The second floor of the 【Old Radiant City】 was as dim as ever. Twisted trees wove the area into a labyrinth. While such an environment was a significant challenge for most people, it was highly favored by mages who majored in life magic.
A life mage's power stemmed from vitality; the more lush the forest, the more inexhaustible their strength became.
Their perception could spread along the root systems to every inch of soil, and their attacks could land in any corner by utilizing the bodies of plants. In an environment like the second floor of the dungeon, an accomplished life mage was worth an entire adventuring team.
Irene was exactly that kind of mage.
She had vines for close combat, thorns for long-range attacks, pollen for crowd control, and a substitute for escaping. Her magic had virtually no blind spots. Her only shortcoming was that her mana consumed too quickly when maintaining continuous surveillance over an entire area.
And the Holy Maiden happened to make up for this shortfall.
The buff system, a branch classified under life magic, specialized in supportive magic such as mana regeneration, enhancement, purification, and blessings. The Holy Maiden, who specialized in the buff system, possessed an exceptionally rich repertoire of mana-regenerating spells. At the same time, she could apply various buffs to the plants Irene controlled. Together, their combination achieved an effect where one plus one was far greater than two.
This was also why the four girls—including Lorraine, who had originally been on good terms—split into two teams.
Irene and the Holy Maiden Celine formed one group, focusing heavily on cooperation. As for the young princess Nora and Lorraine, their skill sets were already complete enough on their own. Being together was more about looking out for each other—though, in truth, it was mostly Nora looking after Lorraine.
In this type of academy tournament, Lorraine's psionic magic was difficult to employ. If it were recognized, she would certainly be in big trouble. However, Lorraine rarely practiced any magic other than psionic and spatial magic, and it was too late to cram now. Consequently, she could only rely on her reasonably proficient Blink spell to flash around the battlefield, dealing minor harassment while the actual damage output was almost entirely left to Nora.
Although Lorraine was quite weak, she had absolutely no self-awareness of her own lack of skill. Before entering the dungeon, she had even made a bet with Celine to see whose group would get a higher score.
Lorraine's original plan had been to pull Erich in to carry them, but unfortunately, he had politely declined. Now, she was obediently following behind the young princess, handling the carcasses of magical beasts, drawing markers on the map, and occasionally being nagged by the young princess for being too slow.
Thus, the two teams operated in two different areas.
There was no way to keep track of time in the dungeon, so they relied entirely on their physical senses to estimate. Around evening, Irene and Celine arrived at a stream valley to rest.
Celine squatted by the stream to wash her hands, while Irene sat on an open patch of ground nearby. As she rested, she maintained her perception of the surroundings. Suddenly, Irene spoke up:
“There's something over there.”
“A magical beast?”
“A Treant,” Irene said, identifying the slowly moving silhouette. “It's wandering around our perimeter.”
Both Irene and Celine, who listened attentively in class, knew that Treants were friendly creatures. They had gentle temperaments, rarely attacked humans of their own accord, and would even guide lost adventurers. However, records also showed that once a Treant was angered, its combat power was terrifying. Therefore, the best strategy was to proactively greet it.
The two of them quickly found the Treant in the forest. Irene stepped forward, preparing to negotiate. She had learned a bit of the Treant language. Although she was far from fluent, she could still manage basic greetings and simple communication.
Irene spoke, producing a series of low, wood-rubbing syllables.
The Treant slowly opened the lines on its bark, letting out a rustling sound.
“It's asking if we are lost,” Irene turned her head and translated for Celine.
“Tell it we aren't lost. We're just exploring the dungeon and mapping it out.”
Irene continued to communicate with it in the Treant language. The Treant seemed to take an interest in the "mapping" part. Its trunk swayed slightly, and then it spoke a long series of words. After listening for a moment, Irene's expression turned into one of pleasant surprise.
“It says they are also helping someone draw a map. If we'd like, it can take us to their gathering place to take a look, and they can help us draw one as well.”
Celine raised an eyebrow. “Helping someone draw a map? Treants actually do that sort of thing?”
“It says a good friend commissioned them to draw it.” Irene was also quite curious. “Shall we go take a look?”
The two exchanged glances, both seeing the same interest in each other's eyes. Seeing that they agreed, the Treant led the way. Irene and Celine followed behind. After walking for about half an hour, the view ahead suddenly opened up.
The two girls and the Treant arrived at a river valley where the Treants gathered. After a brief exchange, the Treants handed over a wooden board covered in lines and markers.
Irene leaned in to look and gasped.
It was actually a map. Not only was it drawn in extreme detail, but its coverage was also staggering. From the entrance of the second floor to the habitats of various magical beasts, and even the rivers and other landmarks, everything was clearly marked with incisions of varying depths.
“How long did this take to draw?” Celine also walked over to look at the map, her eyes filled with admiration.
Irene asked in the Treant language, and the Treant that brought them spoke a series of words: “It didn't take very long. We united all the Treants and have already completed most of it. It's for a good friend.”
“Good friend?” Celine repeated the term.
Irene had also noticed. In the Treant language, the word for "good friend" was different from a normal friend.
In the Treant language, a friend was simply a friendly relationship, but a "good friend" was a much more solemn connection, carrying a bond that transcended species.
Irene turned back to the Treants and asked a few more questions.
“They say their good friend helped them drive away the bad spiders that occupied this territory, and even helped them clear out the giant spiders in the cave,” Irene translated the Treants' reply.
The Treants continued speaking, several of them competing to describe to Irene just how powerful their good friend was.
Irene frowned as she listened and translated: “They say their good friend's magic is extremely powerful, capable of burning down an entire cave.”
“Someone who can use magic of that caliber must be an adventurer from the outside,” Celine speculated.
Irene nodded as well. Indeed, the dungeon allowed outside adventurers to enter. It was not unusual for high-level adventurers who spent their years in the deeper floors to cast large-scale fire magic. As for the academy's students, even Erich, who was widely recognized as the strongest in the first-year class, couldn't possibly burn down an entire cave.
Yes, over the past few months, although Erich had rarely fought and many people still shunned him, no one dared to question his strength. He was almost universally acknowledged as the top student.
Looking at the map that the Treants treated like a treasure, Irene couldn't help but feel a lingering curiosity.
Who exactly was that good friend?
She asked the Treants this question, and the Treant replied, “We cannot tell you. Treants do not betray their good friends.”
While the answer left them both amused and exasperated, it also made them feel the Treants' simple loyalty. Irene did not press any further, instead asking, “Then can we go take a look at the cave where your good friend cast that magic?”
The Treant gestured in affirmation, its branches growing as they pointed toward a cave not far away.
Rate on N.U.
