SRS 88

At the exit, unfamiliar figures were huddled together. As the distance closed and their appearances came into clearer view, Yohan lowered his body along the surface of the waves and opened his mouth.

“Could you set us down a little away from the exit so they won’t mistake us for attackers?”

Blub blub. The spirit laughed as it released bubbles and lowered the waves it controlled. The current shifted from a violent tidal surge to an ordinary wave, then to gentle ripples. As the intensity decreased, Yohan and his friends naturally slowed their movement and were able to reach the land near the exit.

When they safely stepped down from the flattened wave and set foot on solid ground, the people who had been waiting there turned their gazes toward Yohan’s group, even though there was still a fair amount of distance between them, just enough to barely make out each other’s faces.

“……”

Cold auras pricked at their bodies. Yohan and his friends instinctively pressed close together, taking a formation as they faced those standing by the exit.

Yohan examined their clothing.

Judging by the uniforms, they were students from the same school. The gemstones embedded in their cravats were different colors, which suggested students from multiple years. After exchanging glances with his friends, Yohan first disarmed completely and then cautiously approached them.

“It’s an honor to meet you, seniors.”

When Yohan’s group greeted them with proper courtesy, the upperclassmen lowered their voices and whispered among themselves.

“What is it, first-years?”

“Hey, check again. How would first-years make it all the way here? Aren’t they professors in disguise?”

“Right. What kind of first-years reach the exit already?”

“When I was a first-year, I couldn’t find the exit and was stuck here for four months.”

Hearing their suspicions, Yohan waved his hands with a flustered expression.

“Disguised professors? That’s not the case. We really are first-years. We came near the training grounds after hearing news about the guard unit, and we just happened to get caught up with a professor and suffered for it.”

“It’s true. We only managed to reach this place thanks to a spirit’s help.”

Suhyeok gestured with both hands toward the water spirit as he insisted on their innocence. The students, who still hadn’t fully let go of their doubt, looked in one direction.

“That’s what they say. What do you think, Hale? Should we believe them?”

Those wearing differently colored gemstones all turned their eyes toward the person called Hale. He seemed to be the one with the highest authority in the group.

When Yohan bowed politely to him once more, Hale sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“If they’re saying that themselves, it’s probably true. The Phantom Sword Master isn’t someone who lies. What matters right now isn’t who they are. It’s how we get out of here.”

Speaking as if it were a real headache, he muttered while looking at the tightly shut iron door.

“…Excuse me, but I’d like to join the conversation for a moment. What do you mean by how to get out? Haven’t we already arrived?”

Suhyeok asked in confusion. Fortunately, the seniors didn’t seem particularly offended by a junior butting in.

One of the seniors put a hand on his waist and shook his head.

It’s exactly what he stated. The exit is here, but you must open the door in order to get out. It’s useless because the door won’t open. It doesn’t help even if you locate the exit.

“What do you mean….”

Suhyeok was dejected, and Yohan suppressed his own feeling of confusion. They had even crossed a waterfall and made a contract with a spirit before encountering yet another challenge.

“May I try opening the door once?”

“Do as you like.”

The seniors stepped back one by one and cleared the way. Yohan moved along the opened path with his friends and stopped in front of the massive iron door.

Yohan reached out first and pushed against it, but it didn’t budge.

“…Is it acceptable to use divine power or magic here?”

“You’ve already passed the zone that restricts special abilities, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Then please excuse me.”

After asking permission once more, Yohan unleashed his divine power. When he used 3 tenths of it into a single strike, dazzling light burst forth and the iron door shook.

“……”

But that was all.

The iron door, which had rattled and trembled as if it might break at any moment, soon let all the force bleed away and stood firm again, exactly as before.

“…ah.”

As Yohan bit his lip, Suhyeok stepped forward and tried pushing the door himself. The student even used wires in his attempt to open it, but the result was the same.

Kylus’s attempt ended the same way. Mikael’s did as well.

When the four first-years all failed together, laughter broke out among the seniors.

“If we couldn’t do it, there’s no way you could.”

“If you’d managed it, I honestly would’ve felt cheated.”

The seniors, who had given the first-years a chance to try, approached the door again and began pounding on it.

Yohan was startled as he watched a senior with a smaller build than his own strike the door. With such a small body, and with what looked like light blows, a thunderous noise rang out, as if the door might shatter.

They’re monsters….

Yohan once again took in the faces of the seniors gathered here.

Being upperclassmen of Fantasiademia meant they were people who had repeated the past month of trials Yohan’s group experienced at least ten times over.

They must have crossed countless ordeals. Each of them was undoubtedly strong.

And yet, even with all of them together, they couldn’t open a single door.

Then what on earth did it take to open this door?

While Yohan was lost in thought, the upperclassmen continued taking turns trying to open the exit.

Some used overwhelming physical strength. Others unleashed magic with absurd levels of power. One even used an artifact so extraordinary it could fairly be called cheating.

And yet they all failed, one after another.

In the end, after everyone had experienced more than thirty failed attempts, something happened.

“…Huh? It looks like the pattern on the door is changing.”

Suhyeok, who had been staring intently at the door, tilted his head and murmured in a doubtful tone.

“The pattern changed?”

“Did it?”

“Hm… it doesn’t really look different to me.”

The seniors stared at the door in confusion. Yohan also examined it carefully.

Just as the seniors said, the pattern didn’t seem dramatically different from when he’d first seen it.

The engravings on the door were irregular and complex to begin with, so it was hard to tell whether a few additional strokes had been added.

It was also difficult to tell whether those marks were damage caused by the attacks or newly formed changes in the pattern itself.

“Kylus.”

As everyone was puzzled, Suhyeok called out to his close friend. Kylus drew his sword as if he had been waiting for that and stepped in front of the door.

“Do you want me to strike it with full force?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll try.”

Kylus took a breath, gathered energy at the tip of his blade, then brought down his sword, now sheathed in a golden aura, with full force.

Clang!

The blade slashed down against the iron door.

Just like before, nothing happened.

However.

“……!”

“Oh, it really is changing.”

“Only a little, but it’s changing.”

Just as Suhyeok said, the pattern on the iron door warped slightly overall. It wasn’t simply changing due to external force. The pattern was shifting as if it possessed a will of its own.

The change was extremely subtle, but those who had memorized the previous pattern could tell.

As everyone noticed the unexpected change and murmured in amazement, Kylus sheathed his sword and stared at the altered pattern.

A moment later, he took a step closer to the iron door, reached out, traced the changed engravings with his hand, and closed his eyes. When Yohan tried to call out to him, Suhyeok caught his shoulder.

“Shh.”

With his index finger pressed to his lips, Suhyeok signaled for silence. Yohan stopped where he was.

How much time passed like that?

Even the seniors, curious about what Kylus was trying to do, waited quietly for well over 30 minutes. Then the student, who had kept his eyes closed the whole time, opened his red eyes and turned back.

“…It’s a sword path. But it’s incomplete. It seems the structure is that you have to keep hitting the door until a complete sword path emerges, reconstruct the pattern, and then perform sword techniques according to the formulas of that sword path to open the door.”

“What?”

This was an escape method no one had anticipated. Of all things, it was swordsmanship. As Yohan grew dejected, the spirit and Mikael moved to comfort him.

The seniors dusted themselves off and stood up.

“Hm… a sword path?”

“Do you think he’s right?”

“I can’t be sure, but it’s possible. That’s the Phantom Sword Master we’re talking about. A professor obsessed with swords.”

They whispered among themselves for a moment, then shrugged off their cloaks and stepped toward the iron door.

The person called Hale tied his wave like hair into a single strand and knocked his fists together.

“I hope you’re right, junior. Unfortunately, none of us have properly trained in swordsmanship. We’re all magic, alchemy, taming, or hand to hand combat types. So we’ll handle the door. You analyze the sword path and perform the techniques.”

“…Understood.”

“Good. Then…!”

Hale took a deep breath, he cracked his shoulder, then hurled his fist toward the iron door.

A terrifying shockwave rode on the bandaged fist, and the vibration slammed into the iron door.

Clang!

The iron door shook, and the pattern changed.

“Not yet.”

At Kylus’s words, another senior stepped forward and attacked the door.

“Not yet.”

“Still not yet.”

“Not yet.”

“…Just a little more should do it.”

Clang, clang, clang.

Overwhelming force pounded against the iron door in succession. At this point, Yohan couldn’t tell whether the door was extraordinary or the seniors were.

“…Now it’s ready.”

“……!”

Finally, the words everyone had been waiting for came from Kylus’s mouth.

The seniors cheered and retreated, and Kylus took their place.

“But who is that student? How does he know so much about swordsmanship?”

Hearing the seniors whisper as they looked at Kylus, who had closed his eyes again to focus before performing his techniques, Yohan answered carefully to clear up their confusion.

“…Kylus is from the Swordsmanship Department, and he often receives instruction from the Phantom Sword Master.”

“…….”

The seniors’ faces lost all of their colour at that explanation.