[You're not qualified. You're not qualified.]
Gapar stared at the line of text, frozen like a statue for several seconds.
He let go. The words disappeared.
He pressed his hand against it again—the words appeared once more.
"…."
He fell silent. What he was thinking at that moment was:
I know I'm not qualified, but did you really have to repeat it twice?
One time could count as a reminder, but two times together…
If you say that isn't mockery, not even ghosts would believe you!
Gapar angrily slashed at the seal a few times, but his blade passed straight through it. There was simply no way to damage it.
At that moment, he suddenly missed Leon—more precisely, Leon's dung pot.
If he had that dung pot in hand, he would definitely throw a few at this damn seal just to vent his frustration!
So what exactly did "qualification" mean?
He thought of those spade- and heart-marked rooms. Did he have to collect some kind of item inside them, like a transfer permit?
Just thinking about it sounded troublesome.
Gapar happened to be the type who hated running in circles. If Luluwo were here, she would definitely be excitedly exploring every path.
"Right, there's also that hat."
He suddenly remembered the Sorting Hat. If he told it about the situation, maybe it would give him a hint.
With that thought, he retraced his steps back toward the starting point. On the way, he paid special attention and noticed that the buildings along the left and right forks weren't clearly divided.
If you chose the left road, there was the transmission hub, several halls, and doors that could only be opened with keys bearing matching symbols—it was a mix of puzzle-solving and dungeon challenges.
If you chose the right road, aside from encountering monsters, there wasn't much difficulty, and the route was simpler. At least so far, he hadn't seen any hidden paths. Even if there were forks, winding around would eventually lead back to the main road.
Following the right main road would take you to the courtyard. He observed carefully and saw that the courtyard had a door leading to the left path. In other words, both paths ultimately led to the courtyard.
After reaching the courtyard from one path, you could try exploring the other in reverse.
But this time, to be safe and quick, he didn't go back along the left route. He returned straight to the classroom where the Sorting Hat was.
[Back so soon?]
"What is the seal guarded by the Carian Knight?"
[Didn't I already tell you? It's the path to the research area.]
The Sorting Hat glared at Gapar unhappily, like a teacher scolding a student who hadn't paid attention in class.
"What exactly does 'research area' mean?" Gapar asked, lowering his tone.
[It's where the mentors conduct research. Why are you asking? Don't tell me you want to go in there?]
Gapar didn't answer directly. He simply nodded.
[Let me warn you—don't imagine it as just a bigger classroom. The research area is larger than this entire academy!]
[Because of all the mentors' experiments, it has become a bizarre place. Each mentor's domain looks completely different from the others. Not just the scenery—even the buildings, monsters, and some of the rules are different!]
[If you wander into the research area without a mentor's protection, you will most likely die. Worse than death is getting lost there forever.]
It sounded like an extremely dangerous place.
"What about the small chance?" Gapar asked with interest.
No matter how dangerous a place was, someone would still explore it. That kind of warning couldn't scare him.
[You brat…]
The Sorting Hat sounded helpless, but eventually said:
[If you're lucky, you might find a research camp built by the mentors. With the protective magic there, you could survive until rescued.]
[But some camps are abandoned. Who knows if their protection still works? You might have to fix it yourself—and monsters won't wait while you do.]
Gapar understood. Even unfamiliar terms like "research camp" and "protective magic" made sense once you thought about their purpose.
What he was thinking was this: if the research area belonged to the mentors, there should be items related to them inside, right?
The thought made him excited. It had been a long time since he'd felt this eager to explore a dungeon. The Sein Dungeon had been one of a kind in the past decade.
"So how do I break the seal?"
[You really didn't listen to my warning at all, did you?]
The Sorting Hat hesitated. After a moment, as if making up its mind, it said:
[Gather three strands of magic from different owners and the seal will open. If three people go together, your survival rate will be higher.]
[If you really don't want to team up, then find the research-area-exclusive transfer permit. I remember it's in a room marked with a spade.]
I see.
This was basically a hint: either find teammates, or solve puzzles to get the item that breaks the seal.
"…Hmm."
After saying goodbye to the Sorting Hat, he headed toward the left path. After winding around for a long time, he finally found the spade room—but couldn't find the key to open it no matter what.
Considering that breaking doors by force before had caused transfer permits to disappear, even though the spade door looked like thin wooden planks, he didn't dare use violence again.
In a sense, the Dungeon had subtly "tamed" Gapar.
That left only one answer—find teammates.
As for who those teammates should be, naturally they were the four people in Bedford City with the highest magical attainments.
Before leaving, Gapar happily used Solar Flare. He cherished the chance to cast magic himself, since it was the first proper spell he had learned—not some greatsword or hammer technique.
Unfortunately, he couldn't take it out with him. Next time he entered, would the Sorting Hat assign him the same mentor again? Or someone else?
If it was the latter, he probably wouldn't encounter Solar Flare again.
Only when he felt that staying longer would delay things too much did he reluctantly use the transfer permit to return to the endless corridor, take the lift back to Firelink Shrine, and leave the dungeon.
Sure enough, the moment he stepped onto the lift, his student ID vanished into nothingness—and with it, all memory of Solar Flare except its name.
A ruthless rule.
He looked back at the lift, thinking I'll come back again, then left the dungeon decisively.
Outside, it was dusk. The ancient city beyond the portal was lively, but compared to the crowds when the dungeon closed at night, it felt quiet.
Bustle had its excitement; quiet had its leisure. At least Gapar thought evenings should be calm—lying on a tree, feeling the breeze, watching the sunset.
But he had no mood for sunsets now. He headed straight for the noble district of the city, where the lord's mansion stood.
Ask Count Charon for help?
Of course not. Gapar didn't care about him. The people he really wanted to see lived in another large mansion in that district.
The professors of the Magic Association.
They had arrived in the city with him back then. Yet Gapar had died several times in the Sein Dungeon, while they had made no move, and no one had heard of them entering the dungeon.
It felt like they stayed in their villa all day, never going out. The residents of the city were about to forget those big figures even existed.
At first, they had come searching for a mysterious mage to discuss "Star Magic."
But after arriving, they couldn't find the person. They even used tracking magic, yet still found nothing.
Honestly, Gapar didn't understand why they stayed. If they couldn't find the mage and wouldn't enter the dungeon, why not go back to the Association? Staying in their own mage towers would be more comfortable.
Fortunately, they hadn't left—now he had partners.
The professors' mansion was enormous, almost as big as Count Charon's. It looked luxurious. Mages at their level didn't treat money as money.
When the gate guard saw Gapar, he hurried inside to report.
Gapar sensed with his aura: besides three powerful presences, there were thirty or forty ordinary ones—servants.
Traveling far with only thirty or forty attendants… these professors were actually quite frugal.
"Lord Gapar, please come in."
The servant opened the gate but didn't step inside. Gapar glanced at the dim hall, clicked his tongue, and walked in.
The moment the doors closed, lights blazed on like daylight. Three figures sat opposite him, staring with different expressions.
So they're trying to intimidate me?
"Long time no see, Mr. Gapar. What brings you here?" said a young lady.
Her age made it hard to associate her with a magic professor, yet she truly was the youngest professor in recent years.
"Tursey, mind your wording. A dignified professor shouldn't use such frivolous tones," scolded a handsome man with waist-length hair and aristocratic manners.
Beside him sat an old man with a rigid expression—gaunt face, pale skin, emotionless eyes staring straight at Gapar. Children would cry at the sight of him.
One professor was missing for some reason.
Gapar knew them all and could list their backgrounds.
The woman was Tursey, the youngest professor ever, head of the Healing Department of the Magic Association, specializing in water-attribute healing and defensive magic.
The man was Set, descended from royal capital nobility but who became a mage and made a name for himself. His field was wind-attribute concealment magic.
Oh right—he had a disappointing disciple named Roger.
The terrifying old man was Hades, the most senior professor here. Little was known about him because he rarely left his mage tower. His field was multi-attribute magic flow theory.
He had even recreated Glintstone Pebble based on Wadd's letter—though its essence differed from the real spell.
The visiting professors' group centered around him.
Another professor wasn't present, so Gapar ignored that for now.
"I've got good news. Depends on whether you can seize the opportunity."
Gapar smiled and told them everything he'd seen in the Raya Lucaria Academy—
The many unfamiliar mage names, "that thing," the Sorting Hat, the research area…
And most importantly, the magic glow that could help people learn spells.
When he saw the professors all fall into deep thought, Gapar already knew their answer.
No one could resist the charm of the Sein Dungeon.
No one.