Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage's Book-Chapter 24

“It works!”

He turned and threw the orb at the Stitches.

He wanted to gauge the size of the swarm.

But the Stitches didn’t see it that way.

The sudden object startled the lead Stitch, causing it to halt abruptly. In the narrow passage, the following Stitches collided with it.

“Skreee!”

Regardless, it was an excellent opportunity for Binaeril.

The swarm wasn’t as large as it had seemed; the echoing sounds in the narrow corridor had made it seem bigger.

“Rise, spears of ice!”

Binaeril spread his arms wide, drawing a circular arc before thrusting his palms upward.

In response, spears of ice shot up from the ground beneath the Stitches.

The Stitches, not particularly strong monsters and with no room to dodge in the confined space, were killed instantly by the single spell.

“Good.”

Binaeril clenched his fist, savoring his short victory.

With magic, these small fry monsters were no match for him.

“The problem wasn’t the monsters.”

The real challenge of the maze wasn’t the occasional encounters with Stitches or Kobolds.

The maze itself was the problem.

Knowing he could use magic, Binaeril employed the most basic method to navigate the maze: the left-hand rule.

However, after walking for twenty minutes, Binaeril began to suspect he was going in circles.

He marked the starting point of a four-way intersection with Veritas’s magic and walked on.

After about fifteen minutes, he found the mark again.

“Hmm.”

He was walking in circles, but that wasn’t the only problem.

“Hmm.”

Binaeril looked up.

The damp walls of the underground prison stood firmly before him.

The path he came from, the left path, and the right path were all present.

Originally, there had been four paths; now there were only three.

“Clearly.”

Definitely.

“Obviously.”

Certainly.

“Evidently.”

The maze is changing in real-time.

Binaeril shivered at the cruelty of the Scholar Exam.

Magical restrictions, tracking monsters, and a constantly changing maze structure.

“The Scholar Exam has three stages. Could they mean these three problems?”

Probably not.

Binaeril knew this was just the first stage of the Scholar Exam.

“This is driving me crazy.”

But knowing didn’t change anything.

He was still trapped in the maze, with no clue how to find the exit.

In fact, his doubts about escaping had only deepened.

“If I can use magic by a loophole, what about the other students? They’re trapped without magic?”

He began to worry about Rike and Sylvia.

Actually, he didn’t worry much about Sylvia. Only Rike.

Sylvia was strong and probably handling the monsters just fine.

He needed to find and help Rike as soon as possible.

If all the candidates were trapped in this massive maze like him, finding the way out could help him save his friends.

“Veritas.”

What?

“Is there a spell to find the way in a maze?”

A spell to find the way? There is. Definitely.

“Then.”

Then you want me to tell you? Are you even a mage?

Veritas’s scolding made Binaeril reflect on his shallow thinking.

Magic wasn’t a tool with set instructions like a bow or a sword.

There was always a way, somehow, someway.

But creating that way with one’s own thoughts and imagination was always the mage’s task.

But Binaeril, lacking in experience, found it difficult to imagine a way to navigate a maze he didn’t even know the structure of.

This was evidence of his inexperience.

Feeling dejected, Binaeril kicked at the mark on the ground.

At that moment, he noticed the jade ring on his finger.

It held Eden, the library spirit.

In Elfenbine’s Great Library, Eden always found books quickly.

Binaeril had once witnessed how Eden found books.

The spirit adjusted the seemingly infinite space of the library to assist visitors.

Now he saw the commonality between the Scholar’s maze, Eden’s library, and the Hall of Truth where he met Veritas.

All three masters controlled their spaces like folded paper houses.

Indeed, finding the predetermined path wasn’t always the solution.

Binaeril thought of his breakthrough.

In this complex maze, his breakthrough could be creating a path since he could use magic.

“If there’s no exit, I’ll make one.”

But completely reshaping the maze was too complex an imagination.

Instead, Binaeril asked his other small helper, the spirit Eden.

“Eden, can you come out?”

Eden emerged from the ring like a girl from a lake.

“Can you create a straight path to the exit?”

Eden nodded.

Rike and Sylvia stood before a large door.

The eerie atmosphere of the maze disappeared as they approached the door.

They instinctively knew it was the exit.

“Is this it?”

“Feels like it. I can sense strong magic beyond it.”

Their quick arrival was thanks to Rike.

With her eyes that could see magic, the maze was just a long walk for her.

“Ugh…”

Rike rubbed her slightly bloodshot eyes.

Using her ability for extended periods was taxing.

“Take a break. I’ll keep watch until Binaeril arrives.”

“Okay.”

Then, a loud noise came from the maze.

The two tensed up.

They hadn’t encountered any large monsters yet, but this place wasn’t safe.

While on high alert, the noise grew louder.

It sounded like a giant monster bulldozing through the maze walls...

But emerging from the dust wasn’t a monster or a giant beast.

It was Binaeril.

“Binaeril!”

Rike shouted in delight.

Even though they had only been apart for a few hours, she greeted him with a bright smile.

“Hey, you’re already here?”

“Hehehe.”

“What’s that? Can you use magic?”

Sylvia asked.

Explaining Veritas was complicated, so Binaeril pointed to Eden.

“It’s thanks to her.”

“What is she?”

“Oh, isn’t she the library spirit?”

Rike, a bookworm like Binaeril, recognized her immediately.

Sylvia, on the other hand...

“Why are you staring like that?”

“When did I?”

Binaeril lowered his hand, letting Eden down.

Introducing her was a first.

“A spirit? You can command spirits now?”

“Somehow. The Tower Master said the tournament winner would get a reward. This is it.”

“A spirit itself?”

Spirits were sentient beings with their own will, so it was impossible.

“She’s contracted to follow the ring’s owner. So, I received the ring.”

Binaeril showed the jade ring on his finger.

“…I’m envious.”

“Oh, look at her.”

Eden affectionately hugged Rike, expressing her affection.

She curtsied like a little lady, making Rike clap in delight.

“How did you get here so quickly?”

They explained their journey over the past few hours.

As expected, Sylvia had fought her way through the monsters.

And Rike, whom they were most worried about, had used her ability to quickly understand the maze’s structure and find the way.

“As soon as I understood the situation, I started viewing the maze’s structure with my ability. From nearby to farther away. Then I sensed Sylvia’s magic and slowly moved towards her.”

“What about the Stitches and Kobolds?”

“Stitches and Kobolds have keen hearing but poor eyesight in the dark. Moving quietly, they didn’t notice.”

“Wow.”

“After meeting Sylvia, we headed to the exit. I trusted Binaeril would find his way.”

Hearing this, Binaeril was impressed by Rike’s talent.

“This exit too?”

“I sensed it as we got closer, but there’s another way to know.”

“It’s simple. The monsters live in closed spaces. So, areas with monsters are blocked paths. By avoiding them, we found the way.”

Binaeril admired Rike’s insight.

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Realizing this test was about evaluating calmness and judgment.

Binaeril felt he had relied too much on magic.

Ironically, despite having the shortest time to learn magic.

“Rike.”

“You’re amazing. Truly a talented mage.”

Rike blushed at Binaeril’s straightforward praise.

Expressing his genuine admiration, Binaeril turned to the large door before them.

“This is the next test?”

“Probably. What’s next?”

“I sense strong magic power beyond. Be careful.”

Opening the door might scatter them again.

Without realizing, they held each other’s hands tightly and opened the door to the next test.