The bell rang, signaling the end of our class.
Today, we learned about what causes a dungeon to form and the different kinds of dungeons.
To summarize: dungeons are formed when mana becomes unstable, creating a pocket dimension filled with monsters and various items inside. It's unknown why the entrance always appears in the shape of a stone doorway.
We only discussed the two most common types of dungeons: closed and open space types. Those basically boil down to caves (closed space dungeons) and everything else (open space dungeons).
But I still have one more class today.
Combat training.
"Excuse me," a female voice called out to me as I was heading to my next class.
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"Next... uuuh... oh." It took him a couple of long seconds to decide on the next student.
"You!" The teacher pointed at a student who clumsily stood up.
"I-I-I'm Liana from the United Kingdom of Tiasbes," said a girl with cat ears and short brown hair. "Since a lot of dungeons are formed where I'm from, I want to learn to explore dungeons to prevent them from breaking out."
When a dungeon "breaks out," all the monsters inside are released… which is obviously bad.
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"A-Are you also going to combat training?"
She belongs to the knight class, even though you wouldn't expect it from her shy personality and small frame. A decent unit in the early game that falls off pretty quickly.
"Yeah, are you in Group A too, Liana?"
Unlike most classes, the combat training course is divided into four groups of thirty-five students.
"Y-Yes, and I-I wanted to know if..." she looked down at the ground.
"If you don't mind coming with me. Then sure, let's go together," I said, trying to sound as friendly as I could.
She just nodded and started walking beside me.
"I-I'm sorry if this upsets you, but… you're nothing like I heard in the rumors."
"Really?"
"Y-Yes, I heard that you bribed the director to get admitted, and that you're secretly a hardened veteran infiltrating our school." She began describing every rumor she'd heard about me.
"Hahaha." How else could I react besides nervously laughing? How?
"Oh. I'm sorry! Please don't demote me!!" she yelled and bowed deeply.
"Wha—no, wait… raise your head..." If someone saw this, I'm sure the rumors would only get worse. "Calm down, I can't demote you."
"But I heard that you and Prince Lyon Alva had a disagreement and because of that, you manipulated him into getting demoted in the ranks."
I want to say that rumor is false...
But it isn't.
"Trust me, I wanted Lyon to be demoted just as much as he wanted that to happen. I hated the outcome, but it wasn't something I could change."
Lies upon lies.
"Besides… you know now that most of the rumors about me are false. So is that one." She seemed to calm down a little.
I hate rumors. They will absolutely make my life here worse.
We made our way to Arena Three, where our next class was about to begin.
Thirty-three students—excluding me and Liana—were already waiting for our teacher.
"Alen!" I heard someone call my name.
It was Franchesca. "Already done with that weird class?"
"It's not a weird class..." I could feel Liana staring at us nervously and stepping back.
That seems to be the normal reaction, apparently.
Not only is Franchesca feared... but I also seem to be perceived that way, so we've been getting along in the two required classes we already shared today.
"Anyone who wants to explore dungeons is a weirdo," she said, crossing her arms. I noticed Liana had left us and joined a different group.
"Were your classes boring without me?" I teased, already guessing how it went.
"Don't think of yourself as that important. You're just an ant I'm observing to see how it grows." She turned around.
"But was it boring or not?"
"Pfft..." she mumbled something too low for me to catch.
"Haha."
I still don't understand why she's so nice to me. I've noticed she's cold to the rest of our classmates, like she's supposed to be. But I seem to be the exception.
"Y'all seem to be in high spirits today!!" A voice like a roar made everyone's heads turn toward our teacher. "I think this makes for the perfect time for one-on-one matches." Every step she took made the ground seem to tremble.
"Like true warriors! A fight without magic, using only the skill of our bodies." Why is she walking toward me and Franchesca?
"And you, little star boy," she grabbed me by the collar and lifted me with one hand.
"Why don't you show us the reason for your popularity?" She threw me into a small ring.
Thanks to my passive ability, I had no trouble sticking the landing.
As soon as I turned around, I saw a black spot in the sky getting bigger.
Unfortunately, that black spot was a student also thrown by our teacher.
"Hurk!"
That student ended up crashing against me. We both rolled on the ground for a second.
"Both of you, grab a weapon and begin an exhibition match for the rest of the class."
We slowly stood up and walked past the teacher and the students to the opposite side of the ring, where the weapons were laid out.
Zagressa Beritan, a tiger demi-human with strength that makes even dragons look weak. A gladiator-class unit—an advanced form of the warrior class—that relies on brute strength to destroy every enemy.
She's even worse at magic than I am, having no affinity with any element.
Weirdly enough, she does have a magic attack and mana stat, but they're completely useless on her.
I didn't need to look to know who I'd be fighting.
Cecil Treyaro, the current number three of the S Class.
A guy with long black hair tied in a ponytail.
Theo Der Botcam's personal bodyguard.
And the second-best recruitable swordsman-class unit in the game.
A true beast who can bench five other swordsmen even at a lower level.
"So you fight with daggers? I expected something more entertaining." I could hear the disappointment in Zagressa's voice.
I looked at Cecil. He just shrugged.
"Whatever. Start fighting before I make you run laps around the arena all evening."
We both readied ourselves.
"Snowfa—Heurk!" A rock hit Cecil's head.
"No magic allowed in my classes."
He stood up, blood dripping from his forehead.
We began analyzing each other, preparing to counter the first move.
"...Heurk!" A rock hit my head, and I dropped to the ground.
"That was a warning rock. I know your little trick and I'm making sure you won't use it." She held another rock in her right hand, ready to throw.
"I wasn't going to use it!" Unlike Cecil, that rock hit me on the cheek.
"Yeah, right. I knew how you fought the moment I laid eyes on you. You're here to learn how to fight with only your body—like true warriors." Her intense gaze weighed down on both of us.
"So fight like true warriors!!"
Cecil looked motivated.
I... was not. I'm no fighting addict.
We rushed at each other.
Cecil's first move: a diagonal upward slash.
I parried with both daggers, pushing him back.
I quickly followed with a series of sweeping attacks. He dodged most by stepping back.
He took a defensive stance, waiting to counter.
That chance came when I overcommitted on a descending strike.
He kicked me in the stomach, forcing me back.
He followed with a slash toward my face.
The kick wasn't too powerful, so I recovered quickly and ducked under the blade.
Maybe it's because I've trained with a better swordsman, but his attacks were predictable.
Soon, I was back on the offensive.
Something was wrong.
I shouldn't be winning against Cecil.
But no matter what he tried, I kept him on the defensive.
Eventually, I pushed him back to the edge of the ring.
Just a few more hits and I'd beat one of the game's strongest characters.
Then he suddenly changed stance.
He mimicked drawing a blade from a nonexistent scabbard.
And even without moving...
I knew where he'd strike.
Right side of my neck.
Left side of my chest.
Outer right thigh.
So... already using that technique?
His first strike: a horizontal slash to my neck.
Unlucky for him—I fought Karla. During our fights, I sensed fifty fatal strikes.
This? Just three.
His attack was strong.
But I blocked it once... twice... and dodged the third by jumping.
I used the momentum from the jump to—
Where is he?
Pain flared in my back. It felt like a wooden sword.
We were at the edge of the ring. The blow pushed me just far enough to fall out.
I stuck the landing—but I'd clearly lost.
I looked at our teacher, who looked bored, her pinky stuck in one of her animal ears.
"Man, the level's low this year." She yawned. "Everyone, find a sparring partner and fight until you throw up or pass out!!"
I looked around.
"How about a rematch?" Cecil asked calmly.