Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

“I’m grateful that everyone is so welcoming,”

The summoning magic professor, Milay, entered, looking puzzled by the heated atmosphere of the classroom.

Despite her old age, Professor Milay maintained a dignified posture, and anyone could tell that she came from one of the empire’s prestigious noble families.

Nobles from prestigious families stand out just by the way they walk and talk.

‘The Blue Dragon’s Tower folks are a bit of an exception now.’

Of course, the students who were locked in the tower and starving were exceptions. When people are pushed to their limits, whether they are nobles or not, dignity becomes irrelevant.

Professor Milay raised the monocle she had on one eye slightly, giving her the appearance of a very strict perfectionist.

However, Yi-Han was not intimidated.

Whoever it is, they would be better than Professor Bolady.

“Like dark magic, advanced summoning magic is also a subject you’ll start learning from the second year. However, the reason we’ve invited Professor Milay today is not only to provide a good opportunity to learn what summoning magic is, but also…”

-■■■■■

Right on cue, a summoned monster outside the classroom on the academy grounds let out a howl, causing the windows to shake.

“…Considering the current academy situation, I thought it might be helpful to all of you,”

“Professor Garcia…!”

“We only have you, Professor!”

Some students took out handkerchiefs and wiped away their tears.

Professor Milay observed this without any change in her expression. Then, she spoke in a stern voice.

“Professor Garcia, may I begin?”

“Yes. Please begin.”

“Anyone here interested in summoning magic?”

All the students raised their hands, including Yi-Han. It was unclear why Professor Mortem’s sad face flashed through his mind.

‘But summoning magic is truly wonderful magic.’

Just as dark magic encompasses various fields such as curses, elemental magic, summoning undead, and dark energy, summoning magic was a magic that contained numerous fields within it, despite its name suggesting summoning.

Summoning of elementals, demons, monsters, artifacts, magical objects, and so on.

As it encompassed a wide range of beings, from living creatures to inanimate objects (even overlapping with dark magic to some extent), its’ applications were boundless.

In old fairy tales, there were stories of a magician who had struggled throughout their life but eventually made a contract with an exceptional summoned monster. They lived happily ever after, even lazily.

As it was a fairytale, it could not be entirely believed, but to that extent, summoning magic was quite advantageous once it succeeded.

“Thank you. However, out of those present here, only one student may qualify to learn summoning magic.”

“….”

“….”

Professors were skilled at dampening students’ spirits from the start, and Professor Milay was no exception. She said sternly.

“I won’t sugarcoat it. Summoning magic is a challenging magic. It will be tough for students who don’t have the aptitude to attend this class in their second year.”

‘That’s a professor indeed.’

Yi-Han was impressed.

If a student lacks the ability to learn, you should either discourage them or wait. If you start asking, ‘Why can’t you learn? Can’t you learn even before you die?’ then that’s more like a gangster than a professor.

“Summoning magic cannot be learned with just superficial knowledge of one specific field. Summoning elementals requires a deep understanding of elemental studies, summoning demons requires a deep understanding of demonology, and summoning monsters requires a profound knowledge of monster studies. Even relatively easy inanimate object summoning is not simple. So, I’ll say it once again. If you lack confidence, it’s best not to have an interest in summoning magic.”

However, the students appeared even more determined.

Given their young age, how many would actually step back because it’s difficult? They all had expressions that showed even more enthusiasm.

Even if it were easy, it was the complete opposite of how students had hesitated with dark magic.

Professor Garcia whispered softly.

“They are all talented students. Will you give them a chance?”

Professor Milay nodded her head.

Whoosh!

As she waved her wand, suddenly, in front of all the students, magical scrolls appeared with intricate patterns inscribed on them.

These were not disposable scrolls that were torn to be activated but fixed scrolls with inscribed magic circles on their unfolded surfaces.

“You all must be taking ‘Fundamentals of Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic,’ right?”

“Yes,”

When they heard the name of the lecture, the students’ expressions changed as if they had chewed on a bitter frog.

There were very few students who could endure the torment of relentless numbers, which was neither magic nor a general education subject.

‘Honestly, it’s relatively easy.’

Yi-Han swallowed the thought because if his other friends had heard this, they would have picked up stones to throw at him.

“It’s too difficult!”

“Then there is no possibility for you to learn summoning magic.”

“….”

Gainando was about to say a word but closed his mouth when he realized he might end up failing in summoning magic.

“Everyone, pay attention to ‘Fundamentals of Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic.’ Creating magic circles and calculations are essential in summoning magic.”

Yi-Han tried reading the magic circle.

While Gainando was already lost and his eyes wandering aimlessly, Yi-Han could discern what type of magic circle was drawn.

‘I see. The mana is arranged like this…’

The magic circle was a kind of circuit.

While an electrical circuit carries current, a magic circle carries mana. That is the difference between them.

Anyone who has tried casting magic themselves would know, that casting magic was truly a difficult task.

The higher the difficulty of the magic, the more challenging it became.

First, the required amount of mana increased, and the structure of the magic that needed to be constructed with that mana becomes even more complex.

At a certain level, it was not just a saying that started to come up: ‘This is no longer a magic that humans can perform.’

What helped those wizards were the magic circles themselves.

In some parts there was a need to amplify, in others, it was reducing, in some, it was bypassing or blocking. It was an auxiliary tool that circulated mana in various forms to alleviate the burden on the wizard.

Calculating the mana circulating along the magic circle and visualizing it in his mind, Yi-Han suddenly had a glimpse of the illusion of a pen.

‘…What?’

In the world of magic, there was no such thing as coincidence.

Yi-Han realized that the pen he had just seen was related to this magic circle.

“This magic circle is a summoning magic circle for summoning a pen.”

“A pen?”

“A pen…?”

The students were bewildered.

They wore expressions as if to say, ‘Why bother summoning a pen when it’s not even a dagger?’

Yi-Han shook his head slightly.

‘They seem ungrateful.’

Are they going to take responsibility if Professor Milay clears the desk and throws a demon summoning circle, saying, ‘Summon it successfully if you don’t want to die’?

Fortunately, Professor Milay was different from Professor Bolady. The professor spoke in the same stern tone without any change.

“It’s a magic pen composed of mana. Students won’t be able to keep it summoned for long, so for now, just focus on the summoning.”

As soon as the professor’s words ended, the students, wielding their wands, activated the magic circle with determination.

“Pen, come forth!”

“Magic pen, please come forth!”

With the incantation, magic circles burned and scrolls tore apart in various places.

While designed to withstand mana, these magic circles could easily be damaged and destroyed due to a wizard’s mistake.

As it was something she had expected, Professor Milay swung her wand.

The broken magic circles disappeared, and new ones appeared.

It had been about 30 minutes.

Students who had summoned pen-like objects began to appear from various places.

The Blue Dragon Tower had the most numbers of successful students like Yonaire, Adenart, Asan, and others, while the Black Tortoise Tower and the Phoenix Tower also had a fair number of students coming out.

The White Tiger Tower had the fewest numbers, but still, a few talented students managed to summon pen-like objects.

Seeing the students beaming with joy, Professor Garcia let out a bitter smile.

‘It’s not something to be happy about.’

In reality, Professor Milay’s face remained as rigid as a sculpture, without the slightest hint of emotion.

The difficulty of summoning magic lay precisely in these aspects.

‘Summoning something similar’ is just as good as failing!

Elemental magic could be considered a success as long as you achieved it, even with differences in size or form. However, summoning magic was the opposite.

If it’s not perfect, it’s meaningless.

It was inevitable. Since the study involved giving will to the summoned beings, even a slight mistake could result in the summoned beings attacking the wizard.

Fortunately, it’s just a pen…

“Dar… Dargard, this rascal, attacked me with a magic pen!!”

“It’s a misunderstanding, Gainando! The pen moved on its own! Besides, it’s just a pen!”

“It’s an imperial assassination! An imperial assassination! Yi-Han, help me!”

“It’s just a pen, for heaven’s sake! What are the odds of dying from a pen!”

Of course, that pen alone was enough to cause quite a commotion.

***

When Alpha Family’s Angrago from the White Tiger Tower saw the sleek pen design, he felt proud.

He felt that perhaps his social status had left him behind in various other forms of magic, but summoning magic was a bit different.

He could be even more exceptional than Jijel.

“!”

Angrago was extremely happy when he saw Yi-Han sitting in front of him.

In front of Yi-Han, there was nothing, not even a quill.

For the first time, Angrago thought he might be able to break the pride of the Wardanaz family, the wicked young archmage. So, he called for Yi-Han.

“Wardanaz. Did you fail at summoning by any chance?”

“….”

“Wardanaz! Don’t ignore me! Look at my pen!”

Yonaire, who was sitting beside him, responded instead.

“Didn’t you have a pen at home? Showing off your pen?”

“Look at my pen here…”

Boom!!!

A roar broke out. Angrago thought for a moment that perhaps Yi-Han had cast dark magic on him and fell to the ground in fear.

Magic pens began to appear above Yi-Han’s magic circle.

“….”

Yi-Han looked at the floating pens with a sour expression.

‘So I failed.’

Even though Angrago was shouting something from behind, Yi-Han could not hear. He was that focused.

Channeling magic into a fragile magic circle to complete the summoning spell.

While it was simply a difficult task for other students, it was excruciatingly challenging for Yi-Han.

Just a slight loss of control, and the surge of mana could tear the magic circle apart.

That was why when others started, Yi-Han had already given up halfway.

‘Summoning magic might not be suited to my aptitude after all.’

Perhaps fate had something else in store for Yi-Han, like being a battle mage, much like Professor Bolady.

…But surprisingly, the magic circle didn’t break.

It surprised even Yi-Han himself.

‘Was I capable of this?’

A perfect understanding of the magic circle.

And recently, (forcefully) improved mana control.

When these two came together, Yi-Han succeeded in not destroying the magic circle.

It was an astonishing result.

‘Oh, right. The assignment was about summoning.’

Overwhelmed by the ability to channel magic without destroying the magic circle, Yi-Han continued to send mana into the circle until he snapped out of it.

The assignment was not about not breaking the magic circle, but about summoning a magic pen.

“Come forth, magic pen.”

Yi-Han mumbled low while waving his wand.

Boom!!!

At that moment, with a loud noise, magic pens started to appear above the magic circle.

Surprised by this unusual and unprecedented failure, Professor Garcia turned her gaze to the side.

Professor Milay’s eyebrows seemed to rise like that for the first time.

“It’s because that student, Yi-Han, naturally has a lot of mana, so such a failure…”

In response to Garcia’s excuse, Professor Milay reverted her expression to its usual state and calmly spoke.

“That’s not a failure, Professor Garcia.”

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