Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy
chapter-345

The Princess, sensing something ominous in Puyo's answer, tugged at Yi-Han's sleeve.

But Yi-Han judged that it was still within an acceptable range.

'He could have cursed much more severely, but he didn't. That's relatively decent among enchantment mages.'

Puyo could have cursed much more severely than just calling Beavle a fool, but he only called him a fool.

In a way, it could be considered kind.

"Isn't that right?"

At Yi-Han's explanation, the Princess blinked her eyes repeatedly, seeming to understand. Seeing the other party's silence, Yi-Han judged that his message had gotten through.

"It seems you understand."

"Ju..."

The Princess was about to point it out belatedly, but couldn't.

"Then, let's get started."

Puyo waved his staff.

Thereupon, the shelves, storerooms, and drawers inside moved as if alive, spewing out the items they contained.

Rumble!

The overwhelming amount of materials piled up made the Princess feel overwhelmed.

Among the Einroguard students, Adenart was one of the top two in terms of study volume, but the materials Puyo brought out exceeded her expectations.

Could it be that they had to process all these materials themselves?

The Princess unconsciously turned her gaze to look at Yi-Han.

Sensing that, Yi-Han whispered as if he understood.

"If you start by embezzling materials, even if it's Mr. Puyo, there's a high chance he won't overlook it. Let's focus on the work for now."

"...What on earth are you talking about?!"

Adenart, who had always been praised for maintaining the dignity of a royal without wavering, found the exclamation involuntarily escaping her lips.

There was a prejudice that mages would do anything for the magic they pursued.

Of course, this was a prejudice.

Most of the mages Yi-Han had met were indeed like that, but not all mages were the same.

But unfortunately, Puyo fell into that category.

As the work began, he showed an overwhelming amount of work, as if it was no wonder he was called the best artifact craftsman in Granden City.

He didn't care at all that they were first-year freshmen.

-Refine these staffs further.-

-Understood.-

-Once you're done, enchant the ore beads in the box with a luminescence enchantment.-

-Understood.-

-Looks like you're done. Good job. Rewrite and fill these blank scrolls here.-

-Unde…-

As Yi-Han was answering, he hesitated, seeing the Princess glaring at Puyo.

Her face was expressionless, but there was a clear murderous intent in her eyes.

'This is bad. It's too soon for this.'

Of course, Puyo was piling on the work relentlessly, but it had only been about 3 days.

It was too early for the Princess to want to attack Puyo.

'If the Princess charges at Puyo and gets kicked out, I'll have to do all this work alone.'

Yi-Han tried to soothe the Princess.

"Princess. Please endure a little longer."

"..."

The Princess, whose word count had increased a bit since her followers had decreased, fell silent again, glaring only at Puyo.

No matter how much Yi-Han called, she remained silent, only staring at Puyo.

"Enchantment magic is usually learned this rigorously."

"...Is that really so."

The Princess, who had been reluctant to answer, asked after some contemplation.

There was a cold chill in her voice, but Yi-Han continued undeterred.

"Yes. Enchantment magic has so many spells to master and so many materials to handle."

In truth, all magic required such rigor, but the princess did not doubt Yi-Han's words.

Among other mages, Yi-Han was known for his extensive experience in rigorous training.

Hearing it from Yi-Han, she thought, 'It might really be like that.'

"I understand."

The Princess stopped glaring at Puyo and lowered her gaze to the materials on the table.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Yi-Han urged the next task.

"I'm glad you understand. Well then, please draw the magic circles on all these papers. I'll imbue them with mana as we go."

"..."

Faced with Yi-Han's request to engrave magic circles on the towering stack of papers, the Princess felt a sense of overwhelming despair for the first time in her life.

"Mana..."

"Mana?"

"...Are you not lacking in mana?"

Engraving the magic circles was already an act that consumed tremendous concentration, but imbuing them with mana while verifying them was also no easy task.

Especially the latter part was also very draining on mana.

There was a hint of desperation in Adenart's eyes as she looked at Yi-Han.

"Ah. You mean my mana. I'm fine. Please proceed with the work."

"..."

As the Princess silently drew the magic circles on the papers with various inks and powders, she pondered.

She had met countless people in the Empire, but the boy from the Wardanaz family next to her was the first one she couldn't fathom.

After working through the nights for about 3 days, Puyo seemed somewhat satisfied.

"You all worked hard. The urgent matters have been taken care of. Go back and rest well. I'll call you when it's time to work again."

Of course, they couldn't leave immediately.

Stifling yawns from fatigue, they had to focus on the staff work that came as a riddle.

After investing half a day, they were able to complete one reasonably good staff.

The Princess handed the staff to Yi-Han with a careful touch. Then she waited with a tense expression.

"...This seems good enough. Then, let's go ba..."

Boom!

Before Yi-Han could finish speaking, the chair the Princess was sitting on flew back.

The Princess had stood up too hastily.

"..."

Without a word, the Princess hurriedly picked up the chair and set it upright.

"Good work."

"Ah, the Princess also worked hard."

The Princess quickly passed through the workshop door, as if afraid someone might hold her back.

Seeing that, Yi-Han felt uneasy.

'She's not going to stop coming next time, is she?'

If the Princess didn't come, Yi-Han would have to do all that work alone. That was absolutely unacceptable.

Yi-Han resolved that if such a situation arose, he would visit the mansion and bring her back.

"Are you leaving now?"

"!"

Hearing Puyo's voice from behind, Yi-Han felt a chill.

Of course, he didn't think Puyo would hold him back after saying they were done and could rest.

But enchantment mages were all mad, weren't they?

Mad people usually forgot what they had just said.

"I might have given you too much work. I'm sorry about that."

Puyo, sensing that Yi-Han had hesitated, gave a wry smile.

"I don't know how to properly adjust and teach. I was taught this way as well."

'Someone needs to break this chain of resentment.'

Yi-Han was genuinely saddened by Puyo's words.

Those who learned under Puyo would also create victims in a similar way.

"But I can say with certainty that these tasks have been helpful. How was it?"

"I've learned a lot, for sure."

It wasn't just empty words. During the work in Puyo's workshop, he had truly learned a great deal.

The method of refining the target to best match the flow of mana before casting enchantments and maximizing the effect.

The method of engraving various 1st and 2nd Circle spells on scrolls and enchanting items.

Since he had to personally cast all the things that were only briefly touched upon in theory at the academy, the experience couldn't help but accumulate.

Normally, he should have been bursting with pride and satisfaction at his own growth, but he was too tired for that.

"Yes. After all, an enchantment mage's skill grows through experience. No matter how much talent one has, it's difficult to reveal that brilliance without training."

"That's right. Then I'll be..."

"I heard you made a staff separately after finishing."

Yi-Han regretted sending the Princess first.

If he had stopped her, he could have used the Princess as a sacrifice and left first.

"Yes."

"It's good to practice, but at your current level, it will be difficult to make a good staff."

"Yes, I know."

There was not a hint of arrogance in Yi-Han's attitude.

It was a rare humility for a mage with such innate talent.

Seeing that, Puyo thought he had worried needlessly.

'I made an unnecessary remark.'

"Well, if you know that, there's no problem with practicing. But... Is that staff by any chance a gift from a tree spirit?"

"Ah, yes, that's right."

Yi-Han nodded.

Essentially, Einroguard students were only allowed to use the staffs provided by the academy.

They weren't even allowed to bring in their own clothes, so there was no exception for staffs.

However, if they obtained or made it within the school, it was permitted. That was why Yi-Han could use the staff from the oak tree spirit.

"I received it from the oak tree spirit in the mountains within Einroguard."

"Excellent."

Puyo smiled benevolently, a rare smile of a craftsman in the workshop.

As a tree spirit mixed-blood, Puyo keenly felt what kind of staff it was.

The life force inherent to the spirit was resonating and amplifying the mana of the mage who was its owner.

The owner didn't seem to have noticed it yet, but that staff had likely revealed glimpses of its extraordinary vitality many times.

"Have you tried using any earth or plant-based elemental magic?"

"I've done it a few times, but I don't use them as my main."

"I see. As a freshman, you probably haven't learned healing magic yet."

Puyo was about to ask if Yi-Han had learned any healing magic that directly utilized life force, but stopped.

Now that he thought about it, as a freshman, he probably hadn't even learned the basic healing magic yet.

"It's a good staff. I can feel the spirit dwelling in the staff following its owner."

"Is that really true?"

"...Is that such a surprising thing? Have the spirits you've encountered always avoided you?"

"The spirits I've met have all kind of avoided me..."

"..."

Instead of elaborating and reopening Yi-Han's wounds, Puyo changed the subject.

"But what kind of gem is embedded at the end of the staff? A frost spirit? No, that's a bit strange for a frost spirit. What is it?"

As Puyo carefully examined the gem, he became more and more puzzled.

Since it was a freshman's staff, he had thought it might be a low-level frost spirit, but the energy was rough and tyrannical, distant from a spirit.

'Is there a monster that wields cold and frost like this?'

"I'm not sure. Can you tell me?"

"The King of Frost Giants..."

"Aha. I didn't think of that. ...Wait, the King of Frost Giants doesn't leave a mark like this, does he?"

"...It's a stone I received from the King."

"..."

Because of the King of Frost Giants, Yi-Han had to stay an extra hour at the workshop explaining, even in his exhaustion, instead of returning to the mansion.

Puyo, who had heard the surprising and mysterious stories that had occurred within Einroguard, asked the first question that came to mind.

"Why did a first-year like you have to face the King of Frost Giants?"

"...There are unspeakable circumstances behind that."

Yi-Han changed the subject.

Seeing Yi-Han's bitter expression, Puyo didn't ask any further.

"This stone is constantly emitting cold energy. If it weren't for the staff's own vitality, it could have been a bit dangerous..."

At Puyo's words, Yi-Han flinched.

So he had just embedded something that dangerous?

'No. The professor saw it, so he should have warned me, right? Why...?'

It was absurd that he just let it go, saying it was well-balanced.

Especially someone like Professor Boladi, who had seen it up close!

"Is it very dangerous?"

"It's fine for now. But just in case, it would be better to add some other gems as a safety measure. If you don't mind, I can do that for you. Since we've ended up working together, it's a connection."

"!"

Yi-Han was touched by the enchantment mage's kindness.

'As expected, enchantment mages are people of integrity!'

"The best method is to amplify the energy of fire to suppress it..."

"P-please wait a moment."

Yi-Han hastily interjected.

The idea of adding the energy of fire to his staff was something he couldn't just accept without consideration.