Rowena no longer had time to think about the secrets of the summoning beast.
Instead, she had to figure out how to deal with the mud golem in front of her.
"If we go out, it attacks," someone muttered.
"That's ridiculous! Does that mean we're trapped?!" "We can't be sure yet. Let's try attacking it!" "Stop! If we attack recklessly, it could be dangerous."
The students buzzed with opinions, their voices growing louder as fear and confusion set in.
It seemed like they were about to start another pointless argument, so Nilia hurriedly approached Yi Han.
She needed his help to control these unruly friends of hers.
"Wodanaz. Wodanaz," Nilia called out, shaking Yi Han's arm as he frowned, deep in thought.
"Wodanaz!" she shouted again.
"Ah, sorry. What's going on?" "You're the one who should be answering that! Those idiots—no, our friends—are about to start arguing again. You need to step in."
Yi Han nodded.
Nilia, suddenly curious, asked, "So, what were you thinking about so deeply?" "Ah, I was just pondering this situation." "!" Nilia's long ears perked up.
Come to think of it, this boy from the Wodanaz family had a unique insight that set him apart from others.
He valued the hunters and patrols of the Shadow Patrol, respected their wisdom, and even befriended Nilia herself.
Could his sharp insight have found a way to resolve this situation? "What is it? What did you figure out?" Not just Nilia, but the other students also looked at Yi Han with a mix of anticipation.
Yi Han slowly opened his mouth.
"I think this is a trap set by the professors." "......" "......"
Everyone was speechless at this unexpected opinion.
"Please untie me."
Calm down, Professor Ingeldel.
The skeletal headmaster spoke soothingly as he undid the magical chains binding Professor Ingeldel's wrists and ankles.
Professor Ingeldel looked at the headmaster and Professor Thunderstep in disbelief.
His vision had suddenly darkened, and he found himself transported elsewhere.
It turned out the skeletal headmaster had kidnapped him.
What kind of insane mages were these?! "I have a good reason for bringing Professor Ingeldel here. You'll understand when you hear it."
"What reason?" "Well, if a sturdy swordsman like you is around, the students lose the chance to grow when faced with a crisis." "......"
Professor Ingeldel was speechless at this absurd reasoning.
Seeing his reaction, the headmaster and Professor Thunderstep nodded as if they had convinced him.
"It seems Professor Ingeldel understands."
"I don't understand! There are plenty of other ways to help students grow! Regular and repetitive training, duels, a teacher's attitude, proper guidance..."
The headmaster shook his head at Professor Ingeldel's words, as if to say, "This is why swordsmen are like this."
Mages aren't raised that way.
"You're right, Professor Ingeldel. Mages shouldn't be raised like that. Facing a crisis they already know about won't cultivate a mage's creativity." "......"
Professor Ingeldel almost drew his sword but stopped himself.
This was a magic school, not a knight academy. 'I'd rather go back to the knight academy at this point.' The headmaster seemed to think that Professor Ingeldel would eventually understand his intentions, even if he was confused now.
"... Fine. Let's say it's acceptable to give the students a 'crisis' by making them walk deep into the mountains for hours, face bad weather, and be ambushed in an unprepared situation."
Professor Thunderstep looked embarrassed at Professor Ingeldel's words.
"You don't have to praise us so much..."
"It's not praise. Anyway, the mountains are full of other dangerous monsters. And the terrain is so treacherous and complex that you could easily get lost if you're not careful. What if an unexpected situation arises, like another monster appearing? What will you do then?" At Professor Ingeldel's question, the headmaster and Professor Thunderstep tilted their heads in unison.
The students should overcome it themselves, right? "The students should overcome it themselves, shouldn't they?" "......"
Professor Ingeldel's shoulders slumped in defeat. 'I was an idiot to try to reason with mages...' The more outstanding the mage, the more bizarre their mindset tended to be.
A mage qualified to be a professor at this school was practically half-mad.
Professor Ingeldel gave up on further conversation.
"Fine... If something goes wrong or someone goes missing and a rescue team is needed, call me too."
"Good, good. It seems you've come around a bit."
"I haven't."
As Professor Ingeldel sighed, Professor Thunderstep handed him a warm cup of tea and tried to comfort him.
"Don't worry too much, Professor Ingeldel. What I've prepared isn't that dangerous. Just some potion-enhanced bulls."
Professor Thunderstep had meticulously prepared for this alchemy assignment.
He had carefully placed monsters in the locations where the potion ingredients were needed.
The students might curse him now, calling him "Professor Thunderstep, that bastard," but in the future, when they became outstanding alchemists, they would thank him.
"Bulls should be manageable for the students."
Professor Ingeldel felt somewhat reassured by this.
Even if the bulls were enhanced, there were quite a few talented freshmen in the mountains who could handle them with skill.
"Do they breathe fire?" "No." "Can they teleport?" "No." "Any other elemental attacks? Sword-proof blessings? Terrifying presence? Roars?" "Are you planning to invest the value of several mansions into a single bull?" Professor Thunderstep retorted incredulously.
Enhanced strength and agility were enough.
To grant all the abilities the headmaster mentioned would require an astronomical amount of money.
The headmaster grumbled, clearly disappointed.
How boring.
Let some other monster show up.
"Do you think a monster will appear just because you say so?"
At first, Yi Han's opinion seemed absurd.
But as time passed, his friends began to find it plausible.
For one, Yi Han himself was trustworthy.
If someone like Gainando had said the same thing, they would have dismissed it as nonsense.
But coming from Yi Han, they thought, "Wodanaz wouldn't just spout nonsense for no reason."
Moreover, Professor Thunderstep had a track record.
The students still vividly remembered their first alchemy lecture.
The madness of Professor Thunderstep, who had sent a crazed boar to attack them! A professor like that wouldn't hesitate to set up a mud golem as a trap.
"Then where did Professor Ingeldel go?" "He must have planned it with Professor Thunderstep."
"That's too much...!" "Professors are all the same! You can't trust any of them!" The students were outraged by Yi Han's speculation.
Even Professor Ingeldel, whom they had trusted, was on Professor Thunderstep's side.
Yi Han calmly reassessed the situation. 'No matter how you look at it, it's too coincidental.' They arrived at a place full of herbs and materials, only for Professor Ingeldel to disappear, rain to fall, and a mud golem to appear...
It was too perfectly timed to be a coincidence.
At this point, they had to be suspicious.
"Wodanaz, if this is Professor Thunderstep's trap, what should we do?" "Not much changes. We still need to figure out how to deal with that mud golem."
Yi Han answered calmly.
Seeing the gloom on the students' faces, he tried to lift their spirits.
"Cheer up. Since it's a trap set by Professor Thunderstep, there must be a way to solve it."
"Right!" Indeed, if the mud golem was prepared by Professor Thunderstep, there must be a way to overcome it.
The students, who had been intimidated by the golem's overwhelming appearance, began to think of ways to deal with it.
"What if we throw fire or acid potions at it?" "That's how you deal with trolls... No, it seems to attack if we cross a line. What if we erase the line?" "Would that even work? Let's try blocking its vision. If it can't see, maybe it won't notice us escaping."
"Let's shoot it with arrows first!" Listening to the students' chatter, Asan thought Yi Han needed to step in again.
Otherwise, they'd come up with all sorts of ridiculous ideas.
Rowena approached and said, "Her Highness suggested using spirits to distract the golem... Wait. Where's Wodanaz?" "Huh?" Asan looked around in panic.
Yi Han was nowhere to be seen.
"Has anyone seen where Wodanaz went?" "D-did he get kidnapped?" "I'll break through the golem and find him."
Everyone was in a greater panic than when the mud golem had first appeared.
But Yi Han hadn't disappeared.
Yonell was startled when Yi Han suddenly appeared behind the mud golem. "!!" "Wodanaz?!" The chattering students also rubbed their eyes in disbelief as they saw Yi Han pass through the line and appear behind the golem.
The mud golem stood stupidly still, not even trying to catch Yi Han, who had already crossed the line.
"How?!" "Magic. I used an invisibility spell."
While his friends were talking, Yi Han had conducted a simple experiment.
He wanted to see if the mud golem would notice him passing by while using the invisibility spell tied to his belt.
Fortunately, the golem didn't notice him.
Moreover, he gained an additional insight: once you cross the line, the golem doesn't care if you become visible again! This was a big deal.
"You already have an invisibility spell...!" "No, I borrowed the power of an artifact."
"You're already making artifacts...!" "... Not making."
The black tortoise tower students looked at Yi Han in confusion.
Huh? Did we sell an artifact like that? "Did we have an artifact like that?" "This isn't something the school made. It was a gift from a sect."
"Wow, which sect gave you such a gift?" "The Freesinga Sect." "......" "......"
Both tower students grimaced at the mention of the Freesinga Sect.
Yi Han felt a little hurt.
Although Yi Han had escaped, the situation hadn't changed much.
The other students were still trapped in front of the mud golem.
"Wodanaz, go down and call the professor!" "We can't send him alone! What if Wodanaz abandons us...?" "Do you think Wodanaz is some kind of Gainando? Don't talk nonsense!" "S-sorry, I misspoke..."
Yi Han ignored his friends' words.
Since this was likely Professor Thunderstep's trap, even if he went down to call the professor, there was a high chance he wouldn't come. 'We have to solve this with our own strength.' The only silver lining was that since Professor Thunderstep had prepared this, it should be solvable at the freshman level.
"Move!" Yi Han threw a metal ball and swung his staff.
The ball began to spin in the air. 'Find the core that forms the golem.' Yi Han planned to beat the mud golem randomly to locate the core.
Yonell shouted worriedly, "Will that work? It's a golem..."
Even if it was made of mud, a golem was still a golem.
The thickness of its body was no ordinary matter.
They were worried whether a freshman's magic could penetrate it.
But Yi Han nodded confidently.
If this were a wild golem, Yi Han would have considered other methods, but this was a task prepared by Professor Thunderstep. 'Then it shouldn't be that strong!' The staff swung, and the metal ball struck the golem directly.