That night, in different places in the Hellan Kingdom, several groups of men infiltrated many Low to High-Grade dungeons. They purposefully chose the dungeons that were close to villages and towns.
No one knew their motive, nor what organization they belonged to. They used the darkness to hide their tracks and slipped away under the light of starlight.
—-
When William arrived at the meeting place with his Mama Ella, he was surprised to find Est, Ian, and Isaac, waiting for him along with Wendy. The red-headed boy didn’t think much about it because all that were present were his friends, except the snot-nosed-pansy Ian.
“Well then, shall we go?” Wendy smiled and grabbed hold of William’s hand. She then led the way to the picnic area with a smile on her face.
Est and Ian frowned, but they didn’t say anything and followed behind the pair who were chatting happily in front of them.
When they arrived at the location, Wendy summoned a blanket and laid it on the ground. The spot she had chosen was a clearing beside a river where one could admire the natural beauty around them.
William sighed and thought that the Magic Division had so many good things, compared to his own Martial Division. Isaac set down the basket he was carrying and took out the sandwiches that he had prepared for their “lunch picnic”.
Wendy had also been holding a basket and inside it was roasted chicken, sandwiches, fruits, salads, and ham, that she had taken from the Dining Kitchen.
It was a pretty unusual combination of foods, but William wasn’t a picky eater. He happily ate a little bit of everything, even the roasted chicken and ham. After the meal, Est decided to ask William if he had any plans for the rest of the week.
“My plans?” William crossed his arms over his chest as he pondered for a while. “I don’t have any particular plans this week, aside from training the First Years. Why? Do you need me to accompany you somewhere?”
“Actually, I planned to ask you about our next dungeon expedition,” Est said with a serious expression. “Since the Goblin Crypt is currently under investigation, it would be best to find a different dungeon to go to. Do you have any recommendations?”
“No. I’ll leave the decision in your hands.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” William nodded his head. The only reason why he chose the Goblin Crypt was to investigate the differences between his version and the real one. Although he wasn’t able to make a full comparison, the circumstances couldn’t be helped.
“Okay. I’ll pick a good dungeon to resu—” Est wasn’t able to finish his sentence because the emblem on his uniform started to send out an alarm.
The emblem pinned on William’s uniform did the same and the two Head Prefects exchanged a glance with a serious expression.
“Let’s put off our talk for now,” William said as he stood up. “The Dean of the Academy is calling for us. Est and I have to go.”
“Ian, Isaac, help Wendy tidy up this place and wait for me in our dormitory room,” Est ordered. “Will, let’s go.”
William nodded his head and sprinted with Est towards the Academy’s Conference Room. This was the place where matters of great importance were discussed by the Dean and the student body of the academy.
When Est and William arrived at their destination, the other Head Prefects–along with their Vice-Prefects–were already waiting outside the Conference Room.
Priscilla had arrived earlier and was only waiting for William to appear. She immediately walked towards William and stood behind him, as per her rank as Vice-Prefect.
Naturally, the Vice-Prefect of the First Year Magic Division, Edward, who lost to Priscilla in their duel, was also there and stood behind Est.
When the last officers of each grade arrived, the door to the Conference Room finally opened.
Inside, the Dean and the instructors of the academy were all seated in their designated places. Simon had a serious expression on his face which meant that something big had happened. The Dean asked the students to take their seats in order to start the meeting.
“Thank you everyone for coming on such short notice,” Simon said. “What I am about to tell you is of grave importance and the sooner the student body mobilizes, the sooner we can assist the Kingdom in facing a threat that has caught us unprepared.”
Simon waved his hand and a projection of the territory of the Hellan Kingdom floated in the center of the conference room.
There were red dots blinking on the map and there were more than twenty of them. William came from the countryside, so he wasn’t familiar with the places where the red dots were blinking.
However, those who did recognize them kept their mouth shut and waited for Simon to continue his explanation.
“For some unknown reason, all of these dungeons have shown signs of being corrupted. Miasma is leaking out of their entrances which means that a drastic change is happening inside the dungeons.
“According to the Kingdom’s investigators, and our own investigators, the level of miasma that is being released from the dungeon is a sign that a Dungeon Outbreak is about to happen.”
‘A dungeon outbreak? System, do you know what a dungeon outbreak is?’ William inquired.
< To answer the host’s question, a dungeon outbreak is when a dungeon reaches a point where it spawns monsters at an alarming rate. This makes it impossible for the dungeon to shelter these monsters and forces them to go outside of the dungeon in order to find other places to live. >
‘So, it is similar to a Beast Tide?’
< In essence, yes. However, there is a big difference between the two. Once a dungeon outbreak occurs, the dungeon won’t stop reproducing monsters until the dungeon cores are destroyed. Unlike a Beast Tide, where the number of monsters is finite. The monsters that the Dungeon Outbreak spawns are infinite. If left unchecked, an army of more than a million can easily be produced in less than two weeks. >
After William understood the severity of the Dungeon Outbreak, he focused his attention on listening to Simon’s explanation.
“Currently, the kingdom is still recovering from the effects of the Beast Tide,” Simon said with a grim expression. “There is not enough manpower to handle the dungeons that are about to unleash a horde of dungeon monsters into the kingdom’s populated areas.
“Because of this, the king has declared a State of Emergency and ordered the various training institutions in the Kingdom to send their students to help form a defensive line to help protect, and evacuate the citizens. Also, if there is a chance, they can also help with subjugating the dungeon using force.”
Simon paused for a while before continuing his explanation.
“The King had already issued the Kingdom’s army to go to the various affected areas to perform the clearing and rescue operations. We have been tasked to handle the four dungeons that are within the range of our teleport gates and keep the populace safe from harm.
‘Naturally, all the dungeons have different threat levels, so we are going to assign each grade to protect a territory according to its rank.”
Simon pointed at the map and one of the places where a red dot was blinking zoomed in.
“The First Years will handle the Roaring Quarters, which is situated in Dawsbury. The Second Years will be going to the Tranquil Crypt that is found in Westwend,” Simon stated. “The Third Years will go to the Forsaken Catacombs at Rotherham. As for the Fourth Years… they will go to the Lair of the Ancient Queen in Aberdeen.
“This is an emergency commission from the King of the Hellan Kingdom. All students that are currently inside the academy must participate. There are no exceptions! Don’t worry. Your professors will also come with you to protect all of you to the best of their abilities.”
Simon scanned the room and looked at the faces of the children who were looking back at him with grim expressions. The Dean of the Academy sighed because he knew that this was the King’s last resort in order to handle the latest threat that had fallen upon their kingdom.
“No matter what happens, you must prioritize your safety,” Simon said in a firm manner. “If the situation cannot be resolved, all of you must immediately make a tactical retreat. If possible, it is my hope that we will not suffer any casualties in this deployment, but our manpower is stretched thin. I can only ask all of you to do your best and return to the academy alive.”
Simon sat on his chair, feeling tired and exhausted, but he needed to issue his final orders in order to ensure that everyone understood the severity of the situation.
“Instructors, make sure to stockpile potions, healing salves, and elixirs. The warehouse of the academy will be opened for all of you. I hope that you will do your duties and lead the children to the best of your abilities. You may all go and prepare the necessary items that you will be needing to complete your mission. Make sure that all of you return alive!”
“”Yes, Sir!””
William, along with Priscilla, immediately headed towards the Solaris Dormitory to tell everyone about the emergency mission assigned to them. William had already faced two Beast Tides in his lifetime.
Although he didn’t have his powers right now, he was confident that he could retreat safely if need be. However, right now, he was the Head Prefect of the First Year Martial Class. He couldn’t run away and leave the students behind.
William understood that the possibility of dying on this mission was very high. Fortunately, before the meeting ended, Simon said that if there were students who didn’t want to participate in the mission, they could just stay inside the academy for their own safety.
William vowed that he would do his best to ensure that none of his wards died in this battle. He remembered when his herd of fifty goats faced-off against hundreds of Dire-Wolves. Out of the fifty goats that he had raised with love, only thirteen remained.
Although many years had passed since that incident, William could still remember that day very clearly. He didn’t want the same thing to happen to the students under his command, and for that, he needed to make his own preparations.
After he had relayed the news to the others, he left the students under Priscilla’s care and disappeared from the Solaris Dormitory.
When he reappeared in the Martial Division, it was morning and everyone was already waiting for him to lead them into the teleport gates bound for the Roaring Quarters, situated in the town called Dawsbury.
