The path Sean had chosen led through extremely rugged terrain.
Layers upon layers of fallen branches and leaves had accumulated over the years, covering the ground like thick mulch. While this might nourish flowers in spring, for Sean it simply meant that every step was a potential trap.
As a transmigrator, he knew nothing about this mountain range. After walking for over an hour, he had seen nothing except trees, weeds, and slopes.
Then—
"That's Charlie's signal."
Sean looked toward the distant sky.
A yellow flare shot upward. Judging by the distance, it had to be at least four or five kilometers away. But traveling four or five kilometers through mountain forest was far harder than walking the same distance on flat ground.
At that moment, the second-ranked team, Castelobruxo, had just entered the Valley of Echoing Woods.
Although their six members had entered from different starting points, their intention was obvious—they were all moving toward the center.
"Everyone's here. Cast the spell quickly," said their captain, Matthew.
"Are we sure it's worth making this deal with Ilvermorny?" Matthew's younger brother, Jerry, asked anxiously.
The night Castelobruxo lost to Hogwarts, their leading professor, Hedda Hopper, had gone to see Kailyn.
"We want second place in tomorrow's match," Professor Hopper had said.
Kailyn smiled faintly.
"Is that a request? Competitions rely on strength. Are you asking us to go easy?"
Castelobruxo's combination magic was powerful, but the casting conditions were complicated. Against someone as fast and agile as Claven, they would be at a severe disadvantage.
Their chances of losing were high.
"It's not a request," Hopper said mysteriously. "It's a proposal for cooperation."
"We want tomorrow's victory."
"And the condition we offer will satisfy you."
"Oh?" Kailyn raised an eyebrow. "You sound very confident. What is it?"
"We possess a spell that can detect the location of the trophies," Hopper said.
"I can't reveal the exact details, but compared to the other teams running around the mountains like headless chickens, we have a huge advantage."
"So your team would tell us where the trophies are?" Kailyn asked.
"Exactly," Hopper said.
"If you let us win tomorrow, we will share the trophy locations with you."
Kailyn fell silent for a moment.
"But there's a one-hour gap between when our teams enter the forest," she said. "How would your players deliver the information to mine?"
"You'll send one team member to move with our group," Hopper replied.
"When we locate the four trophies, we'll inform that person immediately."
"And how will my player find your team?" Kailyn asked.
"You expect us to wait for them? That would waste too much time."
"Of course we won't wait," Hopper said calmly.
"My team will leave markers along the path. Your player only needs to follow them."
Kailyn brushed aside a strand of hair as she weighed the pros and cons.
Giving up the next day's victory meant entering the Valley one hour later. In the fourth event, time was extremely important—Hopper's eagerness to trade for that one hour proved it.
Hopper sat confidently, knowing her offer was extremely tempting.
The locations of the trophies—that was every team's ultimate goal.
With their secret method, Castelobruxo could locate them far faster than anyone else.
After some thought, Kailyn finally accepted the deal.
Both captains sealed the agreement with an Unbreakable Vow.
"Such a spell actually exists," Kailyn thought as Hopper left.
"But once the information reaches us… you'll regret it."
Earlier, Uagadou had also approached Castelobruxo.
But they had been rejected.
With such a powerful secret technique, Castelobruxo had no interest in cooperating with Uagadou's simplistic strategy of "informing each other when trophies are found." To them, it was laughable.
Back in the Valley of Echoing Woods, Castelobruxo's team had already left the agreed-upon markers.
Only Ilvermorny's players would recognize them.
"We've left the markers as promised," Matthew said.
"If Ilvermorny can't keep up with us, that's not our problem. That wasn't part of the agreement."
The others nodded.
They weren't violating the deal. If Ilvermorny moved too slowly, that was their own fault. They certainly wouldn't stop and wait.
"Jerry, Anduin, Gurila—prepare synchronization."
Matthew took a breath.
"Cast Forest God."
Forest God was an extremely advanced spell originally created by Amazonian tribal wizards.
When those tribal wizards joined Castelobruxo long ago, the spell was passed down to the school as well.
It was a perception-type magic.
According to legend, the all-knowing spirit of the Amazon rainforest could sense everything happening within the forest. Inspired by that belief, tribal wizards created this spell.
The wizard who invented it must have been a genius.
Originally, the spell was a dual-hand combination spell consisting of twenty-nine magical frameworks.
Learning such a complex spell was difficult.
The Four-School Friendship Tournament representatives had only been selected the previous summer—barely one year of preparation. Even someone as talented as Snape had needed two years to master the Flying Charm, which was also a combination spell.
So the school devised a solution.
Instead of teaching the spell to just two people, they had four members learn it together.
Among the six contestants:
Matthew (7th year) and Jerry (6th year) were brothers.
Gurila (5th year) and Anduin (4th year) were siblings.
Even more coincidentally, the four of them were related by blood. Matthew's mother was Gurila's aunt.
Such a family-based team was unprecedented among tournament representatives.
Fortunately, their bond helped them master the spell by Christmas.
When the four completed the spell, all magical activity within a five-kilometer radius would appear in their minds.
Wizards, magical creatures, or magical objects—
everything manifested as red points of light.
Like the thermal vision of a jungle python.
Using this detection magic to search for the trophies' magical barriers made them dozens of times more efficient than other teams.
Ironically, the only team honestly searching the forest was Hogwarts.
After entering the Valley, Ilvermorny split up.
One member followed Castelobruxo's markers at incredible speed.
The rest gathered together and advanced slowly.
Meanwhile, the Uagadou team regrouped with Omar and began marching in a straight line.
They shouted loud Swahili slogans as they moved—loud and rhythmic.
Their formation made it seem as though they were deliberately trying to attract the attention of the other teams.
After Charlie fired the signal flare, the six Hogwarts members needed two and a half hours to regroup.
"Terrible luck," Zach complained as he finally arrived, covered in dirt.
"The direction I took was full of rivers and swamps."
"Alright," Charlie said.
"Everyone's here."
"Split into groups and search in three directions."
According to their earlier plan, once all six had gathered they would divide into pairs:
Penelope and Charlie
Percy and Theo
Zach and Sean
And the search for the trophies truly began.
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