WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 21

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The day of the entrance ceremony drew near. A light drizzle was falling.

But I could not bring myself to be happy.

Because of the magic book.

That damned thing. I glared at its dark, dingy cover.

At first, I thought I would be able to learn the magic easily. The structure was extremely delicate and complicated, but the circuits and magical power that formed it were very basic.

But that was only the surface.

This old magic book had hidden malice as enormous as its age. Every spell contained traps. If I completed the magic as written, it collapsed on its own before long.

At first, I thought I was using it wrong and tried practicing. But the magic kept collapsing, and once I sensed something was strange, I reviewed the entire process.

Only then did I find several trap circuits that ruined the magic like this. Damn it, they hid traps like these? I grumbled as I fixed them. That should do it.

It did not.

When I removed one trap, another trap connected to it appeared. That then became the basis for a new problem. The entire spell itself was a kind of giant trap.

The moment I realized that, I felt overwhelming despair. Did mages from great families really go this far to protect their magic?

These had clearly been hidden in case their magic ever leaked outside like this. They could identify the traps, modify them, and then teach the magic properly.

And those traps were extremely effective against me.

My original plan to learn every spell in the magic book vanished like foam. With only a month, I could not even guarantee that I would properly learn a single spell.

I clung to only a few spells. For a month, I repeated the process of dismantling, analyzing, and reapplying every magic circle.

At the end of that effort, I finally became able to use two spells.

I tried using Environment Optimization Magic. It was the magic I had wanted to learn most. The air around me, which had grown a little damp from the rain, became crisp and dry in an instant.

It was very satisfying. This was my own magic, reassembled through a month of suffering. Though it lacked the delicacy of the spell in the book, it was still effective enough.

I quickly embedded at least the spells I had learned into Butler. I had not completed Professor's homework, but I still had to show that I had made this much effort. Otherwise, I really would be beaten until I died.

And I had been beaten right up to the point before death. That had been yesterday.

I swallowed in front of the stairs leading to the second floor.

Yesterday, while I lay collapsed after being beaten like that, Professor told me to finish all preparations by eight this morning. So I had been moving frantically since yesterday. When I checked the time, there were less than five minutes left. Professor would definitely come down soon.

The shop was already empty. I had cleaned it so thoroughly that not even a speck of dust remained.

Every item had gone into my spatial pouch. I would not be coming here for a long time. Maybe I might not return until the day I died. There was no need to leave anything behind.

Finally, I raised my magical power. Several flying insects I had installed beforehand received magical power and began drawing Explosion magic circles on their backs. Once enough magical power had been injected into them, they burst in an instant.

The explosion happened in the underground workshop beneath the ground. The earth shook a little. But since I had calculated the blast range in advance, nothing happened to the structure above ground.

Only then did it feel real that I was leaving.

There was no helping it. I had to collapse the workshop. Inside it, there were traces of my magical power and research everywhere. What if someone used something like memory restoration magic and devoured all my research?

Since I had heard and seen such cases often enough, collapsing the workshop was not a choice. It was necessary.

Soon, Professor came down while yawning. Butler helped tidy her hair beside her. Environment Optimization Magic activated without issue as well, keeping the air around her perfectly clear.

Under Butler's hands, her appearance became perfectly neat. By the time she came down the stairs and stood before me, she had already transformed into a clean, polished figure without a single wrinkle.

"Haahm, is everything ready?"

"Yes, I have emptied the entire shop."

She looked around. After confirming that the shop was empty, she nodded.

"Mmm, then shall we go?"

"Yes. I have also prepared a ride in advance."

I opened the door ahead of her and left the building. In front of the building was a puppet that looked like a miniature version of the turtle. It was roughly the size of a small carriage, and it lay flat on the ground waiting for us.

I guided her onto its shell. On top of the shell was a seat I had made only for her. She leaned back on the chair, which had been designed for reclining. I stood upright behind it.

The turtle began moving its feet. It moved very quickly and steadily. Not the slightest tremor could be felt on top of the shell. The attention I had paid to the ride quality had been worth it.

I glanced back. The shop was growing smaller and smaller. Farewell, my ten years. I will come back later. I muttered that inwardly.

We soon reached the center of the slums. The people blocking the road saw the turtle and fled in fright. No, they probably fled after seeing Professor, not the turtle. The rumors about her had not died down yet.

In the distance, I saw Evan waving his hand. Right. Though it had been a hateful sort of attachment, attachment was still attachment. I gave him a small nod in greeting as we passed by.

We moved along the exact same road as when I went to take the exam. Soon, a well-maintained road appeared. Beyond that road, I saw the city gate.

I drove the turtle toward it. As always, the city gate was tightly shut. I had not even been able to pass through this gate unless it was during the exam. But today was different.

Soldiers came out from the guardhouse in front of the city gate and blocked the turtle's path.

"Stop. Unauthorized persons may not enter the city."

I climbed down from the turtle and stood before them. Then I took out a sheet of paper from my clothes and held it out. The soldiers' gazes gathered on it. A smile naturally spread across my face. I had poured a great deal of time and effort into obtaining this.

The soldiers accepted the paper and began inspecting it. After examining it closely, they nodded slightly. The path opened. One soldier handed the paper back to me and smiled.

"Congratulations on passing, mage!"

"Hoho, thank you. Keep up the good work."

I carefully put the paper away. University. This was university. The people who had not even allowed me to approach before now bowed their heads before me. Was this what being reborn meant? By passing the university entrance exam, I had thrown away my old self.

And now? A university student. Those words made my heart tremble.

The gate slowly began to open through the workings of magic. I passed through the gap.

The city was enormous. As I had seen before, it also possessed civilization. Buildings dozens of floors tall, built with magic, cast huge shadows over the ground, and people moved constantly between them. Above them, mages flew through the sky.

When I had gone to take the exam before, I had been stopped by soldiers and could only look at this sight from far away. But now, I was moving against that flow of people. There were so many people that they felt like ants. I felt countless gazes glancing at the turtle as we passed.

Seeing this stirred the memories of my past life, making various scenes pour out. This lively city did not fall behind even when compared to those memories. No, it might even surpass them.

It had a completely different atmosphere from the dark air of the slums outside the walls. Like that, I moved deep into the city.

At the center of the city stood a huge gate. People constantly came and went through it. There were especially many people who looked like mages. They came out of the transfer gate and naturally headed toward a small door beside it.

I also led the turtle toward that place. A very small, shabby wooden door came into view. The mages placed their hands on that door. Then the tightly shut door opened slightly and swallowed them inside in an instant.

I stopped the turtle near that door.

"Are we there?"

Perhaps she felt the turtle stop, because Professor lifted her head. I nodded slightly and arranged the shell so she could climb down, creating stairs that continued all the way to the ground. She slowly rose and descended to the ground along those stairs.

"It has been a while since I passed through this door too."

Professor said that while crossing her arms. The turtle, having finished its job, tucked its head and legs into its shell and shook its whole body.

Then the shell began to grow smaller and smaller. The trembling only settled after it became small enough to fit in my palm. I picked it up. An incredible weight pressed into my hand.

Did I adjust it a little wrong?

I injected a large amount of magical power and rewrote the turtle's circuits. Only then did it become a little lighter. It still felt like I was holding a boulder, but it was better than before.

One of the things I had discovered while studying that damned magic book was magic that compressed objects into smaller forms.

I still vividly remembered how moved I had felt when I first used this magic. Surely no one would expect that this tiny turtle, small enough to fit in my palm, originally had a giant body dozens of meters large.

I put it into my clothes. Drawn by magical power, the turtle entered the spatial pouch just like that. At the same time, the magic was released, and its body expanded all at once. The once-spacious area inside the pouch instantly became cramped.

A sigh came out on its own.

Everything else was fine, but the magical power consumption was far too high. The smaller I made an object, the more the consumption increased exponentially. Coming here from the shop had drained almost half my magical power, and the compression just now had nearly emptied me.

It was my first time using this magic on the turtle, so I had not known it would be this hard to maintain.

"Now then, shall we go?"

Professor took the lead and placed her hand on the door. The door swallowed her in an instant.

I swallowed.

Now it was my turn. Once I crossed that door, it would be the university. I pressed my acceptance certificate against the door. The paper melted away in an instant, and the door slowly began to open.

Several emotions mixed inside my heart. Anticipation, excitement, and fear combined into an emotion I could not describe.

The door to the university I had dreamed of for decades was opening. How long had I waited for this moment? What would be waiting beyond this door?

A strong pulling force reached me. I squeezed my eyes shut. Then, in the blink of an eye, I was sucked into the door.

There was no special change or anything like that.

I slowly opened my eyes.

I was standing in another place. It was an extremely wide clearing.

I stood in front of a door placed at the edge of that clearing. It looked exactly like the door I had just opened.

I was about to look around more when a strange sensation spread through my body.

No, my body was not strange. The surroundings were strange. There was too much magical power. Magical power I had never experienced before filled the area around me.

That magical power endlessly pushed into my body. My depleted magical power filled back up in an instant, and the Sapling swam within that river of magical power and grew by one segment. It felt as if I had entered water made of magical power.

For a moment, I could not control my body and floundered. Then a sudden impact struck my head. Someone had hit my head hard. I fell flat on the ground.

When my shaking vision recovered, I saw Professor's unimpressed expression.

"The others come to their senses quickly, so why are you like this?"

"I am sorry..."

Even speaking was difficult. But at some point, my body suddenly began to feel comfortable. Magical power starting from my head was helping settle my body. It was the magical power Professor had injected when she hit my head. I looked at Professor with moved eyes.

Professor snorted and hit my head again. With that force, my head was driven into the ground. At the same time, more of Professor's magical power seeped into me, and my recovery began speeding up.

With Professor's help, I was soon able to pick myself up. I did not express my thanks. If I opened my mouth again, I felt like my head would crack, so I only gave a quiet cough and bowed my head.

Instead, I looked around.

There were quite a few people like me. They were twisting their bodies as they struggled to adapt to this powerful magical power.

Beyond them were people who had already finished adapting. They were gathered around an enormous, tall platform in the middle of the clearing, talking to one another.

And when I moved my gaze farther beyond them, I saw very tall mountains surrounding the clearing. Dozens of peaks enclosed this clearing like a wall.

Once I came to my senses a little, Professor began walking ahead. I quickly followed her. She did not go near the platform like the others. She headed toward a corner. As if she liked that quiet, empty place, she jerked her chin at me.

I immediately understood what Professor wanted.

I took the puppets for her out of the spatial pouch. As soon as they came out of the pouch, they twisted their bodies and failed to keep their balance.

The magical power of this place was a burden on them too. I quickly changed the circuit structure of the puppets and adjusted them so they could accept more magical power. Only then did they begin moving properly.

I supervised them and began setting up a place meant only for her.

First, the puppets raised a large tent. This tent, which blocked the gazes around us, was decorated with beautiful golden tree patterns like her hair.

At the center of the tent, I placed a chair with a soft cushion. The cushion created through this magic formed the optimal shape, and whenever the user's posture changed, it naturally matched the movement and always provided only the best comfort.

In front of it, I placed a small table. The table, made so it was not too large, fit perfectly with Professor's build and formed a gentle harmony. I neatly arranged refreshments on top of it and positioned the puppets beside her so they could serve her at any time.

At the same time, the Environment Optimization Magic hung on the tent transformed the environment inside. This small space felt less like a simple resting place and more like an independent world built only for her within this wide clearing.

Professor sat in the chair and smiled in satisfaction. Butler poured tea into her cup. She savored the aroma and sank deeply into the chair.

Perfect.

I admired myself while slowly adjusting the magic. I was still inexperienced with this Environment Optimization Magic, so I felt a slight instability in it. I did my best to stabilize it.

Then at some point, a strange magical power suddenly began to make itself felt. It felt as if some impurity had entered this perfect environment I had created.

It was starting from my shadow.

My shadow shook, then began slowly swelling. And from within it, it spat out a person.

It was a middle-aged man with a face steeped in fatigue. The man tapped my shoulder a few times, then bowed his head to Professor in greeting.

"Professor Irian, it has been a long time."

Professor glanced at him, then lightly waved her hand as if pleased to see him.

"May I stay here with you? It seems we will have to wait another two hours until the entrance ceremony."

"Sure. Ron, bring another chair here."

Professor said that. I quickly took out a chair and handed it to the man. Once he sat in the chair, he sagged down in it.

"Oh, this feels nice."

He said that while fiddling with the cushion. Butler approached and placed a cup in front of him. Then Butler poured tea, and a flower bloomed inside the teacup. Its shape was more beautiful than before. Just like the attendant magic from the magic book, it was the result of very delicate readjustment.

"He made it. His name is Evron. I picked him up outside."

She pointed at me. Following her gesture, I quietly gave a respectful bow.

"Oh, is he a student entering this time?"

"Yes. I taught him a little over the past year."

He looked at Professor with a surprised face. It was the kind of expression one made after hearing something strange.

"Professor Irian taught someone?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Then this friend is Professor's first disciple, isn't he? You have never held a class even once until now."

Professor Irian's face instantly twisted. Her magical power shot quickly toward the man.

But shadows bloomed from his body and layered over one another, smoothly letting that magical power flow away. My eyes widened. This was the first time I had seen Professor's magical power blocked.

"There is no need to be embarrassed, ahaha."

"Embarrassed? As if. It is because you said something pointless."

Professor grumbled. I simply stood with my hands politely gathered. I had no intention of joining their conversation at all, and only focused on improving the tent's magic and replenishing the refreshments on the table. Professor gestured to me.

It meant to come closer. I carefully moved my feet and stood in front of the table.

"This is Professor Heisen. As you just saw, he is a strange guy who likes shadows."

"It is an honor to meet you. My name is Evron."

I bent at the waist almost to a right angle and greeted him politely. I felt the magical power of the professor called Heisen lightly sweep over my body. I did not resist and quietly entrusted my body to it. After looking into my body for a moment, that magical power soon withdrew.

"I wondered if there was something special about him since Professor Irian took him in, but there is not much, is there?"

I stayed still without saying anything. Since he was right, I felt no agitation at all.

I simply felt even more grateful to Professor Irian. Had she not led someone as lacking as me all the way to the university?

"That is why I brought him. Capable ones start thinking unnecessary thoughts."

"Oh, that is an interesting idea. I was worried because the kids under me keep running away, and this seems like a good method."

"Right? I really did think this through well."

"I will try it once next year too."

They began chatting like that.

I backed away from the table by a suitable distance. But I maintained a certain range. Since I had not yet been told to leave, I erased my presence completely while staying within their line of sight. After talking for a long while, Professor paused just as she was about to bring up another topic.

"Ron, go outside now."

Professor said that. I bowed my head deeply and carefully left the tent. Once I went outside, shadows covered the tent and made it impossible for anyone to look inside. It seemed they were having some important conversation.

Outside, it was still quiet, and only the sunlight was pouring down strongly.

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