Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Fortunately, Yi-han didnt have to bear the burden of being responsible for the death of a professor as Professor Mortem quickly got back up.

Cough. Did everyone see that? That was , a low-level curse.

In reality, his body was still in the process of recovering from the spell.

He had immediately begun circulating his mana the moment he fell, but the curse was backed by an enormous amount of mana as well, which was why he couldnt completely shake it off even now.

If the graduate students under Professor Mortem saw this, they mightve fainted from the shock.

He may have been underestimating Yi-han, but for a professor to collapse from a first-year students curse

.

Professor Garcia knew the truth of the matter as well, which was why she was staring at Professor Mortem.

He avoided her gaze, pretending like he couldnt see it.

Phew, you almost gave me a heart attack, sir.

Yi-han said while heaving a sigh of relief.

He was surprised at first, but the professor was apparently trying to show off the full effect of the curse, which was why he took it head-on.

I knew something was wrong!

You seem to have an affinity for curses.

Really? Thank you.

You seem to have an affinity for curses.

Umthank you?

It was never a good sign when a professor repeated what he said.

Yi-han was very sensitive to matters of this nature.

What is he plotting?

Either his talent was truly impressive enough to be mentioned twice, or the professor was dissatisfied with him over something that he did.

Considering how twisted professors were, it was likely the latter.

Was my curse below his expectation? Have some shame, will you? If I could use it perfectly on my first try, would I be a freshman?

As you saw from this demonstration, its useful to know a curse or two even if you arent a black mage. They can come in handy because of how versatile they are.

To dispel the awkward situation, Professor Garcia interjected.

Its not that difficult to learn low-level curses, and knowing them can help you come up with countermeasures. After all, just because you dont know any curses doesnt mean others wont either.

Among black magic, there were a lot of offensive spells that could be easily learned in a short amount of time.

A comparison with fire magic could help illustrate this point.

To attack someone with fire magic, the mage would have to first channel mana and summon a ball of fire. Then, theyd have to keep it under control as they shoot after aiming it at their opponent.

On the other hand, curses only required the caster to focus on who they wished to target. It was also easy to visualize their effects as anyone wouldve had experience being sick or numb.

Hence, even low-level mercenary mages that havent undergone formal training would often have a curse or two under their arsenal.

The best way to defend against a spell was to learn it.

No one knew what the future held, and having a basic understanding of black magic might come in handy at unexpected times.

That was why Professor Garcia had invited Professor Mortem to this class.

She wasnt saying that they had to learn black magic.

Anyway, enough explaining lets have you form pairs and practice.

***

Contrary to expectations, the students showed quite a bit of interest in curses.

They were still young, and despite all the horror stories surrounding black magic, they were eager to learn offensive spells.

What Professor Garcia said about learning a couple of curses for self-defence seemed reasonable.

Is this how you swing the staff?

Maybe?

From what I heard, paralysis isnt the only type of curse. There are curses that take away peoples visions, make breathing difficult, or interfere with peoples balance.

Dudeare you planning on learning black magic? You know so much.

No.

But as expected, they werent naive to the point where theyd specialize in black magic simply to learn curses.

At the end of the day, black magic was black magic.

Please go easy on me.

Same here.

Yi-hans practice partner was Gainando.

After greeting each other as nobles would, they took out their staffs.

The rules were simple.

One person would attack first, and the other person would attack next.

Not only was it important to how to cast it, but it was also important to experience what curses were like.

Gainando was the first to attack.

Haap!

Gainando began to concentrate, converting his mana into the yin attribute.

Hoh.

Yi-han didnt see this coming.

Become Paralyzed!

Paat!

Just like before, the curse enveloped Yi-han, and just like before, nothing happened.

Both Yi-han and Gainando were at a loss.

Maybe I didnt wave my staff in the right direction?

Hmm, but I felt your mana being released. Perhaps its because of your incantation. Become Paralyzed sounds kind of polite. It doesnt fit the image of a curse.

T-that so? Then should I chant Get Paralyzed, Bitch?

Just Paralysis should do.

Seeing the two having this pointless discussion, Professor Garcia came over to them while letting out a deep sigh.

Gainando, your curse didnt fail. In fact, you performed really well. Yi-han simply has too much mana and isnt getting affected by it.

!

Gainando was taken aback by this explanation.

So thats why. But for it to have no effect at allmaybe Im not suited for this.

Isnt it too early to judge that?

Nah, Im not interested in black magic anyway. Its not a big deal even if Im trash at it.

Gainando wasnt bothered by this as black magic wasnt to his liking.

To begin with, there were better, cooler paths out there. Why would he choose black magic?

Now, its your turn to try it on me.

Right. Prepare yourself.

Yi-han thought back to how he almost knocked the professor out.

It turned out the professor was just acting, but he was still traumatized by the memory.

I must control myself. Dont use too much mana.

After gathering as little mana as he could, he began casting.

Paralyze!

!

Professor Mortem, who had been watching, was shocked.

Yi-han had used a shortened version of the incantation.

Incantations were of great importance to the success of a spell.

Words held power within them, and they had a massive influence over a mages mind.

Hence, incantations couldnt be shortened willy-nilly.

Even though paralysis was one of the easiest curses to learn, it was impressive that Yi-han had managed to do this already.

Uaaaa!

Gainando threw himself to the side while letting out a scream, jump-scaring the students around him.

Yi-han stared at him, confused.

What are you doing?

M-my instincts told me to dodge

!

This came as yet another surprise to Professor Mortem.

Gainando had unknowingly reacted to the yin attribute mana contained within the curse, which was one of the signs of being greatly gifted in black magic.

Having said that, he didnt have to overreact while dodging.

***

The lesson eventually drew near its end.

The students had had a lot of fun cursing one another, and Professor Garcia had been kind enough to refrain from giving them any assignments.

Did everyone have fun today?

Yes, maam!

Then please give Professor Mortem a round of applause!

Clap, clap, clap, clap-

Black magic is better than you thought, right?

.

Shouldnt have asked.

Professor Garcia regretted throwing out that question. She shouldve just stopped after the claps.

Professor Mortem, any last words?

Cough Im sure many of you have realized the wonders of black magic. In fact, I can see the look of interest in some of your eyes.

?

?

The students tilted their heads.

Are you interested?

No. You?

Of course not.

Hahahaha, who in their right mind would want to learn black magic? said Gainando as he laughed.