Yonir shot a wary glance at his friend, but he didn’t have long to linger on it—other undead were beginning to creep out from the forest.

"Spirit corruption? …Dark elementals, maybe?" I-han muttered, his face twisted in a frown.

People in the empire often thought that winter only brought out cold-based spirits, but that was only half true. Winter, as it happened, awakened a wide variety of entities. While freezing winds roused air spirits, stone and metal spirits tended to thrive around mines. And, perhaps most troublesome, winter also awakened the undead.

Few things were as frightening to the people of the empire as these undead, who wandered the long nights of winter, symbolizing death as much as the cold or the wind. To prevent such reanimation, Professor Thunderstep had set protections around the nearby woods—but there were always exceptions.

The creatures before them, black and shifting, were corrupted spirit entities. Due to the area’s potent magic, these spirits had fused with undead energy to form shapeless monstrosities, immune to ordinary wards.

"A dark elemental spirit?" Siana, the cleric, exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise.

Lightning elementals were rare enough, but dark elementals were even scarcer. 

“It’s fascinating, but probably not the best time to admire it!” Yonir shouted, rushing to retrieve a flask from his supplies as more blackened spirits crawled out of the woods.

■■!

■■■■...

While some of the corrupted spirits seemed interested in the cabin, others bickered and fought amongst themselves. A beetle-like corrupted entity the size of a hog lunged at a nearby creature, who retaliated with a swing of its hind legs.

“Here, a fire potion!” Yonir handed a flask to Siana, who held it with gratitude.

In this chaotic moment, I-han, staff in hand, turned to cast strengthening spells on his two friends, only to realize Yonir hadn’t handed him one of the potions.

“Huh? What about me?”

“Oh! Right, here,” Yonir stammered, only just realizing he’d forgotten I-han in the rush. His friend was usually so capable in combat that it simply slipped his mind.

“...Thanks,” I-han replied, turning his gaze back out the cabin window to where the mass of corrupted spirits was steadily growing. The scene looked less like a coincidence and more like a deliberate disturbance.

'Could an upperclassman have been experimenting with dark elements and carelessly dumped the remains in the forest?' he wondered, fuming at the thought. If so, he’d make sure those responsible paid dearly for this mess.

"Let’s hold out until Professor Thunderstep arrives," he suggested.

"You think he’ll come?"

"If he doesn’t, his cabin will be destroyed—he’ll come.”

"...”

“…”

They held back from asking if I-han had somehow antagonized the professor, but they still silently agreed that sheltering inside the cabin was the best course. 

Suddenly, a small squirrel-shaped spirit, one of those they had seen near the cabin earlier, reappeared, sprinkling ice crystals defensively around itself as it faced off against the dark entities. 

"No, don't!" 

“Not now!” 

The students sighed in dismay; the poor creature was drawing attention to itself. Sure enough, the corrupted spirits, which had been scattered, suddenly turned their attention to the little squirrel.

“We have to help it,” Yonir said, carefully opening the cabin door.

He knew he could temporarily disrupt the barrier around the cabin to let the squirrel spirit in, thus saving it from its pursuers.

“Spirits don’t forget a favor,” Siana said, nodding in agreement as she followed him out toward the garden.

Following his friends, I-han muttered, "Let’s hope these ingrates remember."

Siana thought she heard something about "ingrateful spirits" under his breath but decided to let it go.

“I’ll handle this,” Yonir offered, wanting to keep I-han out of the encounter.

If the squirrel spirit bit I-han's hand in response to being rescued, that could ruin his relationship with spirits permanently, and they might just see the rise of a legendary figure known as the *Spirit Slayer* someday.

"No, I set up the array, so it'll be faster if I do it," I-han replied, preparing to pause the barrier for just a moment. "Cover me?”

“Just… remember, if the spirit acts hostile, it’s only because of…”

"What are you even talking about?” I-han looked at Yonir, bewildered. Now wasn’t the time for chatter, so Yonir dropped the subject.

The barrier gave a low hum as I-han halted it temporarily, enough for the squirrel spirit to dart inside. 

"Over here!" 

"Quickly!" 

The squirrel hesitated at first, but with Yonir and Siana motioning it over, it finally scurried toward the open door.

“Funny how it ignored me, even with danger all around,” I-han muttered under his breath.

“Well, maybe it was just a coincidence.”

“But he *did* ignore you…”

“Siana…” Yonir shot her a quick, annoyed look.

Siana had her reasons, however.

"Honestly, though, I think it’s best if we don’t force it. Spirits can be a bit ungrateful, after all.”

“Well, yes, but…”

"Guys, I’m fine, really," I-han cut in, exasperated.

True, spirits had been rather dismissive of his goodwill, but he wasn’t so delicate as to hold a grudge over it. After all, not all spirits had to like him.

"Maybe I’m just not their type. No need to worry," he assured them.

"Sorry, I-han," Yonir apologized, realizing they’d only made things worse by fussing over it.

“No problem. Just be honest.”

"Will do."

“So, it really did ignore him, right?” Siana whispered to Yonir, whose quick nod made I-han’s face twitch ever so slightly.

*Thud.*

At last, the squirrel spirit darted through the barrier, and I-han swiftly restored it, effectively trapping the corrupted creatures outside. Snarling in frustration, they circled the cabin.

“Easy now, we’re not your enemies.”

“See?” Yonir and Siana raised their hands gently, trying to reassure the squirrel spirit.

Fearful spirits often posed a greater risk; one wrong move could send it into a destructive rampage. The squirrel spirit scanned the area before clambering up I-han’s leg, resting on his wrist and brushing its head against his hand in gratitude.

“…?”

"I-han!" 

"A miracle!” Siana exclaimed, eyes shining.

“It’s… not exactly a miracle…”

I-han didn’t hear them, his focus entirely on the squirrel spirit pressing itself against his hand.

"You’re not… crying, are you?" Yonir asked tentatively.

"No… just… dust in my eye." He blinked, trying to ignore the flickering in his chest as the spirit stayed nestled on his wrist.

A faint hiss came from the basilisk in his sleeve, clearly displeased by his fondness for this spirit.

The squirrel spirit, however, stayed firmly by his side.

"I-han, we should get back inside," Siana said, pointing ahead.

Deeper in the forest, more corrupted entities seemed to be prowling. While they hadn’t reached the cabin yet, there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t make another aggressive advance.

"More spirits being pursued?"

“Probably, though I’m not certain,” Siana replied, watching the corrupted shapes prowl closer.

“Let’s help them.”

“...What?”

This wasn’t the same situation as before. The first time, they’d been able to act under the cover of surprise, but now, with corrupted spirits fully aware of their location, it was a much riskier prospect.

“We can manage. Trust me, Siana.”

"I do, it’s just… is it worth the risk?”

“Definitely. I can’t just stand by and let innocent spirits be overrun.”

The squirrel spirit, sensing his determination, clung tightly to I-han.

“...All right, let’s do this.”

---

Professor Thunderstep growled as he surveyed the forest, his booming voice echoing as he tried to disperse the corrupted creatures.

"Be gone!" he roared, and with a blast of magic, the corrupted entities recoiled, leaking dark fluid as they shrank back.

"I swear on my ancestors’ beards, if students are behind this, they’re paying dearly!"

Galloping through the snowy forest atop a summoned spirit stag, he made quick work of patrolling the outer cabins, but then he remembered his first-year students.

'Ah, blast!'

Their cabin, located close to the forest, would be the most vulnerable in a situation like this.

'No, no. They’re safe enough. They have the barrier, and that Wardanaz kid is there…’

Remembering I-han’s resourcefulness, he relaxed slightly, guiding the spirit stag toward their cabin with renewed confidence.

Just as he spotted it in the distance, he took a relieved breath at the sight of the cabin intact—until a flash of light and a deafening *boom* erupted from the clearing in front of it.

“…What in the realms… did a war break out here?!”