Magic was a field of study that was better understood by those who were knowledgeable about it.

Mages like Dolgyu and Anglago, who had no interest in dark magic, were not well-versed in it, but Raphael, who was learning dark magic alongside Yi-Han, could sense just how absurd what Yi-Han had done was.

Even if it was a lower circle magic, summoning that many bone restraints, summoning bone hands, and controlling them all simultaneously was unbelievable.

Bone magic was a type of elemental magic, and as Yi-Han excelled in elemental control, it was only natural for him to be proficient in it, but...

This was truly an impossible feat.

Just how much mana and talent did one need to make this possible?

"Raphael. What are you doing? Aren't you coming in?"

"..."

"Hey, hey! What are you doing?"

"You, you're telling me you don't have any thoughts after seeing this?"

Raphael asked Anglago.

Anglago replied as if asking what he was talking about.

"Wardanaz has always been good at magic."

"..."

'This stupid bastard!'

Seeing his friends, who didn't know dark magic and couldn't recognize how amazing this was, Raphael beat his chest.

Just how incredible was this...!

"Mage, sir. How are we supposed to fight like this?"

One of the mercenaries spoke to Yi-Han, sobbing.

It was an attempt to somehow break free from the restraints by appealing to his sympathy.

"Even in that state, you should be able to fight the ghouls just fine, right?"

"If an unexpected situation arises... The cave is dark and the terrain is complex, so we don't know what might happen."

"Don't worry. The darkness won't be an issue since I'll cast light. As for the complex terrain, Sharakan will go in first and scout it out. There won't be any surprise attacks, so maintain your formation and fight well."

"..."

The captured mercenary thought to himself.

Mages were truly a detestable bunch to deal with!

"Then we'll head in now."

"Wait. I'll cast the Agile Steps spell on you."

"Oh...!"

The two adventurers, who had only heard about the mage's enhancement magic, were delighted to experience it firsthand.

Yi-Han cast <Gonadaltes' Agile Steps>. The two adventurers shuddered at the power welling up deep within their bodies.

'This is enhancement magic...!'

'I can see why they try to include an enhancement mage in the party no matter what!'

"Now, let's go in."

"Wait. I'll also cast a spatial perception spell on you."

"Ah... Thank you."

As the <Spatial Perception> spell was cast, the two adventurers felt their sense of distance become very sharp and precise.

'This is enhancement magic...!'

'An enhancement mage, no matter what...'

"Alright, let's go in!"

"Wait. I'll also cast the Sharp Hand spell on you."

"..."

"Tha... Thank you."

The two adventurers were slowly getting flustered.

A mage's mana wasn't infinite, so was this really okay?

It was great, but was it really alright to do this??

'Is this normal for someone from Einroguard?'

"Okay. I've cast everything, so let's go in now. Forward."

Yi-Han tightened his grip on the bone hand that was choking Buldahak's neck. Buldahak made a choking sound as he walked forward.

-Grrrrr.-

Sharakan, having smelled the ghouls inside, let out a sharp cry.

"Stop for a moment."

Yi-Han once again tightened his grip on the bone hand choking Buldahak's neck.

Buldahak gritted his teeth and said,

"I can understand if you just tell me..."

"Light, appear!"

As a sphere of light with strong luminosity appeared at the entrance of the cave, the ghouls that had settled near the entrance began to crawl out, making terrible noises.

They felt a strong aversion to the light and were trying to deal with the mage who had summoned it.

-... -

--

"Block them!"

The mercenaries were more desperate than ever.

Normally, they would have loosely maintained their formation and moved freely to fight, but in the current situation where they were all forcibly bound together, they couldn't do that.

They maintained a tight formation, shoulder to shoulder, and stabbed the ghouls to knock them down.

Dolgyu couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

"I didn't know mercenaries could fight with such coordination. It reminds me of the soldiers from noble families."

"...Dolgyu. Don't you see the bones attached to their necks, wrists, and ankles?"

"Inside! Sharakan, keep scouting out the enemies!"

Yi-Han pushed Buldahak and the mercenaries to the very front, and he followed behind them with his friends, maintaining their formation as they entered.

The cave was wide enough for over a dozen people to pass through comfortably. Yi-Han once again cast a sphere of light.

-! !-

The cave, which had become as bright as broad daylight.

The ghouls, properly stimulated, charged out once more.

The mercenaries shouted and desperately swung their weapons.

A ghoul hit by a mace fell forward, and another ghoul slashed by a thick single-edged sword tumbled.

Yi-Han levitated a water orb and launched it according to the signals sent by Sharakan. Ghouls that had been hiding behind walls or rocks angrily leaped out.

"Protect Wardanaz!"

As the cave was so wide and the ghouls were rushing in from all directions, some of them managed to break through the mercenaries' formation and reach the back.

The White Tiger Tower students knocked down the ghouls with swords and shields.

Raphael's performance was particularly active.

"Where do you think you're charging, you ghouls? Return to the land of the dead! How dare you!"

"Raphael. You don't need to go that far. Wardanaz will be fine."

Anglago was slightly taken aback by his friend's overly enthusiastic behavior.

Even if he was worried about Wardanaz, wasn't this too much? It wasn't like Wardanaz would be defeated by one or two ghouls.

"What? No! What nonsense are you spouting?! Choi, you explain it to him instead!"

"Uh... Thank you for worrying about Wardanaz, Raphael."

"..."

Raphael lamented the sight of his foolish friends who didn't know dark magic.

'It's so frustrating to move together with those who don't know dark magic!'

In the meantime, the horde of ghouls that had rushed in were all defeated. The mercenaries lowered their weapons, panting heavily. Fighting while forcibly bound made them feel several times more exhausted than usual.

"Da-"

As one of the mercenaries tried to turn his head, Yi-Han reflexively launched a water orb and tightened his grip on the bone hand.

"Guh-guh-guh."

"Ah, you crazy bastard!"

"Why are you falling over!"

The other mercenaries, who were also bound together, staggered and lost their temper as their comrade fell over.

"Ah, sorry about that. You shouldn't have turned your head then. Why did you do that?"

"Rest, rest..."

"Okay, rest then."

"Perhaps something to drink too..."

"You crazy bastard, can't you read the room?"

The mercenary next to him whispered in horror.

They were caught while trying to ambush others with a bounty on their heads, and now he was asking for something to drink?

If he didn't want to be dissected before reaching the city, he should just keep his mouth shut. There just had to be such a tactless guy.

The kind of guy who immediately tries to take advantage when the other party shows a little leniency!

It wouldn't matter if he died alone, but the problem was that he would drag others down with him. The mercenary lamented the fact that such a dimwit was part of their group.

"Water?"

Yi-Han summoned water and poured it over the mercenaries. The mercenaries let out screams of joy at the cold, life-giving water that washed away their sweat, blood, and heat.

"Thank you!"

"Thank you, Mage, sir!"

"Do you want more to drink?"

"Just a little more..."

"Hey, you crazy bastard!"

The other mercenaries were horrified, but Yi-Han showed no particular reaction. He summoned another mass of water and poured it over the mercenaries.

Buldahak inwardly cursed at the sight of the mercenaries immediately giving in.

It was said that mercenaries were drawn to silver coins and fell for gold coins, but seeing it happen right in front of his eyes made his stomach churn. It was utterly infuriating.

"Let's move again."

The group moved again, just as they had done before.

Sharakan would scout the path first, then Yi-Han would cast a sphere of light, and the mercenaries would deal with the rushing ghouls.

Of course, things didn't always go smoothly.

"The path is blocked!"

"We took the wrong fork. Let's go back."

The cave was wide, and the terrain inside was more complex than expected. If they took the wrong path, they had to go back the way they came.

As they emerged from the path, Gubon said,

"It would be best to leave a mark at the entrance so we don't go in again."

"Is that so? Light, appear!"

Seeing Yi-Han cast a sphere of light at the entrance they had mistakenly entered, Gubon was taken aback.

"You can just use chalk to mark the wall, not magic."

"It could be erased, and doing it this way makes it easier to see from a distance, doesn't it?"

"But your mana... Are you sure you're okay..."

"I'm fine."

'It doesn't seem fine.'

Gubon and Bijidek were in a dilemma.

No matter how they looked at it, it didn't seem fine, but Yi-Han's other friends were acting as if it was truly alright.

Was it because they didn't know magic??

'Even so, it seems like he's wasting too much mana...'

-Grrrrrrrr!-

"!"

Sharakan roared and rolled on the ground as if telling them to look this way.

Thanks to the sphere of light floating in the air, Bijidek could see clearly and shouted,

"It's a trap! Everyone, stop!"

"Is it a pressure-activated trap?"

"That's right."

The mercenaries murmured among themselves.

Normally, encountering traps in caves or dungeons was a very dangerous sign.

Ghouls, who lacked intelligence and charged in recklessly, could be dealt with without much trouble as long as they weren't unlucky, but traps hidden in the dark, dusty depths were difficult for even skilled adventurers to avoid.

However, the situation was a bit different now.

Some crazy mage was making the inside of the cave as bright as broad daylight...

...And above all, the presence of traps also meant a high possibility of treasures.

After all, there wouldn't be traps in a place with nothing.

"Could this really be..."

"Shh. Gubon. Now's not the time to say that."

Bijidek said, rolling up his sleeves.

This was the moment for Bijidek's abilities to shine when traps appeared.

"Perhaps?"

"Yes. I learned the skills from a thief once."

Bijidek spoke, glancing around slightly.

When conquering ancient ruins or dungeons, having a trap disarming specialist like this was essential, but the peoples perception of these specialists wasn't very positive.

That's because these specialists were usually former thieves!

Even if the specialist claimed, "I've washed my hands of it," "I don't steal anymore," or "I was a righteous thief," from the perspective of the other party members, it was hard to trust whether that specialist would pick the lock of the ruins or the lock of their own backpack.

So even those from thieves' guilds would often say they "happened to learn the skills" rather than admitting they were from a guild.

"Oh, I've also learned skills from a thief before."

"Yes. Yes... Yes????"

Bijidek couldn't believe his ears at Yi-Han's words.

What did he just say?

"What did you say?"

"I said I've learned skills from a thief before."

"Are you joking? How is that... possible?"

Yi-Han asked back, as if he found it absurd.

"Bijidek, you learned skills from a thief, so why is it impossible for me?"

"Well... uh... that's true, but..."

"Right? Then let's disarm it together."

"..."

Bijidek walked alongside Yi-Han, feeling somewhat entranced.

Thanks to the various enhancement spells cast on him, his senses were sharpened, making it even easier to disarm the trap.

"It seems to be a pressure-activated mechanism. Am I right?"

"That's, that's right. How did you..."

"Shall we dig in from the side and disable the mechanism below? Or should we just trigger the trap?"

"It would be safer to disable it. I have the equipment, so I'll dig in from the side..."

"Dig it out."

As a pit instantly appeared, Bijidek quietly thought to himself,

'When I return to the city, I should save up some money and try learning magic...'