Episode 24. The End of the Maze
No matter how fast Binaeril was, he couldn’t outpace the flock of Stitches hurtling toward him.
The distance was closing in real time. Ten meters, eight meters, five meters….
“Isn’t there a way out?”
It was a winding corridor structure, so there were no decent places to hide.
‘If only I could use magic.’
According to Veritas’s explanation, those bound by the pledge could not use mana inside this maze.
“Wait, the condition is the Scala Oath?”
Come to think of it, there was exactly one.
A being that was not restricted in any way inside this maze, while simultaneously possessing deeper mana than any student.
“Veritas, lend me some mana.”
—You only just noticed?
Binaeril chanted the same spell as before. Previously, he had used his own mana, but this time he borrowed Veritas’s.
A brilliant orb of light rose between the dark corridors.
“It works!”
He turned and threw the orb toward the flock of Stitches.
It was to gauge the scale of the enemy.
But from the Stitches’ perspective, that must not have been how they saw it.
Startled by the object suddenly flying at them, the ones in front stopped short, and because of the narrow passage, the Stitches behind couldn’t change direction and collided with one another in succession.
“Squeak!”
Either way, it was a good opportunity for Binaeril.
The flock of Stitches he confirmed with his sight wasn’t large. The narrow corridor had amplified the sounds, making them seem more numerous.
“Good. Rise, spears of cold!”
Like a passionate conductor, Binaeril threw his chest wide open and drew a circular arc with his hand, raising his palm upward.
Matching his gesture, ice spears shot up from beneath the Stitches’ feet.
Death in a single strike. The Stitches themselves weren’t powerful monsters, and since there was nowhere to dodge in the confined space, he could wipe them all out with a single spell.
“Nice.”
Binaeril clenched his fist tightly, savoring the brief victory.
If he could use magic, these small-fry monsters wouldn’t even be a match for him.
“So the monsters weren’t the problem.”
The maze’s problem wasn’t the occasional groups of Stitches or Kobolds.
Literally, the maze itself was the problem.
Having learned that he could use magic, Binaeril used the most primitive method to escape the maze.
It was the so-called left-hand rule: walking while keeping one hand on the wall.
But after about twenty minutes of walking, Binaeril began to suspect he was circling the same spot.
So Binaeril made the four-way crossroads his starting point, left a mark on the floor using Veritas’s mana, and walked along the path again.
About fifteen minutes after departing like that, Binaeril discovered the mark he had engraved at his feet.
“Hmm.”
He had been circling the maze. But the problem wasn’t just that.
“Hm.”
Binaeril raised his head.
Before him was the damp wall of the underground prison, standing firm.
The way he had come, the left path, the right path.
When he started, it had clearly been a four-way crossroads, but now there were only three paths.
“It’s obvious.”
—Clear enough.
“It’s manifest.”
—Indeed.
“It’s evident.”
—The maze is changing in real time.
Binaeril shuddered for a moment at the cruelty of the Scala exam.
The prohibition on mana, the monsters tracking the candidates, and the maze structure changing in real time.
“They said the Scala exam has three stages. Couldn’t they be talking about these three problems combined?”
—Probably not.
Binaeril knew it too. That this was merely the first stage of Scala.
“I’m going crazy.”
But knowing changed nothing.
He was still trapped in the maze, and the way to find the exit was shrouded in darkness.
On the contrary, his doubt that he might not be able to escape grew even deeper.
“I can use magic through a loophole, so that’s fine for me. But are the other students trapped in this situation without even being able to use magic?”
Thinking so, he began to worry about Rike and Sylvia.
No, actually, he wasn’t very worried about Sylvia. Only Rike.
Sylvia was tough, so she was probably doing fine beating up the monsters that appeared.
He had to find Rike quickly and help her.
If all the candidates were trapped in this huge maze like Binaeril, figuring out how to find the path could help his friends too.
“Veritas.”
—What.
“Isn’t there a spell to find the way in a maze?”
—A spell to find the way? There probably is. No, there definitely is.
“Then.”
—Then you want me to teach you that? And you call yourself a mage?
At Veritas’s scolding, Binaeril reflected on his shallow thinking.
Magic wasn’t a tool with a set usage like a longbow or a greatsword.
There were methods. Always, and by any means.
But manifesting it through one’s own thoughts and imagination was always the mage’s job.
However, Binaeril, whose internal cultivation was still lacking, found it hard to imagine a way to find the exit in a maze whose structure he didn’t know.
This was proof that he still lacked experience.
Dejected, Binaeril lowered his head and kicked the hateful mark at his feet.
At that moment, the jade-colored ring on his finger entered his sight.
In an instant, his thoughts reached Eden, the library spirit contained within it.
In the Great Library of Elfenbein, Eden had always found the books he asked for right away.
Binaeril, who had always been curious about her method, had witnessed one day how Eden found books.
The spirit Eden had adjusted the library’s infinitely willful space to help visitors.
Now that he thought about it, he could find a common thread between Scala’s maze, Eden’s Great Library, and the Corridor of Truth where he had met Veritas.
The masters of all three places manipulated their respective spaces however they pleased.
Like origami.
That was right. Following a set path to find the answer wasn’t always the only way.
Binaeril thought of his own breakthrough.
A breakthrough that only he, who could use magic in this complex maze, could achieve.
“If there’s no exit, I just have to make one.”
But completely reshaping the entire maze required an overly complex imagination.
So instead, Binaeril asked his other cute helper, the spirit Eden.
“Eden, want to come out?”
Eden leaned out of the ring, her upper body emerging like a girl in a lake.
“Can you pierce straight through this space to the exit?”
Eden nodded.
Rike and Sylvia stood before a large door.
The eerie atmosphere of the maze faded the closer they got to this door.
The two intuitively realized that this was the exit.
“This is it, right?”
“I think so. I can feel intense mana beyond this.”
The reason the two arrived so quickly was entirely thanks to Rike.
To her eyes, which perceived mana itself, the magic-made maze was nothing more than a slightly long walking path.
“Hmm….”
Rike rubbed her slightly bloodshot eyes.
Using this ability for a long time was taxing even for her.
“Rest for a bit. I’ll keep watch until Binaeril arrives.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Then, a loud noise began from the other side of the maze.
The two tensed up.
They had only encountered small-type monsters so far, but that didn’t mean this place was safe.
As they remained on edge, the roar gradually grew closer.
A sound like a giant monster rushing while demolishing the maze walls….
What appeared amidst the cloud of dust was neither a monster nor a giant beast.
Its identity was Binaeril.
“Binaeril!”
Rike shouted joyfully.
They had only been apart for a few hours, yet Rike welcomed Binaeril with a bright smile.
“Huh, what? You guys were already here?”
“Hehehe.”
“What’s that? You can use magic?”
Sylvia asked.
Since explaining about Veritas was complicated, Binaeril pointed at Eden and elaborated.
“It’s thanks to her.”
“What is she?”
“Oh my, isn’t this the spirit from the library?”
As expected, Rike, a bookworm on par with Binaeril, recognized her.
Meanwhile, Sylvia….
“Why are you staring like that?”
“When did I?”
Binaeril lowered his palm and let Eden down.
It was the first time he was introducing her.
“A spirit? You’ve learned to handle spirits too?”
“It just happened. You know how the Tower Master gives a reward to the tournament winner. This friend was that reward.”
“They gave you the spirit herself?”
Spirits were beings with independent wills, so that should be impossible.
“She’s contracted to follow the owner of this ring. To be exact, I received the ring.”
Binaeril held out the jade-colored ring on his finger to show them.
“…I’m jealous.”
“Oh my, look at her.”
Eden showed affection and clung to the gentle Rike.
When Eden grabbed her skirt hem in greeting like a prim lady, Rike clapped her hands in delight.
“But how did you two get here so quickly?”
The two explained their journey over the past few hours.
As expected, Sylvia had advanced while beating up the attacking monsters.
And Rike, whom Sylvia and Binaeril had worried about the most, grasped the exam’s structure the fastest and found the correct answer.
“As soon as I understood the situation, I started surveying the entire structure of the maze with my ability. From nearby, gradually to farther away. Then I sensed Sylvia’s mana and slowly moved toward her.”
“What about the Stitches and Kobolds you met along the way?”
“Stitches and Kobolds live in dark places, so their hearing is sensitive but their eyesight has degraded. If you move while suppressing sound, they can’t detect you.”
“Wow.”
“I met up with Sylvia and came toward the exit. Because I believed Binaeril would find his way here somehow.”
Hearing this, the talent of the magic eye Rike possessed truly lived up to its reputation.
“Did you find this exit with that ability too?”
“I could definitely feel it as we got closer, but there’s another way to tell.”
“It’s simple. The monsters in the maze. They inhabit closed cave spaces. Naturally, where there are monsters means it’s a dead end, so if you avoid them and keep moving, you can get out.”
Binaeril admired Rike’s insight.
After hearing the whole story, he realized this exam was a stage to evaluate composure and judgment.
Binaeril felt that he had relied too much on magic.
Ironically, even though he had studied magic for the shortest period.
“Rike.”
“You’re really amazing. As expected, you’re a talented mage.”
At Binaeril’s sudden praise, Rike’s face turned red.
Having conveyed pure admiration, Binaeril now looked at the large door before them and asked.
“This is the next Scala exam, right?”
“Isn’t it? I wonder what’ll come next.”
“I feel powerful mana beyond this. Be careful.”
They didn’t know if they would be scattered apart once more when they opened the door and went inside.
Without realizing it, the three held each other’s hands tightly and opened the door to the next exam.