"Anglago, what are you doing!"
"Dukma. I will be the one to sacrifice."
Anglago spoke with grave determination.
"Of course, the evil deeds committed by that Wardanaz can never be forgiven, but..."
'These kids, they are too persistent,' thought Yi-Han to himself.
It seems like it's time to forget the grudges of the past!
"...If Wardanaz hadn't helped us this time, we would still be trapped in the dungeon. We can't deny that. I will yield this outing pass to Wardanaz and earn the next one with my own strength."
"Anglago. Your nobility has earned my respect. I will join you!"
Dukma, who had tried to stop him, was also persuaded by Anglago's words.
If only one among them was to have the outing pass, it had to be Wardanaz of the Tower of the Blue Dragon.
Yi-Han was deeply moved for the first time by the conscientious behavior of the White Tiger boys.
'So these kids do have a conscience after all.'
Yi-Han was happily ready to shout 'Then go ahead and enter', but the Water Spirit urgently grabbed his sleeve.
"?"
The Water Spirit gestured frantically, as if asking him to stop them.
Yi-Han didn't understand, but he could feel the urgency of the spirit.
"Understood. Burst forth!"
A water orb swiftly flew and tripped the running friends from the White Tiger.
The two who fell forward rolled on the ground. The students looked at Yi-Han with baffled expressions and exclaimed.
"What are you doing, Wardanaz?!"
"What is this madness!"
Having tripped them, Yi-Han realized he might have done it too harshly.
'If I say I tripped them because the spirit told me to, they'll probably explode with anger...'
Yi-Han thought of a different reason to appease them.
Honor was always a good thing.
"Would I, who carries the name of a noble family, accept an outing pass gained through another's sacrifice?"
"!!!"
While the two were too shocked to speak, Yi-Han whispered softly to the Water Spirit.
"If you stopped me for no good reason, I'll lock you up in there."
The Water Spirit, trembling at Yi-Han's words, began to explain.
It pointed at the pillar, at the student, and made an 'X' with its hands.
Yi-Han felt a flash of intuition.
"Could it be that even if we put a student in, it won't open?"
The Water Spirit nodded its head.
Yi-Han was astounded.
He thought he had begun to understand the mind of the skull principal, but really, the principal was beyond his grasp.
What kind of person is this?
The door won't open even if we put a person in??
'How has he not been assassinated until now?'
Yi-Han slowly moved towards the altar.
Now, he was certain there were no other traps nearby.
It was better that there were no traps around for them to realize that after fighting each other and one being trapped, the altar still wouldn't open.
"Let's find another way. There must be a way to open it."
"Wardanaz..."
Anglago nodded with a trembling voice, still overwhelmed by emotion.
Yi-Han powerfully poured his mana onto the altar, just like he had done at the White Tiger Tower before.
Bang!
A powerful collision of magic, inaudible, spread out. The Water Spirit, startled, lay down.
"This, what is this?! What on earth...?!"
"I tried to dispel the magic with my mana, but I failed," Yi-Han lamented.
Dukma expressed his disappointment and then hesitated.
"...Wait, didn't Wardanaz use this to infiltrate last time?"
The students of the White Tiger were still unable to figure out how Wardanaz had managed to breach the magic at the entrance of the rest area with his friends.
How exactly did he break through the entrance's magic?
But now, looking at it, could it be...?
Yi-Han tried various methods, such as knocking on the altar, exploring the structure by flowing in mana, and shaking it by firing mana.
However, the altar remained unmoved.
At this point, Yi-Han began to doubt.
'Isn't it enchanted with defensive magic?'
If it were protected by magic as he had experienced before, there would have been some reaction, no matter how cunningly and delicately it was cast.
It was too... quiet.
Initially, Yi-Han thought it was because of the skull principal's superior magic skills and his own lack of ability, but then he thought there was no harm in trying.
"Everyone, step back."
"?"
As Yi-Han conjured a water mass several times larger than usual and began to slowly add rotation, the two students from the White Tiger were perplexed.
"It's better to keep some more distance."
"???"
Though they didn't understand fully, sensing something ominous, the two slowly backed away.
The Water Spirit, even before Yi-Han spoke, had already moved a considerable distance away.
Bang!
Although Professor Boladi had warned not to be greedy for rotating attributes, if a professor's duty was to trouble the students, then a student's duty was to disobey and rebel against the professor's words.
Yi-Han, following this principle, ignored Professor Boladi's advice and once again perfected the Water Bullet.
It took over ten minutes, but it was worth it.
The rotating, exploding mass of water collided with the altar and completely shattered it.
Anglago and Dukma, startled by the loud noise, ducked. They had kept their distance, but hadn't anticipated such power.
The force not only destroyed the altar but also devastated its surroundings.
'What kind of magic is that?'
Both felt chills run down their spines.
They had seen Yi-Han use water elemental magic before, but never to this extent.
They had studied magic together under Professor Garcia, but where did this magic come from?
'Did he find forbidden magic in the library?'
'It must be a secret of the Wardanaz family!'
Yi-Han staggered with a tired expression.
His mana was overflowing, but concentrating on a single spell for over ten minutes had strained his nerves.
It was no surprise he was exhausted.
Swoosh!
Just then, the black book gifted by the skull principal, as if alive, slipped out of Yi-Han's pocket.
It opened on its own, flipping pages and spilling out words like before.
The shock of knowledge being hammered directly into his brain.
When the shock subsided, the new magic knowledge left in Yi-Han's mind was <Gonadaltes' Sharp Hand>.
A 2nd circle physical enhancement spell that bestowed a chilling sharpness to a mage's hand!
...But why now?
'What's the meaning of this?'
Yi-Han looked at the black book incredulously, but the book, as if it had done its job, paid no heed and slipped back into his pocket.
'Is it mocking me for crudely smashing it? Could it actually be?'
The possibility was frightening.
Yi-Han couldn't be 100% sure that this black book wasn't an evil grimoire.
"Wardanaz. Are you okay...?"
"I'm fine. Go and look for the outing pass."
Yi-Han's words were meant for Anglago, but the Water Spirit rushed forward excitedly.
The leopard bone summon watched the Water Spirit and, seeming angry, struck the ground.
"..."
Yi-Han wanted to explain to the Water Spirit that it was a misunderstanding, but he was too tired to muster the energy.
Pitter-patter-
The Water Spirit respectfully searched for and presented the outing pass.
Although covered in some dust due to the destruction of the altar, the pass was intact.
"You did it, Wardanaz! You've done it!"
"You overcame all those traps and succeeded!"
Both were as delighted as if it were their own achievement. The Water Spirit, noticing the mood, also clapped.
Yi-Han carefully examined the outing pass. It was of the same format as the one he had received before.
A rectangular piece of paper with the phrase granting one day of outing to the student possessing the outing pass, complete with the principal's signature.
"Bring that flat rock over here."
"Why, Wardanaz? I don't know what you plan to do, but you can rest a bit first!"
"No. I'm doing it now."
Yi-Han took out a quill and several ink bottles from his backpack.
When he first used the outing pass, what Yi-Han regretted most was not the inability to use carriages or summon creatures.
The greatest regret was not being able to forge the pass.
Creating a fake pass wasn't easy. It required paper of a suitable material and various colors of ink.
Yi-Han had meticulously gathered the necessary items from outside and completed his collection with what he couldn't find from Professor Uregor's workshop.
Always ready to create a counterfeit as soon as he got his hands on an outing pass.
"...Could it be?"
"Is he really doing it now?"
Anglago and Dukma were astonished.
At first, they denied it, but the more they looked, the more apparent it became.
'He's forging it, Wardanaz!!'
'What on earth...?!!'
Yi-Han, with the solemn expression of a skilled artisan, laid out his tools on the rock.
The atmosphere was so serious that the two couldn't even bring themselves to speak.
"Move."
At Yi-Han's command, the quill slightly lifted into the air. The magic originally used to manipulate quills had finally found its true purpose.
While immense skill was needed to use <Lesser Control> more delicately than a human hand, for Yi-Han, that was already a tale of the past.
Professor Boladi's theories of magic combat were now blooming at the fingertips of his disciple, in the form of forging an outing pass.
The two gaped as they watched a fake pass being skillfully and swiftly completed before their eyes.
"This is preposterous, such audacity!"
"Is this even possible??"
While Yi-Han and the students of the White Tiger were stranded on the island in the lake, the students of the other towers were busy with their tasks.
Among them, the students of the Tower of the Blue Dragon remained in the rest area, flipping through books, trying to figure out the remaining potions.
"Ah... If I had that potion again, maybe I could figure it out. Can't we have it back?"
"Someone tie up Gainando, please."
"Where did Wardanaz go?"
"He went to check the lake. He said we should prepare our own lunch."
Yi-Han had even sorted out the ingredients in front of the rest area's campfire before leaving.
Seeing the ingredients, the students' faces lit up with a faint excitement.
Having always been served by servants, the sudden opportunity to cook ignited a newfound creativity in them.
"Can I try making a pie?"
"Sure, what kind of pie?"
"I read about it in a book once, a pie baked with fish inside. It looked delicious."
"You're disqualified."
"Why!?"
Despite some friction, the students of the Tower of the Blue Dragon enjoyed cooking and waited eagerly.
...But Yi-Han did not return.
"Why isn't Wardanaz coming?"
"Gainando, you rascal. Did you upset Wardanaz?"
"No, no! I did all the assignment by myself!"
"Was it because you were noisy during last night's dinner? You should eat quietly with gratitude, but you acted without manners..."
"Ugh..."
Like children anxious about their parents who hadn't returned late from work, the students were worried.
"We can't just sit here. I'll go check the lake."
"Me too. Let's go together."
The students of the Tower of the Blue Dragon gathered and hurried to the lakeside.
However, Yi-Han, who had already departed, was nowhere to be seen at the lake.
The students of the Tower of the Blue Dragon, who had hoped against hope that Yi-Han might be there, began to feel a creeping fear.
"Let's search around!"
"Maybe he went somewhere else. Ask around!"
The students of the Tower of the Blue Dragon dispersed to inquire separately.
During their search, some heard astonishing news.
"Students from the White Tiger have disappeared?"
"Those empty-headed fools?!"
"What happened?"
"They're saying the White Tiger guys kidnapped Wardanaz!"
"The White Tiger guys? ...Wait, is that even possible?"
