Chapters 101-103

Chapter 101

The Headmaster looked at Vice Principal John, then back at the report the man had just brought him.

“Are you sure?”

“Headmaster, you know I wouldn’t waste your time.”

The Headmaster- a man who went mostly without a name, for names were powerful, and he came from a time where magic wasn’t just trapped in Skill Crystals- nodded slowly. “Set up a Special Quest for them.”

“Headmaster!” Vice Principal John’s eyes widen. “That would be a terrible idea. They’re far too young and inexperienced!”

“John,” the Headmaster says, “if there are hordes coming up from the depths of the earth, it means the Generation of Legends has already started awakening some of the real monsters of this world.”

The Vice Principal frowns in response.

“You can’t be thinking that The Cult are starting to act?”

While there are many cults scattered across the world, there’s only one so terrible that anyone with real power knows who they’re talking about when their name is mentioned.

“These monsters are one of the signs that precede their resurgence. At least we know that the Generation of Legends’ effects are starting. We’re facing a new, golden era. And this batch is… somewhat special compared to previous Generations. I have never seen so many Rainbow Skills in a first-year cohort as this.”

“Headmaster,” Vice Principal John inhales deeply, “I would like for you to wait. I don’t want you to send them into a Dungeon Frenzy this early in their learning. I know it’s just a Platinum Rank Dungeon, but it is in a Frenzy.”

Dungeon Frenzies are extremely rare, almost unique states where a Dungeon somehow starts absorbing too much mana, and monsters stronger than they should start spawning. If the Dungeon is not thoroughly culled, it usually results in a spillage, which can precipitate into a monster horde, a veritable wave of famished, hungry monsters trying to destroy and eat everything in their path.

“Should we organize an Incursion into the Great Dungeons?” the Vice Principal continues. “The Cathedral of Steel, and—“

The Headmaster shakes his head and slowly gets up.

“I’ve made up my mind, John. I’m going to be away for a few days confirming the information. You’re in charge for now.”

Vice Principal John almost freezes at that.

The Headmaster leaving the Academy is a big deal. He very rarely deigns to check out something in the world personally. Plus, he carries so much power that his movements in the world always cause various kingdoms and empires to become anxious. Few people are not monitoring him by any means possible to ensure that they’re not going to be one of the Headmaster’s next unfortunate victims. “Are we sending all of the Champions?” Vice Principal John asks as he sees the Headmaster rifling through piles of priceless artifacts. The Headmaster casually leaves such powerful relics out in his office, as if they were just common junk to him. As he examines a wand that could probably blow half of the Citadel up if handled poorly, he shrugs and throws it back in a pile, making John shiver in response.

“John, can you remind me again of what the Generation of Legends is?” The Headmaster asks quietly, dangerously.

“A collection of ten Champions from the Academy who passed the test together and are bound by great karmic—“

“John. Is it the Generation of Legends, or is it merely Half of the Generation of Legends?”

When the Headmaster turns from his relic sorting, a little smoke comes out of his nostrils.

“I’m very sorry, Headmaster. Sometimes, I fall into old habits of worrying about the wrong things. I apologize.”

The Headmaster nods and opens a window, pondering the best route to reach his destination.

“Headmaster,” John coughs. “Sir, may I ask, what about your chores? Are we adding these days you’ll be away to the total? Because my bathroom has yet to be—“

Before John can receive a reply, a strong gust of wind pushes him back, and when he opens his eyes, the Headmaster is nowhere to be seen.

“The old man really hates paying out his lost bets,” John mutters and sits at the Headmaster’s desk, looking at the enormous pile of paperwork he left behind.

“Of course, he left me an ungodly amount of work for me again.”

*

 Everyone in the classroom looks nervous on my behalf as I wipe the blood away from my hand and smile at Professor Veythra.

From the murmured conversation I hear around the room, very few expect me to have any chance at winning this challenge.

And I don’t even blame them, honestly. Under normal conditions, I wouldn’t bet on me either.

If I only had the Grimoire to rely on, I would already have doomed myself by accepting such a bet with a Royal Infernal. Fortunately, the Grimoire is only one of two aces that I have kept up my sleeve.

Leveling up a Gold Skill as complex and intricate as Minor Enlightenment should have required months, even for me. It should have been hard, excruciating, and frustrating.

Instead, it was just extremely painful.

“You may begin. You can try as many times as you’d like for the next hour, Cloud,” Professor Veythra says. “Would you like me to repeat the instructions? You might have forgotten the circuit already.”

“He’s done for,” I hear someone say from the back of the Class -Zibrek, the Goblin girl.

“It sure is a difficult one, I’m not going to lie,” Boomgar turns toward her and nods. “But ya shouldn’t be this negative. It’s going to make your face all ugly and wrinkly!”

“The mana schema the Professor crafted only seems easy to circulate,” Asterion speaks for the first time today, making several people turn toward him. “If she had waited a year, I don’t have any doubt that Jacob could have won. But now, the Professor has seized her moment. It’s still far too early for him to triumph.”

“Jacob is very capable,” Kai shoots back, “true, he may not be as talented as the rest of us, but he did pass the Champion’s trial. I think you’re massively underestimating him.”

“He has no business even attempting something like this,” Iskara comments, then smiles. “That’s why I believe he’ll make it.”

When Professor Veythra hears her own niece supporting someone who had given such a grave insult to their race, she turns her sharp gaze on her Niece,  making Iskara flinch.

To be honest, they’re not wrong.

Even if they knew I had a Rainbow Skill, they would have never predicted me passing this test at all.

If I didn’t also have King Baalrek supporting me, I wouldn’t feel even remotely as confident as I do now.

“I don’t think I’ll need that many attempts,” I say innocently. “You showed a really easy pattern, Professor. I take back what I said earlier, you must like me if you’re going to dote on me like this. I am so thankful  for the opportunity to receive such a precious Skill Crystal and private Tutoring from you.”

Now, even those who personally like Jacob stare at him as if he has lost his mind.

 “Maybe he ingested something poisonous? Someone speculates”

“Something poisonous? Maybe it actually replaced his brain. We should open his head up after he loses; we might find some rare mushrooms up there.”

“You think we’ll find mushrooms? I think there’s only sawdust between his ears. Just look at him. How can he be so sure that he’ll win? I wouldn’t even be that sure—“

Before the spectators can continue,  I start circulating my mana.

The mana pathways are redundant,  from the specific veins they hit, I can feel they’re somehow going through the same veins I use for my Class and Infernal Skills.

With the room darkening and my body’s veins lighting up under Professor Veythra’s Skill effect, I can feel a satisfied smirk growing on the woman’s face.

“Well, well, well. You’ve made progress since I last saw you, Cloud. I can see that Minor Enlightenment is really showing its value if you can already channel like this. It’s impressive, really.”

“Thank you, Professor,” I say, breathing deeply as I finish the first part of the mana circulation pattern and start moving onto the second.

“But you should know that it becomes exponentially harder as you proceed. You’ve only completed one of the five sub-channels. It’s impressive you could do it this fast, but the pressure it exerts is not even a tenth of what you’re about to—“

Professor Veythra cuts herself off midway through her speech when she sees that the mana has already reached my spine and is smoothly gliding back and forth through my veins without stopping for even a second.

“Huh, you must have practiced longer than I gave you credit for. You have completed the second sub-channel, but just know that the third—“

I exert more control over my mana and start speeding up, feeling pressure building in my veins. I crush the third movement without the slightest trouble. In fact, I’ve improved my speed and control compared to the second and the first, which shouldn’t have been possible unless I was holding back.

Which I was, I think to myself as I look at the Professor.

“How did you do that?!” Professor Veythra’s red skin pales. “The third movement is much harder to complete than the previous two. It generates the kind of pressure that—“

“My master left me a few exercises, Professor,” I say. “His guidance may not be as precise as yours, but his knowledge is truly boundless. Among Infernals, I don’t know many that would be able to rival his theoretical knowledge around Skill pathways. And it just so happens that  he had already instructed me to practice roughly the same veins and pathways you’re having me use now.”

That is all true.

King Baalrek had me practice the veins that Infernals use the most, not just random ones. And while his patterns weren’t as smooth as Veythra’s,   there were similarities.  I have to admit, though, I can already feel the mana hitting my veins differently by following Professor Veythra’s schema. In fact, I would go as far as to say that I already feel capable of getting a few levels in my Class and Infernal Skills.

“Your schema is honestly amazing,” I tell Professor Veythra. “Your knowledge of mana veins and how to train them is truly otherworldly, Professor.”

Professor Veythra, despite having her abilities praised, doesn’t feel happy. Instead, she looks like she’s about to attack me, piercing the space between my eyes with one of her claws. To be completely honest, I can’t really blame her.

“Well, this has been a more than impressive display. I’m happy you could feel the extent of my Tutoring capabilities in this exchange, Cloud. Sadly, the fourth and fifth movements are far too complex. Unless you had a Platinum Rank body already, it would take nothing short of perfect control to run through them.”

“Oh, how do you know I can’t?” I ask innocently.

“Because you don’t have the golden glow that comes with reaching the max level of Minor Enlightenment,” Professor Veythra says. “I can see that you’ve mastered the Skill profoundly enough that you can maintain your focus on the outer world while in a meditative state, but when Minor Enlightenment reaches max level, your skin exudes a golden glow while you circulate mana through it.”

“I had heard that,” I nod wisely, and then I push my Mana even further, stretching it to the limits of my control, “but you’re forgetting another scenario where I could have extremely good control even if I didn’t currently have Minor Enlightenment at its max level.”

“No, Cloud,” Professor Veythra says smugly. “There’s not.”

“Technically,” Princess Iskara pipes up from the front row. “If Jacob had evolved the Skill already into a Platinum Skill, that would be one such scenario.”

“The true effect of Minor Enlightenment is only reached by having it reach Level 100 before evolving it into a Platinum Skill. If he was so foolish as to not wait for Level 100 before doing that, he wasted one of the rarest Gold Skills that not even money can buy.”

“Or,” I say, “I did that and I’m currently not even using my Skill.”

After saying that, I take a long, deep breath, and the air around me changes. Small particles of golden dust appear in my vicinity and start swirling around my arms.

When I trained with King Baalrek, Lancelot, and the three Elves from my Monster Felling 201 class, I not only maxed out Minor Enlightenment, but I also evolved it using the Crystal Focus Skill that I received from  The Crucible, the Elite Dungeon I cleared back in Clearwater.

And since Minor Enlightenment is an Evolution Skill, I now have something that is entirely other than typical meditation skills.

King Baalrek said that I was extremely lucky to find a Skill like Crystal Focus, because it merges with Minor Enlightenment perfectly.

As more golden dust accumulates around me, I feel with perfect clarity every single vein in my body. My mana, which had started churning under the added pressure from the final movements, becomes as smooth as a heavenly river.

“This is a new Skill of mine, Professor, it’s called...”

Chapter 102

Professor Veythra stared at Jacob Cloud and gritted her teeth.

She isn’t naive. She can already tell that whatever Skill Jacob had obtained, it’s at the level of a Royal Grade Skill. She can feel the meditative power through sheer proximity, and that she can feel it from a mere Platinum Skill indicates just how powerful it must be. Cloud must have not only picked a powerful Skill to evolve through Minor Enlightenment, but one that has merged well with the power of Minor Enlightenment. She can tell it has high compatibility because it maintains the golden halo from the Level 100 version of the Gold Rank Skill despite ranking up.

It has merged perfectly. Even just the knowledge of whichever Skill he used to evolve Minor Enlightenment could be worth so much coin…

“Heavenly Intuition,” Jacob suddenly speaks the name of the Skill, making Professor Veythra’s eyebrows rise in surprise.

She has never heard of that Skill in her entire life.

She suddenly realised that the outcome of the bet is already written in stone; there’s no way he can fail now.

Jacob Cloud completes the fourth and fifth movement, then, to add insult to injury, performs the whole circuit once more, taking but a minute to complete.

Professor Veythra hasn’t just lost a bet, but part of her own pride as an Infernal, and she feels her hand curl into a fist.

*

Careful now, try not to offend her any further, King Baalrek reminds me. You’ve been rather lucky with Infernals so far. But remember, Infernal WOMEN are NOT to be trifled with.

I know, I know. I’m waiting for her to say something. I know this must have been humiliating, but I think I’ve been reasonable considering that she wanted to cripple me and force me from the Academy.

But when she looks at me, there’s no longer just anger in her eyes, but a gleaming curiosity.

She places the red Skill Crystal, the Blood of the Ancients, in my hands and cups my hands in the process. She looks me straight in the eyes, the intensity of her gaze making me flinch. Despite being older than Iskara, I can clearly see the resemblance between the two women. Professor Veythra is as beautiful a woman as her niece.

“Cloud,” she says in a low growl, “it looks like you’re my new project now.”

“Huh?” I ask, scared and confused.

“Whatever karma you carry, I want a piece of it. You completed a test that should have been impossible for you under any circumstances.”

She leans close to my ear and whispers so only I can hear, “I think you’re destined for great things. And I want a piece of that. No matter what.”

I shiver, and I hear King Baalrek’s voice in my ear.

This is unfortunate. It appears you have piqued her interest. When it comes to Infernal women, this is arguably worse than just making them angry at you.

*

The next few days are uneventful.

I had my first lesson for Traps and Cracks 301, which, surprisingly, was the most boring Class of the lot. It’s a lot of theoretical lessons about trap design flaws, how to build traps, and so on. Honestly, it’s all knowledge covered by the Grimoire, which is why I am finding myself bored. Thankfully, the Professor, a Goblin, said we’re going to start practical field lessons and trap building soon.

The Runic Notation 201 Class has yet to start, oddly enough. Apparently, the Professor has been gone for a while, and no one knows when he’s set to return.

Lancelot, or as I have lovingly nicknamed him, Fatty, has also been making progress. He’s started coming with me to lessons, and now that a week has passed since the term began, we’ve finally come together for some extra training.

Our days have been packed with classes and assignments, so I’m eager to finally start training with Fatty. Right when I am about to finally start absorbing the Blood of the Ancients, I hear someone enter my room.

“Eliskar? What’s going on?” I turn to see the leader of Princess Iskara’s Squires.

“All Champions have been summoned,” he says solemnly. “Come.”

*

I look around uncomfortably, and I see that every single Champion has already arrived before me.

Asterion, Vyrrak, Iskara, Sabrina, Kai, Kaelrik, Boomgar, Orrivane, and Zibrek.

I exchange glances with Fatty, raising my eyebrows at the chaos of an office filled with Champions and Squires.

Kaelrik, or ‘the Orphan’, is accompanied by a woman in wizard robes as his Squire—someone who looks as strong as any Knight I’ve seen this year.

Before I can start chatting with anyone, I hear footsteps, and everyone turns to see Vice Principal John entering the room.

He moves to the front of the room with little ceremony and clears his throat.

“Good morning to all of you. As you might have inferred, I’m here to award you all with your first Special Quest. As you may already know, Champions have far greater responsibilities than normal Knights do. While Quests are usually voluntary, Special Quests are mandatory. You’re to be the greatest protectors of this world against the hordes. So, as long as you’re Champions in the Academy, you will be unable to refuse the calling of a Special Quest.”

I wrinkle my nose at that, but I don’t say anything.

“If no one has any objections,” Vice Principal John continues, “then let me explain your first mission as a group. There is a Colossal Dungeon in Florealia that has already killed a dozen or so Platinum-Ranked Knight Apprentices. We have since sent a graduate, an Intermediate Diamond Rank Knight, who has not returned since entering the Dungeon. We do not expect you to find him alive. ”

While Ranks are useful to gauge someone’s power, even a Diamond Rank Knight can perish if enough Platinum monsters swarm them.

“You are permitted to bring your Squires and allies on this mission if you so wish. You will all leave tonight at sunset. The journey will take four hours with one of our special vehicles. You’re required to enter the Dungeon immediately.”

Vyrrak sighs, “Is this a Dungeon-clearing mission or just reconnaissance, Vice Principal?”

The Vice Principal simply smiles back and says nothing.

I look at Eliskar, who’s situated between me and Iskara, with a puzzled expression.

“I don’t get it.”

“It’ll be up to you,” Eliskar says. “You’ll have to assess whether we fight or flee and report.”

“Indeed,” Vice Principal John says. “All of you are powerful and resourceful, but we don’t yet know the severity of this threat or what is causing it. Special Quests are often like this. While normal Quests require the party size you’re taught to fight with in Monster Felling Classes, Special Quests require way more people and resources. As such, they usually appear at the scale of genuine military campaigns. Are there any questions?”

“How long is this Quest supposed to take?” Sabrina Margrave frowns. “We have lots of Classes that—“

“Life’s unpredictable for Champions, Miss Margrave,” Vice Principal John cuts her off. “You will have to make up for however long you’ll be away. The missed Classes are your responsibility to make up for. Some Special Quests might even take months to complete. The whole point of these missions is for you to all learn to make the right decisions when nothing seems right. Will you prioritize coursework or Quests? Will you risk failing Classes if you can get more real-life experience? Will you be able to collaborate with people whom you don’t like? That is all part of this Special Quest. You will report to the docks at sunset. There will be stewards waiting there for you. For your first Special Quest, food and transportation have already been arranged for you. From now on, it’ll be your responsibility to take care of all the logistics, too.”

Everybody exchanges stunned glances.

Our responsibility? I frown. I don’t even know where we’d get a lift for—

“Now, go get ready.”

*

Princess Iskara is already sitting waiting at the docks with Eliskar, the man in charge of her Royal Guard. As she sees the other Champions and their Squires slowly streaming in, keeping a lot of distance between parties,  she starts a conversation with her Squire.

“What do you think? Is it going to be dangerous?” Princess Iskara asks.

“I’ve already gathered some information,” Eliskar replies with a curt nod. “The Dungeon is called the Tomb of Fate. It is Platinum-Ranked and Colossal in size. The Boss is supposedly a Peak Platinum Rank monster. Its entrance is in the nation of Florealia, which is rather poor. It’s a small nation, and they don’t have sufficient resources to regularly delve into the Dungeon themselves. They regularly post Quests, and some Adventurers even roam to the Tomb of Fate by themselves due to its Unique Skill Crystal drops.”

“I hate Dungeons that aren’t regularly cleared,” Iskara sighs. “Colossal and uncleared, what were they thinking?”

Colossal Dungeons are Dungeons so large that it might take months to explore them from start to finish. They contain massive worlds inhabited by monsters that are so big they are impossible to classify into floors or rooms.

Every nation usually makes sure to regularly delve into its most dangerous Dungeons, as long as they have the resources to equip and train their men first.

For a Colossal Dungeon, it generally requires more resources to clear than one can get inside of it. They’re often dangerous and unpredictable and, most importantly, can spawn hordes.

“You’ll have to watch over Jacob,” Princess Iskara tells Eliskar. “Don’t let him get hurt too badly. We’ll have to keep him close at all times. My aunt has taken a liking to him, too. She has even asked  me to get closer to him to reap more karmic benefits.”

“He’s coming, Princess,” Eliskar says, squinting at Jacob Cloud and the figures behind him. “Are those—“

“Elves,” Princess Iskara says, smiling as she sees Jacob’s Squire followed by three pointy-eared men.

“Don’t the Elves hate him?” Eliskar asks, confused at what he sees before him.

“We’re supposed to hate him, too, Eliskar,” the Princess replies with a faint smile. “Yet, despite him receiving another Royal Skill from my murderous Aunt Veythra, we all think his safety is important.”

“Do you think that’s what his Skill does?” Eliskar wonders.

They have speculated that he might be hiding a very powerful Skill, but are still unsure what its true effects are.

“Skills don’t work that way,” Princess Iskara shakes her head. “They’re not this pervasive. It’s just him, Eliskar. It’s just… him.”

“Hey!” Jacob says, waving at the Princess, ignorant that they had been talking about him. “Are we leaving already? Let me introduce you to my friends, these are…”

*

Chapter 103

The magical galleon cuts through the water at an insane speed, bringing the group of first-year Champions closer toward the Tomb of Fate. All ten Champions gather on the deck. Behind them, there are attendants, Squires, and people they recruited at the last minute in order to clear this Dungeon.

Surprisingly, one of the most silent members of the group is taking the lead to organise their collaboration.

It’s Vyrrak.

“First things first, has anyone ever been in a Colossal Dungeon before?”

No one raises a hand, and Vyrrak nods.

“Neither have I. They’re not great for training Skills because they are such an uncontrolled environment. Which is exactly why I think that Vice Principal John most likely expects us to fail,” the Dragonkin said.

“You think so?” Asterion asks.

“Why would he even assign us a Special Quest like this then?” Sabrina Margrave asks.

“To teach us humility,” Vyrrak says, trembling in anger. “I know the man. He’s not as innocent as he looks. He and the Headmaster are probably trying to teach us that we’re not as strong as we believe we are. That’s why they took care of the logistics for us.”

“How do you know so much?” Kai asks, confused. “Did you grow up at the Academy or something?”

Vyrrak narrows his eyes at the giant young man and ignores his question.

“If I had to guess, this Dungeon was probably activated by us.”

Princess Iskara frowns, “Us? You think this is the work of the Generation of Legend effect?”

Jacob Cloud observes silently. He doesn’t have anything to contribute to this discussion, as he’s feeling rather out of his depth.

“It would make sense,” Vyrrak confirms. “The events connected to the Generation of Legends, which I have recently researched, are sometimes tied to Dungeon hordes. The quantity of Mana across the world is expected to skyrocket.”

Orrivane, the Void Mage, steps forward and asks, “Are you serious? This is a lot of responsibility on our shoulders.” He looks as tired and chaotic as always, but there’s an anxiety to his voice that no one has heard before from him. “We can’t have triggered something this big by ourselves. We’re not even at Platinum-Rank yet!”

“The Generation of Legend is an event of, pardon my play on words, COLOSSAL proportions, Orrivane. This is just the beginning of what will happen as a result of our actions. There have been very few eras where it was triggered. And when it does, great disasters always ensue—those are the trials that Champions have to face. Vice Principal John and the Headmaster must want us to learn humility from this trial so that we’ll learn how to collaborate for the next.”

“Vyrrak,” Asterion interjects, “if this were true, wouldn’t it mean we have no chance of completing this Special Quest?”

“It does seem that way,” the Dragonkin nods. “This must mean that inside the Dungeon, we’re most likely to find genuine Diamond-Ranked threats. A few of us, with great difficulty, might be able to take down one Early-Diamond monster or two. If that’s the kind of monsters that are in this Dungeon, we can expect the Boss to at least be at Intermediate-Diamond. If my suspicions are correct, it would explain why the Vice Principal expects us to fail.”

“If the Boss is an Intermediate-Diamond monster,” Princess Iskara frowns, “that puts him significantly beyond the Level of monster we can safely destroy.”

“No,” Sabrina Margrave, surprisingly, is the one stepping forward. “I spoke to Vyrrak about this before. It’s only beyond us if we’re acting alone. I might regret saying this, but could all of you look at Jacob Cloud’s escorts?”

Everyone turns to Jacob, who stiffens under the scrutiny.

He expected Sabrina Margrave to reprimand him, mock him, or perhaps even try to have him stay outside the Dungeon. This is especially true since it is going to be completely outside of his power level.

“Cloud, tell the others who the three Elves behind you are,” Sabrina says.

“These are Althir, [name of the other two elves]. They are from my Monster Felling 201 Class. When Vice Principal John mentioned that this was going to have Platinum-Ranked threats, I decided to bring them with me because I don’t think I could face that Level of threat by myself. With my Party beside me, I can contribute more and may actually be able to join the battle.”

The Champions are all rather sharp, and they immediately intuit what Sabrina Margrave takes the time to then explain.

“Jacob is the only one who thought about asking someone other than his servants and Squires for help with this Quest. We can collectively fight around Platinum Rank individually, except for him, but only he thought of bringing in outsiders.”

“Are you saying we should have recruited fellow students?” Asterion asks, confused. “But I thought Vice Principal John said this Special Quest was meant for Champions and their staff only.”

“He said we can bring allies,” Vyrrak sighs. “I have to admit, I was busy with other matters. I only realized what he meant when I saw Cloud bring his classmates aboard. We should have brought more people who can fight at the Platinum level. We could have coordinated a massive group in order to combat the Diamond-Rank threats we will likely have to face.”

“My Squire is Platinum Ranked,” Kaelric suddenly says, and everyone turns to look at the girl behind him, who bows slightly. “But she’s a Support type.”

“Other than Princess Iskara’s Squires, who are already counted as one party, we don’t have any real teams here.”

Vyrrak sighs and looks around.

“We have made a big mistake by underpreparing for this Dungeon. Vice Principal John likely gave us such a short timeline because he wanted us to fail.”

“So, what do you think we should do now, Vyrrak?” Asterion frowns, looking at the Dragonkin with an air of confusion. “Are we going to turn around and head home? If the Dungeon is as dangerous as you think, we won’t be able to do much like this.”

“We are Champions,” Vyrrak says with a proud smile. “We are the Generation of Legends. Do you want us to start with such a cowardly streak?”

“If Vice Principal John doesn’t believe we can make it—“

“He doesn’t believe we can make it because he expects us to be arrogant, too full of ourselves to work together. The Tomb of Fate is a treacherous place that is full of traps. If the energy in the Dungeon has been accumulating this much, we can expect there to be Diamond-level traps, too.”

Vyrrak turns toward Zibrek and asks, “Zibrek, you’re the strongest Guide here. Can you safely dismantle Diamond traps?”

The Goblin girl hesitates.

“Vyrrak, I’ve never dealt with traps of that level before.”

“There you go,” Vyrrak says, smiling. “That’s what John expected us to do once we started putting our heads on straight. He knows Zibrek can’t handle Diamond Ranked Traps. But there’s one person among us who can. Otherwise, John would not have sent us on this mission.”

Everyone turns toward the other two members of a Great Race, Asterion and Iskara.

“Not them,” Vyrrak smiles. “Zibrek is only in Traps and Cracks 301, which you gain entry to by passing the trap assessment and dismantling an Intermediate Platinum-Ranked Trap. But I’ve heard there’s someone here who entered a simulation full of that level of trap and completed it with a record-breaking clear time. It just so happens that this person is someone that the Vice Principal would never expect us to trust in such an expedition.”

Everyone turns toward Boomgar.

“That’s offensive!” Boomgar frowns. “Just because I’m a Dwarf, I’m not in Traps and Cracks! I’m a Breaker, ya bastards! I explode things!”

“It’s not Boomgar,” Vyrrak smiles and turns toward the weakest Champion. “Jacob Cloud, you can disable Diamond-Ranked traps, can’t you?”

Everyone raises their eyebrows, stunned.

“Well,” Jacob says, clearing his throat, “I can definitely take them apart with help. I am best with mechanisms that can be destroyed with a few precise strikes. But I don’t think my Skills pack enough power to—“

“Exactly,” Vyrrak says, turning toward the rest of the Champions. “Are you guys starting to understand now?”

It’s Iskara who speaks first, “Jacob wouldn’t be able to handle traps on his own, and no one who is strong enough would ever pair with him under normal circumstances. We’d normally keep him safely in the back line away from direct confrontation so that he doesn’t put our lives at risk. That’s what Vice Principal John is expecting us to do.”

“So, what are we going to do instead?” Vyrrak smiles in anticipation, turning toward Sabrina Margrave, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

Sabrina sighs and shakes her head, “I didn’t want to admit this, but when I first heard Vyrrak’s deductions, I was unreasonably angry. It wasn’t my first choice, but I agree with his arguments. There’s only one way Vice Principal John might have envisioned us clearing this Dungeon. And it’s…”

Now, it’s Asterion smiling, “By giving Jacob the leader’s position.”

Vyrrak nods.

“He’s the weakest, but he somehow created a malfunction in an otherwise perfect barrier that everyone else here destroyed through sheer destructive force,” the Dragonkin says, turning toward Jacob. “Cloud, do you think you can take on this responsibility for us?”

Everyone expects Jacob to shrink back and shy away under their collective attention.

Instead, the young man with blue eyes smiles confidently.

“I definitely can, Vyrrak. We're going to clear this dungeon with ease.”