Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

The dark mages didn't stay near the cemetery because they liked cemeteries.

Of course, some peculiar dark mages did like cemeteries, but it was rare for a mage to choose a cold and gloomy cemetery over a warm and cozy fireplace.

The reason dark mages stayed near cemeteries was because it was advantageous for dark magic.

By becoming familiar with the energy of death, they could become closer to undead summons, gain additional mana for various dark magic, and above all, conduct magic experiments without worrying about others' eyes...

...In fact, the last reason was quite important.

Most people didn't want dark mages to conduct research next door.

Even the dark mages themselves didn't want to research in their own mansion's front yard.

If all kinds of poisons were sprayed on the flowers and undead trampled on the lawn, even the most beautiful front yard would turn into a cemetery.

Let alone the mansion of a renowned and historic great family...

"Ah. Senior, you're here?"

Yi-Han, who was controlling the undead in the front garden of the mansion, was delighted to see Direth.

The undead bowed their heads with slow and awkward movements. Seeing that, Direth was surprised.

'He's come this far already?!'

She knew that Yi-Han was having difficulty controlling the undead.

In a way, it was natural.

A mere first-year student was trying to control undead in the ancient dark magic style.

Rather, it was remarkable that he had made them move like that.

"How did you make them move?"

"Ah. I'm still far from it. They should move elegantly..."

The truly elegant and orthodox way was to intricately weave dozens or hundreds of commands into one.

Walking was as easy as breathing for a living creature, but making a skeleton warrior with no will of its own walk required dozens or hundreds of detailed instructions like 'put strength in the foot bones,' 'put strength in the shin bones,' 'transfer it to the thigh bones,' and so on.

Of course, one couldn't do all of this one by one, so the mage had to weave these dozens or hundreds of commands into one and order 'walk.'

That complex flow and understanding of mana was definitely not something a first-year student could achieve through trial and error. Numerous experiences were essential.

So Yi-Han resorted to a shortcut.

"I just infused more mana."

"...!"

Instead of giving detailed instructions one by one, he poured an enormous amount of strong mana into the command 'walk.'

Of course, the effect was miserable.

In fact, the undead were extremely slow.

If he had given detailed instructions one by one, they would have been much faster.

But the important thing was that they moved.

Once he made them move, it was possible to adapt sensibly by repeating it. Moreover, that junior had so much mana left over even after such an absurd waste.

It might be a much faster path than calculating each command and overworking the brain.

"That's a very good method?"

"Senior..."

Yi-Han looked at Direth with a slightly hurt expression. Direth was flustered.

"Why?"

"I'm not a fool, and I can understand words that don't match your feelings. You don't have to force yourself to praise me like that."

"No... Hey!"

Direth felt very wronged.

Of course, it was a crude method, but she had said it was good because the result was good, but this junior!

"I told you it's not like that!"

"Yes. If senior says so, then it must be so."

At the junior's words that made her look like a 'mean senior who oppresses juniors with authority,' Direth flapped her wings in frustration.

Meanwhile, Yi-Han snatched the luggage Direth had brought.

"I'll carry it for you. What is this?"

"Ah. That's a visiting gift..."

Yi-Han glanced inside the box. It was full of unidentified bones.

When he probed the mana, he clearly felt the negative energy.

"Thank you so much, senior. I never expected to receive such a gift..."

"Really?"

Direth made a slightly embarrassed expression. She had thought about it and chosen the gift, but she didn't know the junior would like it this much.

"Please sit here. I'll prepare something to drink."

"Ah, I'll also..."

"You came as a guest, so you can't do that. But the others..."

"These kids are also juniors learning dark magic."

"Indeed!"

Yi-Han's eyes flashed for a moment.

Seniors from the same school.

...Come to think of it, Yi-Han had no choice but to meet seniors from all schools, but anyway, it was never bad to make a good impression on seniors from the same school.

"Please sit down, everyone. I'll bring something to drink soon."

"O-Okay."

"Cough. Well... It's not bad."

The dark magic school students did their best to show that they were 'very accustomed to this treatment.'

Of course, they all looked awkward, making Yi-Han think differently.

'Are they not feeling well?'

As Yi-Han politely bowed his head and disappeared, the dark magic school students, who were sitting in an awkwardly arrogant posture, immediately relaxed their posture and whispered.

"What's this? Did you curse him?"

"Was it a threat?"

"..."

Direth regretted bringing these brats for nothing.

"What kind of talk is that..."

"It's already surprising that a student from the Blue Dragon Tower, and from the Wardanaz family at that, is learning dark magic! Why is he so polite?!"

"It's creepy that a Blue Dragon Tower student is acting like that???"

"He's not from the Blue Dragon Tower, right?"

The dark magic school students whispered among themselves.

Basically, Blue Dragon Tower students didn't learn dark magic.

Why would those who had to worry about many external things like honor, reputation, and family learn dark magic?

Even if there was a really peculiar Blue Dragon Tower student, the problem still remained.

Why was he being so polite?

'Indeed.'

Direth could understand her juniors' bewilderment.

Basically, the students of the magic academy didn't go out of their way to be so polite if they weren't seniors from their own tower.

Inside the magic academy, they could be beaten up like a dog, so they at least didn't act rudely, but outside, there were many cases where they ignored others, saying, 'Do you know who I am?'

Especially the Blue Dragon Tower students were even more so.

Inside, they bowed their heads in fear, but why would they do that outside?

In the first place, they rarely met each other, and even if they did, the Blue Dragon Tower students were the type to just ignore them and do their own thing.

And that was even more annoying.

It would be better if they growled and snapped at each other like the White Tiger Tower...

"It's because we met in the punishment room. We became close while he was taking care of me in the punishment room."

"You, senior?"

"Uh... No... He did take care of me though."

"..."

"...????"

The juniors looked at Direth with a mixture of shock, suspicion, and bewilderment.

How did she make a Blue Dragon Tower student from a great family serve her in the punishment room?

No matter how much they tried to believe her, only one thing came to mind.

'It's a curse. 100% a curse.'

'No. It's poison. Poison is cleaner and less detectable than a curse. On the condition of giving an antidote every week...'

'Shouldn't we stop Senior Direth? If another article appears in the Imperial Newspaper...'

"I don't know what you're thinking, but it's all a misunderstanding, you brats."

When Yi-Han personally brought a teapot and a glass bottle filled with juice so cold that dew formed on it, the dark magic school students looked at Yi-Han with pity.

"?"

"Junior... Please explain. These bra... These kids think I'm blackmailing you right now."

"What nonsense... I'm not being blackmailed."

Even with Yi-Han's words, the dark magic school students nodded their heads with a pitiful look, as if to say, 'Yes, that must be the case.'

"...It seems meaningless no matter what explanation I give?"

"I'm the crazy one for bringing them. What's so good about these guys... Did you invite other first-years?"

"Yes. I invited them."

Hearing the purpose of today's gathering, Yi-Han had also invited other friends.

Come to think of it, there was even a prince among them.

'...Senior will clear up the misunderstanding.'

Yi-Han passed it off as Direth's job to figure it out. Honestly, it was bothersome.

"Can I ask a few questions?"

"Yes."

Yi-Han felt that not all the seniors present were favorable to him.

It was natural.

In any world, if there were people who viewed a new member favorably, there were also those who viewed them adversely.

What the newcomer was thinking, how sincere they were, and so on.

At this time, one had to show the right attitude to make things much easier in the future.

'I'm ready.'

Yi-Han also knew his own weaknesses.

He was learning magic from too many schools at the same time.

...Although this wasn't intentional, it could be seen in a slightly negative light anyway.

However, Yi-Han was confident that he could make up for it sufficiently.

Honestly, where would there be a first-year student who worked as hard at dark magic as Yi-Han?

"I saw earlier that you summoned skeletons. Is it okay to do that in the front yard of the mansion? The front yard will get dirty?"

"If it gets dirty, it's even better. It will help when practicing dark magic."

"...I noticed earlier that you seem to summon undead in a slightly different way?"

"Yes. I've always had a great interest in dark magic, and now I have the ambition to personally research dark magic that isn't commonly used and make new discoveries. Fortunately, Professor Mortum positively evaluated my ambition, so I was able to practice like this."

What the skull principal and Professor Mortum had forced was portrayed as Yi-Han's own voluntary choice.

The dark magic school students, unaware of this, only looked at Yi-Han with admiration.

Why would such a talented person choose dark magic?

"Hmph."

However, unlike the other students, the senior who asked the question didn't easily let it go.

As if to show that he was different from others, he shook his head a few times and threw more persistent questions.

"Anyone can have ambition. The important thing is how you achieve it. I'm curious if you're good at the basics. Do you know how to curse?"

"Yes."

"Poison?"

"I can make acidic poison."

Direth intervened from the side.

"He also knows how to handle the dark element."

"...!"

At those words, the senior made a surprised expression and heavily nodded his head.

Although he didn't say it out loud, it was a sign of surrender, indicating that he had no more questions to ask.

"I'm sorry, junior. Ogoldos isn't usually such a prickly guy."

While the other students were drinking their beverages, Direth took Yi-Han aside for a moment and apologized separately.

"He's quite serious about dark magic. So he dislikes it when new juniors touch it for a bit and then disappear."

"I understand. He has every right to feel that way."

In fact, seniors like Ogoldos weren't particularly unpleasant in Yi-Han's eyes.

The real crazies were among the professors, not the seniors. No matter how wild they got, seniors couldn't become as mad as the real deal.

"...Sometimes I wonder if I'm really poisoning and blackmailing you. For such a remarkable junior like you to choose dark magic..."

"But I'm also learning all other types of magic."

"I know, so be quiet."

Direth explained a bit more about how often these gatherings were held and why they were held.

Dark magic students exchanged information and shared job opportunities or chances they could use during the break...

"Ah. I heard a rumor that professors fought on the street to take you away. That's fake, right?"

"No. It's true. But where is Professor Mortum?"

"Professor Mortum? When we have a gathering, he's usually in Granden City. ...Wait a minute. Did you say it's true?"

"He's in Granden City? Why?"

"He tells us to invite him to the gathering without hesitation if we need help with magic research. But usually, we don't talk about magic research even at the gathering. Hey. Junior. But earlier..."

"...Senior. Wait a moment."

Yi-Han felt something off and stopped Direth from speaking.

Professor Mortum wasn't around, but strangely, it felt like he could hear his voice.

A voice saying, 'Invite me too'!