Ch.110109. Final Exams (3)

# 109. Final Exams (3)

Seeing her like that made me feel proud.

‘That’s all thanks to me…’

Of course, I can’t take all the credit. Rachel’s own efforts were the biggest reason for her explosive growth, but without my help, she couldn’t have developed like this.

But more importantly…

“You’re not planning to throw that thing this way, are you?”

“Actually, I am.”

Rachel’s innocent expression only intensified my fear.

She was positioned as if she was about to throw that sun right at me.

“Wait! Just give me a moment…!”

I used [Swift] to escape from that spot as quickly as possible and headed toward Rachel.

Since the distance wasn’t that great, I was able to reach her quickly.

‘Thank goodness…’

Once Rachel confirmed I had escaped from that group, she immediately threw the sun toward the swarm of mosquitoes.

I watched from the side as the sun annihilated the mosquito swarm.

“Wow….”

That scene reminded me of Bael’s magic that remained in my memory.

Of course, the level of magic would make me feel sorry for Bael if compared, but the impact was just as impressive.

Rachel, who had been staring at me as I watched the scene in a daze, asked with a proud expression.

“How was it?”

“Amazing… Were you always this good? You’ve been working hard.”

“Oh… it’s not that impressive…”

Rachel was obviously pleased.

And she had an expression that seemed to be asking for more praise.

Of course, since she was being too obvious about it, I didn’t give her any more compliments.

“By the way, how long were you watching me?”

“Um… not long… I was just bored and came by, and they told me you were clearing a dungeon…”

“Really?”

I felt a bit awkward knowing she had been watching, but I had no complaints since she appeared when I needed help.

In fact, if Rachel hadn’t come, it would have been much more difficult.

“Um… sorry for watching you secretly…”

“It’s fine. It helped me, and it’ll help you too.”

Actually, just watching someone else clear a dungeon can be somewhat helpful.

It’s like indirectly experiencing someone else’s experience.

Still, doing it yourself is obviously better.

Rachel sighed in relief when she heard it was okay.

“But it’s not over yet.”

“Huh? Wasn’t that the end just now?”

“The message didn’t appear, did it?”

“You’re right… Wow! But my level went up a lot!”

Even though they were low-level monsters, that many would have given quite a lot of experience.

It would have been nice if I had gotten that experience, but it was more appropriate for Rachel to get it now.

Unlike me, who didn’t lack stats, Rachel couldn’t fill the absence of stats with skills.

And from a time perspective, it was more efficient for Rachel to get the experience.

“That’s good.”

“I feel bad, like I stole something from you…”

“You don’t need to think that way. It’s more beneficial for you to get it. Anyway, let’s go find the remaining ones.”

Although there were quite a few earlier, Skittles usually lay many more eggs than that at once.

So there should still be many more remaining.

“There should be at least 50,000 left.”

“Um… WHAT? 50,000!?”

“Yeah, 50,000. But don’t worry. With your magic, even 50,000 will just melt away.”

Rachel’s mana capacity isn’t particularly high, but if used well, it shouldn’t be insufficient.

Even if it’s not enough, I can kill the rest, and if Rachel reduces their numbers, I can devour the remaining monsters with the abyss.

As we were entering the dungeon to find the remaining Skittles, Rachel frowned and asked me.

“But… why does it smell like this in here?”

“Insects always smell like this.”

“I think there’s something else besides insect smell… like the smell of a corpse…”

“Then someone probably died here.”

It’s quite common for hunters who enter dungeons to die without clearing them.

And if a certain number of days pass without clearing the dungeon, the dungeon disappears, and the monsters inside come out.

“Someone… died? And they’re still here?”

“Dungeons often reappear after disappearing, and the interior doesn’t change, so someone might have died here before.”

When days pass and monsters come out of the dungeon, only living beings come out.

“Corpses aren’t living beings, so they stay here.”

That’s why only corpses can remain in this dungeon.

“But then what were those things earlier? When a dungeon disappears, all living beings come out, right?”

“Yeah… I don’t know about that either. The gods might have put them in, or they might have just appeared… something like that.”

No one has discovered how monsters exist inside a dungeon that reappears after spitting out all the monsters that were inside when it disappeared.

It was something that hadn’t been clarified even 400 years in the future.

“I’m really curious…”

“There must have been people who seriously researched this, right?”

“Yeah, there are quite a few related books. But in the end, no one figured it out.”

“Do the gods really put them in?”

“Probably not…”

Basically, I was more curious about whether the gods really exist.

It’s said that gods appear to their faithful believers in the form of blessings, but…

Since I’ve never seen it myself, I don’t unconditionally think “Gods exist!”

Of course, I don’t think gods are fictional beings that exist only in human imagination either.

‘If they exist, they exist. If not, they don’t…’

It’s not really relevant to me anyway.

But it seemed to matter to Rachel.

“Hey… do you think gods really exist?”

“How would I know…”

“I think they do.”

“Suddenly?”

“People wouldn’t believe in something that doesn’t exist, right?”

“Um… that’s true…”

Seeing my rather indifferent response, Rachel frowned and asked me.

“Are you annoyed…?”

“Ah… that’s not it…”

“You are annoyed…”

Honestly, I was annoyed, but when she said it directly like that, I felt like trash.

“It’s not that I’m annoyed, but my condition isn’t good… the atmosphere here is gloomy…”

“If I were the princess, you wouldn’t have responded like that…”

“That’s true.”

At my honest response, Rachel gave a hollow laugh and said.

“Usually… in this situation, wouldn’t you deny it to match my mood?”

“There are exceptions, exceptions.”

“But why do you like the princess?”

“Is that a question for this timing?”

“Just answer.”

“Um…”

I gave a short and concise answer.

“She’s pretty.”

“Huh? That’s the reason?”

“What more do you need?”

Of course, that’s not the only reason, but I didn’t feel the need to explain, nor did I want to.

And.

“Besides, that reason is enough.”

“Well… but is that all?”

“It’s not all, but it takes up a big portion. That’s it.”

“Do guys usually… like all pretty girls?”

“At least at our current age, yes.”

In fact, even beyond our current age, the basic ideal type for men is “a pretty woman.”

That’s a fact no one can deny.

“Really…?”

“Yeah, that’s why you’re popular. Right now, looks are everything.”

Others might think differently, but not that differently.

“But what kind of appearance is considered pretty?”

“Pretty is pretty. But you don’t need to worry about that.”

Although not as much as the princess, Rachel is also pretty enough to be in the top five at the academy.

Of course, not as much as the princess.

“Anyway, get ready. I think we’ve arrived.”

We had already reached the deepest part of the dungeon, where the dungeon’s magical power was most strongly felt, and there was the nest of those mosquitoes.

The Skittles that hadn’t been seen until now were gathered there.

And they were emitting a stench that made us cover our noses involuntarily.

“Is that a human corpse?”

“Seems like it.”

In the center of the Skittle swarm was what appeared to be a human corpse, and the Skittles were amicably tearing it apart.

“Are you okay seeing things like that?”

“I have a stronger stomach than you might think.”

“But I’m not okay with it. Can you get rid of that?”

“Buy me some time. They’re coming this way.”

The Skittles were flying toward us, unaware of their fate of being burned to death by the sun in just a moment.

“How much time do you need?”

“About 2 minutes? Maybe a bit more.”

“That’s not long at all. Creating a magic of that size in just 2 minutes.”

That fact was enough to make my skills seem insignificant.

‘Well, what can I do…’

I activated my two unique skills, which had been overshadowed by Rachel’s skill.

Seeing the Skittles collectively frightened, my confidence returned.

My skills definitely had unique effects like intimidation and abyss emission.

“Actually, when I use them, they don’t seem that inferior.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Anyway, stay back a bit. The more powerful, the better.”

Rachel distanced herself from me to avoid the effect of intimidation, and I ran forward to avoid affecting her.

Then I swung my sword at the Skittles that bravely came forward.

I thought they would be split in half with one slash like before, but…

-Clang!!-

This time was different.

Maybe because it was an individual that wasn’t scared by the intimidation, it easily blocked my slash with the Skittle’s characteristic hard skin.

“That’s right, this is what a B-high rank should be like.”