Chapter 37

Chapter 37

***

Before Sienna headed toward the control room, the professors cast a flare spell to signal the suspension of the exam as per Alpheas’ instructions.

The sky took on a reddish tint, but Sirone and Mark had no intention of stopping because both boys suspected it was a trap. The twisted iron bars and rings of various sizes approached them, forming what looked like overlapping nets with no clear escape.

Do I have to give up? they thought simultaneously.

Sirone and Mark glanced at each other, and as their gazes met, they teleported.

Panic struck the professors as the boys vanished from sight, swamped by the obstacle.

“Those fools! Are they planning to keep going until the end?” someone asked.

“Neither of them can afford to give up first,” Sienna commented. “They don’t know how it will affect the outcome of this race.”

“This is really bad. What on earth is Professor Thad doing?”

The confusion among the professors partly stemmed from Alpheas’ continued silence.

The headmaster was genuinely angry, especially with Sirone. Sometimes, you must know when to back down. I expected you to know that much.

However, his long life had taught him that there would be times when one absolutely could not back down and that there were no definitive right answers applicable to everyone’s lives. If one could take responsibility for their choices, the opinions of others were meaningless.

“Let them proceed. It seems neither of them can accept my judgment,” Alpheas declared.

The professors were taken aback.

“Pardon? But if an accident were to happen, things could get really bad.”

“Whatever happens...” Alpheas said, his gaze turning icy. “I will take responsibility.”

The professors were left speechless by his uncharacteristically cold demeanor. Thad, who was not present at the moment, was the only person who could vaguely understand the headmaster’s colder side thanks to his younger days.

Alpheas’ attention returned to the battlefield. I understand your determination. He knew everything about Sirone’s past, background, and the intricate process required for him to enter the school. Every moment must feel like the last. I respect that. However, if you can’t take responsibility for the outcome... Alpheas wouldn’t be able to control Sirone’s fate. Your magic career will end here.

Sirone felt a wave of dizziness as the traps moved with such velocity that evading one and planning for the next became an impossible task.

I have to read the whole thing at once. It was akin to memorizing an entire maze and sprinting through it in one go. There’s no end. In their efforts to dodge the obstacles, they had managed to traverse barely two meters. My mental strength will deplete first at this rate. I have no choice but to find a way to keep moving forward.

Mark was also pondering the same idea. Both of us might fail, but the one who goes as far as possible will have the advantage. Like a circus lion leaping through a ring of fire, he broke through the obstacles. “Here I go!”

Swiftly changing direction and piercing through the obstacles, even the professors couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

“A directional shift in teleportation is certainly not elementary. Mark has prepared well.”

Mark bellowed with a sense of victory, and excitement waved over his thoughts. I did it! I can do this! However, a moment later, he glanced back and saw Sirone still stationed at the same spot. Ha! He must be paralyzed with fear. As the balance of power in the battle abruptly shifted in Mark’s favor, his confidence surged. With newfound determination, he pushed forward even more resolutely.

Sirone lifted his head. “No,” he murmured.

If it were merely a matter of dodging a few obstacles to advance, Sirone was more than capable. However, analyzing the array of oncoming challenges from a distance revealed a singular route to success. The path Mark has chosen is a dead end.

Sure enough, as Mark progressed, he found the traps increasingly insurmountable. The iron bars, moving like whips, struck down vertically and then swept inward, creating a wave that crossed back over itself. Before Mark knew it, his complexion had drained of color, leaving his face pale. The relentless barrage of iron bars intertwined mid-air, weaving together into a semblance of a net, seemingly alive and undulating.

I can’t dodge that. Opting for what seemed to be the easier path was a critical error from the start. Attempting to alter his course too late, he found the net rapidly encroaching.

The faces of the onlooking students blanched.

“It’s going to hit him!”

As the obstacle passed by with a deafening roar, half of the onlookers closed their eyes. The eyes of the other half, the more stout-hearted students, widened.

“Sirone!”

With impeccable timing, Sirone seized Mark and teleported clear of the net. To leap into peril to save another was a feat of valor, but to the students, it was a foolhardy move.

“Did he really jump in to save Mark?”

“There’s a limit to kindness. He’s just as annoying as ever.”

“Don’t be absurd! It’s common sense to save someone who’s about to die!”

“Common sense? Would you actually do something like that?”

“You jerk! Why does what I would do matter?”

As the students engaged in a heated argument, Iruki smirked with hidden understanding. You’ve got it all wrong, you fools.

Meanwhile, Sirone found himself in a quandary. Though he had saved Mark by choosing the optimal path, they were now ensnared in an even more treacherous course.

“S-save me!” Mark cried, wailing. He was already overcome by despair and had tears streaming down his face as he floundered to escape.

“Stay still for a moment!” Sirone commanded. His attention was riveted on the looming dangers.

This is impossible. Despite having removed Mark from a labyrinth of traps, there was no indication of a second way out. No, that can’t be right. If it were truly inescapable, they wouldn’t have constructed it in the first place. At that moment, his common sense shattered. I’m such an idiot... I completely overlooked the option of taking a step back.

“No, please! We’re all going to die!”

With the echoes of Mark’s screams fading, Sirone gathered every ounce of his strength and teleported them backward.

In the audience, Iruki suddenly stood and shouted, “That’s it!”

Retreating was also a strategy. The key was to let go of the obsession with crossing the bridge and to calmly assess all options.

“Let’s go!” Sirone increased his distance swiftly and leaped over the massive obstacle that was bearing down on them. It worked!

He had managed to avoid immediate danger, but the level-ten difficulty was not to be underestimated. As Sirone ascended, the iron bar swung in a wide arc, tracking their movements. Is it impossible to deviate from the ascending trajectory?

The Pathless Bridge would relentlessly pursue a participant until they either crashed to the ground or reached the end. As the slope became steeper, deciphering the trap grew more challenging, and Mark’s added weight was a substantial hindrance.

“Why would he do something so reckless?” Seryel muttered in frustration. “If Mark fails, he could advance to the next class. Using teleportation to carry someone is meant only for emergency rescues. It’s too dangerous!”

Amy responded succinctly, “That’s just who he is. While others hesitate, he’s the type to take action.” I’m aware that Sirone is compassionate, too. Yet, Mark even resorted to hiring people to sabotage him. Perhaps that’s the reason… It was somewhat peculiar that Amy understood Sirone, but indeed, that was the truth. “He was never concerned with rankings to begin with.”

It was just like how she had ignored numerous options and chose to advance to the graduation level.

“Sirone isn’t competing with anyone. He’s striving to become a mage. Those with intrinsic goals aren’t swayed by the process. Whether we finish first or last, all our efforts are merely...” Amy trailed off but continued her train of thought. The part of the journey students must undergo to become skilled mages.

While Seryel was reflecting on what she said, Amy observed Sirone’s ongoing struggle. I understand. I, too, would have wanted to try completing the course myself, but... This time, it seemed luck was not in his favor. No one in the advanced class has ever passed level ten of the Pathless Bridge. It’s only right to stop the test now. All she could do was hope Sirone would make it back alive.

Sirone was so completely absorbed in navigating the trap that he couldn’t hear Mark’s screams. It’s becoming more and more difficult.

Perhaps that was to be expected. Yet the intensity was such that it seemed as if a colossal serpent, not an inanimate object, was writhing before him.

I can’t predict its movements. As they penetrated its twisting path and life-like motions to surge forward by one hundred meters, Mark’s screams went quiet. He was foaming at the mouth, but Sirone had already dismissed him from his mind. Focusing entirely on one thing while being aware of the entire situation was akin to the isolation form of the Spirit Zone Quaternion.

The arguing professors and the fretting students had all fallen silent.

Alpheas narrowed his eyes. Danger tends to enhance abilities. However, everyone has their limits... Even so, how is he managing to persist? Most would find a moment for self-congratulation, yet there’s not even a whisper of it from him. He could see that Sirone was not propelled by mere ambition—it was an intrinsic sense of mission emanating from within. That’s why he remains unfettered...

His consciousness was fully dilated. Sirone might not be able to remember this moment, yet his body was resolutely moving ahead. Gradually, merging with the very essence of the air, he began to lose the sense of separation between himself and the surrounding environment.

Etala shivered as he observed Sirone. He’s calculating the route in a trance-like state. The density of his Spirit Zone must be close to 99.99 percent. Such a feat is possible only in a state of absolute detachment, even for the greatest masters.

As the youngest bishop of the Karsis Order, she understood that any looming traps probably seemed like an indistinguishable tangle to Sirone. However... Etala’s expression turned grave again. While one can perceive everything in such a state, technique is another matter. The next trap will be particularly challenging.

But Sirone had already perceived it. The gaps between the obstacles shrank severely, leaving scarcely a meter of space remaining. I need to dissect it even more.

Instead of reducing the ten-meter range of the conventional teleportation to a tenth, he intended to link ten short jumps consecutively. This technique surpassed the prowess expected at the Class Seven level, yet he permitted no trivial thoughts to cloud his focus.

Left-right pattern. Sirone simultaneously analyzed dozens of ring-shaped structures arranged in a double row. Left-right, left-left, right-left... As his reasoning reached its end, Sirone executed a series of rapid teleportations. He moved back and forth and didn’t pause to inspect the intricacies of the formation. His figure zigzagged as if he were rebounding off an invisible wall while slicing through the rings.

I’ve made it through. The only evidence supporting this fact was his continued consciousness.

As his vision cleared, he saw the rings of the up-and-down pattern closing in on him. Facing a challenge where moving directly forward offered no edge, Sirone’s reasoning took yet another audacious leap forward. If I divide it to the extreme... His body began to shine again, but now the bursting light bent as if it were performing a somersault.

The students’ jaws dropped at the feat.

“Did he just bend light?” Iruki stood up again, his eyes wide with excitement.

“The Rainbow Drop! He actually reached that level!”

The light moved as if it were riding a wave, which left most of the students dumbfounded. The Rainbow Drop was considered the pinnacle of teleportation that was taught only to specialists in the field.

“Wait. How is that possible? How can teleportation bend? Light only moves in a straight line!”

Iruki tapped a finger to his temple and explained, “It’s a simple principle. When you differentiate a circle, you get an infinite straight line. From there, he divided the teleportation gap to a thousandth.”

“A thousandth? How could someone even calculate that?”

“It’s not about calculation. It’s about feeling it through instinct. Still, it’s a difficult task. His capacity for action seems significantly greater than his scope of knowledge. In short, you could say he’s a genius with traits opposite to mine.”

The students turned their heads back to the bridge.

A genius? Who? Him? He’s only in Class Five, a student thought.

As the speed of the bridge increased to its maximum, the others couldn’t even clearly discern the structure’s shape, apart from Sirone, who had adapted to the pace.

There were only about thirty meters left to the finish line. Now, even the students were cheering, abandoning the usual formalities. For the first time in the history of the magic school, they hoped that someone from an advanced class would successfully cross the Pathless Bridge.

“Headmaster Mirhy! Over there!”

The professors’ faces turned pale. The iron bars twisted haphazardly, creating a three-dimensional structure, as if to thwart any chance of success.

“By the gods! It’s the Dragon’s Maze! This can’t be! What on earth is taking Professor Thad so long?” a professor shouted in dismay.

Sienna, wearing a stern expression, initiated teleportation. Thad! What are you doing?!

The Dragon’s Maze was a trap shaped like the face of a gigantic dragon that appeared just once at level ten. Once ensnared, there was no escape. To survive, one had to recall the entire process of the structure being formed and swiftly cast a spell.

Sirone bit his lip, analyzing the pattern. I need to circle around there, and...

“Ahhh! What is that?!” The moment Mark regained consciousness, he screamed, causing Sirone’s Spirit Zone to shake violently.

But there was no moment to spare as the Dragon’s Maze hurtled toward them at maximum speed with its mouth wide open.