Rumble! Splash, splash, splash!
With a tremendous roar, a torrent of water gushed out!
Monarch, who had been sleeping with his teammates, snapped awake with a scream.
“What the hell is this?!”
“S-sorry! I must’ve dozed off for a moment…!”
The groundwater that had been trickling just moments ago had turned into a raging current that swallowed everything in its path.
“What the hell happened?!”
“M-maybe it’s pouring outside?”
“…!”
Only then did Monarch remember.
When they had arrived on the deserted island, the sky had been full of dark clouds.
“Don’t tell me… the dungeon was designed to flood like this whenever it rains?!”
“M-Monarch, sir, what do we do…? H-huh!”
It was like a river had overflowed its banks.
A good number of their dungeon gear and supplies were already being swept away.
All the food they’d carefully secured before sleeping had vanished somewhere.
“Goddamn it…!”
“M-Monarch! First, we need to get out of here—guh!”
The water had already risen to their necks.
They had to reach higher ground fast.
“Move! Use body-enhancing magic to help you swim! Or use elemental magic to control the water—blurgh!”
The raging current made it hard to even focus.
“Monarch! Should we just signal the instructor?!”
“No! We can’t give up here—aaaaaagh!”
Swept away by the powerful torrent, Monarch screamed.
Splash, splash, splash…
While I was on watch reading a book, I heard the sound of water from somewhere.
‘So the rainwater made its way in, just as expected.’
I lifted my head from the book.
As predicted, rain had started pouring after nightfall, and the water was now seeping into the dungeon.
If we had chosen that spot earlier as our base, the trickling groundwater would’ve turned into a surging river and engulfed us.
‘The basics of camping say to set up camp away from the waterline.’
I’d never actually been camping, but I’d read about it in books.
Even if a spot is scenic, pitching a tent right by the water is a bad idea.
‘Someone like Helios would know that, but… a lot of the other students probably don’t.’
The academy probably already knew that the dungeon flooded during rain.
But they likely kept that information from us to test our ability to handle “harsh environments.”
‘Supplies and food could get washed away… Even just getting soaked would lead to a drop in stamina. Anyone hit by the flood in the middle of the night is in for a rough time.’
I was glad we’d found a spot safe from flooding.
If we’d chosen that area as our base, I wouldn’t be sitting here reading on watch duty.
“Mm…”
At that moment, Senia sat up from her sleeping bag.
“You’re awake?”
“Yes, I heard water… from somewhere.”
“Looks like it’s raining hard outside.”
“Ah…”
She nodded, seeming to understand the situation.
“Everything happened just like you said, Eriol. If we’d chosen that place, we would’ve been in big trouble.”
“Yeah. It’s safe here, so go ahead and get more sleep.”
“No, I’m fully awake now…”
Senia crawled out of her sleeping bag.
“I’ll just take watch with you.”
“But your turn isn’t for a few more hours.”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“Hmm… alright.”
Meanwhile, Cain was still sound asleep, rain or not.
Even if the whole place flooded, he’d probably sleep right through it.
“You really do love books, Eriol.”
Senia glanced at the book in my hand as she spoke.
“Reading even during watch duty…”
“I’m still keeping an eye on the surroundings.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean it like that.”
She shook her head quickly, her face red.
“You’re probably doing so well in your classes because you read a lot, right?”
“Hmm… I suppose that has something to do with it.”
Aside from my spiritual foundation, my ability to understand books had been developed through years of reading.
“But you like books too, don’t you, Senia? You’ve got great grades.”
“Ah, I…”
“You were reading the new volume of The Youngest Son of a Political Family at the dock, remember?”
“Ah…”
Her face turned an even deeper shade of red.
“T-that was just a novel! I’ve only read a few, unlike you—you’re well-read in all kinds of subjects.”
“Really?”
“Yes…”
“Have you always preferred novels?”
“It’s not that I prefer them, it’s more like…”
Her voice trailed off.
In the darkness of the dungeon, with only the sound of water around us, a moment of silence passed.
“You know I’m from the House of Artian, right?”
“Yeah.”
The famed swordsmanship family, Artian.
One of the ten great noble houses on the continent, with a long history of distinguished service.
Despite being from such a family, Senia had come to Ars Magna Academy.
“If you’re born into the Artian family, you start rigorous training from a young age. Boy or girl, strong or weak, talented in swordsmanship or not…”
“…”
“I was also locked up in the estate and made to train constantly from the time I was little. I didn’t even learn to read until much later.”
In noble families, children usually learn to read before the age of eight.
For her to say that, she must have learned quite late.
“Once you reach a certain level of skill, you’re given a little bit of freedom… but you’re still bound by the family’s strict rules. In that environment, the only thing that gave me joy… was novels.”
“You could get novels in that situation?”
“One of the maids I was close with lent me her favourites.”
Senia smiled softly.
“There were so many lives in those stories. Through them, I learned about the outside world… and dreamed of living freely, like the characters in the books.”
“…”
“And as I read more novels, I began to wish to escape from the Artian family.”
Her voice was earnest.
“When a child of the Artian house turns sixteen, they’re sent out on a ‘warrior’s journey’ to gain real-world experience. Most go join a knight order as squires… but I said I wanted to study magic swords at Ars Magna Academy. It took a lot to get permission.”
It must have been really difficult to get that permission.
Especially considering they told her to return if she didn’t make it into the top class.
“But even after I graduate, I won’t return to the Artian house.”
“…”
“I want to live as an independent person—free from the name of Artian.”
As she said that, Senia looked at me and smiled softly.
“That’s my dream.”
It was the usual shy smile she always wore… but this time, it carried a clear sense of resolve.
“It really did flood.”
“Yeah, good thing we listened to you and slept away from the water.”
Morning of the second day.
Helios and Charlotte exchanged words as they looked around the flooded dungeon.
With his experience as a ranger, Helios knew well that sleeping near water was a bad idea.
“Charlotte, with this much water, freezing magic should be easier, right?”
“Of course.”
When Charlotte raised her hand, a bridge of ice formed across a broken path.
Elemental magic is heavily influenced by the density of surrounding elements. Yesterday, the dungeon had been so dry that freezing magic was limited—but with all this water, she could freeze as much as she wanted.
“Still, something feels a little odd.”
“Odd? Like what?”
“It seems like the drainage is working well… and even the humidity is disappearing fast. Maybe the dungeon has a built-in dehumidifying function.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure.”
As they talked, Helios and Charlotte suddenly realized Ingrid wasn’t with them.
“Ingrid?”
“Where are you?”
She had fallen far behind and was staring at a wall.
“Oh, I found some strange writing here.”
“Strange writing?”
“Yes. It looks like geometric patterns carved into the wall, but I think they’re actually characters.”
“I can’t read them at all…”
“I think it’s an encrypted form of an existing script. Fascinating.”
“Can you figure out what it says?”
In response to Charlotte’s question, Ingrid nodded.
“It seems to describe a hidden area within the dungeon. There might be a secret room deeper inside.”
“A secret room?”
“Hey, don’t get any funny ideas.”
Helios shot her down coldly.
“If something like that existed, the academy would’ve already found it.”
“Y-You think so?”
“The professors and Transcendental department would’ve combed through everything. Do you really think you’re going to find some hidden room they missed?”
“Hmm…”
Ingrid closed her mouth, with nothing to reply.
“Quit daydreaming and summon some undead. Looks like there are monsters up ahead.”
“O-Okay!”
Ingrid hurriedly pulled some bones out of her backpack.
“Summon Undead…!”
Thud! Thump!
Skeletons of small monsters like goblins and kobolds appeared.
There were six in total—a surprising number to be summoned simultaneously, especially this early on.
“Alright, let’s go. Charlotte, Ingrid.”
“Got it.”
“Yup!”
With the skeletons leading the way, the team of upper-class aces headed off to hunt monsters.
“Three teams from the top class and four from the upper class have already given up, huh?”
“Tsk tsk, spineless kids.”
“Probably lost motivation after getting soaked.”
Outside the dungeon, the professors chatted in their tent.
Despite it being only the morning of the second day, a decent number of students had already dropped out.
“They could’ve just used elemental magic to dry themselves off and life magic to recover.”
“Some probably lost all their gear and supplies and gave up.”
“They should’ve chosen a campsite away from the water in the first place.”
In addition to the flooding, many students had fallen into trouble due to poisonous insects and other hazards.
Only seven teams had withdrawn so far, but many more were expected to follow.
“Professors Murselt, Sylvia—shall we delay activating the training golems a bit longer?”
“No need. Crank up the difficulty!”
“Hmm, it should be fine by now.”
Following the advice of the life magic professors, Professor Klein remotely activated the golems stationed throughout the dungeon.
From now on, the students would face attacks not only from monsters but from golems as well.
Of course, for the students confident in combat, it would be a good opportunity to rack up points.
“Looks like battles are breaking out all over the place.”
“Haha, they’re all holding their own pretty well.”
“If they get hurt fighting golems, maybe they’ll finally appreciate the value of healing magic.”
“Oh—there’s already a team that destroyed a golem. Looks like it’s Helios, Charlotte, and Ingrid from the upper class.”
“Those kids? Ingrid aside, Helios and Charlotte were excellent in the bio-enhancement practicals!”
“Weren’t they the top of the upper class? I’m looking forward to seeing how they do in this survival test.”
While they were chatting—
Klein suddenly flinched as he checked the incoming data from the dungeon.
“Professors Murselt, Sylvia. We’ve got a team that just took down three golems at once and is heading into the lower depths.”
“What? Three at once?”
“They’re already descending deeper? Who are they?”
As the two professors looked on in surprise, Klein spoke up, his voice tinged with pride.
“It’s Eriol, Cain, and Senia from the top class! As expected, those kids are on a different level!”
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