Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

But a magical criminal was not an easy enough opponent for Lee Han to afford getting angry here. He shut the insane duplicate out of his mind and focused on the enemy.

I can do this.

Just as a spell that had felt clumsy at first gradually became familiar with repetition, until it came out smoothly the moment the incantation left your lips—

Lee Han could feel his once-limited telekinesis changing shape and spreading freely, as if it were his own hands and feet.

Stronger.

Compressed telekinetic force surged with violent output and lifted Antagondals into the air. The magical criminal, who had tried increasing mass to test the output of Lee Han’s telekinesis, was frustrated.

This time, weaker.

Thread-thin telekinetic strands spread out like feelers and detected Antagondals after it had turned transparent. The magical criminal, who had tried to hide its body and alter its volume to slip away, grew even more agitated.

Now into the shape of a sharp spear.

An invisible spear stabbed the enemy through the gaps in its armor.

Now into the shape of a whip.

With the sound of air tearing beyond the wall, the enemy was flung backward.

This time, a shield.

The incoming attacks lost their way in midair and dropped.

The telekinetic spells he had trained again and again, mana that was all but inexhaustible, senses sharper than anyone else’s…

All of it was blending together and taking shape as an understanding of telekinesis.

“Do you understand now what the royal told you to study, wretch?”

The insane duplicate spoke with the insight of an outstanding mage and educator.

When Lee Han had first blocked the attack by instinctively forming a shield with telekinesis without even using an incantation, the insane duplicate had judged that the disciple before it had already mastered at least one fifth-circle spell of the telekinetic type.

After all, Lee Han could wield telekinesis as freely as his own limbs, and on top of that it carried both incantationless casting and swift execution. By that point, it was more than enough to call it a fifth-circle spell of his own.

Judging by how naturally he moved, it was easy to infer that he had completed it by taking a broad understanding of a specific domain and adding his own experience and traits to it by hand.

That was far superior to the attitude of a parrot mindlessly repeating existing spells.

And yet, astonishingly enough, this stupid, lowborn disciple had insisted he had never mastered anything of the sort.

It was as absurd as a bird born with wings claiming it had never flown.

So instead of telling him to learn some other fifth-circle spell, the insane duplicate had ordered him to look back at his own magic.

And indeed, the disciple had magnificently lived up to the master’s generosity and—

Should I just kill him?

Of course, dense and lowborn as ever, Lee Han had no idea what was going on in the insane duplicate’s mind.

What he really wanted was to grab the telekinetic power he had just mastered and charge the insane duplicate with it.

The one who had helped him learn this fifth-circle spell—if he absolutely had to give it a name, <Wardanaz’s Telekinetic Force>—was Diret.

If he were being extremely generous, he might include Professor Voladi or even the Skull Principal.

But the insane duplicate absolutely did not qualify.

If anything, he would sooner include Professor Verdus…

“I lost, I lost!”

Antagondals, who had stubbornly kept searching for some weak point Lee Han still had not mastered, finally gave up.

At first, it had simply been unable to believe what it was seeing, so it kept clinging on. By the middle of the fight, it had already sensed its own defeat, but it still refused to let go.

Lee Han was using magic so wastefully that Antagondals had become curious how long it would take before he finally got tired.

But if this dragged on any longer, it would wound not only Antagondals’s pride as a mage, but also provoke the insane duplicate’s anger.

Now was the time to admit defeat and back away.

“Boy. Now I’m curious about your name. What is it?”

For the first time, Antagondals asked his opponent’s name.

This great mage normally did not ask such things personally.

That went doubly so for a lower-year student at Einroguard, someone who was still only a budding mage.

It might have sent subordinates to tempt or lure such a person, but even a magical criminal had a mage’s pride.

But the magic Lee Han had just displayed had earned the right to be asked directly.

“Lee Han of House Wardanaz.”

“…Wardanaz!!!”

Only then did Antagondals show real surprise for the first time.

“You can’t mean that Wardanaz—”

“Hold out your arms.”

The insane duplicate spoke in an emotionless voice. Antagondals respectfully extended both arms.

If it got stubborn at a moment like this, it might lose not just its arms, but its head.

And having your head cut off was far harder to recover from than losing your arms.

“Please wait a moment!”

Incredibly, this fearless boy stepped in to stop it even with the insane duplicate standing right there.

The insane duplicate’s brows arched sharply with anger, but fortunately it did not explode. Worried that something unexpected might happen, Antagondals hurriedly said,

“This is none of your concern.”

Even if both arms ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) were cut off, that was hardly a serious matter to a mage who had reached this level.

Antagondals had every confidence it could regrow them whenever it wished.

“That’s not it. I want to know why you were surprised when you heard the name Wardanaz. If you’re about to be executed right now, could you tell me before you go?”

“…”

The magical criminal had just been blindsided by a second-year Einroguard student and could only stare in disbelief.

*****

“Are you all right?”

Lee Han asked as he looked at Antagondals coming back with both arms severed.

Thinking about it now, he might have asked a little too urgently earlier.

It was because Antagondals had looked like it might die any second, and because it had just cursed Lee Han to die first, that he had asked like that, but now that he thought about it…

That might have sounded a little rude.

“Of course!”

Antagondals knocked against the wall with the cut surface of its upper arms, where black darkness was roiling.

At once, earth and stone flowed over and became new arms for Antagondals.

“They’re not exactly ideal prosthetics, but they’ll do.”

“About being surprised when you heard the name Wardanaz…”

“I think it would be better to leave that topic alone.”

You bastard.

Inside, Lee Han cursed as Antagondals dodged the question instead of answering.

Just as expected, it was obviously holding a grudge because its arms had been cut off on Lee Han’s account.

Since he had run into a magical criminal here, Lee Han had wanted to squeeze out as much information as possible…

“It seems our master cherishes you more than you realize. Can you feel it?”

“???”

When Lee Han stared as if to say, What kind of nonsense are you talking about? Antagondals laughed as though it could see right through his thoughts.

“Kuhahaha! Of course. A mage who threatens to kill you and tortures you with magic doesn’t exactly look like a fine master, does it? But think of it this way. Has master ever cut off your arms or shattered your bones? Like this?”

“I think that’s only a matter of time.”

“No. If you were a disciple he truly disliked, he would have cut off your arms or crushed your bones the moment he met you. This isn’t a matter of time.”

That’s true enough.

Lee Han could not deny that there was some logic in what Antagondals was saying.

Compared to how the insane duplicate beat Antagondals around, it had struck Lee Han much more lightly.

At first Lee Han had assumed that was because he was a student while Antagondals was an old magical criminal, but now that he thought about it, the insane duplicate did not seem like the sort of mage who would make allowances like that.

“It does cherish you. Which means you should be even more careful. If you provoke some unnecessary misunderstanding…”

Behind the silver mask, Antagondals let out an ominous smile.

What if it were misunderstood for having a private conversation with Lee Han—for trying to steal the disciple away, or trying to keep him in check?

In that case, even several lives would not be enough.

“So that’s enough conversation. Let’s keep our distance from each other. You learn magic from master, and I steal magic from master.”

“Hmm. May I ask just one thing?”

“If it isn’t the kind of intimate question that causes trouble, I’ll consider it.”

“To be honest, since I mastered a fifth-circle spell, I was wondering whether I might be allowed to step out for a little while as a reward…”

Antagondals burst out laughing.

It was a far more delighted sneer than when it had heard Lee Han was supposedly doomed to die.

It looked ready to laugh all day if left alone, so Lee Han cut it off flatly.

“So that’s impossible. Understood.”

“What amazes me more is that the thought even occurred to you. Does that insane duplicate really feel like your master?”

“Well, in this world, you never know until you try. Even professors who look twisted sometimes show unexpected sides—”

Lee Han started to give examples from Einroguard’s professors, then abandoned the attempt when none came to mind and continued.

“…If that won’t work, then I plan to use whatever rest period I get to go out.”

“Why are you so desperate to get out? How long do you think you’ve even been here?”

At those words, Lee Han roughly estimated the time.

He had no idea exactly how much had passed, but the weekend had probably ended and a new week was already beginning.

And the later he got out, the more the lectures and assignments he had to catch up on would increase exponentially.

That’s even worse and more terrifying than the insane duplicate.

“I’ve got lectures to attend, for one thing…”

“I see. So that’s your reason. But if it’s learning you want, that master of ours isn’t a bad choice.”

At Antagondals’s words, Lee Han rejected the idea flatly.

“The level is too high for me to steal from properly. I’d prefer lessons at a somewhat lower level.”

“I disagree, but… very well. If that’s what you want, boy, do as you like.”

This old magical criminal cared only about how much magic it could steal from the insane duplicate.

Whether the boy from House Wardanaz escaped or went off to receive petty instruction elsewhere was none of Antagondals’s concern.

Wait. A rest period?

Antagondals suddenly froze.

He was talking about slipping out during a rest period.

What rest period?

“What do you mean by a rest per—”

“What are you doing?”

The insane duplicate drifted into the workshop like a ghost, and Antagondals swallowed hard.

Just as expected, the insane duplicate had started growing suspicious of it.

“I was singing the praises of master’s teachings.”

THUD!

Despite the flattery, the insane duplicate hurled Antagondals into the wall.

“You’re trying to ruin my work on your own, trash. Get out.”

Embedded in the wall, Antagondals stayed there humbly instead of pulling itself free.

Fortunately, the insane duplicate lost interest in Antagondals and called out to Lee Han.

“This time, you understood tolerably well, wretch.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

“It is also the duty of royalty to reward those beneath them. Is there something you desire?”

“…Might it be possible for me to step out for a short while?”

“No.”

“I expected that. Then I’d like a brief rest period instead. I want to reflect on the magic I learned on my own and deepen my skill.”

Since he had already expected to be denied permission to leave, Lee Han did not panic and immediately made a second proposal.

He needed some way to get out of the insane duplicate’s immediate focus first.

Otherwise how was he supposed to escape, or do anything else?

“No.”

“…”

Then why did you ask? rose all the way to Lee Han’s throat, but the sight of Antagondals’s feet sticking out of the wall cooled his anger.

“I’m happy just because you were willing to reward me!”

“It seems you’ve learned a tiny bit of the proper attitude a disciple should have.”

Slightly pleased, the insane duplicate gave a new order.

For one who pursued magic, there was no such thing as rest.

There was only continued striving, and more striving.

“Then prepare the next fifth-circle spell.”

“…”

Before Lee Han could say a word, the insane duplicate said what it wanted to say and vanished in that drifting, eerie way of its own.

“Are you all right?”

“I am.”

Antagondals, still lodged in the wall, answered and pulled itself out.

The magical criminal looked genuinely curious whether Lee Han would be able to prepare another fifth-circle spell as successfully as he had the last one.

Like a spectator in an arena wondering whether the fighter thrown inside would live or die.

But Lee Han had no intention of satisfying that curiosity.

“I need to get out of here.”

“Do as you please.”

“Help me.”

“Why should I?”

“Because if you don’t, I’ll say you were trying to tempt me into becoming a magical criminal.”

“…”

Antagondals looked at the boy before it with sincere admiration.

To think someone that young could already be that devious.