Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

Before Direth could even call out, Yi-Han had already swung his fist at the jaw of the adventurer who had just blurted out those words.

"Ack!"

"Try saying that again."

Yi-Han drew out Morning Star, still in its sheath, and without stopping, struck another adventurer in the solar plexus. The adventurer, properly hit, foamed at the mouth and toppled forward.

"You crazy b—!"

"I said, try saying that again?"

Thwack! Thwack, thwack, thwack!

As the adventurers fell, Yi-Han pummeled them as if they were students from the White Tiger Tower.

The response came immediately.

"We... we were wrong...!"

"What were you wrong about?"

"That, well..."

"You haven't been beaten enough."

Yi-Han swung his sword again. The adventurers screamed and curled up their bodies.

Passersby looked on with interest, as if saying, 'Another fight broke out,' but no one intervened.

Thanks to that, Yi-Han could beat them up comfortably.

"Kuh-huk... The Dark Mage Sir, we called you grave robbers..."

"Still not enough."

"Huh? What do you mea— Kuak!"

"Think about it. Why can't the ones who creatively frame others as corpse thieves apologize creatively?"

When you get beaten up, even nonexistent intelligence tends to emerge.

The adventurers finally realized it.

"The great Dark Mage Sir...?"

"More."

"We, we apologize for framing the great Dark Mage Sir, who protect the city, as something like grave robbers...!"

"That's right. It's already hard protecting the city, so how could you frame us like that?"

"We were wrong..."

The beaten adventurers answered, staggering.

"Remember that words carry that much power. Since you've reflected, I'll forgive you."

"Thank you!"

The adventurers inwardly cursed the crazy dark mages.

They wouldn't even go near the cemetery in the future.

'Sneakily hiding a knight...'

"Follow me."

"Pardon?"

"I said follow me. Since you've reflected, you should help with the work."

"..."

The adventurers were taken aback by the logic they were hearing for the first time, but Yi-Han kindly persuaded them again.

When he pointed the sword he was holding at them, the adventurers simultaneously shouted.

"Please let us help!"

"I knew you would."

Direth, watching from below, asked in bewilderment.

"...Does anyone know what he's doing right now?"

"Indeed. In places with a strong flow of mana, you have to change the terrain to release the accumulated mana."

The explanation continued.

Yi-Han nodded at Direth's explanation.

If an abnormal amount of mana gathered in one place, the possibility of abnormal phenomena occurring also increased accordingly, so they had to find such places first and somehow disperse the mana.

"Now then, dig out that soil, bring new soil, and mix it."

"..."

"..."

The adventurers silently picked up shovels and dug the soil. Yi-Han encouraged them, feeling pleased.

"You're doing well. Once you finish that work, let's proceed to the wall base over here."

"Everyone's working well!"

"Gainando. You too, don't slack off."

"I, I'm not confident since I don't use earth magic."

"Then dig with your hands. Here."

"..."

Direth thought this strange sight was quite different from what she had expected.

She had imagined a heartwarming scene where seniors taught, juniors learned, and they worked together to prevent accidents, not this sight that resembled the labor of prisoners.

The progress was fast, but...!

"Yi-Han. Is this really a place with a lot of mana gathered?"

"You found it well. It is a place with more mana gathered compared to other places."

"Wa, Wardanaz. What about here?"

"Wait... It doesn't seem necessary to touch this place. Compared to other places, there isn't that much mana here, and the mana flow is fluid, so there's a high possibility it will go back down."

However, except for catching passersby and forcing them to work, Yi-Han was definitely an outstanding junior.

With overwhelmingly superior mana detection abilities compared to others and a brain that efficiently carried out the work.

Anyone who saw him writing a log on paper and organizing places where mana was likely to accumulate would think he was a dark mage who had worked for several years.

'With this much, there's nothing for me to teach...?'

"Senior."

'Still, as a senior, I should teach him something. What should I teach? What useful dark magic was there?'

"?"

Yi-Han was puzzled when Direth was lost in thought by herself.

What was she thinking about?

"Is there a problem?"

"Huh? When did you come?"

"I was in front of you just now... I came to ask what to do if we discover it too late and can't disperse the mana."

"Oh no... I should have explained that."

Direth felt sorry.

She had forgotten because the junior handled the work so well.

"In that case, you have to use a somewhat rough method. One way is to use the holy water or sacred objects blessed by the temple here..."

Objects blessed by the religious orders were incompatible with negative energy-type mana. If the two collided, the accumulated mana could be dispersed due to the conflict.

"Or you could solve it with magic, but that's a bit of a difficult method. Junior. Do you know how to use dark element by any chance?"

As Direth asked, she thought Yi-Han would not have learned it yet.

Even the scope of dark magic dealt with in the first year was not easy.

It was already overwhelming to keep up with those scopes, so how could he have mastered a high-difficulty elemental magic like dark element?

"I can only use the basics. Perfectly controlling it is impossible, but..."

"Right. Of course... Of course, what???"

Direth was startled after trying to brush it off.

Was Professor Mortum crazy??

"Professor Mortum taught you? Why? When??"

"Ah. It wasn't Professor Mortum who taught me... Another professor taught me, saying it was necessary."

'What kind of crazy person is it?'

Direth cursed the professor who taught Yi-Han dark element.

No matter how necessary it was, did it make sense to teach dark element to a first-year student?

"That... I see. So that's how it was."

"As I said, perfectly controlling it is impossible, so I don't think you should expect much."

"I didn't expect it! What crazy senior would expect a first-year junior to use dark element!"

Direth shouted as if it was absurd.

Then she recalled the events from the first semester.

Starting from the King of Frost Giants to the final exam task.

That appearance was itself a wretched fourth-year who dragged a first-year into her own work.

"...No. Even if you think that way, junior, I have nothing to say."

"??"

"Dark element... Of course it's impossible to perfectly control. Even I can't control it."

"Is that so?"

"That's how high the difficulty of that element is. It's completely different from fire element and such."

"I can't perfectly control fire element either, though."

"...Is, is that so?"

Direth was taken aback.

Honestly, it was surprising that Yi-Han couldn't control an easy element like fire.

"Since everyone has different elemental aptitudes, don't worry too much about it. Junior. What elemental magic do you mainly use?"

"First, water and..."

"See. That's why. Maybe fire element doesn't suit you. Junior."

"Lightning and cold?"

"..."

Direth looked at Yi-Han as if it was absurd.

Was he joking right now?

After a conversation that was longer than expected, Direth could understand.

"Aha. Because of mana... Right. If it's that, it makes sense. Junior."

The King of Frost Giants and the final exam task of subduing a demon.

If what Yi-Han had just explained was true, it made some sense.

Of course, in a corner of her mind, there was still a thought, 'But how much mana do you need to have for that to be possible?'

"Wait a minute. Junior. Didn't you say you know how to handle lightning element and cold element? Since you have a lot of mana, the already difficult advanced elements would be even more difficult, right?"

"Ah. That's true."

"...Is that all?"

"They just happened to suit me well from the beginning... I can only say I was lucky."

"..."

For the first time, Direth wanted to hit her junior.

This was why geniuses were...!

In short, despite having a lot of mana, he was saying he was born with enough talent to control lightning element and cold element, taking that into account.

It was truly an annoying statement.

Moreover, the two elements were difficult to manifest in the first place, let alone control. If he could manifest even one of the two, he would be evaluated as having talent in elemental magic, but he easily knew how to manifest both.

"I think lightning and cold elements are enough."

"But I can't control fire or darkness well."

"Junior... Don't wish for too much. You can't have everything. Moreover, those two elements have the property of expanding to the surroundings, so it will be even more difficult. Anyway, dark element... If you know how to handle it, it's convenient for this kind of work. But it's difficult."

Direth paused for a moment and waved her staff.

Then, dark shadows began to envelop Direth's staff and transformed into the shape of a spear.

"Can you see? Answer quickly, it's hard. Junior."

"I can see it."

In that state, Direth lightly stabbed with the spear tip. The weeds located where it was stabbed lost their vitality and died.

"By the way, this isn't perfectly controlled. I just roughly shaped it. Look at the end."

As Direth said, the outer appearance of the spear was rough and rippling.

"It would be nice to be able to control it perfectly, but you can still use it even before that. Give up on perfect control and just use the properties of the element. Even if you're not a master of fire magic, everyone knows how to use a torch. In the end, it's a knack."

"Indeed..."

"Let's try it once. Junior. The simplest... Right. A sphere shape would be good. Try shooting it as a sphere."

Yi-Han summoned the dark element as Direth instructed.

And like other elements, he gathered it into a sphere shape.

Bam!

Then, as if compressed flames were exploding, the dark element scattered in all directions.

"Darkness, gather at this end!"

Direth was startled and waved her staff to control the dark element.

"Why did it explode!"

"It seems... it's because there's a lot of mana."

"...My bad. Junior. I was thinking based on my standards."

Direth frowned as if she had a headache.

Unlike herself, rough control was not feasible for this junior.

If he didn't control it with several times stronger force than other mages, the elements would run wild on their own due to that overwhelming mana.

"I'm fine. It's not your fault, senior."

"Wait a moment. Still, I'm your senior. Since I brought it up, I should at least give you some advice."

Direth fell into thought, drawing out all the knowledge she knew about the dark element.

What kind of advice should she give to a junior like that to be helpful?

'Should I try to find an easier form to control? No, it won't make much difference. If he gives up on control altogether and uses it by summoning... That won't work. Fire is already dangerous, and darkness would be even more so. It would scatter in all directions, and if it scatters wrong, it would be like stabbing himself. Should I apply other magic? Come to think of it, he would have also taken enchantment magic. If he uses it with enchantment magic, it might be a bit safer. But enchantment magic isn't easy either... What other school of magic was there?'

"Senior! Senior!"

"?"

At Yi-Han's call, Direth raised her head.

On top of the staff, a sphere made of dark element was maintaining its shape and spinning around.

"Thanks to your advice, I succeeded!"

"...Junior. Do you sincerely think it's thanks to my advice??"

She was at a loss for words seeing Yi-Han lightly overcoming the obstacle in the short moment she wasn't looking, while she was agonizing over whether there was another method.

What in the world...