Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

While Principal Skelly was at a loss for words, Yi-han and his friends from the Blue Dragons were running up the stairs of the White Tigers.

‘The mana’s gathering again!’

Yi-han could feel the mana that he had dispersed gathering back in the tower and taking form.

Although they had been momentarily disabled due to the sudden assault, the spells that the academy had cast over the tower were truly powerful and had auto-recovery functions in case of emergencies.

And once they fully recovered…

‘It might pose some problem to our plan.’

He didn’t know exactly how many spells there were, nor their exact effects, but he could surmise that they would come at the intruders with full force once they were functional again.

Shuuuuuk!!

“UUAAAAGH!”

“Gainando! Gainandooooo!!”

Having gathered enough mana, one of the magic circles got reactivated, and along with a flash of light, Gainando, who was unfortunate enough to become its target, was dragged down the stairs, as if an invisible hand had grabbed onto the yoke of his shirts.

“KUAAK!!”

Gainando was then promptly thrown out of the tower’s gate, rolling several times on the ground before coming to a stop.

Clearly, these spells were designed to prevent intruders from entering the tower.

“We must hurry! If more spells get reactivated, we’ll be in trouble!”

“R-right!”

The remaining members of the Blue Dragons nodded.

Though they were surprised by what just happened, they had a trustworthy leader that they could rely on.

The students quickly regained their composure seeing Yi-han command them without a hint of panic.

Boom!!

The door to the White Tigers’ resting lounge was flung open.

The moment they entered, Yi-han and Ratford began looting the place, looking for the flag and anything else that might be worth some money.

“W-what’s going on here!?”

Dolgyu, who had come out of his room after hearing the ruckus, blinked his eyes, trying to comprehend the situation.

This was supposed to be their resting lounge, yet there were members of the Blue Dragons all over the place.

It didn’t take him long to spot a familiar face.

“Yi-han! What’s this about!?”

“Dolgyu!”

“Yes?”

“Careful!”

“Huh?”

Dolgyu subconsciously looked back, and the moment he did, he was struck in the chin by a marble that Yi-han had sent his way.

Having trusted Yi-han, the poor orcish warrior was knocked out, returning to his slumber.

“…Hahaha! Serves you right! That’s what you get for going against Wardanaz!”

Someone from the Blue Dragons cheered when they saw this.

Yonaire, who happened to witness this, gave Yi-han a questioning look.

‘Are you sure this was alright?’ her eyes seemed to say.

Yi-han shook his head.

“It’s better this way.”

He had not notified Dolgyu of their plan for one simple reason.

At the end of the day, Dolgyu was a member of the White Tigers.

They didn’t think he’d betray them, but they were worried that he’d be shunned by the others if it came to light that he was informed ahead of time about tonight’s ambush.

After all, he was already being looked down upon by some of the White Tigers.

Yonaire was aware of this as well, which was why she had agreed to remain silent about the plan. However…

‘Was it necessary to strike him so hard!?’

“The White Tigers won’t misunderstand if they see him collapsed on the ground. This is to ensure that he doesn’t become an outcast like Nilia.”

“Right…but why’d you have to out Nilia like that?”

“The flag’s over here!”

Ratford, who was a thief by profession, was quick to discover the flag.

But a problem soon occurred…

“I found one too!”

“Huh? Then what’s this over here…?”

The White Tigers had undergone several trials and errors to complete the fake flag, which was why there were flags strewn everywhere on the ground.

Most of them were shabbily, but due to the darkness, it was hard to tell which one was the real flag.

Yi-han made a swift decision.

“We’ll take them all.”

“…!”

Right, that would do!

The Blue Dragons began collecting all the flags that they could find in the resting lounge.

“…W-what’s this??”

Another member of the White Tigers had come down to check what was going on.

It was Rowena the elf.

Curiously, it was yet another acquaintance, and she freaked out when her eyes met the Adenart’s, who had been silently gathering flags in the dark.

“Seriously, can someone explain to me what’s happening!?”

“Be quiet and don’t move, or else we’ll harm the princess!”

“!?”

Adenart had tagged along to help the team, yet she had suddenly become a hostage.

Needless to say, she was taken aback, and her eyes shook ever so slightly.

Rowena quickly raised her arms in surrender.

“N-no! I’ll stay still!”

“You better do as you’re told, or else!”

That was enough to immobilize Rowena.

After a while, Ratford came to report.

“We’re done checking, sir! There’s nothing more to loot!”

“Good. It’s time to bolt!”

Shuuuuk!

Things were starting to get dicey now that more and more spells were becoming reactivated.

Just like what happened with Gainando, two other students were flung out of the tower.

“When you’re out, head to the Tower of the Blue Dragons! Ratford, run!!”

“Yes, sir!”

“The slimy bastards from the Blue Dragons have infiltrated our tower!!”

An increasing number of students from the White Tigers were arriving at the resting lounge due to the commotion.

They had come down to see what was going on, only to realize that they had been robbed.

It didn’t take long for them to wake up all their friends.

“Rowena, why did you stay still!?”

“T-they held Her Highness hostage…”

“What are you talking about! They’re from the same tower!!”

“…!”

“Hurry! We must catch them!!”

***

Some by their own volition, and others by force, Yi-han and his gang of students from the Blue Dragons successfully escaped from the Tower of the White Tigers.

Yi-han had just barely managed to escape by the skin of his teeth. Shivers ran down his spine as he felt the spells become functional again right after he left.

“Ugh….”

Those that had been kicked out by force were suffering from a severe headache and had trouble remaining upright. As for Gainando, he was still rolling on the ground, unable to recover.

“The White Tigers are about to catch up! Carry those that can’t move!”

“U-understood!”

After laying down orders, Yi-han carried Gainando on his back, who was screaming in a hysteric manner.

“Coachman! You’re going too fast! Be a bit more gentle!”

“You’re not on a carriage, Gainando! Get yourself back together!”

“Stop right there, you filthy thieves!!”

The White Tigers were hot on their tails, shouting at them with torches in their hands.

Not only had they been ambushed in the dead of the night, but they had also lost their flag in the process.

Asan returned tit for tat.

“Hah! A pot calling the kettle black! You guys were trying to trick us with fake flags! A bunch of lowlife scammers!”

“If you have time to provoke them, run!”

Even with Gainando on his back, Yi-han was faster than the other students.

However, he was eventually forced to stop as the White Tigers were catching up faster than he had anticipated.

‘Some of us will be caught at this rate!’

“Are we going to use the prince as bait?” Ratford asked, catching his breath.

“…Of course not!”

Yi-han was stunned by the absurdity of his suggestion.

“Wardanaz, setting aside the fact that you held the princess hostage to threaten Rowena in a cowardly manner, how could you knock out Dolgyu like that!? He trusted you!”

The voice was from Angrago, the goat demi-human.

Yi-han took this opportunity and gave a cold response.

“Dolgyu? He’s just a convenient pawn. It’s his fault for being tricked.”

“…Wardanaz!!”

Enraged, Angrago jumped at him. However, he alone was nowhere near enough to take down Yi-han.

Not only was he more proficient with the sword, but he had also undergone Professor Bolady’s harsh training.

“Gush Forth!”

He immediately summoned forth a ball of water and compressed them into marbles. Then, without further ado, he struck his opponent.

“Move!”

The sounds of the water marbles hitting their target preceded Angrago falling to the ground.

The marbles had struck his limbs, depriving him of his ability to stand.

However, this didn’t stop Angrago from giving Yi-han a look of hatred.

The torches behind them cast a shadow on Yi-han’s face, making him appear even more cold than before.

Angrago’s heart boiled with anger and grief as he recalled how Dolgyu was still knocked out in their resting lounge.

“Kuk..! Wardanaz! You monster! Is this the only spell you know!?”

“Angrago!!”

His friends had caught up by then and were helping him up as he screamed.

He behaved as if he were a virtuous knight that had been taken down by a wicked sorcerer.

“Kukukuku! Against Wardanaz, you guys don’t amount to—”

“Shut up and stop provoking them.”

Yi-han struck Gainando in the mouth as he was about to taunt the White Tigers the moment he came back to his senses.

“T’was all for an assignment. No hard feelings guys.”

“No hard feelings my ass!

‘True, I guess it’s unreasonable to ask them to forgive and forget.’

Yi-han thought the same.

If he were in their position and someone told him “If you want to blame anyone, you should blame Principal Skelly for pitting the towers against each other and facilitating this kind of interaction,” he’d tell them to piss off as well, especially if they ended with a “let’s continue to get along from now on.”

Instead, he’d say, “Let me beat you up once. We’ll talk afterwards.”

Yi-han heaved a deep sigh as he knew negotiation was no longer an option.

The White Tigers, however, took this as him looking down on them.

“You…you…!”

“Don’t bother coming after us. I can shoot off as many spells as I want. It’d be a different story if it was bright outside, but with how dark it is right now, I doubt you guys would be able to dodge them.”

Yi-han was planning on fleeing before more reinforcements came.

He could keep five or six students at bay with his magic, but if there were more of them, it was hard to tell how they would react to his threats.

“…Don’t mind me! Friends, we must avenge Dolgyu! He was thrown away like a chess piece by Wardanaz!”

There was a glint in the White Tigers’ eyes as they heard Angrago cry out amidst the pain.

‘Fuck.’

Yi-han regretted not knocking him out completely.

He could sense the determination in the White Tigers’ eyes. They were determined to take revenge for Dolgyu, even if it meant being hit by his spells.

They were, after all, descendants of knights. They prioritized their friend’s honor before their own well-being.

Gainando whispered to Yi-han in a tense voice.

“…Aren’t we screwed?”

Rather than give a response, Yi-han struck Gainando’s mouth once more.

‘I’ll hold off the ones on the left using the water marbles and block the ones on the right using my sword… then, I’ll obscure their vision and retreat…’

Things had taken an unexpected turn, but Yi-han was able to quickly make sense of the situation and formulate a plan.

However, all that was for naught as Gainando screamed while hanging onto his shoulder, pointing his finger behind where the White Tigers were.

“…W-watch out!! There’s something behind you!!”

“Wardanaz, do you take us for fools!? You think we’d be tricked by the prince!?”

“DUCK!!!”

“Hah, tough luck, we’ll never fall for—UWAAAA!”

WHEEEEECK!

A huge vine wrapped itself around one of the White Tigers and lifted him up into the air.

A massive vine monster had appeared from the dark.

For a split second, Yi-han thought it was one of the tower’s defense mechanisms, and he had accidentally triggered it.

Fortunately, that didn’t turn out to be the case.

—A summoned monster has escaped from the greenhouse! I repeat, a summoned monster has escaped from the greenhouse!

—It’s heading toward the freshmen! …This ain’t my fault! If anything, he should be the one sent to the Punishment Room!

—Quiet! We must resolve this problem first!

The conversation sounded oddly familiar.

Indeed, it was an interaction between a professor and their disciples after a failed experiment.

Ttak!

Professor Garcia appeared midair and landed before them.

With a wave of her staff, she knocked the vine monster away from the students.

“To think another batch of summoned monsters would escape again. This will be a tough week for the first years. Oh, Yi-han.”

“…Wait. What do you mean again? And there are more of these?”

Monsters have escaped again?

“Never mind that. Why are you out here in the middle of the night?”

“Professor! The vine monster has taken our friend! Please save him!”

“R-right. Wait just one moment.”