Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

Chapter 565

Chapter 565

"I just came. More importantly, are your ears clogged?"

"I'm sorry. I must not have heard because I'm tired."

"Oh my. You need to take good care of your health."

Professor Verduus lightly admonished Yi-Han.

"I can't help it because I'm taking so many lectures."

"Really?"

"I think it would be good if you could reduce the assignments, Professor. Wouldn't that help with managing my health?"

"Uh. That's not possible."

Yi-Han smiled calmly as if he had expected it.

"So what brings you here?"

"Ah. Right. I originally wanted to ask you to prepare for the final exam."

Professor Verduus opened his mouth as if he remembered.

"But Professor Garcia is telling me not to!"

"Oh my!"

"Isn't it strange, really?"

"It is!"

"Right!"

Professor Verduus grumbled.

"She wasn't like this when she was a student. Even Professor Garcia has changed."

"Oh my!"

"So, you see."

"It is!"

"Huh?"

'Oops.'

Yi-Han realized he had been a beat too fast by repeatedly answering with only 'Oh my' and 'It is'.

Fortunately, the dull Professor Verduus didn't notice.

"Can you persuade Professor Garcia for me? Professor Garcia listens to you."

"Oh my!"

"Yeah. Please do."

"I'll try my best, but there's no guarantee that Professor Garcia will listen to me just because it's me, as she's a strict person."

'I should never tell her.'

Yi-Han had no intention of persuading Professor Garcia at all.

For whose benefit would he do such persuasion?

"Well, Professor Garcia is indeed strict."

"It is."

"She broke an artifact's force field with her fist."

"Oh my! ...No, what did you do to get hit by her fist?"

"I didn't do anything!"

Professor Verduus grumbled as if he was wronged and took out a pouch from his pocket. From the heavy-looking pouch came a familiar jingling sound. It was the beautiful sound that could only be made when silver coins and gold coins collided.

"I went through the trouble of selling artifacts to exchange for this."

"What is this?"

"Huh? Didn't I tell you back then in the punishment room? Did you already forget?"

Professor Verduus gave Yi-Han a look that worried about his intelligence.

"...Wait, could this be the compensation for preparing the exam?"

Senior Kettle, a graduate, had grabbed Professor Verduus by the collar and made him swear for the rights of his juniors.

Don't force them to work and pay them when you make them work…

"Yeah."

"Where did you get it??"

"I sold a few artifacts."

"No... Uh... Is it okay to sell them?"

Yi-Han hesitated.

Both gold coins and silver coins were good, but he first wondered if it was really okay to sell them.

At those words, Professor Verduus also hesitated.

"Uh. Was it not okay to sell them? Wait a moment."

"..."

"Come to think of it, I think Gonadaltes told me not to sell them."

"Oh my."

"But it's fine as long as we don't get caught, right?"

"It is."

Yi-Han nodded his head.

He was surprised, but upon thinking about it, Professor Verduus was right.

And even if they got caught, it was Professor Verduus who would get caught, not Yi-Han, so what did it matter to him?

'The principal will take care of it.'

"Then, Professor. If I help you prepare for the final exam, this cute and lovely pouch of silver coins becomes mine, right?"

"Wardanaz. You're a bit unpleasant."

Professor Verduus looked at Yi-Han with disgust.

Sometimes there were artifact craftsmen who named their artifacts and spoke to them lovingly, but Professor Verduus wasn't that type.

"I understand. Anyway, you're giving it to me, right?"

"But I told you Professor Garcia said no? It's better to listen to Professor Garcia."

'What the hell did he do?'

Yi-Han became curious about how Professor Garcia had persuaded Professor Verduus.

"Still, I'll try to persuade her again."

"Then please do."

Professor Verduus took out a dagger from his pocket. Judging by the complex mana structure felt from it, it was an artifact with more than one spell cast on it.

"Take this."

"Ah. Thank you."

Yi-Han was slightly surprised by Professor Verduus's gift.

It seemed that Professor Verduus's generosity had increased thanks to Senior Kettle.

Not only the money pouch but he was also giving such a gift for free?

"Tell the students to make this today."

"...Professor. You have to come to the lecture hall. And this is a separate matter."

"What!? Really!?"

***

"Uh, isn't the freshman final exam a bit too simple?"

Coholti visited Professor Mortum's workshop and was puzzled to see the final exam questions.

Originally, the 1st-year final exam was where various and complex dark magic such as undead summoning, bone/poison/darkness elements, curses, etc. made a full appearance.

It was also a test to examine the skills of the freshmen who would officially walk the path of dark magic in their 2nd year and to make them solidify their resolve one last time.

But considering that, the exam was too modest.

There was even a thick stack of papers piled up on Professor Mortum's desk behind him. Seeing the questions written on top, it was clearly the exam questions.

[Among the following, choose the creature that lives in the undead realm...]

Of course, this could also be called an exam, but it was true that it was boring.

Coholti wondered why there were such questions.

Professor Mortum played with his quill and answered with a cough.

"You're saying that after you almost blew up the school's pillar roots during the last midterm exam?"

"..."

"..."

The dark magic students in the workshop blushed and lowered their heads.

Some looked at Coholti with resentful eyes.

'Why did you have to bring up that topic of all things?'

'Senior, are you tactless?'

"...I'm sorry."

"Cough. And you're saying that after begging your junior for reagents?"

"I'm really sorry!!!"

Coholti lowered his posture, throwing away all his dignity as a 4th-year student.

No matter how much of a 4th-year he was, this was a mistake that could only tarnish his reputation.

"As long as you know. Help with the questions."

"Yes..."

The 4th-year student, ashamed of his past, sat at the table and combined poisons.

"Ankle-grabbing poison?"

"Yes."

It was a relatively peaceful poison that slowed down one's steps.

Coholti combined the poison in a single motion and completed it.

"What's next?"

"Bone-eating poison."

It was a powerful poison that forcibly stimulated bone regeneration and nearly destroyed a part of the body.

Coholti completed the poison with two motions and one addition of a reagent.

"Next?"

"Ahrak's Red Poison."

Ahrak was one of the past dark mages of the empire who made a name for himself with poisons.

Although he met a tragic end, unable to overcome the poison he created and turning into a handful of blood, there were still many dark mages who admired Ahrak.

Coholti groaned and carefully waved his staff. If Ahrak's Red Poison was made incorrectly, one could bleed from the eyes, nose, ears, and mouth for a whole week.

"Done. ...Wait a minute. Why are we making this? Why is this being used for the final exam?"

Only then did Coholti, who was making it, feel something strange.

Direth, who had finished working inside, came out and explained instead.

"That's not for the final exam, it's for today's lecture. There are juniors with strong resistance, so we need to teach them about poison magic."

"Ah. There was a giant mixed-blood junior, right?"

One of the students opened his mouth as if he remembered.

"From the Black Tortoise Tower, right? Hoho. This is perfect."

"Hey. Don't pass on your fights to the juniors."

Direth gave a light warning.

Even if it just rained from the sky, the students of each tower would bicker and fight, saying, 'It's raining because of those Blue Dragon Tower guys!' 'No, it's raining because of the White Tiger Tower guys' experiment!' 'You're all wrong, the Black Tortoise Tower...'

And that didn't particularly change even as the years passed and they moved up in grades.

The students of each tower, united by their competitive spirit, were bound to compete through their juniors. The giant mixed-blood junior was a very reliable force.

"And he's not the type to like fighting."

"No way. Where is there a giant mixed-blood who doesn't like fighting?"

"You're learning dark magic, so you'll dig up graves and eat corpses and stuff."

"No... I-I don't do that..."

The junior who heard what Direth said was very resentful.

"I only stole corpses from graves, I never ate them. I'm not a ghoul."

"That's not the point... No. Forget it. Anyway, don't say unnecessary things to the juniors. You'll be so busy next year that you won't be able to see them, so I'm really worried."

"Ah. Senior. Are you going to advance to 5th year?"

"Yeah. I've decided."

Direth spoke in a slightly tired voice.

Although there were quite a few who finished their studies in the 2nd or 3rd year at Einroguard depending on their personal circumstances, those who seriously wanted to explore the discipline of magic as mages usually finished up to the 4th year.

After finishing up to the 4th year, they would now forge their own path with the wisdom and knowledge they had accumulated.

However, among them, a few unfortunate ones, no, those who were hungrier for wisdom and knowledge than others, would go up to the 5th year.

They would assist their mentors' work and together pursue a higher level.

Of course, it was not an easy choice.

Even the 4th year alone was so terribly busy that it made one want to vomit.

Most of those who were actively engaged within Einroguard were up to the 3rd year, while the 4th years were too preoccupied with immersing themselves in magic as they approached graduation.

If this was the case for 4th years, how miserable and terrible would 5th year be?

And what was even more difficult than that were the non-magical tasks.

It was because 5th years were now close to the traditional concept of direct disciples.

Before the magic academies of the empire established a collective education system, the mages of the continent had passed on their enlightenment through a much more primitive method of education.

The one-on-one master-disciple transmission method often seen in fairy tales, with an eccentric master and a pitiful disciple, was this old method.

Of course, this method had many side effects. One could see that just by looking at the many disciples who killed their masters. The higher the level of mages, the more their personality was inversely proportional.

However, the 5th years of Einroguard reminded one of the disappeared old concept of direct disciples.

As one could see from the fact that even the professors told only qualified students to advance to the 5th year, these 5th-year students certainly fit the description of direct disciples.

"Will you be alright?"

"The professor will make you do a lot of work!"

"Cough. Cough."

Direct disciples usually had a tremendous increase in the work they had to do.

Among them, managing the professor's other disciples was one of the easiest tasks.

Researching new magic of a different dimension, publishing papers in the imperial academic world (and also making presentation materials), requesting support funds, managing research funds, attending external presentations…

If someone like Professor Verduus was the mentor, it would be hell within hell.

"Professor Mortum is on the better side."

"Thank you. Direth."

Professor Mortum glared at the other students. They were ungrateful bastards.

"And I'm more worried about magic research than the professor's work. I might not be able to show my face for a whole year."

"We'll come find you!"

"Cough, cough."

Professor Mortum coughed in disbelief.

"Are you sincerely cheering for that?"

"Forget it, everyone. Stop worrying about me. What I want to say is that I'm worried about you guys. When the juniors come in, treat them well. Don't bully them even if they're from another tower."

"And don't get bullied by the juniors."

Coholti added. The students who heard that tilted their heads, wondering what he meant.

'What is he talking about?'

"What Coholti said... is also true. Is done?"

"Wait. Senior Direth. I almost forgot, but would be too terrible even for a giant mixed-blood. Wouldn't another poison be better?"

"Don't worry. The poison for Ymirg is bone-eating poison."

"Ah. I see."

The student who answered and sat down suddenly hesitated.

'Huh?'

Then who are you planning to feed to?

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