Hizashi No Kage

  Chapter - 8

  Akash and Jaga both reached floor 50. Now, they just had to defeat the boss monster and exit through the dungeon's exit path.

  As soon as they entered the boss room, the doors closed. There were many skeletons lying in the room. A loud roar echoed, and then a Giant Troll, level 82, emerged.

  Akash immediately sensed the danger. For a moment, he even saw his own death. But the next instant, he instructed Jaga not to interfere and charged toward the troll.

  His feet were trembling, and the axe was slipping from his hands, but he didn't stop—he kept advancing.

  The troll looked at him and roared again. This time, Akash also yelled and rushed toward it at full speed. Both were about to clash head-on when suddenly Akash's empty hand glowed brightly. This flash blinded the troll's eyes completely.

  Taking advantage of this, Akash circled behind it and struck its neck. But even using Sword of Light, the troll was unharmed. "The academy could have at least given a decent axe!" Akash shouted.

  The troll now began raining blows on him. Akash dodged for a while, but eventually, one hit landed. He fell down. The troll was about to crush him when a large stone hit its face. Jaga had thrown it.

  Enraged, the troll charged at Jaga. In that moment, Akash struck its head with the axe. The axe broke into two pieces, but the troll was still fine.

  The troll grabbed Akash and slammed him against the wall. The troll didn't stop—it charged at the fallen Akash to crush him.

  Lying on the ground, Akash watched the approaching troll. He could do nothing now. But then, Manjula emerged from his shadow, soared through the air, and with a single sword strike, severed the troll's head. The head rolled right up to Akash.

  --

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  Just as Akash had the Light Radar skill, Manjula had the Shadow Search skill. She could sense all shadows in a large radius.

  Manjula had quickly gone to the hidden room earlier, killed a Giant Wolf, and extracted the materials she needed. But then, she sensed a demon's presence. She hurried toward it, but by then, Akash and Jaga had already headed for the exit.

  Manjula quickly found them but didn't reveal herself. She wanted to see what Akash would do with the demon. So, using her 'Hide in Shadow' skill, she merged into Akash's shadow.

  After overhearing Jagruti's story, she understood everything and decided to stay hidden. But when Akash couldn't defeat the troll, she had no choice but to come out.

  Akash and Jaga were completely confused. Jaga was even more scared, fearing this new human might kill him.

  Manjula spoke up: "Why have you stopped? Get out of here quickly!" Jaga thanked them one last time and exited through the exit gate.

  Akash had pretty much figured it out. He asked just one question: "When did you enter my shadow?"

  At first, Manjula found it strange that this stranger was calling her by name and using "You." He had done the same in the first class. But she let it go and lied: "I came when you entered the boss room."

  Akash felt a bit relieved. Smiling, he said, "Thanks for saving my life. You always end up saving me. And I'm really happy to know you don't hate demons."

  Manjula said sternly, "Don't talk to me like we know each other. I just fulfilled my duty as CR."

  Akash's heart sank. Should he mention the incident from 8 years ago? But what would even change? Manjula and Zavier were already engaged anyway. Akash remained silent.

  Just then he noticed that Manjula was tucking an amulet back inside her shirt. The amulet had slipped out from under her shirt when Manjula had charged at the troll at full speed. Akash immediately remembered—it was the same amulet he himself had given to Manjula.

  “Wait! Wait! This amulet… this… who gave this to you? Do you remember?” he blurted out.

  At first Manjula got irritated. Despite her sharp rebuke, Akash had spoken to her in that tone, again. But then her attention shifted to his question. After thinking for a moment, she said,

  “I don’t remember. I have no idea who gave it to me. No one at home would give me such a cheap thing. But stop talking to me like that. Just don’t talk to me at all.”

  Akash still said, “Then why do you wear such a cheap thing? Give it to me instead.”

  Manjula got a little angry. She instantly vanished into the shadows.

  Akash was happy but also surprised. Manjula remembered nothing, yet she still wore the amulet he had given her. *What is this talisman business?*

  This reminded him that he was also wearing the locket Manjula had given him. He pulled it out and stared at it for a long time.

  On the way back, Manjula was thinking: If she doesn't remember where the amulet came from, why doesn't she just throw it away? Why has she worn and cherished it for so many years?

  But as soon as that thought came, a strange fear gripped her. If she threw away that amulet, she would lose something—something very precious. No, she couldn't throw it away even if she wanted to.

  The dungeon class ended, but one student had died in the dungeon. This terrified some children, but it had no effect on others.

  Leona Ma'am simply said, "Sometime, somewhere in the future, he had to die anyway. Good that it happened today."

  Akash couldn't believe it, but he had heard that big academies trained students this way. Anyway...

  First place went to Manjula. Second to Akash, who had brought the Giant Troll's head.

  Akash had told Ma'am that actually Manjula had killed the troll, but Manjula had refused to claim the head. So, it went to Akash.

  Leona Ma'am explained there: "It doesn't matter who hunted it. If the prey is stolen, it belongs to the thief. That's a rule of dungeon hunting."

  Zavier turned green with envy—he had come third.

  With that, all the classes for the day ended.