Surviving at the Magic Academy

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I got involved in the auction to gather materials for a doll.

For the kind of power I envisioned, I needed strong monster byproducts. It was a thought that crossed my mind when I felt my inadequacies at the promotion exam.

If I had enough power, none of this would have happened. That’s why I wanted the doll. I wanted to encapsulate the talents I lacked within it.

Of course, this line of thought was nudged by Maira.

Still, my conviction remained unchanged. Power was indeed a fundamental, crucial element of everything. Hence, I participated in the auction again after making a contract.

The auction showcased a remarkable variety of items. I examined them with keen interest. It was the last day, so rare items were popping up left and right.

And I managed to pick one. I fiddled with the card that Miryeong had given me. If I chose the most expensive item here, I’d definitely make a hefty profit.

But I knew my own skills well. No matter how pricey the materials were, if I couldn’t handle them, they held no value for me.

Besides, I couldn’t resell what I bought. That would surely attract Miryeong’s suspicion. In the end, I had to take something I could manage.

After much deliberation, I ended up with Acru’s spine. I had never seen this Acru before. It was a high-level monster capable of constantly morphing its body and distorting its surroundings.

It resembled a wolf but had a bizarre appearance, occasionally displaying traits of other monsters. I heard it was a rare find brought in from outside the university.

The moment I saw it in the catalog, I knew it was the one. Its rarity drove the price quite high, but I didn’t hesitate to keep bidding. After all, it wasn’t with my own points.

Eventually, I secured it, and using it, I crafted a doll. The power contained in the spine was exactly as I had envisioned. I can’t express how much I laughed upon confirming the outcome.

When I set out to create a combat doll, the biggest issue was that the doll couldn’t handle the output. The magical heart I had created couldn’t endure the magic of others.

This spine, however, introduced a distortion to that magical heart. It adapted to fit the magic used to power the doll’s heart and circuits, allowing it to mimic the strength of others.

However, I hadn’t bestowed it with a shadow yet. The doll was still incomplete. Everything about the doll was half-bound to the spine, continuously morphing under its influence.

If I granted self-awareness to such a doll, it would end up like the last Mist Heart.

Self-awareness would remain dormant, and the doll would merely become an appendage of the Shadow Tree. Who knows, it might even break down entirely.

The traces encased within were remarkably powerful. I needed to erase those traces. That’s precisely why I brought the doll to this perilous location.

I couldn’t afford to pause the injection of magic, even for a moment. I had to train it with my magic consistently for a long time and seamlessly integrate the spine into the doll to remove those traces as much as possible.

Of course, it had already snatched that away from me.

I watched the doll striding ahead.

This one, standing about as tall as my chest, resembled a vision of Professor Ilian as she might look when she grows up. The only difference was its hair was pure white.

I sighed. That wasn’t the appearance I desired.

I wanted a doll with the massive build of Goro. That way, it would be easier to contain the magic inside, and constructing the circuits would be more straightforward. I was also looking forward to the imposing presence it would show.

And that was the limit of power that my magical heart could contain. I had tried taking on the forms of Kashian or Hongryeong, but the heart still couldn’t hold up properly.

For the past month, the doll had been consistently reshaping itself. And by the time I entered here, that robust frame had nearly been completed, only to morph into that of a woman.

The heart encased within had triggered the transformation. The heart restructured the doll with tremendous force. The spine quickly became subordinate to the heart, and that power reshaped the doll inside and out just as it is now.

Who would have thought the Mist Heart would truly be here? In fact, as I checked the inventory of the warehouse, I did feel a sense of familiarity.

A heart that consumes consciousness – that trait was all too familiar. So, I half-wondered about it. I never imagined it would be real.

A bittersweet smile crept onto my face. I felt a rather peculiar connection with that heart. Thinking back, my arrival here was significantly linked to that heart.

The first time I thought of the Mirror Bug was due to the mist it emitted. It was a strange mist that led everyone astray, and I began communications with the Mirror Bug to break through it.

Afterward, events unfolded, leading to the auction house, where I received approval from the professor and became the warehouse keeper. And here I got pulled in. Ultimately, everything circled back to that.

The doll halted its steps and turned to look at me. It wore a faint smile at the corners of its mouth. As our eyes met, it winked at me.

Seeing that, I was once again taken aback. To think it wore such a gentle, warm expression on Professor Ilian’s face. Even though I kept staring, it was so out of place it sent shivers down my spine. It opened its mouth.

“Isn’t it fascinating? I said we’d meet again, and here we are.”

“Indeed, it is.”

“That means we are bound by fate, right?”

It moved closer to me and gently leaned its head against my chest. I could only stand there in silence. The mist flowing around was holding my body in place.

“So how about you just open this for me? I want to get inside. It won’t hurt a bit.”

I felt its pale hand exploring my chest. Mist was seeping from that hand. It aimed to dig into my heart.

And then it bounced back. A shimmering golden light softly rose before my chest. The doll pouted as it looked at it.

I swallowed hard and smiled wryly. This was already the twentieth time this had happened. Since we first met, it had consistently set its sights on my heart.

The Mist Heart sought to take not the doll, but me.

I had been fleeing from other treasures. Suddenly, the mist rushed in. And I felt myself melting away within it.

However, the key shone brightly and blocked it. The mist slipped away from me and into the doll beside me. It all happened in the blink of an eye.

If it hadn’t been for the key, I would have surely perished. I recalled the phrase I had read just before entering this room: “It gathers those that consume lives.” I had almost become just that.

I looked down at the faint golden magical power blossoming in my chest. The reason why Professor Ilian claimed I wouldn’t die was exactly this. The key provided me with safety just enough to keep me from dying.

In some way, it was the very form of the object I desired most. This was the structure I had in mind when creating that doll.

A minimal barrier that could protect me, guiding me to realize that cooperating was more beneficial than opposing me. That was my purpose in crafting a combat doll.

But that was precisely the issue. The key only protected but didn’t grant me the power to overcome situations. So, I could only get dragged around by the Mist Heart.

I leisurely surveyed the surroundings. It was now the third day since meeting her. Five days had passed since I entered this space. During that time, I had explored about half of it.

This treasure room was vast, comprising mountains and plains that felt like regions transplanted from reality.

Yet, no living thing existed here. The treasures present had undoubtedly devoured them all. There were remnants of life lingering long ago.

As I wandered through this process, I encountered several treasures. But my goals were nowhere to be found. It felt quite strange.

I looked at the doll. It was moving away from me again, taking steps forward. It gestured for me to follow. It was signaling for me to come along.

This time, we were heading toward the northern end. I had already checked the west and south. It was the result of letting it act as it wished. I could only follow the doll.

I had no choice. Whenever I attempted to go in a different direction, it subtly obstructed my path. It seemed unwilling to let me escape its grasp.

As we walked, I found myself atop a mountain peak. The doll pointed to something in the distance.

“Look, there goes that friend again.”

Following the direction she pointed, I spotted a massive hand. It was something I had seen up close before. Monsters and humans alike had clumped together to form what could only be called fingers.

To be honest, I had started by riding a turtle. How could I walk across this vast area? I had simply intended to quickly check the location of my target.

That way, I could spot a few treasures. In this strange space, all treasures were freely grazing. Most of them lay dormant, not even exuding any magic.

At that moment, I should have moved more carefully.

The reason they weren’t moving was due to the lack of purpose. Just as Professor Ilian had written, they sought to consume lives.

This hand, too, was the same. It was sprawled out like a corpse. So, I thought I was safe from a distance and watched for a moment, but the instant it sensed me, it went berserk.

In its grasp, the turtle was nearly shattered. The moment it was grabbed, the turtle’s shell crumbled like mud.

Thankfully, it was still somewhat sluggish since it had only recently awakened, so I managed to escape. However, it continued to search for me afterward.

Because of the power emanating from it, other treasures also came alive, and they all chased after me. In the ensuing crises, the turtle was almost destroyed and is now resting. Had it not been for the key, escaping would have been near impossible.

Given the distance now, the beast could certainly detect me. Yet, the reason it hasn’t noticed me yet was simple.

I gazed at the mist encircling my surroundings. It was concealing my presence. That was also why I couldn’t break free from the doll.

The mist was both trapping and protecting me.

I continued watching as the colossal hand departed. It was heading west. It must have caught a whiff of the magical residue I left to lure the treasures.

However, even amidst all this chaos from the treasures, the ‘eyeball dangling from the stars’ was nowhere in sight. Unlike what the Mist Heart said, describing how it would guide me to it.

“Haven’t you found out where it is yet?”

I asked the doll. It glanced at me and shook its head. Then it began to move again.

That couldn’t be. With this level of commotion, that eyeball should certainly have awakened. So, I could roughly piece together how things were evolving.

The fact that I hadn’t encountered it implied that the doll was intentionally keeping its distance from it. While I had my suspicions before, I was now halfway convinced. So much time had passed.

I couldn’t afford to let my objectives be discovered. I let out a small sigh.

It was unavoidable. The key had safeguarded my life, but it hadn’t perfectly obstructed everything.

The doll had rifled through my thoughts and consumed the memories of the past few days. And from that, it had realized I had come here targeting that eyeball. What followed was merely a replay of what was happening now.

The reason it was keeping me from reaching that treasure was likely to take possession of my body, just like before. If this continued, I’d be forever trapped within this space.

I needed to break out of this predicament. I turned to the doll and spoke.

“Let’s have a quick chat.”

“Hmm, what kind of discussion?”

The doll twirled around and slowly approached me. Looking straight into its eyes, I said,

“Let’s negotiate. I presume you figured out that you already know where it is. Continuing like this will yield no benefit for either one of us, so let’s find some common ground.”

“You noticed? How did you figure it out? Did I act suspiciously in any way?”

The doll widened its eyes. A wry smile formed on my lips. As expected.

“It was a guess before, but your words just confirmed it.”

“Oh dear, this happened last time too. I fell for a similar led interrogation. How embarrassing.”

The doll smiled gently. There was a hint of awkwardness in it. The doll stood before me, playfully poking my chest with its finger.

“So, should we try to negotiate? As I’ve been saying, I really want to get inside your heart.”

It beamed at me. I shook my head. It then brought a finger to its chin and tilted its head.

“Then what will you do? Without my help, Ebron will remain like this forever. I don’t mind wandering around as I am.”

“You’re aware of the time constraints in this situation, right?”

I spoke with slightly closed eyes. The doll must have read my memory, so it would know.

It must know that I had come here on Professor Ilian’s instructions. That I had to secure the treasures before the next lecture began.

What would happen if I failed to finish in time? Professor Ilian might come and beat me to near death, claiming it was punishment for not fulfilling my orders.

And naturally, she would take the treasures herself. I could perhaps slip away in her hands as a bonus.

The doll was aware of this, too. It started to ponder lightly. Watching that face, reminiscent of Professor Ilian, naturally brought her to mind.

I wondered what the professor was doing right now. She was likely observing my situation.

Seeing me being trapped by the doll I created, she might be laughing hard. I could almost hear her laughter echoing in my mind.

So, waiting on the professor wouldn’t be a good plan. She had said not to run away.

If I did nothing like this, maybe she would simply leave me here and walk away.

Therefore, I needed to find a new path forward, keeping that as a last resort.

“How about I help you get outside? In return, you lend me your assistance.”

That’s what I blurted out. I could see the doll’s eyes slightly widen.

 

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