CHAPTER 67: GETTING STARTED IN THE DUNGEON

"Alright, students, let’s start by forming the teams before we head to the dungeon," the Professor says to everyone.

Today will be the trip to the dungeon, and I’m feeling quite excited about the prospect the little slaughter yesterday really got me pumped up to kill even more today.

"To start, the teams will be based on experience, so students who already have combat experience will team up with the heroes who have less experience and need more support."

It makes sense there’s no reason to put students who can already defend and fight themselves together with others who also know how to defend themselves.

He soon starts assembling the teams.

"Team 1: Tsubasa Watanabe, Sakura Taniguchi, Riko Mitsuki, and Celeste Montclair."

Looks like the teams will be formed by 4 people, with 3 heroes and 1 "veteran" after all, I know how strong Celeste is.

"Team 2: Hana Watanabe, Yuki Suzuki, Kaito Yoshida, and Pandora Aegis."

’Damn, I get stuck with these assholes?’ It’s not entirely bad since I can try to discover their abilities, but still, what the hell, Fate? Sending me right away with these 3? It’s almost as if Fate wants me to kill them in that dungeon.

The teams are soon formed. The Princess’s team is at least curious, since it’s completely made up of noble students from this world. I don’t know if it’s just because she’s the strongest of them, or if it’s some way to protect her, but it ended up being a very distinct contrast.

Each team has 1 to 2 heroes. It seems that only truly capable students ended up with 3 heroes on the team, which is not good for me. I’m physically capable, but I wonder if my mentality will hold up.

"The dungeon you will be entering has monsters from class F to class C, and the dungeon boss is class B. For students like Celeste or Pandora, defeating the boss is possible, but for other teams, I recommend avoiding the boss area."

"The general monster classification is quite simple: F, E, D, C, B, A, S, and SS. Although class F monsters are weak, you must be careful remember that monsters also have magic and can use abilities, so even low-rank monsters can injure you if you let your guard down."

"Also, weak monsters often travel in large groups that can reach hundreds, and there have been cases of powerful adventurers dying to groups of class E monsters."

"Although they are weak, their large numbers can lead you to exhaustion, and many of you are not prepared for that. You will have teachers ready to help you, but we will not enter the dungeon unless an alarm is triggered."

"All of you will be taking these medallions and this magical flare. The medallion will alert us if you are seriously injured, and the flare will show your position. Unfortunately, we cannot put tracking magic on you because the dungeon interferes with that type of magic, and that’s why you have the flare."

He starts handing out medallions and flares to everyone. The flare has a small, red prismatic shape, which seems to contain fire-type mana.

I tuck the flare into my uniform pocket and put on the medallion. It really doesn’t match my beauty, but there’s not much I can do about it.

"Now, as for your objective in the dungeon, there will be a few rules. First, you must survive for 1 week inside the dungeon." Several students start murmuring, seeming uncomfortable with the idea.

Today is May 29th. Yesterday, the first shipment of Zephyra’s ores was delivered. I wonder how long it will take before they beg for more help.

’Focus, let’s put that aside for now...’

"No complaints. You need to learn to live and survive in conditions without support. The dungeon itself is reminiscent of a large forest with a day and night cycle, so you could say it’s like a easy-to-get-lost labyrinth."

"After 1 week, we will come and retrieve you, and the team with the best results will win a prize. Your results will be measured based on the crystals you obtain from monster bodies."

’True, they leave that behind.’ When I fought in the dungeon, I just killed and left, since Thalor would gather the leftover items.

"In the dungeon, you must work as a team and try your best to take care of each other. Any injuries you receive will be healed when the test is over, and I ask that you take this seriously you can truly die in that dungeon."

"There’s no guarantee that we’ll arrive in time when you activate the flare. Of course, any team that wants to give up can use the flare, but if someone from the team gives up, the entire team is disqualified."

"And the teams that are eliminated will receive a punishment, in addition to spending their future vacations at the school training."

The professor focuses his gaze on me.

"And no killing your teammates in the dungeon we’ll know if you do, and you’ll receive a punishment accordingly." He looks at me as if I’m the only one he wants to warn.

’The Director...’ It must have been the Director who told him about this. It’s complicated, but I wouldn’t kill them yet I have to wait until they can no longer pass their essence on to future heroes.

"Now, let’s head to the teleportation circle. Inside the dungeon, all you’ll have is what you’ve brought with you now." Several students express dissatisfaction as we walk out of the room.

After all, almost no one brought anything relevant for long periods of time most just brought weapons since the duration of the stay wasn’t specified.

"Hello, Pandora, it seems we’ll be a team," Yuki comes to talk to me while the others follow behind.

"Yes, I hope we can get along well..." I respond with indifference to maintain a polite image.

We soon arrive at the magic circle.

’How interesting...’ It’s a giant magic circle. I wonder where the mana comes from to power such a large circle.

We all step onto it, and the professor activates the magic circle. Soon, a bright light occurs, and we’re teleported to a building. In front of us, there’s a dark door that can’t be seen through. Around us, there are guards and some other professors I guess this is what he meant by the kingdom "protecting" the entrances.

’They’re just monopolizing everything.’ True, greedy pigs.

"One last warning: as soon as you enter, you’ll all be teleported to random locations, so you need to hold hands to end up in the same place. The teams will enter in the order they were formed, starting from the last one."

’So we’ll be the second-to-last team to enter.’ I see the teams entering. What catches my attention is Riko he’s going to transform, but his gestures and speech have changed.

He finishes the transformation, but his magical girl outfit has changed. He also called himself the "Stellar Priestess" instead of the "Star Guardian."

His current outfit reminds me of an anime priestess, but with golden and white tones.

’Why the change... and why does her mana seem to be close to mine?’ Amiya has a considerably low level, so having as much mana as me is absurd. Even though my power is sealed, I still have a lot of mana by common standards.

From what I know, most heroes’ levels are between 15% and 20% of their maximum, so Amiya having as much mana as me is a very big feat, since Celeste also has as much mana as me, and Celeste’s current level is just a little over 1500.

’I wonder why she unlocked this stronger transformation form.’ I decide to stop thinking about it even if she has a lot of mana, a battle doesn’t come down to just that.

Soon, it’s our team’s turn. We hold hands and enter, and as soon as we pass through the door, we appear in a forest.

The last update the professor gave was that this is a "Special" attack dungeon. It’s special because there are no lower floors in the center of the dungeon is the boss, who always respawns after a while, while the monsters get stronger as you get closer to the center.

The treasures here aren’t that great, so this place serves more as a source of wood for the kingdom.

"So I guess I’ll be..." Kaito was about to speak, but I interrupt him.

"I’ll be the leader until this mission is over." It doesn’t make sense to let any of these spoiled noble brats lead I don’t see how they would know anything useful about survival.

"Tsk," Kaito clicks his tongue.

"Hana, scout the perimeter. Yuki and Kaito, help me set up a camp." Hana is the coldest among them, so I know she’ll at least do that correctly.

"Ha, and how do you expect us to make a camp without anything, know-it-all?" Kaito mocks.

I punch a tree, knocking it down.

"It’s quite simple we just make the materials right here and now." I start using my wind magic [Divide] to cut the wood to perfection, making several boards.

"So, is anyone here good at earth magic?"

"Tsk... I am."

I start knocking down several trees with my punches. I plant 4 trunks in the ground to make the base structure of the building.

’I don’t know where we are, so I have to be careful.’ If this is close to the center, having a place to protect ourselves is best.

"I want you to use your earth magic to connect the boards, make the ground cover the structure so we can build something like a house." We soon start, and after 3 hours of hard work, we have what can be called a house.

It’s made of reinforced earth magic, while the support beams and materials are wood.

’It should withstand rain and strong winds... but can it handle monsters?’ That’s concerning. If it were just me, I wouldn’t have a problem sleeping on the ground or in the treetops.

But I have to keep these useless ones alive, or I’ll get punished for withdrawal.

"Ugh, I have to spend a week in an earth house?" Yuki complains.

’This useless one didn’t do anything and is still complaining?’

"Sleep outside, no one’s going to force you to sleep in there. But figure out how to survive the monsters and the cold when night falls."

"..."

Hana soon returns.

"There’s nothing but some wolves wandering around."

’Nothing...’ That’s not normal. My senses didn’t find anything either, and that’s the problem this dungeon resembles a forest, so why isn’t there anything here?

As a monster, the answer is obvious to me: something dangerous and the ruler of the region, which keeps other creatures away.

"It’s getting dark, let’s sleep for today."

"But it’s still early," Yuki says in a way that irritates me because it’s childish.

"Yeah, I’m not sleeping just because you’re telling me to," Kaito follows.

"7 days, we’ll stay here for 7 days. Don’t think you’ll have many chances to rest in this dungeon. We’ll hunt monsters and food tomorrow, so if you don’t rest now, you won’t rest tomorrow."

I can get food from my shadow, but that would take away the meaning of survival, so I won’t do that.

"I’ll stay on guard. You decide if you want to rest or not." I climb up a tree and sit on a branch. I don’t feel sleepy and practically don’t need to sleep, so I’ll stay on guard. I don’t know who the ruler of the region is, but I hope it doesn’t show up.