In this world, the first to fourth day of the week is the weekday, while the fifth and sixth are the weekend. Depending on your job, you may be free during the weekend. The same could be said for the King’s Academy. The fifth and sixth day were reserved for clubs and free time.

The clubs had begun advertising ever since the second day of school. I hadn’t joined any.

I wonder what Maya is doing…

I rolled around on the bed, knocking my sleepiness away. It was seven in the morning. My past self would never have dreamed of getting up this early. Heck, maybe I hadn’t even gone to bed by that point. I would play games till morning then sleep all the way till past noon. This world didn’t have games, and what you could do during the dark was limited.

I could study, I guess, but I didn’t really have a reason to do that during the night. I didn't really have a reason to do that at all.

Bored and with nothing else to do, I got dressed and went out. I decided to wait around in the school garden until the school’s library opened at nine.

It's peaceful…

I watched the birds, then looked around, searching for the crow. It didn’t seem to be around.

I wonder if Asytelar had something else to do…

The school’s clock rang. I turned toward the tower, confirming the time, then stood up. I hadn’t walked far from the bench when someone called out to me.

“Hey, Fortisbel.”

I turned toward the origin of the voice. It was the prince.

“Prilus? Something the matter?”

Prilus’ eyes twitched.

Oh shoot.

“Prilus? Mind your manners, you commoner. We are not in a duel right now.”

“I am terribly sorry, Your Highness.”

Calling him with such formality made me sick, like an ant asking you to call her Your Majesty just because she’s the queen ant.

“Follow me.”

I did as told. While walking, I kept a distance between the two of us. He glanced back at me but said nothing, leading me into the school building. We went up to the second floor, entering an empty classroom. He sat down on one of the seats.

“Is there something you need me for?”

“Sit down.”

I sat down next to him. I remained on guard, in case he wanted to do something to me. There didn’t seem to be anything or anyone else in the room, and he didn’t seem to be carrying anything particularly dangerous.

“Be at ease. I have something different to discuss. You're among the top ten from the entrance exam. You must be smart.”

That was quite the jump in topic.

“Thank you.”

We did take an entrance exam before we entered the school. It was so uneventful that I forgot about it. I had been studying since I was little, due to a lack of better things to do. I got third place, while Maya got twenty fourth. If I wasn't mistaken, the prince got first, and Emori got second.

“You have a lot of knowledge about monsters, right?”

“I often grind- I mean kill them to level up.” I decided to add that little remark to help explain why I was so high level. Maybe that way, the prince wouldn't be as disgruntled with me.

“The adventurers discovered a new dungeon not far from the capital. They set up an adventuring party to conquer it, but retreated due to a dangerous monster. They wrote a letter requesting help from the kingdom.”

In the game, dungeons were old structures created by ancient civilizations that were buried by time. Monsters often resided in them. After a dungeon was raided, there would be no monsters in it for a certain period of time.

Unlike in other games, in Mimosa, dungeons rarely have treasure. When they did, the items were often related to the ancient civilization. Weapons and enchanted material were a rarity. Players used them solely for level grinding.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“So you want my help?”

“Yes. The adventurers claimed that they never saw this monster before, and had they not retreat, they would be dead. I thought, since you're smart, and weird, you may be able to help.”

“Weird? What do you mean weird?”

“No person fights using nature magic.”

I guess he had a point. I didn’t have a different wand, though. I left mom’s fire wand at home, and my nature wand could only be used to create nature-based magic.

Although, to be fair, I could get a replacement if I wanted to. I used nature a lot in the past to help with my parents’ work, so I got used to it.

If we’re talking pure offense… maybe fire would do?

“I thought, since you have a different way of seeing things, maybe you’ll spot something we don’t see. If you agree, you'll be rewarded handsomely.”

I wanted to correct the prince, as the reason I was using nature based magic was because I’m used to it. At the same time, I was quite curious about this dungeon. I visited dungeons back near my village, but they tend to be small and unexciting. Just some roads covered up by land or the forest, nothing unique, and nothing big enough to house dangerous monsters.

Other than that, my knowledge, both the ones I learnt from playing the game and the ones I learnt from reading books, had been quite useful so far. If I could impress the prince, we may get closer. Not sure why I needed to get closer, but increasing our friendship levels, even if just a bit, should help.

Oh well, I have maxed out my level anyway. Increasing my reputation wouldn’t hurt.

“Sure. Can I bring Maya and Emori?”

“Em- Emori?”

“I mean Her Highness Princess Emori. She told me to call her that.”

“Sigh… so you really have gotten close to her.”

How did he know? Oh wait.

“So your castle mage must be observing me.”

Asytelar probably shared some information with him.

“Let me guess, my sister told you about it as well?”

“Yeah.”

Prilus hid his face behind his hands. “That girl… Well, there’s no need to worry. For the first time in her life, she scolded someone. The mage won’t be bothering you anymore.”

I felt a little bad for Arnold, since he probably didn’t intend on spy on me anyway. Something else Prilus said caught my attention.

“Emori never scolded anyone?”

“Not until last night. Anyway, meet me at the gate after lunch,” he said, before walking out of the classroom.

* ••

I made my way toward the girls’ dormitories. In this school, there were no rules against boys entering the girls' dorms or vice versa, although the rule stated that no of the opposite gender could stay past curfew. I have no plans of staying that long. My appearance caught eyes, with several of the girls whispering as I walked past them heading straight for Maya’s room. The students that were around all stopped to look at me.

“Is that the level one hundred kid?”

“What's he doing here?”

It looks like my reputation precedes me.

I ignored them all and continued walking. It didn’t take long for me to arrive in front of Maya’s room. I knocked on the door, hoping that she was already awake. The door opened not long after.

“Fortis?” Solicea appeared from behind the door.

“Solicea? What are you doing here?”

“That’s my question.”

“I’m looking for Maya.”

Solicea then disappeared, calling out to Maya. She returned not long after. “Come in.”

“Are- are you sure?”

“What are you? A kid?”

I followed Solicea. Maya was sitting in the living room, sipping a cup of tea. Some snacks were on the table. She turned to face me.

“Good morning,” she greeted, sounding rather sleepy.

“Did you just wake up?”

“There’s no school today, so no reason to take things seriously. So, why are you here?”

I sat down on an empty chair and explained what Prilus told me.

“That sounds dangerous,” Solicea commented after I finished explaining.

“No worries. I and Fortis can handle it,” Maya said with confidence, setting the cup down on the table.

“You'll punch it to death.”

“You know me.” Maya took a cookie and ate it. “So, when are we going?”

“After lunch.”

Maya stood up and headed to the door. “Come on, I'm hungry.”

“You just ate a cookie?” Solicea asked, exasperated.

“Killing monsters makes me hungry.”

“You haven’t even killed anything, yet.” I stood up. “You're coming with us, Solicea?”

She averted her gaze. “Well… it's scary… and I'm underleveled.”

Right, she was among the lowest of the levels in our year. She probably hadn’t killed any monsters before.

“We'll protect you.” Maya reassured her. “Worst case scenario, we'll die together.”

“Eep!” She jumped back.

“It's a joke.”

“Maya, put more emotion to your jokes,” I quipped.

Maya cocked her head. “I am expressing emotions,” she said with a flat tone.

Do dragons have a different definition for emotions?

“But don't worry. We'll protect you,” I repeated to Solicea.

“Okay, I'll trust you two then.”

We made our way to the cafeteria, where Maya bought two portions of steak for lunch.