In the outskirts of the dungeon stood a building that seemed out of place with the environment around it.
It was three stories high, with modern aesthetics and state-of-the-art technology designed to keep a watch on everything inside the dungeon. Through this building, the teachers could supervise and make sure of the well-being of the students inside.
Right now, a group of seven teachers was on the third floor of the building, watching dozens of screens showing the situation in the dungeon.
Every screen showed a different scene. Some of them had students fighting against monsters, others showed how the students advanced throughout the swamp, and a few showed a couple of students struggling to survive in the hostile environment.
“Scylla, I heard you finally reached the peak of tier seventh. Congratulations.” A teacher commented.
“Thank you. It was mostly luck. I had been stuck for several years, so it looks like my perseverance finally gave results.”
“I wish I was so lucky.” One of the teachers looked at her with a look of envy.
Right then, one of the screens showed the scene of Jane facing the three students from class two.
“Oh? It looks like it already started.”
“Finally? This kind of thing happens every year. It started rather early this time.”
“That is Jane Walker, right?” Scylla raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “He sure is unlucky. Facing the thirteenth, the thirty-eighth, and the fortieth at the same time. Tsk, tsk, he is trouble.”
“Does anyone want to bet on the result? I bet he is going to be eliminated.”
“Come on. That is almost certain. Unless he manages to escape, he is going to be eliminated for sure.”
The teachers chuckled in schadenfreude.
Sanctuary’s First was an academy that encouraged competition. Due to it, it was normal to see students trying to obstruct each other whenever it was possible.
And the students from class one were generally the main targets of this kind of obstruction.
Many students wanted a place in class one, but for that, they needed to pull down someone who was already there.
Thus, every year during the first dive, the students from class one were on the receiving end of the relentless attacks from lower-ranking students.
“Hey Doris, what do you think? You teach Jane combat, so you should be aware of her abilities.” Scylla asked the teacher of Introduction to Combat, Doris Heller.
Doris looked at the screen and fell silent for a brief instant.
Remembering the combat abilities the young man showed in the Introduction to Combat classes, she shook her head.
“Actually, I don’t think Jane is the one in danger.”
“Huh?” Her answer surprised the other teachers.
“This batch of freshmen is not that simple.” She put on a solemn expression. “Even without taking into account that monster, Sylvia, any of the other top candidates could have easily obtained the first place in the previous years. It’s especially true for the first five.
“As for Jane, even although I’m not aware of the true extent of his abilities, I know something for sure.” She paused and watched the screen with a focused look. “This is far from enough to eliminate him.”
…
The sudden attack took me by surprise. It took less than one second from the moment the mud entangled my legs until Karle and Gerald attacked me.
I was taken aback, but the constant training against the demon inside the dreamland helped me to react. I pushed my spear to the front, using it to block Karle’s sword and Gerald’s bat.
At the same time, I released a burst of mana mixed with lightning from my legs to escape from the mud and jump away.
But as my spear made contact with the bat, my expression changed.
The weight of the bat was several times what I expected, pushing me back to the mud as I grunted in discomfort.
‘A skill!?’
Meanwhile, Karle suddenly accelerated, becoming several times faster as his sword bypassed my spear and advanced toward my chest.
My reaction was lightning-fast when facing this unexpected situation. Instead of fighting against the weight of the bat, I relaxed my body and let it push me backward to evade Karle’s sword.
Simultaneously, I filled my spear with mana and aimed it at Karle’s throat.
But Karle used another burst of speed to evade my attack. He then zigzagged in my direction, closing the distance between us quickly as his sword advanced toward my chest.
At the same time, the mud below my feet surged up, restricting my movements and slowing me down greatly.
‘That girl…!’
My expression became ugly as I glared at Lorena, who was kneeling with her hands on the ground.
She was the one manipulating the mud to restrict my movements.
‘I need to get rid of her first!’
Unfortunately, she was more than thirty meters away, making it hard for me to reach her.
Plus, Karle and Gerald would not allow me to eliminate her that easily.
My mind moved at great speed, and in an instant, I came up with a plan.
Karle’s sword slashed toward my chest, but I blocked it with my lightning-infused spear. The lightning in the spear traveled through Karle’s sword to his arms, making him retreat hastily.
But in the meantime, Gerald had arrived before me again. He swung his bat down powerfully.
I did not dare to underestimate his attack. Thus, I filled my arms with as much mana as possible and blocked the bat with the shaft of my spear.
“Ugh!”
The bat was so heavy that I felt my arms were about to break. It was as though he was not swinging a bat but a half-a-ton mace.
Fortunately, I had relaxed my body before receiving the attack and used my stance to redirect part of the blow to the ground.
As the bat hit my spear, the impact between the two weapons blew away the nearby mud. That allowed me to break out of the mud again. Then, I kicked the ground and jumped up to the branch of a nearby tree.
I let out a relieved sigh and looked at the three students below.
“What is the meaning of this?” I asked coldly.
Karle shrugged. “Sorry about this, Jane, but we need to eliminate you. Nothing personal, don’t worry. We just want to lower your score as much as possible.”
Lower my score?
I furrowed my brows, but quickly, a flash of understanding flashed through my eyes.
“I see. So you are aiming for my ranking, huh.”
Sigh...
I put on a self-deprecating smile.
I was not expecting to meet this kind of trouble inside the dungeon.
In the outskirts of the dungeon stood a building that seemed out of place with the environment around it.
It was three stories high, with modern aesthetics and state-of-the-art technology designed to keep a watch on everything inside the dungeon. Through this building, the teachers could supervise and make sure of the well-being of the students inside.
Right now, a group of seven teachers was on the third floor of the building, watching dozens of screens showing the situation in the dungeon.
Every screen showed a different scene. Some of them had students fighting against monsters, others showed how the students advanced throughout the swamp, and a few showed a couple of students struggling to survive in the hostile environment.
“Scylla, I heard you finally reached the peak of tier seventh. Congratulations.” A teacher commented.
“Thank you. It was mostly luck. I had been stuck for several years, so it looks like my perseverance finally gave results.”
“I wish I was so lucky.” One of the teachers looked at her with a look of envy.
Right then, one of the screens showed the scene of Jane facing the three students from class two.
“Oh? It looks like it already started.”
“Finally? This kind of thing happens every year. It started rather early this time.”
“That is Jane Walker, right?” Scylla raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “He sure is unlucky. Facing the thirteenth, the thirty-eighth, and the fortieth at the same time. Tsk, tsk, he is trouble.”
“Does anyone want to bet on the result? I bet he is going to be eliminated.”
“Come on. That is almost certain. Unless he manages to escape, he is going to be eliminated for sure.”
The teachers chuckled in schadenfreude.
Sanctuary’s First was an academy that encouraged competition. Due to it, it was normal to see students trying to obstruct each other whenever it was possible.
And the students from class one were generally the main targets of this kind of obstruction.
Many students wanted a place in class one, but for that, they needed to pull down someone who was already there.
Thus, every year during the first dive, the students from class one were on the receiving end of the relentless attacks from lower-ranking students.
“Hey Doris, what do you think? You teach Jane combat, so you should be aware of her abilities.” Scylla asked the teacher of Introduction to Combat, Doris Heller.
Doris looked at the screen and fell silent for a brief instant.
Remembering the combat abilities the young man showed in the Introduction to Combat classes, she shook her head.
“Actually, I don’t think Jane is the one in danger.”
“Huh?” Her answer surprised the other teachers.
“This batch of freshmen is not that simple.” She put on a solemn expression. “Even without taking into account that monster, Sylvia, any of the other top candidates could have easily obtained the first place in the previous years. It’s especially true for the first five.
“As for Jane, even although I’m not aware of the true extent of his abilities, I know something for sure.” She paused and watched the screen with a focused look. “This is far from enough to eliminate him.”
…
The sudden attack took me by surprise. It took less than one second from the moment the mud entangled my legs until Karle and Gerald attacked me.
I was taken aback, but the constant training against the demon inside the dreamland helped me to react. I pushed my spear to the front, using it to block Karle’s sword and Gerald’s bat.
At the same time, I released a burst of mana mixed with lightning from my legs to escape from the mud and jump away.
But as my spear made contact with the bat, my expression changed.
The weight of the bat was several times what I expected, pushing me back to the mud as I grunted in discomfort.
‘A skill!?’
Meanwhile, Karle suddenly accelerated, becoming several times faster as his sword bypassed my spear and advanced toward my chest.
My reaction was lightning-fast when facing this unexpected situation. Instead of fighting against the weight of the bat, I relaxed my body and let it push me backward to evade Karle’s sword.
Simultaneously, I filled my spear with mana and aimed it at Karle’s throat.
But Karle used another burst of speed to evade my attack. He then zigzagged in my direction, closing the distance between us quickly as his sword advanced toward my chest.
At the same time, the mud below my feet surged up, restricting my movements and slowing me down greatly.
‘That girl…!’
My expression became ugly as I glared at Lorena, who was kneeling with her hands on the ground.
She was the one manipulating the mud to restrict my movements.
‘I need to get rid of her first!’
Unfortunately, she was more than thirty meters away, making it hard for me to reach her.
Plus, Karle and Gerald would not allow me to eliminate her that easily.
My mind moved at great speed, and in an instant, I came up with a plan.
Karle’s sword slashed toward my chest, but I blocked it with my lightning-infused spear. The lightning in the spear traveled through Karle’s sword to his arms, making him retreat hastily.
But in the meantime, Gerald had arrived before me again. He swung his bat down powerfully.
I did not dare to underestimate his attack. Thus, I filled my arms with as much mana as possible and blocked the bat with the shaft of my spear.
“Ugh!”
The bat was so heavy that I felt my arms were about to break. It was as though he was not swinging a bat but a half-a-ton mace.
Fortunately, I had relaxed my body before receiving the attack and used my stance to redirect part of the blow to the ground.
As the bat hit my spear, the impact between the two weapons blew away the nearby mud. That allowed me to break out of the mud again. Then, I kicked the ground and jumped up to the branch of a nearby tree.
I let out a relieved sigh and looked at the three students below.
“What is the meaning of this?” I asked coldly.
Karle shrugged. “Sorry about this, Jane, but we need to eliminate you. Nothing personal, don’t worry. We just want to lower your score as much as possible.”
Lower my score?
I furrowed my brows, but quickly, a flash of understanding flashed through my eyes.
“I see. So you are aiming for my ranking, huh.”
Sigh...
I put on a self-deprecating smile.
I was not expecting to meet this kind of trouble inside the dungeon.
