"H-how much?"
Yoshino Aruven gritted his teeth. He had to settle this issue now. Or else the pricing would only hurt more in the future.
He saw Benjo Roxas gestured a figure with his hands. The amount was understandable. But his mind refused to accept the value. He complained,
"Heck no! Go rob a bank instead!"
"Fine, I could offer a discount this time."
Yoshino almost jumped up with joy. Persevere, young man! Miracles do happen!
But he realized that this was too good to be true. He decided to brace himself and confront the issue rather than deluding himself. He then asked,
"However?"
"You have to answer some questions of mine."
Roxas grinned. He seemed to be amused that someone was starting to get used to the rules of trading.
Yoshino felt disappointed. He was correct yet why did he feel like he made a mistake somewhere. Alas, he decided to give in. He answered,
"As long as it is not too personal."
"Ha! As if I'm interested with that!"
He rolled his eyes upon hearing such a strong rejection. He gestured the merchant-porter to state his terms and be done with it.
"First question, how did you figure out the key for entering this dungeon?"
"I took a guess."
"You bastard."
"I was around 70 percent sure that it was the correct answer."
"Explain yourself."
Yoshino and Roxas replied to each other as they walked along the corridor. Alshura Soura and Steven O had taken the lead on their formation. They were not talking much but they still maintained a close distance to the ones having a conversation.
They were definitely eavesdropping.
Yoshino concluded in his thoughts. He then pointed to a certain direction. Although he had to answer Roxas, he was still the one in-charge of detecting the plant monster ambushes.
O followed through and eliminated the plants with finesse. A bladed weapon flew to assist him from time to time.
Soura was in-charge of dealing with the hamster-type monsters and squirrel-type creatures. The vapors produced by burning them was not as dangerous as the plant creatures after all.
And then Roxas would collect all the monster corpses. He did not have to bend and pick them up one-by-one. All he had to do was walk pass them and the carcasses would disappear immediately.
He claimed that they were all 'stored' in his pocket dimension. He would not offer any further explanation though.
The team had figured out their suitable roles as they continued their advance for another hour.
Yoshino began explaining his thoughts when he detected that the corridor was safe. He said,
"If you think about it now, the Dean gave the answer away. 'Work hard' he said. And what are the standards for measuring hard work for students like us? One of them is definitely our proficiency in using Skill Combinations."
Roxas was unimpressed though. He replied,
"You bastard. What if it was the casting of a Tier 2 skill? Or the Tier 2 Perk?"
Yoshino do believe that he still had a few tricks on his sleeve if that was the case. But he could not reveal this to the merchant-porter. Or else the male student would ask for details about it.
In addition, he believed that his assumption was correct anyway. So instead he answered,
"No, it has to be Skill Combination. That way, it would serve as a reminder to all the participants to not disregard their foundations."
People nowadays would stop developing the said Perk once it reached the fourth level. Since this was the minimum requirement to reach the peak-level.
Afterwards, people would focus more on the new realm they have attained. This was because Tier 2 skills and perk were stronger in terms of magnitude.
However, casting Tier 2 skills would need more time compared to the Basic ones. While using the Perk on that realm would require even more time.
But these issues could actually be mitigated by mastering the Skill Combination Perk further.
By increasing its level beyond the requirement, one would gain better understanding in casting more complex effects.
Yoshino was able to appreciate this fact when he was up against Klein. He was able to cast his skills faster which then pushed the officer into a corner.
This was only possible because the level of his skill combinations were certainly higher than the officer. Well, that and because Klein was being suppressed by the dungeon back then.
Nonetheless, Yoshino had now developed his perk into level seven. He was certain that if he did breakthrough to the next realm, he would be more proficient in casting his new skills compared to average Tier 2s!
Having said that, Yoshino was also quite sure that he did not discover something revolutionary here. He believed that the more competent professors of the Meister Curriculum were aware of this fact as well. And perhaps USB had actually designed the Border Run to hint on this.
As for why they could not just say this out loud to the students, Yoshino had no idea. If the Dean was not willing to reveal it blatantly, then there was no reason for him to do so as well.
"You're just making that up because your guess ended up being correct."
Roxas was unimpressed once again. His skeptical expression seemed to imply that he was considering on backing down on his discount offer.
Yoshino could not afford this to happen though. Thus he had to find a different answer quickly.
His thoughts accelerated as he searched his memory a few hours ago. He then said,
"There is also another possibility."
"?"
"That all three answers could allow access to this dungeon regardless of the choice."
Yoshino explained when he saw the puzzled look of the merchant-porter. He then saw the male student grin.
Roxas seemed to have realized something. He exclaimed,
"Hah! That would explain why Miss Alshura and Mister O were allowed to enter. They did display the required standards of a Tier 2."
The merchant-porter was more convinced of this explanation. Even the two eavesdroppers seemed to agree with this reason more.
Yoshino could not blame them. He also had that kind of mindset a few years ago. Unfortunately, he had no obligation to correct them. And he had no right to question their own cultivation methods anyway.
All he could do was wait for them to reach a bottleneck then share his discovery once again. They would probably accept the method by that time.
Thus he shrugged and told to Roxas,
"And so do you."
If the merchant-porter believed that displaying a standard fit for a Tier 2 was the correct answer, it would mean that he had done this act too somehow.
"Hahaha, that you will never know."
Roxas neither denied nor admitted the accusations. He casually changed the topic instead.
"Second question."
"Wait, that was just the second?"
The merchant-porter ignored the complaint and continued,
"How did you process that much information in such a short time? The speech, the probable reaction of the crowd, the approximate location of the dungeon, and then the clue for the key. There was no way you can think all of those that fast. You're not that smart, mind you."
"…"
Yoshino fell silent for a while. He pointed to another direction which the male Healer obliged. When the monster were dealt with, he sighed,
"I cheated."
"That much I could figure. What I want to know is how."
Yoshino rolled his eyes when he heard the sarcastic comment. He hesitated for a while, he would have to reveal one of his trump cards to answer this question.
Alas, he needed the discount. He began to explain,
"I used Agility Up in a combination. The controlled effect boosted my thinking speed."
Yoshino would often envision himself accelerating his thoughts whenever he needed to find a solution quickly.
This was actually a habit he had acquired from using this skill combination too much in the past. But now that he had stabilized his fourth sealed skill, this was no longer a figure of speech.
He could accelerate his thoughts for real now!
"… You really are a cheater."
Roxas was speechless for a few seconds. He then seemed to have realized the implications of the answer he heard. That such effect control was not something an ordinary Basic Mage could do.
Yoshino used to be a Peak-level Advanced-Tier. Even though his overall attributes and parameters might say otherwise now, the experience he accumulated before was never lost.
He just had to adapt this earned knowledge into something that he could use in his current Tier.
"Any more questions?"
Yoshino could only smile wryly when he heard the merchant-porter curse at him. Heck, even Soura was staring at him as if he was some weird oddity.
He returned the favor and stared back at the female lieutenant. Their sudden eye contact made the two look away awkwardly.
Fortunately, Roxas voiced out his answer. He said,
"None, for now. But we shall continue this once something intrigues me later."
"You sound so sure about that."
"Obviously. How else could a mere Tier 1 compete in this event intended for Tier 2s otherwise?"
"Don't jinx it!"
Yoshino had a bad feeling about what he just heard. He reprimanded the merchant-porter. But Roxas laughed in amusement instead.
And then,
O stopped walking. Soura who was ahead seemed to have stopped as well.
"What's the matter?"
Yoshino felt that he would regret asking the question. But he had to. He was curious of it anyway.
The male Healer replied,
"Why are thou had yet to encounter other participants?"
"Good point, perhaps its because no one else figured out the key? No, that's too absurd. Because the dungeon is really vast?"
Yoshino suggested an answer but rejected it himself. His second answer was denied by O. The Healer shook his head,
"Thou must reach the dungeon exit in 13 hours. A dungeon that is too vast shall be impossible to clear."
"Perhaps… the time is accelerated here? For example, one hour in the dungeon is just 10 minutes outside?"
"That would be an expensive artificial dungeon to prepare! Do you really think USB is that generous to its Outer students?"
Roxas rejected the suggested answer this time. He was aware of the costing of materials needed to prepare an artificial dungeon. So his argument was probably spot on.
"Then what?"
Yoshino sighed. He could not use his thought acceleration at all times. That would reduce its effectivity. He knew this because his mind was starting to get sluggish now.
"We're lost."
Soura answered. The possibility of this being true seemed really high.
The participants would all be heading towards the exit. If the team had yet to encounter another participant, that would mean they were going the other way.
They had definitely taken a wrong turn somewhere.