Episode 716
Episode 716
Professor Verdus's "Watchers" were notorious among the students of Einrogard.
Despite looking like roughly assembled wooden or bronze dolls—nothing more than haphazardly bound lumps of wood or metal—they exhibited combat prowess that made it hard to believe they were merely small golems.
Of course, they didn't possess transcendent power beyond common sense.
After all, these Watchers were artificial summons created by Professor Verdus by carelessly gathering leftover materials and scrap before applying Enchantment Magic.
Such summons couldn't surpass the limitations of their materials and reagents.
But Professor Verdus's magic extracted the absolute maximum possible within those constraints.
-Fire Element! It's a Fire Element-immune Watcher! I prepared Fire Magic for this!!
-Retreat! Retreat!
-Another Watcher has appeared in the rear! Type is... area curse! A Curse Watcher!!
-That damn professor really needs to stop this madness!
Professor Verdus didn't create all-purpose summons, knowing the limits of his materials and reagents.
Instead, he specialized each one in a single aspect—any lacking functions could be covered by other Watchers.
He made Watchers immune to fire elements, Watchers wielding magic-reflecting shields, and—finding it amusing—even Watchers that spewed poisonous mist or self-destructed upon contact, knocking students unconscious until they were sent to the Punishment Room...
These summoned Watchers tormented students with their vicious synergy.
Adaptability was supposed to be a mage's weapon, but Professor Verdus's Watchers turned that weapon against them.
The Watcher Sebius had just encountered was one of the most notorious—a Mana Absorption Watcher that would easily rank among the top ten most malicious.
A vile foe with a gaping maw that could swallow most projectile magic whole.
If caught carelessly, it would drain mana indiscriminately, spells or otherwise.
To deal with it, one had to retreat first, carve magic into the terrain, and then lure it...
"Swordsmanship?!"
"Is that not allowed?"
"It's not that it's... not allowed!"
Sebius hesitated as he watched Lee Han swing his black-and-purple sword.
Being a student of the Blue Dragon Tower didn't mean he couldn't wield a sword. He was perfectly capable of swinging one...
But he never expected him to bisect a Watcher in a single stroke!
"Did you... take swordsmanship lectures too?"
Sebius cracked a joke to ease the awkward atmosphere.
He wasn't confident in his humor, but as the senior, it was his duty to lighten the mood.
"How did you know?"
"..."
"Let's go!"
Resolving once again not to do things he wasn't used to, Sebius quickened his pace.
"Professor Verdus's Watchers are interconnected—if one is destroyed, the others will approach. If a fight breaks out, we have to finish it as quickly as possible and move."
"Is that one coming toward us?"
"Yeah. It's already closing in."
Spotting a creaky tin doll emerging from a pile of scrap in the distance, Sebius narrowed his eyes and glared.
"That one... Hah. Today's just full of troublesome ones. Slash-resistant coating, Projectile Refraction device..."
A nuisance at both close and long range—it could neutralize over half of slashing attacks and refract projectile spells to veer off course.
Sebius mentally mapped out their escape route, combining the path they'd just taken, the one he'd memorized from the map, and the current surroundings.
'If we break left and head east-west...'
"Gather and rotate!"
Just as Sebius was pondering their escape, his junior began chanting a spell, startling him.
"That thing refracts projectiles! Don't waste your ma—!"
Mages weren't beings who could freely create something from nothing. If anything, they were closer to frugal accountants, having to efficiently allocate their limited mana resources.
From that perspective, the junior's current actions bordered on recklessness.
To waste mana like this already...
The Water Orbs spun heavily as they flew in with deadly force. The Projectile Refraction field created by the Watcher twisted the orbs' trajectories, deflecting them sideways.
Yet Lee Han paid no heed and created another Water Orb.
Create and shoot.
Create and shoot.
'He's spamming them!'
Upon realizing his junior's strategy, Sebius was horrified.
The opponent was defending by altering the trajectories of incoming projectiles.
So what if he relentlessly fired projectiles from all directions?
The projectiles would collide, ricochet, and create chaotic, irregular reflections.
It was an ingenious method—so much so that it was hard to believe he'd thought of it on the spot...
But it was also a brute-force approach!
CRASH!
When one of the ricocheting Water Orbs finally smashed the Watcher to pieces, instead of praising him, Sebius asked his junior,
"Are you okay on mana?!"
"Don't worry. I'm fine."
"...Tell me you didn't take down a Rock Drake head-on like this too?"
Until now, he'd assumed Lee Han must have used traps and schemes to defeat it, but now he couldn't help but doubt.
Did this bastard really take it down in a straight-up magic battle?
The junior hesitated before asking,
"Does defeating it head-on disqualify me from joining the club?"
"......"
Perhaps encountering the Watcher upon entering had served as a bad luck charm, as the next part became slightly easier.
"<Mage, never repay the gold coins you borrowed>. Here it is."
Sebius found and retrieved a book from the third warehouse.
Given that it was a storage for sticky, slime-like reagents, the surroundings were damp and reeked horribly.
"Why on earth did Professor Verdus put a book here?"
"We'll never understand the professor's mind in our lifetime. Let's go."
"I never thought I'd miss the previous warehouse."
Lee Han spoke as if he couldn't believe it himself.
Who would've thought he'd already feel nostalgic for the scrap-filled warehouse attacked by Watchers and the half-flooded warehouse where they had to swim?
"The next warehouse should be fine. From what I know, it has no Watchers or major traps—just a relatively normal warehouse."
Professor Verdus's warehouses were interconnected.
Students often exploited these connections, slipping through poorly guarded doors to move between warehouses, which was precisely the strategy Lee Han and Sebius had adopted.
Of course, this strategy wasn't flawless. To reach Warehouse A, they had to pass through Warehouses B, C, and D—none of which were guaranteed to be in decent condition.
The ones they'd just crossed were prime examples of the bizarre.
'Is there really a normal warehouse among them?'
Lee Han glanced at Sebius skeptically.
A normal warehouse among Professor Verdus's collection?
Could that really be...
Creak—
The door opened, revealing the new warehouse.
The interior resembled a café or coffeehouse in a bustling city.
Several chairs and tables, neatly organized items, and no immediate threats...
"Is this a trap?"
"...I had the same reaction when I first came here. This is a warehouse the professor forgot about, but students frequent it. That's why it's relatively intact. Let's rest a bit."
Sebius pulled out a chair for his junior, then sat down himself, drinking a mana recovery potion and unfolding the map.
There were still many warehouses left to retrieve the remaining books.
"Don't you need a recovery potion?"
"I'm fine. You take it, Senior."
Lee Han declined, inwardly pleased.
From Sebius's perspective, Lee Han must seem like a considerate junior who looked out for him.
'Is this kid a monster?'
Sebius stared at Lee Han with weary eyes.
How could he not need a recovery potion after using so much mana?
Indeed, taking classes from every department wasn't something just anyone could do.
"First, we'll enter the Poison Mushroom Warehouse to borrow the path to the Hell Swamp Warehouse, then head to the Sacred Pavilion Hall's second basement level. We won't be entering the Metal Warehouse—it's too dangerous."
"What are these places marked with an X?"
"Warehouses we haven't figured out how to enter yet. Professor Verdus has forgotten many warehouses, but there are also quite a few he hasn't."
It was a bitter truth, but the students couldn't properly plunder all of Professor Verdus's treasures.
They could only loot items from the warehouses Professor Verdus had forgotten and neglected—those he had deliberately sealed off were nearly impossible to breach.
That very fact always ignited the students' determination.
'I swear, before I graduate, I'll definitely break into one of the warehouses Professor Verdus has sealed! I'll find out what the hell is inside!'
'Wait, does that mean if I fail, I'll have to stay another year?'
...
Do you have a death wish?
"These places are useless as passageways. Honestly, even though this map shows many warehouses, they're just a fraction compared to the total number."
"......"
Lee Han watched Sebius with disbelief as the upperclassman sighed regretfully.
It was absurd that Sebius could feel disappointed after finding so much, but Lee Han couldn't even begin to guess just how many warehouses Professor Verdus had built.
'This guy... Just how many warehouses did he build and then forget about?'
"If you ever figure out how to enter these places later, try raiding them with the club members."
"You should join us too, Senior!"
"...I'm graduating, you brat."
'He was talking about this year, though.'
Lee Han grumbled inwardly.
Sebius, being a fourth-year, also had his own sensitive spots.
"<Wizard, Never Repay the Gold You've Been Invested With>, <Introduction to Imperial Investment Law>, <The Genius Enchantment Wizard Who Received One Hundred Investments>, <Introduction to Imperial Artifact Trends>, <Imperial Materials Encyclopedia>..."
Sebius muttered with a troubled expression.
Thanks to their forced march, they had secured all the other books—only <General Gemology> remained missing.
When he pulled out the silver bookmark artifact, it spun and pointed in a direction—toward a warehouse Sebius had never entered before.
"...Seems like it's in another warehouse."
"What should we do?"
"Let's give up and retreat. We've already gathered plenty today."
Nothing was more dangerous than greed when it came to moving forward.
Though he desperately wanted to grab that last book, Sebius decided it was better to retreat than to recklessly push forward and risk sending his junior to the Punishment Room.
"Can't we at least try to find a way in?"
"This isn't something the two of us can solve just by racking our brains. If you don't believe me, go check for yourself."
The direction the bookmark artifact pointed was toward a warehouse Sebius had attempted—and failed—to enter multiple times.
Its defenses were so sturdy and complex that breaching it was no easy task.
The magic guarding it writhed and shifted as if alive, and no matter what external force was applied, it would repair itself instantly after being damaged.
Frustrated, Sebius had no confidence in breaking through.
Thud thud thud
—The junior stood in front of the warehouse, swinging his staff and knocking on the door repeatedly. But the door didn't budge.
Watching this, Sebius couldn't help but smirk faintly.
Such obstacles were what infuriated—and ultimately strengthened—thieves.
This Wardanaz junior had talent several times greater than Sebius himself.
Given that he was already this capable as a second-year, who knew if he might actually breach Professor Verdus's treasure vault by third or fourth year?
'I won't be around to see it, though. A bit of a shame.'
"Senior!"
"What is it?"
"It's open!"
"...What?! How?! Don't tell me you forced it open...?!"
When Sebius shouted in disbelief, the junior replied with an awkward expression.
"Come to think of it... I actually had the key to this warehouse."
"......"
'What the hell even is this kid?!'