"First-year." William replied with a slight bow.
Even as an Excellent Cultivator and a student of the Filem Academy, it was still wise to show respect to the guards as they had so level of control over the region in which they operated. If William made things difficult for the guard, the rules of Great Rouge said that guards had the right to detain suspicious individuals for up to 1 week.
For William, that could be a huge problem, and he wasn't willing to risk the success or failure of his System Quest over a simple matter.
The guard nodded, "Do you have a letter of recomndation or otherwise?"
William produced his envelope and handed it over, allowing the guard to take his ti reading the Professor's handwriting. The guard didn't cast any Spells or try to verify the information outside of a cursory glance and handed the envelope back to William, simultaneously opening a small gate.
"Follow the rules of your Academy, as they apply here." the guard said before allowing William to pass.
William nodded and followed the path until he reached the center of the fortress, where a brownish-yellow vortex the size of two adults lay protected by a single guard with an advanced communicator on his hip. Nearby were groups of three to five students with serious expressions consulting makeshift maps that were crude compared to William's cartography skills.
He honed in on one group's conversation in particular, finding their map to be of slightly higher quality than the rest. Even though he was almost two kiloters away from the group, with the Vision Talent he could still see their map clearly, while their voices were audible with a subtle Sound Spell.
"The thirteenth floor just rotated a few days ago, so we're going to have to be careful of new traps here and here." a boy whose right arm was covered in scars said while pointing to dangerous zones on the map.
A male around twenty years of age nodded, "I heard that the Flarium Family found the stairway already, what do you think?"
"Are you kidding ? It might be a dium-level floor, but there's no way anyone can find the stairs so quickly. If they don't have the luck of the Gods, they're definitely just trying to slow down our progress. Everyone knows that the Flariums like to trap their stairways, why would they announce it in advance?"
"Who knows? Maybe they just have a loudmouth in their family, not everyone is as calculative as you, Jeron. You just beca a second year, but you're already trying to compete with the third years!"
The scarred boy nad Jeron shook his head, his white-haired bun accidentally coming undone and allowing everything to cascade down to his waist.
He sighed before pointing to the center of their map, "My goal is to reach the top of the tower by the end of my third year. If I want to do that, then how I am isn't even close to enough."
A third boy stepped in, his age around seventeen years, "I'll back you no matter what, Boss Jeron! After all, you're the reason I even entered the Academy. If you want to reach the top, we'll get there together!"
Jeron looked at the boy who had followed him for over a year now and smiled slightly. "You're too obnoxious, Benny."
Benny scratched his head awkwardly, suddenly pausing as his instinct said soone was watching. A subtle hand signal from him was all it took for the group to conceal their map, each scanning their environnt for the onlooker.
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They were so smooth and practiced in their movents that William didn't have ti to avert his gaze before he was discovered. Jeron, the leader of the group, locked eyes with William for around four seconds before shifting his attention away.
I can't believe they noticed ! They're all younger than as well! William exclaid in his mind.
-They've lived in the Celestial Planes their entire life. Even if the Slightveil Plane isn't great, it's still many tis better than the Mortal Realms.
William nodded while shifting his attention to other groups. He was a bit more cautious this ti around, but a few still glanced his way and hid their maps just like the first ones. It seed that none of the groups were pushovers.
He walked up to the vortex and was about to enter when the guard stepped in his way.
"Sorry, you're going to need a group of at least three to go inside. It's too dangerous for anyone to go in alone."
"What? Even if I'm only going to the first or second floor?" William complained.
"Rules are rules. Go join a group or form one yourself and co back." the guard shooed William away without another word.
Dejected, William had no choice but to ask around and find soone to join.
The answers were less than optimal.
"Nah bro, we've already got five."
"You're a first year, right? We don't need any dead weight."
"Ha! Good looks don't make a good fighter. Go find soone else."
To make things worse, the guard announced that they would be sealing off the Dungeon entrance for 24 hours and this was the last chance to enter for the next two days. If William couldn't find a group imdiately, he was going to be stuck here for an entire night.
And I checked out of my hotel too, damn it!
William was about to give up when Jeron called him over, "Hey kid. Co with us."
"Huh? Why?"
"Don't you need a group? Let's just go." Jeron reached out to pat William's shoulder when he walked up, but the latter dodged it swiftly.
"But I was just spying on you. You're not trying to kill while we're inside, are you?" William looked anxious on the outside but in reality, he felt this could be a good opportunity to be alone in the Dungeon.
"Nah. You must have so decent scouting Techniques if you're able to spy on us unnoticed for so long. Are you a Sound Mage?" Jeron asked.
"Space Mage." William replied with a slight shake of his head.
"Even better!" Jeron's lips curled up and he waved to the guard, "He's with us, is that good?"
The guard tilted his chin up in approval, Jeron calmly rotating his wrist as a reply. He looked back at William, "See, now it's settled."
William would have liked to find a more trustworthy group, but he realized that this was his best option at the mont.
"Alright." he said.
I'll look for an opportunity to leave the group later. I shouldn't be plotting to kill my fellow students. William shrugged before following the group through the portal.
-You wouldn't say that if they were worth more Potential Points.
I'd rather my Humanity not take a hit. The teleportation was quick, and William found himself in a small stone room that contained a few informational signs. He paused.
-Why are you so serious? I expected you to defend yourself harder.
There was a short pause before the System better evaluated William's expression. It followed the direction of William's gaze, which was fixed on a chart listing treasures that were previously found in the Dungeon.
-You bastard! Now I get it!
William smirked. Of course I wouldn't care about five Potential Points. Why bother with that when I can find loot?
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