"Looks like they were heading into the cave," Laura said, using her tracking magic.
"Let's go," Holman said, leading the noble students into the cave.
"Why did she go into this cave?" Yor asked, curious.
Colbert adjusted his glasses. "I've heard from the seniors that this cave used to be the hideout of an advanced magus before the academy killed the magus and took the dimension fragment from him."
"Is this cave connected to that magus?" Alex asked.
"Maybe, I don't know," Colbert replied.
The six noble disciples walked cautiously into the cave and soon found a fork in the path.
"Which path did Frida take?" Holman asked Laura.
"I think this one, but her two friends seem to have gone down different paths. Should we ignore them and focus on Frida?" Laura replied.
"We need as many people as possible to take down Frida," Alex stated.
"We can't ignore those two people. If they come back and suddenly help Frida, like before, it could be dangerous," Holman said, recalling the Vale surprise attack.
"I and Yor will handle them. You guys go ahead, and we'll catch up with you after we deal with them," proposed Colbert.
Yor glared angrily at Colbert. "What are you saying?! I want to kill Frida myself!"
"I think Colbert's idea is good. I'll leave the two people to you guys. Finish it quickly and join us," said Alex, ignoring Yor's protests.
Despite Yor's objections, Holman, Alex, Laura, and Dinodas went down the path leading to Frida. Meanwhile, Colbert and Yor went down the other path to deal with Vale and Brenda.
Meanwhile, Vale and Brenda were still trapped in a room. They had tried to bombard the room with magic techniques, but their attacks did not scratch the walls at all. They waited anxiously for Frida to arrive and rescue them, though it was uncertain if she would come.
"It's been over an hour and Frida hasn't shown up yet, meaning she's in big trouble," Vale remarked. Brenda, who had been hoping for Frida's rescue, felt even more depressed.
"She'll come and save us. Miss Inger can be trusted," Brenda whispered, trying to encourage herself despite her anxious and fearful expression.
Unlike Brenda, Vale remained calm even though he was trapped in the room. He was confident he could survive for a simple reason.
[Quest: Prepare yourself! The decisive battle is about to come!]
[The host is trapped in a room with his friends, but don't worry! In a few moments, two enemies will arrive. They are dangerous and would try to take host life. As Albert Einstein once said, In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. The host and his friends must take this event to turn the situation to be better.]
[Reward: Ghost effect (magic technique level 0)]
Through a series of experiments, Vale knew that the system only provided quests when Vale was in dire need of assistance. Although he had tried to request quests from the system several times during his spare time, it always refused his request.
In this case, the system analyzed Vale's situation and provided the quest. After realizing that Frida was unlikely to rescue them, Vale requested the system to provide him with a quest.
"It's probably those noble students who followed us to this cave," Vale whispered to himself.
Vale suspected that one of the noble students could track down their whereabouts. Most likely, they followed Frida and him into this cave.
He did not tell Brenda about it. Firstly, it was challenging to explain to Brenda where he got the information. Secondly, Brenda was not proficient in magic and would not be able to help Vale.
Since then, Vale had been accumulating mana and thinking about various possible scenarios. Although he was confident that the system would not let him die, he would rather not take any risks. So, he would not miss this opportunity.
Suddenly, the wall of the room trembled. Vale frowned and said to Brenda, "Get ready to fight."
"What? Fight? It could be Frida who came to save us."
"I hope it's her."
Vale quickly stood up and pointed his hand at the shaking wall. He was preparing to cast the spell at anytime. Moments later, the wall opened, revealing the door that Vale and Brenda had used to enter the room. At that time, Vale, who saw the silhouettes of two people standing at the entrance, quickly launched an attack.
"—The gust of scorching fire."
Vale breathed in deeply before spouting a large burst of fire towards the two uninvited guests.
The two uninvited guests were a teenage boy with brown hair and glasses, and the other was a blonde girl with a ponytail. Of course, they were Colbert and Yor.
They were both surprised by Vale's sudden attack and attempted to retreat, but were trapped when the door hole closed behind them. With little time to spare, the two jumped in opposite directions to avoid the flames, but their clothes were still singed.
Vale wasted no time and charged towards Yor. Despite her attempts to cast a magic technique, Vale seized her hand and forcefully slammed her into the wall behind her.
"Archer goddess, I borrowed your power to punish the enemies of destiny, Hexag-"
"If you dare to cast that, I'm going to kill this girl," Vale's said, interrupted Colbert.
"C-Colbert! H-Help me!" Yor pleaded, scared and confused.
Colbert looked furious and caught off guard by Vale's sudden attack.
Colbert and Yor previously discovered that the wall that appeared to be a dead end had shifted some time ago, and suspected that there was a hidden room behind it.
They discussed before attacking the wall. Based on their discussion, Vale and Brenda were unlikely to know of their arrival, so when the two of them appeared, they should both assume that Colbert and Yor, who had just arrived, were Frida.
So, he was never expecting Vale to take such bold action against him and Yor.
Suddenly, his gaze shifted towards Brenda, and he grinned, pointing his hand at her. "Let her go, or I'll kill this noble trash," he threatened Vale.