WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 16

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Three days passed. There had been no attack.

Fortress construction proceeded step by step.

The most important parts of building this maze were giving it enough physical defense to keep lower magical beasts from passing through easily, and securing enough killing power to keep killing them. As I had explained to Hongryeong, this was the best defensive method available to me, since I lacked magical attack options.

First, I examined the terrain very carefully. Mountains were naturally maze-like to begin with. The denser the magical power in a place, the truer that became. In that sense, this mountain strongly possessed the qualities of a natural maze. The grains running naturally along the mountain slopes almost seemed to form the foundation of a maze.

I set the maze's main routes around those grains. Then I made several intersections to connect them. Within those many intersections, the magical beasts would lose their way and be naturally guided into traps. That roughly laid the foundation of the maze.

The design took quite a while, but construction went quickly afterward. All I had to do was scatter a large number of puppets. The puppets moved like my hands and feet, digging into the earth and stacking stones.

The maze's main elements were traps that could instantly deal with careless magical beasts. I placed all kinds of traps throughout the maze. And the most important traps had to be able to handle any number of enemies swarming in.

I had an enormous mass that could solve that problem.

The turtle.

For three days, I steadily repaired the turtle. During that process, I modified it to suit the trap. Sharp spikes and flashing blades covered its shell. If the turtle merely crushed things with that massive body, low-grade magical beasts would die in droves.

The most important zones were the intersections. They had been designed as places where magical beasts would naturally gather. I structured it so the intersections spread out in every direction around the turtle, the giant trap at the center.

The magical beasts would lose their way, wander, pile up at the intersections, and eventually head toward the turtle. Reversing that flow would be very difficult. The many intersections would act as a kind of filter, controlling how many magical beasts reached the turtle.

And the most important thing was that the maze had to be constantly maintained. The biggest problem there was magical beasts strong enough to destroy the maze. I needed to filter them out naturally. So I made a separate path for them. I adjusted the grain so magical beasts with enough strength could naturally climb upward without needing to join the maze's flow, and without having to face the turtle.

By doing that, low-grade magical beasts would be trapped at the intersections, while stronger magical beasts could move between zones and easily leave this place. They would go up above, where Hongryeong would take charge of them.

When building the maze, I did not make it sturdy enough to last two weeks on its own. I had neither the resources, nor the time, nor the strength for that. I had no idea how many things would come, or what kinds would come. In that situation, what I valued most was how easy this maze would be to maintain.

The maze would change instantly depending on what situation arose, and even if it broke, it would be repaired without pause. For that purpose, I made the maze itself into one giant puppet. What I had made now was only the most basic structure. I would have to keep repeating maintenance work for the next two weeks.

I had also prepared thoroughly for anything that approached from underground. Intersections connected deep underground along the grain of mana would drag them out above ground. Then they would be slaughtered inside the traps.

I was not worried about flying magical beasts at all. The flying ones would not dare resist the mountain's magical pressure. Besides, there was also the wind barrier Hongryeong had set up. How could they overcome that wind?

Three full days passed like this while I completed the maze. Today was the fourth day. There was no need for me to stay here and do anything more. The puppets would handle everything. I headed straight toward the summit. I had remembered what Hongryeong had mentioned, the common defense zone or whatever it was called.

There was an hourglass on the summit. About twenty percent of the sand had fallen. It struck me as a rather kind assignment. It guaranteed us this much time to build a fortress.

Unlike before, the hourglass was covered by a very powerful curtain of wind. At a glance, it was Hongryeong's work. It was powerful magic I could never pierce with my own strength. A pool made of blood surrounded it. This was Ailey's magic. The defensive structure created by those two spells gave off such dangerous magical power that no one would dare approach.

At this rate, I would not need to do anything. I smiled bitterly.

So I simply placed a few puppets there as guards to leave some sign that I had come by. Then I briefly cleaned up the area. I brought over a large rock, made a table and chairs, and refined them with magic. I also cut down a few trees and made a simple pavilion.

Once I placed the table and chairs in the pavilion, it looked like a decent spot. This should serve well enough as proof that I had been here. I looked around. Sieger and Shaking Rope did not seem to have come yet.

Should I take a look at what they were doing?

With that thought, I sent my mind toward the puppets I had scattered in each zone. I had placed a few puppets here and there across the mountain. The same went for outside the mountain.

The mountain stood in the middle of an endless forest. The forest stretched all the way to the far horizon.

To the east, Sieger had made use of the rocky terrain and built the walls high. Those walls stood in several layers, preventing any magical beast from recklessly climbing up. The farther inward one went, the thicker and higher the walls became. The tops of the walls were covered in interception magic prepared for flying magical beasts.

At the center was an open space. Sieger stood there. It was a structure that blocked every path with walls, leaving only an easy route open so the magical beasts would gather there. The important part here was having enough force to crush them. Sieger stood in the middle of it. That was impressive confidence.

Whether that was actually the right answer or not, I would know once the full two weeks passed.

I moved my mind to another puppet. A violet forest entered its vision. It was the western zone Shaking Rope was in charge of. No one could carelessly enter that place. All kinds of poison and curses had mixed together, forming a sort of cursed forest, and even puppets melted inside it.

Magical beasts would die just by getting close. The poisonous air from that forest even affected my nearby maze, so I had struggled a little while dealing with it.

Last was the north. Instead of moving a puppet, I moved my own body. I smiled bitterly. It could not be helped. When I had scattered puppets across the mountain, the ones that entered her territory immediately lost contact.

Only when it came to the last one did a puppet send back a signal, and she was holding it while smiling. She told me not to peep and to come visit her myself. After hearing that, how could I run away?

As I headed north, a blood-red river came into view. When I drew near, the stench of blood filled the air. The valley where water had once flowed had been stained with blood and was now encroaching on its surroundings.

Down below the mountain, that river pooled into a huge lake. The lake emitted powerful bloodlust and magical power. A chill ran down my spine. If I judged only by the strength of the fortresses my group members had made, this river was definitely the strongest.

Ailey was floating on top of the lake.

When I approached, the river water wrapped around my body in an instant. Cold sweat ran down my back at the sharp bloodlust contained in it. My body had been restrained before I even noticed. I raised both hands to show surrender. Ailey slowly approached.

"Oh my, what brings you here?"

"You left a message asking me to visit, so I came after finishing my fortress. This is a gift."

One of the puppets following behind me stepped forward in front of her. She used magical power to examine the puppet carefully, then smiled in satisfaction. When she reached out, blood surged from the river and formed the shape of a table.

The puppet moved up to the table and offered a chair behind her. She smiled and sat there. The puppet immediately prepared tea.

"Mmm, I wanted to drink this."

She savored the aroma. But it would be different from what she expected. I had already analyzed all her tastes. During the time it took to reach this mountain, I had kept serving her slightly different flavors. And for the past three days, I had spent every spare moment while building the fortress thinking about the flavor that would suit her best.

What she was now putting into her mouth was the result of that process. She held a sip of tea in her mouth. A flower bloomed from the tea and mixed into it. The moment the flower touched her tongue and melted, her eyes widened. Success. She kept sipping the tea with a satisfied expression.

"Oh, the flavor changed."

"Yes. I thought about what taste would suit you, Ailey-nim."

"Mmm, mmm. It's good. It's good. You're giving me this puppet, right?"

Her eyes sparkled. I quickly nodded. It was a puppet I had prepared for her from the start. I had filled it with functions she would likely prefer.

"Thank you. Then I should repay you too."

After thinking for a moment, she continued.

"Should I write you down as the first contributor?"

"No, that is all right. I have no intention of being selected as the first contributor."

Startled, I waved my hands. I had already given my vote to someone else, so why would I accept something like that? It meant nothing to me. If anything, it would definitely draw too much attention.

"I suppose so. Since you're stuck so close to that young master."

She seemed to know I had joined forces with Hongryeong. Of course she did. Just as I observed the others, they must have been monitoring the mountain in their own ways. In the process, they would have figured out that I had linked up with Hongryeong. I had not interfered at all, deliberately letting them notice.

"Yes. In exchange for cooperating with Hongryeong-ssi, I agreed to help him be chosen as the first contributor."

"Hehe, if you had come to me, I would have just helped you."

She smiled with her eyes. She was still hard to understand. That atmosphere was part of why I had chosen Hongryeong. Being near her felt uncomfortable somehow.

"If I had taken a zone near you, Ailey-nim, I definitely would have asked for help. Unfortunately, the others chose that side first, so I had no choice."

"Hmm, are you sure you didn't do that on purpose?"

She said it playfully.

"Of course not."

I quickly waved my hands. She must have known that, between Hongryeong and her, I had chosen Hongryeong. That was why she was making such a pointed remark. I had also brought the puppet as a gesture of apology for that.

"Fine. Then let's say that was it."

She began drinking tea again. I sat in front of her and looked around.

Up close, the lake seemed fairly deep. The problem was that it was blood-red. A black shadow flickered beneath that blood-red lake. The thing that came near the surface soon showed itself. It was a giant snake. It looked grotesque, with blood vessels bulging all over its body.

"Isn't it cute? It was a child that lived in this water, so I touched it up a little."

"Yes, it is very cute. Ahaha."

Cold sweat trickled down. The snake gave off an enormous amount of magical power. It was no ordinary creature. But its former strength was nowhere to be seen, and it was filled only with pain and madness. I saw its eyes. They held endless despair.

Seeing it suffer, unable to die and unable to live, finally made me certain that my decision to choose Hongryeong had not been wrong.

"Ah, right. I'll tell only you."

Ailey suddenly spoke. She pointed toward the middle of the distant forest and moved her hand as if measuring the distance.

"Maybe about two hours left."

"Until what?"

Ailey smiled.

"Until the blood lumps come swarming in."

"Blood lumps... do you mean magical beasts?"

"Yes. The smell of blood has started getting stronger. I've been smelling it since we came here. They'll arrive soon."

I quickly stood up. If the magical beasts had been swarming toward us since three days ago, they would definitely arrive soon, just as she said.

"They'll come from every direction, so try not to die. See you next time."

"Thank you. Then I will hurry back and prepare as well."

She waved her hand and smiled as if it was nothing. I bowed to her and hurried toward my zone.

I had to get there quickly.

As quickly as possible.

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