Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

Antagondals undeniably had the kind of temperament that suited a magical criminal.

Even while looking at a pitiful boy doomed to die soon, Antagondals kept laughing as if genuinely delighted.

“…Isn’t it possible that I might pull it off?”

“Of course. I’ll become an immortal being myself very soon.”

“Pardon?”

“My, my. Wasn’t this the part where we traded impossible fantasies? I thought that was what we were doing!”

“…”

Looking at Antagondals sneering like that, Lee Han made a solemn vow.

He was going to finish it today, no matter what!

*****

Antagondals stepped outside the workshop in a much better mood than before.

Few things pleased this magical criminal more than watching young, green mages destroy themselves through ambitions far beyond their station.

“Be ruined, °• N 𝑜 v l i g h t •° young mages. Ha ha. Be ruined!”

“You’re noisy.”

“…My apologies, master.”

Antagondals was slightly surprised to find the insane duplicate waiting so close to the workshop.

Given the duplicate’s temperament, Antagondals had assumed it would have lost interest by now and drifted off somewhere else. The fact that it was waiting nearby was unexpected.

“Do you have some other task for me?”

“…”

“Master?”

When no answer came, Antagondals cautiously raised its head.

The insane duplicate said nothing, only stared off into the distance.

At that sight, Antagondals realized the other one had fallen into another fit of madness.

Antagondals wanted to press for magic, but the wounds left by the dark blades were still throbbing. This time, Antagondals decided to keep a low profile.

“Is this right?”

“…”

Antagondals did not invite a beating by saying something like, What are you talking about? the way Lee Han had.

It simply waited in silence.

Of course, that did not mean it avoided getting hit.

THUD!

Even in that strange state, the insane duplicate sent Antagondals flying. Healing its shattered bones, Antagondals answered.

“It is right, master.”

“What is?”

“All of it!”

The insane duplicate blasted Antagondals away again.

The attack was far stronger than before, enough that Antagondals seriously considered fleeing.

If the insane duplicate’s madness had truly flared up badly enough that it meant to kill Antagondals today, this might be its last chance.

“Don’t flatter me when you don’t even know what a royal is thinking. Trash.”

“…”

“I’m not sure this is the right way to raise a disciple. Trash. What do you think?”

“Of course it is!”

Antagondals had little interest in what the insane duplicate was actually thinking.

It only focused on the present situation and flattered accordingly.

And, in truth, Antagondals’s own philosophy was not all that different from the insane duplicate’s.

What was a mage raising a disciple, if not raising a lion that could one day tear out the master’s throat?

The master taught while keeping the disciple in check, and the disciple stole the master’s vision while watching for an opening. That relationship was true magical succession.

“But is it really?”

“…?”

Antagondals could not begin to guess what the insane duplicate was brooding over.

Why did it keep asking itself the same question over and over?

Is this the limit of a thought-form composed of high-density mana? Maybe it’s nearing dissolution.

The world naturally rejected anything other than its own proper existence.

As with beings from other dimensions, the mana thought-form before Antagondals was no exception.

Ancient magic was deceiving the world’s rejection and extending the time it could remain, but if the frequency of its rambling was increasing like this, the limit must be near…

“And the disciple inside?”

“!”

The insane duplicate’s voice turned colder, and Antagondals realized at once that it had come back to its senses. Or rather, back to its usual brand of madness.

“The disciple is training in magic, master.”

“I can hear contempt in your maggot-like voice.”

At those words, Antagondals felt a chill like a blade pressed to the back of its neck.

Whenever it dealt with this insane duplicate, it felt as if it had been dragged back to its powerless childhood.

That cold tension where one slight shift in the other’s mood could cost it its head.

Antagondals admitted it obediently.

“My apologies, master. I don’t believe it can be done.”

“You don’t believe it can be done?”

Normally, Antagondals agreed with the insane duplicate’s will no matter what, but not this time.

No matter how it looked at it, there was no way a mere second-year student at Einroguard could fully master a telekinetic domain on the level of fifth-circle magic.

Antagondals knew Einroguard’s standards far better than the insane duplicate did.

Not only the students’ overall level, but even among a few professors from Einroguard rumored to be geniuses, none could have reached that state at that age.

And even that would be one thing with plenty of time. But threatening someone to learn it all within a day?

Under that kind of pressure, even a genius would struggle to display the full extent of their ability.

If I agree for nothing and the one I brought fails, it’ll only take the anger out on me even more viciously.

After a cold calculation, Antagondals answered.

“Yes.”

“Good. If the disciple fails, trash, you kill him.”

?

The insane duplicate smiled wickedly as it said that, and Antagondals froze.

A foreboding sensation crawled up its spine.

What is this? What is it thinking?

It could not understand why the insane duplicate wanted Antagondals to kill the student with its own hands.

Was it trying to brand Antagondals an enemy of Einroguard?

But in this territory, even death itself was denied. The Imperial Mage Marshal was not idle enough to make an issue of a false death like that.

THUD!

While Antagondals was still thinking, the insane duplicate shattered its entire body once more.

Groaning, the old magical criminal answered.

“Understood. If he fails, I’ll kill him myself.”

Antagondals had no real reluctance about killing young mages. If anything, it preferred it.

How hard could it possibly be to kill a second-year student like that?

“But if he succeeds, I’ll kill you.”

As expected.

Antagondals shuddered at the insane duplicate’s savage nature.

Apparently it had taken offense at Antagondals’s denial. At this rate, even if the boy failed, it might still decide to kill Antagondals too.

“Please forgive me, master. For you to wish to take my wretched life… how could I dare place my judgment above yours? Once you have spoken, I am already as good as dead.”

Antagondals collapsed to the ground, making sniffling sounds.

The insane duplicate answered in disgust.

“If you let one more nauseating liquid spill from your eyes, I’ll kill you. Trash. In return for your pathetic labor, I’ll let it stop at both arms.”

“Yes, yes!”

Once it heard that, Antagondals relaxed.

Judging by that response, some of the anger seemed to have faded. Even if that second-year boy failed, it no longer seemed likely that the insane duplicate’s fury would spill over onto Antagondals as well.

“Get lost.”

“Yes! Thank you, master.”

The insane duplicate looked toward a distant cliff.

It was not staring at an empty cliff. It was looking at the flow of countless lives moving beyond sixteen mountain peaks.

Those lives were searching for a way through its great magic.

And above those lives lay the territory lord’s gaze, settled over them as secretly as a curtain.

If the insane duplicate stepped beyond the mountain magic and laid a hand on those swarming ants, that gaze seemed to say there would be no more compromise. War would begin.

Though it always called the other one dregs, the insane duplicate did not underestimate it. In the end, it was a being born from the same root as itself.

It had no intention of provoking it for no reason. So long as it achieved what it wanted, there was no need to join hands with dregs.

But…

Why did those dregs cherish a swarm of ants that much?

“…I don’t understand.”

*****

“The time has come, master.”

The insane duplicate nodded as if granting permission.

When Antagondals waved its wand, the cave door covering the workshop opened.

“Come out. It’s time for your execution.”

“…”

The boy merely walked out without replying, apparently angered by the mockery.

Only natural, given his youth.

“Have you achieved anything with your magic?”

Again, no answer came. Antagondals had not expected one in the first place, so it simply nodded and looked at the insane duplicate.

“May I begin, master?”

“Attack with everything you have.”

The insane duplicate spoke firmly while looking not at Antagondals, but at Lee Han.

“As if you mean to kill him.”

Even if Antagondals, who was not a student, died, the power of the territory would not resurrect it. But the insane duplicate itself did not seem to care.

Clutching its wand, Antagondals said with a grin,

“Whenever you’re read—”

BOOM!

In that instant, Antagondals was startled to see the three defensive spells protecting its body activate in succession.

A tightly compressed force had come hurtling in like a storm, far faster than Antagondals had anticipated.

“Not bad! O wall of the elements, split apart!”

True to the instincts of a seasoned magical criminal, Antagondals reacted immediately even as it was startled.

Apparently, Lee Han had become quite proficient at telekinetic magic fired in a straight line.

It was the easiest and simplest form, so it made sense that it would be the most advantageous thing to learn within such limited time.

The ability to make that kind of choice and concentration while standing in a situation as precarious as a blade’s edge deserved praise, but Antagondals had not the slightest intention of going easy.

A tightly interwoven wall of many elements sprang up between them. Lee Han did not lose focus, and swung his wand.

At once, the telekinetic force bent out long like a whip, curved around the wall, and struck Antagondals.

THUD!

Form transformation to this degree without an incantation?!

This time, even Antagondals could not help being shocked.

This was a far more difficult domain than before.

It almost felt as if the boy in front of it had completely internalized telekinesis.

But that can’t be true!

When Antagondals started to bring out a vicious spell, the insane duplicate gave a light warning.

It was a warning that if Antagondals simply crushed the matter by force instead of judging whether Lee Han had succeeded, it would be killed on the spot.

Irritated by the interference but understanding the meaning, Antagondals swiftly changed its spell and attacked the boy.

SKRIIIIICH!

Venomous insects formed in midair and scattered in all directions, flying at Lee Han to tear into him.

These venomous insects created by magic were optimized to break through simple defensive spells.

Even defensive magic rarely sealed off every direction around a mage without the slightest gap.

Fast and erratic, the insects would slip through those gaps in an instant and poison the mage.

But Lee Han swung his wand twice, formed a solid defensive barrier without a single opening, and then struck the insects down instead.

The venomous insects, buzzing as they pressed against the telekinetic barrier in search of a gap, were swept away by precise blows.

An even more difficult form…!

At this point, even Antagondals had started breaking into a cold sweat.

The moment it admitted that the boy had completely internalized telekinesis, both of Antagondals’s arms were as good as severed.

Antagondals’s form warped, transforming into a monster of complex shape.

Most of its body was covered in armor-like ore, a structure that made it difficult to strike any weak point from the outside.

THRUST!

But Lee Han controlled his telekinetic force into a thin, pointed shape and drove it directly into a weak point.

At that sight, the insane duplicate was pleased. The result was already all but decided.

“You understood the lesson well.”

“…”

For a moment, Lee Han nearly lost his concentration.