"... Hmph. Don’t flatter me."
Angrao had to speak in a rough voice to hide his pleased expression.
Yi Han sighed inwardly.
'It’s sad that this ferry is the best option we have right now.'
He couldn’t learn the Buyeo magic right away, nor could he befriend the ice spirit.
So, this was the only option left.
Even if it wasn’t reliable, what else could he do? He had to at least give it a try.
"How many people can it carry?"
"Easily twenty!"
Angrao’s confidence only made Yi Han more uneasy.
The ferry looked like it could barely carry ten people, yet Angrao was boasting like this.
It made Yi Han even more anxious.
"Good timing. Wodanaz, get on!"
Yi Han tried his best to stay calm.
His already cold face turned even colder.
Seeing this, Angrao flinched involuntarily.
'...
Did I speak too harshly?'
"Before that... I’d like to see you row the boat first. When others are on board, it won’t be as easy as when you’re alone."
Angrao responded enthusiastically to Yi Han’s words.
He threw off his coat and immediately climbed onto the ferry.
"Alright, watch me!"
Angrao grabbed the oars, which were quite well-crafted, and began rowing skillfully.
The ferry, without a sail, glided smoothly across the calm lake surface.
The friend who was watching exclaimed in admiration, "Impressive, Angrao!"
Angrao, gliding as if the lake belonged to him, looked truly free.
The White Tiger Tower students felt a sense of freedom they hadn’t felt in a long time while watching Angrao row.
It felt as if this wasn’t a magic school but a serene and beautiful lake somewhere.
'The boat isn’t leaking.'
While the White Tiger Tower friends were lost in the moment, Yi Han was calmly analyzing the situation.
The most important thing was that the ferry wasn’t leaking.
And after more than ten minutes of rowing around the lake, there were no monsters or the skeleton headmaster attacking.
It seemed relatively safe.
"How about it, Wodanaz? Do you acknowledge Angrao’s skills?"
"Sorry, not yet."
"Why not?"
"Anyone can row well when they’re alone. But can you row just as well with another person on board?"
Provoked by Yi Han’s words, Angrao’s friend shouted angrily, "Angrao! Wodanaz is asking if you can show the same skill even after taking me on board!"
"Hmph. Of course!"
Angrao immediately rowed the ferry back to the shore.
He then took his friend on board and shouted, "Watch closely, Wodanaz!"
"Really? Rowing with an extra person won’t be as easy as before."
Yi Han deliberately provoked Angrao, who reacted very effectively.
"Just watch!"
Angrao rowed even more fiercely than before, cutting through the water with vigor.
He was sweating profusely, and his arm muscles bulged from the effort.
For over twenty minutes, Yi Han kept encouraging Angrao with phrases like, "It’s still too early to tell," "Anyone can do this for a short while," and "Your true skill might show soon."
After confirming what he needed, Yi Han nodded.
'Contrary to what I thought, I might be able to get along with the White Tiger Tower guys.'
"Huff... huff... huff... Did you see... my skill...?"
"Yes. I admit defeat."
Angrao wanted to shout in joy at Yi Han’s words, but he was too exhausted to do so.
He just lay on the grass, panting heavily.
After resting for a while, Angrao finally regained enough strength to stand up.
"Then I’ll take a turn too."
"... Again?"
Angrao couldn’t help but let out a weak voice.
The previous rowing had left him terrified.
Seeing his hesitation, Yi Han simply encouraged him, "Don’t tell me you’re not confident..."
"Get on!"
Angrao sprang up and climbed onto the ferry.
His friend, Duke Ma, asked with a worried expression, "Should I get off?"
"Duke Ma! Don’t you trust me?"
"... Sorry, Angrao. I underestimated your honor!"
"Let’s go quickly."
Yi Han spoke in a disinterested tone.
He didn’t care much about the knights’ friendship.
'First, confirm the island’s location.'
Now that he knew the boat was relatively safe, he wanted to confirm the island’s location and secure a path to it.
Angrao gritted his teeth and began rowing again.
The ferry glided across the lake once more.
Yi Han frowned and focused on observing the lake.
'If only I had a telescope.'
If he knew how to use artifacts or magic, it would have been much easier.
Suddenly, Yi Han remembered something Alarong had told him.
-"A swordsman who has reached a high level can use their mana to activate and strengthen their body. It’s not as refined or systematic as magic, but in life-and-death battles, it’s more than enough."
If that was true, then perhaps even his vision could be enhanced with mana.
Yi Han drew out his mana.
He wasn’t yet at the level where he could freely control and circulate his mana to strengthen a single organ.
But he had an infinite amount of mana to waste.
Yi Han simply released his mana throughout his body.
The mana concentrated in his eyes temporarily enhanced his vision.
"?!?!"
The two students next to him were startled when Yi Han suddenly emitted a fierce aura.
Thinking about it, they were on the lake.
If someone died, it would be easy to throw the body into the water...!
Thud!
The two White Tiger Tower students hurriedly grabbed their wooden swords.
They couldn’t die like this.
At that moment, Yi Han shouted, "Found it!"
"??"
"I found the island."
"What?! How did you find it?"
Angrao was shocked.
He hadn’t seen any trace of the island while building the ferry or even after setting it afloat.
He thought it would be impossible to find it without going further out...
"I got lucky. But why are you holding your wooden swords?"
"......"
"... We got startled when you suddenly shouted... It’s a habit."
"You’re more scared than I thought."
The White Tiger Tower students were furious.
You’re the one who suddenly emitted mana!
Yi Han carefully noted the direction.
"Let’s head back for now. We’ve confirmed the direction, so we can come back later."
"Alright. Got it."
Angrao was secretly relieved.
His muscles had been screaming in pain for a while now.
"Ugh."
Losing strength, Angrao missed a stroke with the oar.
'What’s this?'
Angrao flinched when he felt something soft being pierced by the oar.
Splash—
"...???"
He soon found out what he had hit.
A blob of water, changing shape beneath the lake’s surface, emerged.
The aura of a spirit.
It was a water spirit.
Whoosh—!
The water spirit shot out sharp water spikes.
Yi Han kicked Duke Ma’s back, causing him to fall.
The water spike narrowly missed Duke Ma’s head.
"Sorry... Wodanaz! I... I must have provoked the water spirit!"
"Angrao! What did you do?!"
Duke Ma, who had fallen forward, shouted in shock.
Provoking a water spirit on the lake was an unbelievable mistake.
'No...
It doesn’t seem angry.'
Unlike the panicked duo, Yi Han calmly observed the water spirit.
It seemed fierce, but compared to the oppressive aura of spirits like Perkuntra, it was much weaker.
It clearly wasn’t a high-level spirit, given its lack of proper communication skills.
And the emotion emanating from the spirit was...
Fear!
Yi Han couldn’t understand why the water spirit was afraid of them.
Was it really scared just because it got hit by an oar?
'...
Damn it.'
Yi Han clicked his tongue.
He realized why the water spirit was acting this way.
The culprit wasn’t Angrao—it was Yi Han himself.
Earlier, when he had recklessly released his mana to find the island, the spirit in the water had been frightened.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The frightened spirit shot water spikes to drive Yi Han away.
The White Tiger Tower students screamed at the eerie attack, but Yi Han didn’t even blink as he swung his staff to counter.
With dull cracking sounds, water orbs rose from the lake and precisely intercepted the spikes.
'At first glance, it seems threatening, but it’s not actually that strong.'
The White Tiger Tower students were fooled by the appearance, but if they had stayed calm, they could have dodged or blocked the attacks.
For Yi Han, who had blocked Professor Voladi’s attacks multiple times, the spirit’s spikes were no longer a threat.
'This... this guy...'
Angrao was more amazed by Yi Han than by the angry spirit.
It was hard to believe they had entered the school and learned together.
What kind of training did the Wodanaz family teach to create such an emotionless combat machine?
Yi Han turned his head and looked down at Angrao expressionlessly.
Water spikes were flying eerily, but Yi Han deflected them without even looking, making Angrao’s heart sink.
"Pull yourself together. I need your strength."
"You... you’re not blaming me?"
"......"
For a moment, Yi Han was confused.
'Ah.
He thinks it’s his fault.'
Angrao seemed to believe the water spirit was acting this way because he had hit it with the oar.
What a misunderstanding.
"It is your fault. But everyone makes mistakes."
In that case, there was no need for Yi Han to correct him.
"What matters is how you act afterward."
Angrao was unconsciously moved.
He never thought he’d be moved by Wodanaz’s words...!
"Alright. Leave it to me!"
Angrao drew his sword and stood up.
Then Yi Han asked, "What are you doing?"
"... Wasn’t I supposed to deflect the spikes? With my swordsmanship?"
"No. Row the boat."
"......"
Angrao sat back down and grabbed the oar.
Meanwhile, the water spirit realized that none of its attacks were working on this monstrous being.
The trembling water spirit made another choice.
"... Wait!"
Yi Han noticed too late and tried to stop it, but the water spirit had already started calling for its friends.
"Shield, unfold!"
Yi Han spread out a shield instead of water orbs.
The frightened water spirits began targeting the ferry instead of Yi Han.
'Cowardly spirits.'
Yi Han vowed never to underestimate water spirits again.
As he thickened the water shield, the two White Tiger Tower knights screamed at the spikes continuously flying and embedding themselves into the shield.
The spikes flying menacingly through the opaque water shield could pierce through at any moment.
Yi Han’s calmness made it even scarier.
Aren’t you scared?!
'Professor Voladi would cry if he saw this.'
Yi Han was dumbfounded by the spirits’ repetitive, straight-line attacks.
Shouldn’t they realize by now that they couldn’t pierce the water shield? Why keep doing the same thing?
Amid the fierce exchange, the ferry began to pick up speed.
They were gradually moving away from the frightened spirits.
"... Wait. Where are we going?"
Yi Han realized the ferry was heading toward the opposite shore of the lake.
Angrao had been rowing so frantically that they had ended up near the island.