principal asked as if puzzled.

"Didn't Professor Bentozol praise you?"

"He kept cursing, saying he didn't know why someone like me was receiving love."

"There's no better praise than that!"

With those words, the skull principal tore out the entire environment where the unicorn was staying and sent it into the pillar of black power.

Before leaving, the unicorn foal hesitated and cried out to the skull principal.

The two unicorns moved to Einroguard through the pillar.

"Professor Bungaegor. It seems the matter is settled, shall we go to Einroguard together?"

"I'd appreciate that."

"What about these hunters?"

"If possible, they'd like to return to their own mountain ranges..."

"It's troublesome, but it can't be helped."

The skull principal prepared to send Professor Bungaegor's group back using the pillar of black power.

Before departing, one of the nameless hunters who had worked with Yi-Han this time approached.

"Thank you for your help."

"I'm grateful too. Take this."

"?"

What the hunter held out was an old arrow.

"It's a token of the nameless hunters. You can request help from nameless hunters in any mountain range with this."

"Thank you!"

"Since you went on a hunt together, you're a hunter too. No need to thank me. And if you're interested in the oath, listen to the words of the token."

"What does that..."

The hunter didn't seem to want to explain further and left with his companions through the black pillar.

Pop!

The skull principal yawned lightly and asked,

"What about you all?"

"Please send us back to Flaher City."

"Alright. See you next semester."

After sending all the friends away, the skull principal finally looked at Yi-Han.

"So, how do you feel?"

"Pardon?"

Yi-Han tilted his head at the sudden question.

He couldn't guess what was being asked.

"Well, I feel more satisfied since I'll get the bounty for catching the professor."

"...Not that feeling..."

The skull principal considered hitting him once but held back and said,

"You faced a Taotie, didn't you?"

"Ah. Professor Bentozol did all the fighting, I just blocked a clone. It's an unusual monster."

"It's a beast with several annoying attack methods. You'll see more such monsters as you continue at Einroguard."

"..."

Although he didn't know why he would see more such monsters while attending Einroguard, Yi-Han just kept his mouth shut and listened.

"The Taotie probably couldn't exert much power against you due to poor compatibility? At best, it would have been curses or dark elements."

"That's right."

"But if its abilities had been more physical or direct, you wouldn't have dealt with it so easily."

Yi-Han agreed with the skull principal's words.

The Taotie was a threatening and vicious monster, but coincidentally, most of its attack methods didn't work on Yi-Han.

Curses bounced off, and attempts to deactivate mana with dark elements didn't work...

From the Taotie's perspective, it must have wondered what kind of freak Yi-Han was.

"It seems so."

"How do you think you could subdue it more easily?"

"Hmm."

Yi-Han pondered this easy yet difficult question.

"Shouldn't I learn more higher-circle magic based on the magic I've already mastered? Magic that can deal more damage to monsters like Taotie, or bind their feet..."

"That's half right. You're not wrong. You'll probably learn more higher-circle magic this year."

"Yes. More 3rd Circle magic..."

"Don't talk about 3rd Circle, learn about ten 5th Circle spells."

"?"

Yi-Han doubted his ears.

Regardless, the skull principal continued what he had to say.

"With that much, you should be able to enter the realm of small worlds. Once you know how to use that, it'll be easier to deal with creatures like Taotie."

"It seems difficult..."

"It's fine. I'll tell Professor Bagrak."

"I'll do my best!"

Yi-Han answered hurriedly.

He didn't know what a small world was, but he had to survive first.

But the absurdity didn't disappear.

'Is it possible to learn ten 5th Circle spells?'

5th Circle magic was the level of magic that usually only fourth-year students or exceptionally talented third-year students learned in a limited way.

Being told to learn ten of them, Yi-Han couldn't help but think of tricks along with the absurdity.

'If I fill it with the easiest ones and somehow say I learned them...'

"Ah. Principal."

"?"

The skull principal, who was about to move Yi-Han through the pillar of black power, turned his gaze.

"What did you mean earlier by disciple or alter ego?"

"Anyone who lives long enough is bound to have ungrateful disciples or alter egos born from cut-off emotions. Anyway, be careful. But don't use the ring recklessly."

"What on earth does that mea-"

The skull principal didn't seem to want to answer further and moved Yi-Han to the city.

The sight of the skull principal waving goodbye was the last scene Yi-Han saw in the Grief Mountains.

***

"Huff... Huff huff."

"Motion sickness... Urgh."

The students who fell onto a field near Flaher City staggered and suffered.

Realm gate magic was a spell whose difficulty and cost increased exponentially the greater the distance.

Sending them from the Grief Mountains to here was already an impossible level of difficulty, but the skull principal had done it on the spot without any trouble.

Instead, the side effects fell on the students. It was severe magical motion sickness.

For mages who sensitively detect the mana in their bodies, the sensation of mana shaking and moving arbitrarily was unbearable.

"Yi... Yi-Han... Save me."

Gainando called for Yi-Han while still hanging upside down. Yi-Han somehow found the skull principal's invisible telekinesis magic and dispelled it with counter-magic.

"Yi-Han, are you okay?"

"I seem to be fine. And Gainando. That's not me, it's a tree."

As Gainando spoke to a tree, Yi-Han turned his body.

Fortunately, it seemed he had avoided motion sickness thanks to his resistance and flown here.

"Let's all go back to the mansion and rest for now. We've had a hard time in the mountains."

Even though he said that, his friends were sprawled out unable to get up.

Yi-Han thought he should borrow something instead of forcibly dragging them.

"Could you possibly give us a ride in your carriage? I'll pay for it."

"...Are you serious?"

The coachman driving a cargo wagon on the road looked at Yi-Han with a dumbfounded expression.

For a boy who looked like he was from a noble family to ask to borrow a shabby cargo wagon.

"Yes."

"Who would be riding...?"

"My friends here behind me."

The coachman glanced carefully.

Just looking at a few of them, he could feel they were from noble families.

Especially in the case of the dark elf girl, even while staggering, she didn't lose her dignity, so he thought she might be from a great noble family.

After finishing his inspection, the coachman answered firmly.

"Absolutely not."

"Pardon? Why not?"

"Are you serious? This is... a cargo wagon."

The coachman explained, holding back his bewilderment.

To think of putting noble family children in a cargo wagon currently running full of rough hay.

It was something that could invite who knows what kind of scolding later.

"You're saying this because you don't know how rough and dirty it is here."

"Ah, no. We can ride. We're from Einroguard."

"What does being from Einroguard have to do with being able to ride a cargo wagon? No! I'll get in big trouble!"

The cargo wagon coachman didn't budge.

He was worried that if he gave in to the payment and let them ride, the nobles might later complain, 'How dare you put us in such a dirty place!'

"We can sleep on the streets and camp in the mountains..."

"Even if you tell such lies, no means no. I'm sorry!"

The coachman answered and ran away quickly.

He was clearly scared of being caught and suffering some harsh treatment.

Yi-Han sighed and approached other carriages, but most of the cargo wagons similarly rejected the proposal outright.

"S-sorry, Yi-Han. For being born noble..."

"Are you laughing right now?"

"N-no, I'm not?"

Gainando spoke while trying to hold back a grin that kept appearing, then flinched. Yi-Han was glaring at him.

"It seems we'll have to rent a different carriage than a cargo wagon, though I'm not sure if it'll work."

Light outing carriages for 2-3 people weren't enough for all his friends to ride. Yi-Han looked around waiting for a slightly larger carriage to appear.

Finally, a carriage of suitable size appeared. Yi-Han quickly called out to the coachman.

"Excuse me, could I ask a favor? Could you give us a ride in your carriage? I'll compensate you when we reach Flaher City."

"Do you know who's in this carriage to be saying such things?!"

The coachman spoke in a small, frightened voice.

He seemed afraid of how the person inside would react if they heard.

"Who is it?"

"It's a mage!"

"We're mages too, though."

-What's the matter?-

An arrogant voice was heard from inside. The coachman hurriedly answered.

"I-it's nothing. There's someone asking for a ride!"

-I am a mage. Would you still ride together?-