After Corian was brought away, some movement came into the crowd not far from Tepo. A few familiar faces appeared in his view.

“Tepo, are you ok?”

“You are bleeding!”

“Mate, did you really clear the dungeon?”

A faint smile graced the warrior’s lips when his friends surrounded him.

Yerive, his dormmates, and the two women were all there, looking at him with various expressions.

“Thanks guys. I’m alright.”

“What alright? You look terrible. Here, let me help you.”

With those words Droa’va stretched out her palms, guiding a lively green energy towards Tepo’s wounds.

Although Tepo indeed didn’t think too much of his injuries, he appreciated the help as he felt better by the second.

Suddenly a deliberate cough drew everyone’s attention as the dungeon committee representative on top of the stage spoke up:

“What a disgrace that we all had to witness such a scene.

But with all the commotion it is difficult to determine who actually cleared the dungeon.

I apologize, because this is part of our responsibility as the committee as well. Normally the moment the dungeon is cleared we will figure out who is closest to the core, but we were too surprised as well…”

The man put on an apologetic expression, his colleagues nodding as well.

But at this point none of the students bought it. Disbelief was in their eyes as they were presented with a whole other level of shamelessness.

“Are you kidding me?”

Until this point Tepo still wasn’t interested in getting into conflict with the aristocratic families. But enough was enough.

The reward of taking something from the spell storage was too important. Tepo wouldn’t let them take this away from him.

“Do you know no shame?! If you are really sincere in your apology, you should make it up to me! Just buy me two spells of my choice!”

“Student, don’t be impudent! No one knows if you have cleared the dungeon. Why would the committee make it up to you?”

“Because…”

“Enough! Do you think we will argue with you?! I said no one saw anything, so this is the truth!”

A tense pressure spread over the field. The crowd of students felt indignant. A few brave one’s tried to speak up but were immediately met with the teacher’s poisonous eyes.

“This ends…”

“Malian Redswan! Do you think you can do whatever you want?! I can vow that this student was closest to the core! He deserves his rewards!”

Suddenly the vice-commander spoke through gritted teeth. Her tall back stood before Tepo, narrow eyes pressing down on the dungeon committee.

Immediately the elder, who stood on the stage with a low presence, made a move. Her gaze met Tapharn’s. Sparks flew as the air seemed to solidify.

Malian took a deep breath, eyeing the vice-commander with displeasure.

“Do I have to remind you that as a guard you are only here to uphold the rules?! You are strictly impartial! One more word and I will make sure you will lose your job!”

“I am impartial! That’s why I can serve as a witness!”

The tension increased. Loyal guards subconsciously stepped closer to their vice commander.

Just as Malian wanted to open his mouth again, an annoyed voice immediately quelled the tumultuous scene.

“I have seen it!”

Out of nowhere a man suddenly appeared on the stage next to the female elder.

The three members of the dungeon committee suddenly felt their bodies stiffen. Meanwhile the elder withdrew her presence, turning towards the man and greeting politely.

“Welcome, vice-headmaster.”

The atmosphere changed from one second to another. While Tapharn let out a relieved sigh, the students stared at the stage in awe.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

The famous vice-headmaster had appeared all of a sudden!

Despite his dirty appearance the middle-aged man had a special presence. Somehow everyone could tell at a glance that he was extraordinary.

Even Tepo and his friends in the crowd couldn’t hide the admiration in their eyes. The worst of all was Inurol’ah, who had to suppress the urge to run up and ask for a signature.

The dungeon committee turned around rigidly. They smiled at vice-headmaster Porter.

“Welcome, vice-headmaster.”

The committee bowed their heads, staying silent. They were somewhat hesitant, not daring to give out the reward even though the vice-headmaster demanded it.

But at this moment a voice suddenly entered Malian’s ears. He recognized it immediately as it belonged to vice-headmaster Greencharm.

“Dungeon committee, what are you doing?! Why would you deny a student his reward?”

The students were surprised again. The second vice-headmaster had appeared as well, standing next to Porter.

Malian’s body trembled in shock.

“Welcome, vice-headmaster. I will naturally do as the two vice-headmasters say!”

Malian quickly turned around, his eyes finding Tepo in the crowd.

“Student, I once again apologize for the committee’s oversight. Fortunately, the two vice-headmasters were present. With their guarantee we will naturally grant you the promised reward.

You will have one chance to freely take a spell from the forum’s spell storage!”

Although Malian tried to let his voice sound celebratory, no one was in the mood to cheer. Tepo only nodded faintly.

The young man’s body shook slightly. Just now all the higher-ups glanced at him, probably committing his appearance to their minds.

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye the vice-headmasters disappeared again.

Everyone within the dungeon committee took a relieved breath. Subsequently Malian was about to hold a short speech to close the event.

But Tepo wasn’t in the mood to show the committee any respect, leaving directly with his friends.

This time he stood out too much. There was no way his actions wouldn’t be noticed. Hundreds of people glanced at his back with various thoughts as he left their sight.

But Tepo’s mind was focused elsewhere. The moment the higher-ups took note of him, Tepo suddenly felt a large movement in his chest.

The Force of Natural Perception hit him like a truck. He immediately understood that the attention from powerful warriors had a bigger effect.

The Core of Time complained as it had to defend its home. Golden words appeared and shattered immediately.

After only a short while the core pulsed. It brightened for a moment before calming down again. Its quality had directly advanced!

Tepo was surprised and delighted. He connected to his core, directly asking for information.

>>> Core of Time <<<

Real name:

Master of the everflowing, the immortal

Core rank:

common (damaged 113/1000)

Core quality:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Core level:

6

Host level:

aspirant (six-circled)

Spells:

Three-runed:

[Lonarzium Skin][Rapid Pierce][Chaotic Evasion]

[Minor Regeneration][Infectious Flames]

Six-runed:

[Minor Stealth][Natural Hardened Defense]

Combinations:

[Subtle Strike][Heated Defense]

[Regenerating Defense]

Core abilities:

[Scan][Projection][Time Dilation: Body]

[Time Protection: Future][Time Dilation: Target]

>>> <<<

Tepo eagerly looked at his abilities. But he was confused as he didn’t find a new one. It took him a few seconds to figure out that the advancement only strengthened his [Time Dilation: Body].

After a moment his disappointment turned into contentment. The young man realized that his training speed would skyrocket in the foreseeable future.

His new time dilation used less mental strength and granted a higher multiplier. Together with the increase brought by the quality upgrade, his training speed might even speed up by ten times.

Even the mature Tepo felt giddy for a moment. He couldn’t wait to get back to his dorm and finally reach the nine-circled or even the acolyte rank.

But unfortunately, his patience would be put to the test today. All his friends followed Tepo to the dorm, pestering him to tell them about his experiences in the dungeon.

Tepo would’ve loved to decline, but since he received Shorey’s help earlier he figured it would be too heartless.

Thus, the young man had to patiently tell his story. But it turned out somewhat difficult as he didn’t want to talk about the forbidden spell, having to downplay it as a kind of curse.

He also couldn’t mention outsiders. Unfortunately, Tepo still had no evidence of their widespread existence. And even if he had it, Tepo wouldn’t want to burden his still growing friends.

It was hard enough to endure the psychological shadow for Tepo. There was no need to drag others down with him.

On top of that Tepo had a new strong suspicion. What if ‘outsiders’ originally came from dungeons? Maybe they could only enter the world due to dungeon breaks. If this was the case, it was even more important to gather knowledge about dungeons.

Subsequently Tepo was deep in thoughts, while answering questions half-heartedly. His friends’ curiosity was soon satisfied. Droa’va and Inurol’ah stayed a bit longer, but Tepo excused himself and entered his room.

A fire was burning in his chest. The events of today brought a strong urgency to his mind. It was finally time to grow stronger.

Tepo took a deep breath as he sat down in the training area. The Core of Time rejoiced. With unprecedented speed the Force of Time appearing as violet nebulas entered Tepo’s body.

The warrior was surprised and elated as he knew that it wouldn’t take long to advance with his strengthened time dilation.