Juliette cut through the dense greenery of the forest as they ventured deeper into it. Occasionally, she glanced back at the short student, who was following her.

Currently, they were traversing through the forest of Octa, the one that spread on for countless kilometers near the capital.

In fact, the forest was so big that most of the parts weren’t fully mapped or discovered. And right now, they were going through said forest.

Albeit, they were visiting the early parts. It was purely because of the low level, as well as the stats of her first student.

‘Someone with stats this low was able to enter?’

She couldn’t believe it herself, yet, here he was in person, standing a head shorter than her. When she heard him fully reveal his stats, it was like she was living in a different reality.

A level 21 with every attribute identically at 10? Ridiculous. To express how absurd this was, one had to be aware that the paladin Henri and the buffer Rayna were of similar levels to him. And they were nearing Grade B.

“Have you not used up any of your free stat points? Why are you so weak?”

She was the first to break the silence, asking a blatant question.

Conall nodded before admitting.

“No, I haven’t. I’m saving for the very last moment when I can’t possibly gain any of the attributes anymore.”

Although what he was saying wasn’t specifically wrong, it wasn’t the truth either. The reason he didn’t increase his stats was because he would lose them in the next few days. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have cared for a crude mindset like that.

“You’re a purist, huh? But you do know that stats don’t matter until the gates, right?”

“I know, but using the free stats at the very beginning doesn’t sit right with me.”

Juliette glanced at him for a moment before going back to cutting the bushes.

“How long have you been watching me there?”

She suddenly asked the question that had been nagging her at the back of mind.

“Excuse me, professor? I haven’t been watching you at all.”

His answer didn’t meet her expectations, however. She was sure he was there for at least a full minute. But now that she thought about it, how could she have not heard him step at all?

“Are you telling the truth? I’m grade A, you know? I know you’re lying.”

Though what she said was true in that she could tell if someone weaker was lying, she couldn’t feel Conall’s lying heart.

“I’m telling the truth, Miss Juliette. I haven’t watched you slack-, I mean lying down for longer than a few seconds.”

As though what she heard didn’t reach her ears, she ignored the middle part of the sentence.

“Is that so? Why were you six minutes late, then?”

Looking up at her slightly reddened cheeks, his lips curled up slightly.

“I was admiring nature while trying to find your class, professor. Most of the other classes are just in the main building.”

“Fine, I’ll give you that, but only because we’ve arrived at our destination.”

Juliette said as she revealed what was beyond the bushes with her hand.

Through the small opening in the leaves, he could finally see it. A goblin’s den. Or rather, a goblin’s village. There were countless makeshift huts with numerous goblins coming and going. Most of them had either a dagger or a short spear, with many of them riding gray wolves.

“Judging by its size, there should be around two hundred goblins, and with these numbers, around seventy wolves?”

He said while looking to the side. His professor also looked at him, surprised by such a precise guess.

“Spot on. Impressive.”

Well, he didn’t have to mention to her that he knew of the village from the game. He hasn't had his senses mastered yet, after all.

“Alright, then I should be back in a few.”

As he said that, Juliette’s face plummeted when she saw what he had done. It was something she didn’t expect whatsoever.

Conall ran through the bush, alerting all nearby goblin guards, who immediately stood their ground. Taking out his rusty longsword, Juliette almost fainted on the spot.

However, the corroded sword pierced through the goblin chests with joy. Looking at the five goblins coming at him with the shortswords while riding the wolves, he moved to the side. At once, when they got in his range, he skillfully kicked them off their mounts before quickly killing the wolves.

Before the goblins could collect themselves, he already pierced through one of the goblin’s heads, leaving four to go.

When the monsters got up, they saw nothing but death. Clearing the five goblins quickly, Conall looked ahead of him, only to see more than thirty green monsters moving towards him.

Grasping onto the handle of his fang tightly, he ran towards the enemy. The Daughter of Calamity watched whilst her blood turned cold.

But, unlike her worries, Conall stood his ground. Attacking three goblins in front of him with one slash, he quickly jumped up, sensing an incoming attack from his back.

Falling down after dodging the attack, he delivered a back kick and the sneaky goblin was sent flying towards another group of goblins behind.

Taking down countless goblins at a time with quick and sharp swings of his sword, the goblin village diminished steadily. He had no problem dealing with the seemingly unending monsters. The only issue he had was his stamina, which was slowly being depleted.

He also didn’t have to worry about their attacks since the academy uniform itself acted as a great armor if a student couldn’t afford a better one. That usually wasn’t the case if you got admitted to the academy, though.

The horde of a hundred plus goblins followed after the human with fury. Heads fell down with each attack, but it didn’t seem enough to cease the monsters in any way.

It was like they were hidden in a remote place isolated from one’s senses. Juliette also noticed the oddity fairly quickly, prompting her to come out of her hiding place and help her first student.

“This isn’t a normal village.”

“They don’t stop coming.”

Conall agreed as he dodged the incoming arrows. Their tips wore a purplish tint. Then, he looked ahead and saw multiple hobgoblins running towards them.

“These arrows have mana poison on them. There is at least a goblin shaman somewhere.”

Conall said to Juliette while she released her skill onto the mass of monsters. Her sleek, lanky sword glistened with a blue light. With a single sweep of her sword, half of the monsters were already dead, making a path for them to rush through.

Whilst following her, he decimated many goblins on his way. However, after a while, there were no more of these bright-green monsters. Instead, the hobgoblins replaced them.

As a single monster, they may not have posed a great threat to Conall, as the knight exam saw it. Once there were hundreds of them, however, their strength intensified significantly.

No matter how many times he swung his sword, the monsters didn’t disappear. In the place of the killed hobgoblin, two more appeared. It was like dealing with hydra’s heads.

Still, he had Juliette before him, a Daughter of Calamity at the 55th level, as well as a Grade A. She easily dealt with the monsters at the front while he covered her back from any annoying monsters.

Quickly, they made their way through the village before stopping in front of a certain shabby house. It was covered in its entirety with a blue film, one that Conall couldn’t penetrate no matter how hard he tried.

They watched as tens of hobgoblins poured out from the building. As soon as they appeared beside it, they started attacking the opponents.

Coating her leg in aura, the thin layer of film shattered like glass as she kicked it, which surprised him greatly. In the game, you needed special tools for this specific location. To shatter it with a simple kick was astonishing.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“What are you standing there for? Come inside!”

Juliette suddenly dragged him inside. As she expected, the monsters weren’t allowed to come in here since the barrier recovered as soon as a hobgoblin neared it. This was definitely the settlement of the shaman.

“What is this place?”

As Juliette muttered to herself, Conall took a look. There was almost nothing in the house that was barely even standing. He stood on the dirt that made up the floor.

‘Is it actually a trap?’

She thought to herself, a bad premonition taking up space in her head. A mere goblin shaman wouldn’t be able to summon so many hobgoblins, all the time. Coupled with the fact that the monsters teleported from somewhere up to the surface, something was definitely up.

Still, Juliette didn’t think much of the potential danger. She was able to deal with most Grade A monsters, even if there was one here by some miracle.

Seeing her pondering about the place, Conall quickly unveiled the secret passage, acting as though he noticed something.

“Look, Professor, there is something here.”

As he lifted his foot up, Juliette saw what appeared to be wooden planks. Calming down slightly, she smeared away the remaining dirt.

A door with a small handle revealed itself. Opening it, they saw stairs that led further down.

“What is this place? This isn’t something goblins are able to build.”

The feeling inside her deepened, however, she kept moving further down with Conall. He lessened her worries, proposing that this might just be a house from the past that the shaman took advantage of.

The reason for him wanting to enter this location? An item he meant to obtain in the future was here. Since there appeared an occasion, he would gladly use it, especially because Juliette could easily deal with the goblin warlock beyond these ruins.

Not to mention, If Juliette left the shack up above, the guild would have grasped the item he desperately needed later.

They slowly descended down the stairs made from dark bricks. The only way they could see was because of Juliette’s aura illuminating the darkness. When she asked him to use his mana for better vision, Conall awkwardly evaded her request, saying that he wasn’t a mage.

Skeptical, she looked at him with dodgy eyes before tossing the matter aside. After a few minutes, they finally reached a flat surface. It was some sort of a corridor they found themselves inside. This time, dangling lights illuminated the area, reducing the need for her to waste her spiritual energy.

As Julie’s aura returned to her core, she watched the walls closely. There were countless inscriptions on them that she couldn’t decipher in any way, which perplexed her.

Although she was a graduated knight, she also studied magic. She should have seen most methods of magical inscriptions, but those written here were nothing of the sort she had heard or seen before.

Ever since she saw the stairs and the unusual bricks, her mind couldn’t help but form the idea that they were in some kind of ancient ruins from the past.

And seeing the rune-like scribbles on the wall, she liked the idea even further, wondering if the engravings were a part of a lost magic language.

She slowly halted in her steps, countless images flashing past her as she imagined something.

‘If I understood this, would it…”

“Professor?”

Conall’s voice brought her back to reality. With a shake of her head, she ceased the impulsive thoughts. She simply hoped the fairy would actually come to her for once.

So, she stopped looking at the walls and concentrated on the current task at hand. A few minutes later, they finally reached what seemed to be the end.

Conall and Juliette stood before tall, huge black doors with incomprehensible, embossed engravings on them.

Before she could even try and force her way through, the doors flung open and all she saw was the blazing purple fire coming their way.

The boy quickly stood behind Juliette, as ordered by her. He saw her unsheathing the blade. Glistening with a blue light, pressure descended upon him. Just the slight use of her aura and there he was, struggling to breathe.

Despite the pressure, Conall held on. Juliette, in her silvery white armor, stood in the way of the purple blaze. With her sword at the side, she activated one of her skills. The one she hated the most, coming directly from her father.

She released a condensed blue light from the sword. Five concurrent slashes flew through the large open room, attacking the enormous spell of the place’s boss.

After they easily overpowered the fire, they started spinning together before combining. The slashes transformed, and a wolf's maw ate everything in its way.

Whispering, she advised Conall with her back facing him.

“This is a goblin warlock. For now, stay away from the doors if you don’t want to die.”

And Conall didn’t disappoint her. He distanced himself from the doors before seeing them being shut vehemently.

All of a sudden, he started running to the middle of the corridor. He needed to catch that bastard before Juliette finished killing the goblin inside.

He got there in a bit more than thirty seconds. On the left wall from the stairways, he saw countless lines going everywhere alongside many runes. With a quick stab to his vein, he let the blood flow to his other palm as he cupped it.

Dipping his finger with the collected blood, he traced specific lines of the wall as well as the outlines of two of the eight runes on the black bricks. After he used up all the blood, he quickly put a healing salve on the wound to stop the further bleeding.

While he was treating the wound, the wall in front of him lit up in a blinding light. Slowly, a round slab made up of the bricks rotated before revealing a hidden space beyond the wall.

Running through the passage, he reflexively dodged all of the incoming arrows. He had their trajectories memorized, so his weak body was allowed to live even after these deadly traps that could stop a Grade B.

Before long, he found what he was looking for.

Meanwhile, Juliette put up a stance in front of the goblin monster. By no means was it a goblin shaman. No, it was a level higher than that. The pale-haired lady swung her sword at the goblin warlock. Directly at its three heads, to be precise.

Once again, the voracious wolf sped its way through the vast, dark space only illuminated by the light coming from their spells. Ready to devour the goblin flesh, the sharp fangs of the skill warmed up with the warlock’s dirty mana.

The monster remained seated on a throne made from bones despite the attack coming at him. Slamming down his club-like staff, a barrier was erected, halting the skill in its tracks, though with a bit of struggle.

Swinging the staff, four purple fires from before had been fired at the same time. All of them were infatuated with the pure devotion to destroy the target in front of them.

Black skulls appeared inside the flames, catching the girl off guard, so more aura enveloped her feet. Before the magical attacks could claim her life, she escaped, disappearing into the darkness around them.

The warlock’s mana sense scattered across the dark room, but he still couldn’t find his opponent. Yet, as the omen of death embraced him, he quickly erected another barrier directly on his dark green skin.

Her sword pierced through the barrier ever so barely, only going deep enough to graze the skin. Even so, the attack directed at the neck succeeded.

Summoning aura from the depths of her person, the blade of her sword elongated with a piercing light blue light. The neck of middle head had been stabbed through, leaving a gaping hole with blood flowing out of it.

Angered by losing one of its heads, the monster swung down his staff onto the small human, with every intention of crushing the opponent into a gory paste.

The wand fell down upon the blade of the human.

Juliette stood her ground while holding her sword tightly. Despite the monster being more than twice her height, she easily overpowered him with her strength stat.

Tossing his weapon to the side, she closed the distance to his body, attacking at the head on the right. This time, there was surprisingly no barrier protecting it.

Instead, as soon as the second head was severed, the monster released all of its mana that was left in a singular attack. A fierce, powerful, dense beam for fire swept up the place, melting the human that killed both of its heads.

A few seconds later, the monster saw as the purple beam of fire started dissolving by itself. Confused, it realized that his mana connection to the spell was suddenly disrupted.

Looking down, he saw a clean hole that stretched across all of his lower body.

With a final thrust of her weapon, the monster finally fell down, unable to respond in the physical world anymore.

Juliette sheathed her sword before coming over to the monster’s body. Despite his tough body, a grasp of her hand was all she needed to pull out the monster core stuck near its heart. This was the difference between nearing the second gate and actually overcoming it. The monster had no chance against her.

‘Level 45, huh?’

Judging by its size and weight, she pocketed the crystal orb in her inventory ring with some blood and went back to the doors, kicking them open.

The first thing Conall saw was her head. Unlike the usual, neatly flowing hair, it was now disheveled and scruffy. His attention also went to her eyes, which changed completely then when she ordered him to leave.

He felt like he couldn’t hide anything in front of them. All of his vital spots were bare before her.

Finally, Juliette noticed his arm, which made her eyes go back to normal.

“What happened to you?”

Although she could guess with the headless goblin shaman lying beside him, she still asked.

“It sneaked up on me while I was distracted by you fighting.”

“All we have left is to check whether the monsters are still being summoned, can you go on?”

“Of course, I already stopped the bleeding a minute ago.”

“Let’s move, then.”

…

After a long day of lectures, Conall was finally able to sit down in his room, on his bed, to be exact. Taking out his sword, as well as two marble-like items, he inspected all of them.

First, he checked fang.

Caressing the cold, rough blade, he felt as though the chips on it had diminished. Taking a better look, he could also tell that some of the rust had fallen off.

There was nothing wrong with it, or rather, he used the sword as it was intended from the beginning.

With a nod, he sheathed it back up. Then, he turned to the two little orange marbles. These were what he gained from the shaman in the secret area of the ruins. The warlock’s plan was quite simple. Sensing that he would have no chance to win against the highly leveled human, he transplanted the eyes into the hobgoblin. Then, he inscribed a rune onto it that allowed his soul to replace the hobgoblin’s one.

Tossing them around in his palm, he saw writing similar to that of the walls of the ancient ruins. These two little games were the runic eyes.

With them, reading runes was as simple as adding numbers together. A person who was proficient in the knightly path could all of a sudden become the greatest rune mage.

Fortunately, it fell into the goblin’s hand. Had it been a human with stronger intellectual capabilities and an evil mind, the outcome would have been disastrous.

It was truly a cheat-like item, however, it wasn’t meant for him. He didn’t believe runes would grant him the ability to save the calamities, but he needed it for a certain quest in the future.

Having finished checking the new treasures, he tossed the eyes into his inventory ring and started to catch up with the daily loss of stats before going to bed.