Chapter 38 Dungeon Of Trials [1]
"She's late."
"I can bet she fell asleep on the way."
Ignoring the gossip of my classmates, I continued moving my hand. I was copying the pages I found in the back of the black book this morning, in the blue diary I had made to store information I knew about the novel.
In the morning I came to know that at the end of the black book there were 7 filled pages.
"Can't believe I missed something so important."
======
Name: Nathan
Title: Successor of the First King, ■■■■■■■■■■■
Age: 16 yrs (???)
Rank: Meta
.me
Disposition: Chaotic-neutral
Stigma(Awakening-75%) - ???
**
>>Skills:
-> [Pierce [Common]]
Extend the tip of your weapon by 5 feet.
-> [Synchronization] – Locked
Temporarily boosts your overall rank, skill ranks, and mastery by one; Synchronize with ???; ???
Number of Uses: 3
Unlock Requirements: Iota-rank
**
>> Arts:
[Armory of Eridu [Legacy]]
->Constellations: Greatsword[Common]*1, Longsword[Common]*1, Spear[Common]*1, Dart[Common]*1
->Understanding Lvl3: Create constellations of weapons in the soul. The more constellations the user creates, the faster new constellations are created.
->Novice Mastery:
Scan – Creates a frame of the weapon inside your soul.
Construct – Manifest your weapons in the World dimension.
->Proficient Mastery Requirements: The user is able to construct 5 weapons at once, Understanding Lvl5
**
>> Quest :-
Find and kill ???? Mammon.
Reward – Pandora's Heart, ???, ???
Failure Penalty – ???
Time Remaining– 12 years: 364 days: 13 hours
**
>>Items: Greatsword[Common]*1, Longsword[Common]*1, Spear[Common]*1, Hammer[Common]*1, Dagger[Common]*1, Dart[Common]*1, Grimoire[Common](Spells: Wind Blade*1, Flame Blaze*1, Magic Bullets*3, Heal*1), Grey Oak Wand[Common]*1, Leather Cape[Common)*1, Health Potion[Mid-tier], Blood Boar Meat(Slices)*9, Purple Latic Berry*14, Spear(Improvised)*1, Lvl11 Aether Core*1
======
This was the first page on the back.
I still felt dizzy reading it. But there was no doubt the information it provided was more detailed than the system.
There were 6 more pages but I couldn't read them.
Earlier when I tried to read them, I started feeling like someone was pouring searing lava into my head. The pain was unbearable, and I immediately began bleeding from my eyes and ears.
This was why I was bathing again before Lilith and Leon disturbed me.
"Do I still smell?"
I sniffed myself again, but I couldn't find the scent of blood on me. Though the scent should still be lingering on me. After all, Lilith was sniffing me like crazy.
"Why were they there, anyway?"
I knew I couldn't get any answer thinking by myself. So, I was planning on checking the book later today.
"Haah.."
Some of the cadets were giving me weird looks as they saw me staring at empty air and then writing in an unknown language. Yes, the black book was invisible to others, and I was using my native language from the previous world as the temporary code language.
Ignoring them, I wondered how I could have been so careless. In the morning when I saw the last seven pages, I noticed the number of [Synchronization] was 3.
I could swear the number was supposed to be 4.
But I understood that it was a mistake on my part. The number should have been 3 earlier. This was because of two reasons.
For any skill to activate, we need to call out its name, which I obviously didn't.
Moreover, I couldn't use [Synchronization] until I was Iota-rank. The System might withhold information, but it would never provide wrong information.
I also scrutinized myself thoroughly in the morning, but I looked the same as before I went to sleep.
"..Synchronization"
Even after waiting for a minute, nothing happened.
"I guess I did make a mistake."
I massaged my arms as I wrote. I used too much ether yesterday and now my body felt sore.
"Attention!"
Sean Drangnauk, our combat instructor, entered the class.
"I will be taking your homeroom class in Miss Mia's absence, as she is busy with an important task. Now, I will give a briefing about the Dungeon of trials that will open tomorrow."
This was the first time Mia was absent.
I didn't remember anything like this. Then again, [Synchronization] was the prime example that I shouldn't depend too much on my memory.
'Weak memory in the early twenties? What else is left for me to see?'
But this scenario should have happened in the novel. There was no way my actions could affect Mia's attendance, which should be directly regulated by the Vice Headmaster.
Since I didn't remember Mia being absent, it shouldn't be anything important.
"From tomorrow all of you can enter the Dungeon of trials. It has a total of 100 floors, but you need to clear the 0th floor to be able to enter the main dungeon."
Cadets began chattering excitedly. Dungeon of trials was one of its biggest incentives of Ward.
"As you all know, Dungeon of trials is a special tower-type dungeon. Before entering, you must remember that there are only three ways to exit the Dungeon: Completing the trial, using tickets, or dying."
Dying inside the main dungeon didn't mean dying in reality. Though this was allowed only 2 times, the 3rd time you will die for real.
Dungeon of trial was a legacy artifact and thus different from normal dungeons.
"Tickets can only be used from the 10th floor. So don't be hasty and prepare accordingly."
Nobody paid much attention to the 0th floor. Anybody could clear it regardless of strength.
"Normally, all of you would be given free rein to enter the dungeon after its opening. But it has been decided that the present first years need to be disciplined and thus some changes have been made."
The murmurs slowly stopped when the cadets heard the instructor. Finally, everyone looked at him in confusion, urging him to continue.
"Clearing the 0th floor will decide your mid-term practical examination score."
The confusion only grew as Sean spoke. Even the weakest cadet could clear the 0th floor.
It was suspicious that this would decide their practical score.
Nobody was happy or excited anymore. It was clear that this was too easy to be the real test.
"Any team that fails to pass the test within the specified time will be barred from entering the dungeon for this semester. More details will be sent to your bracelets shortly."
Clearing the 0th floor within a specified time was difficult.
The 0th floor was a maze and you can't decide where you will be teleported after entering.
The punishment for failing the test was harsh, too. Not being able to use the Dungeon of trials will be a great setback for anyone and their peers will leave them in the dust.
It was clear now what the real test was. Certainly, clearing a maze filled with traps and monsters within a time limit was difficult.
They couldn't cheat too as the maze structures changed daily and modern devices don't work inside dungeons.
"That will be all."
TING-! TING-!
Everyone's devices rang at the same time.
While I was checking the test details, I felt a few stares at me. Soon the number of stares increased and kept on increasing.
Glancing around, I could see that the stares coming in my direction weren't very friendly, while some were borderline hostile.
Leon and a few others were also the targets of the stares, but most of them were directed at me.
All of this was because of the test details.
======
Mid-semester Examination:-
Goal: Clear 0th floor
Time Limit: 8 hours
-->>Details:
> Every team will have 5 members.
> Only the top 7 teams will pass the exam.
> Cadets will be provided the relative location of their teammates inside the dungeon.
> The team rank will be decided based on the individual score of the weakest member of the team.
> Points earned by the cadets and the time taken by them to clear the floor will decide their individual scores.
-->> Passing Conditions:
> Clear the floor within the time limit.
> A minimum of 50 points.
> All team members are to clear the floor.
-->> Points Distribution:
> Iota-rank monsters – 4 points
> Meta-rank monsters – 2 points
> Points will be given to the cadet who has delivered the last hit.
-->> Failure Penalty:
> Ban on entering the Dungeon of trials for the first semester.
======
I could barely suppress the corners of my lips from rising. The content of the exam was too twisted, after all.
Normally, depending on where you were teleported, it can take someone between 6~12 hours to clear the 0th floor. But now every member of a team has to clear the test within 8 hours.
p
But the worst fact was that for a team to pass, the score of the team doesn't matter. Only the scores of the weakest member will decide whether the team fails or not.
This was a test with only a 60% passing rate.
Dungeon of trials entry ban could heavily affect the rankings. The ticket to pass the exam was in the hands of the low-ranking cadets.
….And everyone was worried that a certain crazy person might also hold their tickets.
.me😉