Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy
chapter-424

-What are you doing?-

Phil desperately wrote the letters in a hurry and sent them.

However, the focused junior didn't notice the letters.

"Hmm."

Seeing him constantly using divination magic and correcting the direction, Phil was terrified.

'Does that guy have no fear?'

If divination magic was used incorrectly, one could vomit blood and collapse, yet he was taking such bold actions.

"It's all done."

Professor Alkasis approached with big strides.

And then she nodded her head after seeing what Yi-Han had excised.

"Well done. Rest for a bit."

"Thank you."

"Professor. Excuse me."

Phil couldn't hold back and raised his hand. Professor Alkasis glared at her disciple with eyes that said she wouldn't let it slide if he said something unnecessary.

"Of course, as long as you succeed without being picky about the means and methods, it's fine, but I'm a bit worried about the junior."

"...Mind your own business. Your slime is still intact."

Professor Alkasis looked at Phil with a very pathetic gaze.

In some schools where talented individuals were scarce, situations often arose where seniors became anxious when juniors entered.

That wasn't a good situation for either the juniors or the seniors. Fundamentally, one's skills in magic improved by doing it oneself.

"I can solve my slime right away! But the junior is using a very dangerous method for healing!"

Surprisingly, Phil didn't back down.

At that sight, other students whispered and sent worried gazes.

'Aren't you going to draw your sword?'

"I told you... if it was really dangerous, he would have failed on his own. Why do you keep wasting time unnecessarily for a junior who succeeded well..."

"Still, excising that with divination magic is not right!"

"...Divination magic?"

"Yes!"

Professor Alkasis frowned and looked at Yi-Han.

And then she asked.

"Did you excise it with divination magic?"

"Uh... I used it as an aid."

"Why?"

"...Because I couldn't think of any other method?"

"..."

Professor Alkasis fell into deep silence. Then she looked at the seniors and asked.

"Didn't I teach you <Disease Detection> or <Vitality Assessment>?"

"Yes."

"You didn't teach us."

The seniors spoke in unison. The dark elf professor muttered while ruffling her hair.

"I forgot..."

"..."

"..."

Not only the seniors but even Yi-Han looked at the professor in absurdity.

What would happen if she forgot that?

"I made a mistake because it's magic learned in the 2nd year. Tell me next time if something like this happens. Divination magic is not suitable for repeated use in situations like this."

Yi-Han glared at the professor. New letters appeared next to him.

-You endure it. She's the professor.-

After the lecture ended, Yi-Han vowed to avoid Professor Alkasis as much as possible until the next lecture.

Judging from what the professor said during the lecture ("Phil, keep your nights free during the weekdays. A patient is coming."), it seemed like Yi-Han would also be dragged along if he was unlucky.

However, despite such a resolution, Yi-Han had to urgently call out to Professor Alkasis who was passing by.

The basilisk had started to get sick.

After the lecture ended, Yi-Han had gone to the hut and fed the basilisk as usual and took care of its egg.

But suddenly, as if the egg had eaten something wrong, it started shaking and rolling around inside the hut.

Startled by the unexpected situation, Yi-Han immediately ran out to seek help.

When he saw Professor Alkasis in the distance, Yi-Han called out to the professor without hesitation.

"Professor! Professor!"

"Don't shout so loudly..."

Professor Alkasis, who was already suffering from a headache due to insomnia and overwork, didn't like her disciple calling out loudly.

"What's the matter? Why did you call me?"

"Please help me for a moment!"

"I have to prepare some medicine now..."

Professor Alkasis took out a pocket watch to check the time and raised her eyebrows.

"If it's not a big deal, you know you'll have to pay with your body. What is it?"

"The basilisk is sick!"

"...It is indeed a big deal."

Professor Alkasis changed her evaluation of the disciple.

This young man from the Wardanaz family truly didn't speak empty words.

"Why on earth a basilisk..."

"It's a long story."

"Then don't tell it."

"Thank you."

Yi-Han was grateful for Professor Alkasis's consideration. Although Professor Alkasis found Yi-Han's gratitude absurd, she let it slide because it was bothersome.

"Oh. You have to enter this way."

"..."

Seeing that he had even laid out an illusion magic to avoid the approach of outsiders just in case, Professor Alkasis became curious about who had ordered such a thing.

Was it the principal?

"The path is narrow."

"Professor Verduus made it according to his own standards..."

Yi-Han brushed off the leaves stuck to his hair and clothes. Professor Alkasis did the same.

Dark elves were basically a slender race, and Professor Alkasis, being female, was even thinner among them, but even considering that, she had to be bigger than Professor Verduus.

Yi-Han watched the professor's reaction. Although he had asked for help in a hurry, it wasn't good to get dirt on the professor.

If dirt got on the professor, there was a high possibility that the disciple would end up under the dirt.

"Hurry up and go. If I can't make the medicine because of you, will you take responsibility?"

"I'm going now!"

Yi-Han hurriedly opened the door of the hut.

Professor Alkasis looked surprised to see the basilisk's egg rolling around. Although she had heard about it, she couldn't help but be surprised to actually see it.

"You were really raising it... and you raised it really well."

"Several professors helped me. Professor Uregor or Professor Reuji..."

Yi-Han unintentionally left out Professor Verduus. Professor Alkasis didn't bother to ask again.

"If Professor Uregor helped you, you could have asked Professor Uregor..."

"..."

Yi-Han realized his mistake.

Come to think of it, that was a safer method.

Although he had called Professor Alkasis, who he saw first, because the basilisk suddenly got sick, Professor Alkasis was definitely not a kind professor.

'I should have stayed calm in any situation.'

Yi-Han learned another lesson.

"I thought it would be most accurate to ask you about disease-related problems, Professor."

"Thank you for thinking that way."

Professor Alkasis readily accepted her disciple's praise.

Except for wasting time unnecessarily, making mistakes when using healing magic, and things that weren't helpful when a patient needed to be saved, Professor Alkasis might unexpectedly be a kind and easy-to-deal-with person.

'Hmm. Come to think of it, that's really a meaningless thing to say.'

Yi-Han shook his head inwardly.

If you put it that way, there was no professor who wasn't kind. Even Professor Bagrak was a kind professor if you excluded the beating.

"It's a growth fever. It seems the basilisk is growing too fast and the fever is rising a bit..."

"It's a symptom I haven't seen in books, so I must have missed it."

"No... originally, basilisks don't have things like growth fever."

Professor Alkasis said as if it was interesting.

Although not to the level of being well-versed in all the rare animals of the empire, Professor Alkasis knew quite a bit about useful monsters like basilisks.

It was a creature that grew very slowly and required a lot of mana and food, so growth fever wasn't a common symptom.

Among monsters, those that suffered from diseases like growth fever were mostly the ones that grew rapidly to the point of being abrupt...

"Oh no. Is it because I gave it too much food?"

Yi-Han pondered whether he should divert some food to the black market in the future.

The basilisk's egg next to him made a sound while swaying left and right, but Yi-Han ignored it.

"If growth fever could be caused by food, the owners of the empire's ranches would cry tears of joy. There must be other factors besides food. Look for them."

Yi-Han scanned the inside of the hut and asked about various suspicious factors.

Was it a ventilation problem, or a problem with the flow of mana where the hut was set up, or was the basilisk stressed because of Professor Verduus...

Professor Alkasis, who had been listening quietly, stared intently at the basilisk's egg.

The way it rolled towards Yi-Han and tried to stick to him even while inside the egg was unusual.

Monsters had an imprinting phenomenon where they regarded the first person they saw after hatching from the egg as their owner, but it was rare for them to chase after their owner like that before even coming out of the egg.

It could be because he took really good care of it, but rather than that...

"You're the cause."

"Pardon?"

"That basilisk keeps sucking your mana. Even now... wait. You didn't notice? Really?"

Every time the basilisk's egg stuck to Yi-Han, it could be felt that it was sucking up mana.

Does that make sense?

"It did that?!"

Yi-Han pushed the egg away with a betrayed expression. The egg rattled and tried to stick to Yi-Han, but Yi-Han firmly held it back.

"Didn't you feel your mana being consumed?"

"No."

Professor Alkasis's eyebrows twitched at the sight of her disciple answering without a second of hesitation.

"...I see."

What could she do if he said he didn't feel it?

Although absurd, Professor Alkasis accepted it.

"I'll make a fever-reducing potion for the basilisk to consume, so give it one drop a day. It would be best not to allow other people to approach it until it recovers. Basilisks are more sensitive monsters than you think. And stop indulging its whims."

"I didn't indulge..."

Yi-Han felt wronged, but the professor didn't listen.

Professor Alkasis, who quickly finished the preparation, looked at Yi-Han. It was the gaze of a wicked merchant visiting a slave market, assessing 'how much work can this fellow do?'

Yi-Han quickly exclaimed.

"I'm always grateful for the professor's kindness. It's just that I have assignments to do and this week is also..."

"Don't worry, I won't make you do it."

Professor Alkasis said in a slightly hoarse voice as she got up from her seat.

"We are indeed short on manpower. That's true. But... the disciples have a point too. No matter how urgent, if we keep pushing a first-year student into real situations, in case an accident..."

Professor Alkasis, who was speaking, watched the basilisk's egg stick to Yi-Han again and suck up mana.

The professor decided to pretend she didn't see it. She felt like her resolve would waver if she saw that sight.

"...might happen. It's enough that you're keeping up with the lectures now. If you continue like this for 1 or 2 years, you'll become a decent healing mage."

The dark elf professor showed a slight expectation for her disciple in her gaze, even in the midst of being exhausted.

Normally, it should have been a situation where one would be moved by the sincerity shown by a professor who rarely expressed her emotions, but Yi-Han didn't.

Yi-Han wasn't someone who would be easily swayed like the other healing magic seniors.

'The words sound moving, but if you think about it carefully, it's just saying let's die together in hardship.'

Of course, Yi-Han didn't reveal his true feelings. He nodded his head and expressed deep gratitude.

"Thank you for understanding. I will study healing magic diligently and strive to do my part as quickly as possible."

"Do that."

Professor Alkasis smiled and tried to open the door.

At that moment, Professor Verduus, who arrived from outside with the sound of footsteps, called out to Yi-Han.

"Are you inside?! I need mana to make an artifact now! Come out quickly! Quickly! Quickly! Quickly!"

"..."

Professor Alkasis looked at the door and Yi-Han alternately with confused eyes.

...Do the other professors just order him around?