Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy
chapter-445

Gainando, who still hadn't grasped the situation, asked in puzzlement.

"Didn't you say fishing is also allowed?"

"...Do you think that's possible?"

The students were not fools.

In this weather and situation, Einroguard was not so easy that they could bring back the necessary aquatic creatures with fishing.

And in fact, even in normal weather, most aquatic creatures were difficult to catch with fishing. If they carelessly threw the bait, the monster would drag the fisherman in.

"If I catch a fish..."

-There are no fish... in this weather.-

The devouring-ship fish, resting in the back, answered as if dumbfounded.

It usually didn't want to intervene in the mages' conversations, but Gainando's words were too absurd.

"Go into the water in this weather? Really?"

"I told you. Never trust the professors."

"Even so, this is too much..."

"Can't we just insist that we caught this devouring-ship fish?"

The devouring-ship fish squirted water at the student who had just spoken.

Splash!

The student who was hit by the water fell into the sea. The students became quiet.

"Sigh..."

"What can we do? Let's prepare."

If you stayed at Einroguard for a long time, instead of going through the stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance over several days, you could quickly go through them in 30 seconds.

The students, who had accepted it in an instant, sighed deeply and pondered how to enter the water.

"Underwater breathing and... what else do we need?"

"We need light to brighten the view. Even if waterproofing is difficult, we need something that generates heat so we don't freeze to death."

"It's a good thing we learned the <Latent Heat Enchantment> magic."

The students who had successfully mastered the <Latent Heat Enchantment> magic proudly raised their staffs.

Yi-Han became gloomy. Yonaire, who was listening next to him, hurriedly comforted him.

"...Yi, Yi-Han. You're good at other things."

"Maybe it won't be so bad since it's raining?"

Yi-Han swung his staff along with the spell just in case. Then, flames erupted from his cloak.

"Fire!!!"

"Wardanaz! Put it in the water!!"

They quickly put the cloak in the water, but the fire did not go out easily. The students were shocked by the flames burning even underwater.

"..."

"..."

Sizzle-

Yi-Han took out the cloak with a bitter expression. The friends around him spoke urgently.

"I, I'll cast <Latent Heat Enchantment> on you. That magic isn't really that important anyway."

"You can cast other things! We can help each other!"

The students from various towers, who usually fiercely mocked other tower friends when they made magic mistakes, were of one mind this time and quickly stopped him.

"Damn it!! Is it my turn again?!"

"Sorry. Go in and come back quickly."

"Ugh..."

The student who lost the drawing tied his body with a rope and jumped in with a splash.

'The 1st years here are quick-witted.'

Professor Bungaegor looked around at the students with a satisfied expression.

Originally, since it was an individual exam, the students could move separately without any problem.

However, now the students were gathering in groups of three or five and cooperating without anyone telling them to.

They were students who already knew wisdom more precious than difficult magic spells.

"You bastard... You bastard! You manipulated the drawing!?"

"No, nonsense! How did I manipulate the drawing!"

"Wardanaz! Come here! Come and judge! This guy manipulated the drawing!"

"Why are you calling Wardanaz! Wardanaz! Don't come!"

Of course, there were places where there were quarrels, but where people gathered, there were bound to be quarrels.

It was already quite remarkable even at this level.

Splash, splash, splash!

Students were diving and coming up here and there. Thanks to the light orbs Yi-Han had floated, the dock was as bright as broad daylight.

'...Let's overlook that.'

It was also an ability for the students to have an outstanding 1st year friend. Professor Bungaegor decided to let that slide.

"Do you see anything?"

"I don't see anything? I think we need to go down further."

The students who had come up exchanged information with perplexed faces.

Something should have appeared if they went this far, but perhaps because the sea was chaotic, nothing alive could be seen.

"It's my turn."

Yi-Han chanted the underwater breathing spell and prepared to go in.

<Gonadaltes' Dark Vision> and <Gonadaltes' Agile Steps> too.

And <Spatial Perception> and <Light of Truth Enchantment>...

'How many are you casting?'

Professor Bungaegor was dumbfounded watching.

It seemed like someone was infiltrating not the water but the inner castle of a demon duke!

"I'm going!"

"Wa, wait a minute."

Gainando, who had the same turn, shouted hesitantly.

"Why?"

"I need to prepare my mind..."

Splash!

Yi-Han kicked Gainando and pushed him in, then jumped in.

'Going deep down.'

Even though his body was tightly tied with a rope, it shook violently as he entered the water. The aftermath of the spirits' rampage was affecting even the underwater.

The students who had come down with him were also unexpectedly tangled up and floundering in the fast current.

-Everyone, stay calm.-

Yi-Han first gathered his friends.

They had to adapt here and go down since they had to go further.

-The current is faster than expected, but we can overcome it with magic. We learned water element magic in the 1st semester. Those who are confident in water element magic here, raise your hands.-

Three of his friends raised their hands. Yi-Han nodded.

-Control the water element. Like this... Move!-

Yi-Han cleverly applied the magic.

Originally, it was a magic that moved water to create a shape or move it, but underwater, it became a fairly good means of propulsion.

Swish-

As the currents parted and Yi-Han was pushed forward, his friends nodded their heads.

They understood the principle.

-I got it, Wardanaz.-

-I'll try it. Move!-

-...-

-...???-

The students were puzzled by the lack of any change.

-Move! Move! I said move?? ...Ugh!-

The complexion of a friend who was chanting the spell suddenly worsened.

'Acute mana depletion!'

Yi-Han quickly grabbed his friend and went up. As Yi-Han emerged from the water, the waiting students asked.

"What happened?!"

"Help this guy rest a bit!"

"???"

Yi-Han threw the collapsed friend onto the dock without answering. And he went down again.

-Let's try again...-

-Ugh...-

'Damn it.'

As another friend collapsed, Yi-Han grabbed him and went up again.

"Take care of this one too!"

Splash!

"..."

"...Ah, no, what's happening?"

As Yi-Han went down together and threw his friends up one by one, the students waiting above gradually became frightened.

Could it be that he was angry because of the <Latent Heat Enchantment> earlier?

"I told you not to show off magic in front of him!"

"I didn't think showing magic in front of Wardanaz was showing off...! Would you think that's showing off in front of Wardanaz?!"

"Is he angry because you manipulated the drawing earlier?"

While they were whispering above, Yi-Han was grasping the situation.

'Using magic underwater is no ordinary feat.'

A mage's magic, even if it looked easy, was a mental process that required a high degree of concentration.

Just as mages who were not trained as combat mages could not cast spells if they fell into a battlefield full of murderous intent, sudden environmental changes interfered with a mage's magic.

A cold, dark, and rough underwater environment like now would be enough to interfere with a mage.

'...Wait. I cast it though?'

Yi-Han suddenly had that thought but decided not to say it out loud.

-It seems that the probability of failure increases when chanting spells underwater. Everyone, be careful.-

-But you're using it well... No. I think I asked something unnecessary. Wardanaz.-

The friend who was about to ask something quickly understood.

Indeed, it seemed like Wardanaz could cast spells even if he was hung upside down above lava, not just underwater.

-Instead, I'll push you, so let's go down again.-

Yi-Han floated light orbs and slowly went down.

How far down did they go?

The dirt floor that had settled in the sea came into view. It was a familiar place that he had seen a few times.

'...Isn't this the racetrack we made...'

It was absurd, but Yi-Han tried not to lose focus.

He had to find something alive.

-Wardanaz. Here. Here.-

A friend tapped Yi-Han's shoulder and pointed down.

Surprisingly, a pattern indicating the direction was engraved on the floor.

'What is this? Did the professor engrave it?'

-Let's go. Follow me.-

-Okay.-

Yi-Han slowly swam in, following the signposts engraved on the floor. The path led to an underwater cave.

-...-

No matter how you looked at it, it was a cave that you really didn't want to enter.

'The professor must have prepared it?'

He wondered how the professor had prepared it, since the aquatic creatures would scatter all over Einroguard if they were just released into the sea, but to think she released them inside an underwater cave like this.

It was very much like Professor Bungaegor, but it made him sigh.

'What kind of dog-like thing will be in there again...'

-♪♬♩♩♩♬-

'?'

Yi-Han flinched.

A clear and pure singing voice began to be heard from afar.

'...This is underwater...'

Gainando's eyes next to him suddenly turned murky, and he began to make a happy expression as if enchanted.

Yi-Han was shocked and slapped Gainando's cheek.

"Professor!!!!"

A Black Tortoise Tower student who had entered from the other side ran out in terror.

He was so startled that he couldn't even think of wiping off the moisture.

"What is this!! That... that... what is that in front of the cave!!"

"Oh. You found it now?"

Professor Bungaegor, who was sitting, answered with a slight joy.

"You have to let us go into the cave!!"

"No matter how rough the sea is, there's no way the exam is to just go into the cave and quickly bring one out. Of course you have to overcome it."

Professor Bungaegor rather spoke as if asking what he was talking about.

In preparation for this exam, Professor Bungaegor had released various aquatic creatures that were difficult to catch in the underwater cave.

The more agile, better at hiding, and better at running away the creature they caught, the higher the score.

Of course, it wasn't that easy to catch them. Naturally, there were also beings that interfered with the students.

"If... if I hadn't entered from the back, then...!"

The Black Tortoise Tower student, who was excited thinking he had found the underwater cave before others, was still dumbfounded.

Sirens!

The friends who had tried to enter the underwater cave after finding it were all enchanted and unable to come to their senses now. If it weren't for the ropes, they would have been captured.

"Wait. Calm down. You were caught off guard because you didn't know, but now that you know their identity, there will be a way to deal with them. If they're sirens..."

Sirens, hybrids of mermaids and spirits, carried ancient magic in their voices.

Mages had quite a bit of resistance to the unique abilities of monsters since they handled mana, but...

The singing voice of sirens was powerful enough to break through that.

However, once their identity was known, there was always a way to defend.

"Let's try going in with our ears plugged."

"Th... that's right! That should work."

Professor Bungaegor grinned. The students who saw that smile suddenly felt an ominous feeling.

...Is it not?

"The singing voice of sirens is not something that can be blocked out by plugging your ears. It enters through your whole body."

Anglago, who was from a coastal area, said.

Everyone was surprised by his intellectual appearance, which was unbelievable for a White Tiger Tower student.

"Th, then? Alpha. What should we do? How should we defend?"

"Huh?"

Anglago was flustered.

"Uh... the sailors do tie themselves to the deck of the ship, but..."

"...We have to go inside."

"Is conversation or persuasion impossible with them? What do sirens like?"

"As far as I know, they like to trick people..."

Splash!

Meanwhile, there was a sound of someone coming up from behind. Anglago and his friends unconsciously turned their heads.

Yi-Han was coming up holding a siren.

"..."

"..."