Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

At Yi-Han's protest, Professor Millei pondered for a moment and accepted the objection.

"Alright. Give it a try."

"..."

Despite receiving the professor's permission, Yi-Han felt uneasy.

It was because Professor Millei was closely observing Yi-Han's every move without any change in expression.

As she was an upright and strict professor, he couldn't help but feel nervous.

'Didn't you not pressure other students like this when they were practicing?'

Complaining about the unfair treatment, Yi-Han unfolded the paper with the magic engraved on it.

While great mages who had reached the pinnacle could easily create summons on the spot without such aids, for most mages, preparation was a more important process than one might think.

Reagents, scrolls, artifacts, and so on.

<Paper Bird Summoning> belonged to the category of magic that required prior preparation.

If there was no scroll with a magic circle engraved, the mage had to fill in the structure of the summon one by one, so in a way, engraving this magic circle could be said to be the most important process in the magic.

Swish swish swish-

The quill elegantly raced across the paper. <Paper Bird Summoning> was a very famous magic in the empire, and its magic circle was also quite widely known, but reproducing it was the mage's ability.

If one could use magic just by tracing the magic circle, why would countless aspiring mages cry and hit the wall?

The magic circle of <Paper Bird Summoning> was by no means simple. Even Einroguard's students usually made mistakes several times.

'...The suffering from Professor Verduus is helping in this way?'

And Yi-Han was surprised.

Even he could see that the magic circle was too neatly done.

He didn't notice it because he drew it during the 1st semester and didn't draw it during the break...

When did his skills become like this?

Seeing that, Professor Millei slowly opened her mouth as if she had expected it.

"Let's add a voice."

Yi-Han started inserting letters with even more attention than before.

Modifying an already completed magic circle didn't end with simply adding lines and letters.

One had to understand the principles of the magic circle and anticipate the changes accordingly.

If forcibly modified, the paper bird might stab the mage himself instead of spitting out a voice.

'Engrave it here... I need to add more ink. Is the circuit running properly? A short circuit will occur here, so I'll remove this...'

While concentrating with all his heart, Yi-Han didn't even notice that he had completed it. Professor Millei spoke first.

"You've completed it."

"Ah. Yes. But we need to check if it works properly..."

"No need. It would be better to raise the difficulty."

Professor Millei turned around as if there was no need to say more.

At the same time as that action, the makeshift scroll Yi-Han made bloomed into a paper bird.

The bloomed paper bird rushed to the White Tiger Tower students and shouted loudly.

-Focus on the lecture!!!-

"Ahhh!"

"I, I was focusing!! What is it! What!"

The White Tiger Tower students, who were suddenly ambushed, were startled and looked around.

It was a perfect modification.

The Blue Dragon Tower friends next to him said to Yi-Han.

"It would be better to raise the difficulty."

"Raising the difficulty seems right, Wardanaz."

"...You guys won't have dinner."

"!??!"

Professor Mortum still seemed a bit embarrassed, as his face slightly reddened in embarrassment when Yi-Han came.

"Ahem. Did you control the golem well?"

"Yes. Professor. Is Senior Ogoldos alright?"

"He's fine... Normally, it's not you but Ogoldos who should be worried about you."

Although he was being worried about by a junior as a senior, Professor Mortum didn't blame Ogoldos.

It wasn't because he didn't want his already few disciples to become even fewer.

It was because he understood Ogoldos's situation.

Honestly, even if there were other students, it wouldn't have made much difference!

"Today's lecture is on the dark element, right? What should I prepare?"

Despite the strange situation where the student who came 2 weeks late was grasping the lecture content better than other students and even preparing in advance, Professor Mortum wasn't surprised.

What's there to be surprised about at this point? Professor Mortum answered with a calm mind.

"Other students will continue with the dark element... Ahem. You will do bone element magic."

"??"

Yi-Han was startled.

"Uh. Is there something I missed in the curriculum?"

"No. You already know how to use the dark element, don't you?"

"But there are still many lacking parts..."

Professor Mortum ignored Yi-Han's answer.

It was nonsense not even worth answering.

"Ahem. By the way, I heard from Ogoldos... It was so unbelievable that I waited to confirm it myself."

"Ah. You mean the King of Ghouls?"

Yi-Han answered as if he had been waiting.

"Surprisingly, he was indeed the owner of that palace. Despite his actions, he was really..."

"...Cough, cough! Who was curious about that?"

Professor Mortum retorted as if it was absurd.

He already knew that the King of Ghouls was the owner of that undead palace.

Who else would be the owner if not him?

"Then what do you find unbelievable?"

"I heard from Ogoldos that you summoned more than ten undead and struggled to control them, then when you reduced it to one, you were surprised that you could control it..."

"..."

Yi-Han felt embarrassed for the first time in a long while.

"That's because when practicing, out of habit..."

"Ahem. How can that be a habit?"

No matter how much it was for practice, the moment the mage summoned more than ten, he should have felt the precarious sense of crisis just before his mana was exhausted.

Just breathing would make him want to reduce the undead, so how comfortable must he have been to forget the simple truth that 'it becomes easier if you reduce them'?

"Anyway, I learned that it becomes a bit easier if I reduce it to one."

"That's... not something you learn... it's something you naturally know if you're human... Ahem. Forget it. Anyway, let's get back to the point."

Professor Mortum kindly embraced his disciple who had missed a truth that even the empire's biggest fool knew.

"As the principal agreed, the reason I gave you the <Ancient Fundamentals of Necromancy> book is because I thought you had the ability to continue the progress of ancient necromancy."

"I see...? I see."

Yi-Han was about to say, 'Wasn't it to torment me?' but stopped.

While other friends were summoning undead they had contracted with in the undead realm, Yi-Han was being forced by the skull principal and Professor Mortum to summon undead in the old way.

The method of ancient necromancy meant creating undead with the mage's own ability.

Of course, it was several times more difficult. There was a reason why the old methods were old.

"Ahem. You've become somewhat accustomed to control, and you know how to attempt various enhancements..."

"There are still many lacking parts..."

In addition to being able to smoothly control only when combined into one, the enhancement of that summon was also limited to the simple method of combining other bones to amplify it.

He was still far from being an excellent dark mage.

Of course, Professor Mortum ignored it again like before.

"...It's time to progress a bit further. Ahem."

Originally, the goal for this year was to control about one undead summon, but since it had already been achieved, there was no reason to stay still.

Instead of explaining to Yi-Han what the original goal was, Professor Mortum brought the next goal.

The reason why other enemies feared dark mages skilled in bone element magic was because of the tenacity unique to bone element magic.

Unlike other summoning magic, it could be quickly restored after destruction, and even if shattered, the shattered debris itself became the mage's means again, an infinite power source.

If one was caught by a mage skilled in this technique, it was like being dragged into a swamp.

"In other words, it means that bone element mages must continue to cast magic even after summoning, instead of staying still."

"I understand."

"Ahem. The bone element magic you can use now is?"

The bone element magic Yi-Han could use was limited to fragment shooting, summoning armor, shields, or restraints.

For a 1st year student who took all the magic of other schools, it was sufficiently excellent with the 1st~2nd circle bone element magic he could use, but for a mage who could summon skeleton warriors with ancient necromancy, it lacked a bit of flashiness.

"You should learn bone explosion magic."

Bone explosion magic, which ignited the gas inside the bones with mana to detonate it, was an essential process for dark mages who wanted to specialize in it, as it could satisfy firepower in the easiest way.

"Huh? Doesn't that start from at least the 3rd circle?"

"Right? Is there a problem?"

"...Nothing at all!"

When Professor Mortum asked back as if it was too natural, Yi-Han gave up on the question.

There was no point in asking such a madness-filled face, as he wouldn't get a useful answer.

"Ahem. Of course, it won't be easy. Do you know what you should be most mindful of when learning bone explosion magic?"

"Hmm. Isn't it the connection of mana?"

The farther the mage and the object were apart, the more difficult it became to directly apply mana to that object.

A mage who summoned and handled bone elements had to control the bones while shooting them far away, simultaneously casting magic on those bones.

To do that, one had to pay even more attention to the connection of mana...

"Wrong."

"Is that so?"

"What you should be mindful of is controlling the power of the explosion. Ahem. So that the explosion doesn't hurt you too."

"..."

Yi-Han was at a loss for words at the all-too-realistic advice.

No...

"I've set up a defensive magic circle here, so practice inside it. If the magic circle seems to break, call me right away. Ahem. Don't destroy the workshop because it's bothersome."

"Yes..."

Gainando, Raphael, and Ymirg wondered what the hell they were doing inside that loud booms kept erupting from a while ago.

"I hope Yi-Han isn't being tortured..."

"Hey. You stupid prince. Why would the professor torture Wardanaz?"

"You're the stupid one, you jerk. Then why does the principal attack us?"

"..."

"Ahem. Everyone, focus."

At the professor's words, everyone was startled and turned their gazes.

However, the loud booms coming from inside kept making them concerned.

"Ah. Professor."

Raphael cautiously raised his hand. Professor Mortum turned his gaze as if telling him to speak.

"I heard that the summoning mages are visiting this time. Is there anything we should do?"

It might be puzzling why dark mages were concerned about the summoning mages' festival, but their domains overlapped more than one might think.

Wasn't one of the domains of dark magic undead summoning?

Of course, there were also dark mages among those participating in the festival.

Given Professor Mortum's personality, he probably wouldn't want to show dark mages being pushed back in front of other summoning mages.

"Ahem. It's fine. Don't worry about it."

"Ah. Is that so?"

"Yes. Just enjoy it freely to your heart's content."

Raphael was slightly surprised.

He thought the professor would give detailed instructions related to the festival.

Gainando criticized him from the side.

"What do you take the professor for to say such a thing? There's so much magic to progress through, do you think he'll care about the festival too?"

Ymirg also nodded as if agreeing.

No matter how strong the professor's pride was, he wouldn't send his disciples to the summoning magic festival to prove...

"Ahem. Wardanaz will take care of the proof there. You guys can just play around."

"..."

"..."

For some reason, it felt like the loud booms coming from inside had stopped.