"What kind of school has a uniform with four layers?" I complained as I adjusted my tie.
The Royal academy of Paradis had a uniform with a black shirt underneath a gray dress shirt, then a vest on top of it. Lastly a coat with a color depending on your class. The scholarship class, which was composed of talented commoners, wore a green coat. The royal class, which has students that are considered to be the next leaders of the kingdom, wore yellow coats. Then the Variant and standard class, that was filled with different kinds of students, wore blue and red respectively.
I myself am in the variant class, so I have a red coat. "One student from each class?"
"Yes, one from each class and one upperclassman," Professor Agene informed me.
If I remembered correctly, Raveil was not the one chosen to participate and there was no mention of anyone replacing him upon his death. "What would have happened if a chosen participant died?"
"There is no record of such a thing happening, but surely such a thing would never happen," the professor replied with clear certainty in his words.
"Professor, I have one last question."
"What is it lad?" Agene responded.
"Did you know that I would survive the curse?" I noticed the professor flinch a bit.
In the novel, Raveil's curse was widely known, enough that the protagonist knew the whole story despite not caring about what happened. And unlike everyone else, I knew how participants are chosen. With the dungeon choosing me, the teachers that were aware of the curse figured that I would survive it.
Professor Agene did not answer my question, instead an announcement had called for the participants. As I walked away from him, I made a mental note to be wary of everyone with authority in this school.
I approached with three students beside me. One of them was a short girl with messy green hair, while the other two looked like any average extra characters. "Ready brats?" A tall man holding a great sword asked us, most likely the senior.
I didn't bother answering and just checked my equipment. I had light leather armor provided by the school and a normal short sword. I also had two daggers just in case and two potions. "You may enter the dungeon," an instructor announced.
A crack appeared in front of us and formed into a swirling portal.
------
"Are you still upset?" Asha asked Kara who looked at the projection in annoyance.
"I refuse to believe he was stronger than me," Kara huffed.
Asha sighed. Leaving Kara alone was her only option in situations like this since Kara would eventually challenge Raveil Gray again later, and hopefully win.
"Ugh," Kara groaned.
Turning to the projection, Asha saw the two other male students teamed up with the upperclassman. Which was probably the smartest choice as a horde of monsters approached them. One of them raised their shield and covered it with aura, but the amount was so insignificant that it barely made a difference when a goblin smacked it away with a club.
The upperclassman barely struggled as he kept swinging his great sword everywhere, but the two extras weren't going to last long anyway. "Is that really what the royal and standard class can do?" Kara commented.
"They're first years too," Asha responded. "Don't you think I'll struggle as well in that situation?"
"Hell no! You're the best!" Kara exclaimed, no trace of the sulking and grumpy girl from earlier.
"Grave of swords," the words echoed from the projection, and everyone witnessed as multiple blade strikes lashed out with unbelievable speed.
"That's what he used on me!" Kara screamed. "I thought it was an explosion of aura!"
"I guess not."
------
"Hello," I approached the only notable character in this part of the story.
"H-Hello," the short girl bowed. "I'm Aila from the scholarship class," she introduced herself.
"Raveil from the variant class," I replied. "You're a mage, right? Need a front line?"
"Y-you don't need to do that for me," she frantically shook her head.
Aila is a commoner, so her nervousness towards me is understandable. Discrimination of social class was heavily prohibited in this institution, but it was still hard to avoid. As the Gray family was well known in the whole continent, I might look like a wolf trying to pick on a sheep.
"I may not need to do it, but I need you," I stated.
"Ah," Aila blushed. "P-pardon?"
I leaned closer. "Stay by my side," I whispered.
"Y-yes!" she squeaked out.
"I got the future forest queen!" I exclaimed in my head.
With Aila following me, we began heading deeper into the dungeon. The theme was a rocky forest with a lot of areas to hide in, so the monsters would often try to ambush us. In the novel, Aila would be eliminated early and be deemed as an embarrassment by the scholarship class. This time, she'll be on my side.
"G-goblins approaching from up the hill," she pointed at the hill beside the trail we were following.
"An ambush already?" I drew my sword. Personally, I didn't want to fight, but the sensation of using my sword was starting to get addictive.
Three goblins jumped off the hill, rushing at me with their clubs. Activating Aura rush, all three goblins lost their heads in a second.
[Task: Defeat 100 goblins
Reward:?
Task: Defeat 100 cave spiders
Reward:?
Task: Defeat the goblin swordsman
Reward:?]
"An update?" I looked at the panel in confusion, then heavy footsteps were heard in front of me.
"A-ah," Aila was shaking in fear as she pointed at the armored goblin.
I would honestly be afraid too if I didn't know that it was just a goblin who used a sword instead of a club. The novel really had a way of making enemies seem strong, only for them to be pathetic if they weren't a main villain. "Grave of swords," as the armored goblin rushed towards me with its sword, twelve sword strikes met it.
I cringed as I saw the goblin pieces fall to the ground.
"Disgusting."
------
"I hate him," Kara grumbled.
Asha hummed then stared back at the projection. She focused her eyes on Raveil, then they began to glow. Her gift, Eye of recognition activated without delay
[Raveil Gray]
[Traits: Manipulative, opportunistic, possessive, greedy, diligent]
[Pledge: For all who dare touch what is mine shall fear my wrath]
"I don't like him either."