Chapter 88 — The Students of Laurel Academy
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This part of the dungeon wasn't covered with white ice but red moss instead, and the heat it gave off could make one's skin tingle...
'Damn. I never planned for such a temperature...' Amelia muttered as she continued walking forward, all alone — until her ear picked up the sense of a presence.
"I'm not alone." She stopped walking and looked around, but couldn't sense anything.
It wasn't just a straight pathway but a large field with stonebergs everywhere...
She then focused her eyes straight ahead and leaned more on her hearing — and that was when she heard it. That faint crawling sound, as if a creature was stealthily coming up behind her.
She didn't hesitate but ran instantly. The creature followed suit, no longer bothering with stealth now that its cover had been blown.
It was a fire python, 3 meters wide and six meters long. It rushed after Amelia and spat out fire which destroyed two stonebergs, causing debris to scatter around as Amelia jumped to the side and continued running.
The python gave chase, taking another route to corner her from the front — crawling faster as if its life depended on it — then spat another round of fire which destroyed the stoneberg right before Amelia, forcing her to turn and rush toward where the python was already waiting...
Her movements had been restricted by the python's attacks. She had no choice but to run in the direction it wanted. The creature raised its upper body, lifting its head as it spotted Amelia — who stopped immediately and tried to turn back — when it spat a concentrated fireball directly at her.
Not at a stoneberg. Directly at her.
Her eyes flashed with the image of herself burning to a crisp. Her mind skipped a breath. At that moment her autonomic system had already triggered the sympathetic nervous system, activating flight mode...
Her heartbeat increased. Blood flow increased. Pupils dilated. Energy surged. Adrenaline pumped through her body...
But all of it was useless against sheer fire that descended on her like judgment.
"Ice Wall!" Suddenly a wall burst from the ground — pure white ice — shielding Amelia from the fireball.
The ball of fire slammed into the wall and dissolved into nothing but black smoke. Part of the ice melted, but not all.
"You big snake... How dare you try to hurt our classmate?" A lady said as she jumped right on top of the ice wall.
Three others landed beside Amelia.
Amelia was surprised. These were her classmates — what were they doing here?
"Are you okay? We heard the commotion and came to your rescue." Menisa said sincerely.
"I'm fine but the snake... It's strong." Amelia told them.
"Leave it to us." Magnifiza boasted as she nocked two arrows on her bow. Amelia looked up to see Alyssa — who suddenly looked away as if she was unconcerned about everything. She wondered why Alyssa was here.
"Everyone ready?" Canli cried out as she pulled out two frost grenades. She was the one who had used that ice talisman to create the ice wall. That single attack was purchased with a lot of money...
And now she had pulled out two frost grenades.
The fire python, irritated by the team, opened its mouth intending to spit fire — but Canli was faster.
Her hands were smooth as the frost grenade left them, flying directly into the fire python's mouth and freezing its insides instantly.
Magnifiza drew her bow and fired — her arrow plunging deep into the underbelly of the python.
"It's my turn." Alyssa and Menisa said together as they both rushed in at once, swords gripped tight.
"Energy Blade — Double Cross Slash!" They chanted in unison, slashing out at once as their energy waves formed an X that tore clean through the python's upper body — destroying the creature immediately and leaving behind a fire stone.
Menisa quickly rushed forward and retrieved it as the two returned to the team.
"Wow, you girls are so strong..." Amelia praised. She was older than everyone here — the Grade 1 students were just teenagers, same age as her brother.
"You're also strong, Amelia... We witnessed your battle with—"
"Hmmph." Canli shut her mouth, noticing Alyssa's expression.
"Amelia, we're in a competition with the boys — we plan to gather more fire and ice crystals than them. So why don't you join our team?" Menisa proposed.
"Really? I can join your team?" The three girls nodded — all except Alyssa.
She turned to look at Alyssa, who reluctantly nodded. "Not like I'm the team leader anyway."
"I'll join then!" Amelia said, and they all cheered.
The five girls started their adventure with Canli being the main support of the group, pulling out flashy stocks of items like a walking supply store — her bag seemingly bottomless. Amelia took the role of scout, moving slightly ahead of the rest, her eyes and ears sharpened like blades cutting through the dungeon's heavy silence.
With her keen sight and hearing, they were able to avoid serious danger — sensing enemies faster and giving the team enough time to prepare as they traversed from the red part of the dungeon, where the air was thick and dry like standing beside a furnace, into the white part where the cold bit at exposed skin and their breath came out in soft visible puffs. They rested along the way, huddled in corners where the walls still radiated faint warmth from the red zone behind them.
After rest they continued their adventure — and eventually stumbled upon the five boys who also had their own teammates. They did a count on their crystals, not a physical count but through the digital cards — and the girls found out the guys were winning.
There were five guys from Laurel Academy in total.
The girls immediately started blaming one another for slacking off, voices rising and overlapping in the narrow corridor.
"Girls..." Amelia spoke calmly, her voice cutting through the noise like a blade through smoke. "We should just put in more effort. No infighting please." She also proposed that the rankings be made public to ensure fairness.
It was made public — and then the adventure continued.
Sometimes, at a safe corner where the dungeon walls muffled the distant sounds of creatures moving in the deep, the girls stopped to recuperate lost energy. The silence there was almost comfortable — just the sound of steady breathing and the faint hum of mana settling back into their bodies.
It was during one of those quiet moments that Canli taught Amelia how to gather energy more effectively — walking her through the rhythm of it, slow and deliberate. When Amelia tried it, she felt it immediately, like a door she hadn't known existed had quietly swung open.
Alyssa watched from the corner of her eye. Then, without a word, she shifted closer to Amelia for help. Amelia didn't see anything wrong with that and gave her insight without hesitation — her voice low and patient, the cold air around them carrying her words gently.
The girls refreshed themselves with the stocks they had brought from home — the familiar smell of packed food oddly comforting against the dungeon's damp stone scent — then continued their adventure, careful not to venture too deep. This was in line with the orders given by their instructors.
After what seemed like the fourth day — their bodies carrying the pleasant weight of exhaustion earned through honest effort — the girls finally surpassed the boys, gathering a total of 1,230 crystals while the guys had gathered 1,150. They came together to form one party since it was their last day in the dungeon. They would be heading back that evening, their expedition complete.
The bond among the teams had tightened quietly over the days — forged not through words but through shared close calls and the kind of trust that only life and death situations could build.
So they decided to have a feast.
Alyssa volunteered to cook.
It was a beast from the dungeon — not a fire or ice beast but a normal one, its carcass processed by the males while the females prepared it. The boys worked efficiently, their blades cutting clean as they dressed the meat, the smell of raw flesh briefly sharp in the cold air before the fire swallowed it.
It didn't take long before the meat was cooking — the sizzle and pop of fat hitting flame filling the space around them, and the sweet heavy aroma of roasting meat curling through the dungeon air like something that didn't belong there but was entirely welcome. The warmth from the fire pushed back the cold in a soft radius, and for the first time in days the group sat without their guard fully raised.
Everyone's portion was dished out and they ate — shoulders relaxed, faces carrying the quiet satisfaction of people who had earned their meal. Laughter passed between them in small easy bursts. The boys exaggerated their own contributions. The girls rolled their eyes and ate unbothered.
All except Alyssa, who kept herself busy near the fire — poking at it, adjusting the heat, her back slightly turned to the group. Nobody questioned it. That was just Alyssa.
Midway through eating, one by one, they began to slow. Eyelids grew heavy without warning. Conversation trails dropped mid-sentence. The warmth, the fullness, the exhaustion of four days — it all seemed to press down at once, natural and overwhelming.
They fell asleep.
All of them.
The dungeon settled into a deep quiet broken only by the low crackle of the dying fire and the soft sound of breathing.
Alyssa remained awake.
She sat still for a moment, watching them — her expression unreadable in the dim flickering light. Then she brought her hands together once and clapped, the sound swallowed quickly by the stone walls.
Two men stepped out from the shadow. Members of the Ashur clan — both at the Foundation Establishment Realm. Experts among experts. Their presence filled the space differently from the sleeping students, heavier, more deliberate, like the air itself recognized what they were.
Alyssa said nothing. She simply pointed to Amelia, who lay in deep undisturbed sleep, her chest rising and falling without the faintest awareness of what was unfolding around her.
One of the men moved to her without hesitation and bundled her up. The other slipped through the group like a shadow, lifting the digital cards belonging to both teams with hands so practiced that not a single person stirred.
"Injure yourself," the expert said quietly, his voice low and flat. "Frame the theft on the girl and the Trueblood clan."
Alyssa nodded without flinching.
They were gone almost immediately after — disappearing back into the dungeon's dark corridors as silently as they had come, taking Amelia and the cards with them.
The fire had burned down to glowing embers now, casting everything in a dim amber hue.
'I can't injure myself... I'll just pretend to also be at sleep.'
Alyssa calmly dished herself a portion of the remaining food and ate slowly, alone, the sound of her own chewing quiet against the sleeping bodies around her. When she was done she set the bowl aside and stared at nothing for a moment.
'Oh... Amelia...' she muttered to herself, her voice barely above a breath. 'I wonder what plans uncle has for you...'
She closed her eyes — and drifted into the realm of sleep.