The next day, William was feeling better so he decided to join the morning training.
Even though he had been resting since he had been brought back to the academy, the students of the Martial Class didn’t slack off in their training. The Dungeon Outbreak made them realize that they were still not strong enough to handle every situation using their own power.
Because of this, they paid extra attention to their daily training which made Grent, Andy, and the rest of the instructors in the Martial Division, very happy.
“Are you sure you’re fit to join us?” Priscilla asked. “You don’t have to force yourself, Sir William.”
“Sir William?” William turned his head to look at his Vice-Prefect. It was the first time Priscilla called him Sir William. Usually, she just referred to him as Head Prefect.
Priscilla nodded her head. “We have all come to an agreement that the Head Prefect will be referred to as Sir William from now on. Please, don’t reject it, Sir William.”
(A/N: Usually, Sir is a term used to address Knights in the Hellan Kingdom.)
William scanned the faces of the First Years. They were all nodding their heads in agreement. Since that was what they decided, the red-headed boy decided to just go with the flow and smiled.
“Today, I have an important announcement to make,” William said as he faced the First Years who were listening to him attentively. “I will introduce all of you to my new family members.”
The students had already noticed the three little creatures that were accompanying William. Even so, they didn’t say anything and stared at them with curiosity.
“This beautiful golden snake over here is Dia, she is a girl so she’s shy around people,” William introduced the snake that was looped around his neck as usual. “This puppy on my left is Thor and the one on my right is Ragnar. Aren’t they cool looking?”
Thor and Ragnar both raised their chins in an arrogant manner. The way they acted was very similar to William when he was feeling narcissistic. Perhaps, they had inherited his traits due to the fact that his blood was flowing inside their bodies.
“From now on, they will be joining our Martial Division,” William stated. “I hope that all of you will get along with them. Now, let us begin our training!”
Like always, William and the students started their training with stretching exercises. Afterward, they started to run towards the Flag that was fluttering in the distance. The Shepherd knew that he had just recovered so strenuous exercises were bad for him.
Because of this, he chose to ride Ella’s back and oversee the training. Thor and Ragnar, on the other hand, ran alongside Ella and seemed to enjoy the morning activity. At first, William was quite worried that the puppies wouldn’t be able to keep up, but he had underestimated them too much.
Even though they were still young, Thor and Ragnar were Mythical Beasts. Just like baby dragons, they were on a level higher compared to creatures newly born to the mortal realm.
The two puppies ran alongside Ella with their little legs as their tongues lolled at the side of their mouths. Dia of course, stayed on William’s neck as she watched everything around her with curiosity.
After arriving at their destination, the Martial students divided themselves into ten teams and started to do their combat exercises. William’s plan was to train capable commanders who would lead a team under their wing.
This way, they would be able to mobilize as independent teams that would handle specialized roles.
Take Dave as an example. He was the officer in charge of the logistics of the entire Martial Division. Naturally, his team would focus on managing the supplies of their “small army”.
Priscilla’s team was a scouting team, while Spencer’s and Drake’s teams would serve as the vanguard of the Martial Division.
The other teams also had “temporary captains” who would either be promoted to commanders or assistant commanders in the future.
Grent and Andy were also there, like usual, to oversee the training. The combat training they were focusing on was all about how to utilize their strengths and fight as a team instead of an individual.
The Dungeon Outbreak had taught them that there was strength in numbers. Even Spencer and Drake who had the “Soloist” mentality had started to change their perspective. This was what William wanted to see. The reason? He was quite lazy deep inside and just wanted to pass the responsibility to other people!
When the morning training ended, everyone returned to the dormitory to take a break and prepare for their lessons for the day.
“Second Master, is there any news about Big Brother and Big Sister?” William inquired. Although he looked calm, William was actually feeling very worried about them. It had been three days since he got the news that they went missing and he was quite anxious about their current situation.
“There’s still no news.” Oliver answered. “Don’t worry. Matthew and Leah are stronger than you. Also, your grandfather has arrived at the dungeon. It will only be a matter of time before he saves them.”
“I hope that you are right, Second Master.” William sighed as he looked outside the window of his room. “I hope that you are right.”
—–
The sound of monster shrieks echoed along the dungeon walls as Matthew and Leah fought side by side. Contrary to his scholarly image, Matthew was in fact a Battlemage that specialized in hand to hand combat, while wielding the power of fire.
Leah, on the other hand, was a summoner who had made a contract with a powerful Water Spirit. The weapon she wielded was an elemental whip that her father secretly gifted to her on her sixteenth birthday. It moved around as if it had a life of its own, slicing off the body parts of the monsters that it came in contact with in half.
After the battle ended, the bodies of the Lamias turned into particles of light, leaving black beast cores behind. Leah gathered these beast cores with the thought of purifying them after they had escaped from the dungeon.
A day in the outside world was equivalent to two days inside the Lair of the Ancient Queen. It had been six days since Matthew and Leah were trapped inside the dungeon, and they were having a hard time ascending to the upper floors where the exit of the dungeon was located.
Since the Dungeon was currently in the midst of a Dungeon Outbreak, the spawn rate of the monsters had increased tenfold. Matthew and Leah had to fight against the groups of monsters that they met along the way, which made their advance a very slow process.
Also, after each battle they would have to immediately leave the vicinity so that they wouldn’t attract other groups of monsters. This left both of them exhausted.
“Let’s find a place to rest for the time being,” Leah suggested. “We can time our escape for when the monsters inside the dungeon decide to raid the surface.”
“Okay,” Matthew nodded his head in agreement. He was nearing his limit and it would be a good idea if they found a safe place to rest to recover their strength.
It took them a while to find a good location, and the two immediately drank the potions they had prepared before they went to the Duchy of Aberdeen to fight against the Dungeon Outbreak.
Both of them knew how dire their situation was, but neither of them felt that escaping the dungeon was impossible.
The two hugged each other while paying attention to their surroundings as they meditated. It was then that they heard a rumbling noise not far from their location. What followed next was an earth shaking roar that made both teenagers open their eyes in surprise.
The dungeon floor shook as cries of alarm–that came from over a hundred dungeon monsters–reverberated in the air. And then… everything became quiet.
It was so quiet that they could hear the sound of footsteps coming towards their location. Matthew and Leah exchanged a glance as they readied themselves to engage in combat.
It was then when a familiar old man appeared in front of them with a wide grin on his face.
“Am I disturbing the two of you?” James asked with a mischievous expression. “Matthew, you’re doing well. Just do it a bit more and give me a great grandchild as soon as possible.”
Leah’s face flushed when she heard her Grandpa James’ words. Matthew on the other hand gave his grandpa the “You got it Gramps” look which made the old man’s grin widen.
Mordred also had a smile on his face as he looked at the pair of lovebirds. Seeing his son holding Leah in a protective embrace reminded him of the days when he was still courting Anna to be his wife.
John just leaned against the dungeon wall, while Jekyll was flossing his teeth. It seemed that he had eaten a lot of monsters along the way and the dentist felt that this was a good opportunity to do some maintenance.
“Are you here to save us, Grandpa James?” Leah asked. Her face was still beet red, but she wasn’t the type to shy away from people whom she recognized as family. She had long regarded the Ainsworth Family as her own family.
“That’s the plan,” James answered. “However, the King has made an interesting decree and I think that it is worth it to work my old bone a little bit longer.”
“Gramps, don’t tell me…” Matthew looked at his Grandpa with excitement.
James chuckled as he extended his hand to help the two teenagers to stand. “Do you want to tag along? Me and the boys are planning to turn this dungeon upside down.”
Matthew and Leah exchanged a glance and smiled. They were quite curious about how James was planning to subjugate the dungeon with just the six of them.
On that same day, the dungeon outbreak on the Duchy of Aberdeen ended which surprised the King and the army that was stationed outside the dungeon. James swaggered out of the dungeon exit with a haughty look as Matthew, Leah, and the experts of Lont walked behind him.
“Tell the King that James of Lont had subjugated the dungeon,” James announced in a booming voice. “I will be waiting in anticipation for the rewards that he promised.”
He left along with Matthew and Leah with the intention of heading towards the academy. They were planning to pick up William and bring him back to Lont for a few days to participate in Matthew’s and Leah’s wedding ceremony.
