Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

Yi-Han threw questions at the undead mage to extract more information.

The undead mage, also very curious about the situation outside, readily answered Yi-Han's questions.

Originally, this palace was used as a residence by the King of Ghouls, and the king's royal guard protected the throne, while the king's soldiers patrolled around the palace, firmly blocking the approach of wandering intruders.

Although the King of Ghouls was a violent tyrant, his power was real, so even when chaos erupted nearby, the king's palace burned with darkness, lofty without a single flicker...

"There was nothing like that."

-What??-

"There was nothing like that. No burning darkness... It was just an ordinary building. We could easily enter."

Although the undead mage had no flesh or muscle on his face, he could still express shock with just bones.

-Impossible! The flames of omnipotence have been extinguished! The arrogant king wouldn't have just watched that happen!-

"Shouting at me is pointless..."

The undead mage was confused for a while, not knowing how to react to this unbelievable news from outside.

At that moment, a clanking sound came from the opposite passage.

-This is bad! The prisoners are coming!-

"Aren't you a prisoner too?"

-Our circumstances may be the same, but our status is different. Those guys enjoy struggle and pain.-

Those imprisoned in the dungeon of this palace had the same circumstances but different statuses.

Some, like the undead mage, were imprisoned for refusing the orders given by the King of Ghouls, while others, like the ones walking from the opposite side, were caught and thrown in for violently enjoying fights.

In the latter case, rather than despairing about being trapped in an inescapable prison, they tried to maintain their hobbies even inside.

They attacked and tried to defeat fellow prisoners inside the prison.

Anyway, even if the undead prisoners in this underground prison were shattered and collapsed, they were set to recover and resurrect after just a week. It was a place of unparalleled happiness for battle maniacs who loved to fight.

-Do you know why there are no bars here? It's because the king wants the prisoners to fight each other.-

"I understand. So what should we do?"

-What should we do? Don't resist and accept it. They'll like it more if you pick a fight.-

The undead berserkers in the underground prison were fascinated by fighting itself.

Unless they hid and luckily avoided it like the undead mage, confronting them would only stimulate the opponent.

Of course, for Yi-Han, the undead mage's words were nonsense that couldn't be accepted.

'I can't resurrect.'

"Let's fight together."

-What do you mean fight together? Why should I?-

"If the enemy approaches, I'll definitely draw them in anyway. Don't regret it later and fight together from the beginning."

-...I don't know where you came from, but you must have been born with a vile bloodline!-

The undead mage spat out curses and walked out of the cell.

Still, the mage seemed to dislike the undead berserkers who caused trouble every time more than an intruder like Yi-Han, so he gave sincere advice as soon as he came out.

-They are tough and numerous.-

As a result of attaching the flesh of strong ones and grinding muscles while wandering this prison for an uncountable long period, the defense of the undead berserkers was so persistent that ordinary magic couldn't penetrate it.

Moreover, they didn't wander alone but formed groups, so from the undead mage's perspective, no matter how much he tried to compete with magic, there was no answer.

-To counter this, one magic is not enough... So what magic can you use?-

Instead of answering, Yi-Han cast a spell.

As there was no time, he couldn't wait and explain one by one.

When over ten skeleton warriors took their positions in the corridor, the undead mage looked at Yi-Han as if it was quite impressive.

-I don't know which kingdom you came from, but you seem to be at least a chief mage.-

"..."

Ogoldos, who was being supported next to him, felt it was so absurd that he couldn't even speak.

-But their movements are too slow. It seems you haven't practiced undead summoning much.-

"Yes. I'm still very lacking."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yi-Han cast cold magic on the spears and bows held by the skeleton warriors.

When the cold magic he learned from Alcicle was cast, a chilling cold air emanated from the blunt bone spears and arrows.

-Indeed. You focused more on other areas than undead summoning... Cold magic is a good choice.-

"Fog, spread."

When Yi-Han even used illusion magic, the undead mage was amazed.

-Even illusion magic? It's rare for a dark mage to use illusion magic…-

"Hands. Tear the enemy apart."

-???

When enhancement magic appeared, the undead mage was not only amazed but also puzzled.

-Wait, which kingdom did you say you were from?-

If there was time, the undead mage would have wanted to ask in detail where Yi-Han worked in which kingdom, but there was no time for that. As soon as he roughly heard Yi-Han's magic, the undead mage began preparations.

-If that entrance is breached, consider it a definite defeat. There's no chance of winning if we engage in close combat with the berserkers.

The undead mage set up a barricade made of bones at the end of the prison corridor and positioned Yi-Han's skeleton warriors there.

Then he began to summon his own undead summons.

"!"

Two undead knights wearing armor appeared, emitting a blue light from their eyes.

Just by looking at the strength of the summoned creatures, one could gauge the skill of the mage.

-Even if they look strong, there's a limit to blocking with this. If you don't support me with other magic, it will be breached right away.-

"I'll do my best to block them."

Yi-Han picked up the bone bow of a skeleton warrior and began casting <Lesser Speed Increase>, <Lesser Weight Increase>, and <Lesser Penetration Enhancement>.

The low-durability bone bow creaked and screamed, but Yi-Han precariously cast the spells with the determination to just get through this time.

The undead mage was too distracted by reinforcing the path ahead to notice Yi-Han casting continuous enhancement magic.

If he had seen it, he would have been surprised and asked why he was wasting magic in such a strange way.

-They're here!-

"!"

Along with the undead mage's low shout, Sharakan began to growl.

A flesh berserker who seemed to easily exceed 2m in height flashed his eyes and let out a roar.

-■■■■!-

It seemed like he was happy that a worthy opponent had appeared. Yi-Han didn't wait and immediately shot.

Swish!

-What...?-

While the undead mage was surprised by the trivial attack, the bone arrow was half-stuck in the berserker's chest.

Both the undead mage and the berserker were amazed by the attack that tore through the tough muscles and tenacious skin.

-...Explode!-

The undead mage was the first to come to his senses and seized control of the bone arrow and detonated it.

The gas inside the bones reacted with mana and exploded, dealing damage to the berserker.

-■■■…-

With a growling sound, the berserker tried to pull himself together. The undead mage immediately cast the next spell.

-Bind him and drag him out!-

Bone fragments covered not just one part but the entire body of the berserker. As his movements slowed, the undead mage took a deep breath and drew up mana.

-Come forth, fangs of deadly poison, melt him away!-

Unlike other spells, from the unusually long and strong spell casting, Yi-Han could tell that the undead mage's specialty was poison.

A poison of a complex mana form that he had never seen before appeared and transformed into the shape of an arrow and was shot out.

In terms of hardness or speed alone, it should have bounced off without penetrating the berserker's muscles, but the deadly poison arrow melted the flesh and muscles, creating a path.

However, as if not feeling any pain, the berserker began to shake off the bone fragments while bursting into laughter. Two nearby skeleton warriors were blown away by the brutal motion of swinging a club.

"Stab!"

But other skeleton warriors remained. Yi-Han issued a command while infusing mana to the point of bursting.

The bone spears couldn't penetrate the berserker's body like the arrows Yi-Han had directly shot, but the cold imbued at their tips made the berserker slightly slower. As continuous attacks came in, the berserker was annoyed and tried to swing his club again.

"Cold, become arrows and shoot forth!"

Yi-Han swung his staff and shot out ice arrows. As the ice hit, the cold burst out, and the berserker's movements stopped once again.

Sharakan charged forward with a war cry.

Persistently aiming for attacks that would sever the ankles, the berserker gave up his offensive and tried to deal with the surrounding enemies first.

Creak!

As about half of the skeleton warriors were annihilated with a single attack, the undead mage lamented.

He knew undead summoning wasn't the junior's main specialty, but to think he was this clumsy.

If he had known, he would have just told him to save mana and use it for other elemental magic...

"Rise, warriors made of bones!"

Yi-Han chanted spells quickly without even breathing. It was an urgent situation where things could go wrong with a 1-second difference. He couldn't let his guard down at all.

The shattered skeleton warriors rose as if nothing had happened. The berserker glared at Yi-Han as if it was absurd.

-Don't waste mana like that!-

"I'm calculating it myself, so you don't need to worry!"

-Is that true? If so…-

The undead mage honestly didn't believe it, but he decided to acknowledge Yi-Han's words for now and move on.

There was no time to question the truth in the current situation.

He seemed to be a mage with a fairly high position in the kingdom, so he probably wouldn't tell such an absurd lie.

-Poison, poison that melts bones and burns muscles, rise again from within…-

Mages who used poison had various tricks.

One of them was the technique of pre-summoning poison and storing it somewhere in the body.

It was a very dangerous method, but it utilized the characteristics of the poison element to quickly respond in an emergency, so outstanding poison element mages were skilled in this technique as well.

The undead mage spat out the stored poison and simultaneously consumed mana to refill the poison.

Just by doing that, he felt his mana gradually running out.

-Bones, offer your mana to your master…-

As a last resort, the undead mage was absorbing the residual mana left in the bones he had shot earlier to recover, but he was shocked when he looked to the side.

Yi-Han was recklessly firing ice arrows like a madman.

Papapapapapapapak!

Ice arrows raged to the point where frost formed on the berserker's body.

Although there were no attacks penetrating the body, the cold penetrated as the skeleton warriors were already holding on and clinging, noticeably slowing the berserker's movements.

In the anxious situation, Yi-Han quickly calculated while gathering his thoughts.

'Should I go with arrows? Not only is time an issue, but there's a limit to the damage. Jade bullets... That's too much. If it's the lightning element...'

As lightning began to gather, flashing from Yi-Han's staff, the undead mage shouted.

-Don't use lightning! It's a waste of mana. They have a strong resistance to lightning!-

"Is that so!?"

Yi-Han cursed Ferkuntra.

What a useless spirit.

-Listen carefully to what I'm about to say! I'll teach you my secret multi-poison. You create and use the poison!-

"I'm not very familiar with poison element magic!"

-A chief mage of a kingdom should be able to master it quickly. The theory itself is not that difficult! It's the combination that's difficult!-

"I'm not a chief mage of a kingdom, and I'm not familiar with poison element magic..."

Ignoring Yi-Han's words, the undead mage immediately began explaining poison element magic.