“So you are aiming for my ranking, huh.”
“You understand fast. As expected of the fourth rank.” Karle looked at me with a smile. “But I must say, we are really lucky. Among all the first-class students we could have met, we met you.”
“What do you mean?”
“It looks like you don’t know yet.” Karle chuckled. “Everybody says that you are the weakest among this batch of class one students. They say the reason you managed to snatch one of the top ten spots was not due to your strength, but because the practical test was advantageous to you.”
I heaved out a sigh.
“So you think I’m not worthy of being in class one?”
“What do you think?” Karle grinned. “I know for a fact that your mana is still at the third tier. That is lacking for someone in class one.”
“I see.” I sighed again.
It looks like my low mana tier is still causing trouble.
But it’s not that bad. If my low mana tier made them underestimate me, I welcome it.
‘But how should I deal with them?’
Right now, I’m in a slightly bad situation. I’m confident I can defeat the three of them if I use all my cards, but I don’t want to reveal them unless absolutely necessary.
In other words, I need to use my already-known skills to deal with them.
‘Lorena is not a problem… She should have awakened a skill related to earth manipulation, but I can deal with her easily as long as I find an opening.’
The problem is the other two.
Both Gerald and Karle are tier four Awakened, Gerald should have awakened a skill related to weight or gravity, and Karle a movement-type skill.
I’m confident in facing any of them one-on-one, but fighting the two of them at the same time will be hard.
There is also Lorena restricting my movements from behind, making the situation more complex.
Furthermore, defeating them is not the end. I need to guarantee I’m in condition to continue exploring the dungeon after defeating them.
It’s hard.
‘But maybe, there is a way.’
I closed my eyes briefly and activated [Understanding].
Soon, everything in my surroundings appeared in my mind.
I sorted through the information quickly, and slowly, my lips curled up.
‘Found it.’
Opening my eyes, I saw that Karle, Gerald, and Lorena were about to attack me again.
I looked at them and shook my head.
“I don’t plan to lose my time here.”
Upon saying that, I kicked the branch I was standing on and jumped away.
Then, I ran in their opposite direction.
Karle’s face changed.
“Don’t let him escape!”
‘Yes, come after me.’ I murmured inwardly. ‘I have a surprise for you.’
…
‘He is fast.’ Karle thought to himself while chasing Jane.
Just in terms of speed, Jane was faster than Gerald and Lorena, who were at tier four.
Unfortunately for him, Karle was still faster.
Karle’s skill was called [Burst]. It allowed him to increase greatly his speed for a short instant in exchange for a small amount of mana.
It was not a top-notch skill, but it was still very practical. It could be used to attack, evade, and even chase.
Although Jane’s speed was surprising, it was not enough to shake Karle off. It would take him a few seconds at most to catch up to him.
‘But he should have noticed already… Something is off.’
Unlike what he told Jane before, Karle did not underestimate him.
Just the fact that Jane got fourth place in the entrance examination meant that he was remarkable in any way. Furthermore, he had managed to retreat uninjured after being sneak attacked by Karle, Gerald, and Lorena.
Karle was not confident he could do the same.
Thus, even though he was chasing Jane, he made sure to keep an eye on any trick Jane could play.
But to his surprise, nothing happened even when he caught up.
Suppressing his suspicions, Karle decided to attack.
He stomped on the muddy ground, activating his skill as he accelerated in Jane’s direction while slashing with his sword.
Jane turned around immediately, using his spear to block the attack. He then released a charge of electricity that traveled through Karle’s sword to his body.
Karle felt his body stiffening briefly, but he shook it off with his mana. The next instant, Jane's spear was being thrust toward his chest.
Karle hurriedly held his sword in front of his chest, using the flat part of the sword to block the tip of the spear.
However, Jane’s spear was heavier than he expected, and it contained a trace of lightning. The clash forced him to take a step backward as Jane followed up with a succession of sword thrusts, every one faster than the previous!
The rapid spear thrusts caught Karle by surprise. He could only continue using his sword to block them, but every time he blocked a spear thrust, he was forced to take a step back as the lightning stiffened his body briefly and his balance slowly crumbled.
By the fifth spear thrust, Karle’s sword was finally pushed away!
Next, Jane took a step forward and stabbed again, his spear moving so fast that Karle only saw a blur.
“Don’t underestimate me!” Karle roared. He activated [Burst] in the nick of time, narrowly moving his body aside as he saw Jane’s spear pierce the place he was just now.
‘Dangerous!’
Karle felt cold sweat run down his back.
He never expected Jane’s close-quarter combat to be so strong. In a moment of negligence, he was almost defeated!
“So that was your plan! You wanted to separate us and defeat us one by one.” Karle could not help but admire Jane. “What a shame, you failed.”
Jane furrowed his brows and slashed with his spear in Karle’s direction intending to continue pressuring him, but Karle just smiled.
Because at that moment, Gerald caught up with them.
“OHHH!!!”
He charged directly at Jane, swinging his bat violently with a frenzied roar.
Jane stopped attacking and used the shaft of the spear to block Gerald’s attack, but the weight behind Gerald’s attack was not something he could receive easily.
He grunted and took three steps backward to withstand the power behind the attack, but Karle attacked at the same time, using his sword to stab at Jane’s waist.
Jane could only roll away to avoid the attack.
Without allowing him to rest, Gerald swung his bat again. Left with no other choice, Jane could only raise his spear and block the bat.
The strength behind the bat was so high that it created a shockwave when it clashed against the spear, pushing the nearby mud away.
Jane groaned in pain as he kneeled on a knee, barely resisting the blow.
‘It’s the end!’
Excited, Karle brandished his sword in a downward slash, intending to finish the battle.
But at that moment, he saw Jane curve his lips up.
“I got you.” He muttered.
And a four-meter-long alligator lunged at Karle from behind him.
“So you are aiming for my ranking, huh.”
“You understand fast. As expected of the fourth rank.” Karle looked at me with a smile. “But I must say, we are really lucky. Among all the first-class students we could have met, we met you.”
“What do you mean?”
“It looks like you don’t know yet.” Karle chuckled. “Everybody says that you are the weakest among this batch of class one students. They say the reason you managed to snatch one of the top ten spots was not due to your strength, but because the practical test was advantageous to you.”
I heaved out a sigh.
“So you think I’m not worthy of being in class one?”
“What do you think?” Karle grinned. “I know for a fact that your mana is still at the third tier. That is lacking for someone in class one.”
“I see.” I sighed again.
It looks like my low mana tier is still causing trouble.
But it’s not that bad. If my low mana tier made them underestimate me, I welcome it.
‘But how should I deal with them?’
Right now, I’m in a slightly bad situation. I’m confident I can defeat the three of them if I use all my cards, but I don’t want to reveal them unless absolutely necessary.
In other words, I need to use my already-known skills to deal with them.
‘Lorena is not a problem… She should have awakened a skill related to earth manipulation, but I can deal with her easily as long as I find an opening.’
The problem is the other two.
Both Gerald and Karle are tier four Awakened, Gerald should have awakened a skill related to weight or gravity, and Karle a movement-type skill.
I’m confident in facing any of them one-on-one, but fighting the two of them at the same time will be hard.
There is also Lorena restricting my movements from behind, making the situation more complex.
Furthermore, defeating them is not the end. I need to guarantee I’m in condition to continue exploring the dungeon after defeating them.
It’s hard.
‘But maybe, there is a way.’
I closed my eyes briefly and activated [Understanding].
Soon, everything in my surroundings appeared in my mind.
I sorted through the information quickly, and slowly, my lips curled up.
‘Found it.’
Opening my eyes, I saw that Karle, Gerald, and Lorena were about to attack me again.
I looked at them and shook my head.
“I don’t plan to lose my time here.”
Upon saying that, I kicked the branch I was standing on and jumped away.
Then, I ran in their opposite direction.
Karle’s face changed.
“Don’t let him escape!”
‘Yes, come after me.’ I murmured inwardly. ‘I have a surprise for you.’
…
‘He is fast.’ Karle thought to himself while chasing Jane.
Just in terms of speed, Jane was faster than Gerald and Lorena, who were at tier four.
Unfortunately for him, Karle was still faster.
Karle’s skill was called [Burst]. It allowed him to increase greatly his speed for a short instant in exchange for a small amount of mana.
It was not a top-notch skill, but it was still very practical. It could be used to attack, evade, and even chase.
Although Jane’s speed was surprising, it was not enough to shake Karle off. It would take him a few seconds at most to catch up to him.
‘But he should have noticed already… Something is off.’
Unlike what he told Jane before, Karle did not underestimate him.
Just the fact that Jane got fourth place in the entrance examination meant that he was remarkable in any way. Furthermore, he had managed to retreat uninjured after being sneak attacked by Karle, Gerald, and Lorena.
Karle was not confident he could do the same.
Thus, even though he was chasing Jane, he made sure to keep an eye on any trick Jane could play.
But to his surprise, nothing happened even when he caught up.
Suppressing his suspicions, Karle decided to attack.
He stomped on the muddy ground, activating his skill as he accelerated in Jane’s direction while slashing with his sword.
Jane turned around immediately, using his spear to block the attack. He then released a charge of electricity that traveled through Karle’s sword to his body.
Karle felt his body stiffening briefly, but he shook it off with his mana. The next instant, Jane's spear was being thrust toward his chest.
Karle hurriedly held his sword in front of his chest, using the flat part of the sword to block the tip of the spear.
However, Jane’s spear was heavier than he expected, and it contained a trace of lightning. The clash forced him to take a step backward as Jane followed up with a succession of sword thrusts, every one faster than the previous!
The rapid spear thrusts caught Karle by surprise. He could only continue using his sword to block them, but every time he blocked a spear thrust, he was forced to take a step back as the lightning stiffened his body briefly and his balance slowly crumbled.
By the fifth spear thrust, Karle’s sword was finally pushed away!
Next, Jane took a step forward and stabbed again, his spear moving so fast that Karle only saw a blur.
“Don’t underestimate me!” Karle roared. He activated [Burst] in the nick of time, narrowly moving his body aside as he saw Jane’s spear pierce the place he was just now.
‘Dangerous!’
Karle felt cold sweat run down his back.
He never expected Jane’s close-quarter combat to be so strong. In a moment of negligence, he was almost defeated!
“So that was your plan! You wanted to separate us and defeat us one by one.” Karle could not help but admire Jane. “What a shame, you failed.”
Jane furrowed his brows and slashed with his spear in Karle’s direction intending to continue pressuring him, but Karle just smiled.
Because at that moment, Gerald caught up with them.
“OHHH!!!”
He charged directly at Jane, swinging his bat violently with a frenzied roar.
Jane stopped attacking and used the shaft of the spear to block Gerald’s attack, but the weight behind Gerald’s attack was not something he could receive easily.
He grunted and took three steps backward to withstand the power behind the attack, but Karle attacked at the same time, using his sword to stab at Jane’s waist.
Jane could only roll away to avoid the attack.
Without allowing him to rest, Gerald swung his bat again. Left with no other choice, Jane could only raise his spear and block the bat.
The strength behind the bat was so high that it created a shockwave when it clashed against the spear, pushing the nearby mud away.
Jane groaned in pain as he kneeled on a knee, barely resisting the blow.
‘It’s the end!’
Excited, Karle brandished his sword in a downward slash, intending to finish the battle.
But at that moment, he saw Jane curve his lips up.
“I got you.” He muttered.
And a four-meter-long alligator lunged at Karle from behind him.
