Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

Hearing the leather merchant cursing behind him, Lee Han turned back with a bitter expression.

What an unbelievably unfortunate situation.

Anyone else would have been better, but of all people, he had been caught by Professor Voladi Bagreg.

It was tremendous misfortune, no matter how he looked at it.

“Wait. Doesn’t this mean the other arenas might have been ruined too?”

“...”

For the first time, Professor Voladi hesitated.

Lee Han was shocked by the sight.

No way?!

***

Fortunately, there was one underground arena that had not been ruined.

Of course, before finding it, Professor Voladi had to visit three more ruined arenas.

-You took away all the bosses, and now you want an arena? They all scattered!

-Sp-spare me! I have nothing around my neck! No weapons either! Since I’m unarmed, please, not that magic!

-Ah. You’re that battle mage? Thanks to you, I managed to buy this tavern for cheap. The guild bastards who used this place were completely sick of it.

“Found one. Let’s go in.”

Can this really be called finding one?

Lee Han thought to himself.

With this method, even Lee Han or Professor Garcia could probably find them.

Just grab any mercenary on the [N O V E L I G H T] street who looked like a criminal, hang them upside down, and say, “Tell me the entrance to an underground arena you know!”

Click.

The entrance to this underground arena was hidden beside the sewers near the slums.

After passing through a dark passage built in a circle with old stones, they had to knock three times on a stone painted red. Then a secret door opened from the inside.

When the door opened, unexpectedly bright light spilled out. It seemed the interior was full not only of torches, but also magical light sources.

-That’s all you have? Bet more, you bastard!

-Can’t keep your hands off my cards?! I’ll chew out the heart of anyone who covets these Imperial Mage Marshal cards!

-Aim low! Low! Not at the top, where the shield is!

Noisy shouts leaked out from the end of the long passage.

From Mage Cards to underground arena fights, every kind of gambling was clearly taking place inside.

A guild member at the arena, roughly counting the Imperial silver stacked on a grime-covered counter, spotted the new arrivals and asked,

“Who introduced you here?”

“Has a gorgon hybrid been here?”

“Who? Don’t know. I asked who introduced you.”

Menace began to seep into the other person’s voice. The guild member was clearly suspecting that they were not customers who had come to the arena to spend gold, but suspicious outsiders.

Lee Han gripped his staff.

However, Professor Voladi was one step faster.

Bang!

The guild member slammed headfirst into the counter and fainted. At the same time, Professor Voladi sent an intense telepathic wave through the entire interior.

Don’t move!

At that intimidating telepathy, the people who realized something was wrong quickly threw themselves flat on the floor.

However, those who were either fearless or stupid cursed and tried to grab the weapons at their waists.

“Split apart, lightning of Perkuntra!”

Having overworked himself with all sorts of fifth-circle magic during the first semester, Lee Han naturally used an improvised variation of a spell he had not even learned yet.

The magic he had just cast was a modification that strengthened and compressed Perkuntra’s lower lightning magic, then forcibly split it apart and fired it like buckshot.

If he had to classify it, it would be <Perkuntra’s Chain Lightning>. It could probably be called fourth-circle magic.

Crackle!

Lightning pierced through several people, and they rolled across the floor with screams of pain. Lee Han did not stop there and activated his stored magic. Lightning Spear and were cast, making electricity discharge around him.

“Don’t come closer! I’ll attack if you approach!”

“What are you talking about after attacking first, you crazy bastard!”

“...Hmm!”

Lee Han was left slightly speechless because he had no rebuttal.

Since mages were weak against surprise attacks, Professor Voladi had chosen to strike first, but that choice must have felt extremely rude to the criminal guild members here.

But there’s no choice.

Now that a fight had broken out, he could not simply stand there and take the hits. Lee Han summoned a medium-sized skeleton golem made from dragon teeth.

Crack!

The golem began an insane destructive rampage, smashing through the facilities of the not particularly spacious underground arena. Guild members who had been taking out crossbows to snipe the mage hurled curses.

“Hey, you damned cursed mage bastard!”

“What the hell are you so dissatisfied with that you’re smashing the whole place apart?!”

“...Mmm!”

Lee Han wanted to explain.

“The current situation is chaotic, and I am defending myself with and telekinesis, but if magic arrows or bolts fly in from long range, I may take unexpected damage, so I brought out a defensive summoned creature.”

However, since he had already half-destroyed the underground arena’s facilities, the chance to explain had long since passed.

Lee Han gave up and ordered destruction.

“Sweep away everyone still standing!”

The lightly armed arena guild members could not subdue the golem and were swept away like balls. Behind it, Lee Han continuously cast <Raven’s Evil Eye>. Enemies struck by the curse were poisoned and collapsed.

“Wh... what...!”

“Did an entire mage tower come in here at once?!”

The guild members bursting out from the connected rooms could not grasp the situation and fell into confusion.

Lightning was flashing everywhere. A medium-sized golem was rampaging through the center of the arena and smashing everything in sight. Their colleagues who had come out with weapons were collapsing one after another from some curse, without even being struck directly.

No matter how they thought about it, this was not the level of violence that one or two mages could produce.

It was excessive violence, as if an entire mage tower had come to rampage through the place.

Why go this far?

Did someone kidnap a mage? But we never did that.

“Sword of Bivle...”

Just as Lee Han tried to make absolutely sure by summoning even <Bivle’s Flying Sword>, which he had recently learned, Professor Voladi returned and said,

“Doesn’t seem to be here.”

“Ah. Is that so?”

While the disciple was beating up guild members in the center, Professor Voladi had subdued all the guild members inside, finished checking the place, and come back out.

“Let’s go back.”

“Yes.”

After the two mages disappeared, a suffocating silence descended.

The remaining customers stealthily looked around, then fled outside. The guild members scattered everywhere could not even think about threatening or catching them. They could only stare blankly.

Someone muttered,

“...Those crazy mage bastards...!”

***

Actually, it was not surprising that Eandurde had not been at the first underground arena they visited.

The capital was one of the largest cities in the Empire, and just as much crime churned in the city’s shadows.

Even counting only the large and small underground arenas in the slums, there would easily be more than ten.

But when Eandurde did not appear at the second underground arena either, Lee Han fell into slight contemplation.

“Could Eandurde have gone to some other illegal arena? Not here, but...”

Shouldn’t you have thought of that before destroying everything?

A guild member lying nearby cursed inwardly with eyes closed.

Opening his eyes felt dangerous. If he did, the mages might beat him up right away.

Who the hell was that gorgon hybrid?

However, Professor Voladi shook Professor Voladi’s head.

“That would not be easy.”

There might indeed be arenas like this in other parts of the capital besides the slum areas.

But a person like Eandurde could not easily enter such places. They required their own identity checks and guarantees.

It would definitely be an arena in this area, one that was relatively easy to enter and that Eandurde knew well.

“Hmm. Let me ask you something. Are there any other illegal fighting arenas around here?”

Lee Han questioned the guild member, who was keeping his eyes shut and pretending to be unconscious. Realizing that he had been caught, the guild member frantically spilled everything.

“Over there! I heard there are people operating near the pasture down that road! Please spare me!”

“Thank you.”

“Those guys are truly awful people! Please make sure to punish them!”

“I understand.”

Lee Han moved out again with Professor Voladi while listening to the guild member cheer them on.

However, this time was a little different.

At the third underground fighting arena, the guild members there came out to greet them first.

“We don’t have any gorgon hybrids or anything like that!”

Rumors had spread that the Crazy Hunter Butcher had appeared and was sweeping through the area, so the guild members of this arena, which was disguised as a pasture, had fallen into a state of extreme tension.

Normally, they would have settled things with force, but this opponent was too formidable.

According to what they had heard, someone was looking for gorgon hybrids and destroying everything in sight.

-Wasn’t that person originally not the type to destroy everything like that? Why the hell is everything getting smashed now?

-Does that matter? If anyone bought a gorgon hybrid, speak up quickly. If we find out later that you hid it, I’ll skin you alive!

After checking the ledgers and even the guild members’ back pockets, they had become certain.

They were not holding any gorgon hybrids or anything of the sort.

Somewhat relieved, the guild members waited on the hill path leading up to the pasture and shouted as soon as the two arrived.

“You don’t have any?”

“That’s right. If you don’t believe us, we can let you check for yourself.”

“...Uh, by any chance, are you a guild that received official permission from the Empire?”

Lee Han asked back in confusion.

For criminals running an illegal operation, they were being far too polite and cooperative.

The guild members looked as if they had bitten into something foul at those words.

Having a crazy mage who was devastating every guild they visited say such nonsense made their insides twist.

Bastard!

“Begin.”

Professor Voladi spoke to Lee Han in a low voice.

It was because Lee Han had asked, “Please give me a signal before attacking.”

“??”

The guild members did not understand what “begin” meant, and their reaction was delayed.

In that instant, the two mages disappeared.

Bang!

The first thing to strike was a finely honed attack. The fallen guild members collapsed without even realizing that magically formed phantom blades had sliced through their vital points.

What followed was the merciless violence of uncontrolled magic.

The disciple, who lacked confidence compared to Professor Voladi, showed no mercy. Under the tension of not knowing when a counterattack might come, Lee Han continued firing off spells.

“Damn... bastards...”

While someone muttered, Professor Voladi had already entered the arena.

And not long after, Professor Voladi came back out.

“Not here.”

Indeed. This is what a professional is like.

Lee Han thought he understood why Professor Voladi had not accepted the guild members’ proposal and had instead subdued them with a direct attack before searching the place.

Such proposals were only possible with trustworthy opponents.

They could not join hands with suspicious characters like these guild members, who might have some ulterior motive.

They could have hidden Eandurde elsewhere and played innocent, or they could have let the two mages inside only to launch a surprise attack at the most advantageous moment.

The important thing was not to give up the initiative.

I learned something. I shouldn’t let my guard down easily either.

Even if the proposal sounded tempting, he must never simply accept it...

Whoosh.

A paper bird flew in.

Lee Han caught the paper bird and unfolded it. It was Professor Garcia’s handwriting.

“What kind of letter is it?”

“...It says Eandurde is currently with Professor Garcia? It says Eandurde went to the arena to get money hidden in an old arena that’s no longer operating...”

“I see. We’re going back.”

Lee Han deeply blamed himself.

If he had trusted Eandurde just a little more, he would not have made the mistake of thinking Eandurde had recklessly gone to underground fighting arenas to earn gold.

I should have trusted him a bit more.

“...”

“...”

The half-dead guild members trembled as they watched the two mages retreat.

They were truly despicable bastards, the sort even shadows would refuse to touch.