episode_0024

The wooden sword absorbed the wizard’s core as if closing its eyes and became silent again.

“… .”

Leon stared blankly at the wooden sword.

I never thought it would go beyond mana and absorb the wizard’s core.

It was only then that Leon realized that the wooden sword was a demon sword.

‘for a moment…….’

Could it be that the red-haired man’s core was also absorbed by the demon sword?

It was a core that should have disappeared naturally when he died, but it’s possible that Leon didn’t notice it.

Leon was lost in thought for a moment.

But the outcome was set.

‘That doesn’t mean I can seal this magic sword.’

In a world where you never know when danger will strike, why wouldn’t you deliberately use powerful weapons?

It was impossible.

‘I have to use it carefully.’

But the wariness of wooden swords has definitely increased.

There may be more abilities that Leon doesn’t know about.

And I couldn’t be sure that it was necessarily a beneficial ability for Leon.

Leon did not leave his quarters for the remainder of his exchange period.

I gave up on the idea of selling the things I had.

In the middle of the magical city, there were traces of battle, so I couldn’t wander around much.

Even though he could hide it with the magic power of an ordinary person, Leon decided to be careful.

Anyway, the plan to initially secure the mana stone could be replaced with the mana stone the red-haired man had.

As he was stuck in the dorm for the rest of the time, the regular disciples who shared the same room looked at Leon with bored eyes.

“Wow… This guy is really bad.”

“How did you get here all day… … .”

There were a total of 12 ordinary disciples.

Excluding Leon and Aaron, who are newly added this time, there are 10 people.

They were already continuing their training while working.

The highest rank among them is Apprentice 2nd Class.

Although he was long past the age to enter the academy, he still had the will to train and consistently returned to the training room after work.

Even he shook his head while looking at Leon.

***

So the exchange program came to an end and it was time to board the sky ship and return to Widia.

Arpina did not board the ship, saying she was visiting another city with her disciples, so Berford was the only wizard who reached the Advanced Mystery level.

For two days the sky ship was cruising.

Berford, who was standing on the foredeck, turned his head at the sound of someone approaching.

“Mr. Berford!”

“What’s going on?”

The wizard who approached Berford was holding a red orb in his hand.

“This is news just sent from the Magic Tower. They say an ancient wizard’s lair has been discovered.”

“Ugh… … .”

Berford let out a sigh of regret and asked back.

“Tell me the exact story. Were we the first to discover it?”

“… That seems to be the case. It is said to be the closest location to Widia, but to be exact, it seems that it was not discovered, but rather revealed by accidentally touching the magic circle… … .”

“Which wizard touched the magic circle?”

“The wizards who were with us searched for traces of their comrade who suddenly disappeared for 7 days, and it seems that they discovered a magic circle blocking the entrance and reported the news. They also found out that the magic circle was an ancient wizard’s lair. It seems that he was swallowed by the lair. Since the tower lord is in hiding, they are asking the magic tower what to do. As you know, the priority for exploring the ruins is… … .”

“Wait a minute.”

Berford raised his hand to silence the wizard’s mouth and sat deep in thought.

Berford, who had been lost in thought for a while with a serious expression, opened his mouth again.

“Did you say 7 days?”

If it was 7 days ago, then the sparring was still going on before the talks.

This means that this happened when the owner of the priority for exploring the ruins had not been determined.

“Turn the boat around.”

“… Yes?”

“Go there right now.”

“But… … isn’t it a ‘promise’? It might lead to a big conflict.”

Berford knew this.

But he said firmly what he thought.

Is it because it is the relic of an ancient wizard, of all things?

“7 days ago, a magician belonging to the Magic Tower disappeared. Can we just sit still? We have to try to rescue him.”

“… … Okay. I will convey that.”

The bow of the ship was twisted like that.

After flying for five more days, we headed to the location given to us by the rooftop tower.

A boat floated above the dense forest.

Berford gathered together a large number of wizards and spoke.

“I heard news that one of our wizards was trapped in the Ancient Wizard’s Lair, so I had no choice but to come here in a hurry.”

The wizards gathered in one place knew that it was just a pretext.

But no one openly pointed it out.

“All mystical and secret-level magicians should come with me to explore the ruins. The most important thing is to rescue our magicians, of course. Those who remain can exchange their mana stones here and return to Widia. Gail will be in charge of them.”

“Okay.”

Leon, who was listening to Berford’s words while mixed in with the crowd, sighed quietly.

I wondered what was going on when the ship suddenly changed course, but fortunately it didn’t apply to Leon.

Although the days spent on board the ship increased, I was fortunate that I was not dragged into the unexpected lair of an ancient wizard.

Leon, who had seen all the secret-level magicians except for a few mystery-level magicians and Guile disembark from the ship, went back into the cabin and focused on the loot.

Those left on deck were the common disciples, the personal disciples of high-ranking magicians who had not yet become arcane magicians, and the academy students at the apprentice level.

There were hundreds of apprentice wizards in the Academy, so it wasn’t a small number.

The wizard Gail, who had entered the advanced level of secret arts, spoke after standing in front of the others.

“We need to replace the mana stones of the Sky Sailboat, so we’ll wait a moment and then depart.”

The boat was floating above the forest.

Because there was no space for the huge ship to land.

However, since it has the ability to operate automatically while replacing mana stones, there was no major problem.

Except for a few who were moving busily under Gail’s instructions, the rest were muttering.

The voices of those who are curious about the subject of the ancient wizard’s lair, and the voices of those who know the circumstances of the priority, mixed with concern.

That was the chaotic atmosphere that continued for a while.

A huge magic circle began to glow on the floor of the area, which was densely filled with trees.

Gail was the only one who felt something was strange.

It wasn’t felt as some kind of magical flow.

While floating in the air with levitation magic and looking around until the mana stone replacement was complete, Guile happened to notice a magic circle shining under the ship and hurriedly stretched out his hand.

“Push!”

The ship, affected by a physical force much stronger than basic psychokinesis, moved forward, but was too slow to completely escape the range.

A light rose from above the magic circle and engulfed half of the sailing ship.

In an instant, half of the ship disappeared.

“ha… … .”

Gail, who was out of range, let out a sigh of relief as he prevented the ship from crashing, which was as good as being destroyed.

Then he went closer, checked on the others, and touched their heads.

The place where the individual disciples, general disciples, and several Academy students who had entered the cabin were located was swallowed up by the magic circle.

“Felix… … .”

It was shocking enough that the high-ranking wizards’ beloved disciples had been swallowed up by the ancient wizard’s lair, but Guile’s heart sank even more because one of them was Guile’s disciples.

***

Leon staggered, unable to control his body, as the cabin shook with vibration.

Leon, who had secured his body with levitation magic and taken out the orb and teleportation scroll from his bosom, realized that nothing had happened for a while and put them back.

The cabin was already tilted 90 degrees and he couldn’t stand up properly, but Leon was currently disguised as a normal person.

I had no choice but to climb up onto the wall that had become the floor, open the door with difficulty, and climb onto the doorframe.

Like Leon, other academy students were seen opening the door late and coming out.

One of them, who had been using levitation magic to levitate himself, noticed Leon struggling to climb up the door frame and approached him.

The short staff he held in his hand was a floating magic auxiliary artifact.

An invisible barrier formed around him, and when Leon entered the barrier, his body also floated in the air.

“You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Yes, I held on to anything and held on. But what happened?”

When Leon, who couldn’t use navigation magic, asked, he shook his head.

“I don’t know either. I have to go out and check.”

Leon came out with him.

Leon checked the dark situation outside and discovered that the sailing ship had collapsed, neatly cut in half.

‘Could it be… … that you entered the ruins?’

The area next to the sailboat was noticeably brighter than the other areas, as if someone had used light magic.

When Leon and the man saw people gathered there, they naturally approached them.

They were talking with serious expressions.

Among them was Rowen, who let out a sigh of relief when she spotted Leon approaching her, floating in the air in an awkward manner.

Rowan approached Leon.

“You’re still alive?”

“Yeah. What’s going on?”

“… I don’t know. I think I was dragged into the ruins… … .”

Leon looked at the loudest man among his personal disciples and students who were having a serious discussion.

“Staying still like this is no different than waiting to die quietly. Haven’t we all learned how dangerous the ruins are?”

“But with our skills, if we move recklessly, we could end up walking directly into greater danger.”

The woman who had been refuting the man’s words glanced in the direction where her individual disciples were gathered.

“Maybe… there’s a high chance that Gail will come looking for you. If we just wait quietly like this… … .”

“Do you know where this place is and came here?”

While the two’s opinions were sharply opposed, Rowan raised his hand.

“If that’s the problem, I have a solution.”

She showed them the red necklace hanging around her neck.

“If I send a signal, the Master will be able to find my location.”

“If it’s Melon… … .”

“Wow, thank goodness… … .”

Leon roughly figured out the situation and looked around.

There was no immediate danger, so Leon’s expression was somewhat calm.

This place, which looked like a cave, was dark, but there was something like a light fixed to the ceiling, giving off a soft glow.

‘Is this the ancient wizard’s rare…?’

It was a space so vast that I wondered if it could be created by humans.

Even this wide space is meticulously equipped with lighting fixtures.

Leon, who was scanning the surroundings, soon discovered that in the distance there were two passageways branching out like a fork in the road.

The woman spoke with a relieved voice, as if the opinions had finally narrowed down to the remaining side.

“First of all, are there people who couldn’t get out of the ship… … .”

Unfortunately, the woman’s words could not be continued.

Exactly-

This was because the sound of something hard hitting echoed clearly in the cave.

Swish- swish-

And only then did people realize that a subtle friction sound had been continuously leaking out.

The sound of the cave surface being scratched strangely sent a chill down the spine of those who heard it.

“Scorpion?”

By the time people noticed something strange, dozens of scorpions were already approaching them from a distance.

The scorpion, covered in an ivory-colored carapace, was larger than a person.

Even though he was crawling closer.

“Lord, kill me.”

The wizards came to their senses at the sound of someone’s voice and began preparing their respective magic.

Numerous spells flew towards the scorpion, but its speed was not slowed down at all.

It seemed that the apprentice wizard’s magic could not penetrate the scorpion’s carapace.

Leon was stuck in the back with the regular disciples, but realized he had to run away.

Since the distance was far, I had to start running from now on.

But will people follow his words?

Leon felt frustrated and frowned.

While Leon was thinking about this, someone who had similar thoughts to Leon shouted out loud.

“We have to run away! Everyone, back off!”

Only then did people stop their magic and begin to retreat.

The speed of retreat became faster and faster, and before long, people were running with their backs completely turned to the scorpion.

“Over there!”

Even though they ran as fast as they could and got closer to the passage, the distance between them and the scorpion did not get much closer.

Rather, it has decreased further.

“Floating magic… … .”

“But those who cannot fly… … .”

Floating magic consumed a lot of mana, but right now my life was in danger and I was in no position to be picky.

The problem is that some people cannot use levitation magic.

When no one was willing to tell them to leave them behind, they were hesitating.

Leon stepped forward.

He looked at the forked path and thought, well, that’s a good thing.

It was at a time when I was feeling frustrated because I couldn’t use magic.

“Everyone, run to the right passage.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I’ll draw your attention by moving to the left, so run away.”

“Are you crazy?”

Rowan, startled, shouted sharply.

Leon shook his head and pulled out a wooden sword from subspace.

‘It’s better to go alone and use magic. If there’s an emergency, you can escape using teleportation.’

There was no better way than this, since if we could just buy time, the chances of the Master coming to us with Rowan’s necklace would increase.

“Go right! Quickly!”

With that shout, Leon ran down the left passage, striking the ground with his wooden sword.

The scorpions that had been swarming around flinched, stopped moving, and all looked at Leon.

Leon didn’t stop just once, he kept knocking.

Then the scorpions turned and started running towards Leon.

To others, that appearance seemed like a desperate attempt to attract attention.

There was no high-level magician here who could even feel the slightest wave of magical power spreading around the wooden sword.

“No, hey!”

Rowan tried to grab Leon, but someone grabbed her shoulder.

He was a man who expressed his opinions strongly from the very beginning.

He shook his head.

“It’s too late. Don’t make his sacrifice meaningless.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Don’t you know what’s on that guy’s mind? He thinks if we keep going like this, we’ll all die!”

As the situation became urgent, he even threw away his polite tone.

“If you hesitate like this, you won’t be able to eat or sleep! Are you going to ruin all his sacrifices?”

He picked up the small-framed Rowan, who was biting her lip, and ran down the right passage in the yellow line.

“Let’s go! Everyone, save your floating magic! Don’t let his death be in vain!”