My physics masters couldn't possibly be grand mages.

The crystal placed on the magic circle quickly disappeared, and under the light, the parchment, which was originally only one layer thick, began to unfold in all directions.

Layer upon layer, three-dimensional paper-cuts emerge, outlining the nearby tunnels, platforms, and mine chambers.

Char even saw his own name on it.

Is this a... map?

Char picked up the map and took a few steps toward the edge of the cave entrance; the names on it moved with him.

—And it's a map with real-time location tracking.

He recalled the Marauder's Map he had seen in Harry Potter before, and it seemed somewhat similar.

It seems quite reasonable that the miners inside would have such a map given the complexity of the mine.

Char manually flipped through the map.

He discovered that not only his name was marked, but also the names of the students who had entered the mine and some monsters.

What's the principle behind this?

Can the names of the students in the Tower of Truth also be displayed?

He noticed some names had exclamation marks above them, and there was a monster nearby marked "dangerous".

After a while, the name and exclamation mark disappeared, meaning they had probably been teleported away.

He didn't rush over there, but carefully looked to see if there was anything he had forgotten.

He moved the mining draft; there was indeed a magic circle on it, but the boundaries were not very clear, and placing the ether crystal on it wouldn't do any good.

Miner's lamps are even more common.

However, he did find a diary next to the skeleton.

The leather cover had blackened and brittle edges, as if it had been burned or soaked in some kind of bodily fluid and then dried.

Char picked it up and turned to the first page.

The handwriting was crooked and the ink had been dry for a long time, with some areas blurred by water stains.

"Mining team's 137th operation log: Seventh layer, everything normal."

I turned a few pages.

"March 23. The rock face started to turn red. Some people said it was rich ore, and the captain was very happy. But Old Hank said it wasn't ore, it was blood. The captain scolded him."

Turn it over again.

"March 24th. We heard a sound. The captain said it was the wind, but I felt it was like... someone talking."

"The captain said no one is allowed to mention it again."

The handwriting began to become illegible.

"March 26th. We dug through a wall, and behind it was an empty space. The wind was blowing out from inside, it was hot, like something alive breathing."

"Of the three who went down to scout, only one returned, but he seemed a bit disoriented."

"The deputy captain said he was terrified and locked him in the tool shed. The next morning, the tool shed door was broken open from the inside, he was gone, and there was blood on the floor."

Char paused for a moment.

He subconsciously glanced around the mine chamber.

The dark red veins meandered like blood vessels in the flashlight beam. The air was stuffy, but he suddenly felt cold.

He continued flipping through the pages.

"March 30th. The team leader said we should leave, but the mine owner wouldn't let us. He said there were still things down there, things that were very valuable."

"April 1st. Old Hank went mad. He cried and said that something down there was talking to him. It said his whole family was down there."

"His wife died three years ago, and he lost his child too."

"April 2nd. We tried to escape, but the map was faulty. We were traveling with a magician who said we were being watched..."

Char's fingers felt slightly cold.

He took a deep breath and turned to the next page.

The handwriting has changed.

It wasn't sloppy; the strokes were trembling, as if it were written under extreme fear.

"There's no mine down there."

"There's no mine down there."

"There's no mine down there."

I wrote the same line of text three times. Each time it was messier than the last, and by the last time it was almost unrecognizable.

"It's a door."

"It's a door."

"It's a door."

"Behind the door is—"

The writing ends here.

It wasn't that I couldn't write anymore, but a huge ink stain appeared on the notebook, like a pen had fallen on it, or like some liquid had dripped onto the paper.

It's dark red, not ink.

Xia stared at the mark for a few seconds.

He quickly realized that it wasn't ink.

is blood.

The bloodstains had seeped through several pages, and the ink had been completely covered, leaving only some faintly discernible letters.

"They...are looking at us from that side..."

"It's been... a long time..."

"They're hungry..."

There are no more words after that.

Char closed the notebook and put it into his storage space. Although his expression didn't change, his heart was beating faster than usual.

Since this place has been chosen as the examination venue, he believes that the Tower of Truth should have thoroughly investigated the situation here.

Even so, seeing these things still gives one the creeps.

However, he didn't continue thinking about it. Instead, he picked up the Marauder's Map and ran in a direction marked with an exclamation mark.

His ranking has been dropping, and there's not much time left.

The map marked the monsters' locations, so he didn't even have to worry about encountering some "landmine monsters".

So his speed increased considerably.

Five or six minutes later, a sound came from ahead.

Someone was screaming in terror; the voice came from around the corner of the tunnel, but it was impossible to make out what they were saying.

Xia quickened his pace, but he quietly turned off his flashlight and took out a lantern.

The flashlight was too bright and attracted too much attention.

If something goes wrong, it's best to slip away.

Soon, he saw the same lantern shining.

The four men, each with a family crest on their chest, belong to the Golden Family.

Xia guessed that these people probably had some alchemical tools that could pinpoint their locations.

Otherwise, it would be incredibly lucky for all four of them to huddle together at once.

One of them held a scepter as tall as a person, its tip shining brightly and illuminating the entire space.

This place is much larger than the void where Char was just now.

The four people stood in a semicircle.

And in the darkness opposite them, something was moving.

It wasn't the small, hurried steps of a mouse; its pace was slower, and it might not have been larger than a mouse, but rather it seemed to have more... patience?

The man holding the scepter threw the radiance into the depths of darkness.

The light illuminated everything along the way.

Then he saw the thing.

Or rather, those things...

It looks somewhat like a person.

Or perhaps... a goblin? A ghoul?

Some of them lay on the tunnel ceiling, while others crawled on the ground, completely naked, without a single hair, with only some remnants of cloth hanging on their bodies.

His skin was gray, his eyes looked like those of a cataract patient, and his slightly parted mouth revealed yellowed teeth.

They seemed very uncomfortable with the light and let out painful howls.

"Aaaaaah!!!"

Sharp, piercing, and equipped with sonic attacks, it exacerbated Char's already aching eardrums.

Then, one of them charged towards the four of them!

The tallest man raised his hand, and an invisible gas shot towards the monster, striking it precisely on the head.

The monster's initial momentum was slowed, and it fell to the ground before it could get up.

Among the four, a silver-haired woman drew her bow and shot an arrow through its head.

It's worth mentioning, however, that the arrow that pierced the thing's head was made of magic and quickly disappeared, leaving only a hideous bloody hole.

Char recognized the gas as a "magic missile," a second-tier patent that required payment.

Among spells with an attack range of only five or six meters, this is a rare second-tier spell that can reach tens of meters.

Sixty points.

And the student drawing the bow...

Xia observed the golden patterns on the bow he held, gleaming in the light, and the ancient, mysterious runes on it. He raised his head slightly.

Oh no, now I'm really going to have to accompany the young master in his studies...