Unfortunately, Diret failed to notice that his standing in his junior’s mind had just dropped a little.

All his attention was focused on summoning and negotiating with the toad demon.

-Gurook! Mage! No more than three prisoners!

“Fine. I’ll keep my promise, so stop worrying. I’m only putting one inside anyway.”

-Gururook! Mage has honor! I trust you!

He must summon it often...

While Lee Han entertained that pointless thought, Princess Yukbeltire spoke.

“I’ll begin.”

“Yes, Senior.”

Lee Han took a shallow breath and cast his enhancement spells.

<Gonadaltes’s Quickening Agility> and <Bagreg’s Momentary Foresight>.

Both gave a tremendous advantage in close-range combat between mages.

“Can you cast dark vision too?”

“Yes.”

At Diret’s request, Lee Han added <Gonadaltes’s Dark Vision>.

Princess Yukbeltire, now interested, asked another question.

“What about invisibility?”

“...Yes.”

When Lee Han cast <Gonadaltes’s Invisibility Cloak> as well, Princess Yukbeltire gave a faint nod and studied him carefully.

Normally, even if a mage possessed enough mana and concentration to cast endlessly, layering multiple spells at once was nearly impossible.

Every newly cast spell interfered with the magic already in place.

To maintain several spells simultaneously required exquisitely refined perception, along with immense and exceptionally pure mana capable of enduring constant magical conflict.

The mana possessed by the junior before her was among the purest Princess Yukbeltire had ever witnessed.

Even so, every practical demonstration of it still surprised her.

“That should be enough.”

“Could you add fire resistance too?”

“...”

Lee Han shot Diret a look before casting <Low-Grade Flame Resistance>.

If Diret had been paying attention, he might have stopped there, but unfortunately he ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) was still busy haggling with the toad demon.

-Gurook! Participating in battle violates contract!

-I’ll add five bull heads on top of the previous offering.

-Gururook! Don’t want battle! Mage battles hurt!

-You don’t need to fight. Just protect.

-Gurook! Protect all mages?

-No. Only that junior over there. You don’t need to help the others.

“And <Low-Grade Cold Resistance> too...”

“I refuse.”

This time, Lee Han answered flatly.

Honestly, judging by the White Tiger Tower students, even the fire resistance felt unnecessary.

“Why?”

“Look at the mana they’re emitting. Most of them specialize in wind attributes. There’s no reason to prepare cold resistance, let alone fire resistance.” 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

It was an entirely logical conclusion based on instinctive battlefield judgment.

Princess Yukbeltire felt a trace of disappointment, but she couldn’t refute it.

Just then, Diret finally finished his negotiations and walked over.

“Sorry. That took longer than expected. Are you ready? You didn’t cast cold resistance?”

Princess Yukbeltire tried to explain first.

“They mainly use win—”

“Yes. I’ll cast it now, Senior.”

Lee Han obediently cast <Low-Grade Cold Resistance>.

Princess Yukbeltire stared at the invisible junior in silence.

“...Wasn’t what you just did completely irrational?”

“Let’s go, Senior. They’re getting away.”

“...!”

For the second time that day, Princess Yukbeltire felt a strange emotion she had never experienced before.

Though she didn’t realize it yet, that emotion was called anger.

If you want people to respect you, maybe treat them a little better...

Standing nearby, Diret watched with pity.

Princess Yukbeltire treated most mages like pebbles by the roadside, so their words meant nothing to her. But she was unexpectedly vulnerable when criticized by someone she actually acknowledged.

Diret himself had gone easy on her out of sympathy.

Unfortunately, this junior had already survived too many vicious people at Einroguard. Whenever someone said something unreasonable, his responses came back sharp as a blade.

“Yukbeltire. If you’re this upset, then like I said before—”

“What nonsense are you talking about? I’m not angry at all. Trivial emotions like anger cannot influence me.”

“...Try saying that without gripping your staff so hard.”

***

CRACK!

“Ambush!!!”

The corridor plunged into total darkness, and the Ibanna group reacted instantly.

As third-years of Einroguard, they knew perfectly well that bizarre phenomena never happened without reason.

“Protect the wooden barrel!”

The White Tiger Tower students were already casting combat spells.

Some had even enhanced their hearing enough to use echolocation, tracking the reflections of sound itself.

“Above the stairs! They’re above the stairs!”

“Raise a wall! Block the path!”

“Protect the barrel and retreat!”

They really are seniors. Baldrogard can’t even compare.

Lee Han was genuinely impressed by how flawlessly they coordinated the instant combat began.

Not a second wasted.

Their movements were the result of repeated experience in commissions and chaotic battles.

He finally understood why White Tiger Tower students had such a terrifying reputation in real combat, even if their grades and research often lagged behind.

The Enhancement Magic school was constantly mocked as simplistic, lacking creativity, or merely a subordinate branch of the enchantment magic school...

But few schools could match their sheer combat efficiency.

They enhanced their hearing to counter illusion magic. Since illusion spells mainly affect vision, they immediately compensated.

The way they assessed the situation and executed their assigned roles resembled a perfectly interlocked machine.

The students in the rear tore bricks from the corridor walls to form cover, then gripped their swords and charged with battle cries.

They had already protected their allies.

Now it was time to buy time with their own bodies.

“Go.”

The two fifth-year seniors remained completely calm.

As veterans of Blue Dragon Tower and Black Turtle Tower, they were more than familiar with White Tiger Tower tactics.

Screeeeeech—

Longswords materialized out of thin air, accompanied by a siren-like shriek.

The sound did nothing to Lee Han, but the White Tiger Tower students recoiled in agony.

“Kugh!”

“Urgh!”

Their enhancement magic protected their bodies, but the illusion spell directly targeted their heightened hearing, violently disrupting their senses.

“Stay together!”

The White Tiger Tower students immediately abandoned their charge and retreated behind cover, shields raised.

They intended to endure until they could dispel the illusion magic.

At that moment, Princess Yukbeltire activated another artifact.

The stone mirror released beams of multicolored light, and the corridor exploded with deafening roars.

BOOM!

The White Tiger Tower students were skilled.

But the difference in power here was overwhelming.

An enchantment mage who arrived fully prepared with artifacts was practically a mage with infinite mana.

“Damn it! It’s Senior Sho Verdus!”

“Why did it have to be a fifth-year?!”

Sho Verdus?

The White Tiger Tower students seemed to identify the attacker purely from the overwhelming firepower that obliterated the corridor and their cover alike.

They immediately gave up on counterattacking and focused entirely on escape.

“Diret.”

“Understood.”

Diret, who had been waiting for the cue, raised his staff and cast his spell.

A massive curse surged down the opposite corridor like muddy floodwater.

The White Tiger Tower students froze in horror.

They had never imagined curses manifesting physically and rushing toward them like a tidal wave.

“What the hell is that?!”

If it had been Lee Han, he would have bulldozed straight through it.

The White Tiger Tower students, however, were sane.

None of them wanted to dive into an unknown torrent of curses.

“Now then. Hand over the wooden barrel.”

“Kugh...!”

“Diret. Why don’t we just subdue them first and then—”

“You stay out of this.”

Diret already felt guilty about stealing the duke from his juniors.

He had no desire to rough them up any more than necessary.

“Senior! Someone’s coming from behind!”

“?”

“?!”

The two fifth-years were startled by Lee Han’s warning.

Neither of them had sensed anything yet.

But Diret, who knew Lee Han’s abilities, reacted immediately.

“From the corridor behind us?”

“Yes.”

“How many?”

“Only one, but the mana is abnormal...”

Before Lee Han could finish, a student stepped around the far corner of the corridor.

At the sight of the elegantly dressed cat beastkin, both Diret and Lee Han sighed at the exact same moment.

This was the worst possible opponent to encounter right now.

“Oh? Junior?”

Senior Caten greeted him cheerfully, and Lee Han stiffened.

The corridor was pitch black.

And Lee Han was currently invisible.

How did he notice me?!

-Don’t answer.

Diret’s telepathic warning arrived immediately.

-He isn’t certain. He’s probing you.

“...!”

Lee Han shuddered.

Every fifth-year at this school is equally shameless!

At this point, they were practically half-professors already.

To think someone could calmly bait a junior like that while wearing such an innocent catlike expression.

Diret was right.

Even for a master swordsman, identifying Lee Han precisely under these conditions should have been impossible.

Caten had most likely sensed only a vague disturbance and thrown out the greeting as a test.

“Jahan. You already have sponsorship money. Go spend it somewhere else.”

“So this is Diret. I’m jealous. Being able to darken an entire corridor like this.”

...Even second-years can do that.

“All I can do is swing a sword. Though this time will be different. Ilendil junior promised me full support with potions that improve magical learning if I capture the duke.”

“...”

“...”

Lee Han and Diret simultaneously cursed Ilendil in their minds.

What underhanded tactics!

-We secured the duke. Retreat.

Princess Yukbeltire silently shoved the wooden barrel into the toad demon’s mouth and sent a telepathic message.

The other two nodded.

At that exact moment, Caten moved.

The instincts of a master swordsman were terrifyingly sharp.

Even without certainty, a faint sense of unease alone was enough to trigger action.

“Stop him!”

The undead summons and defensive artifacts they had positioned beforehand rushed toward Caten from all directions.

Caten twisted his grip on the sword and tapped the corridor floor repeatedly with the tips of his boots.

At first, Lee Han couldn’t understand what the senior was doing.

Then his eyes widened.

Sp... spatial magic?!

“Haaat!”

With a sharp shout, Caten slashed through space itself and teleported forward.

He had incorporated short-range teleportation magic—a spell Lee Han still couldn’t cast independently—into swordsmanship as a secret technique.

Is this man actually insane?!

Lee Han couldn’t help but curse internally.

With skills like that, why was he even bothering to study magic?

It gave him the same sense of inferiority he sometimes felt while looking at his second brother, Arsil Wardanaz.

Diret apparently felt the same way.

“Ridiculous!”

Curses erupted immediately.

“I’ll hold him off! Retreat first!”

As the invisible junior accelerated through the darkness and charged him, Caten cautiously slowed.

He couldn’t force a breakthrough without first identifying his opponent.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

“Wall Rock Sword? Are you a junior from House Wardanaz?”

“...Wrong. I’m from House Moradi.”

“Hm? House Moradi doesn’t use techniques like tha— ah. A bluff. Clever, junior.”

Caten stepped back two paces and circulated mana through his body, heightening his senses even further.

His opponent currently held the advantage.

He needed a few moments to adapt.

“But junior, you’re mistaken about one thing. No senior would abandon a junior and flee alone.”

“Haha. Senior Caten, you’re the one who doesn’t understand yet! Senior Yukbeltire is ruthless enough to leave me behind without hesitation!”

“...”

Princess Yukbeltire, who had been preparing to support Lee Han from the rear, paused.