Lucas watched Alexander thinking and decided to help: "I think you should try to face stronger opponents, as that will force you to use other means to win besides brute force."

  "That makes sense. I've been fighting opponents who are too weak," agreed Alexander.

  Lucas was surprised to discover he had improved so much just by fighting weak enemies, but he didn't let it show and continued to instruct him the best he could until the end of class.

  Alexander, who was also adjusting his plan to reconcile his power increase with the development of his |Spear Mastery| proficiency during the class, managed to come up with a viable plan just before the end of class.

  With the plan in mind, he went to talk to Lucas: "Professor, I'd like to request a short leave from the academy to have new experiences and improve my proficiency… I feel it will do me a lot of good."

  "You won't need to take leave," replied Lucas. "Your idea isn't original. The academy does something similar every year to solve problems like yours and promote integration among newcomers."

  "I don't mean to offend you, Professor, but I have no interest in participating in such an event," confessed Alexander. "I prefer to develop alone."

  "Unfortunately for you, and for me, our participation in this event is mandatory," lamented Lucas, as if sharing his pain.

  Alexander didn't expect such an event to happen, but since trying to resist would only cause him problems, he decided to adjust to the event instead of stubbornly resisting. "Alright, Professor. When will this event take place?"

  "At the beginning of next month," replied Lucas dejectedly, as if he could already anticipate the work he would have.

  Knowing such an event would happen, Alexander decided to look for Diana. He wanted to ask if she was willing to try clearing {Intermediate Dungeons}, since he wanted to prepare as best he could for such an event.

  Upon discovering her class had already left (and without having arranged a meeting), Alexander decided to go to the inn where Diana was staying.

  As he approached the inn, he saw her "talking" with a group of adventurers; and decided to observe from a distance.

  "N-no. Th-thank you for inviting me, but I don't want to be part of your adventurer team," said Diana almost in a whisper, clearly intimidated and shy about having to talk to strangers.

  "Don't you see I'm offering you a good opportunity?" retorted the adventurer who had a silver identification hanging on his neck, trying to pressure her. "You're just a supporter. Without a good group, you can't do missions and earn money."

  "I've invited you for so many days and you still keep rejecting me. Who do you think you are?” the adventurer barked as he tried to grab her arm.

  Seeing his hand reaching out to grab her, Diana didn't know what to do besides close her eyes and shrink back.

  The hand never reached her. Instead, her ears were assaulted by cries of pure pain, excruciating and miserable.

  When Diana opened her eyes to find out what had happened, she saw the adventurer who had been intimidating her holding his own hand and screaming in pain. Most importantly, she was no longer alone.

  Alexander, as if he had heard her silent prayer, materialized to protect her.

  The other adventurers, frightened by the fact he had appeared out of nowhere, couldn't even react and were taken down one by one.

  The anger in Alexander's eyes was evident when he delivered two cruel blows to each adventurer.

  The first blow was a "nice slash" and the second, with the counterweight, broke some bones.

  The group of adventurers trying to intimidate Diana ended up lying on the ground, trembling with fear. They never imagined someone would behave so cruelly inside the city.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  The leader of the adventurer group even tried to get up to face him once the surprise and fear subsided, but all he managed was to fall face-first on the ground without being able to move properly.

  "This time, I only used paralyzing poison, but if it happens again, you'll discover, in the hardest way, that there are ways to die worse than you can imagine," warned Alexander in a deadly cold tone.

  Without waiting for any response, he took her hand and led her to the nearest square so she could calm down. But even after they sat on one of the benches in the square, she refused to let go.

  "Thank you. Thank you, Alexander. I didn't know what else to do," said Diana, no longer able to hold back the tears. "This group has been trying to get me to join them since I was promoted, even though I've refused their request many times."

  "You don't need to thank me. Helping you is one of my functions as the leader of our team," replied Alexander; lightly petting her head with his free hand. "But you should have told me before it reached this point," he said in a reproachful tone once she calmed down.

  "I, I… sorry, Alexander. I didn't want to worry you," she replied while lowering her head in shame. "You've already helped me so much I don't even know how to thank you… I just didn't want to create more problems for you."

  "Don't dwell on what already happened," said Alexander, replacing his casual tone with an authoritative one: "You MUST talk to me if something like this happens to you."

  Even in the face of his authoritative tone, Diana didn't give up and wanted to argue about how much he had already helped her. But as soon as she saw the serious expression on his face, she backed down and kept the words to herself.

  Satisfied that she wouldn't argue further, Alexander returned to his normal tone of voice: "Besides, I've already told you the benefits of our cooperation were mutual. You also helped me improve faster."

  Diana seemed to accept this fact and nodded in agreement for him to continue.

  This acceptance made him pleased. Not because she had bowed to his wishes, but because this was the reality and he didn't want to keep her indebted over something that was mutual.

  His satisfaction soon passed when he remembered the group he encountered a bit earlier. "I don't think those people will bother you again, but it's better if you move to a safer place. I myself may not be in the city to help you if they come back."

  Upon hearing that, Diana became disheartened and her ears drooped. Alexander finally managed to retrieve his hand.

  "Are you leaving the city?" she asked, somewhat anxiously.

  "Yes," replied Alexander softly. "Initially I was going to leave alone, but the professor told me to wait, because there will be an event involving all the academy's newcomers."

  "All of them?" questioned Diana, perking up again. "Are we going together?"

  "I don't know if we'll go together," he replied, smiling. "But according to Professor Lucas, all the newly enrolled students will participate in this event."

  Sharing with Diana the little information he had about the event, Alexander remembered something important.

  "You must be careful in this event given your personality," he warned. "Companions are important, but each individual's own life tends to always be their top priority."

  The meaning behind his words was beyond her understanding at the time for her to understand the implicit warning between the lines.

  As soon as she understood the implication of the level of betrayal that could happen, she shuddered.

  Seeing her like that, Alexander abandoned his initial question. "Go back to your room and rest. None of those idiots should bother you for a while."

  After calming her down and informing her about the event, he said goodbye and went to train alone. But as soon as Diana saw him walking towards the city gate without inviting her, another discussion started and he ended up taking her with him.

  Even when they reached the entrance to the intermediate dungeon, Alexander wasn't sure if he should enter with her.

  "Are you sure you want to go together?" he asked, seeking confirmation. "Ocean can't guarantee your safety in a dungeon of this level."

  Alexander wasn't lying to scare her. Even Ocean, who was at the peak of the 1st evolution, could hardly protect her completely from an attack by a group of 1st evolution creatures. After all, protecting is generally harder than destroying.

  Diana didn't even think before answering: "I don't mind a few injuries much, as they're common for adventurers. Besides, you wouldn't go in if you didn't think it would be okay."

  Alexander couldn't disagree with the logic she presented, but her blind trust in him made him worry about potential problems. "I better be more careful or the relationship between us will end up complicating our lives on multiple levels."

  Not wanting to think about it anymore, he drew a deep breath and stepped into the dungeon with iron determination...

  Clearing the dungeon went smoother than he expected and they only suffered minor injuries during the process.

  The main reasons for this were three:

  The considerable damage increase that the spear and its related skills gave Alexander.

  The title ||Dungeon Conqueror||, which became more effective inside higher-level dungeons.

  Lucas's explanation on how to use the spear helped, as the feeling of constant danger further restrained those who moved by instinct.

  These three factors made Alexander dominant in the dungeon. Even more so against beasts and their sharp instincts.

  The newly discovered form of spear oppression gave him greater control over his fights. But since he was still starting to use the spear in this way, his control was still far from perfect, especially against large groups.