“Jack, Hannah, and Oswald good job on clearing the artificial dungeon.” Connor congratulated the trio, as they entered the waiting room. The trio quickly sat in one of the couches that gave them a good view of the screens that display the inside of the artificial dungeons. “Alright, it’s your turn now Ron, Ellie, and Marie. Don’t get too confident because your artificial dungeon will be different.”
“I’ll admit you guys did well against the boss, but your performance in the exploration part was terrible. It took too long and you were fighting mere Horned Rabbits. Watch in awe as I surpass your terrible performance.” Ron said in a provocative tone as he exited the waiting room. Soon after, the table in the center of the room started to display a hologram of a cave dungeon with several red dots. The displays reflected the monsters Ron and his teammates had to confront. Just like in Oswald’s case, the regular monsters were the same type.
“I see, they are facing Super Ultra Pitbulls.” Oswald said as he saw the big and muscular pitbulls on the screen. “I still think that name is stupid.. I mean why did they skip the Super Pitbull and the Ultra Pitbull?”
“Hahaha … I never thought about that. What were they thinking 2000 years ago when they named them?” Hannah laughed.
“We’ll never know because many records from when the dungeons first started appearing about 2000 years ago were lost about 1500 years ago when they stopped the dungeon outbreaks of most dungeons.” Connor explained to his class as they waited for Ron and his team to enter the artificial dungeon. “We’re lucky we don’t have any more dungeon outbreaks and now we have the technology to create artificial dungeons to train on them before sending you guys to the real dungeons. As all of you are aware, Oswald’s ancestor, Duke Leon Deus, conquered the last dungeon that still had outbreaks about 500 years ago and the dungeon outbreaks have stopped ever since.”
“Oh, I see why their regular mobs are stronger than the ones we faced.” Jack remarked as he looked at the boss room and saw a red flamingo. “They are facing a Flameengo; they shouldn’t have trouble dealing with it.”
“They’re about to start.I can’t wait to see Ron’s cool side.” Rose said as one of the displays showed Ron and his team entering the artificial dungeon. Three green dots also appeared in the hologram of the dungeon. Rose then starts whispering to Emma, “I bet Ron will be cooler than Oz.”
“You’re wrong. Oz is cooler and more handsome than that jerk Ron.” Emma whispered back to Rose. “For the sake of Marie’s and Ellie’s grade I hope Ron does well.”
Ron, Marie, and Ellie started to traverse the cave in the artificial dungeon. They soon encountered a Super Ultra Pitbull, so Ron quickly rushed to cut it down with his great sword as Marie casted a buff on him and Ellie used her magic to make Ron’s next attack fire based. The Super Ultra Pitbull spotted Ron and let out a monstrous roar, but Ron closed the distance before the monster could attack and slashed at it 10 times in quick succession by using his magical power to strengthen his physical abilities. The Super Ultra Pitbull stood no chance and it died from the combo. As Oswald was immersed in watching, Hannah moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Oswald took a glance at Hannah and started holding her hand. Oswald and Hannah were lost in their own world.
“Hey Jack, are those two dating?” Aurora whispered to Jack.
“No, although they should. Both of them have feelings for each other, but they neither has confessed to the other. Just look at them, they are acting like a couple. It can be stressful to be their friend.” Jack whispered to Aurora.
“Then Emma has no chance of being with Oz. I guess my twin sister’s romance was over before it began.” Aurora whispered.
“I feel bad for her. Oz told me that he’ll confess when he achieves something. I still don’t know what that something is. I mean he tends to keep a lot of secrets.” Jack whispered.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Talking about dating, how about we go on a date Jack?” Aurora whispered to Jack. Jack’s cheek became a slight shade of red and he looked like he was thinking a lot.
“Yes, I would love to.” Jack answered. “How about Saturday?”
“Then Saturday, it is.” Aurora said. “Alright I better go back with Emma and Rose to plan for our shot at the artificial dungeon.” Aurora gave a kiss to Jack on his cheek as she went back to her team.
“Ron, Ellie, and Marie are doing well, but they might struggle with the Flameengo because none of those three use water magic much, so their proficiency in it should be low.” Oswald said after observing the team. “Is that why you chose that boss for them?”
“Good catch, Oswald! The Minotaur that you guys defeated was supposed to be more challenging for you guys, but you were stronger than I expected, Oswald.” Connor responded. “If you were that strong then, why did you take so long with the Horned Rabbits?”
He is too observant. I can’t let anyone know that I can use mana to mimic strength buffs on myself, so telling him I was practicing mana control is a no. Oswald's thoughts were focused on trying to find an excuse. “Because I wanted to take it easy before the boss, Mr. Johnson.” Oswald lied through his teeth.
“I see. So you were trying to conserve energy.” Connor accepted the lie.
Ron, Ellie, and Marie reached the other end of the cave and near the exit they could spot the Flameengo. All of them looked at the boss monster with a worried expression knowing of their poor match up and wondered if they could beat it in the 15 minutes they had left. Marie casted a defensive buff on the whole party, Ellie used earth magic to set up a barrier to protect the three of them, and Ron started to wait for an opening. The Flameengo noticed the trio as soon as Ellie put up the barrier and it let out a screeching roar. The Flameengo used fire breath, which hit the barrier and in a couple of seconds the barrier crumbled from the heat. The trio could feel the heat and quickly dispersed before the barrier crumbled and the fire breath could damage them. Marie used a speed buff on the trio, so Ron used the opportunity of the Flameengo trying to decide who to attack to try and land an attack. Ron ran towards the Flameengo as fast as he could trying to use his momentum to land a stronger hit. Ellie threw a water ball towards the Falmeengo just as Ron was about to land a hit. Ron landed a hit that managed to injure the Flameengo, but he got kicked by the Flameengo. The water ball managed to land on the Flameengo, which enraged it and it started to fire fireballs all over the place. The trio desperately dodged the fireballs, but some managed to hit them. Marie was trying her best on eveding and healing whenever someone got hurt. As they continued to dodge, Ron and Ellie slowly damaged the Flameengo as Marie supported them with buffs and healing. With 3 minutes remaining, the Flameengo stopped the fireball attack and it took flight, when it reached the highest point of the cave it started to engulf its whole body in flames and it quickly descended to the ground trying to hit the trio. Ron and Marie quickly ran towards Ellie, who made a barrier using earth magic. The FLameengo collided with the barrier and it was trying to destroyed it, the trio began to feel the heat. Ellie was trying her best to keep the barrier from breaking, Ron grabbed her hand and started to transfer his magic energy to her, while Marie healed all three of them from the heat damage they were receiving. After about a minute the Flameengo, collapsed dying from having exhausted all its energy. Marie and Ellie had a happy expression, but Ron had an unsatisfied expression.
“Nice work out there, Ron, Marie, and Ellie. You guys did great.” Connor congratulated the team as they entered the waiting room.
“Thanks, Mr. Johnson. I dislike this type of victory over the Flameengo. We didn’t kill it, it basically killed itself.” Ron stated.
“This is an important lesson. In real dungeons it doesn’t matter how monsters die, it only matters that you survive. Accept the victory despite how it was achieved because your life is more important than your pride.” Connor said.
“I still have ways to go before I get that mindset.” Ron said. Ron, Marie , and Ellie sat down and began to relax after their eventful fight.
“Next up we have Emma, Aurora, and Rose and after them is John, Albert and Mike.” Connor announced.
The last two teams did well in their respective artificial dungeons, but nothing remarkable happened. Connor was satisfied with the performance of his students. As soon as the bell rang, the students headed for their second period classes. Oswald separated from Hannah and Jack as he had history and they had magic theory. Oswald dragged himself into a classroom in the Social Studies Building on the third floor.