---Victor POV, Several Days Later---
"Students, I need your attention please before we begin today's training exercises.", a professor shouted, from a platform outside the school's dungeon, "Please form groups of four to five people, and in an orderly manner, enter the dungeon together. Today's goal is to reach the stairs that lead to the 4th floor. Under no circumstances are any students allowed to venture beyond the 3rd floor. You are free to collect as many materials as you want from any of the three floors."
Drowning out the rest of his words, our classmates began forming groups of six or more people while the professor stood there fuming. Watching them filter out into their usual cliques, Olivia and I were left standing on the sidelines together.
"Do not let it get to you, we are better off without their dead weight.", I commented, patting Olivia on the shoulder.
"If you want to go intermingle with other nobleman, I cannot blame you for it.", Olivia said, believing she was the reason why I was not befriending our fellow classmates.
"I would rather be partnered with a faithful friend than someone who would stab me in the back for their own personal gains.", I chuckled, giving her a smile under my helmet.
Wearing my fully functional Doctor Doom armor for this occasion, I came fully prepared to pull these idiots out of danger when trouble arose. Using my HUD to review the layout of the dungeon, while everyone finished sorting themselves out, the professor approached me with a request.
"Viscount Stark, a word if I may.", he asked, with an apologetic smile, "I promise this will only take a moment."
Nodding my head, I joined the professor as he walked toward the headmaster's office. Handing me a slip of paper, once we were out of earshot, he began explaining the unusual set of circumstances revolving around this dungeon dive.
"Normally a group of knights would accompany your class into the dungeon as a safety precaution, but today we have been asked to stand down at the request of the King.", he remarked, pointing at the sheet, "Prince Julius requested that the knights not come with the class personally, he felt they were unnecessary given the skill level of your class. We initially denied his request, but this morning he returned with an official decree from the King commanding us to do as Julius requested."
"I understand.", I said, looking at the signature, "My apologies professor, but this is clearly a forgery. I have seen the King's handwriting personally; his signature looks nothing like this. It is clearly Julius' handwriting."
"…I figured as much but we could not argue with him given the potential consequences.", the professor replied, grinding his teeth in anger, "Since the knights have already been called off, can I entrust your class's safety to you? You are the strongest student here by far, and most of your classmates have never seen live combat before. If any of them were to die, it would cause quite a problem for the Academy and the Crown."
"Of course, I will ensure everyone comes back alive. That said, please make sure Queen Mylene knows her son falsified a Royal Decree. Being the Crown Prince does not excuse him from punishment.", I told him.
"We will most certainly make her aware of it. He made a big scene about it this morning and caused me quite a lot of headaches.", the professor growled, as we parted ways, "Thank you again, Viscount Stark."
Walking back over to Olivia, she inquired if I was in trouble for something. Assuring her that everything was fine, I told her he had asked me to keep an eye on things in the dungeon. Giving me a confused look, Olivia did not understand why he would ask me of all people to do that.
"Have you been in dungeons before?", she inquired.
"Yes, I could be considered something of an expert on the subject.", I chuckled, enjoying the air of mystery I had about my identity, "Anyways, we should get moving. Someone is bound to trigger a trap almost as soon as they step inside."
Making our way into the crowd of students lining up for entry, a fight broke out at the front of the line. Hearing a lot of shouting and arguing, I pushed my way through the crowd to break it up before any weapons were drawn. As I broke through the crowd encircling the fight, I discovered Angelica arguing with Julius and company again.
"Why am I forbidden from joining your party?!", she protested, "I am more than capable of pulling my own weight in combat."
"It has nothing to do with that Angelica, I do not want you anywhere near Marie. You crossed a line by having your people tear her room apart and physically assault her.", Julius remarked.
"As I have said dozens of times now, I did not order any such actions to be taken against her. If any of my subordinates were involved, it was not under my orders!", she argued, with clenched fists, 'Why will you not believe me?! I would never do something like that!!'
"Give it up, Angelica, your subordinates already admitted to your crime. Why do you continue to make a fool out of yourself?", Jilk commented, with a disgusted look, "My how far the duke's house has fallen…"
Bringing her family into this, Angelica's mouth slammed shut as she did not want to sully her family's name. Distraught that her fiancée and his friends did not believe her, she glared at Marie who was peeking out from behind Julius' back.
'These idiots are seriously pissing me off.', I thought, as I motioned for Olivia to stay back, "You five morons are going to be the death of this country. Lady Angelica did not have anything to do with the incident in Marie's room. The person you will want to speak to about this is Brad's fiancée Stephanie Fou Offrey. On the night of the incident, she and her cohorts were seen storming off from her room."
Having received the report from Luxion the morning after, I did not act on it because I saw no need to. Marie was not a friend of mine and her suffering did not bother me in the slightest. Now that she had turned the situation around to pin it on Angelica, there was no way I was letting these idiots off lightly.
"This matter does not concern you.", Julius remarked, "Stay out of this."
"No Julius, this matter does involve me and everyone else here. The five of you continue to shower that traitor with gifts and your attention while you neglect your fiancées. You are making fools of yourselves and tarnishing your fiancées' good names.", I rebuked him, "It is a fact that in the past few weeks you have spent more time with Marie than you ever have with your fiancées. All of you have shamelessly engaged in public display of affection while you are spoken for. The only households who have fallen are yours! You are a disgrace to your family's legacy; your ancestors are rolling in their graves with disgust right now."
"What was that?!", Greg snarled, itching to draw his spear on me.
Staring at one another for a moment, Greg's anger got the better of him which led to him drawing his spear. Lunging forward, he whipped his weapon around and drove it straight at my throat.
"Greg, what are you doing?!", Chris shouted, rushing forward with Brad to stop him.
"You bloody idiot!", Brad berated him, "Do not let him goad you into a fight!"
Catching his spear with my right hand, the spear came to an abrupt stop while Greg's body continued forward carried by his momentum. Sucker punching him straight in the face, his nose made a horrible crunching noise as it began to bleed profusely. Stumbling backward, covering his face with his hands, he fell to the ground and began scream in pain.
"My nose!! You broke my fucking nose!!", he shouted in agony.
Marching up to him, I put my boot to his throat and began to slowly crush his neck. Releasing his face, Greg began floundering around trying to get me off him while gasping for air. As his vision began to darken, his attempts to break free became increasingly violent.
"You are kidding me, right? Is this all the self-proclaimed Spear Master is capable of, pathetic!", I mocked him, "I could crush you under my boot like the bug you are, but I gain nothing by killing you."
Removing my boot from his neck, I hoisted him off the ground using the Force and flung him into Brad and Chris. Watching the three of them fall to the ground, Greg began gulping down air as he glared at me.
"Your skills as a spearman are laughable. Whoever taught you needs to be quartered and hanged for making a mockery of the spear.", I spat, whipping the spear around and flinging it directly below his scrotum, "Get out of my sight lest I turn you into a eunuch. Lord knows I would be doing the world a favor by doing so."
"This…this is not over!", Greg spat, as Brad and Chris helped him up.
"I said begone!", I shouted, firing a bolt of lightning at their feet.
Launching the three of them backward, they crashed into the rock wall that surrounded the entrance with a loud thud. Realizing that I possessed great physical strength and potent magic, the men quickly retreated into the dungeon with Marie. Looking back at me with terror in her eyes, Marie seemed to realize I had no qualms with killing if it came down to it.
"Now then, all of you get moving!", I commanded the petrified students, as I turned back to them, "Make it known that I will be tracking down the deceivers among you who lied to the prince. Sullying the duke's name and the integrity of his daughter will not go unpunished!"
Watching them scurry away like cockroaches, I knew this would put an end to further lies about what happened. Stephanie might threaten their lives, but I was more than willing to beat them almost to death. Turning back to Angelica, I walked over to her and asked if she was alright.
"I am sorry you were betrothed to a blithering idiot. It cannot be easy having to deal with his antics.", I said, pulling a handkerchief from my storage, "Are you alright?"
"Yes…I…I am fine.", Angelica replied, trying to compose herself as she took my handkerchief, "I…I should join some of my subordinates now. Thank you for coming to my defense."
"I cannot in good conscious let you go back to those backstabbers. How about joining Olivia and I for today? She is a very kindhearted girl, and I will not judge you for being upset with your piece of shit fiancé.", I told her, grinning behind my helmet.
Looking at Olivia and me for a moment, Angelica agreed to party up with us.
---Academy Dungeon---
Seeing no reason to stay with the main group, I stealthily left pin sized cameras at all the junctions we came across. Deciding that monitoring them from afar was the best option, Angelica and Olivia did not seem to mind it at all. Quickly reaching the 2nd floor, well before everyone else was a quarter of the way through the 1st floor, we began looking for ore veins for Olivia to mine.
"So Victor, I have been meaning to ask you something for a while now.", Olivia said, puffing her cheeks out, "Why did you give me such an expensive gift for Miss Angelica? Do you really think I can pay you back for those fancy soaps!?"
"You told her how expensive they were?", I inquired, looking back at Angelica.
"Well…she seemed very determined to pay you back. I thought it would be a good idea for her to know how much she owed you.", Angelica acknowledged, "Honestly though, why did you not tell her how expensive they were when you were at the store? Also, how did you managed to buy them to begin with!? I have been trying for months to buy them, but everywhere I look they are sold out. The only place I see them regularly is at the palace because Queen Mylene receives regular shipments from their creator, the Holfort Prodigy."
"First off, the price tag of everything on those shelves would give poor Olivia here a heart attack. If I was honest with her, she would have adamantly refused to let me buy them on her behalf for your meeting. Second, I happen to know when all deliveries are being made and have the connections to have stock set aside for myself and others.", I told her, 'After all, I am the owner of all those shops.'
"If that is true, would you consider requesting a few bars of soap be set aside for me every month? I used them the same day Olivia gave them to me, and they are far more luxurious than I ever imagined. My skin is so smooth now and the fragrance they radiate is simply blissful.", Angelica stated, with a dreamy smile.
'That is the same thing Lucoa and Roxanne say about the stuff. I honestly do not understand women's fascination with soap and shampoo. So long as I feel clean afterward, I could care less what it feels like or smells like.', I thought, "I can make the arrangements for you. Olivia, do you think you can show Angelica where the store was? That is where I will have them held for her."
Agreeing to show her, a happy smile crept onto her face as she felt like she was being useful now. Letting the two of them chat about their lives, I continued to lead us toward where a large vein of minerals had been marked on our maps. Once the mining site came into view, Olivia ran ahead to have a look.
"Olivia, wait a moment!", I shouted, sensing a few monsters close by.
Turning back to see what was wrong, she spotted a group of feral monkeys down a corridor to her left. Spotting her at the same time she saw them, they immediately went into a frenzy and charged her. Leaping forward, I got between them in a fraction of a second and vaporized them with a blast of solar energy.
"Are you alright?", I asked, looking back at her.
"Y…yes…", she stuttered, still in shock, "Thank you for saving me."
"Do not worry about it, I am just relieved you are alright.", I said, quickly scanning the area for additional threats.
Detecting no additional enemies with my suit's sensors or with the Force, I gave Olivia the go ahead to begin mining. Walking up to the crack in the wall where ore and gems were seemingly growing from, she pulled the small pickaxe she brought off her belt and began chipping away at the rock that held everything in place. Listening to the cute noises she made while swinging her pick, I honestly felt she was the cutest girl I had ever met, next to Lucoa and Roxanne of course.
"I do not want to be rude, but have you ever mined ore before?", Angelica asked, after watching her swing the pickaxe for a few minutes.
"…no…", Olivia answered, looking back at us with an embarrassed expression, "I am not doing something wrong, am I? You are supposed to just swing the pickaxe, hit the rock, and wait for it to pop out, right?"
"I…I actually have not done it either.", Angelica admitted, hanging her head in shame, "I was asking because I was not sure myself. It looks like a lot more work than it is worth, in my opinion. What do you think, Viscount Stark?"
"When we are in private, you can call me Victor. That goes for both of you.", I remarked, stepping forward, "As for mining, you want to look for weaknesses in the stone and aim for them with the pickaxe. If you swing it around blindly, you are just wasting time and energy for nothing."
"So…how do I know where the stone is weakest?", Olivia inquired, stepping aside.
"You want to look for cracks and chips like these.", I told her, pointing it out to both ladies, "Once you locate a weakness, all you need do is apply a bit of force."
Since my armor was nigh indestructible, I felt confident enough to hit the extremely durable wall with my fist. Striking right where I felt it was the weakest, the entire wall collapsed causing the materials to spill out all over the floor. Looking at all the goodies that appeared, Olivia looked up at me with a deflated expression.
"I was supposed to be the one to mine it to pay you back.", she sighed.
"Hey now, it does not matter at the end of the day. Technically we are a team so this would just get split between the three of us.", I reminded her, "I am in no hurry to collect the money, take your time and do not stress about it."
"I suppose one of you has a method for transporting all of this out of here?", Angelica inquired.
"I planned on carrying the material out, but this is way too much to carry for the three of us.", Olivia said.
"Fortunately, I thought ahead and brought a magic bag for such an eventuality.", I chuckled, pulling one out of my storage, "Go ahead and start tossing stuff in. It has more than enough space for everything here. We can swing by the Merchant Guild afterward to sell our loot."
Placing the bag on the ground, the three of us began cramming everything inside together. Once the area was picked clean, we continued onward to the next mining site to repeat the process again.