Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

Yi-Han wiped his tears with a handkerchief. Strangely, his vision was blurry.

'Is it raining?'

"...It would be better to eat something. I'll go buy it."

"No, we should buy it for you."

"It’s hard enough to get juniors to join, if we take your silver and buy ice cream, even fewer will join."

The seniors sat Yi-Han in front of the fountain and walked towards the ice cream stand.

-...I said I don't want to…-

-...I can't give in either…-

"??"

Yi-Han was startled to see the seniors arguing with the ice cream vendor.

'What's going on? Did they fail to haggle the price?'

If that was the case, Yi-Han thought he should go and help.

"Why are they doing that?"

"Ah... The merchants we know don't want to take silver from us."

"!"

-I can't accept it. I won't take it.-

-Haha. You healing mages are mistaken. How much do you think we owe you in gratitude, and you're trying to give us silver?-

-That's right. Oh, I made some crepes here, have some.-

-What? The healing mages from Einroguard are here?-

As the argument dragged on, merchants nearby began to flock over.

Recognizing the students from Einroguard, the merchants brought armfuls of their snacks and piled them up neatly.

The seniors were at a loss, flustered.

-It's okay…-

-You're all skin and bones!-

-That's a prejudice…-

-It's true! You need to eat more!-

-We're healing mages, why are you saying such nonsense…-

-Take this too!-

The seniors, overwhelmed by the swarming merchants, returned with half-dazed faces.

And they laid out a mountain of snacks on the table.

"Eat a lot, junior."

"...You'll eat with me, right?"

"Yeah. But we've worked too much and lost our appetite. You need to eat a lot."

"..."

Yi-Han thought he should eat even if his stomach burst.

'At least you're popular, so that's fortunate.'

Even dark mages sometimes had merchants refusing to take silver, but that had a slightly different meaning.

The merchants here, however, genuinely refused to take the healing mages’ silver.

The seniors each held an ice cream cone, watching the fountain, playing mage card games, or rolling dice on a laid-out board for a horse race.

Everyone's faces were filled with tranquil happiness and peace...

Rumble!

"What's that sound?"

"There must have been an accident in the guild district! That's the new building they were constructing, right?!"

"Smoke is rising, is there a fire?!"

"..."

The seniors silently stared at the ground, then stood up from their seats.

"Seniors. Don't tell me..."

"Sorry, Wardanaz."

"You never know. The professor might need our help."

"Thanks to you, today was so much fun. We're lucky to have a junior like you."

"No...!"

Before he could stop them, the seniors bit into a donut each and ran towards the scene of the accident.

"The principal is there, so it'll be fine...!"

Yi-Han cried out in dismay, but the seniors just waved their hands and left.

With only a mountain of snacks remaining, Yi-Han sighed.

'If they live like that for a few more years, even the kindest person would turn foul-tempered.'

The square became quiet as even the merchants went to see the accident scene.

At that moment, a voice came from behind.

"Why are you eating alone like this?"

"...!"

Yi-Han turned his head at the familiar voice.

An old mage with a kind, grandmotherly impression was standing behind him.

"Lady Eumidiphos...!"

"It's been a while."

Eumidiphos, a renowned water element mage in the empire, sat in front of Yi-Han and pointed at the waffle.

"Of course you can have it."

"Thank you."

Without any motion, the syrups on the table rose and gently covered the waffle.

Taking a bite, Eumidiphos asked Yi-Han,

"Why are you so tense?"

"Well..."

Eumidiphos herself was a moderately crazy mage, but the mage who would appear after Eumidiphos was a different story.

"...Didn't Professor Bagrak go looking for you to prepare for the second semester's lecture?"

"Aha. He did."

Eumidiphos nodded.

"You were worried Boladi Bagrak might not find me."

"...Ah, yes."

Yi-Han answered, managing his facial muscles.

Eumidiphos continued as if it was fine.

"He found me well, so no need to worry."

"Yes..."

Crunch.

"By the way, I want to see some water element magic. Can you show me?"

Yi-Han gripped his staff. Eumidiphos spoke in a gentle but strict voice.

"Lift it up."

"Spring forth!"

"Transform."

"Become a wall!"

"It's about time you do it all at once. Try it."

Yi-Han's spell casting speed was one of the fastest compared to other mages.

It was natural, as he was being rigorously trained as a combat mage.

As such, there was no problem with casting water element magic in separate steps.

But Eumidiphos was telling him to graduate from that too.

All at once, like an excellent mage.

Yi-Han nodded.

'Well, it is time.'

Of course, if other friends heard, they would have said, 'Get a grip, Wardanaz, you're still a first-year, what do you mean it's time,' but Yi-Han's standards had also slightly crumbled because of the other professors.

"Water, become a shield!"

He neatly compressed the actions of lifting the water and transforming it into a shield into a single spell and motion.

"Excellent."

"I was lucky. It's the element I'm most familiar with..."

"That familiarity comes from your effort, so don't call it luck."

Eumidiphos waved her hand, and the water from the fountain surged up and turned into a wall.

"Let's see some spin properties. Can you pierce this wall?"

"I'll try."

Among the advanced properties of water elements, the spin attribute was something Yi-Han had been consistently practicing since the first semester.

Of course, it wasn't that easy.

He had used it a few times in a limited way when facing the Colossal Hungry Ghost, but it was inevitable that it would take time.

At Yi-Han's current level, to properly handle the spin attribute, he had to either give up some power and settle for a moderate spin or pour in a lot of time.

Eumidiphos was curious to see how far Yi-Han had overcome this problem.

Of course, for an average student, it would take more than two or three years of effort, but the student in front of her was a bit different, wasn't he?

Swish!

"?!"

Eumidiphos was surprised.

Yi-Han had summoned dozens of water orbs.

'What is he thinking?'

"Spin!"

With the spell, a few of the dozens of water orbs lost their shape and disappeared.

Due to the clumsily applied spin attribute, they couldn't maintain their form, and the magic was canceled.

Yi-Han focused his mind on the orbs that had proper spin among the surviving ones.

As the spin sped up, a few more orbs were canceled. Yi-Han accelerated the remaining orbs without minding.

"..."

Eumidiphos was honestly impressed.

She wasn't impressed by Yi-Han's magical talent. She had already been impressed by that before.

What impressed Eumidiphos was Yi-Han's way of thinking.

Even with abundant mana, mages who could utilize it in such a way were rare.

Using dozens of other spells as sacrifices to complete a single spell.

It was an absurd waste in the eyes of mages, but it wasn't a difficult task for Yi-Han.

In less than a few minutes, a single fiercely spinning water orb was completed.

Thud!

As the orb easily penetrated the barrier Eumidiphos had erected, the old mage applauded.

"Well done. I'm honestly surprised."

"Is that so?"

Yi-Han was delighted.

Honestly, while doing it, he was worried that Eumidiphos would say, 'You're still only at that level.'

But seeing her so satisfied was a relief.

"Of course you did well. Why are you surprised?"

"I still have many shortcomings..."

"Boladi Bagrak is making you unable to make a proper assessment of yourself. You're doing well."

"Thank you."

Hearing Boladi's name cursed was always pleasant.

Yi-Han bowed his head.

"I was going to give you advice if you were stuck, but with that method... I have nothing to advise."

"Pardon? No, please give me advice."

Yi-Han felt wronged.

Surely lifting dozens of orbs like that wasn't a good method, was it?

The excellent advice of a great mage like Eumidiphos would be much more effective than such a crude method...

"No, you're doing well."

Eumidiphos thought Yi-Han's method was very good.

Originally, there was no shortcut in magic.

Especially for magic where delicate senses were important, like the spin attribute, it was crucial to keep experiencing and accumulating.

The method of lifting dozens of orbs like a madman and applying spin to all of them, as Yi-Han was doing now, was unexpectedly very effective.

If he continued like this, he would soon be able to grasp the spin attribute.

"I'm late. My apologies."

As Professor Bagrak walked over, Yi-Han's heart sank.

The professor's attire was tattered as if he had just walked out of a battlefield.

'What in the world did he bring?'

Since he would face it directly in the second semester, fear couldn't help but rise in Yi-Han's soul.

"Why are you late?"

"The other professors asked me to help with the accident scene."

"It's surprising that you didn't refuse."

"I couldn't refuse because Lord Gonadaltes also requested it."

"Gonadaltes?"

Eumidiphos was startled.

The skull principal wasn't the type to personally step in to solve such things.

Usually, he would have the disciples or professors do it...

"Was it that serious?"

"It wasn't. I think it was to let the students rest."

Yi-Han, who had been listening, couldn't help but ask.

"Did the students end up participating?"

"No. Professor Garcia made them rest."

Yi-Han was touched.

Eumidiphos nodded and said,

"Rest is important too. Honestly, the young healing mages at Einroguard are overworked."

"Yes. Rest is important."

"???"

Yi-Han stared intently at Professor Bagrak.

Was the person who knew that acting like that until now?

"Now that Boladi Bagrak is here, let's get to the point. I came because I heard you have an aptitude for the cold element."

Yi-Han looked at Professor Bagrak again.

As if understanding the meaning of that gaze, Professor Bagrak nodded slightly.

Yi-Han had no idea what the other party meant by nodding.

"Not quite an aptitude..."

"If you can summon cold, it's an aptitude. Rare elements are hard to summon if you don't have an aptitude. Anyway, the cold element is closely related to the water element, and applying them together is educational in many ways. So for the second semester... Ah. I'm not supposed to say that, right?"

Professor Bagrak nodded again.

Yi-Han stared at the professor's collar. He suddenly wanted to grab it.

"I came looking for you after catching that."

"Thank you."

Yi-Han had no major complaints about Eumidiphos' proposal either.

Unlike other professors, Eumidiphos taught relatively sensibly.

Staying at the mansion and learning about cold element magic wouldn't be bad either.

'Besides, it'll be an excuse when other professors come.'

"Shall we depart then?"

"Ah. Aren't we learning at the mansion?"

"Learning at the mansion is a bit tricky. There's a tower where a mage who owes me stays."

"Your disciple?"

"Not a disciple, but he did receive some teachings from me."

'Isn't that a disciple?'

As Yi-Han was thinking to himself, he paused.

Come to think of it, wasn't Professor Bagrak also not Eumidiphos' disciple?

"Is that person like Professor Bagrak?"

"No."

"Ah. I see."

Yi-Han was relieved.

Until Eumidiphos' next words came out.

"He's even more rude."

"..."