The wooden sword absorbed the magician's core as swiftly as an eye blink, then settled back into stillness.

“...”

Leon stared blankly at the sword, finally realizing the true nature of the cursed weapon he held. The fact that it could absorb not only mana but also a magician’s core was something he hadn’t anticipated.

“Wait…”

Could it have also absorbed the core of the red-haired man? Cores were supposed to vanish upon death, but perhaps he hadn’t noticed it at the time.

Leon contemplated for a moment, but the conclusion was clear.

‘There’s no way I’m sealing away this sword.’

In a world where danger could strike at any moment, voluntarily giving up such a powerful weapon was unthinkable.

‘I’ll just have to use it carefully.’

However, his wariness of the wooden sword increased significantly. There might be other abilities it possessed that he wasn’t aware of, and they might not all be beneficial to him.

During the remaining days of the exchange event, Leon didn’t leave his lodging. He abandoned his plan to sell the items he had. After leaving traces of battle in the middle of a magical city, wandering around carelessly would be reckless.

Even though he could suppress his mana to appear as an ordinary person, Leon chose to be cautious. Besides, his original plan to secure mana stones had been replaced with the ones he had taken from the red-haired man.

With Leon spending all his time cooped up in his room, the other general disciples sharing the space with him began to look at him with a mix of awe and disbelief.

“Wow… he’s really something else.”

“How can he just stay in here all day after coming all this way…?”

There were twelve general disciples in total. Besides Leon and Aron, the other ten were already balancing their training with their duties. The highest-ranking among them was a 2nd-rank apprentice who, despite being well past the age for academy enrollment, continued to train diligently after his work hours.

Even he shook his head in disbelief when he saw Leon.

The exchange event eventually came to an end, and it was time to board the skyship back to Widia. Arpina didn’t join the ship, as she was visiting another city with her disciple, leaving Bervford as the only high-level magician on board.

For two days, the skyship sailed smoothly.

Bervford, who was standing on the upper deck, turned his head as he sensed someone approaching.

“Bervford, sir!”

“What’s the matter?”

The magician approaching Bervford held a red orb in his hand.

“News from the Magic Tower has just arrived. An ancient magician’s lair has been discovered.”

“Hmm…”

Bervford let out a regretful sigh and asked further.

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

“It seems so. The location is closest to Widia, but from what I understand, it wasn’t exactly discovered—it was accidentally uncovered when a magic circle was triggered…”

“The magician who triggered it?”

“It appears that while searching for a colleague who had gone missing for seven days, the other magicians stumbled upon a magic circle blocking the entrance and reported it. They must have recognized it as the lair of an ancient magician, and it seems they were swallowed by it. With the tower master in seclusion, the Magic Tower is seeking guidance on what to do next. As you know, the priority for exploring ruins is…”

“Wait.”

Bervford raised his hand to silence the magician and fell into deep thought.

After a moment of serious consideration, he spoke again.

“You said it’s been seven days?”

Seven days ago meant it happened before the exchange event’s duels had concluded, during a time when the exploration rights had not yet been determined.

“Turn the ship around.”

“What? But…”

“We’re heading there right now.”

“But… what about the ‘agreement’? This could lead to a major conflict.”

Bervford was aware of the risks. But his determination was evident, perhaps because this involved the ruins of an ancient magician.

“A magician from the Magic Tower disappeared seven days ago. We can’t just stand by. We need to attempt a rescue.”

“…Understood. I’ll relay the message.”

And so, the ship’s course was changed.

It took five more days to reach the location provided by the Magic Tower.

The ship floated above a dense forest.

Bervford gathered the magicians and spoke.

“We’ve come here urgently because we received news that a magician from our Magic Tower was trapped inside the lair of an ancient magician.”

The gathered magicians knew that this was just a pretext.

However, no one dared to openly criticize or question it.

“All Mystic and Artistry-level magicians will join me in exploring the ruins. Remember, our top priority is to rescue our magician. Those who stay behind will replace the mana stones and then return to Widia. Gael will be in charge of those remaining.”

“Understood.”

Amid the crowd, Leon quietly sighed.

He had been wondering why the ship had changed direction, but thankfully, the situation didn’t directly involve him.

Although his time on the ship would be extended, he was relieved that he wouldn’t be dragged into the exploration of the ancient magician’s lair.

After watching the Mystic-level magicians and all the Artistry-level magicians except for Gael disembark from the ship, Leon returned to his cabin to continue his studies.

Those who remained on the deck were general disciples, personal disciples who had not yet reached the Artistry level, and apprentice-level academy students.

Even with only the apprentice-level students, the number was in the hundreds, so it wasn’t a small group.

Gael, a magician who had reached the upper levels of the Artistry rank, addressed those who remained.

“We need to replace the skyship’s mana stones, so we’ll wait here briefly before departing.”

The ship hovered above the forest, as there was no space large enough for it to land. However, it was equipped with enough systems to maintain its position while the mana stones were being replaced, so there were no major concerns.

Other than the few who were busy following Gael’s orders, the remaining people began to murmur among themselves.

Some were talking excitedly about the topic of the ancient magician’s lair, while others expressed concern about the exploration rights.

The atmosphere remained unsettled for some time.

Then, the massive magic circle on the ground below the densely packed trees began to glow.

Gael was the only one who sensed something amiss. It wasn’t due to any flow of mana.

While floating in the air with levitation magic, Gael had been keeping an eye on the surroundings while the mana stone replacement was completed. By chance, he noticed the magic circle glowing beneath the ship and quickly extended his hand.

“Push it forward!”

The ship, affected by a force much stronger than basic telekinesis, moved forward, but not fast enough to completely escape the circle’s range.

A beam of light shot up from the magic circle, engulfing half of the ship.

In an instant, half of the skyship vanished.

“Hah…”

Gael, who had been outside the range, managed to prevent the remaining half of the ship from crashing, but he let out a defeated sigh.

He approached to check on the survivors and pressed his hand to his head in frustration.

The area that had been swallowed by the magic circle included personal disciples, general disciples, and some academy students who had been in their cabins.

“Felix…”

The mere thought of personal disciples and general disciples being trapped in the lair of an ancient magician was alarming, but Gael’s heart sank even more because one of his own disciples was among them.

Leon staggered as the ship’s cabin vibrated violently.

He had used levitation magic to stabilize himself and had pulled out his orb and a teleportation scroll, but after a while, when nothing further happened, he put them away.

The cabin had tilted to a 90-degree angle, making it impossible to stand normally, but Leon was currently disguised as an ordinary person.

He had no choice but to climb onto the wall, which had become the new floor, and struggle to open the door and step out into the corridor.

Leon saw other academy students emerging from their cabins as well.

One of them, who was floating in the air with the help of a levitation magic support artifact, noticed Leon struggling to stand on the doorframe and approached him.

The short staff in his hand was the levitation magic support artifact. An invisible barrier surrounded him, and when Leon entered the barrier, his body began to float in the air.

“You don’t seem hurt?”

“No, I just held onto something and managed. But what happened?”

Leon asked, pretending not to know, as he couldn’t use detection magic. The other student shook his head.

“I don’t know. We’ll have to go outside and see.”

Leon followed him outside.

When they stepped out into the dark surroundings, Leon saw that the skyship had been cleanly severed in half and was lying on the ground.

‘Could we have been drawn into the ruins?’

The area next to the ship was significantly brighter than the rest, possibly due to someone using a light spell.

Seeing people gathering there, Leon and the other student naturally approached them.

They were having a serious conversation.

Among them was Rowen, who, upon seeing Leon approach, sighed in relief.

Rowen walked over to Leon.

“You managed to survive?”

“Yeah. What happened here?”

“I’m not sure. It seems like we might have been pulled into the ruins…”

Leon looked at the group of personal disciples and students, focusing on the man with the loudest voice.

“Staying here quietly is no different from waiting to die. You’ve all been taught how dangerous ruins can be.”

“But with our abilities, moving carelessly could lead us into even greater danger.”

The woman who refuted the man’s point glanced at the group of personal disciples.

“It’s likely that Sir Gael will come to rescue us. It’s safer to wait here…”

“And you think he’ll know exactly where to find us?”

As the two opinions clashed, Rowen raised her 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, my master will be able to find my location.”

“If it’s Master Melrn…”

“Thank goodness…”

Leon quickly assessed the situation and scanned the surroundings. With no immediate danger, his expression remained calm.

The area, which appeared to be a cavern, was dimly lit, but lights embedded in the ceiling provided a soft glow.

‘Is this the lair of an ancient magician…?’

The space was so vast that it seemed impossible for a human to have created it. Even more surprising was the meticulous placement of lighting fixtures throughout the space.

As Leon surveyed the area, he noticed two passages branching off in the distance.

Just as the group seemed to settle on the idea of staying put, the woman spoke with a mix of relief in her voice.

“We should check if anyone is still trapped inside the ship…”

Unfortunately, her words were cut off.

A sharp clattering sound echoed through the cavern.

Slithering noises followed, and everyone suddenly realized that faint sounds of friction had been emanating from the walls all along.

The scraping sound against the cavern walls sent a shiver down their spines.

“Scorpions?”

By the time the group noticed something was wrong, dozens of scorpions were already advancing toward them from afar.

Covered in ivory-colored carapaces, the scorpions were taller than a person, even while crawling.

“K-kill them.”

At someone’s command, the magicians snapped out of their daze and began preparing their spells.

Despite the barrage of magic directed at the scorpions, their advance wasn’t slowed.

It seemed that the apprentice magicians’ spells couldn’t penetrate the scorpions’ tough carapaces.

Leon, standing at the back with the general disciples, quickly realized they needed to flee.

They had to start running while there was still distance between them and the scorpions.

But would the others listen to him?

Leon felt a growing sense of frustration and frowned.

Just as Leon was grappling with these thoughts, someone else seemed to share his concern and shouted loudly.

“We need to run! Everyone, retreat!”

Finally, the group stopped casting spells and began to retreat.

The pace of their retreat quickened until, eventually, they were all running away from the scorpions.

“Head for that passage!”

Even as they approached the passage, the distance between them and the scorpions continued to shrink.

“If we use levitation magic…”

“But what about those who can’t fly…”

Levitation magic consumed a lot of mana, but in a life-threatening situation, there was no time to worry about such things. The problem was that not everyone could use levitation magic.

No one wanted to suggest leaving others behind, so they hesitated.

At that moment, Leon stepped forward. He saw the two branching passages and thought it might actually be a blessing in disguise. He had been frustrated at not being able to use his magic openly.

“Everyone, run to the right passage.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I’ll distract them by heading to the left. You go right.”

“Are you crazy?”

Rowen, shocked, shouted sharply.

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

‘I’d rather be alone and able to use my magic freely. If things get too dangerous, I can always teleport away.’

By buying them time, the chances of Rowen’s master finding them through the necklace would increase, making this the best possible plan.

“Run to the right! Quickly!”

With that shout, Leon dashed toward the left passage, banging the wooden sword against the ground.

The advancing scorpions hesitated, then all turned to focus on Leon.

Leon kept banging the wooden sword on the ground as he ran.

The scorpions changed direction and charged at Leon.

To the others, it looked like Leon was desperately trying to draw the scorpions’ attention.

There were no high-level magicians present who could sense the waves of mana emanating from the wooden sword.

“Hey, no!”

Rowen tried to grab Leon, but someone caught her by the shoulder.

It was the same man who had been strongly advocating his opinion earlier. He shook his head.

“It’s too late. Don’t let his sacrifice be in vain.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you get it? He realized we’d all die if we stayed on this course!”

As the situation grew more dire, the man’s formal speech dropped entirely.

“If we hesitate now, we’ll end up with nothing! Are you going to ruin his sacrifice?”

The man grabbed the small-framed Rowen, who was biting her lip, and hurriedly led her down the right passage.

“Let’s go! Don’t waste your mana on levitation! We can’t let his death be meaningless!”