CHAPTER 6: War, Dungeon, and reencounter?

Osfor said with a satisfied look on him “AHHH...This is some good wine.”

Seething with rage Ousay was stating. “You bastard that is a low blow. Threatening me with that…you were with us too don’t you feel ashamed?”

Osfor added rather bluntly and looking sad that he finished his glass. “Well unlike you I care not for that honor bullshit. Also we were young we had fun and did mistakes so get over it already you are 45 years old now don’t tell me you are still a virgin and still following the hermit path…”

Stuttering and red to his ears from embarrassment Ousay said. “V-virgin…why you…”

Osfor who looked a bit more serious this time “Ah well let’s talk about the important stuff now. Why are you here…”

With a serious face Ousay said“…Alikh was invaded…”

Osfor who couldn’t contain his surprise asked “WHAT? How? What happened…?”

“It was rather sudden. It appears that a city within Alikh was razed to the ground in one night…there was some sort of underground laboratory doing illegal research on a demonic being they caught. It seems that it escaped and contaminated several overseers. Thus spreading the influence of the demonic existence to all the workers that fell to its spell. The demon then controlled them and sent them aboveground, wreaking havoc and contaminating masses. The entire city is on quarantine but it seems that a number of people fled the city before the martial law was ordered. It seems that a number of people that fled the city were also contaminated as some small villages surrounding the city were found to be devastated…”

The shock was still apparent on Osfor’s face before he said.

“This seems to be a very dangerous situation. So you must be here for Kansaki…I believe the clan heads are asking you to go with him to ‘help’ contain the situation.”

“Yes sharp as always, the clan heads need to take advantage of Kansaki ’’talents’ in scoring some part of the country’s wealth. As a pretext for aiding them in their predicament…politics and stuff.”

“It seems that Kansaki will be having a few all-nighters with this new situation. Alright you should leave now. Although I must say it was good fortune that Asura was able to meet you. At least now he knows he is not all too powerful and will be able to handle himself better in the future.”

“Hmm indeed…that Greetman managed to get a good student he didn’t even flinch when I used my clone techniques quite impressive I may say. Well then I will have to leave.”

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(Asura POV)

‘Whew it’s been long since I last saw the sun. That dark forest was starting to become unbearable. Yet again that man…If he was like what master said…then I believe that he was holding back a great deal while facing me…meh anyway at least now I am free to move about…’

Moving around the lake I started hearing some noise. It was students having fun. They laid down a lot of tents some were cooking others were swimming on the lake while others were practicing magic a bit far from the group.

Not one to mingle with people I strolled away from them.

Leaving the campsite I noticed an entrance to a cave like structure. There was a teacher sitting next to it on a small chair drinking from a tea cup. He had a plain look with dark hair. He would look like a normal citizen if it wasn’t for the white robe the teachers wore.

I sensed a bit of energy coming from the cave so I decided I should take a look, but I was instantly stopped by the teacher. That seemed bored and really not happy with his job.

“Halt there student. You cannot enter without passing the test first.”

What is he talking about…test did they need to do a test before entering here…did I miss something before getting here.

“Huh what test?”

“…You don’t pay attention do you, well you should at least know about the stone golem test were you living under a rock for the past two weeks…”

“…Stone golem test…no sorry sensei this is actually my first day here…”

“Haaa?... first day? Ahh you must be the guy that Osfor was taking ‘care’ of…well rules are rules no matter who you are you cannot get in without defeating that golem. And I can assure you that only a handful of students from the first years were able to beat it so I advise you to go back.”

The teacher pointed to a humanoid stone knight about two meters long holding a buckler and a broad sword with a full body armor and with no head. It looked like a Dullahan.

Seeing the look on my face the teacher said.

“I know who you are kid. You are the guy called the Juggernaut. Well I can assure you that you may think you are strong by defeating a couple of unprepared mages but let me tell you what most students your age don’t know. If those mages ever took you seriously from the get go you would have been long since dead. Even the school barrier would not have helped you. And that Golem my boy is fairly resistant to physical damage. So if you cannot use that disintegration spell I don’t believe that you have what it takes to beat it. And I know that you can’t use that spell without collapsing so even if you use it and manage to defeat it. You will still be considered failed. Collapsing on a battlefield is the same as dying so do me a favor and bash at it for a few seconds admit your powerlessness and leave.”

“Wow there sensei… that is an awful thing to say…don’t you think”

“I said I know all about you and your master… and like I said physical attacks are useless against it so please don’t waste my time and hurry up…”

‘Wasting your time…it’s not like you were doing anything after all…how about I screw with him a bit.’

“So let me get this straight…this golem is resistant to physical attacks but not immune?”

“yes he has a great resistance to blades and blunt weapon only magic can destroy it as you know Albion is a school for mages not for kids holding shiny sticks…”

“Alright this is all I needed to know anyways. WARRIOR ARTS COMPLETE BUFF.”

‘Guhhhhh painful… using this for a second time today is really insane but I have to teach this man a lesson even if he is the one supposed to be a teacher.’

Glowing like a lightshow I felt a rush of power surrounding my body. Using the magic clad atop of the buffs I am now at maximum power output.

“Shunpo. WARRIOR FIST ARTS EARTH SHATTERING BLOW.”

In a single moment I appeared in front of the golem. With the advantage of Shunpo I managed to close the distance at optimal hand extension striking at the chest of the stoned knight. The strike was so strong that my fist penetrated its chest leaving a hole inside it. The shockwave was strong enough that it flipped the teacher from his chair along with creating a four meter radius tunnel like hole on the stone cliff behind the golem.

The golem that was unable to react suddenly started cracking and crumbling.

I might have went over bored. this thing would have been taken down without the need to activate the full buff…if only I used some of the warrior arts and not all of them I would have arrived at the same conclusion but it was because that teacher was seriously thinking that I couldn’t handle it and mainly because I taught that the golem might be able to react and counter so I had to go in with full power.

Looking at the mouth agape teacher I chuckled seeing his messy state then proceeded to enter the cave.

...

It was dark, nothing that I can’t handle as some sort of glowing moss was lighting the pathway.

I don’t know why they were asking for that sort of test if it was only sightseeing.

After few steps in I found out the reason.

There were monsters inside. By the bucket loads. Even so nothing too hard or can’t be handled some jade spiders here few cave scorpions that are 1 meter long and an annoying twin fang moles.

I was able to walk past all of them by activating a pressure which is a good skill from the control pillar.

It frightens any weaker willed monster or creature it can even cause a human to have a hard time breathing. Master was even able to drop people unconscious with it. Although it will certainly piss off any creature that is able to withstand it. And if they ever were able to withstand it then it means that they are at least as strong as the person who used it.

Keeping my pace I arrived at a junction. Failing to decide which side to take I noticed a frozen scorpion leg at the side of the illuminated wall.

Instantly knowing who the reason was for this, immediately took the path that seemed to be where that girl went through.

Remembering her sight that night I was lost in taught until I arrived at a closed stone door with a teacher sitting next to it.

The teacher immediately took notice of me and said

“Oh arrived so soon, well to be expected after all you defeated the stone golem in one hit. But how can you far with this one? If you don’t beat it you can’t prove yourself worthy of passing to the second floor.”

“Ah now I get it, so these ‘tests’ are to show if a person is capable of holding their own in these type of situations…interesting, but this is not why I am here for although can you tell me did you see a silver haired girl walk through here?”

“Ah you mean Yuna-sama…She cleared this stage about an hour ago. If you want to go in you still have to beat that.” Pointing at a wriggling slimy creature.

This fiend was rather weird looking at first I taught it may be a gore but its presence is far from it. This black shaped mega worm was slithering around itself giving the urge to vomit to anyone that kept constant view of this creature. The teacher added.

“This summon is a dark worm from a dark magic circle that you can see at the floor. It is the guardian of this floor and it will not attack unless attacked first. “

“Oh summoning magic…that is cool. So what abilities does it have?”

“That my boy you will have to find out on your own.”

Not playing it like last time I called upon my sword and used only its first form. With a quick slash I decapitated the head of the worm that just wriggled and died instantly…so much for abilities…

The shock was apparent on the teachers face but he played it cool and snapped his finger. The door glowed a bit then it open pulling itself up.

I left the teacher that just closed the door behind me saying not to worry because the entire ‘dungeon’ was monitored and at the sight of danger a teacher will come to the rescue.

The tunnel this time proceeded downwards but unlike the cave like appearance before the inside was stone built with bluish color and had crystals decorating the upper parts of the walls lighting the passage.

Walking for few minutes I noticed that it was getting colder and I still haven’t seen any monsters ahead only a long way down to god knows where.

A few meters ahead I noticed some wriggling and fast paced light steppes like something was scurrying away. Probably monsters trying to hid away from my pressure skill that is still active.

I stopped for a second after hearing the sound of combat then stepped up my pace. I wouldn’t want to miss out on a magic fight anyway it’s always a good opportunity to learn new things.

I arrived at what looked like an arena of sorts.

I was standing at the entrance which was 5 meters above the ground level. The arena was round shaped. With multiple doors forming a circle around it. I believe the exit or passage to another section is behind one of the doors.

In the center of the arena she stood.

As elegant as ever a magnificent posture portraying Nobleness and pride.

She paid no attention to me probably because she was focused on facing the monster ahead of her. It was a troll of some sorts. It was white in color probably a Yeti. The ground was half frozen and he seemed to be winning this fight. It is probably due to the fact that she is using ice based magic and Yetis are mainly resistant to it. After a brief exchange of magic ice bolts and stalactite. They yeti turned to have a very visible advantage as her ice bolts were dealing no apparent damage to the yeti while she was having a difficult time dodging the ice shards that the yeti was throwing at her.

A few seconds after she channeled a spell trying to impale the Yeti but its fur was sturdy enough to make the shards of glace shatter. She tried to will the ice that was being formed by the yeti but to no avail.

The yeti started advancing slamming his hands on his chest and going into a frenzy. Probably had enough playtime so now it became serious.

I hesitated at first and taught about lending her a hand but right before I could jump in a hand pressed on my right shoulder. I panicked a second because the man that silently approached me invaded my space without me ever noticing him. It was like if he was a ghost.

The man signaled me to remain quiet and keep watching.

The girl struggled to dodge the hits from the yeti failing to properly position herself she fell from stepping on a shard of ice. The yeti who was close enough tried to finish the fight by grouping his fists and trying to land a shattering blow to her chest.

A moment before the impact the girl flinched closing her eye.

The yeti suddenly stopped moving and disappeared in thin air.

The teacher suddenly appeared in front of her saying

“You did well. But if I were you I would have relied on wind magic or water magic to fight this monster. Even using fire magic would have been better than to play the stubborn head. The whit back yeti have exceptional ice control and can manage themselves against the strongest of ice mages with ease. This monster was the best type to show what would happen if you are in face of a counter magician. With you joining the competition soon you need to become flexible and rely on other magic instead of your own affinity.”

With a flick of his finger a teleportation Mahojin was cast bellow the girl and she started teleporting away. Before she could fully disappear she looked up and made eye contact with me right before she left.

Still shocked by the fact that the goddess of beauty spared nothing to create this masterpiece I was brought back to reality with a cough from the still standing teacher.

“So are you here only to watch or you want to test your skills?”

“Ah, I’ll never say no to a challenge. Hit me with your best.”

“Oh confident aren’t we. How about you try the same monster that Yuna-san fought?”

“Alright.” Jumping into the arena I was ready to let loose a little.

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“Well that was interesting…” the teacher said with a bit of sarcasm.

“Hmmm you think so?”

The teacher said

“Well I should have expected this after you decapitated the yeti with one hit…the rest were easy prey. Even the magma serpent who I taught might prove difficult was instantly frozen…I now know why Osfor favors you, the ability to use Magic at a glance is dangerous, for you especially. You will be sought after if you use this ability of yours openly. Try and use only abilities you know and never reuse an adversary’s ability in front of them in public. You will be only getting unwanted attention and will need a lot of explaining…”

“Not even in front of the teachers…”I asked

“Hmm tough question…well at least I will not divulge any information about you but just be cautious as you never know who might be peeking around. Now you were able to find the door leading to the next level yet you still insisted on clearing all the doors…if this was a test I would give you a full mark and bonus points for the majority of the monsters that you killed with one hit…even some teachers might be unable to do this, but you mainly used swordsmanship. Anyway you may proceed but we need to leave now because it is time for lunch and I am getting hungry. You will be able to continue from here next time you entre just ask any of the teachers and they will teleport you to this level.”

“? Why can’t I do it myself? As you know I can teleport too.”

Yea I was able to use Osfor sensei’s teleport magic at the woods mainly to take showers because using magic to shower was rather none satisfying.

“Thus another reason why you should not rely on your copy magic. This area requires a teacher’s mana signature for it to work. Let me tell you one more thing I believe your eye has limitations. And one of them is the inability to fully copy a spell therfore it needs you to complete the remaining parts which technically makes it an entirely different spell. The other one is blood bound magic. Magic that is passed by inheritance and can only be used by certain person like the main spells of the fire clan those spells are not copy-able, because they require the heir’s blood and mana to activate as they were blessed by the same sacred beast that their clan name is from. The blessing will not pass to a non-blood related and the spells will not activate so beware if the spell you are trying to cast has a blood related origin.”

“So basically if I am not a teacher registered by this dungeon I will not be able to teleport in or out of here…”

“Exactly now let’s leave. I can’t stand the hunger…”

“Oh ok and thank you by the way what is your name sensei???”

“Ah how impolite of me young Asura… my name is Sraam, one of the heavenly demons.”