Chapter 153: The Town of Hartlepool

Since William was planning to head to the Goblin Crypt within the Royal Academy, he ordered Priscilla and Dave to take charge of the morning training routine. For now, William wanted everyone to build their stamina, so running in the morning was the most effective way to do it.

As for their physical training, that would be taken care of by Grent and Andy during their Martial Training Lessons. 

After relaying his orders, William, along with Kenneth, went to the meeting spot where Est, Ian, and Isaac were waiting. 

The Goblin Crypt and the other dungeons were not located inside the academy. They were actually located in different parts of the Hellan Kingdom. In order to get to their destination, they would have to use the academy's exclusive Teleport Gates that were powered by Magic Crystals.

Each trip cost five gold coins per person. Naturally, the farther the place was, the more expensive it would be. 

This was why most commoner students preferred to take commissions from the academy instead of going to the dungeons to hunt monsters for their cores and materials. Only the children of nobility or well-off merchants, were able to use these Teleport Gates at their leisure.

"Are both of you ready to depart?" Est asked as soon as William and Kenneth arrived at their meeting place.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," William replied.

"Meeeeh!"

Kenneth just nodded his head to say that he was ready to go anytime.

"Good," Est smiled. "Let's go. I've already asked around and found the teleport gate that we will be using."

Est led the way and the rest followed behind him. Less than five minutes later, they arrived at a gate where over a dozen students stood in place. 

William saw a few familiar faces among the group of people who also wanted to challenge the Goblin Crypt. Spencer, along with his twin sister, Wendy, were there. The two boys whom William and Ella had faced in the battle were there as well. 

"Fancy meeting you here," Brutus greeted with a smile.

"This must be Fate at work," Bruno stretched out his hand for a handshake. "Nice to see you again, William."

William happily shook Bruno's hand and returned the greeting. "Senior, are you going to the Goblin Crypt as well?"

Although William defeated the two of them, the twin brothers didn't take it to heart. They were even quite impressed by the "harmless" looking goat that always stayed by William's side. Never in their wildest dreams did they think that they would be defeated by an Angorian Goat that could be seen anywhere in the Hellan Kingdom.

"Yes," Bruno replied. "Little Wendy asked us to accompany her in the dungeon exploration. The siscon decided to tag along because he doesn't trust the two of us to protect his sister."

William gave a side-long glance at the "siscon" who was standing beside Wendy. Spencer snorted at William's inquiring gaze, but didn't say anything. 

"Up to what floor are you guys planning to explore?," William inquired. "I heard that the Fourteenth Floor is a dangerous place because it is the floor where the Goblin Shaman spawns."

Bruno grinned and used his thumb to point at Wendy. It seemed that the blonde beauty was the leader of the group, and the decision making lay in her hands.

"We're planning to challenge the Fourteenth Floor," Wendy admitted. "However, we will immediately run away if it gets too dangerous."

William frowned, but he didn't say anything. It was not up to him to tell them what to do because they were not part of his Division. Even so, he still kindly reminded Wendy and her party to be extra careful when dealing with the Hobgoblin Shaman.

'I hope they can handle it,' William thought.

While William was reminiscing about his first battle with the Hobgoblin Shaman, the Teleport Gate glowed and several students appeared in the area around it. They were the students that had finished their dungeon exploration.

Some of them had smiles on their faces, while others had pale expressions. It seemed that not everyone was able to leave unscathed from their dungeon expedition.

After the last student had left the teleport area, the one managing the gates raised his hand.

"Those who are traveling to the town of Hartlepool, please, stand beside the Teleport Gates!" the staff announced. "We will be sending you to your destination in five minutes."

William's and Wendy's group, along with others, stood beside the gate and waited for their turn. Hartlepool was the small town that was built around the Goblin Crypt. 

In most cases, dungeons were discovered by humans by accident. When a dungeon was found, they would either keep it for themselves, or report their discovery to the kingdom. Both held advantages and disadvantages.

Those who didn't report the dungeons they had discovered would gain a monopoly of monster materials, beast cores, and other items that could be found inside the dungeon like chests and treasures.

When seen from an angle, this was a very lucrative business, at least for the short term. However, once this dungeon was discovered by others, fighting would usually ensue between the different parties. 

The worst case scenario was when the noble who had jurisdiction over the territory discovered the location of the dungeon, they would immediately send a message to the ruling family in order to give them the rights to manage the dungeon in their domain.

Of course, once this happened, all the benefits that the "discoverers" had gained for the short term would disappear completely.

If they were the ones who reported the dungeon to the Kingdom, they would be given an honorary title, and the deed of the land surrounding the dungeon. This means that they would become the "rightful owner" of the area and the ruling noble couldn't do anything about it.

This was to ensure that newly discovered dungeons would immediately fall under the kingdom's jurisdiction and be developed accordingly.

"Everyone get ready," The staff announced. "We will be activating the Teleport Gate!"

William felt light-headed as his vision turned completely white. This feeling only lasted for a brief moment before he found himself in an enclosed area surrounded by a tall wall. Several soldiers could be seen on top of the ramparts, and a big steel gate served as the only point of entry and exit towards the Teleport Gate.

As William scanned his surroundings, a tall man wearing armor with the Royal Academy's insignia on it greeted them. 

"Welcome to Hartlepool," the Guard Captain, who was guarding the teleport gate, said with a brief nod. "As students of the Royal Academy, I expect that all of you will follow the rules of Hartlepool and not get into fights with the locals. With that said, any crimes that you commit during your stay will be written in the academy records. I wish all of you the best on your dungeon exploration."

After finishing his speech, the Guard Captain made a gesture and the steel gate opened. The students made a beeline towards the exit and a bustling town appeared in their sight.

"Should we reserve a room at an inn or do you want to just jump to exploring the dungeon?" Est asked. 

"Let's just go to the dungeon," William replied. "We didn't come here to sightsee, so let's get down to business."

William looked calm on the surface, but he was actually really itching to go to the Goblin Crypt as soon as possible. He wanted to see if it was the same dungeon that he could access with his Ring of Conquest. 

Surprisingly, Wendy shared his opinion and proposed that they all go to the dungeon together. 

"This is our first time arriving in this town. It will be best if we all stick together." Wendy said with a smile. 'Head Prefect Est and Head Prefect William look so dreamy. If possible, I want to form a closer connection with the two of them.'

Spencer frowned because he could vaguely sense what his sister was thinking. He was the over-protective type. If possible, he didn't want anyone to approach his sister during her stay at the Royal Academy.

"Sounds like a good idea," William answered. "What do you think, Est?"

"I don't mind." Est nodded.

Wendy's smile widened when her two idols gave a positive reply. She even took the initiative to grab hold of William's and Est's hands and slightly pulled them to leave the gate together.

William was amused by Wendy's actions and played along. Est, however, didn't expect this move from Wendy. He wanted to pull away, but decided to just go with the flow for now. 

'It wouldn't hurt to get along with Wendy since she's part of the Magic Division,' Est thought as he gave William a side-long glance. The shepherd returned his gaze and even teasingly winked back at him.

Clearly, he enjoyed seeing Spencer's irritated expression as the latter's twin pulled him through the town of Hartlepool.

Ella walked beside William, while Kenneth, Ian, and Isaac followed behind them. Brutus and Bruno shrugged their shoulders as they followed the group, leaving the frowning Spencer behind them.

'Wendy has lived a sheltered life and this is her first time interacting with people outside our Duchy,' Spencer thought. 'Although William seems like a good person, I still don't want him to act chummy with my little sister. I better keep an eye on him to ensure that he won't have any weird thoughts about Wendy.'

The Siscon felt that it was only right and proper to protect his little sister from shady characters like William. As for Est, although Spencer didn't know who he was, he had a more favorable opinion to Est compared to the red-headed boy who was shrouded in mystery.