Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 681
Since it was, without a doubt, his own doing, Lee Han dealt with the countless requests for handshakes all by himself.
“Are you an Einroguard student?”
“Yes.”
“Are you a third-year?”
“No.”
At Lee Han’s answer, people nodded on their own.
Then that means fourth-year!
Only after listening to several mages introduce themselves—and even receiving a suggestion or two that they should do joint research sometime—was Lee Han finally able to sit back down.
Diret suddenly remembered something and asked,
“Wait. Where’s Princess Yukbeltire?”
“Why are you looking for Verdus’s— no, why are you looking for Princess Yukbeltire?”
‘Was I about to say Verdus’s?’
Diret found it mildly irritating, but it wasn’t important enough to dwell on.
“If Princess Yukbeltire saw what just happened, Princess Yukbeltire would know you’re smart. Where is Princess Yukbeltire? You must’ve seen Princess Yukbeltire, right?”
“Um… Princess Yukbeltire is over there getting ready, but I don’t think you saw.”
Lee Han spotted the upperclassman in the corner of the hall, talking with a few other mages, and answered.
The type of mage who, no matter what kind of presentation was going on behind, focused only on personal magic—an unmistakably Professor Verdus type of mage.
“Ah, seriously!”
Diret let out a groan.
Unlike Coholty, this underclassman was a real chance to prove—properly—that there was someone genuinely smart!
“I’m fine, Diret.”
“I’m not fine, though?!”
Diret glared at the underclassman, who had been saying nothing but clueless things since earlier.
“Now that I think about it, I’m getting mad. Underclassman. Even if someone tells you to stay put at school, you still jump into every ridiculous, impossible incident you can find.”
“It’s not that—”
Lee Han tried to protest that it was never intentional, but Diret ignored it.
“Then why are you acting all quiet and well-behaved in front of Princess Yukbeltire? Show what you can do!”
“No, you’re the upperclassman—”
Fundamentally, Lee Han had a tendency to hold back in front of people with a lot that could be extracted. The fact that Professor Verdus was still alive was proof enough.
Professors, of course, and even upperclassmen—you never knew when, as a second-year, you might face them and need help. He couldn’t afford to be arrogant.
“I’m an upperclassman too, you know? Underclassman. This is your first order from an upperclassman. Land a hit on Princess Yukbeltire.”
Diret, gone delinquent, gave the instruction in a tone that made it clear refusal would not be tolerated.
Of course, from Lee Han’s perspective, it was an extremely awkward demand.
“Mm. Even if you say that, I don’t have the ability to do that… Do I at least get to attack Princess Yukbeltire from behind?”
“……”
“I was kidding.”
“…Don’t joke with that face…”
*****
Princess Yukbeltire turned toward the commotion behind.
The reaction was hotter than usual.
Mages spoke excitedly about the magic that had just been shown, flailing their hands in the air as they explained the movements.
It was the kind of reaction that only came when something truly impressive appeared.
‘What is it?’
Princess Yukbeltire had, of course, looked through the exchange gathering catalog, so Princess Yukbeltire had a rough idea of what kinds of magic would be presented.
There wasn’t supposed to be anything that drew a reaction like that…
“Princess Yukbeltire. Preparations are complete.”
“Good.”
Princess Yukbeltire checked the artifact to be used for the presentation.
It was a precise, complex artifact, so the preparation process took quite a bit of work.
“I’m genuinely moved. I never thought I’d get to see such magic…”
“It’s still unfinished. Are you flattering me?”
“N-no.”
The mages who knew the princess’s personality cleared their throats and adjusted their clothing.
But the artifact in front of them really was an incredible piece of work.
From the outside it looked like an ordinary pendant, but inside that pendant, hundreds of spells were woven together with meticulous precision.
And all of those spells were arranged for a single purpose.
To artificially create an isolated dimension from scratch!
Pulling power or summons from another dimension connected to reality was one of the widely known methods in magic, so that part wasn’t especially shocking—but Princess Yukbeltire had taken it one step further.
What if the dimension itself was made artificially?
Of course, there were practical limits, so only a very small dimension would be possible, but to an outstanding mage, that alone was enough.
It meant briefly holding a world in one’s hands—a world where a mage could set new rules.
When contacting an existing dimension, you needed all kinds of complicated searching and negotiation, but this required none of that.
If it were possible to create something like “a dimension overflowing with enormous mana,” and succeed in fixing it in place…
That artifact could draw on almost limitless mana.
“An artificial-dimension artifact!”
“Oh, so it really is being presented today…!”
“?”
As the mages around him stirred even before anything began, Lee Han wondered what was going on.
Diret closed the book and explained Princess Yukbeltire’s work.
“…It’s roughly like that. Since it’s such a difficult and unstable line of research, it won’t conveniently work the way I just described. If it’s a dimension that spews out enormous mana, then maintaining it and creating a passage would be just as hard. But even taking that into account, it’s still truly impressive research. I was honestly worried Princess Yukbeltire wouldn’t be able to present here this time. Looks like I was worrying for nothing.”
Seeing that the friend’s work had reached a presentable level, Diret let out a relieved breath.
Princess Yukbeltire had a strong interest in dimensional theory, and had been continuously trying to fuse dimensional theory into enchantment magic to create new results.
Since it was such a high-difficulty field, it had been worrying…
“Underclassman. But more importantly, doesn’t it look like there’s something you can nitpick?”
“Pardon?”
“You have to nitpick. When Princess Yukbeltire presents, find some flaw and point it out!”
“……”
Friendship was friendship, but Diret fully intended to repay, separately, the insult the dark magic group had taken.
“How am I supposed to nitpick something that high-level?”
“Underclassman?”
“Yes.”
“You can do it and still have plenty left over. Hurry up and find something.”
“No—”
Lee Han felt wronged.
He couldn’t understand why Diret thought that way about him.
Lee Han was a first-year underclassman too!
Still, since an upperclassman had ordered it, Lee Han pretended to stare down the artifact.
At first, with so many mages and so many spells hanging in the air around them, it was hard to distinguish the mana, but after a little time, the separation started to become clear.
‘So that’s how it is. Up to here is the mana the mages in the audience have been leaking. And from over there, that’s the mana of that artifact.’
Lee Han separated the mana in the space with a sensitivity that would have made the surrounding mages gape in horror if they heard it.
Finally, when he could feel only the artifact’s mana cleanly, Lee Han slowly checked the flow.
‘Incredible!’
The artifact’s structure reminded him of a rocket that gains acceleration by continuously igniting propulsion.
Mana accelerated in the first magic circle, accelerated again in the second, accelerated again in the third…
In that way, it amplified mana’s force to an extreme, obtaining the driving power necessary to create an artificial dimension.
To create an artifact like this, you not only had to chain those magic circles together, you also had to calculate the shock and heat generated in the process.
Compared to all of that, the formula for actually creating the dimension after securing the driving power almost felt easy.
Without realizing it, Lee Han muttered,
“How does someone like Professor Verdus make an artifact like this…”
“……”
Diret looked at Lee Han with complicated eyes.
Hearing the friend ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ described that way by an underclassman stung a little.
“Ah. Diret. I think I found a flaw.”
“Oh. What is it?”
Diret’s ears perked up, brightening.
It was the perfect chance to prove, unmistakably, how smart the underclassman was—in front of Princess Yukbeltire.
“I followed the mana flow inside and made a simple prediction, and from the middle onward the magic circle twists slightly, so it can’t draw a perfect circle and instead completes as an ellipse.”
“…?”
Diret became confused, unable to understand how this underclassman could feel the mana of an artifact that far away.
It wasn’t just the artifact’s mana, either—it was the mana flow inside the artifact!
“Underclassman, how did you feel the mana flow inside the artifact? It’s far away. And there are other mages around it too—”
“I focused.”
“…Ah. R-right. Focus. Focus is important…”
It was such a textbook answer that Diret actually lost words.
Sure. Of course you’d have to focus to feel mana!
“Wait. That’s not what matters right now. I’m curious how you even drew a prediction from the mana flow, but—Underclassman, you’re saying it completes as an ellipse?”
“If you keep layering the flow and tracing it, it seems like it’ll become an ellipse.”
Diret’s face turned grave.
Since Diret had been helping with Princess Yukbeltire’s magic from the side, Diret knew exactly what kind of result came out if this spell completed as an ellipse.
Instead of producing a small artificial dimension, it would create a dimensional rift and connect to some other uncertain dimension.
If it connected to a relatively safe dimension, that would be fortunate, but if it connected to a dangerous one, things would become a headache.
“We have to stop it.”
The moment Diret rose, the artifact began operating. Diret shouted in shock.
“Why are you starting already?! There was supposed to be time left!”
“We asked for it!”
The mages at the front answered with bright smiles.
For a spell this incredible, they needed to allocate even more time. That way, the mages could learn more, couldn’t they?
Of course, from Diret’s perspective, it was an infuriating kindness.
“Princess Yukbeltire, stop! It’s not a perfect circle—it’s an ellipse!”
“!”
Princess Yukbeltire looked at Diret with eyes full of alarm.
That wasn’t something that could be brushed off lightly.
“What nonsense is this!”
“We clearly checked it. There wasn’t any abnormality!”
The mages managing and inspecting the exchange gathering’s presentation spells shouted as if it were absurd.
Not only had they rigorously managed it after the princess submitted it, they had also finished a round of inspection right before it began.
And now some mage with a hat pulled low was claiming there was a problem—it was ridiculous.
“Stop ruining the exchange gathering and sit down!”
“No, it’s a safety issue. Isn’t that too much?”
When Lee Han stared in disbelief, Diret sighed.
“Mage towers and guilds get touchy because crazy mages keep picking fights over nonsense!”
“……”
As Lee Han fell silent upon learning the truth, Princess Yukbeltire asked,
“Diret. What’s your basis? You haven’t even touched this artifact in the last few days.”
“This underclassman felt it. The mana flow starts drifting partway through.”
“……”
“……”
As the air suddenly turned icy, Diret realized the mistake too late.
‘I should’ve at least said I noticed it…!’
Diret had blurted it out without thinking, because Diret wanted to prove the underclassman was smart.
If Diret had said Diret noticed it, Princess Yukbeltire might have believed it.
“Diret… I truly don’t understand whether you have to go this far just to ‘prove’ the dark magic group’s underclassmen. It feels like you’ve only proven my claim.”
“N-no… This one really does notice things! And it is drift! Stop it, even now!”
At Diret’s words, even the mages who had praised Lee Han earlier reacted a bit awkwardly.
“No matter how talented a mage may be, that sounds too absurd…”
“Is it bluffing? Now that I think about it, that earlier spell was also a bit too outrageous.”
“Is that even possible?”
‘This is driving me insane!’
Diret felt like a two-eyed person who’d fallen into a one-eyed country.
Too outstanding to be persuasive—what kind of situation was this?!
“Sing of thunder for me, spirit.”
“?!”
When Diret looked over, the underclassman was calmly reciting an incantation.
With the same attitude as if all the other mages talking about impossible lies and ridiculous bluffs didn’t matter at all.
“Thunder and lightning! Even the bell-keeper guarding the ruined kingdom’s bell tower, and the watchman in the mast of a tiny boat wandering the vast sea, fear your name.”
As a spirit far beyond what could be compared to ordinary spirits tried to open a dimensional gate and reveal itself, the mages present sensed the omen and went pale.
At the same time, the artifact let out a grotesque sound and began malfunctioning. The mana ring inside the pendant warped more and more into an ellipse.
“!!”
“Th-that…!”
“The one who has contracted you calls you with the rightful qualification!”
The moment Perkuntra revealed itself, Lee Han sprang forward.
