The Academy Ehre is renowned for producing countless excellent individuals specializing in combat, academics, geist advancements, and more. In the Academy Ehre, a classroom holds 50 students per section. With such a large number of students and only one professor, one cannot help but doubt whether every student is receiving the necessary education. However, the high quality of the professors is just one of the many factors that make Ehre known throughout the world. Among the countless sections, I am part of the top section, which holds 50 of the most excellent students Ehre has cultivated.
"Have you gone deaf Eis Drache!!" Caught up in my own thoughts, the professor's shout brought me back to reality.
"Get over here and demonstrate to the whole class the light activation of luminescent ore." Uttered by the professor and followed by a subtle smirk, I walked from my seat to the desk in front of the whole class, hearing my classmates whisper and smile at each other.
"As I said earlier, demonstrate how brighter a luminescent ore can get by pouring your geistkraft."
Luminescent ore shines brighter the more geistkraft is poured into it. Unsurprisingly, this ore, which is supposed to be better than a light bulb, matches the brightness of a matchstick. The professor silenced the class as they laughed at my pathetic display of geistkraft.
"To think that a student of the great Academy Ehre, and one placed in the highest section possible, as if not having a system is already enough, you're even unable to perform such a trivial task—how deplorable."
As I grit my teeth, a flashing line of geistkraft hit the luminescent ore, causing it to increase in brightness, lighting the entire room. Schatten, one of the students, fired a geistkraft to further add salt to the wound. While the students burst into laughter at Schatten's antics, the luminescent ore suddenly engulfed the entire class, leaving no room for shadow.
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"You didn't have to do that for me." Said I to Heizen with a casual tone attempting to dismiss his annoyed expression due to Schatten's antics.
"This is the problem with you. You ought to defend your dignity a bit more." Heizen sigh as he respond with a worried expression.
"Anyways, professor Verra said a Faulheit was spotted on the 7th floor of the dungeon. I need their core to rack credits or else graduation is gonna be nothing but a dream." In this prestigious academy, Ehre, students need 10,000 credits to graduate. The average student accumulates this amount by their final year. On the other hand, as someone without the aid of the system, I wouldn't be able to reach that goal even if it were the day before graduation.
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In an office belonging to a professor, a stack of papers lay on top of the desk, while a man with luscious jet-black hair carefully tidied the stack. To no one's notice, the door was slammed open, and a visibly angered man emerged.
"What seems to be the matter for you burst into my humble office, Professor Schmach?" The man inquired, his voice filled with uneasiness. Half raising his hands in an attempt to distance himself.
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Professor Schmach slammed his left hand on the desk while pointing his index finger at the man's face. "How about you tell me what you're thinking granting those two students a permit to 7th floor! Thanks to that, a student of mine, Schatten, and his friends followed your two clear favourite students."
"That's not good." Uttered by the man.
"Certainly, which why you must immediately summon your crow and escort those idiots out." Followed by professor Schmach.
"Oh, they'll be all right. What I'm worried about is Schatten and his boys will have their pride shattered should they insist on obstructing Eis and Heizen." Remarked by the man with a smug tone.
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"Hey, are you sure this is a good idea?" Expressed by the boy on Schatten's left side
"Are you doubting me?" Uttered by Schatten in an angered tone.
"Faulheit contains a dense amount of geist, which they utilize to put their prey in a trance. Since Eis barely has any geistkraft, he wouldn't be able to resist, let alone subdue it." Noted by the boy in Schatten's right side.
"Just shut up. I won't allow that bum to even have hope of graduating." As soon as Schatten finished his sentence, one of his ally was decapitated.
The boy stood still. Paralyzed by the sight of his classmate's headless body, he immediately followed the footsteps of his friend. Schatten's quick response saved him from the claws of a massive geisterwolf.
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"We're almost at the 8th floor yet I'm still not seeing any faulheit."
"Heizen, lets head back." Eis replied with a firm tone.
"Huh, why?" Heizen inquired.
"In the first place, faulheits are supposed to be on the 11th floor and above, where the floors are at least more spacious than the first ten floors, which are mostly cave-like".
Faulheits are lazy monsters that possess tremendous strength. Despite this, faulheits insist on hiding while using geistkraft so they won't have to move around. On a non-spacious floor like the first ten floors, a faulheit belonging to the 11th floor and above would immediately be surrounded by other monsters, as monsters from different floors don't get along. In other words, for a faulheit to be spotted on these floors and survive, it would have to be an abnormal one.
"!!!!!!!!"
While caught on my own thoughts a sudden scream echoed throughout the floor. We hurried towards the direction of scream and was welcomed by the sight of two dead students and Schatten cornered by the faulheit.
The faulheit that was about to finish off Schatten was interrupted by Eis' sword, which parried it and created distance between him and the faulheit.
The faulheit tried to launch itself at Eis but was quickly interrupted by Heizen's wall of flame. Heizen swiftly followed up by attempting to cage the faulheit in a ball of flame, which failed due to the monster escaping just in time.
The faulheit jumped backward in an attempt to charge its geistkraft but was interrupted by Eis' flurry of incoming sword slashes.
The faulheit, busy dealing with Eis, was unable to see Heizen's incoming attack and was impaled by a flame of spear. Unable to sustain its life the monster's body burst, revealing the monster's core... Or that's usually how it's suppose to go. Instead of the elliptical shape with sharp ends, which is the monster's core, what appeared was a spherical marble cloaked in bright crimson.
"That is what's making the faulheit act abnormal." Claimed by Schatten.
"Care to further elaborate?"
"What killed my two companions here isn't that faulheit; it was a geisterwolf. It was massive, unlike the usual ones. What was odd wasn't its size, but the behavior of the other monsters. Normally, a fellow monster that spawns on the same floor wouldn't attack other monsters, but that massive geisterwolf was being surrounded and attacked by its fellow floor monsters. After it was weakened, the faulheit killed the wolf and consumed that marble, gaining even further power."
It seems like the monsters are attracted to this marble, to the point that even monsters from different floor would come trespassing.
"If that's the case, we should hurry outside. More monsters will come flocking toward us for this marb-" Before I could even finish my sentence, a minotaur came crashing at us, destroying the surrounding walls of the dungeon. Sending all of us flying.
The minotaur, who was about to pick up the marble, was interrupted by Heizen's flames. Heizen tried to poison the minotaur with carbon monoxide but was flung away by the creature's destructive struggle. Eis swung his sword in an attempt to blind the minotaur, but to no avail, and was quickly countered by a kick due to the minotaur's nimbleness. With no means of defeating a high-level enemy, the two could only struggle to crawl away from the monster. The minotaur stretched its left hand to take the marble from Heizen's grasp. In a desperate attempt to survive, Heizen ate the marble, and immediately afterward, the dungeon was enveloped in dead silence. Enraged by Heizen's act, the minotaur roared and swung its fist with full force on Heizen.
As the minotaur was about to kill my best friend, everything felt slow. I closed my eyes, unable to bear witnessing the minotaur's attack. However, when I opened my eyes, what I saw was the exact opposite of what I had imagine. The minotaur's upper half was completely obliterated.