Surviving at the Magic Academy

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The spiky wild boars kept pouring in, day and night without a break.

But surprisingly, there weren’t any stronger monsters that would outdo them. They just kept coming in greater and greater numbers. So, I made the maze simpler to deal with them. The turtle started not just healing the wounds but compressing the magical power into its shell stronger than before.

The maze became more stable, and gradually, I started to gain some breathing room. The real problem was dealing with the massive pile of corpses. The dolls managed to drag the monster bodies outside, but with tens of thousands already dead, the mountain of corpses turned into a gigantic barrier.

It was quite a nuisance for me, who wanted to maneuver through the maze freely. The solution lay in studying the spikes of the wild boars. If the corpses were a hindrance, I could turn them into an advantage instead.

I began creating dolls that moved using the wild boars as their physical bodies. At the center of it, were their spikes. This unstable body was so delicate that it could burst apart if left alone, but I actually liked that aspect.

These dolls collided with the charging wild boars, creating massive explosions. It was a scale of explosion that surpassed the explosive magic I had used before. A satisfied smile crept onto my face.

Thus, everything stabilized, and things flowed smoothly until day six. Whether I could call it smooth sailing while continuously tackling monsters was questionable, but that’s how it went.

It was not until day seven that things began to change.

The dolls that had been scouting far from the mountain suddenly started breaking apart. In haste, I investigated the reason for the collapse of my scouting network. Giant hawks were swooping down on the hidden dolls from the trees above.

They were trampling and shattering the dolls with their enormous size and speed. If they were flying monsters like this, there was no way my dolls could counteract them. I was forced to watch helplessly as the dolls scattered throughout the forest and mountains disappeared one by one.

But it wasn’t just the hawks. Other monsters began to appear in the forest. Wolves with blades for fur and deer clad in armor. These creatures boasted size and magical power that far surpassed the wild boars, exuding a fierce aura as they approached.

With the appearance of these three types of monsters, things in the mountain began to get complicated.

The massive hawks, however, were the least of my worries. They flew in groups, targeting the mountain peaks. I had no way or intention of engaging with them. I simply chose to ignore them completely.

My maze was designed solely to deal with land monsters, and those aerial ones were destined to be torn apart by Hongryeong’s wind barrier. Hongryeong, who knew the structure of my maze, would handle them easily.

But the blade wolves were different. Unlike the wild boars, they didn’t rush into the turtle’s embrace. They cooperated with each other to escape the maze itself, while meticulously hiding their intentions.

Unlike the boars, which blindly charged ahead, they strategized and surveyed their surroundings.

And just as I altered the structure of the maze, they seized the moment, gathering their strength to break through the maze’s walls. It was only then that I realized what was happening.

I belatedly caught onto their movements and felt tension surge through me.

They passed through the pile of wild boar corpses, charging fiercely towards me. The ferocity and intensity gleamed in their eyes. I stumbled back, intimidated by their immediate and powerful threat.

“Damn it, I let my guard down.”

I hurriedly activated the defensive barrier. The moment the pre-installed defensive magic enveloped me, one of the blade wolves slammed into the barrier. A tremendous shock rattled the barrier, sending me flying backward.

With that powerful hit, the barrier was partially shattered. Damn it, I should’ve thought about my safety first. I had let my guard down, thinking things were progressing too smoothly. These guys’ intelligence and movements were sharper than I expected.

While I continuously reinforced the barrier to fend off their attacks, I had no time to breathe. Other monsters began to squeeze out through the broken wall. The delicate flow of my carefully orchestrated maze was starting to unravel, and the monsters were flooding into my defensive barrier.

At that moment, the entire maze creaked. It felt like this massive structure was about to collapse.

At the center of it all was the armored deer. If the wild boars had made an impact through self-destructing, the armored deer was widening the very hole in the wall by using its solid body. They charged the walls with the boars skewered on their antlers.

With an unexpected force, the wall began to crumble.

“No…!”

A wave of despair washed over me. But it was only for a moment. I quickly assessed the situation, separating what I could do and what I couldn’t. It was impossible to save the entire maze. I first needed to protect the crucial part and minimize the structure of the maze to stabilize the situation.

I immediately ordered the waiting self-destruct dolls.

The dolls swiftly complied. Hundreds, thousands of dolls rushed towards the gaping wall, colliding wildly with the hordes of monsters. Explosions erupted amidst them. This would buy me a little time!

Taking advantage of that brief respite, I adjusted the turtle’s position. Originally, I had placed the turtle in its most optimal location to prevent overloading the maze, but I no longer had the luxury to think about that. The turtle barreled through, crushing the maze as it moved toward the breached wall.

As I focused all my senses on casting magic, an instinctive warning rang in my head.

At that moment, a shadow began to loom over me. From the sky, where my barrier was weak. A group of blade wolves launched themselves, targeting the vulnerabilities of the armored deer. The barrier began to crack under their claws.

“Damn, these little brats.”

I quickly repaired the barrier, but several blade wolves fell inside the barrier. There were no dolls or barriers left around me.

They promptly rushed at me. I hastily set up the circuitry and drew the magical circle. There wasn’t enough time to deploy the defensive shield. The moment the massive claws came flying at me, I quickly activated the magic.

“Explode!”

The magic circle detonated, pushing the surrounding air away. The shockwave forced the wolves back, but only for a moment. They lunged back at me. My waist was severely cut by the claws, and my insides spilled out.

Swallowing the pain, I stacked magic once more. Another explosive magic. I rapidly cast the spell before they leaped. This time, it didn’t target them.

The explosion was aimed at me.

“Gah!”

With the blast’s impact, my whole body felt like it was shattering. But I used that impact to fly far away. I created enough distance from the blade wolves.

While gulping down blood, I rapidly built up my magic. The defensive magic stacked on top of each other, forming a much more stable barrier than before. Although the blade wolves smashed against the defensive magic, I poured all my magical power into creating even more spells.

In this crisis, the turtle finally arrived. It smashed through everything that stood in its way and closed off the rift with its body. Only then could I finally take a breath. I glared at the blade wolves who were bewildered to see the turtle.

“Now, it’s my turn, you bastards.”

With no new monsters flooding in, the dolls began to swiftly clean up the area. After a series of explosions, most of the monsters had fallen. Only the wolves remained, fleeing for their lives.

I’ll turn you into dolls and teach you a lifelong lesson. I swore, grinding my teeth.

With the corpses of spiky wild boars scattered around, I quickly began assembling dolls using them. Then, I used those dolls to corner the wolves. They struggled to escape but ended up dying in the dolls’ self-destructs.

Was I finally done? In an instant, all my strength drained, and I nearly collapsed. But biting my tongue helped me endure. I needed to repair the maze. The turtle blocking the wall was just a temporary fix.

I activated the repair dolls to refortify the crumbling walls. Corpses were piling up in front of the turtle. If I delayed even a little, those creatures would certainly break free from the maze again.

I forcibly stifled the severe wounds in my body using the roots of the saplings inside me. Healing could wait. I delicately maneuvered the dolls and magic to re-establish the flow of the crumbling maze.

All these processes were happening in a hurry, making the structure incredibly unstable. Yet, I managed to somehow restore the original framework. The turtle returned to the open field, and the flow of monsters resumed.

For several days, day and night passed as I stabilized the maze. There were instances where wolves broke through the walls or where the flow got blocked again, but this time, I responded thoroughly. I wouldn’t let my guard down any longer.

As the night of the tenth day passed, just when everything stabilized, I collapsed, unconscious. I woke up a whole day later.

During that time, a shocking occurrence had taken place.

Finally, one fell. Siggeo’s fortress had been breached.

The first to notice was Aili and Hongryeong. The massive hawks—Hongryeong referred to them as the spiky flower hawk—had assaulted the hourglass. Fortunately, with the magic they had prepared in advance, they were able to fend it off easily, but the fact that the defense had been breached was undeniable.

At that moment, Hongryeong stepped up. She sealed off Siggeo’s area tightly with her magic and contacted the members to gather everyone at the hourglass. Since I was unconscious, I could only respond to this later.

Borrowing the vision of the dolls around the hourglass, I observed Aili, Hongryeong, and the Shaking Rope already waiting there. Siggeo merely wore a bitter smile off to the side. I moved the doll’s body to stand before them and bowed deeply in apology.

“I’m sorry, I had a slight crisis and couldn’t respond to the contact.”

“It’s fine. As long as it didn’t breach, that’s what matters.”

Hongryeong said with a smile. She then informed me of the matter at hand, that Siggeo’s fortress had been breached. A wry smile spread across my face. It was certainly valid. Hadn’t I almost breached as well?

“Heh, thankfully, I’m still alive? I thought my doll-making friend was a goner.”

Aili laughed, her feet standing in a puddle of blood. It seemed she had absorbed an abundance of monster blood, transforming it into a deep, dark hue, resembling a shadow.

“Thanks to your concern, I barely survived.”

“Yeah, the blade wolves are monsters you have to know about or you’ll suffer. They’re creatures you won’t easily come across.”

It had been a while since my predictions were off. Aili beamed with a smile. Behind that smile, I sensed a strong killing intent. A chill ran down my spine. The blood puddle, which resembled a shadow, reminded me of some rumors I had heard.

“What’s wrong? Did you see something scary?”

I couldn’t manage my expression for a moment. As Aili read my expression, she teasingly asked.

“Haha, no, I was just reflecting on the past few days.”

I quickly searched for excuses in my memory. Soon, I was able to pinpoint an old recollection. There was a famous rumor among wandering mages. It mentioned someone who had been hunting many magicians for about a hundred years. Whenever they were spotted, a dense shadow, laden with the smell of blood, would linger nearby.

That shadow seemed to coincide with the figure in the rumors. Then, could it be that Aili was that hunter of magicians? Why did she participate in the university exams? I couldn’t be sure. I forced myself to cut off those thoughts. Whoever she was, whatever her goals were, they weren’t matters I needed to concern myself with. All I needed to do was safely pass this exam. I naturally smiled and continued the conversation.

As the atmosphere gradually became more stable, Hongryeong spoke up.

“Siggeo’s fortress has crumbled. We need someone to take over that area.”

The surroundings fell silent. Aili and the Shaking Rope seemed completely uninterested. I had just spent so much effort resolving the crisis in my area that I was left with no resources.

After a brief pause while waiting for responses, Hongryeong nodded when no one answered.

“Then I will take over that area. Ebron?”

He looked at me. I slightly bowed my body.

“Could you explain to Siggeo how our areas were divided? I want to reconstruct it similarly.”

“Yes, certainly. I’ll provide you with all the details right after the meeting.”

“Thank you.”

Siggeo wore a bitter smile.

“This incident made me painfully aware of my lack of experience. I was sufficiently able to handle the land monsters, but I was ill-prepared for the flying ones. In the end, monsters infiltrated all the way to the center.”

Siggeo bowed his head toward us.

“Where I was, these kinds of creatures were hardly ever around, so I just went on as usual, and ended up with this result. I have no face to show you.”

“Oh, what’s the issue? As long as the hourglass is intact, it’s fine. You just need to fortify more thoroughly from now on. The exam isn’t over yet, right?”

Feeling a sense of shared hardship, I quickly comforted Siggeo. I was going through a similar situation. In truth, Siggeo and I had built our fortresses in similar ways.

I constructed a maze, while he set up walls, yet ultimately, we both relied on a singular massive force to defend our fortifications.

If there were beings that disregarded this power, breaches were expected. Had I not partnered with Hongryeong, I would have ended up just like Siggeo. Siggeo shook his head.

“No, I don’t think I’m ready to pass yet. I feel the need to refine myself more. During the remaining exam period, I will fully cooperate.”

At his words, we paused in silence. This was a practical announcement of relinquishment. With this, it was clear that Siggeo would join Hongryeong, who had taken over that area. In this moment, a majority of the votes were in consensus.

Tension hung in the air for those who realized it.

Aili seemed uninterested in all of this, yawning exaggeratedly.

“So, is that it for this meeting? Can I leave now?”

Hongryeong lightly nodded her head. As Aili prepared to rise from her seat, she glanced at me for a moment. Then, she seemed to think and quietly sat back down.

“Doll Maker, will there be stronger ones coming out?”

She asked. When I looked at Aili, she was resting her chin on her hand, spinning in her seat with a smile.

“Definitely. The closer we get to the end of the exam, the higher the quality of challenges that will pop up.”

I briefly explained the structure of the exam to her.

“Usually, these types of exam challenges consist of a series of easier tasks. Only at the very end do the more difficult tasks appear. This kind of task-based examination prioritizes the process over the results, so avoiding point deductions along the way is incredibly important.”

Aili nodded her head, her eyes sparkling.

“Oh, you know quite a bit?”

I forced a smile.

“Haha, you see, this is my eleventh exam.”

“Really? You don’t look like it.”

If it weren’t for our professor, I probably wouldn’t have made it this far.”

“Professor?”

“Yes, thankfully, a professor from the university has been teaching me since a year ago.”

At that moment, the gazes of others sharpened, all directed toward me. I could feel their eyes intensely. The position of being a university professor carried a powerful influence. Professors meant a recognized level of strength and capability.

There was a reason for revealing this here.

The exam was nearing its conclusion, and I had let slip a chink in my armor during the last wave. Others had likely subconsciously observed my maze breaking apart as well. So it was time to flaunt myself a bit more to others. If I didn’t, Hongryeong might dispose of me without hesitation.

By revealing my background as a professor, I could ensure that I remained a valuable asset to him after the exam. With that, he wouldn’t likely strive to get rid of me during this exam.

In that moment, with the majority’s support in Hongryeong’s grasp, the structure of the exam had shifted to where I only needed to concern myself with his choices. It seemed Hongryeong noticed my blatant appeal, his smile deepening.

“Hehe, no wonder you employ some interesting spells.”

I politely replied.

“You flatter me.”

I summoned my dolls and did my best to serve refreshments. Even at this moment, monsters were pouring into every region, and everyone was using their abilities to fend them off.

The meeting flowed on without any further conversation. Finally, it ended after I conveyed the structural information about Siggeo’s area to him, wrapping up the meeting.

 

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