Chapter 55 - First Dungeon Test (1)

"So, what type of class would you like to get, Ileana?" Aanya asked as she securely brought the seven juniors with her into the dungeon.

"Honestly, I don't know," Ileana said, releasing a breath. "I guess I will be happy with a good enough apprentice class."

There were seven of the freshmen who got the chance to reach the first order on this occasion. And other than them, there were a few more upperclassmen, but no teacher with them today. The institute was on short staff.

And the one who was responsible for it—Elior—walked nonchalantly into the grade one dungeon. What happened was technically not his fault, but he was the one that cause this. After he discovered the few dungeons, he did not clear his own, but destroyed the stealth that protected it and left it for the guardians to handle.

A couple of days before, he had found two grade-2 dungeons in the fourth rings in barely a distance of a kilometre away. The staff were now busy dealing with it, as Head Professor gave all the duty to Aanya to handle the seven freshmen.

"Senior Aanya," Peter, one of the seven freshmen who got the opportunity, asked hesitantly. "Are you sure we are safe here?"

Peter was not the only one with the question. Other than Elior, Leroy, and a few of the upperclassmen, most of them were worried. Even though Ileana and Lara became quite intimate friends with Aanya, they could not help but feel nervous.

Aanya, who was oblivious to it until now, saw the nervousness of the juniors. "No need to fear. all the suits you guys wore had a safety net in it, and more importantly," she paused with a little fluster. "It might be a little arrogant to say, but I'm far stronger than a few of the instructors or professors. Even if something bad happens, I can easily teleport everyone out of the dungeon. Why do you think the institute would let everyone in?"

That comment calmed everyone in the dungeon.

"Alright," Aanya said again, stopping in her tracks. "Even though your safety is guaranteed here, you still have to work yourself to reach the first order. It would take a couple of days, if not more, for every one of you to reach the first order, so think of it as a practical test, and you seven are together in it as a team. Hunt the chaos fiends and reach the first order in the safest way possible.

"I will look after it personally and score it, and do your best. There might be some rewards after this."

As Aanya finished, the other upperclassmen left then and so did their senior Aanya. They went about twenty metres away, giving them free reins until they could not handle it themselves.

Elior thought for a moment to clear out that he had already reached the first order, but then again he would have to answer many more questions for it that he rather not. So, he decided to go with the flow. If nothing goes wrong, he might even have to utter a single word related to it. Peculiarly, his gaze then transferred to Leroy, who appeared to be looking at him as well.

The expression on his face told that he was thinking something peculiar too, though he hid it even better than him.

"Alright, let's go and kill some monster," Shin said, raising his sword from the scabbard.

"Don't run on your own," Ileana said. "I don't want to spend my energy on finding you. And besides, we are here so we should stay together."

Leroy seemed to not think that, though he did not complain. The others did not complain as well. This was an unfamiliar place to them and a dungeon above all. They would be staying here for a couple of days in the slightest, so forming the group first should be natural.

"El, what should we do first?" Ileana said, and looked at him with expectation. And she was not the only one. Shin and Lara joined, and then the other three. Though the last three had little expectation of him.

"Why are you asking me?" Elior asked. "I'm not the leader here, and more importantly, you should know what is the first thing to do in the dungeon."

"We know, but you seemed to be best at practical things," Lara added.

"I don't think anyone would complain if you were the leader though, Brother," Shin said.

Elior said nothing about being the leader. "Let's just follow the basic protocol we were taught to do in a dungeon," he said. "Which would be searching for a safer spot and finding out the chaos fiends here."

They walked after that and after a couple of minutes; they noticed the seniors were nowhere to be seen. They should have hidden themselves and should be closer than they think.

The dungeon they were in was a Grade-1, and it's not any disadvantageous place. The not so bright sun was above them behind the almost transparent chaos wall. There was some wind, and it was chiller outside. Screeches of insects came into their ears with the surge of a river. It should be close to them.

After discussing among themselves, they decided to move towards the river while they divided the roles. Elior became the eye and led everyone with his tracking skills. Lara and Leroy were the protector, always ready for any unexpected attack. Ileana and Peter were for collecting and examining stuff that appeared peculiar and might come in handy.

That left Shin and Hasan. Nobody expected anything from Shin, who caused problems most of the time. But the wannabe delinquent voluntarily took the duty of food. Hasan joined Elior. His ability to listen to the faintest sound wave would come in handy.

No monster came on their way to the river, which seemed to bore most of them. After all, they expected to find a few monsters attacking them after a few moments.

"In the other times, the seniors brought the monster to us," Elior added, finding disappointed Shin. "Most chaos fiends do not have the supernatural ability to find the trespassers in the dungeon, but if you make some discomfort here, they could feel it clearly and would come to attack us."

"That being said, do not try anything yet," Ileana reminded Shin again, afraid this maniac would try something.

Though Shin was impulsive most of the time, he did not try anything. He had some responsibilities, after all. He would not cause problems knowing that other people's lives depend on it.

"There are about four hours of light," Leroy added, coming before everyone. "We should prepare for the camp."

They had reached the river and found it quite narrow, though the water was flowing with quite a surge along with the wind. Even for the Grade-1 dungeon, this was quite large and the scene before them was quite breath-taking. There was no murky feeling to it. The water appeared to be clean while a lot of fish were swimming in it, flashing over the water, giving them a clear look. This dungeon should have been cleaned by the guardians and made out as a training ground for the apprentice.

About a hundred meters away from them, Aanya was seated on a tall tree, hiding under a veil while keeping an eye on the freshmen.

"Yes, uncle I brought them inside a few minutes ago," she said. In her palm was a peculiar crystal item. "Juniors are doing well so far."

"I expect nothing less," the voice of professor Aleister drifted out from the crustal device. It was an artifact that could be used as a commutation through the dungeon—though it was not perfected yet, it was still useful in many scenarios. "But I would like to see more of them. I am optimistic about this group. You remember the instructions, I assumed?"

"Yes," Aanya said, eyes at the seven freshmen. "But uncle, isn't it too early for them to test out? They were only taught for less than a month. This ordeal might come as . . ."

"Was it too early for you?" Aleister said. "No, right? Or do you think they could not match you in talent?"

Aanya turned silent. She did not know the answer correctly, but two among the freshmen before her had inconceivable depth.

"They are the elite of the institute. If they do not go through hardship, they might turn complacent about the situation. I have seen many cases like that, Aanya." The professor seemed to sigh after that.

"But there were a few that should not be ready for this test," she still added.

"I know," Aleister said. "That's why I wanted to see how they can continue while keeping everyone safe. Follow the instructions according to the situations and update me each hour after nightfall. Keep them safe, Girl."

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There will be regular updates from Monday with the bonus chapter I owed.

Thank you all for the votes and waiting.