"What's up? James, level 1 healer," James approached Ren to at least do the least he could.
"Ren, swordsman." Of course, Ren didn't disclose his level, it wasn't like it was compulsory, people often did that just to brag actually.
'What stupid healer? That's definitely just one of the skills you've stolen already. But I haven't heard of any student dying, how did he get these support skills originally?' Ren thought about it, but then again, it was never written, so he had no idea.
James was part of the very few that awakened before they entered the academy, but he was special, since whatever system he had was able to trick even the arkashic records into thinking he was a normal person. 'Even the gods wouldn't be able to see through it then…' Not that they existed.
"Can you cast spells that buff and debuff?" Ren kept the conversation going just for the sake of it.
"Spells?" James was confused.
"Your skills…"
"Oh… Yeah? But, who says spells?..." James seemed confused for a second since nobody uses the term magic or spells actually. Those who awaken as magicians or a class similar to that are very rare.
"I dunno, men of culture?" Well, it seemed the more James spoke with Ren, the weirder it became. This time it wasn't Ren's fault, James just had no idea of the wonderful world of anime…
"It will soon be our turn, let's get going." For some reason, Lucy took the lead as she walked in front of the group of three including herself.
All students were currently in the portal section, something more of a portal room where many portals that led to different dungeons were situated. Out of all the portals there, the ones that led directly into a dungeon were the ones that led to artificial dungeons, the rest connected to other places with dungeons, mostly dungeons that could be cleared multiple times without closing.
Just as they got to the front of other students, the one in-charge of directing the students and teams into the dungeon called their team number.
"Team 22! Forward!"
Three of them walked forward and alongside a guard who was a sergeant, they went into the dungeon.
The dungeon the students were to go in were all artificial dungeons and low ranked dungeons. The one team 22 entered was an artificial dungeon.
'This time I have no idea what will be on the other side since it wasn't mentioned.' Ren wasn't pressured in the least however, and he had already made up his mind to carry the entire team.
They stood in front of the portal that led into the dungeon together with the sergeant and after some seconds they were warped into the dungeon. The feeling was similar to when Ren had passed through a portal into a dungeon and when he passed through the portal set up by Dominic before. He was somewhat used to it now, and since the others didn't seem to react much to it, it was pretty normal. Well, Lucy was the only one to get a little disorientated, but it only lasted for some few seconds.
As soon as they were situated inside the dungeon, their watches beeped and it signified that they had received the instructions and objectives for clearing the dungeon.
"Alright, I'll wait around here, make sure to signal me if there's any mishap."
"Yes, sir." The three students answered in unison before advancing forward into the dungeon together.
'Seems the objective is pretty easy, no problem, also… this guy didn't even flinch after passing the portal.' Ren thought to himself as he nonchalantly walked forwards.
It was understandable that the sergeant wouldn't feel anything, but for a level 1 healer who should have been entering a dungeon or the first time, he was surprisingly calm and not affected in the least.
'He could use the excuse that he had passed through transportation portals before, but that is something only the superrich brag about, and if I remember correctly one of his motivations for being a villain is to become super rich and escape poverty…'
"Looks like our objective is straight forward. We just have to kill every creature in this place and defeat the boss." Lucy said.
'As is the majority of dungeons.' Ren thought to himself.
"Our enemies will be normal goblins, and since this is an artificial dungeon, nobody has to worry about feeling guilty killing." James chipped in.
"Yeah, that's true."
Well, since these dungeons are created artificially, they don't contain living enemies and are more like a simulation. After killing an enemy, it would just disintegrate into dust and there isn't even blood spilled.
'That's why those who get to enter a standard dungeon enjoy an advantage later on.'
"Come on, let's get to it, it shouldn't be difficult."
. . .
To say the least, the test was nothing to write home about, at least for Ren, since it was far less threatening than the goblin dungeon he cleared, regardless of whether or not his strength had increased since then.
Each team was given 15 minutes to clear the dungeons, but team 22 got out after only five minutes. The instructor who was standing close to their dungeon even thought that they had given up at first, but of course that wasn't it and after remembering that Ren was part of the team, he could somehow understand. Even then, he was more surprised about something else.
"Ren, I understand what you might be thinking, but know that you won't be getting another opportunity in future." The instructor said.
Well, even though Ren understood what the instructor was trying to say, he couldn't disagree more on that fact. "Don't worry sir, just allocate it to Yulia since she couldn't be here with us today, I'm sure she'll like it too." Ren said firmly before he left with his team to give chance for the next team to attempt the dungeon.
What Ren had done was share the majority of his points with Yulia who was still hospitalized. It was very generous of him to do so and showed that he cared for his teammates. To say the least, the instructor was proud of Ren and the fact that he was so willing to sacrifice for his own comrade without thinking too much of it or batting an eye.
'This guy, was I wrong about him? Or does he have an ulterior motive?... Well, he did rush in head first to save her before… does he, like her? No way, right?' Lucy's head for one was filled with different thoughts after seeing what Ren had done. Even though she was a bit jealous that she couldn't be the one to do so, it was also true that Ren got most of the points and only intentionally left some goblins for them to kill so they would get some contribution in and not feel left out.
'That should settle it, now we won't have to lag behind for the next phase.' Ren thought to himself.
Of course, after their points were assessed and distributed according to contribution, Ren got the most. He was kind enough to share his points with Yulia who couldn't be with them that day and would have had 0 points to her name since she didn't contribute at all.
'If she has 0 points, she would have to take the test again after recovering, and us as her team will have to wait for her to do so while the rest go ahead of us. Why wait when I can just solve it like this?' Ren couldn't be bothered by whatever thoughts or conclusions the rest must have had following his actions. As far as it was good and convenient for him, it was alright.