WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 176

──────

176.

With my eyes closed, I quietly focused on the flow inside my body. I could feel the magical power blooming from me slowly seep into the blood coursing roughly through it. Soon, the two mixed into one and began flowing along the circuit I had newly drawn.

Guided by that sticky magical power, I felt my soul gradually settle into this body. As the body’s senses returned little by little, I slowly opened my eyes.

I stayed still and repeatedly clenched and unclenched my hand. Every sense that made up the body opened, and it began taking in information from its surroundings at high speed. I had succeeded in fully settling into this body.

A mirror bug floated into the air and reflected my appearance back at me. A man with a somewhat tired face was staring at me from the mirror. It had captured my form perfectly.

I lightly rubbed beneath my eyes. I simply could not get rid of these dark circles. Like marks left on my soul, they followed my soul and engraved themselves into my flesh.

Well, even so, it was a more than satisfactory result. This body was far more complete than the previous one. Feeling magical power flow through it more smoothly, I smiled in satisfaction.

The body I originally had possessed a few defects. But during the process of cultivating new bodies, I erased those defects one by one.

Through that research, I had also succeeded in drawing out the body’s innate potential more effectively, just as I had now. This body was the fourth result born from that process.

I patted my body and stood up. Someday, I would discard this body too. If I cultivated a better one, I intended to switch over immediately. The only thing that mattered to me was my soul.

To me, a body was nothing more than a shell. I felt someone let out a light sigh at me. My enhanced senses had caught it. When I looked that way, I saw Mira.

“To treat your body so carelessly. It truly makes me anxious every time I see it.”

She rested her chin on her hand and stared fixedly at me. Feeling that gaze, as if she were reproaching me, I scratched my head. I did not really have anything to say. As she said, my body had burst again this time too.

Still, this experiment had been a success. My soul and tree had not taken much damage, and I had even succeeded in creating a new life. I placed my hand over my chest.

Beyond the heart that had begun beating anew, I felt a new soul dwelling in my foundation. I felt the magical power rippling from that small soul head toward my tree. It was the third soul Sapling I had planted.

It was something I had created through many failures over the past two years, and now I had succeeded in creating this life through proper magic. I could say I no longer needed to burn away everything I had, unlike the first time.

Myoil’s creation had been full of shortcuts. Because of that, its stability had been terribly low. Afterward, even when I clearly followed the same process, I often failed.

So instead of the shortcuts I had used before, I repeated a kind of tempering. I fed it soul fragments, cultivated it, and exploded it inside my body, carefully altering its composition through that process.

Rather than cobbling that life together in a short time, I had spent a long time nurturing it. In the end, another new Sapling had taken root in my chest like this. I could say I had secured a certain degree of stability.

But where there were advantages, there were bound to be flaws as well. Perhaps because the method of creation had changed, these new Saplings had a clear limit. Unlike Myoil, their souls were very small.

It was not simply a problem with the soul. This could be called a kind of efficiency problem that occurred while creating them through magic. Because of that, these newly created lives did not possess a clear ego.

That was fine. In fact, this form of life was a good thing for me. There was a being inside me who could guide them. I sent a signal to Myoil.

Myoil received my signal and opened its eyes. It shrugged and slowly moved. In that way, the one shaped like a young girl’s soul rippled inside my chest and began leading the small Sapling away.

Its size had expanded quite a bit compared to before. When it had first been created, it had only been a small sprout, but now it could at least support its own body. That was the result of growing while feeding on my foundation.

The other Saplings would also slowly grow like that. The newly created Sapling took root beside the second Sapling. Within the magical power they released, I felt the territory created by my tree become more stable.

After confirming that, I let out a faint smile. At this level, I could say I was now capable of carrying out what I had in mind. If I somehow expanded outward with these soul Saplings as the center, I would be able to reach the city.

On top of that, I had also gained unexpected good fortune through this process.

I quietly focused on the tree inside my chest. Perhaps it liked the small Saplings rooted beside it, because it was releasing magical power and swaying its body. From that tree’s body, I felt a strange sensation flow, different from before.

It could be called the magical power drawn by my innate magic. The first thing I felt was Fake Soul, the magic I had used to make puppets until now.

But apart from that, I could feel one more magical power flowing. Another magic aside from Fake Soul was being engraved into the tree.

Of course, this was still nothing more than a kind of possibility. Its shape was not yet clear. I quietly traced the flow of that magical power.

Within the method of conceiving new life, that unknown unique magic was ripening. If I kept planting these Saplings, that magic would also bloom inside me. I had that feeling.

Perhaps, through the new magic created that way, I might be able to keep my promise to Tiena. So I needed to keep tending this magic steadily.

And the fact that I had been able to seize this fortune was not simply the result of my efforts alone. It had been possible because there was someone helping me. A being with an incomplete soul, one I could use to create Saplings.

Through the connection linked to me, I sent my gratitude. Perhaps she sensed my will, because the woman sitting at the table and drinking tea lightly bowed her head.

She was a beautiful woman with red hair. Her eyes were a little sharp, but she softened them gently and smiled.

[This is the only sort of thing I can do in return, so you may use me as much as you like from now on. For my part, I am only grateful that you are allowing me to repay the grace Master has given me.]

The woman wrote letters in the air with magical power. They became a kind of will and were conveyed to me. I felt the deep respect contained within them touch my chest.

Mm, there was no need for her to treat me that excessively. I quietly scratched my head. No matter how many times I tried to stop her from using that burdensome title, Master, she absolutely would not listen.

She said it was repayment for bringing her back to life. In the end, I had no choice but to give up and accept it. Mira, who had been resting her chin in her hand, laughed.

“Hmm, your words sound convincing. But please be careful. I still do not trust you.”

Mira narrowed her eyes and looked at the woman. At that, the gentle air on the woman’s face vanished in an instant. She sharply lifted her gaze and glared at Mira.

[It does not matter if Mira does not trust me. I only look toward Master.]

“Hu hu, I will watch how long that mindset lasts.”

Mira let out a faint laugh. The woman also faced her and drew a smile across her lips. Unlike those smiles, however, their eyes were terribly cold.

Feeling the bleak atmosphere, I quietly moved. Then, lightly shaking my head, I slipped between the two of them. I raised a hand and blocked the space in front of both.

“Both of you, please calm down. There is no need to worry. I trust both of you, after all.”

The woman gave me another smiling look. That change in expression was incredibly fast. Seeing her, Mira clicked her tongue again as if displeased. The woman gently let it pass.

I slowly looked over the woman’s body. Perhaps because Wriggler No. 1 had seeped into it, that body was not much different from a human’s. Since it had been made based on a human body to begin with, that was even more true.

The woman’s name was Isabella. She had once been Ugo’s puppet. Over the past two years, I had steadily filled her soul, and as a result, she had been able to revive like this.

It had now been about six months since Isabella woke up. At first, she spent little time awake because she was adapting to that body, but now she could move fairly normally.

Though because of that, problems like this had also appeared. Should I call it a kind of turf war? Mira and Isabella clashed like this from time to time.

I quietly shook my head. Someday, they would reach an agreement with each other. Until then, I just had to mediate. In the end, they could be called members of the same family.

“I can only apologize to you, Isabella. It seems I still will not be able to resolve that soul yet.”

[I do not mind. I am happy simply to walk the earth again like this.]

Isabella gently wrote that out. The writing seeped into me as it was. Feeling the sincerity in it, I quietly nodded.

She had been revived like this, but she had not yet escaped the limits of being a puppet. If I had managed to restore her soul completely, she would have been able to speak. That felt deeply regrettable.

Her soul had been thoroughly ruined by Ugo’s hands. She had lost the perfection she originally possessed. Because of that, she could not escape the form of a puppet as she was now.

That was also the reason she conveyed her will through writing like this. Deep despair was engraved into her soul. It was also her true feelings, hidden in the deepest part of her soul.

Because of that, part of that soul’s scream was bound to be mixed into any sound she let out. It was no different from an instinct held by the soul. That was an area even I could not resolve for her.

Mira glared at me. It seemed she did not like that I was talking with Isabella. Wearing a slight smile, I shrugged.

Isabella could now be called my puppet too. So I had to help her fulfill her desire. That was how I repaid my puppets.

Of course, just as Mira said, I still did not fully trust her either. I narrowed my eyes slightly and observed Isabella. The sight of her sipping tea seemed rather composed.

What kind of intention did Isabella have? I still did not know. In the end, she too could be called a mage. So it was only natural that I could not trust her.

At the same time, I also trusted the selfishness a mage possessed. She was ultimately in a puppet’s body. For her soul to become complete, she needed my help. That was why she was cooperating with me like this.

And when it came to being untrustworthy, Mira was the same. Mira always revealed her own desire as well. Because of that, while I trusted her, I always held suspicion toward her too.

I merely hoped they would not betray me. As long as they did not, I intended to treat them kindly. Hiding those thoughts, I smiled brightly.

My body had settled too, so now I needed to move. It seemed these two had somewhat reconciled as well. I slowly got up and started walking. Seeing me, Mira tilted her head.

“Where are you going? If you are leaving now, I will go with you.”

At that, I laughed softly. Then I lightly shook my head and pointed at the floor. I meant below this workshop, toward the place where the students stayed.

“There is no need to concern yourself. I felt the need to check the tower, so I was thinking of taking a brief look around. As my final task before leaving.”

At my words, Mira nodded. I bowed to the two of them and slowly left the workshop. Then I moved and began descending the stairs.

At the end of those stairs was the second floor area. Because few people passed through it, it felt very wide. I took out a mirror bug and checked the message board.

The reason I had come down here was because I had seen a post saying there would be a sparring match here. It was probably happening in the central hall. After walking on, I reached the central hall.

Unlike the other quiet areas, many people were gathered there. The magical power flowing from them soaked the surroundings with startling intensity. That meant their strength was just as powerful.

I quietly stroked my chin. Compared to when they had first arrived here, everyone had grown by leaps and bounds. It was the result of accepting a great deal of the treasures’ power. In that sense, this lecture was certain to receive a very good evaluation.

Of course, there were some who had not accepted that power. I greeted people and slowly headed toward the center. Then I saw Cassian standing in the middle of the crowd gathered in a wide circle.

She had her sword lowered and was blankly staring into the air. Another person rushed toward her. That was her opponent in this sparring match.

The opponent linked together the power of several treasures and amplified their magical power. The darkly shaped magical power formed a spell and became a giant wave that crashed toward her. The magical power carried by that wave was extremely strong.

Facing that wave, Cassian lifted her sword and lightly swung it down. The motion was simplicity itself. But the aftermath caused by that motion was not simple at all.

The sharp magical power flowing from her sword split the wave cleanly in half. That sword did not stop at cutting apart the wave, but shot toward her opponent.

The opponent raised a barrier and tried to block the sword, but that sword cut straight through all magical power and soon split the opponent in half as well. The opponent immediately faded and was quickly sent to the infirmary.

Watching that, I lightly clapped. To think it had ended this quickly. If I had been even a little late, I might not have gotten to see the sparring at all.

I studied Cassian. She stood blankly again with her sword in hand. It was still an incredible power. Even grasping her movements was difficult for me.

It was truly hard to believe that this was the pure power of a body that had not accepted a single treasure’s power. No matter how much I improved my body, I was sure I would not even come close to her.

Cassian shook her sword to flick off the moisture, then sheathed it. I approached her and lightly waved. Perhaps Cassian sensed my presence, because she glanced my way.

She received a handkerchief from the bear puppet beside her, briefly wiped her face, and began walking toward me. I could glimpse a slight hint of satisfaction on her face.

Recently, challenges against her had increased. In this lecture, she was firmly holding first place. Today’s sparring had also been one such case. It seemed she liked the process of sparring.

“Ahjussi, you saw that too, right? I think this one was fun too. It was a little lacking, though....”

Cassian lightly smacked her lips. Her gaze, which had been looking around, soon turned behind me. She took one step closer to me and her eyes began sparkling.

“On that note, ahjussi, could you lend me that puppet again?”

She pointed behind me. I looked back. Then I saw Sinil, the one with the liquid form, trembling. It seemed terrified after facing Cassian.

Well, that was understandable. It had not faced Cassian only once or twice so far. Sinil had stolen Cassian’s form. Since Cassian had also agreed to it, she knew quite well about its structure.

Perhaps because of that, she occasionally used it for self-sparring. She wanted to face her own form and explore the possibilities hidden inside it. That must have been fairly effective, because she had repeated the process.

Through that process, Sinil had crossed the boundary of death countless times. Those memories were surely engraved deep into it. Perhaps because of that, it hid behind me and released a sorrowful will.

Pretending not to notice that will, I lightly cleared my throat and nodded toward Cassian. Everything grew through crisis. The same applied to Sinil.

In the process of being cut down by Cassian, it was directly engraving her power into its body. It was receiving a kind of lesson. If it could grow by sparring with the original it had copied, was that not a good thing?

Letting the will of the thing trembling in betrayal flow past, I quietly looked around. The others, seeing that the sparring had ended, were slowly turning and dispersing.

Everyone seemed to be planning to train in their own way. Their eyes as they looked at one another were very sharp. I felt a hot heat in those gazes, filled with wariness and fighting spirit.

The heat among the students had risen recently like that. It was only natural. There was not much time left in the lecture now. After about four more months, this lecture would come to an end.

After that, grades would naturally be assigned. So from their perspective, they had no choice but to become sensitive to their rank. If they failed to pass, they would naturally have to spit out the treasure powers they carried.

So as time passed, they grew desperate. And there were often cases where treasures used that desperation to run wild.

I lightly smacked my lips. Over the past two years, many treasures had tempted the students like that. To earn points, to escape the tower, or simply in pursuit of amusement.

Many incidents had also happened because of those temptations. By now, even the rules had exceeded ten.

But all of those incidents had been handled successfully. It was because of the biggest bait we had. I glanced at one man moving among the people. It was Hao.

He had a ring made by Hari tied at his waist. He still had not escaped his position as Hari’s pet.

His face was somewhat pale, and he was staggering. It seemed he had suffered a lot at the hands of other treasures lately. Still, he would certainly be able to hold out a little longer.

Confirming that, I quietly nodded. It was something I welcomed as well when the treasures ran wild like that. So I had used Hao to make them move a little more actively.

During that process, I had managed to tear away at least part of the treasures’ power. In the end, through many such crises, I had seized victory. And those crises had also given me another chance to grow.

I placed my hand on my chest. I seemed to feel many connections within it. They were not simple puppets, but things that held the possibility of treasures, like turtle or Hari.

They were filters I had created using the power torn from treasures. I felt them filter the desires and magical power of treasures, then spit out pure magical power. The magical power flowing along my tree had become far cleaner than before.

More than ten of those filters were now settled in the workshop. They were waiting for the time they would wake after taking in enough of that magical power.

Perhaps because of that, Rabbit had been visiting the workshop from time to time lately. She had been quite expectant these days. The second filter I had made aside from her, Armor, seemed like it would soon awaken.

The flow of magical power coming from Armor was slowly growing larger. From Rabbit’s perspective, it could be called the revival of her first companion. From my perspective, it could be called keeping another promise.

I quietly scratched my head. Among my inner demons, the one who had left the deepest impression was Nun. Since she had guided me to my soul, that was only natural.

In that sense, it could also be called a debt. So I needed to wake her. But I could not find a method.

She was a being that had originated from Mira. Because of that, I had to receive power from Mira. But to do that, I would also need to pay an appropriate price. I had no idea what Mira would ask for.

Well, would something not work out somehow? This equation of growth was still developing to a degree where I did not know its end. Within this growth, various methods would appear.

Filters piled up and made my tree grow larger, and pieces torn from that tree bloomed into new Saplings and stars. Those things then made my tree grow larger again. The past two years could be called a repetition of that process.

As people gradually dispersed, Cassian hugged the bear puppet tightly in the crowd. She tilted her head and looked at me.

“So what brings you here?”

“It is almost time to head to the city. I came to find you so we could move together, Cassian.”

“The city,” Cassian muttered, then fell into thought for a moment. Soon, her eyes widened, and she looked at the bear puppet. At that, it took a small signboard out from within her arms. It was a calendar.

It held it out to Cassian and lightly tapped today’s date with a claw. Cassian checked it and lightly nodded.

“Ah... right. Ahjussi, thank you so much. I almost forgot.”

She smiled slightly at me and hugged the bear puppet in her arms. Leaning against the bear puppet like that, she blankly stared into the air. For some reason, her face looked listless. She drooped where she stood.

“Mm, but do I really have to go? Even if I go this time, I’ll fail anyway.”

“Would it not be good for the experience? Besides, we do not know what disadvantage there might be if you do not go.”

“I guess that’s true....”

Cassian muttered while still drooping. I understood her attitude. The reason she was heading to the city this time was because of the advancement evaluation. The fourth-floor advancement evaluation.

I felt anew just how incredible Cassian’s talent was. Previously, I had thought that she might take the fourth-floor evaluation before our lecture ended. But I had not expected that it would really come true.

Of course, I did not expect she would immediately climb to the fourth floor. That was why she looked so unmotivated. Climbing to the fourth floor was incomparable to climbing to the third.

According to the information I had gathered so far, failure was nothing unusual. Even Koite had taken about thirty years to climb to the fourth floor. Its difficulty was beyond imagining.

“Still, is it not impressive enough that you are taking the fourth-floor evaluation after such a short time? Normally, you would not even have reached the front of the third floor.”

I looked at Cassian with a light smile. At my praise, she made an awkward face and buried herself in the bear puppet. The bear accepted her and raised both hands high.

It shook a handkerchief and cheered Cassian on. Its ego had expanded greatly. The constellation it had built over the past five years was giving off a brilliant light from my shadow tree.

Perhaps it was the most dazzling of all the puppets I had created. That meant it had carried out that much exchange through its connection with its owner, Cassian.

It trusted and followed Cassian deeply. So I also trusted Cassian by following its lead. I had personally confirmed her talent with my own eyes too.

That had been in Canyon City. Even though she had only been on the second floor, she had even brought down a fourth-floor swordsman. It had only been a physical duel without magical power, but that was precisely why her talent had been revealed even more clearly.

If it was her, I was sure she would soon pierce through the wall of the fourth floor and move forward. That talent was truly natural. So I also needed to follow her example.

I quietly closed my eyes. The memory from three years ago was still clear. It was the day I left to take the third-floor evaluation. At the evaluation site, I could not say a single word. I had only realized my own insufficiency and left that place.

That mage had told me to come back after three years. And this month was exactly three years since then. The scheduled evaluation was approaching.

I recalled the past three years. Many things had happened, and within them, I had grown quickly. Though I had ended up walking a different path from ordinary mages, there was no doubt that I had moved a little further forward.

So now, could I climb to the third floor?

It was time to confirm that.

---

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried