The next morning, or afternoon; they couldn’t know, Nox woke up to Regea shaking him.

  When he opened his eyes, he found himself tightly clung to by Lina.

  His body ached deeply, every movement reminding him of the fight from the night before.

  The faint smell of dust and burnt stone still lingered in the air.

  “Why is she so strong?” Nox thought, trying to break free.

  After some desperate attempts and laughter from Beatrice and Regea, Lina finally woke up.

  “Cough, could you let me go, please?” he squirmed, ears turning red.

  “Fine,” she answered. Her voice didn’t sound like she woke up just now.

  When Nox stood up, he quickly went to inspect the place where the boss had died.

  -You have obtained Level 5 Boss Crystal

  “A level five boss… but it fought like something much worse,” he thought, unease creeping up his spine.

  “Here’s another item.”

  -You have obtained Arachne’s String

  “Nox, look over here!”

  Beatrice stood on the other side of the body, holding a purple crystal in the air.

  The crystal pulsed faintly, its light dull, yet unsettling, as if something inside was still alive.

  -You have obtained Stage 1 Demonic Crystal

  “That’s probably why the monster was acting so strange,” Lina said.

  “Yeah, let’s go back and give it to the principal,” Nox suggested, walking away.

  “Wait.” Beatrice grabbed his hand and mustered him with a scrutinizing gaze.

  “You should tell us about your weird skill during the boss fight,” Regea added.

  “Looks like I can’t hide it anymore.”

  After explaining his stigma, the two looked at him with baffled faces.

  “Lina, did you already know that?” Beatrice asked, noticing her calm expression.

  “Yeah, he’s not allowed to keep any secrets from me,” she bragged, patting Nox’s head.

  “A- Anyway, we should head back now,” Nox said, running away.

  They needed to run through all the floors again, but there weren’t any monsters and thanks to Nox’s magnetic fields they quickly escaped the eerie dungeon. The bright rising sun blinded their eyes.

  They walked through the shimmering teleportation gate and saw the holy empire through the giant hall windows.

  “But Beatrice, what was that orange light back then?” Regea asked.

  “Hehe, I think that’s because the stage of my stigma went up,” Beatrice bragged.

  “Wow, I need to use my stigma more often too.” Regea’s eyes glimmered with excitement and awe.

  As the four walked to the mission hall, Altair stood in a corner.

  “Hello, Miss Senja.”

  “H- Hello,” Altair quickly turned around, her face bright red. She avoided their eyes completely, pretending to organize papers that weren’t there.

  Behind her stood the male teacher from last time.

  “You’re new students, right? I’m Kanon Uchallo,” he said. His warm smile let Altair instinctively take a step toward him, eyes gleaming.

  “I’m Beatrice Ollheimer. Miss Senja has told us a lot about you,” she replied.

  “U- Uhm, only one week has passed. How about you choose an easy mission to passively earn points?” Altair quickly tried to change the subject, her emotions showing better than Regea’s.

  “You’re right, we’ll see you later, Miss Senja,” Lina said, walking past her.

  “Good luck,” she whispered.

  The four walked to the mission board, leaving their flustered combat teacher behind.

  “Oh, hello,” a voice sounded beneath them.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  It was Andre Berr, their classroom teacher.

  “Looks like you cleared the dungeon well,” he said, pointing at the big arrow on their mission paper.

  “Yeah, with a few complications,” Beatrice answered.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The boss we killed had this thing in it,” Nox said, taking out the demonic crystal.

  The teacher’s eyes widened for a moment before his expression settled back into calm professionalism.

  “Do you know about this?” Nox asked.

  “No idea. I’ll give it to the principal,” he replied, extending his hand.

  “Okay, have a good day,” the group said, glancing at the mission board beneath them.

  “How about taking this one?” Regea asked, pointing at a subjugation mission.

  E Rank Mission: Sandworm Subjugation

  Reward: +50 points per sandworm, +500 points per sandworm boss

  Description: Go to the desert and eliminate as many sandworms as possible or kill a level 2 sandworm boss.

  “That’s way too easy though,” Beatrice replied.

  “We could pick a new subjugation mission every day. I could then combine our obtained items,” Nox suggested.

  “Sounds good, I wanted to relax a bit anyway,” Lina said.

  “And in the evening, Nox and I can meditate,” she added, licking her lips.

  “How about we split up? Let’s do Beatrice and me,” Regea suggested.

  “A- Alright,” flustered, Beatrice grabbed his hand and dragged him outside.

  “Whoever collects more by the end of the tournament wins!” Lina shouted. With a childish laugh, that didn’t sound all-too childish, Lina grabbed Nox’s arm and ran through familiar-looking teleportation gate.

  ***

  “How many have we got?” a deep voice rang out.

  A tall man sat on a big throne. His face was completely covered by a black mask with purple contours. Around him stood twelve hooded creatures.

  He didn’t sound furious or dangerous, simply emotionless, as if the answer didn’t really matter. It reminded of Lina, but more refined and older.

  None of the twelve around him spoke unless addressed, but every one of them had an unmatched presence, as if each could eradicate an entire city if they wished.

  Their mantles had a glimmering white flag over the chest, illuminating the lower half of their faces.

  “We’ve fulfilled five,” one answered. He had a beard; the rest was hidden by a black hood.

  “Which ones are missing?”

  “Darkness, fire, creation, light and archery. We don’t need the two secret ones.”

  “Good. Are there any important news?” His fingers tapped slowly against the armrest of the throne, each sound echoing through the dark room.

  “We have confirmed that the Gaia barrier is being weakened by something.”

  “After fulfilling the ten, we will be able to summon him,” the leader said, a slight smirk creeping under his mask.

  “Any other news?”

  “One of our dungeons was raided by students of Yom Academy.”

  “Oho, which grade?” the leader asked.

  “Only E rank.”

  “So… why do you think this was necessary to tell me? A mere E rank dungeon?” The masked man’s tone was calm but dangerous.

  “I’m sorry, sir.”

  “Did you get the crystal?”

  “Yes, it was only stage one. No problem.”

  “Good, and it seems Yom Academy has new potential subjects. Keep your eyes open.”

  ***

  Five weeks passed quietly, the academy returning to its usual routine. Students buzzled in and out, completing missions like fanatics.

  “Let’s look at our obtained items,” Nox suggested. He stuffed his mouth with meat, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

  The four opened their dimension bags and turned them around. Tons of items poured out. The sheer pile of materials covered the whole table, forcing them to step back instinctively.

  Items:

  -36x Spider’s Crystal

  -67x Sandworm’s Crystal

  -4x Level 2 Boss Crystal

  -Level 5 Boss Crystal

  -Arachne’s String

  -42x Fire Salamander’s Crystal

  -121x Piranha’s Crystal

  Some students turned around and glared at the items with greedy eyes.

  “Alright, we got the crystals. Now we just need items to combine them with,” Nox said.

  “How about we go to an auction?” Lina suggested.

  “Sounds good, we need strong items for the upcoming flag tournament,” Beatrice answered.

  “Y- Yeah, we can,” Regea muttered. He tapped his fingers together, like always when he was unsure about something.

  Later that day, Nox went downstairs and briefly checked his stats.

  Stigma: Stigma of Combination

  Strength: 19,3 (+5)

  Stamina: 13,6

  Agility: 16,1

  Mana: 26,4 (+8)

  Equipped items: Red Stone Sword (+5 Strength), Mana Ring (+8 Mana), Twin Ring of Healing Meditation, Special Elemental Necklace (-20% Mana Usage for Special Elements)

  Skills: Earth Spikes, Water Release, Water Ball, Wind Strike, Wind Launch, Freezing Wind, Ice Crystal, Ice Crystal Launch, Ice Crystal Growth, Icy Field, Ice Boost, Snowball, Magnetic Field, Magma Chamber

  “Nox, stop staring holes in the air and come here,” Lina said, waving at him.

  As they went through a teleportation gate, the sight didn’t change much.

  “Wow, we are in Eldia,” Beatrice said, looking at the massive buildings before them.

  Marble towers and glass-lined bridges reflected the sunlight, making the city feel more like a marketplace for legends than people.

  Eldia is the second-biggest city, behind the Holy Empire. It overlooked the giant ocean that separated their continent, Britannica and the other, Asura.

  “I thought there’s a limited distance for teleportation gates?” Nox asked.

  “Yes, with the current technology and resources it’s approximately 500 kilometres. Eldia is barely in that range,” Lina answered, pointing toward the ocean.

  “The books say that Britannica and Asura are thousands of kilometres apart. And the Blue ocean has violent storms and tsunamis, making it impossible for us to communicate with the other continent,” she added.

  A short silence lingered, Nox’s mind racing.

  “What if we ‘jump’ from island to island?” he asked, while they walked toward a nearby restaurant.

  “Won’t work. There’s only one island group, the Gaia islands, between the two continents. But there are constant floodings and they’re still over a thousand kilometres away,” Lina replied.

  “How do you even know all of this?”

  Lina briefly glanced at him, her lips brushing over his earlobe as she pulled him closer.

  “I once checked out the ancient library in our palace. I read that in one of the books,” she whispered, “but shhhhh- don’t tell anyone.”

  They entered the restaurant and a waitress guided them to a small table in the back. The air was filled with a fresh flower scent.

  As they ordered food, Regea stared around helplessly. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, clearly unused to places where a single meal cost more than most weapons.

  “Look at all these people. They are definitely rich,” he whined.

  “Have you forgotten that I’m a princess? I will pay,” Lina bragged.

  “What? You can’t do that!”

  Regea anxiously glanced toward the kitchen.

  “Don’t worry, Nox will pay for your debt,” she replied.

  “Do I look like I’m rich?” Nox complained.

  “Oh, I’m not talking about paying back with money,” she said, licking her lips while smiling innocently.

  “D- Depends on what you mean by that.”

  “You know exactly what I mean.”

  They were interrupted as the food came. A flame in the middle heated up a bowl with oil, in which they could cook the meat.

  “Truly delicious,” Beatrice murmured, stuffing her mouth.

  “Yeah… It should start soon,” Lina replied, as a dwarf stepped onto the podium before them.