Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

No matter how fast Binaeril ran, he couldn’t outrun the flock of Stitches flying towards him. The distance between them rapidly closed—ten meters, eight meters, five meters…

“Isn’t there any way out of this?”

The winding corridor offered no good hiding spots. 

‘If only I could use magic.’

According to Veritas, those who made the oath couldn’t use their mana within the maze.

“Wait, the Scala oath is the condition?”

Then he realized there was one being in the maze who wasn’t bound by any restrictions and possessed profound mana.

“Veritas, lend me some mana.”

– Took you long enough to figure it out.

Binaeril recited the same incantation as before. This time, instead of his own, he borrowed Veritas’s mana. A brilliant orb of light appeared in the dark corridor.

“It works!”

He turned and hurled the light orb towards the flock of Stitches, trying to gauge their numbers. But the Stitches reacted differently. The leading one halted suddenly at the incoming object, causing the others to crash into each other in the narrow passage.

“Kiyaaak!”

Regardless, this gave Binaeril a good opportunity. The Stitches weren’t numerous; the echoing sound in the narrow corridor had made it seem like there were more.

“Alright. Rise, spears of frost!”

Binaeril spread his arms wide like an impassioned conductor, tracing a circular arc upwards. In response to his gesture, spears of ice shot up from beneath the Stitches.

Instant kill. The Stitches weren’t particularly powerful demons, and the narrow space offered them no room to dodge, so a single spell was enough to deal with them all.

“Nice.”

Binaeril clenched his fist, savoring the brief victory. With magic, these minor demons were no match for him.

“The problem isn’t the monsters.”

The real challenge of the maze wasn’t the occasional encounter with Stitches or Kobold packs. The maze itself was the true problem.

Now that Binaeril knew he could use magic, he opted for the most primitive method to navigate the maze: following the left-hand rule, keeping his hand on the left wall and walking straight. 

However, after about twenty minutes, he began to suspect he was going in circles. So he started from a junction of four paths, marking the ground with Veritas’s mana as he walked.

After about fifteen minutes, he came across one of his marks again.

“Hmm.”

He had indeed been walking in circles, but that wasn’t the only issue.

“Hmm.”

Binaeril looked up. Before him stood the damp wall of the underground prison. The path he had come from, the left path, and the right path—all that remained.

Initially, there had been four paths, but now there were only three.

“It’s clear.”

– It’s obvious.

“It’s plain.”

– For sure.

“The maze is changing in real-time.”

Binaeril shuddered at the wickedness of the Scala exam. Restrictions on mana, monsters tracking the candidates, and a maze that constantly changed its structure.

“The Scala exam has three stages. Maybe these three issues are all part of it?”

– Probably not.

Binaeril knew. This was just the first stage of the Scala.

“This is insane.”

But knowing didn’t change anything. He was still trapped in the maze, clueless about how to find the exit. The sense of hopelessness deepened.

“Well, I can use magic through a loophole, but what about the other students? They’re stuck in this situation without being able to use magic?”

Worry for Rike and Sylvia started to creep in. Well, more for Rike than Sylvia. Sylvia was strong and could handle the monsters on her own. He needed to find and help Rike quickly. 

If all the candidates were trapped in this gigantic maze like Binaeril, finding a way out might also mean finding his friends and helping them.

“Veritas.”

– What?

“Is there a spell to find the way in the maze?”

– A spell to find the way? Sure, there must be.

“Then…”

– Then you want me to tell you? And you call yourself a mage?

Binaeril reflected on his short-sighted thinking at Veritas’s reprimand. Magic wasn’t a tool with fixed usage like a bow or a greatsword. There were always ways, somehow, somewhere. 

However, it was always the mage’s responsibility to conceptualize and realize those ways with their own thoughts and imagination. But Binaeril, lacking experience, found it hard to imagine a method to find the exit in an unknown maze.

This was proof of his lack of experience.

Feeling down, Binaeril kicked at the mark he had left on the floor. That’s when he noticed the jade ring on his finger. Thoughts of Eden, the spirit of the library, came rushing in.

In Elfenbine’s great library, Eden always found the books Binaeril asked for in no time. Curious about how she did it, Binaeril had once witnessed her method. Eden, the library spirit, manipulated the library’s infinite space at will to assist visitors.

Now, thinking about it, he realized the commonalities between Scala’s maze, Elfenbine’s great library, and the Hall of Truth where he met Veritas. The masters of these places all manipulated their spaces at will, like folding paper houses.

Right. Following the predetermined path wasn’t always the only solution.

Binaeril began to conceive his own breakthrough. In this complex maze, he, who could use magic, could find a way out that no one else could.

“If there’s no exit, I’ll just make one.”

However, completely reconfiguring the entire maze required an extremely complex level of imagination. Instead, Binaeril turned to his other helpful assistant, the spirit Eden.

“Eden, can you come out?”

Eden emerged from the ring like a girl from a lake, leaning her upper body out.

“Can you make a straight path to the exit in this space?”

Eden nodded.

***

Rike and Sylvia stood before a large door. The eerie atmosphere of the maze dissipated as they approached this door. They instinctively knew it was the exit.

“Do you think this is it?”

“Feels like it. I can sense strong mana beyond it.”

Their quick arrival was entirely thanks to Rike. Her ability to intuitively perceive mana made the magically constructed maze seem like nothing more than a longer stroll.

“Hmm…”

Rike rubbed her slightly bloodshot eyes. Even she found it taxing to use her ability for long periods.

“Take a break. I’ll keep watch until Binaeril gets here.”

“Okay, got it.”

At that moment, a loud noise began echoing from the other side of the maze. The two tensed up. Though they had only encountered small monsters so far, this place was far from safe. As they remained on high alert, the noise grew closer. It sounded like a massive creature bulldozing through the maze walls…

But what emerged from the dust and rubble wasn’t a monster or a giant beast. It was Binaeril.

“Binaeril!”

Rike shouted in relief. Though they had been apart for only a few hours, Rike welcomed Binaeril with a wide smile.

“Oh, what’s this? You got here already?”

“Hehehe.”

“And what’s that? You can use magic?”

Sylvia asked. Explaining about Veritas was complicated, so Binaeril pointed to Eden and elaborated.

“It’s thanks to her.”

“What’s that? Isn’t she the spirit from the library?”

As expected, Rike, who was as much of a bookworm as Binaeril, recognized her. On the other hand, Sylvia…

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“When did I?”

Binaeril lowered his hand, letting Eden down. It was the first time he introduced her properly.

“A spirit? So you can handle spirits now?”

“Kind of. Remember, the Tower Lord said the winner of the tournament would receive a prize. This friend is that prize.”

“They gave you a spirit?”

Spirits were independent entities with their own will, making that seem impossible.

“The ring is enchanted to follow its owner. Technically, I received the ring, not the spirit itself.”

Binaeril held up the jade ring on his finger for them to see.

“…I’m jealous.”

“Oh, look at her.”

Eden affectionately clung to the kind-hearted Rike, curtseying like a prim lady. Rike clapped her hands in delight.

“But how did you guys get here so fast?”

The two explained their journey over the past few hours. As expected, Sylvia had fought her way through the advancing monsters. Meanwhile, Rike, who Binaeril and Sylvia had worried about the most, was the one who quickly grasped the structure of the maze and found the correct path.

“As soon as I understood the situation, I used my ability to get an overall view of the maze, starting from the nearby areas and gradually extending further. During this process, I sensed Sylvia’s mana and slowly moved towards it.”

“And the Stitches and Kobolds you encountered along the way?”

“Stitches and Kobolds live in dark places and have keen hearing but poor eyesight. If you move quietly, they won’t notice you.”

“Wow.”

“Once I met Sylvia, we headed for the exit. We trusted that you’d find your way somehow, Binaeril.”

Hearing this, Binaeril realized that Rike’s eye for mana truly lived up to its reputation.

“Did you find this exit using your ability too?”

“I could sense it as we got closer, but there are other ways to find it.”

“It’s simple. The monsters in the maze—they inhabit closed tunnels. Naturally, if you avoid the areas with monsters, you’ll find the open paths.”

Binaeril was impressed by Rike’s insight. He realized that this exam was a test of composure and judgment. He also felt that he had relied too much on magic, despite being the one who had practiced it for the shortest time.

“Rike, you’re really amazing. You truly are a talented mage.”

Rike blushed at Binaeril’s unfiltered compliment. Feeling the genuine admiration, Binaeril turned his attention to the large door before them and asked,

“This must be the next test of the Scala, right?”

“It has to be. What do you think will come next?”

“I can sense strong mana beyond this point. Be careful.”

They might be separated again once they passed through the door. Without realizing it, the three of them tightly held each other’s hands as they opened the door to the next test.