Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

However, the excited Priestess Siana ran off without hearing him.

Not long after, priests from the Immortal Phoenix Tower started rushing out in a hurry.

"Is it true?!?!"

"Ah... what a pity! If only I had drawn the right lot, you would have definitely awakened to the holy magic of our order!"

"Ugh!"

Yi-Han was dumbfounded by the priests who no longer hid their true intentions.

Can they treat holy magic like that?

"Treating holy magic like that..."

"To me! Give me a chance this time! If we try today, it might work!"

At the priest's words, Nigisor and Siana shook their heads and answered.

"Holy magic puts quite a strain on the body, and you've already cast it twice today."

"That's right. Do it next time."

"...You're saying that when you succeeded!!"

"Ah, no... doing it in order..."

"Isn't it like stealing the true glory that Wardanaz could have received!"

"What are you saying!"

The Immortal Phoenix Tower priests started arguing, raising their voices at each other.

Of course, compared to the Blue Dragon Tower or the White Tiger Tower, it was a much more gentle and polite argument, but the fact that the priests were arguing to that extent was quite shocking.

The skull principal, who was flying over from afar, thought the same.

“No...! How on earth!!!”

The skull principal, who had flown over without much thought and saw this unbelievably interesting scene, was completely captivated.

“How on earth did you do it?”

"..."

Yi-Han inwardly cursed that if the skull principal wasn't a great mage, he would have attacked him right away.

“Traditionally, the sheep of the Immortal Phoenix Tower never fought with each other no matter what they did! Wardanaz, I'm truly proud of you!”

He received a sincere compliment from the skull principal, but he wasn't happy at all.

Yi-Han sighed and said,

"Why have you come?"

“Ogonin is waiting for you. It's understandable that he's waiting since you came several weeks late.”

"Ah."

The illusion mage Ogonin was teaching Yi-Han illusion magic from a distance.

Since he came a few weeks late after the start of the 2nd semester, he would have been waiting for quite a while.

"I'll go now."

“Let's watch them fight a little more before going. When will we see this again?”

"...Can't you just stop them?"

Yi-Han said, unable to bear it.

However, the skull principal answered seriously.

“Fighting like that is good for those priests too.”

"Pardon?"

“Priests of the empire, even if their orders are different, often grow up being forced into similar vices. Devotion, sacrifice, patience…”

"Not vices, but virtues..."

“Priests who are forced into these vices have their way of thinking and values hardened, making it difficult for them to think freely. I have always wanted the priests to break out of that shell and think beyond their world.”

"..."

Yi-Han was honestly impressed by the skull principal's words.

Indeed, the priests of the empire had all lived in temples since childhood, knowing only the world of their order.

No matter how virtuous their faith was, growing up like that would inevitably harden their way of thinking.

“Why should they fight? To learn how to reconcile with each other. Not fighting may sound good at first, but it means enduring without revealing what each other wants. If they can't even reveal what they want, how can they talk about faith? They need to learn to express their own will and clash with others in order to continue living as priests.”

"Principal..."

Yi-Han called the skull principal with a slightly watery voice.

He was truly moved for the first time...

“Grab the collar! Yes! I said grab the collar! Ah, since you've never fought before, your hands keep trembling! I said grab the collar! Grab it!”

"..."

'I was moved for nothing.'

Yi-Han immediately regretted it.

-I'm sorry. I've been busy…-

-Ah, no worries. You're learning fast enough now.-

Ogonin was indeed benevolent.

When Yi-Han said he couldn't practice illusion magic much because he was busy, Ogonin kindly answered that it was understandable.

-I'll work harder.-

-...I'm telling you it's already amazing that you've learned Light Fog! You just need to refine what you've learned! Don't overdo it!!-

Yi-Han felt unnecessarily apologetic at Ogonin's kind words.

If he worked hard when other professors grabbed his collar and attacked him for not learning, and half-heartedly learned when Ogonin kindly taught him, that wouldn't be right.

What fault did the kind Ogonin have?

'I need to work harder.'

“It's over. Good work.”

When the lecture ended, the morning star was already rising. Before he knew it, a week had passed and Saturday had already arrived.

'This is serious. I haven't finished preparing for alchemy yet.'

"Thank you."

“What thanks? Ogonin is the one who taught. By the way, a lot of the smell has left your soul.”

The skull principal described the energy of the undead as if it were a foul odor, even though he was an undead himself.

“It's not easy for it to leave this quickly... Did you do group prayers with the priests every day?”

"Something like that. I practiced holy magic."

“What? Such a waste?”

"...It's not systematic and lacks a bit of theory, but it's not a waste, is it?"

Holy magic definitely had its uses.

The power to overcome through faith the much more complicated and difficult path of realizing with magic.

Of course, to a great mage like the skull principal, it was an indifferent remark.

“That's a waste... Wait a minute. Don't tell me the priests were fighting earlier because of that?”

The skull principal was shocked.

He was curious about what he had done to make the priests fight, but if that Wardanaz had awakened to holy magic, it made sense.

It was bait on a completely different level from simple donations or visits.

“You awakened to it? Is that it?”

"Yes."

“Unbelievable! Were you that stupid?! No, if you were that stupid, you wouldn't have been able to learn magic until now?”

"...Isn't it too much to say that just because I awakened twice? I guess I was lucky."

“If holy magic could be awakened by luck, why would priests go through such hardships? It takes a level of fanaticism to the point of being relentless for even a slim possibility to arise. Huh? Twice?”

The skull principal, who was speaking, felt something off about Yi-Han's number.

"By the way, Principal. I have a question."

“Now's not the time to talk about something else, is it? Twice, you said?”

"I did it once, but I can do it twice too. Is that so important..."

“What are you saying when you don't even have faith?”

The skull principal was truly surprised.

To awaken two holy magics.

He could understand why the priests were going crazy with enthusiasm. In their eyes, that Wardanaz's faith would seem like the real deal among the real deals.

Come to think of it, there was no one as faithful and diligent as him, judging by his outward actions...

“It's still unbelievable when I think about it again... Holy magic. And from the Wardanaz family at that.”

The priests from various orders were already very fond of Yi-Han, a descendant of the Wardanaz family, visiting the temples regularly and showing interest.

Among the renowned noble families of the empire, there was no family as indifferent to faith as the Wardanaz family.

But to awaken two of them.

If this became known, not only the Immortal Phoenix Tower priests but also the outside priests were likely to go crazy with enthusiasm.

At the very least, if Yi-Han had unwavering faith, he would say, 'Yes, your deep faith and stupidity seem to have brought about several holy magics,' but no matter how much the skull principal thought about it, Yi-Han was far from that.

It was truly a mysterious thing.

“The evil energy of the undead realm will leave quickly. So what did you want to ask earlier?”

"Do you know about spatial magic?"

“I know. I can use it too. But no matter how outstanding you are, it's impossible for you to learn it now. It's physically impossible. Professor Garcia would say the same thing.”

"...I'm not saying I want to learn it."

Yi-Han was dumbfounded.

Why was the conversation flowing that way?

“It wasn't? I thought you wanted to learn it.”

"Just because I ask about magic doesn't mean I want to learn it all, does it?"

“Is there any other reason to ask?”

"Yes. There is. Why did you mention Professor Garcia?"

“It's Professor Garcia's main research field. So if you don't want to learn it, why did you ask?”

"I was walking around the school and got beaten up and chased away by some enemy using spatial teleportation magic..."

The skull principal laughed.

The skull principal laughed loudly.

The skull principal laughed until the principal's office shook, the windows shattered, and finally, laughter resounded and shook the main building itself.

Only after laughing for a long time, as if a new world had been created, could the skull principal open his mouth with a joyful voice.

“Oh my! That's unfortunate!”

"...Yes. Well, anyway."

Yi-Han wasn't shaken by the skull principal's ridicule. It was because he had no expectations for the other person from the beginning.

"Is there a way to deal with such a guy?"

“There is.”

"What is it?"

“Go to Professor Bagrak and ask for help.”

"..."

Yi-Han stared at the skull principal with a serious face.

At the fierce gaze, the skull principal explained as if frustrated.

“This time, I'm not teasing you.”

"Then earlier, you were teasing...?"

“Listen carefully. If you got beaten up to that extent, it must have been a guy who cast quickly without giving you a chance to react, right? With Einroguard's mana, that level of casting speed is sufficiently possible.”

The skull principal evaluated Yi-Han's combat power quite highly.

Thanks to enduring the teachings of that crazy vamp... no, Professor Boladi Bagrak and his innate mana, he had quite a few advantages over other outstanding mages when it came to combat power alone.

Combat wasn't decided by who could use more complicated and difficult magic. It was decided by who could stab a dagger into the opponent's heart faster.

Wardanaz was specialized in the latter in both constitution and teachings, so it would be difficult to subdue him with ordinary spatial magic.

Whoever the opponent was, it must have been someone who overcame slow and complex casting.

"Yes."

“With the magic you currently have, it's not easy to counter such a strategy.”

Originally, mages became stronger when given time to prepare, but this was an exception.

The power of spatial magic that had overcome the weakness of casting time was so tricky that even a mage like Yi-Han, who had learned all kinds of magic, found it difficult to counter.

No matter what strategy he prepared, it wouldn't be easy.

“But there are always gaps. Even if magic seems flawless, there are always gaps in the mage.”

No matter how flawless the magic was, there were gaps in the mage.

The flow of mana shown before using spatial magic. The habit of choosing the location when casting spatial magic...

If he thoroughly analyzed these things and prepared, he could block one attack.

Moreover, since Yi-Han had an aptitude for all kinds of magic, this crude method had quite a possibility.

“You have an aptitude for divination magic too, so it's fortunate. You're lucky.”

"I understand, but... Why do I have to ask Professor Bagrak for help with that?"

“Well, to become familiar enough with spatial magic to defeat such a thing, you need someone who will continuously attack you, and there aren't many people like that, right? Professor Garcia is too soft-hearted to do such a thing.”

Get continuously hit by Professor Bagrak to feel the signs of spatial magic to some extent and learn how to read the patterns (there was a high possibility of getting hit again in this process too), then go back underground and grasp the gaps of the statue.

Yi-Han was impressed by this wise advice.

And he made a decision.

'I just shouldn't go to the underground room.'

“Should I tell him for you if you're embarrassed?”

"Haha. It's alright."