He immediately directed his gaze to Mizuko, Miyuki and Rentaro. "Rentaro Mizuno, you might have gotten admitted into the Soul Academy because of your abilities but here's the truth. Your ability doesn't change the fact that you awakened a D-rank Soul-Type, so don't get cocky."
"Now that we have that cleared, let's get back to the business of the day." His expressions returned to normal, almost as though nothing ever happened leaving the entire class confused.
"As I said earlier there are five classes in this academy but only two are directed mainly at Soul training, this is how it truly works. Class B is regarded as the lowest class in terms of Soul training and Class A the highest. This is a three weeks training program specifically to these two classes and at the end of it all, you all will partake in something called the Soul-Hunter Exam."
"Sensei, Soul-Hunter Exam?" Silver asked.
"I was getting to that, a Soul-Hunter Exam is exactly as the name implies. It's an exam set to determine if you're qualified to gain the title of a Soul-Hunter."
"Alright, now that we've cleared that for the new recruits, if you don't know this is a boarding school so there's a dorm directly behind the school. Your dorm mates will show you around after classes."
"Now that you know this, I'll advise you to take this training seriously. Now then, shall we get on to the business for the day?"
[6 hours later]
After a couple hours of teaching them academically, it was time to get down to the business of the day, but given the last recruits to enter were still recovering. He gave them the day off.
Just as the class buzzed with excitement and discontent, Rentaro left the classroom in a hurry, his thoughts flooding with the possible consequences of not completing the daily quest.
After a few laps around the school, he completed the 20km run quest.
[Daily quest has been completed]
[You have received three rewards!]
The details regarding their residence, academic timetable and free time were all handed over to the new recruits after class. After freshening up from the run, Rentaro rested in his room, sitting straight up on his bed.
"Now then."
A blue translucent screen materialized in the line of his vision, displaying the unchecked notifications from earlier.
[You have three rewards items!]
[Do you wish to open the items?]
Paying attention to his system, he recalled the rewards he gained from completing the daily quest.
"Open." With a simple command, the system recorded his response and opened up the first reward item.
[Ding! You have received a key!]
[Ding! You have received a Soul Potion!]
[Ding! You have received 500 Drago!]
An oddly shaped key materialized in the air before falling into Rentaro's hands.
"What? A key?" Recalling past knowledge, the presence of a key to one who possessed a system meant only one thing. A dungeon.
"A dungeon? In 1914? Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised. This isn't how the circumstances that led to world war 1 began. Definitely the existence of this Soul-Energy proves it."
[You have received a key that opens up an instantaneous dungeon]
[Soul Potion - Replenishes most of the player's Soul-Energy and restores 50 HP]
[Drago is a currency that can be used to purchase items from the inventory's store]
"Replenishes most of my Soul-Energy? That solves the issue of my summoning, though summoning a dragon just like before is not something I can and should do in the kingdom. In order to grow stronger as a Soul-User..."
He glanced at his palm, recalling the technique he utilized during his second awakening.
"I need to master this power, and in order to do that I need to get stronger."
It wasn't up for debate anymore, only 8-9 hours remained before classes and training for the next day would commence. Just all others before, the way time flowed within a dungeon was very much different than that of the real world.
Spending 2 hours in the dungeon was equivalent to spending 7-8 hours in the real world, so whatever awaited him within this dungeon he had to clear it fast.
He stretched the key outwards, mimicking the insertion of the key into a keyhole and twisted it to the left. Instantly, the key vanished from his hand before turning into a large spiraling circle of magic, in other words a gate.
With his eyes beaming with a fierce determination, he proceeded slowly into the gate.
SWOOSH!
A violent inrush of wind pressure blew through his hair as he passed through the gates.
[You have entered the instant dungeon]
"W..hoa."
As he crossed the translucent blue magical gate, he found himself staring down towards what appeared to be some sort of underground cave.
"Hmph?"
He perceived a low rumbling hum, accompanied by a sharp crackle behind him. Immediately he turned to his back, only to find out that the gate in question had been blocked by a mysterious force.
BANG!
He banged on the surface of the gate, attempting to see if he could escape the dungeon but it was to no avail.
"I can't leave till I clear the dungeon?"
He glanced back at the bunker below, with a gulp he closed his eyes before inhaling a considerable amount of air.
"I guess there's no turning back now." He said, leaving the gate and alighting the stairs that led into the cave.
'I have no assistance, no weapon, all I have is my underdeveloped ability and... Wait a minute.' He thought.
"Inventory."
With a word, he summoned the translucent blue screen of the system and it displayed his inventory which was empty.
"Store."
[Store]
[The Great Heaven's Will: Holy Excalibur: A sword once held by the great archangel Michael, it is the living manifestation of heavenly power itself. It is said to have contained the power of the One Above All and was used to defeat the forces of the underworld and sealed the fallen in a faraway place. Cost - 100,000,000,000,000 Drago]
[Necromancer's Soul-Reaper: A sword drowned by the dark magic of the Shadow Necromancer, Van Don. It is said to have been used in the holy war to shroud the continents in darkness, it was the only weapon that could combat the Excalibur. Cost - 300,000,000,000 Drago]
The system's store displayed a list of weapons available at the right price, all ranked from the highest value to the lowest.
It didn't take much for Rentaro to scroll to the bottom of the list, all he had at his disposal was 500 Drago, the rest above were far above his current and future capabilities.
Eventually, he settled for a sword crafted in the early 1820s in the Edo period by the renowned craftsman, Masamune. The Katana.
Armed with weaponry, he proceeded down the stairs.
As soon as he arrived at the underground cave, he heard a slight grumbling meters away from him. "What? What was that?" He questioned as he squinted his eyes forward, attempting to gaze into the darkness that shrouded the cave further away.
From the shadows, he caught a glance of several pair of glowing red eyes drawing closer and closer to him.
"What!?" As he exclaimed, multiple small red-skinned creatures with pointy ears like that of an elf, tattered clothes and a club reaching up to 25 in number approached him.
[Multiple Red Goblins have appeared]
[Fortitude: 2.1]
"Goblins? Huh, just what you'd expect to see in a typical cave."
The goblins all rushed at him, swinging their clubs mercilessly like the diabolical creatures they are.
A slight grin stretched across Rentaro's face, he wasn't scared in anyway. Was it because he had expected this?
"With a fortitude of 2.1, you all are nothing compared to the C-rank Soul-Hunter I fought a day ago." With a strong will, he dashed forward as well.
He channelled the Soul-Energy he could spare into his legs and leaped above them, executing multiple front flips before landing on the head of one of the goblins.
SQUASH!
The head of the goblin splattered into chunks of hard meat as Rentaro landed on it, utilizing his Soul-Energy to increase the weight of his foot by concentrating it. These were some of the practical use of Soul-Energy which he himself had no knowledge of till now.
Crouched to his feet, he plunged forward in a burst, spinning the katana in hand before slicing through the neck of a goblin that rushed forward at him.
[You have gained ×2 Soul-Essence!]
"Hm?" Perceiving a growl behind him, he placed his katana right behind his head, shielding his head from the club of the two goblins behind him.
Relying on his quick reactions, he rotated his right leg sideways, maneuvering swiftly behind the two goblin with a fluid motion that resembled the movements of a Tai-chi practitioner.
With a swift slice, he beheaded the two goblins in one strike.
[You have gained ×1 Soul-Essence!]
[You have gained ×1 Soul-Essence!]
The more he struck down the goblins, the more notifications popped up in his line of vision. Each strike was a dance, and with time he slayed a majority of the magical creatures.
"Two more to go." With a fierce look in his eyes, he held the katana tightly as the goblins raced towards him in a straight line. With one powerful thrust, he launched the katana at the head of the goblin in front of him.
Unexpectedly, he sliced through the skulls of both goblins and defeated them both in a single strike.
[You have gained ×2 Soul-Essence!]
[You have slain all goblins!]
"Whoa... Have I grown stronger?" He muttered to himself, staring into his palm with curiosity.
Unknown to him, completing the daily quest added a total of 2 points to his strength, agility and stamina. Each daily quest was aimed at improving his skills. The pushups for strength training, 20km run for agility and stamina.
He pulled out his katana from the head of the last goblin and proceeded further into the dungeon. After walking for several meters, he found himself standing in front of three strange and huge holes in the walls.
"Huh, judging by the intricate shape of those holes my guess is these holes aren't natural. They were carved by something, something big."
Just then, a strange growling resonated from the three holes in the wall. From the holes, a large sized spider with metallic legs and jaws emerged from it. With each step it took, the ground beneath Rentaro's feet trembled, sending vibrations through it. It was completely covered in metallic armor.
[The boss of the dungeon has appeared!]
[Steel-Webbed spider — Muramasa]
[Fortitude: 7.5]
"A Steel-Webbed spider!? What the actual f-"
Before he could complete his statement, the spider lunged at him, striking one of it's metallic legs down at him without warning.
"Shit!"