"Everyone, gather around! Dolgyu has been captured!"
The surroundings fell silent with confusion.
It appeared that not only Gainando had been captured. Yi-Han turned his head towards the noise nearby.
In a courtyard a little distance away, the students of the White Tiger were in disarray, frantically trying to regroup.
"Has a student from the White Tiger been captured too? Could it be that those guys deliberately threw Gainando to it?"
Yi Han asked, wondering if that might be the case.
He thought that perhaps the angry White Tiger students had seized Gainando in retaliation for Dolgyu's capture.
"No, Gainando just tripped over his own feet and fell."
"...I see."
While Yi-Han and Yonaire were being lectured by two professors about how 'real mages don't go into bureaucracy but pursue graduate studies', the students who had just finished the lecture on <Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic> hurried out of the classroom.
The lecture had been so suffocating that they rushed outside to breathe fresh air as soon as it ended.
-"Snap out of it! You can't collapse now! There's another lecture to attend!"-
-"I... just leave me here... I need to sleep..."-
Students close to collapsing weren't only in the Blue Dragon; this had been a torturous lecture for every tower's students.
-"But are Wardanaz and Maykin really okay? What if the professor notices?"-
-"We could put a monster in our place and the professor would not even realize it."-
-"True..."-
-"It's no joke; it's serious. I think if I attend this lecture a few more times, I might fall into an eternal sleep."-
-"How are we supposed to handle the midterms with this much workload? Would it be okay to submit a blank paper? What if we're dragged to the punishment room..."-
-"To be honest, during the class, I thought about setting a fire."-
-"Me too. I wished that some summoned creatures would appear and free us."-
Bang!
As if responding to the students' words, or perhaps just due to the noise, a summoned creature really did appear from the bushes.
Several students screamed in alarm when they saw the vine monster, which they had encountered before.
-"Everyone, run!"-
-"Head into the building!"-
-"Someone call the professor!"-
-"No! The professor won't be of any help! Run while you can!"-
While some students managed to escape quickly, others, like Gainando, tripped over their own feet.
The vine monster didn't bother chasing the fleeing students. Instead, it leisurely tied up a few fallen students with its vines and then happily left with its captives.
"...Wait a minute. Did Dolgyu also fall? He's not the type to trip."
"That orc friend from the White Tiger tried to save Gainando and got captured too."
Yi-Han felt a pang of guilt for Dolgyu. To think he was captured while trying to help a friend like Gainando...
A student from the White Tiger burst out of the main building, gasping for breath.
"What happened?! What about the professors?"
"They said to handle it ourselves..."
The students, not only from the White Tiger but from other towers as well, were lost for words at the absurd response brought back by the student who had gone to seek help.
"Isn't this too much?"
However, Yi-Han remained calm.
'They should have chosen the professor more carefully. They acted too hastily.'
It wasn't right to just grab any professor and beg for help. They should have sought a relatively friendly and somewhat gullible professor...
'Wait. There are no conscientious professors.'
...They should have sought a professor who was relatively friendly and had some semblance of gullibility left.
Perhaps the White Tiger student had desperately asked anyone for help in their haste.
"What should we do? Wardanaz? What's the best course of action?"
The students of the Blue Dragon looked desperately at Yi-Han, as if he had all the answers.
Was it time to pursue, or to find another way?
It was an agonizing choice for them to make.
"Let's pursue. The professors' whereabouts are unknown, and if we lose the trail, it will become a hassle to find it."
The trail left by the summoning creature was clearly marked ahead, and the distance was not too great. However, the longer they waited, the more difficult the chase would become.
Yi-Han had one more thing he trusted in.
"Ferkuntra!"
As Yi-Han called the name, the dormant fragment of Ferkuntra inside him resonated in response.
Now, the contract-bearer was summoning the spirit with rightful authority.
"Sing the song of thunder, O Spirit! The bell ringer guarding the ruined kingdom's bell tower and the lookout on the small boat wandering the blue sea both fear your name. The one who has contracted with you calls upon you with rightful credentials!"
Upon seeing Yi-Han recite the incantation, the princess was taken aback.
Being the quickest to summon a spirit here, she could guess which spirit Yi-Han was summoning.
The incantation used to summon a spirit revealed the dignity and stature of the spirit.
Such a long and complex incantation surely meant...
Crackle!
Lightning blossomed where Yi-Han's staff touched the ground, and the spirit began to take form.
‘The Spirit of Lightning!’
Rowena, the knight standing beside the princess, was even more surprised than her.
It was one thing for Yi-Han to contract with a spirit more powerful than the princess's. After all, Wardanaz was a mage of monstrous, unbelievable talent.
But the Spirit of Lightning was among the most ferocious and wild of spirits.
And to be summoned with such an extensive incantation meant it was certainly not weak.
'How? By what means did he contract with it?'
"Appear!"
With Yi-Han's call, a manifestation of Ferkuntra appeared.
A fist-sized orb of lightning crackled into existence.
The students were startled by this sight.
Huh?
"???"
"...Ah! Right! The strength of a spirit isn't related to its size!"
They remembered hearing about a rabbit-shaped spirit called by Uregor, which was incredibly powerful.
This spirit, despite its ordinary appearance, must be hiding extraordinary power.
Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense for Wardanaz to have gone through such trouble to summon it.
Wardanaz wouldn't make such a mistake!
The students nodded in understanding, but Yi-Han thought differently.
This was too different from the Ferkuntra he first met.
Even if it was just a fragment...?
‘What's this? Isn't this just a part of you?’
‘Have you forgotten that I am currently trapped at your command...!’
Ferkuntra telepathically shouted to Yi-Han in frustration.
Of course, Ferkuntra had told Yi-Han, 'Don't forget to summon me when you're outside! My powers are not limited to this!'
But that was supposed to happen days later.
Currently, Ferkuntra was under Yi-Han's order to 'stay trapped here for a while' as a condition for leaving the punishment room.
It shouldn't have been possible to summon it so freely while that order was still in effect.
Being a powerful spirit, Ferkuntra was barely able to manifest a fraction of itself outside, but normally, it shouldn't be summonable until the order was completed.
Ferkuntra explained the situation, but Yi-Han's gaze was cold.
‘Are you saying you can't trust me now...?!’
‘It's not that I don't trust you, but if there's always some reason you can't help when needed, what should I rely on to call upon you?’
Ferkuntra found itself missing the old days of ancient mages.
Arrogant, foul-tempered, and illogical, those brutes blustered and bullied without reason. Yet, such fools could be fiercely countered and burnt to death by the likes of Ferkuntra.
However, this young mage spoke annoyingly yet with a composed demeanor, making it difficult to argue against him.
‘Do not worry. Though I'm not sure why you summoned me, I have enough power to handle this. Just watch and see!’
‘Really?’
‘I can feel your emotions!... No. Don't you even think? Let's respect each other's privacy.’
Yi-Han hurriedly followed the trail with the students of the Blue Dragon.
Ahead, students of the White Tiger were also chasing, running swiftly.
"These kids! Stop following us!"
"That's our line! You buzz off!"
"Can't even cast magic properly... huff, puff."
The outcome of this chase seemed almost predetermined.
The White Tiger students, trained in swordsmanship and physical conditioning, were a challenge too great for the Blue Dragon students to keep pace with.
Yi-Han looked at his friends with a pitiful gaze.
"Why didn't you exercise more regularly?"
"They... they have absurd physical strength... huff, puff."
"I'll go ahead. Follow as much as you can."
"No! Wardanaz! Cough... If you go alone, the White Tiger guys will..."
‘It doesn't seem likely.’
‘I don't think that will happen…’
Friends like Rowena and Asan, who knew Yi-Han well, thought this to themselves.
For any other student, facing the White Tiger alone would be perilous, but Yi-Han was different.
Wouldn't it be the White Tiger students who were in danger if left alone with him?
"It's okay. Follow when you're recovered."
‘Why are you so physically fit?’
Ferkuntra, watching Yi-Han sprint, was puzzled.
He didn't seem to be from a knight's family, so why...?
But before it could get an answer, Ferkuntra urgently shouted.
‘Enemy! The enemy is hiding!’
"I hide in the night!"
Yi-Han instinctively recited a spell, but no attack came.
‘Where is it hiding? There's nowhere nearby!’
There were no large bushes or hiding spots nearby. To find any cover, one had to run towards the mountains.
‘Below!’
"!"
Yi-Han immediately leaped into action.
If the enemy was hiding underground, it would likely detect Yi-Han through sound and vibrations, even if he used invisibility.
However, the vine monster didn't target Yi-Han. It sprang from the ground, grabbing a White Tiger student.
"Anglago! No!"
A satyr was swiftly entangled and lifted by the vines.
‘How was it hiding?’
‘It must be some needless ability granted by the mages. Normally, this monster doesn't have the power to blend into the ground!’
'This school isn't just about the professors causing trouble, but the seniors as well.'
Yi-Han gripped his staff and focused on the vine monster.
The captured White Tiger student slumped, seemingly drained of strength.
‘The creature absorbs mana. Be careful not to let it drain you... Though you could afford to lose some, still be careful! Getting caught would be troublesome!’
‘I had no intention of doing so.’
Yi-Han was not foolish enough to be caught by a vine because of his high mana. He swung his staff, summoning flames.
"Blaz..."
‘No! Absolutely not!’
Ferkuntra, traumatized by Yi-Han's flames, desperately protested.
It couldn't allow Yi-Han to use fire magic until it was certain it was safe.
‘You mean it's not allowed?’
‘It's dangerous! You could burn the other students to death!’
‘It’s not for attack, just to prevent it from approaching…’
‘Still, it's too risky! No!!’
‘Is it that serious?’
Yi-Han was puzzled.
He thought it would be safe enough to just float fireballs nearby to block the creature's approach...
‘Normally, I could subdue it in one go, but right now, I lack the strength.’
Yi-Han looked at Ferkuntra with a gaze mixed with betrayal.
It had said earlier that it had enough power!
Ferkuntra hastily continued.
‘But I'll teach you magic! You'll use it in my stead.’
‘Why can't you just use it directly? I'm worried about using it right after learning…’
