Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 681

Chapter 681

As it was certainly a case of reaping what he sowed, Yi-Han dealt with the countless handshake requests that came his way on his own.

"Are you an Einroguard student?"

"Yes."

"Are you a 3rd year?"

"No."

At Yi-Han's answer, people nodded understandingly.

Then he must be a 4th year!

Only after listening to several mages' self-introductions and even receiving proposals to research together sometime did Yi-Han manage to sit down again.

Direth suddenly thought of something and asked,

"Wait. Where's Yukbeltire?"

"Why are you looking for Senior Beav... I mean, Senior Yukbeltire?"

'Was he about to say Senior Beavle just now?'

Direth was slightly bothered, but since that wasn't important, she let it slide.

"If she had seen just now, she would have known you were smart. Where is she? You must have seen her?"

"Well... She's preparing over there, but I don't think you could have seen her."

Yi-Han answered, spotting the senior talking with a few other mages in a corner of the hall.

She was a typical Beavle-type mage who focused only on her magic regardless of what presentation was going on behind her.

"Ah, really!"

Direth lamented.

Unlike with Ogoldos, this was a chance to prove that this junior was really smart!

"I'm fine, Senior Direth."

"I'm not fine?!"

Direth glared at her junior who had been saying tactless things since earlier.

"Come to think of it, I'm angry. Junior. You jump into all sorts of ridiculous situations at school even when told to stay put."

"It's not that bad..."

Yi-Han tried to argue that it certainly wasn't intentional, but Direth ignored him.

"But why are you quietly staying put in front of Yukbeltire? Show your abilities!"

"But she's a senior..."

Basically, Yi-Han tended to hold back a bit in front of people he could learn a lot from. This could be seen from the fact that Professor Beavle was still alive.

He couldn't act arrogantly towards professors and seniors, not knowing when and how he might face them and receive help in his 2nd year.

"I'm a senior too, you know? Junior. This is my first order as a senior. Give Yukbeltire a taste of her own medicine."

Direth, who had turned delinquent, instructed Yi-Han in a voice that wouldn't accept refusal.

Of course, this was a very troublesome request from Yi-Han's perspective.

"Hmm. Even if you say that, I don't have the ability to... Is it okay to attack Senior Yukbeltire from behind too?"

"..."

"That was a joke."

"...Don't joke with that face..."

***

Yukbeltire turned her head at the commotion behind her.

She could feel the reaction was more heated than usual.

Mages were talking about the magic that had just been presented with excited faces, waving their hands in the air to explain the gestures.

These were all reactions when an impressive magic had been shown.

'What is it?'

Of course, Yukbeltire had seen the exchange meeting catalog and roughly knew what magic would be presented.

There shouldn't have been any magic to cause such reactions...

"Miss Yukbeltire. The preparations are complete."

"I see."

Yukbeltire checked the artifact to be used in the presentation.

As it was an intricate and complex artifact, the preparation process had taken quite a while.

"I'm truly impressed. To think we'd see such magic..."

"It's still incomplete. Are you flattering me now?"

"N-no, not at all."

The mages who knew the princess's personality cleared their throats and adjusted their clothes.

However, the artifact before them now was truly an amazing thing.

On the outside, it looked like an ordinary pendant, but inside that pendant, hundreds of magic spells were intricately woven together.

And all these magic spells were arranged for one purpose.

To create an artificially isolated realm anew!

Summoning power or familiars from another realm connected to reality was one of the widely known methods in magic, so it wasn't that surprising, but Yukbeltire had taken a step further.

What if that realm was artificially created?

Of course, there were practical limitations, so only a very small realm would be possible, but for an excellent mage, that was enough.

Wasn't it like having a world where the mage could set new rules for a moment?

When contacting other existing realms, all sorts of complex exploration and negotiation were needed, but this didn't require that.

If one could create a 'realm overflowing with immense mana' and succeed in fixing it...

That artifact could potentially draw out almost infinite mana!

"An artificial realm artifact!"

"Oh, is it really being presented today...!"

"?"

As the surrounding mages stirred even before it started, Yi-Han wondered what was going on.

Direth closed her book and explained about Yukbeltire's work.

"...It's roughly like that. Actually, it's such a difficult and unstable research that it won't be as convenient as I just said. If it's a realm where immense mana gushes out, maintaining it and creating a passage would be that much harder. But even considering that, it's truly amazing research. I was actually worried whether Yukbeltire would be able to present it here this time. It seems my worries were unfounded."

Direth let out a sigh of relief as it seemed her friend's work had reached a level that could be presented.

Yukbeltire was very interested in realm studies and had been continuously trying to create new results by combining enchantment magic with realm studies.

She had been worried since it was such a high-level research...

"Junior. Can't you find anything to nitpick?"

"Pardon?"

"You need to nitpick. When Yukbeltire presents, find some flaw and point it out!"

"..."

Friendship was friendship, but Direth intended to repay the insult the dark magic school had received separately.

"How can I nitpick such high-level magic?"

"Junior?"

"Yes."

"You can do it more than enough. Quickly, find something."

"But..."

Yi-Han felt wronged.

He couldn't understand why Direth thought of him like that.

Yi-Han was also a 1st year junior!

Still, since his senior ordered it, Yi-Han pretended to glare at the artifact.

At first, it was difficult to distinguish the mana because there were so many mages and magic spells cast around, but after a while, he began to roughly distinguish them.

'I see. Up to here is the mana leaked by the mages in the audience seats. And from there is the mana of that artifact.'

Yi-Han sensitively distinguished the mana in the space to a degree that would have shocked the surrounding mages if they had heard.

Finally able to feel only the mana of the artifact itself, Yi-Han slowly checked the mana.

'Amazing!'

The structure of the artifact reminded him of a rocket that gained acceleration by continuously igniting propellants.

Mana accelerated in the first magic circle was accelerated once more in the second magic circle, and again in the third magic circle...

In this way, it extremely amplified the power of mana to obtain the driving force needed to create an artificial realm.

To create such an artifact, one needed to not only connect these magic circles in a chain but also be able to calculate the impact and heat generation that occurred in the process.

The magic formula for creating a realm after securing the driving force seemed rather easy compared to the above tasks.

Yi-Han muttered without realizing it.

"How could someone like Professor Beavle make such an artifact..."

"..."

Direth looked at Yi-Han with complex eyes.

It hurt a little to hear her friend being spoken of like that by a junior.

"Ah. Senior Direth. I think I found a flaw."

"Oh. What is it?"

Direth perked up her ears and brightened.

It was a chance to definitively prove her junior's intelligence in front of Yukbeltire.

"I roughly predicted following the mana flow inside it now, and from the middle, the magic circle is slightly twisted, so it can't form a perfect circle and completes as an ellipse."

"...?"

Direth became confused, not understanding how this junior could feel the mana of an artifact so far away.

Moreover, the mana flow inside the artifact!

"Junior, how did you feel the mana flow inside the artifact? It's far away, isn't it? And there are other mages around..."

"I concentrated."

"...Ah. Y-yes. Concentration. Concentration is important..."

At such an orthodox answer, Direth rather lost her words.

Well, one would need to concentrate to feel mana!

"Wait. That's not important right now. I'm curious how you even drew predictions from the mana flow... Junior, you say it completes as an ellipse?"

"If you keep overlapping the flow and drawing, it seems it will become an elliptical shape."

Direth's face became serious.

Having helped with Yukbeltire's magic, Direth knew well what result would come if this magic completed as an ellipse.

Instead of creating a small artificial realm, it would connect to another indeterminate realm along with a realm rift.

It would be fortunate if it connected to a relatively safe realm, but if it connected to a dangerous realm, things could get troublesome.

"I need to stop this."

The moment Direth stood up, the artifact began to operate. Direth shouted in shock.

"Why is it starting already?! There should have been time left!"

"We asked for it!"

The mages who had come forward answered with bright smiles.

Such amazing magic should be allocated even a little more time. Wouldn't that allow the mages to learn more?

Of course, from Direth's perspective, it was a very annoying kindness.

"Yukbeltire, stop! It's not a perfect circle but an ellipse!"

"!"

Yukbeltire looked at her friend with shocked eyes at those words.

That wasn't something to be taken lightly.

"What nonsense is this!"

"We clearly checked. There was no particular problem!"

The mages who had been managing and checking the magic presentations for the exchange meeting shouted incredulously.

Of course, they had strictly managed it after the princess submitted it, and they had even checked once more before starting.

So they were dumbfounded that some mage with a hat pulled low was saying there was a problem.

"Don't ruin the exchange meeting and sit down quickly!"

"No, isn't this too harsh for a safety issue?"

As Yi-Han expressed disbelief, Direth lamented.

"Crazy mages often raise nonsensical issues, so the magic tower and guild sides are sensitive!"

"..."

While Yi-Han, who had learned the truth, was at a loss for words, Yukbeltire asked,

"Direth. What's your basis? You haven't even touched this artifact in the past few days, have you?"

"This junior felt it. He says the mana flow has a slight error from the middle."

"..."

"..."

As the atmosphere suddenly turned chilly, Direth realized her mistake.

'I should have at least said I noticed it...!'

In her desire to prove her junior was smart, she had blurted it out without thinking!

If she had said Direth noticed it, Yukbeltire might have believed her.

"Direth... I really don't understand why you need to go this far to prove your dark magic school juniors. It seems only my claim has been proven right."

"N-no... He really noticed it! And that error is real! Stop it even now!"

At Direth's words, even the mages who had praised Yi-Han earlier showed somewhat disgruntled reactions.

"Even for an outstanding mage, that seems too nonsensical..."

"Isn't it just boasting? Come to think of it, that magic earlier was a bit too outrageous too."

"Is such a thing possible?"

'This is driving me crazy!'

Direth felt like a two-eyed person who had fallen into a one-eyed country.

To think she couldn't persuade them because he was too excellent!

"Sing the song of thunder, O Spirit!"

"?!"

Looking to the side, her junior was calmly chanting a spell.

With an attitude that didn't care at all about other mages clamoring that he was telling ridiculous lies or boasting.

"The bell ringer guarding the ruined kingdom's bell tower and the lookout on the small boat wandering the blue sea both fear your name."

As a spirit incomparable to ordinary spirits' power tried to open the realm gate and reveal itself, the mages in the audience sensed it and were shocked.

At the same time, the artifact made a bizarre sound and malfunctioned. The mana circle inside the pendant gradually distorted into an ellipse.

"!!"

"Th-that...!"

"The one who has contracted with you calls upon you with rightful credentials!"

As Ferkuntra revealed itself, Yi-Han leaped forward.