The entrance to the Placid Cave was unassuming.

A gaping, uneven maw cut into the side of a hill that stood one-hour trek away from Placid City. The entrance Fiora, Agalei, and the rest of the group were entering from was just wide enough for two people to walk abreast but low enough that they had to duck slightly.

It had been reformed, through magic, in order to be hard to get through for the monsters inside. The rock around the entrance was smooth, worn down by wind and salty rain over the years, leaving pale, gray stone.

Thin trickles of water dripped from somewhere deep within, and its echo matched the pace of the first-ystudent'sents steps who were just entering the place.

Mira, a senior, fifth-year student, and member of the Kane Family was selected by Professor Iakopo among his fifth-year class. He was the leader of the first groups that would rotate in and out of the Placid Cave.

“Torpedo Snappers,” Mira explained as she surveyed students ducking under inside the entrance and waiting on the other side, “are big snakes that can reproduce real fast. Your progress will be ridiculously slow until we get to the main nest. If there was one group, the Torpedo Snappers could keep hatching new babies faster than you could kill them.”

Fiora raised an eyebrow, wondering how she would fare against these Abyssal Creatures.

Specifically, Professor Iakopo had mentioned that Torpedo Snappers were incredibly fast for a monster at their level. So, even though the average level in the Placid Cave shouldn’t be above Level Nine, which was still relatively uncommon for a South Deep Dungeon, they could easily kill a first-year student who didn’t know what they were doing.

It would have been a bloodbath if they had come here without Mira.

“Ready?” She smiled at Agalei, who was clearly much more scared than she was.

“S—sure,” Agalei stuttered.

The blonde led the way in, ducking inside the cave.

She was ready for complete darkness, but what she found on the other side stunned her.

Inside, the air was cooler and damp, carrying the earthy smell of moss and wet stone. But most importantly, the cave walls shimmered, generating enough light to be, if not a match for sunlight, at least enough to see clearly and not fight in complete darkness.

“Special fungi grow here,” Mira said as she followed behind the last students to ensure everyone from this batch had entered. “It’s the ambient Mana. Abyssal Creatures and the flora here go crazy on it.”

“Wow,” a guy said, “is the fungi edible?”

“It can be prepared into elixirs, but its strength is not great. If consumed raw, it can give mild symptoms of Mana Poisoning,” Mira explained.

Several students looked confused, all the non-noble ones except Fiora, who had recently studied about it.

Mana Poisoning was essentially the process that allowed Abyssal Creatures to absorb raw Mana and get stronger. However, if a normal human were to experience Mana Poisoning for long enough, they would eventually lose their mind.

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Without deigning to explain what Mana Poisoning meant, Mira simply warned the chattering students about what would come.

"Listen up," Mira's voice cut through the murmur of conversation, silencing the group instantly. "We're about to enter the Placid Cave proper. This is still not deep enough to meet monsters. And this is no ordinary dungeon – it's unusually big for a Dungeon of this level and filled with Torpedo Snappers up to the gills."

Fiora felt Agalei tense beside her, and she reached out to reassuringly squeeze her friend's hand. Agalei's answering grip was almost painfully tight.

She shouldn’t have come, Fiora thought to herself.

Fiora had had time over the trip on Siren’s Song, the Professor’s boat, to get to know the girl better.

The girl with auburn hair and green eyes came from the West Deep.

Specifically, her family worked under a minor noble family as farmers.

Agalei, having awakened a Level Seven Primary Mana Channel, had gotten the chance to join the Academy, at which she had jumped with enthusiasm.

The gentle girl had explained to Fiora that all she wanted was to become stronger and complete missions so that she could set up her family with enough money, and they wouldn’t have to break their backs in the fields any longer.

Agalei had also timidly mentioned that her biggest dream was to become strong enough like Yalena, the most famous Kraken Slayer of them all—Talia’s mother.

When Fiora asked why, Agalei told her something that she had never even considered before.

Apparently, Yalena was revered among ordinary people because she had come from a humble background, unlike virtually every Kraken Slayer in the past three generations. Yalena was an inspiration to all those who dreamed of elevating their conditions.

Agalei had even told her that even the nobles incited the peasant population to work hard and aspire to be like the late Hākai Pō.

Fiora had found it disingenuous, but she hadn’t said anything.

Considering the reality, it seemed like a plot by the nobles to get their workforce to work harder in exchange for a pipe dream.

"I'll be evaluating your performance," Mira added, her gaze sharp as it swept over the students once more. "By next week, we'll be venturing into the flooded parts of the Dungeon. There, you'll have to use Mana Board to navigate. Those who can't master it by then will fail the class and be expelled from the Academy. No exceptions."

“Wait, what?!” One of the students raised their voice. “Expelled?! But we have until the end of the year to learn the skill in the class!”

“Good,” Mira smiled maliciously. “You clearly have a lot of good faith in Uncle Iakopo's benevolence. That surely is going to help you become a good Water Rider.”

The guy in question just returned a confused stare at Mira until one of his pals elbowed him.

“She’s being sarcastic,” the other explained.

“Professor Iakopo will fail you if you can’t master Mana Board and help with the stronger monsters. So, consider that you’ll have three hours today. Three hours tomorrow. Then two days off, then another day, and then two days more of rest. By then, every group will have had four dives in the Dungeon. If you haven’t mastered Mana Board by then, Professor Iakopo will fail you. And if you have any more questions, please do not waste more of your time here. I’m enjoying not having to look after your sorry fights to ensure you don’t die against the first Torpedo Snapper.”

The same guy who had protested made to open his mouth, but one of his friends literally put a hand over it and told him not to say another word.

Fiora, who had already gotten the basics of Mana Board down, was confident she could master the skill by the end of the week.

She turned toward Agalei.

Agalei had an even finer control than she had, which made it very likely that she’d be able to master the skill herself.

However, for all Fiora didn’t want to think about it, she felt worried for one person who had shown zero progress in summoning a Mana Board.

The blonde thought about her friend with the freakish, shiny blue eyes and gritted her teeth.

She’ll figure out something.

She always does.