It had come time for Talia to venture inside the Placid Cave herself. She looked around in wonderment, seeing a real Dungeon for the first time.

Glowing fungi on the walls made it easy for everyone to see ahead while also creating a creepy atmosphere. Everyone's footsteps echoed and mingled with the constant drip of water.

Talia was right by Mira's side, feeling a certain hostility from the senior student.

What's up with her? Talia thought.

Just behind them were Nami and Lilo.

Unlike the first, rather excited group, there was a stark tension. The news of potential Cultist presence had spooked everyone.

Plus, Talia also knew that the Sword Demon might be in the vicinities of the place. Professor Iakopo had scouted the Placid Cave and found nothing dangerous when they had started exploring it, but Talia was still very nervous about the whole situation.

“Remember,” Mira’s voice cut through Talia’s thoughts, “by the time we reach the deeper parts of the cavern in a week, those who can’t summon a Mana Board will have failed out of the academy. No exceptions.”

Wait what? Talia's eyes widened.

No one had told her that!

She couldn't use a Mana Board. She couldn't even summon a crooked one!

As they rounded a bend in the tunnel, the passage widened into a larger chamber. The increased space brought a new threat - a group of Torpedo Snappers.

[Torpedo Snapper - Level 8]

Trying not to think about the Mana Board thing, Talia jumped ahead of everyone, swinging the Star Glaive.

The extra Agility she had gained from absorbing the Slashing Crusters on the beach made her movements much more fluid and precise.

I probably need to allocate more Attributes to Strength, though, she thought, feeling the glaive still heavy in her hands.

She ducked under the first Snapper’s lunge, her glaive flashing out in a deadly arc that caught the creature mid-leap. She bisected the creature and immediately activated [Blood Siphon] to suck the vitality out of the already-dead monster.

The Torpedo Snapper’s life force flowed into her, invigorating her. The Torpedo Snapper was less durable than the Slashing Crusters, although it was faster and deadlier.

[You have absorbed the Torpedo Snapper’s Life Force.]

[+0.7 to your Primary Mana Channel (15.02/20 to Level Two)]

[+1 to your Agility (6/6 to 1 Agility)]

[You gave gained 1 Agility]

This was the fourth Agility Attribute that she had gained through [Blood Siphon].

Whenever she looked at the Skill, she felt it was utterly unfair.

Sure, it had some limitations on the number of monsters she could absorb at once and the maximum level of the monster she could absorb—for example, she hadn’t been able to absorb the Abyssal Scuttler Boss—but it had allowed her to grow her Attributes at a speed that even the Great Families would have found absolutely terrifying.

And while it still didn’t show that much because she was low-leveled, this was bound to slowly make her into an unstoppable force—beyond what even Yalena, her mother, had been.

Talia gave herself a small smile of satisfaction as she faced the next threat. Two more Snappers were zooming in on her spot, their torpedo-like bodies darting through the air in a pretty creepy way.

As the first Torpedo Snapper reached her, Talia pivoted, using the creature’s momentum against it, slashing her palm and using [Hemomancy] to extend a much larger blade that caught the soft underside of the monster’s jaw, killing on the spot.

She quickly activated [Blood Siphon] again, and another surge of energy coursed through her as [Blood Siphon] activated once more.

[You have absorbed the Torpedo Snapper’s Life Force.]

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[+0.7 to your Primary Mana Channel (15.72/20 to Level Two)]

[+1.1 to your Agility (1.8/9 to 3 Agility)]

She briefly wondered when she would get another Skill thanks to [Blood Siphon].

What she had taken as a rather common occurrence and a basic effect of the Skill after killing the Abyssal Cuda back on Solara had apparently been an extremely rare happenstance.

However, her attention was swiftly brought back to the current moment as other students engaged monsters under Mira’s eye, and the second Torpedo Snapper of the duo slowly slithered around her.

Talia tried attacking first this time, but the monster anticipated her movement, twisting its body in mid-air to avoid her strike. Talia felt the rush of air as the creature’s snapping jaws missed her face by inches. She stumbled back, regaining her balance just in time to parry another attack from the Abyssal Creature.

Gritting her teeth, Talia entirely focused on the enemy and, for good measure, activated [Eyes of the Abyss] to see if she could catch the movements of Mana inside the monster’s body.

Time seemed to slow as she watched the creature coil for another strike.

Is it going to work? She wondered.

When it launched forward this time, she saw a flare of Mana, a hazy trail that seemed to create a vacuum in the air, which the monster would leap through moments later.

And so, Talia was ready.

She sidestepped right as the monster leaped through the hair, giving it no way of dodging and bringing her glaive down in a powerful overhead strike that split the Snapper from head to tail.

[Eyes of the Abyss has reached Level 8!]

As the creature fell, Talia took a moment to survey the chamber.

Both Nami and Lilo were holding their own.

But it was Lilo who caught Talia’s attention.

The Moana heir and Chosen fought with a fury that seemed out of place, her strikes carrying more force than necessary.

I think she’s still upset after meeting Lilinoe, Talia thought.

Each Torpedo Snapper that fell to her blade did so with a sickening crunch, the creature’s body nearly cleaved in two by the force of Lilo’s attacks.

Talia watched as Lilo engaged three Snappers simultaneously.

The first fell quickly, Lilo’s blade finding its mark with brutal efficiency.

The second almost managed to graze Lilo’s arm with its teeth, but the Tempest Water aura seemed to repel it.

The attack seemed to enrage Lilo further.

She let out a shout, her next attack so powerful it not only killed the second Snapper but continued through to strike the third, killing both creatures in a single devastating blow.

“Lilo!” Nami’s voice carried across the chamber, a note of concern evident even over the sounds of battle. “Calm down!”

Lilo didn’t respond, focusing entirely on the next Snapper that dared approach.

Mira turned to observe the younger Moana sister.

“What’s the deal with her?” The senior student asked.

Lilo’s head snapped up at the question, her eyes blazing with an intensity that made even Mira step back.

“Mind your own business,” Lilo snapped, her voice dripping with venom.

Mira’s eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in anger.

But before she could respond, Nami stepped between them, her hands raised in a placating gesture.

“Now’s not the time,” she said firmly.

Usually, Mira would have carried authority, being both senior to them and from a more reputable Great Family. However, the Kane Family could be considered below the Moana Family at the moment, despite the usual hierarchies. The Moana Family had risen in recent history and become much stronger than before, while the Kane Family had suffered a downfall after Professor Iakopo's estrangement from it.

Lilo held Mira’s gaze for a moment longer before turning away with a huff, moving to take up a position at the back of the group.

Mira watched her go, her jaw clenched in barely contained rage.

That had been an interesting conflict.

As they prepared to move on, Talia caught a glimpse of Mira’s face.

The senior student’s expression was a mask of fury, her thoughts practically visible behind her eyes.

I wonder if she blames Professor Iakopo, Talia wondered, imagining that Mira would be thinking something like:

I can’t let my Family down like this, allowing a puny girl from the East Deep to speak to me in such a manner.

As they went deeper into the cave, the encounters with Torpedo Snappers became more frequent.

Talia fell into a rhythm.

But then, a bigger group of Torpedo Snappers emerged from a side passage.

This new group was larger than the previous ones, with at least a dozen Torpedo Snappers jumping toward them.

The first wave hit them hard.

She was surrounded by three Snappers, their attacks coming from all directions.

One Snapper’s teeth grazed her leg, tearing through her pants and drawing blood. She swiftly killed two. Then, as she prepared to engage the last, Talia reactivated both [Eyes of the Abyss] and [Crimson Wisdom].

That’s when she saw it - a presence so bright and powerful that it nearly blinded her enhanced vision. Something was approaching, something far stronger than the Torpedo Snappers they had been facing. Something huge.

Its energy signature was a dazzling mass, pulsing with a power that made Talia’s heart race with fear.

“Mira!” Talia called out, her voice tight with urgency. “There’s something coming. Something big.”

Mira turned, her eyebrows raised in skepticism.

“What are you talking about? I don’t sense anything unusual.”

“I’m telling you, there’s a powerful monster heading our way,” Talia insisted, her patience wearing thin. “We need to back off, now!”

Mira’s expression hardened.

“Are you trying to cause panic like that other girl did? There’s nothing-”

“Oh, shut up, you moron!” Talia snapped, her fear turning to anger. “Everyone, back away now! There’s a strong monster coming!”

The harshness in Talia’s voice startled everyone.

They began to retreat, moving back the way they had come.

But as they did, something strange happened.

The overwhelming presence Talia had sensed seemed to fade, replaced by the familiar energy signature of a regular Torpedo Snapper. As the weaker monster emerged from the shadows, Mira turned to Talia, her face flushed with anger.

“What is wrong with you?” she shouted. “Do you have any idea how much trouble you could be in for this? False alarms like this could get someone killed!”

But Talia wasn’t listening.

Her brain was trying to compute what had just happened.

The powerful presence hadn’t disappeared - it had been replaced, as if something or someone had deliberately switched it out for a weaker monster.

I was right, Talia thought, her heart pounding. I know what I saw.

This isn’t just a training exercise.

There’s something else going on here.

As Mira continued her tirade, Talia made a decision.

“I need to send a message immediately,” she muttered, ignoring the senior student’s angry words and turning her back to her.