Surviving at the Magic Academy

---

There was a hubbub in the air.

This was something that often happened when following the traces of humans. I slowly approached the direction from which the noise was emanating, a signal that I meant no harm. They had already noticed me, as a few detection spells brushed past my turtle.

In a wide area created by the intersection of several paths, swordsmen were gathered. I stepped out from my turtle’s shell and greeted them. Most were too preoccupied sharpening their swords with magic to even glance my way. But a few waved back at me.

One muscular guy, who looked three heads taller than the rest, was particularly friendly. When we had introduced ourselves earlier, he had said his name was Goro. Goro stepped out from the group and laughed, a thick metallic smell wafting from him.

“Hey there, good to see you!”

“Nice to see you too! It’s comforting to meet fellow swordsmen here.”

I quickly took stock of the group. Originally over twenty strong, they were now cut down by half. It seemed like the maze had taken its toll on them; they all looked a bit shabby. That fierce-looking woman was already lost and had disappeared somewhere.

“Looks like it was quite a rough time getting here.”

The guy made a wry smile.

“We had a few ambushes. While we were busy fighting, other wizards jumped in. The monsters were definitely those brought along by them. Anyway, we all got scattered in that chaos and now we’re catching up like this.”

As he said this, he flashed a savage smile, the kind that felt like death was dangling at the end of his sword. Along with the metallic stench emanating from him, I could sense a faint whiff of congealed blood.

“Of course, we cut off all their arms and legs. At first, we held back a bit, but after wandering through the maze, I figured something out. If you’re gonna die anyway, why not just disappear on your own? Like, being left behind and all. That made it easier to use people too!”

“Really? That was my suggestion to the professor. I’m glad it helped!”

“No wonder I liked you right from the start! Ron, you really have made my day!”

“I just did what I could for the benefit of all the students.”

“Anyway, I appreciate it! Just knowing that makes me happy. And we’ve decided to keep killing those who attacked us too. Every time we come here, we’ll be slicing off a limb or two from those bastards. So I’m asking you, what’s wrong with planning the next lecture ahead of time?”

“There can’t be a problem with that. We respect the choices of all students.”

I said this with an awkward smile. You just didn’t want to earn enemies, especially if they were swordsmen. They loved to attack in a group. That’s what grudges were for them. They were a lot different from the individualistic mages.

Those idiots who attacked swordsmen, I couldn’t understand it. Did they think these guys were weak because they couldn’t kill each other?

Of course, I never imagined that the dropout system would loosen their reins this much. It seemed like there had been many stories behind this. The eyes of those resting here gleamed with a sharp intensity that was surprising.

But this wasn’t my business. Wasn’t all of this just part of the lecture?

I slowly began to scan my surroundings. While they felt safe resting, I wanted to be prepared for the unexpected.

Last time I had been among wizards resting when suddenly a horde of monsters showed up. I had panicked so much I forgot to gather my belongings and rode away on my turtle. Others had done the same.

I quietly set my turtle down near them. Unlike those earlier wizards, these guys seemed like they could handle things if something were to happen. Then I checked on my turtle’s condition.

Up to now, I had relied heavily on it to survive. Having stayed connected with it steadily, it now felt more natural than my own limbs. I rubbed its shell gently.

It was covered in wounds. Signs of encounters with many monsters and traps. Following the path of others had allowed me to avoid most of the dangers, but not all. Traps left behind for others, or monsters hiding in the maze. These had continued to pop out, damaging my turtle.

I began to heal my turtle’s wounds using magic. It was a very inefficient task. Even if I used all my magic, I wouldn’t be able to heal even half of these wounds.

But there was no choice. I had already used up all the materials I’d brought, and this was the only way left to fix my turtle. Gathering whatever scraps I could to at least keep it going, I worked on mending it.

I don’t know how long had passed, but I felt the coffin doll sending out signals. It was slowly approaching along the path I had come from. The coffin itself looked a bit battered, with a hole halfway through it.

The coffin doll had taken quite a beating over time. The ones still with it were just about fifty in number, while those that hadn’t returned probably surpassed a hundred. Roughly around fifteen had likely been lost due to either areas I couldn’t reach or the changes in the maze. Most cases fell into those categories.

So I didn’t have high expectations for the coffin doll that was approaching. In fact, because I had been wandering around for so long, the probability of survival for the wizards stored in the doll had dropped significantly. Most had already passed the timeframe for help.

But since I couldn’t stay in one place, what choice did I have? The monsters wandering the maze were highly diverse, and they would charge at anyone they saw. I had no confidence in facing them, thus I could only keep running.

With little expectation, I opened the coffin.

To my surprise, a living person was inside. I recognized the familiar face. It was Jun. This guy had a tenacious life. This was already the fifth time. How on earth was he still alive?

Seeing him so admirable, I casually dropped some information about the treasure. This time, it wasn’t enough to rile the professor. I just threw out a few of my hunches. He was filled with fervor and ran off to find the treasure. Then he returned inside the coffin, borrowing it once more.

It created a splendid cycle. Good for him, good for me. A perfectly winning structure for both of us. I once asked him out of curiosity why he took so many risks.

He said checking the trap spells and referencing the magical circles helped a lot. I guess there was indeed a reason behind his reckless wanderings.

But this too would soon come to an end. Quickly recovering him, I checked the time. Less than two hours remained. No one else seemed to be getting left behind, and few came bearing a coffin doll.

Everyone was conserving their strength and staying gathered in safe places.

Clearly, a significant change in the maze was imminent. This was about to be the third transformation.

This maze had been nearly fully revealed. I felt it with my own body, so there was no mistaking it. Almost all traps had disappeared, and more paths to the end had opened. If we reached that end, the maze would change. This was a fact proven by the two transformations that had already occurred.

And many would be waiting for that moment.

“So, are you heading to the open field too?”

Goro, who had been watching me fiddling with my turtle, asked. He seemed to know. If he had sensed the fight, anyone would be able to guess where the treasure was located.

During the second transformation, Hongryeong and his crew had laid claim to the open field and chased off all other wizards. The fight erupted as the transformation began, unleashing tremendous magic from there, continuing until the transformation concluded. It was noticeable even from whatever corner of the maze you were in.

But the transformation finished, and the maze found a new stability. Of course, the aftermath of that battle was significant enough that the maze’s scale had shrunk considerably. After the fight, Hongryeong’s crew had barred entry to anyone else.

So all the rest wandered the maze aimlessly, but like the swordsmen they were, the moment a fight began, they would surely think to head for the open field. That’s just how wizards were.

“Haha, no way! I’m not going anywhere like that. I’m just planning to quietly watch from this corner until time’s up.”

I waved my hands dismissively.

“That’s too bad. Well then, we’re off first. It feels like it’s going to happen soon.”

He said, looking towards the direction of the open field. Apparently sensing the impending fight, a blue light flared from the sword hanging at his waist.

The other swordsmen were ready too. They seemed to have finished prepping. As I saw them off, I continued adjusting my turtle.

What kind of fool would head into the open field? If I went there now, I would surely get crushed under a rock. No way was I going, no way at all.

But eventually, I found myself going.

As the maze began to shift, I had been comfortably resting in a completely safe spot when suddenly, hordes of monsters swept in. This was something new. They were charging at me, looking solely for me.

The moment I saw their eyes, I knew. It was definitely monsters sent by the professor. I had come this close thinking the further I strayed from the open field, the less her influence would reach me. I never expected her to send this many monsters.

So, while being chased by monsters, I headed towards the open field.

I felt myself being led there, but I had no choice. My turtle had returned to me all battered, and I merely kept pouring dolls out to try and survive.

And finally, I stepped into the open field.

There, a huge amount of magic was swirling. Space was splitting apart, and people were flying up. And then I was flattened.

I barely had time to react. Before I even realized what was happening, a massive pillar came crashing down from the sky, clearly designed to target me. I was squashed flat under that enormous pillar.

The magic affixed to it was strange. Even though my whole body was shattered and I was dying, I didn’t actually perish. The magic on that pillar was endlessly regenerating me. Yet, it was also crushing me to death.

In that endless cycle of regeneration and death, I felt excruciating pain.

Ah, this was why I didn’t want to come to the open field.

Gradually, my mind began to fade. Then, at some moment, I was flung out of the maze. But I was too pained to regain my senses.

Suddenly, I felt a stinging pain on my cheek. A strong jolt of magic was contained in that strike.

Slowly opening my eyes, I saw Professor Ilian crouch down in front of me, wearing a fearsome grin.

“So, how was it? Did you have fun? Did you earn good points?”

I dumbly nodded. I couldn’t tell if this situation was real or a dream. It looked like blue flames flickering in her eyes.

“Well, you certainly had that coming.”

In an instant, my soul was yanked out of me. At that moment, I realized this was reality. And that flickering flame in the professor’s eyes was a flow of magical energy born from her anger.

But it was too late to apologize. Magic shot out from her fingertips. My soul shrieked as it splintered under all sorts of magic.

Amidst the flame-like hallucination, I eventually couldn’t even scream. My thoughts blurred, and my memories faded away. What constituted me gradually slipped away, filled only with pain.

How long had it been?

Somewhen, I found my consciousness returning to my body.

I saw her dusting off her hands. She seemed a bit cheered up. I could only lie there on the ground, dazed.

This unbearable pain meant I couldn’t even pass out. The professor had been continuously restoring my soul, forcing me to re-live the whole torturous process from the beginning.

“Aren’t you going to get up?”

She gave my head a jab with magic. Rubbing where she hit, I managed to stand up. Though my mind was exhausted from the recent torture, my body and soul felt vividly alive. That dissonance was tormenting me.

What felt like hours had passed, but when I checked the time, it had barely been less than a minute. Looking around, I realized I was in the professor’s room. Surrounding her usual massive bed were countless mirrors floating nearby. Only a few of those were emanating light.

The remaining ones seemed to contain nothing but a black mist. The glowing mirrors each captured one student within them.

They were vying for a treasure buried deep within the maze. The treasure was right above the open field ceiling, a space accessible to anyone.

It had been a suspicion of mine from the very beginning that it would be in the open field. But it took me a bit to confirm it. I only realized the treasure’s location when I noticed that traps only dropped when one approached the open field.

“So, is it really okay to let them have that?”

I cautiously asked. She seemed slightly annoyed. Perhaps she felt uneasy about it. But she looked more interested in watching them tear each other apart, her eyes sparkling as they clashed.

“Anyway, that’s not even a true treasure. It’s too shabby to go into my storage. If it hadn’t swallowed up the sixth floor, I wouldn’t have even noticed it.”

She scoffed. It was all because they fought over it, splattering blood. Yet in her mind, it was merely junk.

When I first heard that thing had mixed in with the treasure stash, I was dumbfounded. It had supposedly entered while she was putting other treasures in. The power was so weak that it couldn’t even detect the barrier sealing off the sixth-floor room.

Yet that thing swallowed up the sixth floor. And, as it now seemed, it possessed the strength to create a maze. Just what could a proper treasure be like?

Ah, I had seen a proper treasure before. That eye came to mind. Even thinking about it made my head hurt. Well, if they considered that kind of strength a treasure, then that box was definitely just junk.

I gathered my thoughts as best I could and continued watching the conflict.

At the end of that intense battle, a victor emerged.

It wasn’t someone from a noble family, nor the swordsmen. It wasn’t even the group of wizards that came third.

To my astonishment, the champion of that fight was the most unimpressive and weakest among them.

It was Jun.

While everyone else was busy fighting, he leapt across spaces to grab hold of the box. That a still-unfinished fledgling wizard could use spatial magic was something no one had imagined. That was the secret he had been hiding all along.

The box fought back violently. The maze’s magic swirled, and countless obstacles struck his body. Flames erupted, setting him ablaze, and winds tore at him. Yet, amidst that shattering destruction, he never ceased injecting magic into it.

And the moment the box was fully saturated with magic, the maze came to a halt.

In an instant, everyone was flung out. Their landing spot was the infirmary on the second floor. In that space, they quickly regained their original forms. Arms sprouted, and their insides rejuvenated.

It was a miraculous scene that seemed to reverse the flow of time. No, it was actually reversing time. It was magic that created miracles through a spell woven in the infirmary designed to rewind targets to a specific point in time, utilizing the explosive magic flowing through the tower.

This had been set by the professor. When I had been too curious while she was repairing the tower, I had once asked her about it. She had chuckled briefly, telling me it was a type of magic I could never comprehend, and I should not concern myself with it. Since she had never been mistaken about anything, I merely nodded.

“Then may I go down? I feel like I need to wrap up the lecture.”

She nodded. From the moment the fight ended, she had once again lost all motivation and collapsed on her bed.

Yet, she looked pleased. This lecture seemed to have satisfied her. That was good. I figured I wouldn’t be punished any further after all this.

Carefully, I made my way down to the second floor. My mind was in a hazy state as if I was about to collapse, but I still had to finish the lecture.

The ones who had regained their health in the infirmary all gathered in the general classroom according to the notice I had prepared beforehand. The stragglers were waiting there too.

As I entered, a murmur broke out. They screamed at each other, glaring and spreading deadly magic around. At the center of it all was Jun. But he seemed unfazed, tenderly stroking the box in his hands.

“Alright, today’s lecture comes to a close. How did everyone enjoy it? Was it fun?”

I said. The bickering halted, and all eyes turned to me. The only one smiling among them was Jun. The stares from the others were sharp and piercing. I chuckled back at them.

“Looks like we have a treasure owner. He can sell it or use it as he pleases. It belongs to him now.”

At that, a few gazes shifted to Jun. According to the rules, seizing it was prohibited. Jun probably was undeterred when snatching it. I wondered if he would sell it. I had no idea what he would do.

“Seeing how harmonious you all are, it seems our lecture went rather well. Don’t be discouraged. You can seize the treasure next time. The next lecture will be in three months, so feel free to visit the tower in the meantime.”

As I said this, magic flowed out. Then, the coffin dolls that remained with the survivors leapt out and hugged me. I quickly slipped away from the classroom, leaving the murmuring crowd behind. I felt unwell as it was. I needed to hurry and rest.

Some departed while others remained.

I returned to my room on the fifth floor, fiddling with my ring. Scores appeared. It just surpassed two thousand. I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Excluding what I received from Hongryeong, it was almost seven hundred points. Of course, I would have to deduct some of that for the materials I had used until now.

As I caressed the ring, I suddenly dozed off.

 

---