In the middle of a quiet meadow was a dirt road that seemed to have no end. A horse-drawn carriage crisscrossed the area without pause. Inside said carriage, its occupants were resting, sunk in a peaceful sleep, completely indifferent to the views that were observed from the window, caressed by the soft breeze that came from outside.

SCREECH

"What?"

“Get off of me!”

"Ouch"

The carriage in which Zack and the others were sleeping suddenly stopped, causing its members to crash into each other in its narrow interior.

As they were reorienting themselves, the voice of one of the guards sounded outside the carriage.

"Heroes, we have reached our destination. Please, get out"

(And how are we supposed to do that?) Zack thought as he found himself intertwined with the other three.

After a few minutes of untangling, the four of them were finally able to get out of the carriage.

Zack observed the exterior with some curiosity, it was the first time he had seen a dungeon after all.

The carriage had arrived at a small encampment with a campfire in the middle, around it there was a wide flat space in which several guards were patrolling, but even with the number of guards exceeding double digits, the area was too large to be occupied by them. Zack could also see traces of heavy objects that were no longer there. Evidently, the people who were here before had been kicked out by the guards.

At the far end of the camp were two knights standing in front of a cave, probably the entrance to the dungeon, and just above the cave was a huge tree that glowed slightly, its branches swaying in the currents of wind.

"AUSTIN!"

Austin and the others turned when they heard the voice calling him from outside the camp.

"AOKI" answered Austin happily when he saw who was approaching.

Aoki and Austin were friends, and they, along with a couple of other classmates, formed one of the groups in the class. The clowns.

Behind Aoki, there were several companions who were being escorted by some guards.

Looking at the approaching group, Zack could see that most of them were armed and wore leather armor.

Zack recognized them at first sight, they were all the classmates who had obtained tier 2 combat classes.

Shun and Miyu also went to meet their friends after being apart for so long.

While the others were gathering and talking among themselves, a person approached Zack from among the group.

"Hi, Zach. We haven't seen each other in a long time. I see you still like to go on your own"

"Teacher Kaede"

Kaede smiled sadly when she heard Zack's words.

“Unfortunately I have stopped teaching. There are other things I have to take care of for now"

"Zack, tell me. Have you seen Kaoru, Reiko, and the others?" Kaede asked as her voice took on a serious tone.

Hearing this, Zack sadly shook his head.

“No, we haven't seen them since we were separated at the ceremony. In fact, you are the first group we see ever since we went to the magic tower"

The people Kaede mentioned are several classmates who acquired tier 1 classes.

Hearing that there was still no news from the rest of her students, Kaede's face began to darken. Since they were separated, Kaede tried on more than one time to see her students without success. Although her fencing instructor said that they were fine, only an idiot would believe her words.

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Zack's face did not have an expression of happiness on his face either. Thinking that he could have found himself in the same situation as his missing companions, his heart filled with anger and fear.

Until now, they had only inspected Zack's status at that ceremony, but it is inevitable that they will inspect him again at some point to see his progress.

One of the reasons, besides the obvious, that Zack is always busy is that if he rests his mind will fill itself with thoughts about the future.

"I'm sure they'll be fine. What needs to be done now is to prepare for the dungeon. Don't worry. Everything will be fine"

Seeing Zack's expression, Miss Kaede faked a smile and began to cheer Zack up.

neigh!

Horses´sounds could be heard from a distance, and the guards who were patrolling the area put themselves in formation and saluted accordingly.

Zack and the others turned their gaze in the direction of the sound of horses.

A carriage was heading towards the camp.

The difference between this carriage and the carriage Zack and the others rode in was obvious; the carriage coming towards this place was much more luxurious. If the carriage Zack rode in was a modest and elegant vehicle drawn by two horses, the new carriage was much larger, covered in gold, and drawn by eight beautiful white steeds almost twice the size of normal horses.

Once the carriage stopped in front of the dungeon, the carriage doors were flung open. Four people came out of it dressed in very high-quality equipment.

Before coming here, Albert gave them magical robes. These robes are made of golden spider silk, a species of spider mutated by mana that generates an especially tough and resilient thread and is enchanted with protection spells.

In comparison with the new team´s clothes, the robes that Zack and the other members of the magical classes were wearing wouldn't even serve to clean the floor.

They were Yamato, Tatsumaki, Seto, and Lorelei. The hero and his companions.

As the four of them got off the carriage, Tatsu took a look at the rest of his classmates here and smiled arrogantly. The other three simply ignored them, not even greeting Kaede.

If another person had acted like these four, Zack would wonder how a month can change a person so much, but knowing these four, he knew they hadn't changed at all. In fact, the only reason they respected Professor Kaede before was that, as their teacher, she had some power to restrain and punish them.

Now? Now that she can´t do anything to them, they treated her like the others.

"ATTENTION"

Zack's thoughts were interrupted by a soldier in more elegant armor than the rest.

“You have been gathered here today to demonstrate your progress and gain practical experience. I don't care how excellent you are in the training, without practical experience you will die the instant you step foot on the battlefield” the guard said.

"That is why we have prepared this exercise so that you can practice with an enemy of your level"

Zack wasn't sure but the way he said it gave the impression that he didn't consider them anything special.

"Now we will divide you into groups of three. You will enter the dungeon accompanied by a guard who will examine your results"

(So they want to keep an eye on us so they don't lose sight of us) Zack thought as he looked at his companions.

Zack's class was made up of a total of thirty-two people, including Miss Kaede. Only the students who had tier 2 combat classes were in the camp, with the exception of Zack and Austin. After all, there would be no point in sending crafting classes to the battlefield, and the whereabouts of the students with tier 1 classes remained a mystery.

A total of 15 people obtained tier 2 classes, but Ronald, who was the only one who obtained a blacksmithing class, was not here, so there were 16 people.

Zack was sure that what the instructor said did not apply to Yamato and the others, so they will have to form 5 groups, but they are four, which means that…

"Form groups to come to the entrance of the dungeon in ten minutes" said the instructor who, after finishing speaking, left the place, followed by Yamato and the hero's companions.

Suddenly, all eyes were directed toward Zack and his companions.

"Hey, Austin. Let's team up"

“Miyu, long time no see. Can we talk for a second?"

"Shun, come with us!"

All of Zack's classmates began to approach each other to try to convince them to team up. If they have learned one thing in these weeks, it is that wizards are valuable, very valuable. There's no way they'd pass up the opportunity to team up with one.

Zack tried to take a step back to get away from the crowd, only to bump into Kaede, who was looking at him in a way Zack had never seen before in her eyes and a smile on her mouth.

"Zack, do you want to team up?"

…

While Zack and the others were in trouble, in another place not far from there, several figures gathered in the middle of a clearing.

"Is everything ready?"

"Yeah. All the preparations are in order" answered a figure as he showed him an artifact that glowed with a sinister violet light.

"Only this?"

"My apologies, but that's all we've been able to muster on such short notice"

"Nothing can be done. Who would have thought that the opportunity would present itself so soon?"

"This was not part of our plan. What was the king thinking?"

"Do you want to back out?"

"No, I didn't say that!"

"Oh really? Because it seemed like you wanted to do that"

"YOU-

"Enough" said a figure that had been silent from the start. Upon hearing his voice, the rest of the people were silent.

“We have already discussed this before. The plan continues” his gaze went to three of the assembled individuals.

“You will be in charge of executing the plan. The rest will act as if everything is normal until then. Is that clear?"

The rest of the people gathered here nodded silently, although some with reluctance.

“Get ready. There's not much time left"

After saying this, the figures disappeared one by one, until the clearing was empty. As if nothing had happened.