As they were describing their experience from before, questions rose. that's to be expected because it was pretty well known throughout the academy, that, Mark didn't have a Magical talent nor Elemental affinity.
The teachers remained skeptical. but Miss Christie's beloved him.
Mark didn't push this matter further and decided to remain ignorant for the best. After he gets back to the academy he could ask about this to Miss Martha.
"This looks very different, as far as I know, the entrance pool should be at the Tenai's Shrine of the ancient city. but I found the mana signatures of the pool and rushed here."
this left them with a dead end. Whether they enter the pool or not, there will be always a 'perhaps'.
Rank A beasts never showed up on the 6th floor, but there lies the corpse of the undead dragon. they couldn't even tell if this is the 6th floor anymore.
"Umm... I think we should just enter the Pool, from my analysis, I think we are indeed on the 6th floor. but we are inside an underground cave."
What Mr. Colin said did have a point. this could be the underground of the ancient city. which explains an undead dragon.
undead dragons are basically fallen creatures of the dragon race. so a fallen Rank B dragon could turn into a Rank A undead creature, which is a reasonable explanation.
Mark looked at the Entrance pool with a resolute expression.
"I think we should go, we can still communicate with each other, even if we get separated."
everyone agreed and jumped one by one, leaving behind Miss Christie and Mark. she was looking dazed. Mark just grabbed her hand and pulled her with him.
*Whoosh!*
they got sucked into the Pool and disappeared.
when Mark opened his eyes, he found Miss Christie in front of him. but as he looked around he realized that they were alone.
Miss Christie looked troubled. immediately tapping her Band, she contacted Miss Lor.
"Miss Lor looks like we got separated again. we are starting from here. you should Look for Emily by splitting into two teams too."
Saying that she looked around. she noticed the red sky and the withered dirt around.
Mark noticed the temperature rise, on the floor. he could see a faint darker glow at a point, in the sky.
Miss Christie noticed the glow too and widened her eyes. in the records of the 7th floor it was mentioned that, on the nights of the bloody moon, the Monster beasts will become more aggressive and bloodthirsty.
Hearing that Mark frowned. they have to be careful, On the 7th floor Rank, A beasts were pretty common.
<< ding >>
<< The auto radar system is running... An ownerless artifact has been detected. >>
Mark's eyes shined, he excitedly opened the system screen and looked at the map after getting a good idea of the location, he decided to go and take a look.
"Miss Christie, don't worry. I have a feeling that Emily is alive. we will bring her back with us."
She looked at him and smiles a bit. then they walked to the edge of the cliff they were standing and looked below.
deep down from the cliff, there was a Sea of glowing Lava. which is a sight to behold. for a second he thought he was in hell.
they turned around and looked at a dried wilderness. which looked like, from a horror movie set. he could hear some weird noises coming from the woods.
"Miss Christie, you sure we aren't in hell?" he joked a bit too lit the mood. She chuckled and they made their way through the lifeless dried tees.
Every step they took, Mark started to feel something weird. his guts telling him to run away as soon as possible. but Ms. Christie looked just fine.
As a matter of fact, he was definitely stronger in terms of physical strength, and endurance. but as the Instructor of an Academy, her achievements weren't something to joke about.
she was also on the cold beauty list of the academy. of course, it was just a list created by the male students.
As Mark was walking behind her, his eyes fell on her butt, which was swaying while walking. he couldn't help but gulp hard. this new body was becoming harder for him to handle.
As much as he remembered, he was just a fine and healthy young man in his previous life. but this new body was just too much vigorous.
as they were walking, Mark noticed the forest is getting foggier the deeper they went.
"watch out!" Ms. Christie pushed him back and summoned a sword in her hands.
<< Warning!! Ancient Artefact, the Cleaver, detected. >>
Mark looked at the message and summoned his sword. in front of him, the Fogg was thickened to the extent they couldn't see what it was on the other side.
when he was slowly moving to the side while keeping an eye in front of him. he noticed a red light shining. but before he could think of anything, something like a flash of light shot at him.
*Clang* *boom*
his sword collided with something that seemed like a butcher's knife. the Destructive force was so overwhelming that, Mark was sent flying from the impact.
he got up from the ground and looked just fine. if not for the tier 11, star god's slaughterer, he would have taken some significant damage.
a slight excitement flashed through his eyes as the next moment he sprinted at the flying Cleaver.
*Clang* *Clang*
he exchanged a few blows with it and took a step back. he looked at Ms christie and nodded.
the red aura surrounding the Cleaver spread more, and it started to tremble a bit. the fog surrounding them thickened, making it harder to locate it.
*swoo,* *Clang*
*clang*
*clang*
it completely ignored Ms. Christie and kept exchanging blows with Mark. which he defended just fine.
"Now!" Mark pushed the Butcher's Knife back, with his full strength.
"light of purification!" a large Magic circle appeared under the knife and erected a light barrier around it
it seemed like the dark aura surrounding it, subsided and merged within the Cleaver. and it fell on the ground like a normal butcher Knife.
Mark didn't let the chance slip and grabbed the Knife by its hilt. the knife struggled to get free but he kept a firm grip and looked at the system.
<< drop your blood on its surface. and the bonding process will start. >>
Mark didn't hesitate and bit his thumb, dropping a few drops of blood on its surface. the blood started to glow and spread through the whole blade.
"Mark, you alright?" Ms. Christie decided to stay put and watch.
the glow faded, and a quenching smell spread through the area. A fresh and neat Clever appeared in his hands.
Ms. Christie looked at him with a frown, when she realized what he did. he just bonded with an artifact.
even if she had her own artifacts, she won't just let him take them, or maybe she will...
[a/n - support the story with power stones.]