Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 839

The insane duplicate looked at the disciple with utter disappointment.

Originally, there was nothing particularly strange about mages incorporating meaningful symbols from their lives into the magic they created.

Newly developed magic left traces behind more clearly and for far longer than any bard’s song.

Naturally, mages often embedded symbols that held personal meaning within those traces.

I don’t think magic necessarily lasts longer than songs, though.

Most ancient songs had vanished, but the same was true for magic.

Really famous songs had still survived into the modern Empire…

Personally, I think “Einroguard Is So Great” could easily survive another thousand years.

Still, instead of pointing out reality, Lee Han chose flattery.

The insane duplicate was already looking at him like he was pathetic. There was no benefit in provoking it further.

“Ah. So that’s what it meant. I didn’t realize. It must have been a very precious tree.”

It was a cherished companion from the days when the royalty was still young.

Gainando would probably have blurted out, How can a tree be your friend?, but Lee Han understood.

Sometimes things without life made better companions than living people.

Just as Imperial gold coins were to Lee Han, that tree called Dendrobium must have been to the insane duplicate.

Amazing. So even the Skull Principal once had something he cherished and loved?

Perhaps it was because it was a tree.

At least trees did not say stupid things.

“Does that tree still exist?”

Lee Han briefly considered visiting it someday and showing it the Echo Stone if it remained somewhere within Einroguard.

No matter how insane the duplicate was, perhaps seeing an old companion would improve the mood a little.

Impossible, fool. The tree burned down.

Lee Han froze in horror after accidentally stepping on a land mine while trying to flatter it.

“…I’m sorry.”

Did you burn it down, fool? Stop apologizing for pointless things.

Fortunately, the insane duplicate did not become angry over the question.

Instead, it abruptly fell silent and stared into the distance, as if recalling something.

“Are you alright?”

Yes. I was remembering old times. Strange. That rarely happens.

The reaction was understandable.

The Skull Principal was originally an undead lich, and the insane duplicate had split away from that existence as a kind of thought-form.

Since it was a being governed more by laws and principles than by a soul dwelling in flesh, blood, and bone, memories of the past rarely surfaced.

Still, it’s not impossible to understand. People do say old age makes you dwell on the past more.

I definitely learned magic from dragons. Hm… I cannot remember their names. Do you know any, fool?

“…Not really.”

Lee Han answered stiffly, shocked by the unimaginable masters the Skull Principal had once studied under.

You do not even know the names of dragons? Not even one? Barbaric beyond belief.

“These days… dragons are difficult to find. Most of them have supposedly left.”

Lee Han was far from an expert on dragons, but even he knew the species was rapidly vanishing.

Unlike ancient times, when dragons supposedly flew across the skies in groups, nowadays one would have to search the deepest chambers of the Imperial Palace just to glimpse one.

And even that dragon would probably abandon its physical form and flee into another dimension if not for the vile and evil mages who restrained it.

Unbelievable. I never imagined the Skull Principal actually learned magic from dragons.

Lee Han had always known the Skull Principal was an absurdly talented archmage even in youth, but he had never once considered where that magic came from or who had taught it.

The man was such an ancient, mythical figure that Lee Han honestly felt he could have accepted hearing the Skull Principal simply fell from the sky already looking like a skeleton.

Suddenly, Lee Han grew curious.

What kind of past had twisted someone into a monster like the Skull Principal?

And come to think of it, the insane duplicate was probably the only witness who truly knew the Skull Principal’s past.

The Skull Principal could rewrite history even for the oldest Death Knight, but deception like that would not work against the insane duplicate.

Good. I’ll ask carefully.

If he could uncover even one weakness hidden in the Skull Principal’s past, it would be slight compensation for all the suffering he would undoubtedly endure this year.

“Was learning magic from dragons common in your era, [N O V E L I G H T] Master?”

The question sounded insane, but customs varied from age to age.

Modern Imperial mages studied at Einroguard. Ancient mages might have studied inside dragons’ lairs.

Or perhaps they learned while living there as emergency food…

Impossible. Dragons do not casually teach magic to mortals.

“Then how did you learn it, Master?”

Because I was acknowledged as qualified.

“Ah. I see.”

Since the insane duplicate constantly rambled about noble bloodlines and royal dignity whenever bored, Lee Han responded indifferently.

The dragons must have been tricked. Teaching magic to someone like this.

Gainando, Princess Yukbeltire, and various other nobles had already proven that royal blood did not automatically make someone trustworthy.

“Then did other royalty learn magic too?”

Fool. I said qualification, not royal blood. How long do you intend to remain this dense?

“What? Then what qualification?”

The qualification to use magic honorably. Is that difficult to understand?

“No. I understand.”

You understand nothing.

“!”

Lee Han was startled that the insane duplicate had somehow read his thoughts.

How did it know?

The insane duplicate sighed in frustration and explained.

Fool. Imagine you are the prince of a small kingdom.

“Yes.”

The neighboring nations possess overwhelming military power. Heavy armored legions equipped with magic armor and enchanted spears. Combat mages who imprison demigods inside mage towers and exploit their power. What would you do?

Is this from the Three Kingdoms period?

Lee Han recalled fragments from old Imperial history texts.

Throughout the continent’s history, entire eras had vanished without records, while others remained preserved.

The Three Kingdoms period belonged to one of the oldest surviving ages.

Strictly speaking, there had not only been three kingdoms.

Three powerful nations merely survived until the end. Countless smaller kingdoms had risen and vanished without leaving records behind.

“Wouldn’t I study magic as hard as possible and use that power to strengthen the kingdom’s defenses?”

Better than saying you would invade first, but still wrong. Dragons would never teach someone like that.

Lee Han tilted his head.

He still did not understand.

“Then what should I do? Ah. You mean attack first?”

That really does sound like the Skull Principal.

Come to think of it, it was exactly the kind of answer that suited him.

But the insane duplicate looked at Lee Han with even deeper contempt.

Are you serious?

“…No.”

The royalty swore that they would master the ultimate principles of magic and erase the bloodshed and scars of the continent. The dragons acknowledged the worth of that oath…

“…!”

Lee Han was genuinely stunned by the unexpected answer.

Come to think of it, he had heard something similar once during the story of Gonadaltes’s downfall, yet it had completely slipped his mind.

No… I remembered it. I just couldn’t imagine it.

Because the answer felt utterly incompatible with both the Skull Principal and the insane duplicate.

Did he deceive the dragons?

Do not assume I deceived dragons. Dragons are not deceived, fool.

“How could I possibly think something so disrespectful?”

Feeling a stab of guilt, Lee Han hurriedly changed the subject.

“But Master. Even if magic reaches the absolute pinnacle, is something like that truly possible?”

Even Gonadaltes’s downfall had ultimately ended in failure.

And if anyone else had succeeded, the continent would not look the way it did now. Einroguard especially would probably have vanished long ago.

That is unknowable.

This really is difficult.

Given the insane duplicate’s usual personality, Lee Han expected a confident declaration that it was absolutely possible.

Saying unknowable was practically an admission that it might be impossible.

Indeed, this was not a problem magic alone could easily solve.

But that is not the important part of the story. The royalty swore before dragons, and the dragons respected the resolve within that oath. That is why magic was taught… though the kingdom perished.

“I see… Wait. What?”

?

“Didn’t you just say the kingdom perished?”

I said the kingdom perished. I have been wondering this for some time now, but are your ears defective—

“No. I heard you properly. I just didn’t understand.”

Then your brain must be defective…

“Why did the kingdom perish? You had already learned the dragons’ magic.”

Did I say I learned magic to defend the kingdom? Or to erase the bloodshed and scars of the continent? Fool. When exactly do you intend to become intelligent?

I don’t think this is an intelligence problem.

It was not Lee Han’s comprehension that was lacking.

The story itself was absurd.

Suppressing his disbelief, Lee Han organized his thoughts.

“So, Master… you swore an oath before the dragons, learned magic from them, but because of that you did nothing even while your kingdom was collapsing?”

Not quite. By the time I returned after learning magic, the kingdom had already perished.

The insane duplicate explained calmly.

After leaving to seek out dragons and study magic powerful enough to end the continent’s suffering, it eventually returned—

Only to discover the kingdom already destroyed.

While the kingdom had been focused on defending against its hostile eastern neighbor, the supposedly friendly southern nation launched a surprise attack and annihilated it almost instantly.

Nothing remained except the burned ruins of the royal palace and the remnants of ancient trees.

“…Don’t tell me you never even took revenge.”

I did not.

“Why not!?”

Because revenge would not bring back the fallen kingdom!

“…”

Lee Han felt a colder chill than when the insane duplicate ranted like a lunatic.

Demanding magical inheritance like an eccentric archmage would have felt more human.

This was something far stranger.

No… how can a person think like that?

Lee Han was not a violent person, but if he had returned after mastering magic only to find his kingdom destroyed by enemy armies, he honestly could not imagine what he might do.

The royalty’s kingdom destroyed several kingdoms as well. The kingdom that destroyed the royalty’s kingdom was later destroyed in turn. A mage must pursue more constructive choices instead of becoming trapped within such meaningless cycles, fool.

“Then what exactly is that constructive choice?”

As I already said. To grasp the ultimate principles of magic and erase the bloodshed and scars of the continent. The royalty failed. But if you become an excellent disciple… and if you someday produce an even greater disciple than yourself… perhaps one day it may be achieved.

“…Couldn’t I just learn ten fifth-circle spells instead?”

Faced with the ancient archmage’s absurd expectations, Lee Han instinctively blurted out nonsense.

***

If it’s impossible, just say it’s impossible.

Lee Han grumbled inwardly as he walked.

The insane duplicate had flown into a rage over Lee Han’s comment and spent an entire hour berating him afterward.

It should have just cursed him normally instead.

“Ah. Professor Garcia.”

“Student Lee Han. Welcome. But where is Lady Ragesa? I heard she had been following you around while observing lectures.”

Professor Garcia tilted her head when Lee Han arrived alone.

The professors had apparently already heard rumors that the old pirate woman had been trailing Wardanaz around to observe classes.

Naturally, Professor Garcia had mentally prepared in advance.

“…She said something urgent came up.”

“…Don’t tell me she skipped because my lecture is boring?”

Seeing the shock on the disciple’s face, Professor Garcia looked genuinely wounded.