The Academy Regressor is Obsessed

“Waaaaaah!!”
“Kyaaaah!”

Selene and Saya screamed as they fell downwards. Asel reflexively spread wings of flame on his back, but when he saw Roger staring at him with wide eyes beyond the pit, he smiled bitterly.

Although the situation was strange, logically thinking, they wouldn’t do something life-threatening just for a club initiation ceremony. There’s no way such a dangerous place would be created inside the Academy.

So regardless of the grandiose name “Simplified Labyrinth,” the area below this pit was likely not that dangerous. It was probably something like a training ground created by the Academy to produce special conditions or environments.

‘If it’s a simplified labyrinth, I wonder if the environment is similar to a real labyrinth.’

Asel thought quietly as he retracted his wings and began falling like the other two.

Asel had heard a lot about labyrinths.

A bizarre ecosystem that formed above the underground where the Primordial Demon was sealed. A land of death divided into layers like floors, with bizarre creatures and natural environments appearing as you go deeper.

A place of the unknown where no law protects people in that dark underground, and one must explore relying only on their own strength and luck.

Currently, it was a place strictly forbidden to ordinary people. Even for magic users, it’s impossible to go below certain floors without sufficient skill level.

If you belong to a guild, the story changes a bit, but in any case, the labyrinth is a place that’s easy to enter but extremely difficult to leave. Although the Hargelin family periodically deals with monsters that crawl out of the labyrinth, even they don’t explore the labyrinth itself very often.

People die like crazy every time they do, so it can’t be helped from their perspective. But they can’t entrust lower floor exploration to labyrinth explorers either as it’s too risky, so they take on the task themselves with the kingdom’s support.

‘A place as dangerous and insane as the Demon Realm. But I heard the 1st and 2nd floors aren’t that dangerous.’

I wonder how much of the real labyrinth this simplified labyrinth has recreated.

Asel curled up the corners of his mouth in anticipation and surrendered his body to gravity.

Then at some point, snap.

He felt his consciousness cut off and his eyes suddenly opened wide. As soon as he came to his senses, he sprang up and looked around.

“Ugh… my head…”
“Urgh…”

Overall, it was a place similar to a cave. The ceiling was low, and the soft muttering voices of the two people echoed through the round space. It gave the synesthetic illusion of being inside a huge cylinder. Asel narrowed his eyes as he stomped on the hard floor a few times.

‘My consciousness flew away for a moment. Why?’

He had intended to use floating magic just before landing on the floor, but his mind went blank before he could. Then when he regained consciousness, he was rolling on the labyrinth floor in perfect condition. Without a single injury.

It was ambiguous to say it was thanks to… the shield. Although the shield somewhat offsets physical impacts, it doesn’t completely nullify them. If he had fallen at the end of the floating sensation he felt earlier, it would be normal for at least part of the shield to be broken. But the layered shields were in their original state.

Moreover, no matter how much shielding there was, it couldn’t have protected his whole body from such a fall. Normally, some part, be it arms, legs, or internal organs, should have been crushed. But there was nothing like that.

“…Hmm.”

A quite bizarre method of entry. Perhaps one of the conditions for entering the simplified labyrinth is to lose consciousness while falling. If a formula was applied inside the falling pit for that purpose, and we were forcibly transferred…

‘That doesn’t make sense.’

Asel shook his head, denying the hypothesis that had suddenly occurred to him.

If he had lost consciousness due to a formula, he should have definitely noticed the presence of the formula beforehand. Even if he had been careless, there’s no way he wouldn’t have sensed a trace of magical power within his range of perception.

Therefore, it was reasonable to think that something other than magic or other techniques was at work.

If it was the result of an ability granted at the racial level, even Asel wouldn’t be able to notice it in advance unless he saw it with his own eyes. So if he had to guess, that possibility was the highest.

“Asel, are you okay? Aren’t you dizzy?”

Just as he was thinking that, Selene, who had been lying face down on the floor, asked, having gotten up at some point. Asel put aside his thoughts for now and answered while patting her back.

“I’m fine. How about you?”
“It’s awful… My head is spinning…”
“It’s probably a side effect from losing consciousness and then regaining it. Let’s rest for a while before moving.”
“Okay…”

Selene mumbled as she leaned her body against Asel’s shoulder. Asel carefully sat her against the wall, and brought Saya, who was also complaining of dizziness, to sit next to her. Asel laid out all sorts of magic around them as a precaution and sat leaning against the wall.

How much time passed like that?

“They called it a simplified labyrinth, right…”

Selene, who had somewhat regained her senses, muttered while tapping her head.

“Why is something like that in the Academy? And in the library at that?”
“Who knows. It’s probably the creator’s whim.”
“Who created it?”
“At least not the Chancellor. The magical power I’m sensing is too murky to be an elf’s.”

Elves inherently possess a pure aura as pristine as their purity. But now, the energy filling this space was too impure to be called elven.

But that doesn’t mean it was dirty. It’s murky “for an elf,” but by the standards of an ordinary magician, the magical power filling the surroundings was quite high in purity and cleanliness.

Magical power that seemed like it would disappear at any moment, yet clearly perceptible to the senses. Asel had felt magical power with these characteristics before.

The day he first discovered Aleph. The magical power of Cromwell that he felt when he resonated his magic with Cromwell’s to verify if her words were true, was quite similar in atmosphere to what was currently filling this space.

‘But it’s not exactly the same. There’s no possibility that Cromwell created this space. The fact that the atmosphere is similar despite that means…’

Like Cromwell, it was likely a trace left by a high-level magician who had already died.

As his thoughts extended that far, he suddenly recalled the words someone unidentified had told him a week ago.

Among them, the first one that had been engraved was “Sage’s Tomb.” If that word was meant to inform him that there was a Sage’s Tomb in the Academy…

“Saya, do you know where the Sage is buried?”
“T-The Sage? There are almost no records about the Sage now, so probably no one knows where they’re buried.”
“Is that so?”

Things are starting to make sense.

According to the records that remain today, the Sage was proficient in a wide variety of magic. Among them, it’s said they were most talented in creative formulas that create something from nothing. If that’s the case, it’s entirely possible that they created a space like this and made it their burial place.

‘Then, were all the words they told me through Aleph referring to things sleeping in the Academy?’

It’s not certain, but it’s not lacking as one of the hypotheses.

In the end, to gain certainty, he would have to find the Sage’s remains in this place called the Simplified Labyrinth. Since it was impossible to trace the magical power, they would have to go all the way down the labyrinth to find out.

A situation where unexpected gains might be made from what was thought to be a simple initiation ceremony.

Asel smiled slightly as he pressed his hand against the ground and stood up.

“Let’s go now. I think we’ve rested enough.”
“Ungh… Okay.”

Selene got up from her seat, and Saya also stood up, brushing off the stone dust on her tail. Asel rotated his stiff shoulders and drew up magical power while gazing at the path whose end couldn’t be seen.

It was the start of a full-fledged labyrinth exploration.

Labyrinth explorers, regardless of the labyrinth’s notorious reputation, often referred to it like this:

‘An insane maze.’

A chaotic space where once you lose your way, it becomes almost impossible to find the exit. A place with many paths leading down, but strangely only one path leading up.

The Simplified Labyrinth seemed to have inherited these characteristics as well, as there were many paths leading down, but not a single path leading up could be found. If it was recreating an environment similar to the real labyrinth, there should certainly be a means to return upwards, but they hadn’t found any yet.

“……”
“……”

One hour into the labyrinth exploration.

They weren’t hungry or thirsty yet, but the fatigue accumulated in their bodies remained the same.

A cave sealed on all sides. The high-concentration magical power filling the place and the occasional eerie cries irritated the group’s nerves. They hadn’t encountered any labyrinth creatures yet, but judging by the cries getting closer, it would be soon.

And as expected, something suddenly popped out from around a corner.

-Kweeeeeek.

Its overall appearance was similar to a caterpillar. However, the tentacles covering its entire body all resembled human fingers. They had two joints but no skin. Only fingernails were attached to the end of the exposed muscles.

Sharp teeth were densely packed in its round mouth. It looked like it had evolved to bury its snout in flesh and suck blood.

It would have been less disgusting if it were small, but since it was about the same height as a person, the disgust rose to their heads.

“Ugh, it’s creepy.”

Selene muttered that and then chanted magic over her palm without hesitation.

The constellation magic she had learned basically required preheating, but the most basic magic had no limit on manifestation speed.

Woong!

Golden magical power condensed according to her will, and soon became a meteor that pierced through the caterpillar’s entire body.

[Star Advance]

Crash!!

The caterpillar, with a huge hole in its body, sprayed green bodily fluid and collapsed.

It was instant death without even a struggle. Asel knelt down for a moment and closely observed the caterpillar that had become a corpse.

Saya asked him in a confused voice.

“…What are you doing?”
“Just curious. If this Simplified Labyrinth was modeled after the real thing, the creatures here should also be not much different from the real ones. I was just curious how they implemented that.”
“…Your odd personality is still the same.”
“It’s natural curiosity as a magician.”

Asel replied with a slight smile and looked down at the caterpillar’s dripping bodily fluid.

Whether it was acidic, a sound like something melting could be heard from where the fluid touched the floor.

“It’s called a Finger Worm. Both its saliva and blood are acidic, so it’s recommended to kill it with ranged attacks if possible. It’s a native creature of the labyrinth.”
“You know a lot.”
“I thought it would be good to know the basics if I want to do business with labyrinth explorers. I’ve looked up a lot of related books.”

Selene asked in a surprised voice, and Saya answered calmly. Asel smiled bitterly at the numerous presences he sensed from the opposite direction as he raised his lowered body.

“Do they have a characteristic of avenging their fallen comrades? They’re coming in droves.”
“There’s a hormone in their bodily fluid that calls their kind, so when one dies, the group does come running. But they’re not that strong, so I could handle them alone. Should I do it?”
“No.”

Saya said. Asel shook his head and bent his index and middle fingers.

“I’ll do it.”

The moment he said that, dark blue lightning flashed around Asel.

[Leaning Thunder]

-Keeeeeeek!!

The group of caterpillars that had revealed themselves were all swept away by the lightning that leaned to one side like a scythe, turning into ashes. They disappeared without a trace, not even leaving behind their precious bodily fluid.

Asel shook off the lightning remaining on his fingertip and turned to the two, opening his mouth.

“Let’s go. We can’t see a way up, so let’s go down one more floor for now.”
“What if we can’t come back?”

Selene asked while avoiding the green blood that had soaked the floor. Asel pointed to the dark ceiling with his hand and answered.

“‘If you can’t find a way up, go down instead. The size of the stairs to return increases as you go down, so follow this advice if you don’t want to eat each other or starve to death.'”
“……”
“It’s what the author of ‘Basic Knowledge of the Labyrinth’ said.”

Strangely, the return stairs in the labyrinth didn’t go up floor by floor but led directly to the labyrinth entrance in one go. So if you couldn’t find small, narrow stairs at the labyrinth entrance, it’s better to go down and find larger stairs, said Ulric, the author of ‘Basic Knowledge of the Labyrinth’.

“So let’s go down. We can’t keep wandering around here forever.”
“…You, be honest. You just want to see the creatures living on other floors in person, don’t you?”
“We’ve already found the stairs, so I think it’s better to go that way.”
“Oh ho, not answering? Caught you?”

Selene poked Asel’s side repeatedly while laughing, as he kept ignoring her.

But she didn’t oppose Asel’s opinion. She too was an inevitable magician. Ignorant about labyrinth creatures, she didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see them with her own eyes.

As a result, only Saya was left out. For her, who knew about labyrinth creatures and had basic knowledge of the labyrinth, this place was merely a venue to prove her knowledge. She wasn’t even a magician to begin with, so she didn’t burn with curiosity like the other two.

But she too didn’t object to Asel’s opinion.

She already owed him her life once. At least during this moment of acting together, she wanted to be of help to him until the end.

If possible, as long as he didn’t push her away, she wanted to act the same even when they weren’t together.

Because that would be the only way to repay the price of her life.

“Saya, let’s go.”
“What are you doing standing there blankly! Saya, right? Let’s go quickly!”

She smiled softly as she heard the voices of the two calling her.

“I’m coming.”