Dungeon Practice (4)
Ophelia and Blair had already split off from the other group members they’d started with and were just entering their assigned course when a sudden deafening roar shook the ground like an earthquake. In an instant, the unstable bedrock gave way beneath them, sending them sliding and tumbling straight down into the depths.
When they finally picked themselves up, the surroundings were far darker than before.
“Are you alright, my lady!”
“I’m fine. What about you?”
Fortunately, neither Ophelia nor Blair had been seriously hurt. It had been more of a roll than a sheer fall, and they’d landed in a thick pile of snow, so neither showed any visible injuries.
“Could this also be part of the training exercise?” Blair asked, scanning their surroundings. It was too dark to see much of anything.
“I’m not sure.”
Ophelia could sense that the atmosphere had changed. Up above, the course had felt carefully prepared, but this place carried the raw scent of something untamed. Even the flow of the air felt different. She nocked an arrow, infusing it with mana. The arrow began to emit a bright glow in response to her power. With a graceful motion, she released the bowstring. The arrow shot upward like a flare, lodging itself in the cavern ceiling and bathing the area around them in light like a lantern.
Grk. Krrk.
In reaction to the sudden brightness, monsters began to stir. Among them were several species the girls had never encountered during their week of training.
“We should deal with these first,” Blair said, her voice tight with tension as she raised her sword.
“Yeah. I’ll leave the ones that get close to you.”
In contrast, Ophelia answered in a voice so calm it almost sounded indifferent, already nocking another arrow.
“Hurry up. Why are you dragging your feet like that?”
Haley was, as expected, thoroughly displeased with her teammate. She’d disliked her from the start, and the feeling had only grown stronger. Something this trivial, she could have wiped out in the blink of an eye all by herself. If she couldn’t be in a group with Kael, she would have preferred to go solo. So why did they have to force these pairings?
“Ha. You’re the one acting like you’re in such a rush.”
Bridget, who had been paired with Haley, felt exactly the same way about her teammate. They’d only been grouped together at the very last minute because neither could find anyone else, so the resentment had been there from the beginning. From the way this commoner dared to bark orders at a noble like her, there wasn’t a single thing she liked about the girl.
“This is so boring…”
Haley thought this training exercise was just as dull as everything else at the academy. They’d already learned everything during the week of preparation—what difference did it make to simply change the location? The only thing on her mind was finishing this annoying chore as quickly as possible so she could get back to camp and figure out how to poke at Kael some more.
That was when it happened.
BOOM!
A massive roar that seemed to shake the entire cavern reverberated through the air. The heavy sound appeared to rise up from deep beneath the ground. And then—
Crack… crackle…
The earth began to shake violently. With sounds like breaking ice, fissures spiderwebbed across the floor. Unable to hold any longer, the ground collapsed, and both Haley and Bridget plummeted downward.
Thud.
They were lucky enough to land in a thick snowdrift, which cushioned their fall. Of course, Haley had taken precautions by conjuring a platform of ice beneath her feet with magic. Bridget, without such help, face-planted spectacularly into the snow.
‘Still, they’ve prepared something a little more interesting this time.’
The dull, lifeless look in Haley’s eyes suddenly sparkled with excitement.
“What is this? Isn’t something wrong?”
Bridget, terrified by the darkness, scrambled to her feet and grabbed the hem of Haley’s robe with a trembling voice.
“Stop whining and get up already.”
Haley yanked her robe free with clear annoyance. Then she cast a Light spell, illuminating the dark surroundings.
Krrk!Kyaaak!
The monsters hidden in the shadows all turned their heads at once, drawn by the light.
“Eek…!”
Bridget, still half-sitting, screamed and clung desperately to Haley’s stockinged leg.
She really is a nuisance.
Even so, Haley thought, ‘Isn’t this a bit much?’ while grinning at the far-from-boring scene before her. She began preparing her next spell.
Ophelia fired another glowing arrow toward the ceiling. The monsters, drawn by the light, spotted her and Blair and began charging toward them. Blair moved with practiced grace, slicing through the attackers and immediately shifting to the next target. Her movements burned with fierce determination to keep even a single monster from getting anywhere near her lady.
Ophelia wasn’t idle either. She fired arrows infused with mana in rapid succession, skillfully picking off the monsters one by one. The creatures that had rushed them soon lay piled up in front of the pair.
“It seems they’re being drawn to the light,” Blair observed.
“I know. But we need the light to make it easier for the other students or the professors to find us.”
“Ah… I was being short-sighted, my lady.”
Blair had wondered if repeatedly launching light was only provoking more monsters, but of course her lady’s actions always carried deeper purpose.
At first, the two had searched the immediate area for a way out. During their search, they discovered other students who, like them, had fallen into the snow. So far they had found six. It seemed everyone who had started the exercise together had suffered the same fate. Among them were some injured, so they had moved the wounded to a relatively safe spot. After asking the uninjured students to protect and tend to the injured, Ophelia and Blair had continued moving separately to look for an exit and to check if any other students were still trapped.
By now it was clear this situation was not part of what the professors had prepared. If it had been, there wouldn’t have been injured students. The level of monsters appearing was also far beyond what the other students could handle. Something unexpected must have gone wrong during the dungeon practicum.
While hoping for rescue from the professors, they were also trying to find a way to get the other students out on their own.
“My lady. Over there…”
At the very edge of the area illuminated by the glowing arrow, they caught a glimpse of what looked like a human silhouette. It was probably another student who had fallen down like them. Ophelia and Blair hurried toward the figure.
“Kael?”
The person they found was, surprisingly, Kael.
“Ophelia.”
Ophelia felt a flicker of doubt at meeting him here. All the students they had found so far had started the dungeon practicum from the same point as her. As far as she knew, Kael had entered the dungeon earlier to take his test. So why was he here? Even if he had stayed in the dungeon until now, he should have already progressed much further. Had the entire section collapsed?
“I’m glad you’re safe.”
But her questions were quickly overshadowed by relief. Kael’s expression showed clear, visible relief upon seeing her. A thought crossed her mind. Maybe—somehow—he had learned she was trapped down here and had come to rescue her.
“Looks like there was an accident in the dungeon. Did you notice anything strange?”
“Not really. The ground suddenly shook like an earthquake and I fell down here. The place is crawling with monsters.”
Blair answered in Kael’s place.
“What about the others?”
Blair explained that they had already found six of the students who had started with them and moved them to safety.
“I heard ten people were trapped,” Kael muttered.
Ophelia wondered how he could have known that. If he had heard it from the professors above, how had he managed to come down here alone? Still, there were more urgent matters, so she set her questions aside for now.
“Haley and Bridget.”
At Ophelia’s words, both Kael and Blair turned to look at her. So far, including themselves, they had accounted for eight people down here. If two more were missing, the most likely candidates were Haley and Bridget, who had started with them.
Although Haley had been somewhat on her mind lately, Ophelia certainly didn’t wish for her to be caught in an accident like this.
“Those two started together as well. If they fell down here like us, they should be somewhere nearby.”
The three of them exchanged glances and nodded. They had decided to search for the two missing students.
The moment the decision was made, they moved quickly. They hadn’t been walking long when—
THUD! THUD!
A sound like the earth itself was trembling echoed faintly through the cavern walls. Soon after, screams joined the noise.
Without a word, Ophelia, Blair, and Kael all broke into a run toward the source of the sound.