“Understood.”
It seemed that Klein intended to leave the detailed explanation entirely to me.
“If that fence weren’t there, the goblins would be able to come this way freely.”
“That’s right.”
“But if I were a goblin, I wouldn’t just charge in head-on. Instead…”
I raised my hand and pointed at the stalagmites on the ground.
“I would use the terrain to hide my body. Then, I would time my ambush for when people pass by. Against students with no real combat experience, such an ambush would be highly effective.”
The surroundings stirred once more.
“That makes sense. But it wouldn’t be enough to wipe you all out. In fact, your resistance might be stronger than expected, and they could end up counterattacked.”
“Yes, that’s possible.”
After all, there might be skilled individuals like Cain or Senia among us.
“What would the goblins do in that case?”
“They would retreat immediately. Then, they would hide again and wait for another opportunity.”
This limestone cave had plenty of hiding spots.
Moreover, the area was incredibly dark, which gave the goblins—who had excellent night vision—a significant advantage.
“We would then be left stumbling around in the darkness, trying to locate the hidden goblins. And at that moment of vulnerability… the goblins would launch another ambush.”
“Experienced dungeon explorers might handle it differently, but new students wouldn’t be able to react properly.”
“Right. If this cycle keeps repeating… we would eventually be wiped out while running around in confusion.”
Even if there were strong fighters like Cain or Senia, they wouldn’t stand a chance if they ended up surrounded by dozens of goblins after all their allies had fallen.
In the end… total annihilation.
“Exactly. You would lose this game of hide-and-seek with the goblins and be wiped out.”
Gasps of realization spread throughout the group.
The other students had finally caught on.
“That was an excellent answer, Eriol Valencia.”
“I didn’t come up with it myself. I read it in a book.”
“Is that so? Regardless, your explanation was well done.”
Klein nodded with a smile.
“As Eriol pointed out, dungeon exploration often boils down to a deadly game of hide-and-seek. Monsters are constantly waiting for an opportunity to hunt you down. But unlike you, they are seasoned veterans of this survival game, having honed their skills through relentless competition within the dungeon.”
“…….”
“On the other hand, what about us? We are weak magicians who spend most of our time cooped up indoors, reading books. Even if we’ve entered dungeons multiple times and gained experience, we can’t compare to monsters that have fought for survival twenty-four hours a day.”
That was true.
It was impossible for ordinary magicians to match a monster’s instincts.
However…
“But, we are magicians.”
As Klein said this, he lifted a single finger.
In an instant, the pitch-dark surroundings became as bright as daylight.
“No matter how well monsters hide, the right magic can reveal them all.”
“Wow…!”
“I lit up the surroundings like this so you can see for yourselves. But in actual combat, we wouldn’t need to go this far. There are countless spells to detect enemies without simply lighting up the area.”
Klein then pointed toward the iron fence.
“I already know that over a dozen goblins are holding their breath and observing us from beyond that fence. Of course, they have no idea that I’m aware of their presence.”
“……!”
The students flinched.
Even though they couldn’t see them, the mere knowledge that goblins were lurking nearby made them nervous.
“There’s no need to be afraid. The goblins cannot cross this fence.”
“B-But, Professor! The fence isn’t perfect, is it?”
“Of course not. That’s why I reinforced it with magic. Even if the goblins bash it thousands of times, it won’t get a single scratch.”
“Ooooh…!”
Murmurs of admiration spread through the students.
Klein chuckled at their reaction.
“You’re all much more engaged than in class. No one’s dozing off like usual.”
“Aha-ha…”
That was only natural.
Many of these students had been captivated by adventure novels, developing a deep fascination with underground dungeons.
Even those who hadn’t been particularly interested couldn’t help but feel excited once they were actually inside one.
“As humans, we are always beginners in a dungeon. To the veteran monsters who have lived here their entire lives, we look like easy prey. But with the right use of magic, the tables can turn—we can become the hunters instead. Understood?”
“Yes!”
“If you want to learn more, feel free to visit the Transcendental Department. The top students in the advanced class will be happy to assist you.”
Klein’s sly remark made the teaching assistants smile wryly.
“Alright, let’s move on to the next area—”
“Professor.”
At that moment, I raised my hand.
“May I say something?”
“Hm? Do you have a question?”
“No, it’s not that…”
I pointed toward the iron fence where the goblins were supposedly hiding.
“There seems to be a problem with the fence. It would be best to check it immediately.”
“What?”
Klein’s face stiffened in surprise.
A problem with the fence?
Hearing those words, Klein felt a slight irritation.
The facilities in this area had been installed by the Transcendental Department.
Eriol’s remark was, in a way, an insult to the department.
“I don’t understand what you mean, Eriol Valencia.”
Suppressing his displeasure, Klein spoke in a calm voice.
“As I mentioned earlier, that fence has been magically reinforced. Even if something with ten times a goblin’s strength were to strike it, it wouldn’t get a scratch. We inspect it every year.”
This was Eriol Valencia he was speaking to.
He had to remain diplomatic.
“So, what exactly is the problem?”
“It looks like it’s rusting.”
“Rust? Did you say rust?”
Klein was dumbfounded.
“Eriol, that is simply impossible.”
“Is that so?”
“This area has high humidity, so we took anti-corrosion measures when constructing the fence. We used materials developed by the Department of our academy specifically to prevent rust. That fence rusting is out of the question.”
“With all due respect, Professor, I don’t think you should say ‘impossible’ so easily.”
“What?”
“I’d appreciate it if you could check for yourself.”
“…….”
If any other student had said this, Klein would have dismissed it as nonsense.
But this was Eriol Valencia.
He was a student Klein desperately wanted to recruit. Ignoring him outright wasn’t an option.
Besides…
‘This kid wouldn’t say something like this without a reason.’
Eriol had already demonstrated remarkable talent.
That was enough to make Klein reconsider.
“Fine. Let’s take a look.”
Leaving the students in the care of the assistants, Klein used a levitation spell to glide over the water puddles and approach the fence.
‘At first glance, it looks perfectly fine…’
But relying solely on his eyes would be amateurish.
Klein activated a detection spell and carefully examined the fence.
‘The anti-corrosion magic is still intact. There’s no way rust could form.’
No matter how closely he looked, he saw no signs of damage.
Had Eriol been mistaken?
Feeling a slight sense of disappointment, Klein was about to deactivate his spell—
“……?!”
But at that moment—
He felt something was off.
The fence was anchored securely to the wall and ground with bolts, ensuring no movement.
However, the anchor bolts on the right-hand wall… had no trace of anti-corrosion magic.
‘No way…!’
In that instant, Klein realized everything.
Klein, after examining the iron fence for about three minutes, used a floating spell to return to our side.
Then, without hesitation, he called for an assistant instructor.
“You, go to the production department and bring Assistant Professor Hatteon.”
“Huh?”
“Hurry!”
“O-okay!”
The assistant instructor rushed back the way he had come.
The students, startled, widened their eyes.
“Eriol, you were right.”
Klein ran a hand through his blond hair and let out a long sigh.
“The anchor bolts weren’t coated with an anti-corrosion spell. It looks like defective parts were mixed into the shipment from the production department.”
“I see.”
“Moisture has already seeped in, and rust has formed considerably. If multiple goblins were to hang on and pull, the corroded sections could break and destroy the fence.”
“If the goblins had broken through the fence while no one was around, it would have been dangerous.”
“Exactly. Thanks to you, we prevented an accident in advance.”
Hearing our conversation, the surrounding students murmured in surprise.
“So Eriol was right?”
“How did he even know that?”
“That’s seriously impressive.”
As if voicing the collective curiosity, Klein turned to me and asked,
“Eriol, how did you realize the anti-corrosion spell wasn’t applied?”
“I didn’t know that specifically.”
“What?”
I couldn’t possibly determine whether an anti-corrosion spell had been applied or not.
I didn’t even fully understand how the spell worked in the first place.
“I just sensed the density of elements.”
“The density of elements?”
“Yes, I noticed that the water element seemed to be concentrated in specific areas of the fence.”
“……!”
Klein swallowed hard.
“The rest of the fence barely had any trace of water elements, but around the section anchored to the right wall, I could sense a strong presence of water. The other elements also seemed to be reacting strangely in that area.”
“You could sense that?”
“Yes, though only faintly.”
In reality, it wasn’t just a vague feeling—I had seen it with my own eyes.
The rest of the fence, likely due to the anti-corrosion spell, repelled the water element almost entirely.
However, the section anchored to the right wall had a noticeable concentration of water elements clinging to it.
The other elements also displayed peculiar reactions exclusively in that area, leading me to infer that the corrosion was progressing due to the accumulation of water elements.
“So I thought… maybe that specific part was rusting because something was wrong.”
“Wait a second……”
Klein looked at me in disbelief.
“You could detect the density of water elements in such detail? From that far away?”
“Yes.”
“That’s… hard to believe.”
Muttering to himself, Klein clutched his forehead.
“Could it be that you have an exceptional talent for elemental magic? I did hear about that enormous fireball you created in the elemental studies practical, but at this level… The Elemental Department would…”
“Professor?”
“A-ah, never mind.”
Klein cleared his throat and looked me straight in the eyes.
“In any case, thank you, Eriol. Thanks to your keen perception, we prevented a serious accident.”
“It was nothing, Professor.”
“No, you’re truly… an outstanding student.”
For some reason, Klein’s gaze was burning with enthusiasm.
“Thank you all for your hard work. We’ll be holding more field experiences like this in the future, so I hope for your continued participation.”
“Thank you!”
After inspecting not just the limestone cave section but other areas as well, we finally exited Labyrinthos as evening approached.
“Today was really fun.”
Beside me, Cain stretched with a satisfied sigh.
“I can’t believe there’s such an open field beyond the limestone caves. That was amazing.”
“I thought the lava zone was fascinating, even though we only got a brief look at it.”
“I wish we could’ve explored longer.”
Cain and Senia seemed completely captivated by the sights within the dungeon.
“It was great seeing so many different types of monsters, too.”
“Though we couldn’t get too close. Ah, I really want to fight a monster soon. Should I just sneak in on my own?”
“No way, Cain! You’ll get punished if you enter without permission.”
“Hmm… Well, that’s true.”
“Besides, we’re not even prepared yet. We should at least learn more magic before going in.”
As I listened to their conversation, I fell into deep thought.
‘Fighting monsters, huh…’
Cain and Senia had already trained in martial arts, so they could probably handle a few goblins even without magic.
But in my case… If goblins ambushed me, I’d be defenseless.
‘If I could read the flow of elements, I might be able to sense an ambush—but I have no means to fight back.’
Then, an idea struck me.
‘Wait a minute, why don’t I just practice offensive magic?’
After all, I had already succeeded in creating a fireball during practical training.
And not just any fireball… a massive one.
“Eriol Valencia.”
As the students were dispersing, Klein approached me.
“I wanted to personally thank you for pointing out the corrosion on the fence as a professor of the Heritage Studies Department.”
“Oh, it was nothing.”
I tried to decline, but Klein shook his head.
“No, I can’t let this go unrewarded. A mage should always receive proper recognition for their achievements, even a student.”
“……”
In that case, he could just give me a book voucher or something.
“Then, Eriol, since it’s dinner time, why don’t we have a meal together? We can discuss your future academic path as well…”
Just as Klein placed a firm hand on my shoulder, making it clear he wouldn’t take no for an answer—
A strange sound interrupted us.
“What’s that?”
“That’s not a carriage… Oh!”
A deep rumbling noise echoed as a four-wheeled vehicle approached.
It was a magical four-wheeled carriage developed by the Production Department.
“Professor Kaisel…!”
All eyes turned to the handsome man at the dungeon’s entrance, sitting behind the wheel of the sleek black vehicle.
Slowing down, Kaisel stopped the carriage right in front of us.
Then, locking eyes with me, he said—
“Get in.”
