Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 836

This guy… didn’t he just rewrite history because nobody alive knows what his past was actually like?

Whether it was the Skull Principal himself or his projection, both shared one remarkable trait:

Neither felt the slightest shame when declaring, “I was truly exceptional, even in my youth.”

And annoyingly enough, several of the Skull Principal’s spells sounded convincing enough to support those claims.

Take <Gonadaltes’s Downfall>, for example.

Hadn’t the insane duplicate described it as magic created to eliminate the world’s suffering?

But after seeing this Miniature World spell, Lee Han was beginning to suspect the Skull Principal had manipulated the story slightly.

Wasn’t it more likely that he created the spell to dump pain onto other people first, then later wrapped it up in lofty nonsense about “saving the world from suffering”?

Otherwise, there was no way a Miniature World spell like Dendrobium would have such horrifying effects.

The laws of the world change depending on the flower’s color… Simple, but terrifyingly powerful.

Normally, Miniature World magic was not inherently combat-oriented.

In fact, combat-specialized Miniature Worlds were relatively uncommon. Mages were not originally a profession built around direct fighting.

Even Diret’s Pentagramaton existed primarily as a research environment for dark magic.

In that sense, Dendrobium resembled the tree it symbolized—versatile and adaptable.

Black flowers nullified physical attacks.

Red flowers absorbed the essence of nearby enemies.

And blue flowers…

“!”

When the red blossom vanished and a blue bud bloomed at the branch’s tip, Lee Han’s eyes widened.

What did blue do?

Lee Han’s reaction stemmed from pure curiosity.

From Saratán’s perspective, however, it felt like an execution notice.

The red flower alone had nearly killed him.

What kind of monstrous effect would follow after it transformed into blue?

Under the pressure of imminent death, the intelligence of Saratán, the Victorious Wooden King, suddenly skyrocketed.

After all, a spirit capable of surviving while sealed inside a first-year student’s staff clearly possessed a flexible sense of dignity.

And the same applied to intelligence.

When necessary, Saratán could think very quickly indeed.

Having learned the hard way that brute force alone would not crush this mage, Saratán hastily drew upon the fragments of authority still remaining within him.

His body was sluggish from the incomplete seal, and several authorities remained restrained.

Worse, the red flowers continued draining away his essence.

Still, as befitted a former king, Saratán managed to force one authority into action.

The authority of grafting.

Instantly, his gigantic body collapsed like a rotting tree and disintegrated into splinters.

He was not dead.

Just as plants could split off pieces of themselves and bloom anew elsewhere, Saratán had already planted another body nearby.

Normally, when the main body perished, all projections vanished with it.

But the authority of grafting bypassed that rule.

As long as a fragment remained somewhere, life continued regenerating endlessly.

“Huff… huff… I almost died!”

Far away, Saratán rose again, breathing heavily.

Though he had escaped the domain of that dreadful spell, the damage he sustained was severe.

You bastard! Today I’ll split your head into two! I’ll crush both of them!

Still clearly furious over being humiliated by a mage he had underestimated, Saratán roared threats while trembling with rage.

This time, however, he did not charge forward recklessly.

He had finally realized he could genuinely be injured if he acted carelessly.

Grow!

Saplings erupted around him.

Each one rapidly twisted and expanded until they resembled miniature versions of Saratán himself.

The authority of grafting was not merely about survival.

Applied properly, it could create an entire army of projections.

That Miniature World spell had seemed invincible at first glance.

But no magic existed without weaknesses.

And Saratán had already figured out how to break Dendrobium.

I’ll grind you down little by little! Hit-and-run tactics! You hear me?! Hey! Mage!

If he continued attacking through projections, eventually the Miniature World would exhaust itself first.

Nullifying physical attacks.

Absorbing enemy essence remotely.

Maintaining powers like those could not possibly be cheap.

Your mana… your mana…

No matter how much mana you have, how long can you keep this up—

Saratán abruptly froze mid-rant.

Wait a second.

That mage bastard was…?

Flutter!

The Black Book seemed entirely unconcerned that Saratán had escaped and was preparing a counterattack.

Having already deployed one Miniature World, it behaved as though no matter how wildly the imprisoned spirit struggled, everything remained firmly under control.

“…Gah!”

Lee Han screamed.

The same sensation of catastrophic mental overload struck him again.

Unbelievably, the Black Book was trying to cast another Miniature World.

This… insane bastard…!

Lee Han had already coughed blood once from the strain, yet the Black Book showed absolutely no hesitation.

Truly, it was the Skull Principal’s book through and through.

It possessed almost supernatural indifference toward pain.

Alongside the spell came <Gonadaltes’s Downfall>, transferring part of the burden directly onto Saratán again.

Feeling the sickening sensation return, Saratán froze while preparing his army.

Hey! Stop! What are you doing?! Wait, wait, wait—hey!!

Trying desperately to interrupt the spell somehow, Saratán babbled frantically, all dignity long forgotten.

But the spell had already completed.

Miniature World, Basilios!

A simple crown appeared above Lee Han’s head.

It was small and unimpressive, woven from bronze, copper, and twisted branches.

Saratán stared at it for a moment before bursting into laughter.

What the hell is that?! What kind of pathetic crown is that?!

The crowns worn by Spirit Kings to establish authority represented the pinnacle of luxury.

They were forged from the rarest treasures across countless dimensions.

And this thing?

No gemstones.

No gold.

No silver.

What kind of impoverished king wore a crown like that?

STAB!

At that exact moment, every projection surrounding Saratán drove its weapon into him simultaneously.

The completely unexpected betrayal left Saratán unable to scream properly.

Even granting every possible concession, ordinary projections could sometimes be stolen or interfered with by sufficiently skilled mages.

A master mage could seize control of enemy summons or projections.

But these were not ordinary projections.

They were manifestations born from the authority of grafting itself.

In practical terms, they were extensions of Saratán’s own body.

Yet somehow they had been stolen away without him even noticing.

Y-you bastard…! This isn’t over yet…!

Saratán tried to move his sluggish body in fury—

Only to freeze again in shock.

His body refused to obey him.

As though he had become someone else’s servant.

…I see now.

Thanks to <Gonadaltes’s Downfall>, Lee Han’s mind had recovered enough from the overload to think clearly again.

Compared to Dendrobium, the effect of Basilios was much simpler.

Domination over enemies within its domain.

Simple.

Direct.

Terrifyingly powerful.

There must be conditions attached to it.

Otherwise, there would have been no reason to weaken the target first with Dendrobium.

Hey! Let me go! Let me go! I said let me go!

Now completely helpless, Saratán could only scream uselessly.

The projections under Lee Han’s control wrapped tightly around the spirit and restrained him completely.

“…Wait. So what am I supposed to do with him now?”

Lee Han wondered whether he should simply finish the spirit off entirely.

But if I do that, won’t the staff break too?

Destroying Saratán completely would likely destroy the staff itself.

The Black Book immediately fluttered and issued instructions.

“Urgh! Uuugh! Kraaagh! KRAAAAGH! Crack! Aaaaagh! I was wrong! This one was wrong!”

Saratán’s enormous body began compressing inward as though trapped beneath an invisible press.

“Please spare me, Mage! I was wrong!”

“…Is it really okay for a Spirit King to behave like this even after being sealed?”

Lee Han looked genuinely unsettled.

Granted, this was his first time meeting a fallen and sealed Spirit King, but still…

Even if Perkuntra became weakened, I don’t think she’d ever act like this.

For the first time in a while, Lee Han found himself sincerely respecting Perkuntra’s dignity.

When he saw her again later, he should at least thank her properly.

The Black Book fluttered as though shrugging.

The infinite dimensions contained all kinds of beings, after all.

“AAAAAAAH! Ouch! Aggh! Agagak!”

Saratán screamed at the top of his lungs.

He’s even more dramatic than Gainando.

To be fair, the agony Saratán was experiencing could not remotely be compared to Gainando’s usual suffering.

Having your entire body forcibly compressed was horrifying beyond description.

Even so, Saratán still felt absurdly overdramatic.

“How long is this going to continue?”

The Black Book pretended not to hear him and continued compressing Saratán over and ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) over.

Only after the arrogant wood spirit burst into tears of sap and repeatedly apologized for his behavior did the torment finally stop.

Then the Black Book compressed Saratán one final time—

And transformed him back into the shape of a staff.

“!”

Lee Han stared in shock.

The reconstructed staff looked completely different from before.

Not only had the material and coloration changed, but the entire shape itself had transformed.

The original staff had been simple and straight.

Now it resembled a twisting spiral with several empty gaps running through its structure.

It looked almost as though two branches were meant to intertwine together, except one side remained unfinished.

Ah. I get it now.

Lee Han finally understood.

The altered material and color came from the branch itself.

After all, why else would Saratán suddenly awaken after remaining dormant for so long?

The branch from the Gwangmok King’s Forest possessed enough power to rouse him even through the seal.

Fortunately, after borrowing the Black Book’s strength to reseal him properly, that issue no longer seemed dangerous.

As for the empty side of the spiral…

That must be where the black magnetite is supposed to go.

A staff formed from a spiral intertwining of black magnetite and a branch from the Gwangmok King’s Forest.

The intended purpose remained similar, but the final form differed greatly from Princess Yukbeltire’s recommendation.

“Was there a reason you specifically recommended this design? Senior Yukbeltire planned to use the branch as the core and coat it with black magnetite.”

The Black Book fluttered its pages with obvious disgust.

It radiated the energy of an elderly master silently judging modern youths for having no appreciation for elegance or aesthetics whatsoever.

***

“WAAAAAAAAAH!”

Gainando wailed loudly while pounding the ground.

Giselle pressed a hand to her forehead and spoke to the Blue Dragon Tower students.

“Make him stop. I can’t concentrate.”

“We already tried, Moradi.”

“At this point it sounds like someone died.”

“D-dead?! Waaaaah! Moradi, your true colors finally came out! You want Lee Han to die!”

Tears and snot streaming down his face, Gainando pointed accusingly at Giselle.

For a moment, Giselle was too stunned to respond.

“What kind of nonsense are you—”

“See?! SEE?! You’re flustered now!”

…Is she?

The Blue Dragon Tower students looked at Giselle suspiciously.

Come to think of it, it was strange that Moradi seemed genuinely worried about Lee Han collapsing.

Usually she just told him to die already.

“Everyone quiet down. You’re getting in the way of the potion-making.”

From the back, Yonair finally snapped.

Together with several friends from the alchemy school, Yonair had been trying to brew potions, but the endless crying up front was ruining everyone’s concentration.

Ratford whispered quietly beside Yonair.

“If permitted, I can secretly sprinkle some silence potion.”

Nearby, Salco and Nillia had already half-drawn their own silence potions as well, exchanging meaningful glances.

“No. Even if it’s Gainando, we still need to hear what the others are saying… Gainando, stop crying too. He just collapsed.”

Mid-sentence, Yonair hesitated.

Gainando, Adenart, and the other Blue Dragon Tower students were currently carrying the unconscious Lee Han toward their side.

…Huh. Weren’t they told not to get involved with the Imperial Family?

Yonair suddenly felt a wave of dread.

Lee Han already seemed catastrophically unlucky as it was.

And somehow, it looked like things were about to get even worse.