Ch.109108. Final Exams (2)

# 108. Final Exams (2)

The abyss that had been swirling around my sword seemed to lack confidence this time, temporarily hiding its presence.

“I guess I have no choice…”

It would have been nice if I could have dealt with everything using just the abyss, but judging by this kid’s reaction, that didn’t seem possible.

Besides, it was actually a good opportunity since I shouldn’t rely too much on it anyway.

“Still, this is annoying… At times like this, I wish Rachel were here… or even Elin…”

Feeling the absence of my companions deeply, I began to meticulously take down the monsters one by one.

About five minutes later.

From behind me, in the direction of the dungeon entrance, I sensed a fiery, intense magical power.

And it was on an enormously massive scale.

‘What… is that? Could it be…’

I looked toward the source of the magical power, recalling the person I had just mentioned in my muttering.

There stood Rachel, with a bright smile, holding an enormous sun with her small staff.

Rachel asked me with a pleased expression.

“Were you looking for me?”

“Well… I guess I was…”

She must have been watching me deal with these monsters from outside the dungeon; there was no other possibility.

And along with that realization, several questions popped into my mind.

‘But… why was she watching? And how did she know I was here?’

***

Just before Albert entered the dungeon, Rachel and Eve were preparing to return to the dormitory.

“We had a productive day, right?”

“If I fail this exam too, I might really… cry.”

“You’ll be fine, probably…”

Rachel comforted the gloomy Eve.

Before leaving the library, she looked around to see if anyone was still there.

“Are all the others gone already?”

“Seems like it. They left early, but I hope they do well.”

“Especially that guy…”

“Who? Albert?”

Rachel nodded at Eve’s question.

“Come to think of it, did Albert leave already too? I wouldn’t expect that from him, unlike the others.”

“That’s true. Today he’d probably be saying ‘I haven’t done enough today’ and heading to the training grounds or dungeon practice room.”

Eve was impressed by Rachel’s spot-on impression and agreed.

“If I had to guess, he’s definitely there.”

“Want to go check? We don’t have anything else to do anyway.”

“Too much effort… I’m just going back. If you want to go, go by yourself…”

Judging by her expression, she wasn’t going to come along no matter how much Rachel asked.

So Rachel left Eve, who wanted to rest in the dormitory, and headed to the training grounds to look for him.

“I have a feeling… he won’t be there…”

Rachel entered the training grounds with that worry in mind.

As she thought, Albert wasn’t there, but instead, she saw other familiar faces.

They weren’t party members, but they were quite familiar.

“What are you two doing here?”

Raicle and Leo, who had been facing each other, turned their attention to Rachel who had suddenly appeared.

They both had wounds all over their bodies as if they’d just had a match. Leo was holding a golden spear, and Raicle had activated both of his unique skills.

In that situation, Leo was the first to drop his combat stance.

“Let’s stop here.”

“So I win today?”

Leo clicked his tongue at those words and immediately left the training grounds.

Of course, he completely ignored Rachel as he passed.

“Hey… what were you two doing?”

“Can’t you tell by looking? The same thing you guys always do.”

“Oh~ So you finally realized you’re lacking?”

“You could say that.”

Raicle showed an unusually cool attitude, admitting it straightforwardly.

It seemed he had deeply felt the difference between himself and those who regularly practiced in virtual battles during that fight.

Although he had undergone the second awakening like them, his contribution to that battle was almost the worst, so this was a natural outcome.

“But why don’t you ask us? You could just ask to train together. I think our party leader and vice-leader would be more than willing to help.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Right… I guess not. But if you change your mind, feel free to come find us.”

“Got it, now hurry up and leave. That guy isn’t here.”

The “guy” Raicle was referring to was probably Albert.

Rachel was surprised to hear this and asked him:

“How… did you know?”

“Don’t make it so obvious. It’s not good to chase after someone who’s already taken.”

“Huh? I’m not chasing after him! Besides, you’re not one to talk!”

Indeed, the two were in similar yet different situations.

“Still, I’m better than you. Much better.”

“…”

“See, you can’t even deny it.”

“So… did you see where Albert went?”

“I didn’t see him. If he’s not here, he’s probably there.”

As Rachel was about to leave the training grounds, Raicle said:

“I told you not to chase after him so much.”

“Shut up…”

Raicle was impressed by Rachel’s harsh words, which he’d never heard from her before.

Excited, he boldly continued:

“Oh, I’ve never heard you talk like that before. It’s actually not bad. Why don’t you try that with him? He might even like the bad girl type.”

“What are you saying… There’s a difference between being a ‘bad girl’ and being a ‘bitch’.”

“You know it well but still act like this.”

“Only a fool wouldn’t know…”

With those final words, Rachel left the training grounds and headed straight for the dungeon practice room.

‘I know that too…’

Rachel entered the dungeon practice room with a gloomy expression.

And of course, the supervising teacher was there.

The teacher greeted this regular visitor who, like Albert, had come at such a late hour.

“Hello…? But why do you look like that?”

“It’s nothing. More importantly… is Albert here?”

“Yes, he is. But why?”

“No reason… I just wanted to see what he’s up to.”

The teacher pointed to the large monitor he was watching and said:

“I was watching too. Want to join me?”

“Yes.”

Rachel was watching the live feed of the dungeon in Room 13 with the teacher.

On the screen, Albert was focused on hunting as usual.

“He’s at it again today…”

“You’re not much different, are you…?”

“It’s different! I do it because I have to, but Albert genuinely enjoys it.”

It was indeed a difference worth noting.

“Enjoys it… Looking at his expression, I guess he does.”

“But wow… he’s already cleared them all. Is that even possible?”

Albert had wiped out the swarm of mosquitoes in the blink of an eye.

“You would have done it faster, wouldn’t you?”

“I can’t afford to be slow… I use fire-attribute magic after all…”

They weren’t really comparable to begin with.

“But that’s not the end, is it? This is a high B-rank dungeon.”

“Of course not. There weren’t that many of them yet.”

At that moment, an enormous number of mosquitoes were flying toward Albert from the direction he was looking.

And soon after, Albert muttered to himself:

-At times like this, I wish Rachel were here…-

Rachel was startled when she heard those words.

“Teacher! Did you hear that?!”

“I think this is the first time I’ve seen him looking for someone like that.”

“Right?! Right?!”

“Well… yes, but… what are you going to do?”

“I’m going in, of course.”

“Won’t he dislike that…?”

But Rachel firmly denied that possibility.

“No way! He just said he was looking for me. If I go now, he’ll definitely be happy. Don’t you think?”

“Do whatever you want. You’re in the same party anyway, so experience points don’t matter. It’s good when teammates grow together.”

And in Albert’s case, he seemed to think that way even more.

“Right?! I’m going. Which room is it?”

“Room 13. You know how to break through the seal, right?”

“Of course!”

Rachel quickly ran to Room 13 to enter the dungeon where Albert was.

-Creak!-

When she opened the door to that room, there was a dungeon with a sealed entrance.

Rachel placed her hand on the large entrance, a door engraved with strange symbols.

She slowly infused magical power into the tightly closed door.

-Whirr! Whirr!-

As magical power was infused, the symbols gradually filled with magic, and Rachel carefully filled in the patterns bit by bit.

It was a task that required delicate magical control, but Rachel was accomplishing it as easily as eating cold porridge.

And finally, when all the symbols were filled with magical power.

-Ting!!-

With that sound, the tightly closed door began to open as if welcoming Rachel.

Rachel calmed her pounding heart and jumped into the dungeon.

As soon as she entered, she ignored minor details like the dungeon’s structure or appearance and quickly ran to where Albert was.

‘There he is.’

She spotted Albert meticulously catching the mosquitoes one by one.

Then, to help him, she prepared her skill.

Rachel used her small staff, barely 1 meter long, to create an enormous sun, about the size of one of the academy’s average buildings.

***

Still, it was a magnificent sight.

I couldn’t help but admire the spectacle.

The sun had grown much larger than during the midterm exams, showing Rachel’s growth, and it was shining as brightly as the real sun.

‘It really is huge…’