Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

-But for that method to work, your full cooperation is needed.-

“...”

“...”

Yi-Han managed to keep his expression under control, but the students of the Black Tortoise looked suspicious.

After all, it was an academy where even the professors couldn't be trusted. Thus, it wasn't certain that a senior could be trusted either.

'He talks like that, but he wouldn't betray us, would he?'

'Doesn't that senior seem like he's from the Blue Dragon or the White Tiger?'

-...Freshmen. Your doubts about me now... Damn it! This cursed academy. Yes! I understand why you would suspect me. I would feel the same. But after coming this far together, are we really going to distrust each other!? And if you don't trust me, how do you plan to get out of here?-

"You have a point."

Yi-Han soothed the students of the Black Tortoise.

Although the senior whose face they didn't recognize seemed suspicious, they had no other choice in their current predicament, trapped in the pantry by the warehouse keeper's magic.

The options were to either stay trapped and get caught, or listen to the senior's plan.

"Let's at least hear him out."

-First, I need some of those beer candies you made.-

“...”

Salko's eyes shifted suspiciously, as if he was looking at a con artist, but still, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a beer candy.

He did this more out of trust in Yi-Han's words than in the senior himself.

-I'm not trying to steal anything from you freshmen.-

'The more he talks, the more suspicious it gets...'

-As you know, I've used too much magic today getting here. I have almost no mana left. I need to recover.-

'Ah, that makes sense.' Yi-Han found himself convinced by the senior's words.

Unlike Yi-Han, who had never felt a shortage of mana, other mages often found their mana depleted after using magic.

The unknown senior had been using magic several times from the classroom to the kitchen. It wouldn't be surprising if his mana was nearing depletion.

Crunch, crunch - The beer candy gradually disappeared into thin air.

Yi-Han suddenly grew curious and asked, "But if you're low on mana, how are you maintaining the invisibility spell?"

-It's not my spell.-

'...The skull principal?!' Despite the calm font, Yi-Han could somehow sense the senior's fear. Could it be… 'Did the skeletal principal cast a spell to prevent the seniors from contacting us?'

He wanted to shout out loud, asking why it had to be this way, but Yi-Han didn't. He was beginning to accept the reality of this magic academy.

'Hmm. That's just how he is. No use being surprised; it would only be a disadvantage for me.'

-It's done. Just watch.-

The senior, seemingly having regained some mana, moved forward.

The spell the warehouse keeper used on the pantry door was a spatial distortion spell. It sounded simple, but breaking through it was anything but. At least three different spells were needed.

First was <Sensory Enhancement>.

The 2nd circle spell <Sensory Enhancement> was popular among warriors as an enchantment spell. Once cast, even a slow, dull warrior could display the swift reflexes of a swallow skimming the water. Not only that, but the enhancement of senses like sight and hearing meant more information could be gleaned on a chaotic battlefield. Spatial magic fundamentally distorted the five senses, so at least this level of enhancement was necessary to counteract it.

Then came <Spatial Perception>.

<Spatial Perception> was a 1st circle spell, but in terms of difficulty, it was harder than the 2nd-circle <Sensory Enhancement>. This was due to the complexity of spatial magic. <Spatial Perception> allowed the mage to accurately visualize the nearby space in their mind. It was a level far beyond simply looking with the eyes and making rough estimations. Knowing exactly what objects were around oneself and the precise distances between those objects. Normally, it was a magic used as an aid by battle mages who often faced swift enemies, but it was essential when dealing with spatial magic. If one couldn't even perceive it, a solution was impossible to find.

Lastly, a spell with moderate destructive power was needed. Any spell would do as long as it had destructive power. It was necessary to find a weak spot in the distorted space and break through it to escape.

'The mana has been restored.' The senior took a deep breath. As a third-year student bearing the symbol of pure silver, he had to show a proper example in front of the freshmen… More than anything, it irked him that a few of them still doubted him.

"Senses, be enhanced. Space, be perceived. Flames, form into arrows and fly!"

The chant was quickly recited, and the spell was cast. The senses were enhanced, and the surrounding space was converted into information that entered his mind. Then, a flaming arrow flashed and pierced a point in the air.

"!"

"Wow...!"

Even the doubting students of the Black Tortoise were amazed by the flaming arrow.

Indeed, a senior is a senior!

The flame, burning as if to engulf the surroundings, maintained the sharp form of an arrow as it shot out.

The freshmen could appreciate how difficult that magic was. Maintaining the form of the flame as an arrow and shooting it simultaneously.

'The form maintenance is imperfect, and there's a slight loss of control during the launch.'

...Except for Yi-Han.

Yi-Han, deep in thought, suddenly startled.

'No. Am I thinking like Professor Boladi?'

So what if the form maintenance was a bit imperfect and control was momentarily lost. It wasn't a significant issue in casting the magic. Only perfectionists like Professor Boladi would nitpick over such details...

Yi-Han reflected on the fact that he was thinking like Professor Boladi.

'There's no need to obsess over perfection. Otherwise, I might end up like Professor Boladi.'

Pop!

The flaming arrow collided and then disappeared in flames.

The students of the Black Tortoise waited in awe.

'When can we leave?'

'Is it now?'

-Sav…-

“??”

-...e me…-

“...”

“...”

On the crookedly etched paper, the students realized that the senior had failed.

Even if the senior begged to be saved, the invisible freshmen couldn't do anything.

After a while, the senior seemed to regain consciousness, and more writing appeared.

-...I'm sorry. You saw an unsightly scene.-

"What happened?"

-Failed.-

"Beer..."

“?”

As one of the Black Tortoise students started to speak, Yi-Han looked puzzled.

What was he trying to say?

"Beer candy thief...!"

“...”

-It's not that! Do you think I deliberately failed after taking the beer candy!!-

The senior desperately explained, not wanting to be remembered as a senior who ate the beer candy and ran.

There were two reasons for the failure. One was that the range and strength of the spatial distortion magic were more extensive and stronger than expected, depleting too much mana for <Spatial Perception>.

The other reason was the spatial distortion magic being more intricately woven than anticipated. It seemed the warehouse keeper had infused more mana than usual, making it harder to break through.

As a result, even though the flaming arrow was shot, it couldn't penetrate and was deflected.

"So... you ate our beer candy but failed to escape..." Salko spoke in a serious tone. The senior, if not for the principal's magic, would have wanted to grab the freshman by the collar and have it out with him.

-These... these clueless fools... they don't even realize how difficult that magic is…-

"Senior. Could you just teach me <Spatial Perception>?"

Yi-Han, who had been listening, spoke up.

Having heard the detailed explanation, it didn't seem all that impossible to him. For the enhancement of senses, he would use <Gonadaltes' Agile Steps>. For the magic needed for penetration, <Gonadaltes' Sharp Hand>.

If he could just learn <Spatial Perception>, Yi-Han felt he might be able to give it a try.

It was a 1st circle spell, so with some luck, he might be able to learn it right away.

-You, freshman... really…-

The senior was about to scold him, thinking 'Does a first-year student really believe they can learn spatial magic on the spot?' but he hesitated. Firstly, he was in no position to talk after his own failure, and… He somewhat wanted to hear the freshman say, 'This seems impossible for me'.

-Fine. I'll write it down for you in as much detail as I can.-

As the senior wrote, a sudden worry crossed his mind… What if this freshman manages to succeed in this magic on his first try?

An hour later.

Yi-Han and his group emerged from the underground kitchen and gathered in the moonlit courtyard in front of the main building.

Yi-Han, facing the floating piece of paper, spoke with sincerity, "Senior, thank you. You seem to teach even better than the professors."

"Wow..."

"High-year students really are different."

The other Black Tortoise students seemed to agree with Yi-Han's sentiment.

Seeing Wardanaz react like that, it was clear that the senior's teaching ability was extraordinary. Perhaps the senior was more of a theorist, better at teaching magic than using it.

'...'

It was a good thing the freshmen couldn't see his face. The senior covered his face with his hands and sat down on a nearby rock, sighing heavily.

'I've wasted my magic studies...'

He had prided himself on being quite exceptional among his peers… But today, that pride was completely shattered. And by a freshman he had just met!

If he told his friends in the Tower what he had seen today, none would believe him.

The conversation would probably be as follows...

-"I went to the kitchen today because I was hungry and wanted to steal something, but then a freshman learned <Farhait’s Lesser Illusion> right away when I taught him. It was so amazing that I taught him <Spatial Perception> too. And he managed to perceive and break through the warehouse keeper's spatial distortion magic on his first try."-

-"You went to the kitchen to drink and came back drunk?"-

-"Did the principal catch you and hit you with a spell?"-

-"Besides, can <Spatial Perception> alone break through spatial distortion magic? Don't you need other things?"-

-"Ah. That's... well, the freshman... maybe... I might have seen it wrong, but it seemed like he was using a spell the principal had used before...?"-

-"Yeah, you must have seen it wrong. How could a freshman use the principal's magic?"-

-"In my opinion, that freshman might be the principal in disguise. Hey, be careful. You might get dragged to the punishment room by the principal within this week. You didn't say anything weird, right?"-

-"That's why I told you not to interact with freshmen!"-

…

"Senior? Are you still there?"

"Maybe he's already gone?"

"We've said everything we needed to, so he probably just left. He's pretty cool."

-I'm still here…-

The senior gathered his strength and stood up.

It was truly shocking, but students who entered this magic academy were used to accepting shocking realities. The fact that a freshman was more skilled in magic than himself or his friends was hard to accept… But then again, neither the magic academy nor the skull principal were particularly easy facts to accept.

Just accept it!

-Thank you for today.-

"No, thank you for teaching so well."

'Is he mocking me?'

Yi-Han's sincere gratitude sounded like mockery to the senior at this moment.

-Freshman. In this academy, those who meet at night usually don't ask each other's names or families. It's because you might get dragged to the punishment room together.-

"..."

Yi-Han was speechless at such a starkly realistic reason.

-But I really do want to know your name. Even if we end up in the punishment room, I swear on my honor to keep it a secret.-

The senior wrote earnestly.

He was truly too curious. What kind of person... no, what kind of freshman was this?

Yi-Han thought to himself, 'This senior must be either hard of hearing or lacks interest in others.'

Earlier, his Black Tortoise friends had kept saying 'Wardanaz, Wardanaz', and he didn't even notice.

The students from the Black Tortoise wore expressions of disbelief.

But there was a reason for the senior's obliviousness. Unlike the freshmen, he had been continuously watching the corridor outside, preoccupied with his surroundings. Moreover, his mind was half gone because of that monstrous freshman!

After pondering, Yi-Han made a decision. Judging by his words, he didn't seem like someone who would snitch to the skull principal.

'It should be okay to tell him.'

-First, I'll tell you my name. I am Balfatan of the Moradi family.-

"..."

"...My name is Gainando."

"...!!!"