I'm already waiting for the students to gather so we can enter the dungeons. The area where these dungeons are located is connected to the academy, yet it feels like an entirely different place—the long bridge leading here makes it seem that way. Security along the way is tight; I've seen many grade 1, 2, and 3 dungeons across this territory.

After talking with Professor Gustav, I understood two things: these aren't the only dungeons owned by the academy, and some of them were created thousands of years ago by several obsidian-rank mages working together. There are others that were found relatively nearby, about an hour away by carriage. Those ones are completely natural but also guarded.

I was genuinely surprised when I learned what kind of grade 3 monsters were found inside this natural dungeon—ogres. Ever since I left that first dungeon created by Sus, I haven't seen another one of them. A nostalgic feeling fills my chest.

All the students have arrived, each group coming together. Six groups of five members each. As I take attendance, some of them respond curtly and coldly; I ignore their manners without much thought.

"Each group must let me know right now what role I'll be taking in your team. As you already know, the test will consist of three non-consecutive rounds per group." I go over every point of the exam again, leaving nothing unclear—I don't want problems later.

One by one, the team captains come to tell me what roles they're weakest in. In the end, I'll be filling the roles of: scout, ranged attacker, melee attacker, tank, and two mid-range attackers.

I'm comfortable with all positions. Some of them seemed doubtful when asking, but I don't pay it much mind and accept each position gladly.

It surprises me that there are no healers in any formation, but after thinking about it, it makes sense—very few students have a life affinity. Each of them will be given a bracelet that generates a small protective barrier and potions provided by the academy.

I enter the dungeon first to inspect the perimeter. Everything matches the data I was given. There's a sphere of power surrounding the platform, its purpose being to slightly speed up recovery and keep monsters away.

Once all the students are inside, I call for the first group, the one that assigned me the role of scout. The other groups stay near the platform, going over their plans again. I've already made it clear that I'm far stronger than I look and can adapt to any strategy instantly.

Leader of Group One:

"Professor…" I call out to our young instructor. Some of my teammates aren't happy with him—he looks too young and a bit arrogant, and the rumors about him don't help. Personally, I don't care. As long as he does his job, it doesn't matter if he's a kid or an old man.

"Call me Maki. I'm part of your team right now, and you're the leader." His calm tone puts me at ease, and the way he lets me take command makes me respect him a little more.

"My group can probably handle around ten ogres. I need to know how many you can control while supporting the tanks during critical moments." A scout's job isn't just reconnaissance—they also have to be agile enough to strike from behind and relieve the tanks or protect the mages from ambushes.

"Me? I don't want to sound arrogant, but I could fight or hold off hundreds of ogres without much trouble." The group reacts subtly, but it's obvious most don't believe him—except me.

Those violet eyes aren't lying. He's being honest. "I can lure as many as you want. It's up to you, leader. Treat this as practice for the next two rounds, where my assistance will gradually decrease." He's right. This round, he'll be helping us as much as possible.

"Fifteen. You can lure fifteen." Our new professor nods, and in the blink of an eye, he vanishes. The forest is about forty meters away—he reached it in less than a second and disappeared among the trees. "Didn't expect that…" Everyone agrees with me; that speed doesn't belong to a Sapphire rank.

"Yes, he's fast, but we can't fully trust him yet. He's a Sapphire like us, and younger. I think you went too far calling for fifteen ogres this round, Serti." Our tall, slim tank still doesn't trust Maki, and some of our teammates waver again after hearing him.

"He's part of our team, so we can only trust him." Most teams have about the same strength as ours, but I've decided to bet on our scout's words. If we pull this off, we'll get a good score this round. Eyes don't lie.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

The other teams are about two hundred meters away from us, still within the protective sphere. Seconds later, Maki returns—with fifteen monsters behind him. Two small blue daggers made of ice glint in his hands. "Get organized and begin." His calm tone shakes us out of our daze. Our tank charges forward, and I follow, serving as an off-tank and close-range attacker.

Spells fly toward the monsters, keeping them separated so we're not overwhelmed. Minutes into the fight, something feels strange. Off. Why aren't we being overrun by fifteen ogres? Usually, with ten, we're already at our limit—it's the perfect number to avoid injuries and save mana and stamina. Now, we're fighting 50% more than that, and yet… we're fine. We should be exhausted or wounded by now, but our tank looks barely scratched, our ranged attackers are calm, and we've already taken down three ogres.

Is this Maki's doing? I let part of my focus drift while fending off two ogres. Maki moves like an electric ghost across the battlefield. Whenever an ogre tries to attack our backline, he appears, slashing its legs or arms so the others can finish it off. When our stubborn tank starts getting overwhelmed, the professor appears again from behind the monsters, tearing through them before vanishing.

Who is this person? How can he move so fast? How can he control the entire battlefield so precisely? Has he always been a scout? We hit the jackpot.

The fight lasted eight minutes. At some point, Maki stopped helping directly and just observed from a safe distance. He only stepped in once more when an ogre nearly hit our mid-range fighter.

"Well done, Team One. Think about how you'll handle the next rounds when your turn comes again. Remember, I'll be helping a bit less each time. You'll always be safe, but you might get hurt." He instructs us to return to the protective sphere.

We really hit the lottery—fifteen ogres were a risk no other team would take, not with how little they trust Maki. The professor moves on to Group Two, while we gather at the edge of the sphere where no one can overhear us. None of the other teams could have seen our battle from that distance anyway.

"Well done, team. We did great—no one got hurt, and we managed to conserve most of our energy and mana." Everyone nods happily; none of us expected such a promising start.

"Professor Maki is a genius or something like that—he's many levels above us and looked like he was holding back the entire time." Our water mage, Dilce, has a sharp eye for battle. "He never stopped analyzing the field. He always appeared where he was needed and vanished again. I've never seen a Sapphire rank that strong." Everyone agrees.

"Yeah… I barely got hit. Every time I thought I was in danger or surrounded, he stopped them effortlessly before going back to his own fights. I felt safe—and I'm the tank." Our slim teammate Jim lets out a deep sigh.

"You were the one who distrusted him the most." My friend looks at me speechless, and I grin.

"Don't even say it. He shut me up in just a few minutes. We really hit the jackpot having him as our scout—his speed is unnatural." Yeah, our professor is definitely fast.

"I doubt Professor Maki is actually a scout…" Everyone looks at me. At first, I thought the same, but something doesn't add up. His movements were too perfect and precise, his ice daggers were stronger than the constructions of our mages, and he fought ogres effortlessly.

"I thought so at first, but after watching him for a while… I'm not sure anymore." We all look toward Group Two, who look tiny in the distance. Jim speaks. "You're right—our professor is definitely not normal."

"He wasn't normal from the start… his face is too handsome, and he's rumored to be romantically involved with Princess Brendu. We should've known from the beginning that he's in another league." Dilce's words make us think—a battle genius with striking looks and natural charm… this could end very well or very badly.

Point of View – Group Two (Aguer):

"Jarot, lure ten or eleven ogres." My teammate doesn't say a word before dashing toward the forest. It'll take him a few minutes to draw in the right number. I glance at our professor, who doesn't inspire much confidence. On top of that, he's got that serious, superior attitude—as if he's better than us.

I didn't want to assign him as the long-range attacker, but I had no choice. I just hope he doesn't slow us down and can keep up with the team's pace. If this practice goes wrong because of him, I'll file a complaint with the academy along with my group. I can't let someone like him be responsible for our safety.

I'll show him the difference in our strength—and maybe even earn Princess Brendu's favor.

"They're coming! Jarot's close—I don't know if he'll make it out unscathed!" Lost in my fantasy of impressing the princess, I react too late. Our scout is in real danger because of me. As the tank, I can hold around five ogres, but it's up to my team to handle the rest. Sorry, Jarot—I'll buy you a beer later.

I activate my taunting skill to draw in as many monsters as possible—six of them fall for it. My teammates fail to grab the others, and one gets dangerously close to our scout.

The ogre raises its massive hammer toward Jarot—but a wall of ice appears instantly. The ogre's blow bounces off the wall, and the rebound sends it crashing to the ground. The wall turns into ice blades in a split second, piercing through the ogre effortlessly.

I turn to see Maki, who hasn't even flinched. He keeps forming walls to help me and casting lightning bolts to paralyze the other monsters. My jaw nearly drops as I watch him control the entire battlefield with ease—he took down that ogre in one move and could probably finish them all just as fast.

I was a fool to think I ever had a chance with the princess. I was blind not to see the difference between us. Just two movements were enough for him to show me how vast the gap between our powers truly is.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.