Published at 31st of March 2026 9:25 pm

Chapter 833

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

I think trials would be better.

Usually, trials might be difficult and dangerous, but they had an end.

No matter how hard they were, you could guess how to reach the end.

But now the sacred forest was just telling him out of nowhere to find a tree branch that suited him, without any beginning or end.

Even though being a mage was a profession that made the impossible possible, doing this without any clues

Isnt there anything that could help?

I told you to wander around until youre chosen, didnt I?

Hmm. I understand.

Lee Han ignored Ragesas words and pondered which divination magic he had learned to use.

Stone divination seemed a bit weak, so he thought hed need to use spirit coin divination or the five demons divination.

Spirit coin divination would be impossible.

Since it required five gold coins that had undergone special magical processing (and the ones that came up heads had to be offered to spirits), spirit coin divination was hard to use.

The five demons divination seemed more manageable. Though youd receive a powerful curse of misfortune if you failed to identify the 2 fake prophecies, it was better than spirit coin divination.

Divination magic? Dangerous. Kid. How many divination mages have been ruined by becoming intoxicated with the pleasure of peering into the future

Hmm. I understand.

Lee Han ignored her again and checked his reagents.

Fly agaric mushrooms collected during the new moon, bone fragments obtained from the demon realm among dimensions, cinnabar, and so on.

Ragesa realized that Lee Han was letting her words go in one ear and out the other and grumbled.

Youll only stop doing such things after getting seriously hurt by divination magic. What an arrogant brat!

No. Dont misunderstand. Im not saying Ill definitely use it now, I was just checking.

It wasnt that Lee Han had no fear. Rather, he had as much as other students, if not more.

How could he not be afraid when he might suffer from powerful misfortune for a while if he made a mistake?

Because of prophecies, Lee Han was quite careful with divination magic, to the point of swinging his staff to chase away Gainando whenever he came close.

The problem was that finding the desired tree branch in this forest seemed hopeless!

I should first see how the other guys are doing.

After finishing his reagent check, Lee Han watched what his friends were doing.

If someone luckily got a suitable tree branch, he planned to observe and use it as reference.

Swoosh!

The student who had grabbed the mirage earlier was actually doing better.

The students wandering around the sacred forest looking for suitable tree branches were gradually realizing that this forest was very bizarre.

Pop!

Starting with being teleported somewhere in the forest the moment they touched a branch, let alone breaking it off.

Splash!

Suddenly the clouds would disappear and theyd fall into a large puddle below.

I I just went to a strange place and came back. Did you guys see it too? Some spirits took me and guided me to a labyrinth??

Or theyd fall into illusions where they kept wandering inside a labyrinth.

Except for hostile monsters, this forest contained mysteries so twisted that they were rarely seen even near Einroguard. It wasnt for nothing that it was a forest cultivated by a mad Spirit King.

Everyone, tie yourselves together with rope. Dont get too far apart. Carve Mark of Allies on the back of your hands.

Unable to watch any longer, Giselle called together the White Tiger Tower students who were wandering around chaotically.

Even as mages, completely controlling this forest would be difficult, but they could still make some preparations.

Tying each other with continuously extending magic rope, casting the ally marking magic that would show each others locations until it faded away after being carved once

Indeed. This method would be advantageous for long-term exploration.

What are you evaluating!? You come here and give orders too!

Giselle screamed in exasperation.

The guy who should be giving orders alongside her was sitting on a cloud, looking interested and going So this is how White Tiger Tower students move, which was absurd.

Lee Han, who wanted to observe a bit more, quickly made an excuse.

Im from Blue Dragon Tower, so I was watching without interfering unnecessarily.

Huh. Is that so?

Angrago, who was listening nearby, thought it sounded somewhat plausible.

Certainly, if you belonged to a different tower, it might be hard to step forward and give orders due to being mindful of others

You call that an excuse?

Lee Han. Even I think that doesnt make sense

Starting with Giselles cynical retort, even Durgyu, who usually took Lee Hans side, showed reluctance.

Booo!

Several White Tiger Tower students outright jeered.

Wardanaz, stop talking nonsense and give instructions like usual! We want instructions!

Right! Wardanaz should as usual ugh, urgh!

Giselle kicked the friends who were chattering shamelessly.

Even if they were used to following orders from students of other towers, what they just said was really too ugly.

Hey. Come here.

Alright. Alright. Lets divide into groups of three each. Ill cast underwater breathing and bestow true light What else do we need? We probably dont need undead protection, right?

Lee Han cast a comprehensive set of possible enchantment magic from low circles all at once.

Angrago, who had been watching nervously, raised his hand.

Wardanaz. I have something to say.

Oh. What is it? A magic recommendation?

No. You told us to bring friends. How about we quickly call the other tower guys too

When Lee Han and Giselle looked at him with contemptuous eyes, Angrago hastily made excuses.

Ah, no! I dont have bad intentions, we should share this opportunity with friends from other towers too!

Im sure you would.

Ha. Ill have to make them compete when bringing them next time.

But isnt Angrago the second-in-command of your tower?

Shut up.

***

The White Tiger Tower students went around each tower to share this joyful news with their friends.

-Oh, friends! While helping Wardanaz with his work, we happened to meet the benevolent tree Spirit King! The Spirit King said, Call your close friends to come break off tree branches! We really hope youll come and break off tree branches too! This place is truly beautiful and mysterious!

How can you not be happy!? The Spirit King invited us and opened his domain!?

Gainando looked at Yoner as if he couldnt understand.

Yoner tried to explain calmly.

So

Guys! Yoner says hes not happy at all! He says he doesnt need the Spirit Kings gift because hes too much of a genius!

Boo! Booo!

Yoner took out a potion bottle and swung it toward his relatives head.

With a brief scream, Gainando, hit by the voice proibition potion, flailed about.

Then several friends who had just been jeering quickly shut their mouths.

I was making fun of Gainando.

Right. Meikin.

I wanted to say that now isnt necessarily the time to be happy.

Why is that?

At Salkos question, Yoner spoke in a worried voice.

Spirit Kings arent beings who give gifts without any price.

Thats true, but that doesnt mean its not good fortune. We might be too pickled by Einroguard and ignoring the spirits goodwill.

I-Is that so?!

Yoner was slightly flustered.

Upon hearing the magical words that would shake even the most confident student, You might be too Einroguard, his certainty wavered.

Thats right. Meikin! When will such an opportunity come again! And Wardanaz gets along well with spirits.

???

????

Yoner and a few friends who knew the truth had question marks floating on their faces.

Gets along well with spirits?

Youve come. Everyone. Welcome for coming.

We wanted to show you all this scenery together. Haha.

After passing through the rift and entering Gwangmok Kings domain, the waiting White Tiger Tower friends greeted them with artificial smiles.

At that sight, Yoner felt his wariness rising even more.

Somethings strange?

Why is the Prince acting like that?

I dont know. He probably picked up and ate something weird somewhere. He ate hiccup mushrooms last time too.

Mmph mmph mmph!

Now. Everyone follow this way! Well explain everything!

Calling to the other tower friends who were admiring the mysterious scenery of the unfamiliar domain, the White Tiger Tower students quickly guided them to the sacred grove.

And after finishing their explanation, they hurriedly disappeared.

So thats how we got this opportunity. Well then! We also have to search. Good luck!

Strange. It seems like a lot of the story was omitted.

Salko was also starting to feel something was off.

It seemed true that the Spirit King had invited them and given them an opportunity, but why did it feel like a lot of content was omitted in between?

1 hour later.

Where did those Tiger Tower bastards go?!

The enraged Black Turtle Tower students wandered around searching for the White Tiger Tower students who had guided them and then disappeared.

Everyone looked disheveled from having been hanging from treetops until just moments ago.

Of course, naturally the White Tiger Tower students had already gone somewhere in the sacred grove to look for their own tree branches.

Damn it. We were tricked! Surely that Wardanaz guys name wasnt a lie too, was it?

That probably wasnt.

Why?

No matter what, surely Wardanaz wouldnt lie using his name as collateral. Hed face terrible retaliation later.

At Ratfords sharp deduction, Salko had no choice but to be convinced.

That makes sense. Damn it. This is too overwhelming. Divination magic doesnt work well either Oh, Wardanaz!

The Black Turtle Tower students spotted their friend with a tired face in the distance and shouted loudly.

Wardanaz, even if its a good opportunity, how could you lie!

What are you talking about?

You should have told us what kind of place this was!

I said to tell them.

Salko vowed to definitely hang those White Tiger Tower guys who had delivered the message upside down.

Lee Han said in a tired voice.

The White Tiger Tower guys must have left out a few facts. They did something pointless. You would have come anyway even if they told you. Youre all mages, so theres no way youd miss an opportunity like this.

?

Several students tilted their heads.

Is that so?

I think I would have hesitated a bit if Id heard beforehand

You all think the same, right?

Uh, huh? Of course we do.

Everyone would think the same. Wardanaz!

The Black Turtle Tower students and Salko exchanged glances and spoke hurriedly.

I recommend preparing tracking methods in case we get separated and moving around. Contact each other periodically. Theres nothing dangerous, but its exhausting. I dont know how long well have to wander around.

Wardanaz. Have you tried divination magic? We tried it on our end too, but it had no effect.

Salko asked with hope, counting on his friend who was the top student in the divination magic school.

Lee Han slowly nodded and answered.

I tried it. I performed the Five Demons divination.

!

The Black Turtle Tower students were shocked.

Is it okay for a 2nd year to already cast such high-difficulty divination magic?

The surprised students were convinced in less than a second.

Well, Wardanaz was always like that.

Geez. Why was I surprised?

When his friends stopped being surprised, Lee Han looked slightly puzzled and continued speaking.

I tried it but failed.

As expected. It must be high-difficulty magic

No. The magic succeeded, but the demon returned the reagents I offered. He said he couldnt tell me anything because this forest is covered with the Spirit Kings madness.

The students mouths gaped wide at the first-ever offering rejection incident theyd heard of.

Thats when it happened.

-The Prince found a tree branch! The Prince found a tree branch!!

-No way, that guy didnt even wander around, so why?! Whats so good about him!?

!

!!!!

Everyone was shocked when the first person to obtain a tree branch from the forest appeared.

That way! Lets go!

Lee Han and everyone else hurriedly ran out.

Several Blue Dragon Tower students had gathered to watch Gainando. Gainando was holding onto a writhing tree branch and shouting.

Lee Han! Look at this! I got a tree branch!

The human-sized tree branch writhed and smacked Gainandos head with thwack thwack sounds.

Lee Han panicked and called Ragesa.

Is that thing okay?

Materials like that are originally picky about choosing their owners. Its fine. If he wasnt compatible from the start, it wouldnt have chosen him. If he just endures, hell be able to gain some recognition. By the way, that brat, wasnt he royalty? Even though he received noble blood, to find it the fastest.

Huh? Isnt finding it fastest a good thing?

Ragesa giggled and finally revealed the truth.

Where you search in the forest isnt whats important. How much you wander around is what matters.

?

The forest quickly finds narrow-minded mages. Since theres nothing more to see in someone who gives up right away, it sends an appropriate tree to grab their hand. Rather, the broader-minded the mage, the more the forest keeps watching. It expects to see how long they can walk and wait. Kihihi. Thats why I told you to wander around until youre chosen, didnt I?

Ah. I see.

Lee Han opened the Echo Stone and prepared to call his Insane Doppelgager.

It seemed hed need to ask about methods for threatening an insane forest.

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