Chapter 20

Hello.

How are you doing?

It's me, Jae.

Hasn't it been a long time?

To be exact, it's been 3 years.

I've been living in the dungeon, together with Aphy, for over 3 years now.

I even have the Status to prove it.

Age : 19

See?

Even my body has grown to that of a 19 year old's, except that I'm more fit than average since I've been working out in my spare time.

It was both my decision and Aphy's recommendation to do so.

That's probably had an effect on my Status too, now that I think about it.

Though I don't actually know because I haven't seen it once in the 3 years I've been here.

To be honest, it's rather strange.

It feels like both an very long time amount of time, and barely any time at all, has passed, and now I am even beginning to harbour doubts whether 3 years have actually passed at all, despite the obvious reality.

As far as I know, I'm still only Level 24..

I'm actually unsure about anything like that, since this is all I've been able to see of my Status for the past 3 years:

〔Status〕

Jae Kang [Cursed]

Title : 「Apostle of Sin」

Race : Undead

Age : 19

《Status Locked》

This is a result of Aphy's meddling around.

Apparently, since I'm in her dungeon, she has the authority to control certain things I have access to, which includes my Status, system notifications, etc.

By the way, although Aphy tried getting rid of my curse, she said it didn't work.

Something about it being too strongly applied, which is a bit disconcerting, but she says it probably isn't a big deal.

Since more powerful curses can't be applied as strongly, because it'd take too much magic energy, so it's likely only a small curse.

Anyway, my race changed to Undead at the time I first woke up here, but it probably doesn't matter.

I don't understand the difference between Undead and Humanoid, but perhaps the system simply needed some time to figure out what exactly I am.

Undead is a pretty good fit for me either way, don't you think?

And I don't particularly care either way.

Of course, talking about physical progress, the leak has not yet been reached, despite travelling for 3 years.

That's literally just because of how big this dungeon is.

But I'll get to that later.

Fortunately, Aphy says we are close now.

By the way, she has been teaching me magic-related things every day for these 3 years.

Not like the concept of days here exist though, but you get what I mean.

She's just been teaching me all the time, basically.

Supposedly I've become quite proficient in magic, but that's only going off what Aphy has told me.

I don't think that at all though, for a few reasons.

She says I've done well for a human, though I'm unsure what that means exactly.

I'm not even a human anymore anyway, so I think that's unrelated.

Incidentally, I haven't ever actually used magic other than that one time I used Earth Rise on the hobgoblin in that cave.

What kind of training is that, am I right? Not even using the thing you are supposed to be training in.

But all I've been doing is what Aphy tells me since I know absolutely nothing about magic, so it's not like I know if this is normal magic training or not.

Because I asked a lot of questions about this place ever since I arrived here, I've learned a lot too.

Firstly, there probably aren't any creatures I can hunt by myself in this dungeon.

That's going by common sense.

The two most common things I've seen so far are wyverns and drakes, but I have heard there are also monsters such as wyverns if we keep going.

Drakes and wyverns are both, quite simply, much inferior versions of dragons in every aspect.

For example, drakes don't have wings, can't use magic and are much weaker physically than dragons, while wyverns do have wings but are then physically weaker than drakes, and also can't use magic.

Though they all use a kind of breath attack, which seems to be a standard way of attack other than simply physically attacking.

Those are what you would normally find in this Pride Dungeon.

Well, they are all I've seen anyway.

As expected, they are probably some of the strongest creatures in existence.

Supposedly, dragons cannot even be found outside of this dungeon because they are just too strong.

Aphy said that she either eliminates or drags them inside this Pride Dungeon whenever one appears elsewhere.

Otherwise, it could very well destroy half the world before it's stopped.

Although the chances of one appearing outside the dungeon are zero, so it literally never happens.

What a scary thought though.

Just how powerful are they?

I've never seen Aphy fight with my own eyes, so I am unsure, but I do know they are unimaginably strong.

All you need to do is look at the sheer size of the creatures to realise that.

And, both wyverns and drakes can be found in the outside world.

Aphy doesn't bother with those―they are apparently on the weaker side of the scale.

It baffles me though.

Other than these nigh-unstoppable creatures, there are still some creatures I can beat in this dungeon, given adequate training.

Namely, there are things like wyrms and salamanders, as well as other similar-looking creatures and then further variants of those.

Pretty much any lizard-type or -like monster can be found in this dungeon.

Though I obviously haven't seen any, apparently there are even things like Leviathans and Hydras in the ocean layers, too.

Oh yeah, there is an entire ocean in this dungeon.

It takes up half of the total space.

So it's 50% land, 50% ocean.

Considering that we've been travelling for 3 years...

What an unfathomably massive place this is, isn't it?

It's literally another world by itself.

But to find the weaker creatures, one must head to the Inner Zone, which is where me and Aphy have been heading to for the past 3 years straight, since that's also where the leak is.

Basically, it goes like this:

Because of the utter disparity in the various creatures' strengths, the Pride Dungeon has been split up by Aphy into different sections called 'layers'.

There are 4 layers and 1 zone that go in this order:

The Outer Layer.

The Middle Layer.

The Merged Inner Zone.

The Oceanic Middle Layer.

And the Oceanic Outer Layer.

None of the creatures in the dungeon can leave their respective layers due to a barrier, and Aphy, as the dungeon's boss, is the only monster permitted to travel between layers.

Though before I arrived she would only stay in the Outer Layer because that's where the dragons are.

The Merged Inner Zone consists of two merged layers―the Inner Layer and Oceanic Inner Layer―where monsters can freely roam between the two, which is why it has now been converted into one zone.

We have almost arrived at the Inner Zone, as Aphy had said a while ago, so I think we should be there soon.

Of course, it would be infinitely quicker to travel on the back of Aphy as a dragon, but we decided to travel with her in humanoid form, because, honestly, I don't particularly care how long it takes us to get there, and it's much more fun like this anyway.

I'd like to think Aphy prefers this way too.

As a side note, riding a moving mountain is scary.

By the way, Aphy told me that, due to the extreme concentration of mana in the atmosphere that is incomparable to that of the outside world―a common trait within the Sin Dungeons―the time flow is distorted.

Apparently there are also other detrimental effects one would normally experience, such as the extreme heat and a really weighed down or heavy body, but because I have the required resistance skills, I'm fine.

But that isn't all.

Obviously, if all it took to slow down time was a high concentration of mana, then you'd see it everywhere in the world.

The other thing required is a distortion of the mana and an abnormal physical location.

Since the seven dungeons are all located in other dimensions, in addition to a few other factors, the mana flow is slightly twisted, and the location being in another dimension only allows the time difference to grow larger.

It's rather confusing, but I more or less understand.

It means that not much time has passed in reality even though I've grown 3 years in this place.

Well, either that or I'd have travelled forward in time.

Although I don't know what the ratio is, it really is just amazing.

On another note.

What's interesting about the dungeon is that, as you move between the layers, the terrain and environment starts to change too.

The ground, instead of being a simply empty, vast wasteland, begins to incline, and small patches of grass can be found.

As you progress further, gigantic canyons are found, and the variety of colours such as green that can be seen increases significantly.

And then, it begins to resemble the natural world.

Plants, trees, rivers, mountains, waterfalls, and lakes can all be found.

As well as the weaker creatures.

Nature is abundant in the Inner Layer, and it is, quite simply, wonderful.

It appeals wholly to the 6 senses, the 6th one being mana sense, since the large quantities of mana in the atmosphere make the air fresh.

It cannot even be compared to the dreary atmosphere of the Outer and Middle Layers.

I've heard the reason for this is because the creatures in the Outer and Middle Layers are too powerful―they hold too much raw magic power for nature to withstand, and so it withers away, rapidly, leaving nothing but rock and dry, mana-rich air.

It is also a factor as to why the heat in this place is so severe.

Although I have a slight feeling that maybe another reason is because lizards are cold-blooded and require a lot of direct sunlight, I keep this to myself.

After all, I don't think she would like being compared to a mere lizard.

.....But It would also explain why Aphy likes to wear revealing clothing.

Anyway.

The Oceanic Layers are, basically just that―ocean―and, apparently, within each of the Oceanic Layers, are many, many monsters.

They are filled with reptilian aquatic creatures that belong to the respective tier of monster; they are layered similarly to the earthen layers in that regard.

For these 3 years, Aphy has only been killing the monsters that draw near to us so that we can eat the occasional tasty meal.

It's a shame I never have the chance to see her fight properly―she obliterates all the monsters in an instant.

It's quite good actually, because I did acquire that「Cooking」skill, all that way back, right?

Speaking of [Production Skills], I have also practiced making myself new clothing with monster materials, since until this dungeon I've only had my clothes from Earth that were all destroyed.

Thankfully, the「Crafting」skill seems to work well with this type of thing, so the clothes are quite nice if I do say so myself.

Currently I wear light clothing because it's hot here, but for practice and for future situations, I've made some other clothes too.

Anyway, because of that, I haven't been able to do something cool like hunting.

Well, it's not like I could do anything even if I had the chance though, so I'm really not that desperate.

I am slightly bothered about not having anything to practice magic on for these 3 years, but I've waited patiently for the chance.

I've only been able to train in the basics, constantly, for 3 whole years, so I really have no idea how much progress I've actually made.

To give more context, Aphy has only taught me three things:

Sensing magic energy.

Manipulating magic energy.

And magic-related knowledge.

That is literally it.

And the last one can't even really be called teaching me magic.

I have not casted a single spell, chanted a single incantation, or done anything like that in this 3 years.

That is exactly why I am doubtful as to whether this so-called "training" will have been worth it.

But I believe in Aphy, and I trust her as close family.

I really am filled with frustration and excitement at this point.

The effect is only amplified when considering I've lived over 16 years where magic existing has only been a dream.

In any case, I hope to arrive at the Inner Zone soon.

...Finally.

The time has come.

Currently, me and Aphy are on the outskirts of the Inner Zone.

The bountiful nature and refreshing air was many times lovelier than I ever could've imagined.

It feels good.

Ahead of me, I can spot many creatures belonging to a subspecies of Dragon.

Mainly, there are things like Earth Wyrms, Baby Drakes, Baby Wyverns, and if I focus really hard, I can even spot a Cockatrice allll the way in the distance, up on a mountain over there.

Actually, even I am unsure as to why I can see that far away, and in truth, my other senses seem to have become rather phenomenal as well when I focus on them, but as for the reason, I honestly have no clue.

The only idea I have is that a related skill has levelled up.

Perhaps it's the「Enhancement」skills?

I'm not using magic.

I can say that for certain.

Because I have not used magic once since waking up in the dungeon, after all.

Even then though, such an improvement when only one skill for each sense should've levelled up...

Even if it was [Lv.MAX], I don't think such extraordinary capabilities is normal.

And, even when I ask Aphy about it, she just looks at me strangely and says something such as:

".....Jae? What are you doing? Why are you...."

―Like that.

Wait.

"What is it?"

"Why are you staring into the distance like a fool?"

"Huh? I was looking at the thing over there."

"You what? .....Oh. Oh, my. Jae, you're not kidding, are you. I thought you were merely pretending, but looking at you now..."

Seems like she followed my gaze and saw the monster too.

"Hm. You have good vision too then."

"Naturally. I am a dragon after all. But... When you say you don't know why you have good senses, you are... But, you.... Haaaah. No. Nevermind. Forget I said anything."

Aphy could then be seen with a hand on her face.

"What? What's wrong? Don't just sigh like that. What is it? What'd I do?"

"No, it's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Ugh.

She would do this sometimes.

Occasionally, Aphy would look at me strangely and mutter something incomprehensible.

It's odd, and she would never tell me what happened.

I'd like to believe she isn't badmouthing me behind my back.

At any rate, somewhere between 3-4 years in our journey, we have now officially entered the Inner Layer.

Aphy began to speak to me soon after we set up a small camp in a nice location on some grass, near some trees, beside a refreshing lake.

"Ahem. Jae. You've practiced my race's methods exactly as I've taught you for more than 3 years now."

"Yes."

I answered quickly in a type of excited anticipation. Seeing this, Aphy smiled gently.

"I believe it is time for what you've been so desperately waiting for... Do you agree?"

"...Wait."

"Jae."

Aphy spoke with a cheeky smirk floating onto her face.

*ba-dump*

My heart throbbed and my breathing became slightly rougher.

"It is now time―"

Before I knew it, a wild grin was spread across my face.

"―for the practical examination."

In other words, it was time to put everything I've learnt over these past 3 and bit years to the test. My magical capabilities.

I've been waiting for this moment for such a long time, and now, it's finally arrived.

I was raring to go, as ready as I'll ever be.

"For starters, you will begin by defeating that young wyvern over there. Death, or, for that matter, any injuries to your body whatsoever, will result in a fail, and you'll have to try again from the beginning. To pass, you must kill the wyvern and go unscathed."

Aphy pointed towards a large wyvern flying around in the distance, causing my tremendous enthusiasm to suddenly disappear.

"...What? Wa-wait, Aphy, you know how unreasonable that is right? What level even is that wyvern anyway?"

In truth, I already knew the answer to this question, since I had already used「Envy」, but I asked anyway to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

"Level 74."

".....I'm still Level 24 aren't I?"

Aphy only nodded, nonchalantly.

"Mmm. It makes you equal. More or less."

"'More or less'...? It's a 50 level gap, Aphy! What the hell'dya mean "More or less"!?"

"Haaa, I disabled the status to make sure you didn't get conceited, but now it just seems the reverse has happened, and you have too little confidence. Go! You can do it Jae! Just use magic like I taught you!"

"..."Just". What the fuck are you even talking about?"

"Ahhh! You've practiced using it the entire time you've been here, idiot! Just... attack the wyvern with magic...!!"

"I've never actually used it before though!? All I've done is the same two basics―sense and manipulate―the whole time! I know I won't die, but it's a bit pitiful, don'tcha think!?"

"Argh, you idiot... That's all you need to know... Haaaaaa, seriously.... Jae. Listen to me. Do you know why dragons are such extraordinary magic users?"

Yes.

Of course I know this.

Aphy has drilled it into me so many times.

Dragons manipulate the surrounding atmosphere's mana.

The fundamental difference between how a human uses magic and how a dragon uses magic:

A human uses the mana within their own body, as well as their own power of control over that mana, to cause a phenomenon called magic.

To do this, they require a catalyst to draw out their mana.

The most commonly used method is the 'incantation', due to its short casting time and high effectiveness.

A dragon, however, doesn't need any of that.

Of course, their inner magic capacity is realms above that of a human mage, because they are a magical species from the beginning.

Dragons are the origin of magic.

Of course they don't need to do something laughable like chant incantations.

Why would they?

In the first place, dragons don't use the mana within their own bodies to power their magic, they use the atmosphere's―nature's mana.

Meaning, dragons can cast magic endlessly, because their capacity will never run out.

In addition, magic can be casted anywhere the dragon wants, as long as they can manipulate the mana in that area, because the mana is already everywhere in the atmosphere.

Since this is the case, dragons can pretty much just cut out the whole casting time entirely, because all the dragon needs to do to cast a spell is manipulate the mana to do what they want.

As long as the dragon can think, it can cast magic with absolutely zero delay.

Of course, originally, humans can't even fathom how to use such a method to cast magic.

"―and that's pretty much it, right?"

You taught me this, Aphy.

"Mn, basically. And what have I been making you practice for 3 years?"

Well, that's obvious.

"How to sense and manipulate.... mana...."

...Huh.

It just occurred to me.

I had realised it rather belatedly, hadn't I?

"Do you finally understand?"

Aphy asked with a satisfied expression.

Of course, the answer is,

"Yeah."

"You don't need to follow in the stupid humans' footsteps. That is the wrong path for you, Jae. Follow the true path of magic―the path of a dragon! ...Now, why don't you try that out for the first time? It seems like a rather interesting ability."

.....I understand.

Nodding my head, I take a single step forward towards the large wyvern that was flying in the air, in the far distance―

{--AAAOOOOOWWHHHH!!}

―All of a sudden, I was standing directly underneath the flying beast.

Instantaneous teleportation to any location within my sight―This was the power of「Sloth」, which I didn't realise I had until it suddenly spoke to me one day.

Back during that time I really wanted to sleep but couldn't, is when he woke up.

Aphy had to drag me along during that period, since she allowed me to level the skill up.

Ever since that, he's joined the party just as the others have.

Of course, the mana cost of「Sloth」grows exponentially with distance, so normally such a large distance like this would be impossible for anyone to cross, even if they had the mana capacity of a dozen Saint-class magicians, but for me, it was practically nothing.

Apparently my current mana capacity was on another realm when compared to that of even one of the best mages on the outside, even though I haven't levelled up at all.

It was the result of my body naturally absorbing the abnormally mana-rich air of the dungeon for so long, or so I've been told.

Unfortunately, you can't use skills without it draining your own mana, but since it's the current me, it's fine.

I suppose if used in front of other people, it could be viewed as a shunpo ability.

{RrAAaAAAooOOoOOOWWwwHHHhhH!!}

Looking up at the loud, howling wyvern that was too busy attacking another creature to notice me, I felt a mixture of emotions.

Excitement, anxiousness, joy, annoyance, etc....

But perhaps, the most prominent one...

...Was 'gratitude', towards Aphy, my 'older sister' who has taught me many things, who has protected me, and who is my greatest benefactor in this world.

{RrAAaAAAAaAAAOOOOOOO----!!!}

The vicious sound of blood exploding everywhere could be heard echoing throughout the plains.

*SPLATTER!*

All of a sudden, the wyvern's howl was cut off, and, with it, so was it's now-severed head that fell at a high velocity towards the grass below.

*boom!*

It crashed, forming a large cloud of dust at the point of impact, which just so happened to be on the monster it was attacking.

What had happened was simple:

I had manipulated the mana in the air by the wyvern's head.

I changed the air and wind into razor-sharp blades, and beheaded the creature like an invisible guillotine.

"......Huh."

Afterwards, I felt like I was hit by a wave of something odd.

I was also quite confused.

...It was a Wyvern.

Wasn't it like, super weak though?

But it was Level 74.....

It seriously felt weaker than even the hobgoblins though.

No, wait, what the fuck?

The hobgoblins took longer to fight.

Hell, even the first goblin I ever fought―that thing was way tougher for me to kill.

It was a way longer fight in comparison to this one that took literally under two seconds?

......Did I just severely overestimate wyverns?

No, I am just too powerful, right?

Well, it wasn't really me, was it.

In the first place, I used a dragon's magic.

Of course a mere wyvern wouldn't be able to stand a hit from such an overpowered thing.

As well as this, I felt something strange after killing the Wyvern.

My body felt lighter than before, and slightly refreshed, too.

This was the same feeling I had numerous times over three years ago?

The feeling I had when I massacred those goblins with fire, and the feeling I had when I killed those hobgoblins.

.....As expected, being able to level up skills in this place also means that I, myself, can level up too.

Even though I can't see my Status or any notifications, so I don't know how many levels I gained.

Hah.

...Amazing.

Although, it's weird.

Killing a Level 74 Wyvern while I am just Level 24.

A 50 level difference should net me a lot of experience, no?

I levelled up a lot just now.

Considering that when I killed the Hobgoblins―creatures practically the same level as me―I got 2 levels up each, this should especially be the case.

As well as that, because wyverns are a higher species of monster, they should have a larger base experience gain than something insignificant like the hobgoblin.

However, the strange thing is.... I don't feel that different...

You'd think that, because of the mass level-ups, my Status would've increased a lot, but I don't feel much physical change.

Like, I feel a bit stronger and lighter, but that's it.

...Is it because I've worked out all this time, so my Status has already increased passively from that?

It could make sense.

...Anyway, that's not really important.

Normally, when people use magic, it is only possible because they receive the assistance of the system.

They are presented in the form of, well, a [Magic Skill], right?

Because of this, like I said earlier, skills use your own mana and it isn't possible to change that without disturbing the use of the skill.

If you manage to accomplish using a skill without the help of the system, it is equivalent to creating the skill yourself, without learning it.

In that case, then the system just gives you the skill, because you technically already have it.

I've heard that dragons do this in many ways, as they create Magic Skills such as「Magic Manipulation」and the various types of magic they use, as well as [Racial Skills] like「Draconic Scales」that they're born with.

And apparently, when you 'create' a skill, it is gained at [Lv.MAX].

In any case, my use of magic just now didn't require the help of the system.

I had used a magic I had never even seen before... without the system's assistance.

....I had just created a skill.

Exceedingly simple what I just did may seem from a third party's perspective, but regardless, if you consider using magic with the help of the system as 'artifical', then this event could be called...

My first ever use of 'real' magic.

―Dragon's magic.

"Hmmmh. So, it's Ryan again, huh. What a troublemaker that boy is..."

Ahh, but then again, I can't punish him, since he gets full marks on every test, and he has special permission to skip from the headmaster himself... A troublesome boy indeed, isn't he... Well, at least he passes and doesn't cause trouble in class when he does attend.

The professor wasn't really troubled about Ryan skipping lessons though. He was just worried that it might have a detrimental affect on the other students by making them think they can also skip classes and get full scores, which would then become troublesome.

"What, Ryan isn't here again? Man, just what the hell is he doing these days? How is he allowed to skip all the time? His level hasn't even increased on the goblin leaderboard in the palace, too. Has he just fucking gone AFK or something?"

"Hey, hey, chill out dude. He was exactly the same back then, too, remember? That guy just does whatever he wants. Just leave him to it dude. He might be more mellowed out now, but it doesn't mean he won't get you. And, he isn't the only one to stop with the goblins, remember?"

"Hey, are you guys talking about that Ryan guy? You guys know him from your hometown or something?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Basically--"

Almost two months had passed now since the heroes had entered the royal academy. In other words, just under 3 months have passed since the Hero Summoning.

Following the plan of Ryan, Amy, and the First Prince, the class was admitted to the Royal Academy within Seronia's capital city. However, this doesn't mean they can just laze around using the pretext of being at school as an excuse. They are there to actually learn about the world and its ways.

After all, such a thing will be needed if the Heroes wish to live in this world.

To be honest, in the perspective of the Royal Palace's higher ups, the heroes are all too young, weak, and naïve. This, combined with the fact that the heroes, in general, have a phenomenally high growth rate compared to average people, means the priority to keep them alive and well, is likewise high.

Of course, this means that the heroes' level grinding will be, for the most part, postponed until graduation, but they only have to wait about a year for that, since they graduate at 18 in this country. Well, it's not like they won't level up at all until they graduate, since the Seronian Royal Academy is considered to have both the best combat and knowledge educational departments, that are comparable to even the top schools within the Empire.

In short, they have physical education lessons, in which they can spar with eachother, and magic lessons, in which they learn various things about magic such as theory, the different sub-sections of magic, and obviously, how to use it. Not only that, but about once every month, they will go on an 'expedition' to hunt monsters, in order to give the students plenty of field experience prior to graduation.

Since there were 12 of these hunts every year, the academy has to spice them up occasionally. This led to the decision to introduce the [Rare Hunt], which is an optional exam that can be taken bi-yearly―every 6 months, for a total of 2 times a year. Overall, these rougher hunts specifically serve as a good way to examine the students' growth.

And the day of the hunt was tomorrow.

The next day.

It was the day of the hunt. Incidentally, it was also one of the few days that Ryan actually showed up to class.

"Well then, before we get going, I have one thing to say to you lot."

The teacher―an ex-S-rank adventurer―spoke with a noticeable, energetic tone, towards the 36 students, all donning equipment and wielding diversified weapons. They were clearly as prepared as they could be for this exam.

"Today, we'll be using the academy's specially prepared Mass Transfer magic circle to visit the Charred Mountain."

At the teacher's words, murmurs broke out among the students.

You see, the summoned heroes were split up into 2 halves, and from there, were introduced as "transfer students" into the two top classes in the Seronian Royal Academy. Although the Earth students have only been in the Academy for 2 months now, the 'Charred Mountain' was one of the first things they learnt about in their geography classes.

...Well, it's called 'geography', but really it's just learning about the topography of Seronian land, certain renowned landmarks, country placements and the like.

The Charred Mountain is, as one might suspect, a huge, almost entirely black volcano, that looked as if it was made out of charcoal. Hence the name. Everyone here had studied previously and knew what kind of monsters lived in, on, and around the Charred Mountain. And none of them were to be considered an easy prey. The weakest monster on the mountain would probably be a high D-rank, but to ask mere students to kill something like that is tough.

So far, all of the students have been taught the average stats, strengths and weak points of many of these monsters, in addition to combat skills, how to properly work as a party, etc. So it's not like they were that disadvantaged, but they still couldn't afford to be careless here.

Just like the other exams, the students would aim to hunt a specific monster. Each party that can take down one of those monsters will pass the exam. If there was a difference between this time's exam and the last one, it would obviously be 'difficulty', as the hunt will take place on the Charred Mountain, a volcano, meaning that the high heat is a significant factor, as well as simply the difficulty of the hunt itself.

Stamina would run out quickly, so potions and mages with knowledge of healing magic will be a necessity, and the uneven landscape will make for a poor and arduous battleground.

However, within the Royal Academy, only two groups of people are permitted schooling there.

The first group are the sons and daughters of nobles, and the second are the 'best of the best' students, who were admitted into the Royal Academy due to sheer skill or ability, even if they aren't originally of noble lineage. Therefore, the vast majority of this class going on the hunt, which is one of the top classes, are likewise, only filled with the best of the best, and so, a D-rank monster isn't too difficult to beat, although it'd certainly require a full amount of effort.

Be that as it may, this time's exam was completely different. It was going to be difficult. So much so, that the whole class would split into two halves and have each team take it on in turns.

All 36 of the students, split into two teams of 18―If they could take it down like so, then they would pass the exam.

This time, they were going to be hunting a C-rank monster. Well, to be exact, it's rank could vary from C- to C+ based on factors like its state, age and mood.

"--Well then, shall we go?", the teacher spoke, amused, towards the anxious class, right after giving a quick pep talk.

―――"To hunt a wyvern."