Chapter 592

Slightly hurt, Yi-Han looked around at his friends and asked.

"Do you guys... not really want to enter my labyrinth?"

"Wh-what are you talking about, Wardanaz!?"

"No? I want to enter?"

The students answered in surprise.

However, none of them could make eye contact with Yi-Han.

'I don't want to enter.'

'I wish someone else would enter instead of me...!'

After spending a year with Yi-Han, the 1st-year students had figured it out to some extent.

The dungeon with the highest difficulty in this illusion magic final exam?

It was 100% the dungeon made by Wardanaz. Even students who didn't take divination magic could predict this.

Rather, it would be fortunate if it was just the highest difficulty level. If he made something like the Wardanaz family's vision labyrinth that surpassed the 1st-year level and invited his friends...

"...It seems like you guys are misunderstanding something."

Yi-Han, who understood their inner thoughts through the subtle exchange of glances between his friends, quickly responded.

In this situation, he shouldn't get angry. He had to kindly and generously soothe his friends' fears.

"I have no intention of making the labyrinth unnecessarily difficult."

"Ha!"

"Puhahahat!"

"..."

"So-sorry. It just... came out instinctively."

The friends who burst into laughter just now apologized hastily after seeing Yi-Han's gaze.

They had an ominous feeling that if they didn't apologize, they might be the first ones to be dragged into Wardanaz's special labyrinth.

"My friends! Why would I make the labyrinth unnecessarily difficult? Think about it. I'm the same person as you guys."

Yi-Han spoke in a gentle tone that he didn't usually use.

When he put one arm each on the shoulders of the two friends who laughed earlier, they hurriedly nodded.

Seeing that persuasion seemed to work, Yi-Han drove the nail in with a satisfied feeling.

"Everyone, try to give me one reason why I should make the labyrinth unnecessarily difficult."

"Because it's you, Wardanaz."

"You were always like that."

"You're taking all the schools."

"I heard you took a different exam even during the divination magic exam."

"In the arithmetic exam too."

"In the general magic exam too."

Immediately, answers popped up from all directions, and Yi-Han regretted it.

'Damn it. I shouldn't have asked the last one.'

"Wardanaz..."

Professor Kirmin looked at Yi-Han as if he felt sorry for him.

It was said that the disciple resembled the master, but was it necessary to resemble even this aspect of Professor Bagrak?

"Now. Everyone calm down! I will decide the order in which you enter other students' labyrinths."

"Since Wardanaz is from the Blue Dragon Tower, how about having the Blue Dragon Tower students enter?"

"You guys... Wardanaz is currently staying in the Immortal Phoenix Tower!"

"I think the Black Tortoise Tower students would be the best at exploring since they've been constantly exploring the school with him..."

"What about making the White Tiger Tower guys do it?"

The students who were discussing opinions were puzzled by Ratford's words and asked.

"Huh? What's the reason?"

"No particular reason? I just want to send them..."

"This crazy bastard!"

The White Tiger Tower students were furious at Ratford, who was trying to send them to the ant hell of death without even the slightest sincerity.

Professor Kirmin started to organize.

"I said calm down! I'll decide now."

The students from each tower looked at the professor with tense gazes.

Which cursed students would end up entering Wardanaz's labyrinth?

"You will all visit each other's labyrinths once. Does everyone understand?"

"..."

"..."

The students were silent at Professor Kirmin's words.

The professor nodded, thinking that the students immediately understood.

However, after a moment, the students immediately grabbed each other's collars and fought.

"It's because of you guys! It's something that you guys should sacrifice and enter!"

"Shut up! If that's the case, you guys go in right now!"

Professor Kirmin sighed and swung his staff.

The students affected by the illusion magic flailed and separated from each other.

Yi-Han, who was watching that scene with cold eyes, thought to himself.

'...I will do my best.'

He originally did his best, but it seemed like he would do a little more for this exam.

***

"...Hey, shouldn't someone stop Wardanaz?"

"That's why I told you not to provoke him..."

The White Tiger Tower students looked at Yi-Han's shed with frightened eyes.

Currently, the students taking the illusion magic lecture were gathered around the professor's workshop to remodel the sheds they were assigned into mini-labyrinths.

Students bringing additional materials from the forest, students digging the ground around the shed and doing foundation work, students inserting artifacts and checking if the effects were working properly...

And there were even students who completely demolished the shed and rebuilt it.

"Yeah. A little more. No. This way. Yeah, yeah. Well done. Gonadaltes."

Yi-Han was immersed in the work, even calling the skeleton warrior Gonadaltes.

The existing shed had many limitations.

The structure was simple, and the materials were limited to wood, stone, or straw, so if the magic was cast incorrectly, the shed might not withstand it and collapse.

'Come to think of it, the traps installed in the underground warehouse had many things to learn from.'

Yi-Han learned a lot from the dark magic school seniors this time.

The linked magic traps to prevent people from approaching the underground warehouse.

The high completion of those traps wasn't because they simply combined powerful magic.

It was because there was a persistent malice that couldn't be found in other traps.

The malice to somehow stop the opponent no matter what!

'The strength of magic is not important. What's important is how the magic is linked.'

Yi-Han pondered which illusion magic to link while flipping through grimoires.

In the meantime, the frame of the newly worked shed was revealed. It was a shed with a frame literally made of bones, befitting the word 'frame'.

"Space, distort!"

<Lesser Space Distortion>, an illusion magic that makes you lose your sense of direction and see multiple paths as soon as you enter the entrance.

Yi-Han was satisfied to see the magic being cleanly cast thanks to changing the frame from the beginning.

'The start is good.'

"Wa... Wardanaz."

"?"

A few White Tiger Tower students approached from behind. They were holding a whole roasted chicken with seasoning.

"Eat this and work."

"???"

In this situation, the White Tiger Tower students, who never gave away meat, were giving it as a gift?

There was only one answer.

"It's poisoned. You cowardly bastards."

"What are you talking about! No!"

"How can you suspect that!"

The White Tiger Tower students were outraged that their sincerity was doubted.

The value of supplies was slightly different for each tower. In the Immortal Phoenix Tower, beeswax was expensive; in the Blue Dragon Tower, ink was expensive; and in the Black Tortoise Tower, coffee powder and tea leaves were expensive.

And in the White Tiger Tower, meat was expensive.

They roasted such precious meat and brought it!

"Do you really mean to say that you roasted the meat without any intention, just to treat me who is working?"

"...We-well, that's not it."

"There's no need to speak so sharply..."

The White Tiger Tower students were discouraged.

However, it seemed they couldn't give up after coming this far, so they lowered their voices and whispered.

"Wardanaz. We have a favor to ask."

"I don't know if I'll grant it, but go ahead and say it."

"...A safe path in the labyrinth..."

"..."

Yi-Han looked at the White Tiger Tower students with the eyes of contempt, as if looking at the most pathetic person in the world.

"Go and make your own labyrinth well."

"Ah, no...! A whole plump chicken is enough for you to benefit from this too! You won't lose anything!"

Yi-Han kicked the White Tiger Tower students' butts and chased them away.

To think they would pull such useless tricks.

'No wonder there are many failing students in the White Tiger Tower.'

He understood why Moradi was stressed.

It was all because of those guys...

"Wardanaz. Wardanaz."

"Yi-Han. Just give us a safe path..."

"...Gonadaltes. From now on, if anyone approaches the shed, throw bones at them."

"Ack! There's no need to go that far! We're just trying to compromise with each other!"

After chasing away the distractions, Yi-Han was finally able to immerse himself in the work.

Covering the walls of the shed, creating corridors in the empty interior, and digging a falling trap underneath...

'Hmm. Should I lay something on the walls too?'

Doing this was surprisingly fun.

He understood why the dark magic school seniors worked so hard to set traps!

"Mr. Wardanaz."

"Ratford? I can't tell you a safe path."

"Hoho. What do you take me for?"

Ratford let out a confident laugh outside the shed door.

At that answer, Yi-Han recalled Ratford's background once again.

"Ah. Right. For you, solving this level of mini-labyrinth would be possible even with your eyes closed..."

"I'll pretend to be sick and not enter. I've already prepared a potion for feigning illness."

"...I'll tell you a safe path, so why don't you just come in?"

"Pardon? No, thank you."

Yi-Han felt a bit dejected and opened the shed door to go outside.

"Then what did you come for?"

"Ah. I was going to pick some cloud mushrooms, would you like to come with me?"

Among magic, there were some that required reagents each time they were cast.

Among dark magic, bone element magic required bone powder, and even in other schools, there were quite a few cases that required such reagents.

Cloud mushrooms were an essential reagent for casting <Twilight of the Evening> among illusion magic.

"You're going to try casting Twilight of the Evening? It will be quite difficult?"

"The professor said it would be worth trying, so I'm going to give it a shot. But Wardanaz, it seems like you're already fully prepared..."

Ratford scanned the appearance of the bone shed.

Unlike other sheds, the exterior itself looked eerie and creepy. It seemed like even decent thieves wouldn't enter such a place.

"No. It would be great to cast Twilight of the Evening too. Let's go together."

"It already seems truly sufficient..."

"No. It's still lacking."

As soon as Yi-Han finished speaking, a student who tried to sneak into the shed screamed and ran out.

Skeleton warriors swarmed in and threw bones at him.

"He's just a coward."

"..."

***

Picking cloud mushrooms itself wasn't very difficult.

Although the Einroguard mountains were called the Sky Mountains because they were so high, that was the story of the deep parts, and there were relatively low mountains near the main building.

And the ones most knowledgeable about these mountains were the Black Tortoise Tower students.

It was thanks to them checking various edible plants and setting traps to catch small animals in their spare time.

Ratford had already figured out the location of the mushroom colony where cloud mushrooms were found, and Yi-Han just had to comfortably follow behind.

"No, Wardanaz, why are you..."

"Wardanaz. We use reagents because we lack strength, but you have enough!"

"It's already enough as it is! Don't go through the trouble! You have to prepare for other school exams too!"

...Except for the fact that every student they met on the way to the colony said such things.

The more he heard such words, the more determined Yi-Han became to turn the mini-labyrinth into a hellish labyrinth.

"Hey... look at Wardanaz's eyes..."

"Who provoked Wardanaz? Who was it?"

"That's why I told you to volunteer earlier. He's angry."

The students whispered and pondered whether they should offer a sacrifice even now.

"It's a monster!!!"

"?!"

Hearing the sound coming from ahead, Yi-Han was startled.

'I let my guard down!'

Immersed in the thought of trapping his friends in the labyrinth forever, he loosened his tension in the Einroguard mountains.

It was a fatal mistake.

Moreover, wasn't there a monster chasing Yi-Han right now?

"Everyone, this way!"

Yi-Han quickly gathered his friends and formed a formation. The students asked with frightened faces.

"Wh-what is it? Wardanaz? A monster?"

"It must be the blood-sucking monster. Everyone stay calm..."

Bang!

The tree up ahead flew away, and a huge beast landed in the air.

A familiar beast's appearance.

It was none other than a mountain-destroying goat.

"..."