Chapter 1164
“Is it perhaps because you are commanding a spirit...”
-Do not ask.
Saratan muttered in an angry voice.
‘This bastard is asking again even though he already knows!’
Otherwise, for what reason would the clone mistake Lee Han for Baquantalana?
No.
-Huh? It is not?
Saratan became even more flustered by the other party’s answer.
It had naturally assumed that the clone had mistaken Lee Han for Baquantalana after seeing Saratan being treated like a slave.
I mistook you for the master because I saw you interrogating a spirit with mana.
-......
Saratan scowled fiercely.
It would almost have been better if the clone had said it was because Lee Han appeared to be commanding a spirit.
To think it had assumed Lee Han was Baquantalana after seeing him torture a spirit with mana.
“I did not know, but it seems this method has more tradition behind it than I expected.”
Lee Han spoke as though he found it fascinating.
He had merely used his overflowing mana without thinking, yet who would have known that it was such a traditional method that even Baquantalana had used it?
-What do you mean, tradition! Is threatening someone with brute force without the slightest shred of intelligence something a mage should do?!
It sounded strange coming from a spirit that preferred violence more than anyone else, but Saratan’s words were filled with sincerity.
Spirits and mages were supposed to communicate with one another, not use violence.
‘I think it tried to kill me when we first met.’
The test to prove your qualifications will begin shortly. If you are not confident, please withdraw.
-The clone is about to use magic! Be careful!
“Did you not say earlier that there was a high possibility it would not exist?”
-...Is that important right now?! Hurry and tell them!
Perhaps embarrassed as well, Saratan shouted even louder.
To be honest, this was slightly unfair.
Baquantalana only placed clones like this in ruins where magic that Baquantalana treasured had been stored.
How many such ruins could there possibly be? Hoping that a ruin with a small entrance discovered in the north would be one of those precious ruins was...
-Statistically...
“You should know that if you talk about anything other than the clone’s magic right now, I will immediately communicate with you using Baquantalana’s method.”
-......
***
“Everyone, listen carefully. The information I am about to tell you is worth referring to, but its reliability is quite low. So be careful not to trust it too much!”
‘Bastard.’
Saratan cursed inwardly.
Of course, Saratan had wasted a little of their limited time making excuses for itself.
But after that, had it not truly worked hard and done its best to convey everything it knew?!
It would not have been enough even if Lee Han praised it, yet he was discouraging it like this...
“How did you learn this information?”
“I heard it from a spirit that participated in constructing ruins several times.”
“...Would that not make it fairly reliable information?”
Not only Giselle, but the other friends also began murmuring.
Of course, preparing for the worst was a good habit, but information obtained from a spirit that had participated in constructing Baquantalana’s ruins seemed highly reliable.
“I told you to be careful not to trust it too much, yet you are already disobeying me. Think of that spirit as someone who makes frequent mistakes, somewhat like Gainando.”
“Ah!”
“I see!”
-......
Saratan did not understand the mages’ comparison precisely, but it could definitely tell that it was insulting.
‘If Baquantalana were still alive, I would have simply asked to be taken away.’
“First, the clones fundamentally have the spell cast over their eyes. It is an information-absorption spell, and you should assume that ordinary illusion magic will not work against it.”
Artificial summons such as clones, which carried out predetermined commands, were always vulnerable to illusion magic.
Therefore, it was only natural to give the clones , a spell that rapidly absorbed nearby information and assisted the mage.
Otherwise, the test could end far too easily.
“Damn. What a shame. If it were not for the Blue Eye, I would have resolved this with illusion magic.”
“What a true shame.”
When several White Tiger Tower students spoke with obvious insincerity, Garko looked at them with admiration.
“As expected, Einroguard students truly are different.”
Normally, by looking at a mage, one could roughly estimate the abilities of that mage’s friends as well.
Lee Han of House Wardanaz was widely rumored to be exceptional, but surely the friends he associated with were geniuses of comparable talent.
One could tell merely from the way they had just said they could have resolved it themselves.
“...N-No. That is...”
“It was a jo... Hmm...”
The White Tiger Tower students became flustered when an outsider reacted to the joke they had made without much thought.
Normally, Wardanaz was supposed to become angry, but the outsider’s intervention had made things strange.
“W-We are not that skilled.”
“That is right. We are merely ordinary...”
“Even humble!”
Garko looked even more pleased.
Talented mages and humble mages could both be found in the Empire, but it was quite difficult to find a mage who possessed both qualities.
“Why did you say something so unnecessary?”
After scolding his friends, Lee Han continued the explanation.
The spells that could appear after the Blue Eye were highly varied.
The iron-wall spell that nullified any magical attempt, .
, which was said to be impossible to escape once it caught {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} someone.
And not only those, but , ...
Following the commands Baquantalana had left behind while alive, the clone would use one of the spells present here.
‘Baquantalana really did create far more magic than I expected.’
‘It was irritating even when I saw it in a grimoire, but having to face it in reality makes it even more irritating.’
The mages gathered there harbored highly disrespectful thoughts.
But it could not be helped.
No matter how respected a senior mage was, it was only natural to find that mage irritating when one had to fight against their magic.
They understood that Baquantalana was a genius, so could Baquantalana not have shown some restraint when creating spells?!
“Look at those mages. Their concentration is astonishing.”
“Of course it is. Aside from Mr. Garko, did they not say the people over there were mages from Einroguard? They are mages from the finest magic school in the Empire, so they must be on an entirely different level from ordinary mages.”
The adventurers standing guard looked at them with a trace of respect.
They had descended this far after accepting a commission from the wrong client, but the sight of the mages concentrating without the slightest wavering made them reflect on themselves.
People who advanced without caring about any danger or hardship, who had devoted everything solely to magic!
“Junior.”
“?”
“The beginning of the test seems to be taking too long.”
“...!”
At Caten’s observation, Lee Han realized the source of the strange feeling.
Now that he thought about it, the test was taking far too long to begin.
At this rate, it should have started long ago.
-Perhaps it is showing you consideration because you resemble Baquantalana.
“Is this the time to joke?”
-......
Saratan felt slightly wronged.
That was because it had made the guess quite seriously.
If it was a clone left behind by Baquantalana, it might genuinely judge the situation that way and give Lee Han more time...
Whoosh!
“!”
Garko was the first to identify the spell merely from the sound of mana moving.
It was a vicious binding spell in which highly condensed mana formed like nets and chains and tightly bound the enemy.
-I see. Did it take a long time to prepare because there are so many people?!
Lee Han wanted to ask Saratan whether it had been wrong again, but the situation did not allow such leisure.
The restraints that instantly surged from the floor were difficult to avoid even when one had anticipated which spell would appear. In fact, several of his friends had already been caught and were stuck flat against the ground.
“Urgh!”
“To launch a cowardly surprise attack while we were talking...!”
However, not every Einroguard student suffered such humiliation. Some students moved quickly, just as they had discussed beforehand.
“Rise, pillars!”
“This way!”
When Bartreck chanted a spell and summoned several stone pillars, the White Tiger Tower students ran vertically up the sides of the pillars.
The restraints were fast, but they could not catch the White Tiger Tower students, who had been waiting with several enhancement spells already cast on their bodies.
Lee Han also quickly evaded them. He did not climb the pillars Bartreck had summoned, but his telekinetic magic was more than sufficient.
When he stepped and leaped upward as though invisible footholds existed in midair, the restraints sliced uselessly through empty space.
“Are you all right?!”
“Thank you for your concern!”
Garko answered calmly while transforming back from a bird into a person. After landing without the slightest instability on the narrow space atop a pillar, Garko prepared to transform again.
Now that had begun, it would not give up easily.
“Even so, fortune is with us!”
“Pardon? Is it?”
Lee Han, who had been checking the condition of his captured friends, asked back in surprise.
Fortune was with them?
‘What does that mean?’
To be honest, felt like an unlucky draw. Even when anticipating which spell might appear, Lee Han had hoped they would avoid the restraint spell.
In the case of , it was solid, but there were still ways to avoid or bypass it, while would be far too advantageous for Lee Han the moment it appeared(although his friends would suffer).
Yet Garko said fortune was with them.
Perhaps an experienced mage like Garko could see something Lee Han could not?
“ has such strong characteristics of transformation magic that it is practically transformation magic itself! The clone guarding this place used the restraint spell, which means the possibility that the undiscovered magic inside is transformation magic has risen even further!”
“...Wow! We truly are fortunate!”
Lee Han recalled that the other party was a senior mage and an outsider to Einroguard, and answered as positively as possible.
Otherwise, he might have hit Garko immediately.
“Wardanaz! Look over there!”
“!”
Lee Han turned at his friend’s shout and looked horrified.
Everyone was either moving or trapped against the ground, but one person alone was doing something completely different.
It was Senior Caten.
“Senior! Come up here!”
“This, restraint, is being... troublesome...!”
Caten neither climbed up nor became trapped. Instead, he swung his sword and tried to cut through the restraint magic rushing toward him.
“That spell cannot be cut! You should come up here quickly!”
Garko called out advice to Caten.
The currently unfolding looked like nets or chains at first glance, but that was an illusion.
Its true nature was an endlessly regenerating and continuing chain of magic. Cutting the spell once would not stop it. Small units of magic continuously connected with one another and kept trying to bind the opponent.
This was precisely one of the reasons Garko believed Baquantalana had been an outstanding transformation mage.
How could anyone other than an outstanding transformation mage create magic like this?
“Hup!”
Slice!
Lee Han and Garko witnessed a bizarre sight.
The severed restraint magic no longer regenerated and instead hardened in place.
Lee Han, who knew very well that Caten normally did all sorts of strange things with nothing but a single sword, was not particularly surprised, but Garko was different.
“That is impossible!! How!!! What magic was cast on that sword?!”
“Mr. Garko!”
Lee Han hurriedly shouted a warning.
The restraint that had missed Caten had begun flying toward Garko. Garko should have transformed immediately, but the shock had delayed the reaction.
‘Saratan!’
As Lee Han pulled Garko with telekinesis, he called out to Saratan. It was an order to do something, anything.
The moment was brief, but Saratan did its best with its rather unimpressive mind. When the Authority of Life was used, the nearby plants grew rapidly and protected Garko.
Fortunately, Garko also immediately came to his senses. After transforming into a bird, Garko performed aerial acrobatics to avoid the pursuit of the restraints.
Boom!
‘It is me this time!’
Borrowing the strength of his enhancement magic and telekinesis, Lee Han began racing through the air. At the same time, he prepared to cast teleportation magic.
He did not know how far the restraints would pursue him, but it seemed wise to prepare in advance.
Pursuit and escape.
Judging by how it chased him with an obsession on an entirely different level from the way it pursued the other students, it was clear that the clone had properly marked Lee Han as its target.
-It seems the opponent considers you the greatest threat!
“I know that without you telling me!”
While frantically avoiding the magic, Lee Han eventually found himself in an unfamiliar space some distance away from the other students.
In the center stood an unfamiliar stone tablet he had never seen before. The moment Lee Han saw it, he instinctively realized what it was.
‘Baquantalana’s legacy!’
There was also an inscription beneath it.
To the successor who has reached this stone tablet, I bestow dark magic.
‘...Or perhaps not?’