Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

Chapter 643

"What stupid thing are you saying?"

"Are you really a dark mage?!"

Yi-Han and Yonaire scolded him simultaneously.

It would have been better to just roll on the ground.

Mental magic could really cause serious injury if hit wrongly.

While they might see visions of the skull principal now, if affected by stronger mental magic, they might see visions of the skull principal giving them a sweater he knitted.

"It's better to roll on the ground!"

"It's easier to heal some skin injuries."

"Right. Even if you roll on muddy ground..."

"Or even if you break a bone or two!"

"Even if your clothes become tattered rags!"

"...I get it! I said I get it!"

Gainando got angry while still lying down.

He felt like his two friends might say 'It's better to break your neck' next.

'Even though I cast Ogonin's Light Fog...'

While scolding Gainando, Yi-Han was inwardly trying to sharply assess the situation.

Currently, Yi-Han's group was protected by several spells, one of which was .

A magic that spread an illusory mist around the group to disperse the focus of external enemies when they made ranged attacks.

But the guardians were throwing mental magic regardless.

It was clear that from the reliefs carved in this inner chamber to various magics were completely pinpointing the intruders' locations.

Sizzle!

Once again, a spark flew and burned a guardian.

Yonaire, who didn't need to compulsively restrain the intensity of flame magic like Yi-Han, magnificently shot flame arrows to knock down another guardian.

However, the guardians kept crawling out.

"Yonaire, save your mana! It doesn't seem like these guys have a set number!"

"Got it!"

Yonaire quickly took out a potion burning with a crimson light from her potion bag and threw it.

A wall of crimson flames rose up, blocking the enemies' advance. Meanwhile, Nillia put four arrows between her fingers and shot them one by one to deal with nearby enemies.

Gainando desperately called out to Arsil.

"Mr. Arsil! Mr. Arsil! We've got an accident!"

"Gainando. I told you not to stick your head out! Cold, float as a shield!"

Yi-Han cast another spell while scanning the surroundings.

'There it is!'

The largest and most elaborate sculpture among the reliefs carved on the tomb walls.

From there, a continuous flow of mana kept raising the guardians.

"Surge forth, Ferkuntra's..."

Crack!

The charged lightning struck the wall, leaving a thick trace.

However, surprisingly, the relief was unscathed. It had perfectly dispersed and absorbed the incoming mana.

"Ferkuntra, you useless!"

"??"

Yonaire was taken aback when her friend suddenly blamed the spirit.

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Yi-Han finished cursing the spirit and thought again.

What was the way to cut off that flow now?

'The mana hammer needs to approach. Even if I approach, if it's well-defended, I can't break it in a short time. Then...'

A method to interfere with the flow of magic from a distance while protecting his friends.

Although it seemed impossible, a method flashed through Yi-Han's mind for a moment.

-You must know about the concept of magic counters too.-

After getting involved with the magic criminal, the skull principal had imparted a few teachings in preparation for dealing with enemies.

One of them was the concept called counter, or reverse magic.

An efficient method of breaking magic without necessarily crushing it with enormous external force.

However, the skull principal had intensively trained him on only a few magics mainly used by magic criminals.

To begin with, reverse magic was so difficult that it couldn't be taught comprehensively.

It sounded grand when called reverse magic, but in the end, it was close to a methodology of deeply understanding and dismantling magic oneself.

Even among those, Yi-Han had crushed one or two with force...

'Can I do it?'

Yi-Han focused even more on the flow of mana flowing inside the inner chamber.

Then he heard a faint singing voice.

It was the melody coming from the chorus of darkness that had started when the door was opened earlier.

"!"

Yi-Han realized how the guardians found his friends' locations and easily cast illusion magic.

From the moment they heard that singing voice, the intruders were as good as caught in the magic.

"■■■

"!"

Gainando was flustered when his friend suddenly started singing in the incomprehensible language of the ancient kingdom.

"Yi-Han's gone crazy!! This is bad!!"

"No, you idiot!"

Yonaire kicked her stupid relative.

Yi-Han's eyes were perfectly sane. It was that look he showed when targeting White Tiger Tower students at Einroguard.

'Is it working?'

While singing along with the song he heard, Yi-Han checked the changes around him.

Once, twice, thrice...

As Yi-Han's song gradually became more similar to the tomb's chorus, the situation inside began to change.

The guardians couldn't find the students and started checking other places.

Nillia felt the fear that had been weighing on her mind diminishing. Gainando also looked around more calmly.

'It's working!'

Luck was on Yi-Han's side.

If it had been a different magic, he couldn't have cast reverse magic this easily.

However, the magic settled in this tomb was music magic, and Yi-Han had once before blocked a song with his own song.

It was the Siren's song.

When song clashed with song, their effects were bound to be reduced.

"■■■

Yi-Han felt the influence of the tomb's song diminishing more and more, and his song dominating the area.

For a mage to dominate an area didn't mean they bought that land with money. It meant the mage was firmly controlling that space with their mana and will.

Just as the skull principal had made Einroguard his domain, mages naturally had absolute advantage in their own domain.

'This song was a song of authority that dominated the area.'

It also explained why the guardians kept rising and accurately targeting the intruders' locations with illusion magic.

At some point, the tomb's song completely ended. At the same time, the guardians suddenly lost their power and disappeared.

"...Is, is it over?"

Gainando spoke with desperation in his disheveled state. Yi-Han nodded.

"Yeah. It seems so."

"I'm never going into a tomb again!"

'Can you say that while learning dark magic?'

Yi-Han approached the relief where the tomb's song had started. It was the largest and most elaborate sculpture, but unlike before, it had lost its color and become quiet.

Creak.

"?"

Yi-Han, who was examining it, was puzzled to see the carved musician shaking as if about to break off.

With a pop, the sculpture broke off and a rolled parchment fell out from inside.

'This is...?'

Although the letters and format were unknown to Yi-Han, he could tell it was a musical score.

'Is this the score recording that chorus from earlier?'

"!"

Arsil, who had been talking with the Hekatonkheires outside, was startled when he belatedly saw the chaotic state inside the tomb.

Gainando was covered in mud and his cloak was in tatters from whatever had happened.

The other friends...

...The other friends were relatively fine, but anyway, Gainando was covered in mud and his cloak was in tatters.

"Suddenly guardians popped out from inside... You were okay, brother? Well, since spirits protect you, I guess even that dark chorus probably didn't affect you much."

Arsil apologized sincerely to Yi-Han and his friends.

He had thought it would be a tomb without any particular incidents, so he didn't expect such an accident to occur.

"It's okay, brother. It couldn't be helped."

"I'm not okay..."

Gainando muttered while shaking off mud, but his friends ignored him, pretending not to hear.

When Yi-Han said that, Arsil smiled softly as if relieved.

Then he praised his younger brother.

"...No, brother. That's not right. Please don't say such nonsense."

Yi-Han immediately became serious.

Because Yi-Han reacted so strongly, Nillia became curious and asked,

"What did he say?"

"He's saying he knew a tomb like this would be no problem for me."

Nillia also became serious and glared at Arsil. Arsil drooped his shoulders, dejected by the reaction of his younger brother and his friends.

***

Ratford skillfully calmed the old horse.

Sometimes there were nobles who traveled luxuriously with four or eight horses, but from the perspective of an expert like Ratford, that was the same as saying 'Please rob me'.

The best way for a comfortable journey was to look like an unappetizing prey.

Ratford deliberately chose an old and small horse and wore shabby clothes. He looked like an ordinary pilgrim or wanderer to anyone.

"May I ask you something?"

"Ask away."

"Is this the right way to Udamhwa Town?"

Ratford was cautious.

He didn't ask about the Wardanaz family name or anything. The other person might harbor ill intentions like 'A Wardanaz family associate must be rich?'

"That's right. If you follow the imperial road this way, you'll see a pomegranate tree, then you've almost reached Udamhwa Town. What brings you to Udamhwa Town?"

"A distant relative sent a letter asking me to come and help with some work. I'm a craftsman from the Locksmith Guild."

"Whoever it is, you've got a good relative! If you have time left, please come to the red brick house near the Bridge of Ruin. I was just looking for a good lock."

"Haha. Thank you."

Ratford ended the conversation perfectly.

He had obtained information and gained the goodwill of a townsperson, making him a perfect traveler.

'But didn't he say Bridge of Ruin?'

Ratford doubted his ears, wondering if he had heard wrong.

Town bridges were usually named after famous heroes from the town (Gonadaltes Bridge), or after events (Bridge Celebrating the Ascension of Our Benevolent Emperor), or after geographical features (Three Rivers Bridge)...

How on earth did they come up with Bridge of Ruin?

'Did some ruinous event happen in the town?'

Ratford skillfully arrived in town and entered an inn.

He threw an imperial copper coin to the stable boy to leave his horse and sat in a corner of the inn.

'Hmm. Nice town.'

Ratford smiled at the vitality felt everywhere.

Poor towns and wealthy towns had different atmospheres from the inn. A noisy inn with loud singing like this symbolized the town's wealth.

"Bullshit. You dare try to deceive me?!"

"Sir. You can't do this here."

"Shut up. I swear on my beard, if you don't return my silver coins, I'll put a crossbow bolt in your chest!"

"?!"

A dwarf traveler grabbed the innkeeper's collar, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Hey, call the guards!"

"Where do you think you're going! Anyone who goes out the door is dead!"

The dwarf waved his crossbow with a face red with anger.

He must have lost while playing mage card games with the townspeople, betting imperial silver coins.

'Should I intervene?'

Ratford pondered.

In a good town, it shouldn't be a big problem even if it became known that he was a mage.

What else could happen on the way to the Wardanaz family?

"Sir. Please stop!"

"You shut up and keep your mouth closed!"

"I won't stand by either."

"What are you going to do?!"

The dwarf traveler shouted while strongly gripping the innkeeper's collar.

His skills were extraordinary, as if he had lived on battlefields. The innkeeper choked and shouted to the clerk.

"Hat, bring me the hat!"

"?"

Ratford wondered what hat he was talking about. The clerk hurriedly brought a hat and put it on the innkeeper.

At that moment, the innkeeper easily lifted the dwarf traveler with one hand and slammed him down.

"You bastard! How dare you cause trouble here!"

"...?!"

'Why on earth does a town innkeeper have a strength-enhancing artifact?!'

Ratford became very confused.

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