Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

“You’re not asking because you have some other idea, are you?”

Yonair tested the waters carefully.

If this had been Gainando, a question like that would have made him reveal everything at once.

If Jowrin had some ulterior motive, surely she would panic and fail to hide it.

Another idea? Jowrin does not quite understand what you mean.

Jowrin played innocent perfectly.

What Yonair had failed to account for was Jowrin’s terrifying growth rate.

During her short stay at Einroguard, trailing after Lee Han had rapidly improved her social skills.

Never imagining that Jowrin could lie so shamelessly and with such confidence, Yonair was completely fooled.

“There usually isn’t anyone here in the evening. Once the sun sets, even mandrakes need comparatively less attention…”

Hehehe.

“…Your Majesty?”

Hm? Why is Meikin calling Jowrin?

“…”

Yonair stared hard at Jowrin.

No matter how one looked at it, something felt suspicious.

Ah! Jowrin is curious about that fruit!

“That isn’t a fruit. It’s a trap disguised as one. It wraps up anything that touches it.”

…Wh-why would mages keep something like that in a greenhouse…?

Jowrin, who had only asked at random to change the subject, found herself thoroughly overwhelmed.

***

“Hmm. Not bad. Though it’s a little below what I expected.”

“…”

“…???”

Lee Han’s friends, who had left the greenhouse with him and were now walking toward the Blue Dragon Tower common room, stared at him as if he had lost his mind.

Among all the mandrake seedlings in the greenhouse, the best-grown one was currently Lee Han’s.

Of course, he had devoted plenty of time and care to it, but the greatest factor was still its owner’s magic power.

Just as he had once accelerated plant growth in Professor Thunderstep’s vegetable garden, the mandrake had been affected by him as well.

So when that very person said it was “below expectations,” his friends naturally looked at him like he was insane.

Siana, who had accompanied them as far as the crossroads, whispered.

“Co-could Wardanaz finally have lost his mind?”

“Wardanaz just takes too many lectures! Don’t say things like that!”

“…I can hear you.”

Lee Han glared at his friends.

Recently, he had begun to feel that his friends sometimes treated him as if he were slightly unhinged.

It was deeply rude.

“I’m not making some strange claim. I changed my staff this time.”

As he spoke, Lee Han took out his staff.

One side was made of obsidian, while the other was made of the Spirit King’s sacred wood.

And it wasn’t merely sacred wood. Sealed inside that sacred wood was a powerful spirit: Sarataan, the alder-tree spirit once known as Tujeonsseungmogwang.

Surely it should have some life force, shouldn’t it?

“Lee Han?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you use a spirit’s power before…”

Yonair tilted a head in confusion.

Of course, Lee Han ran around taking every possible school of magic, so Yonair might simply have missed it.

But at least when Yonair had been present, Lee Han had never once used a spirit’s power.

For a mage to use a spirit’s power, didn’t one usually have to summon the contracted spirit, pay a price, and then issue a clear command?

“I haven’t summoned it to issue commands… but shouldn’t the power come out on its own?”

“?”

“??”

“???”

His friends were stunned by this revolutionary claim, which overturned the very foundations of spiritcraft.

“Priest Siana might be right after all. Wardanaz really does seem tired from too many lectures.”

“…No. Listen. Of course, if I wanted to command a spirit normally, I’d have to follow the proper procedure.”

If it had been another spirit, Lee Han would have summoned it first and asked.

But this tree spirit was sealed completely inside the staff. It wasn’t as though Lee Han could summon it and hold a conversation.

If he wanted to use it, he had to draw out the power dwelling inside the staff himself.

“But the spirit here is sealed. Besides, last time it even complained to me that I wasn’t using its power properly…”

“Didn’t you say you released it last time?”

“Huh?”

“You said it attacked you last time and you subdued it. If it attacked, doesn’t that mean the seal was partially undone?”

At Yonair’s question, the others nodded.

The seal might not have been fully broken, but the fact that the spirit had launched an attack in the mental world meant it had been at least partially released.

At minimum, its consciousness had awakened.

In that case, rather than forcibly drawing power out on his own, the proper method would be to communicate with the spirit and borrow its strength.

“…”

Really?

After hearing Yonair and the others explain it, Lee Han belatedly realized his mistake.

And when he considered why he had made such a mistake, only one reason came to mind.

“Wait. This spirit’s consciousness has been awake, but it has never once spoken to me.”

“…”

“…”

His friends exchanged glances.

Then they all quickly avoided Lee Han’s eyes, each clearly hoping someone else would speak first.

“Why is the explanation stopping there? I’d like each of you to share your opinions freely.”

“Uh… well…”

“That’s… hmm…”

“Maybe the spirit… forgot… haha.”

The students had seen since last year that their friend from House Wardanaz did not exactly get along well with spirits, but none of them could bring themselves to state the truth directly.

At last, Yonair spoke.

“Hmm. Lee Han. The spirit might be… a little angry.”

“What a coincidence. I’m also angry at that spirit right now.”

Lee Han gripped his staff and began pouring mana into it.

As mana concentrated not on the obsidian but on the sacred-wood side, waves of power spread through the air.

If this had been ordinary material, it would have screamed under the strain. But the Spirit King’s sacred wood possessed a capacity on an entirely different level. No matter how much mana poured in, it did not so much as tremble.

However, Lee Han’s mana was no less extraordinary than the sacred wood itself.

As he poured in more and more without end, even the Spirit King’s sacred wood eventually became saturated.

And the alder-tree spirit inside, which had been pretending to sleep, could no longer endure it and screamed.

-Aaagh! Aghghgh! Guh-gahk!

“So you were alive. If you were alive, why didn’t you speak?”

-I don’t know what you’re talking abou-gagagagak!

Lee Han poured in mana without mercy.

He had no intention of being gentle with the spirit that had viciously attacked him inside the black book’s world.

His friends shuddered as they watched the intense mana churn around the staff.

To an outsider, it would have looked as if he were tearing the spirit apart by force.

“Wa-Wardanaz. Isn’t this dangerous?”

“Don’t worry, Priest Siana. The staff won’t break from this much. The obsidian is connected too… and besides, this spirit is arrogant and insolent. It needs a harsh lesson.”

At Lee Han’s words, Professor Voladi Bagreg gave a faint nod, as though approving of his disciple’s methods.

Seeing this, Siana thought quietly.

That wasn’t what I meant…

Several students, including Siana, still had their spirits summoned.

The students themselves were close enough to Lee Han that they would only shudder at the sight. But to spirits who didn’t know him well, he must have looked like the very embodiment of a terrifying magical tyrant.

The mid- and low-ranking spirits had already fled in fear.

If rumors of this spread, wouldn’t Lee Han’s reputation among spirits only grow worse?

Siana hesitated, then eventually kept silent.

…Honestly, even to Siana, Lee Han looked a little frightening right now.

Even the right words could be dangerous at the wrong moment.

Siana wisely chose silence.

-Aghghgh! Wrong! I was wrong! I was wrong! I surrender! I surrender!

Lee Han did not stop.

Sarataan, the alder-tree spirit suffering the burning agony of high-density mana throughout its entire being, abruptly discovered polite speech.

-I was wrong! Master mage! I was wrong!

“Now you seem to understand your mistake a little.”

-Yes! Yes! Please stop!

“Why did you stay silent instead of saying anything?”

-Because you did not call me, master mage!

“Haha.”

Lee Han laughed and began pouring mana in again.

Professor Voladi Bagreg smiled faintly at his disciple’s unwavering and decisive handling of an evil spirit.

-Gagagagagak! I was wrong! I was wrong!

“What did you do wrong?”

-I-I should have come out first and called to you, master mage! I could have called out but stayed silent! That was my fault!

“Good. Your memory seems to be returning.”

-Yes! Yes, it is!

When the pain stopped, the alder-tree spirit trembled.

Even sealed within the staff, harming Sarataan directly should have required a complex process or advanced magic.

Yet this boy had subdued it through a method that was simple, crude, and terrifying.

To waste this much mana merely to inflict pain!

He’s a mad mage! Once he grows stronger, even respectable tyrants won’t dare speak their own names in front of him!

“Because of you, I couldn’t grow my mandrake further. How will you take responsibility?”

-Isn’t… isn’t it already growing quickly enough?

“So you were watching me grow the mandrake?”

Oh no!

Sarataan realized its mistake too late.

It should have claimed complete ignorance, but now it had revealed that it had been awake inside the staff and watching the entire time.

-Kuaaaaaak!

After pouring mana in once more to inflict pain, Lee Han asked again.

“So. What will you do now?”

-What? Gyaaak! Gyaaaak!

“I asked what you’ll do.”

-Ah! Ah! I understand! I’ll grow the mandrake further! I’ll use my power!

“Finally, a proper answer.”

Satisfied, Lee Han withdrew his mana.

Sarataan rolled in agony while cursing him inwardly.

It should have destroyed him completely back then!

“Good. Let’s go grow the mandrake.”

-Please wait a moment!

“Why? Do you want to suffer again?”

This insane mage bastard!

-That is not it! Plants like mandrakes require a great deal of earth energy, so they are difficult to grow with ordinary power. Give me just one day, and I will create a sprout imbued with power! If you plant it, it will grow instantly!

“Hmm. You’re not going to say later that you can’t do it, are you?”

-Absolutely not! Please trust me!

The spirit that had once held the title of Tujeonsseungmogwang cried out desperately.

Lee Han nodded as if he understood.

“Fine. I’ll trust you. But do you happen to know how to make patterns on mandrake leaves?”

-What? Why would you care about such useless nonsen—agagagagak!

“Never mind if you don’t know.”

Once it became clear the spirit didn’t know, Lee Han decided to wrap things up cleanly instead of pressing further.

He had used up some mana, but still.

“Thank you, everyone. If you hadn’t told me, I would have kept falling for this cunning bastard’s tricks.”

“Y-yeah.”

“Wardanaz. Whatever happens, I’m your friend. Don’t worry.”

“That’s right! Even if spirits start spreading strange rumors, don’t let it bother you!”

“??”

Lee Han was puzzled by his friends’ reactions.

“The alder-tree spirit is trapped inside the staff, and it’s the one that caused trouble first, so it can’t really spread rumors, can it?”

“Uh… that’s… good news! Haha!”

“How anticlimactic.”

Lee Han was about to take another step when a faint sense of unease struck him.

The spirits that had followed his friends out of ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) the lecture hall earlier were nowhere to be seen.

Did they all reverse-summon them already?

Since it wasn’t particularly important, Lee Han kept walking.