“You really had to show off?” Rhena wrapped her arm around Quill’s shoulder as they started down the hallway. “How’d you do it? How'd you replenish your mana that fast?”

  “It's simple.” Quill pocketed the glass of elixir into his Holder. He would absorb it later when he had the chance to, but for now, he needed to get to the next class.

  “Fine then, keep your secrets.” Rhena adjusted her tunic.

  Quill waved her away before making his way out of the building. He waved Rhena goodbye before he followed the trail outside, leading him to the next building.

  Passing by students and winding past treelines, he glanced at the entrance to the School of Hunters. A statue of a hunter-mage skinning an animal was laid out inside the roundabout, the stone detailing the smallest of details.

  His next class was a lesson in Magical Beast Hunting, or in some ways, Dungeon Crawling. The building itself was no different from the buildings before it, but the one thing different here was the giant right next to it. It stood out like a sore thumb among the other academy facilities, a tower that was deeper than it was high.

  Dungeons were living structures. On the surface, they were so similar to man-made structures, resulting in the grave misunderstanding that they were ruins and monuments. In actuality, they were more similar to plants and trees, their exterior skin mimicking the texture of cobblestones while harboring entire ecosystems inside them for energy and .

  The biology of Dungeons stemmed from the fact that it fed on the droppings of magic beasts to survive. From records of history, it was a symbiotic relationship with magic beasts, providing shelter for them in exchange for their delicious excrement, but as millions of years passed, it naturally evolved a cave-like system which harbors thousands of magical species, in rooms and chambers with their own biomes.

  Quill started towards the Dungeon. The class instructor had said to all his students to meet him at the entrance, and he couldn't help but stare at the majesty of the Dungeon before him.

  Quill had only been inside a Dungeon a few times in the past. They were a primary source of income for guilds, their insides containing many magical ores and unique gems resulting from their natural life cycle. Along with that, many Dungeons provide mages the chance to kill and harvest the magic beasts of their Cores. Those were needed to advance in Tiers.

  Because of this fact, Dungeons were a boon to the entire world’s economy, specifically to the Circle of Mages that handled all magic-related fields. However, many official guilds had taken these wonderful beings for granted, and in the end, many magic beasts were endangered because of it. Given that information, it was strange then. How could a Dungeon this large exist in the heart of the academy?

  Quill followed the trail. The class had already gathered at the base of the Dungeon. From his point of view, Quill could see a giant standing out from the rest. He immediately perked a smile before he started for the giant.

  “Rognor.” Quill tapped his back, much to his surprise. “Good to see you here.”

  “Fenith?” Rognor nodded a polite bow before Narrah then popped out from behind him. She was always so small compared to the giant, but her energy was second to none.

  “Look at that! We're in the same class, huh?” Narrah beamed before another familiar face joined the group. Right behind Narrah was the curly-haired human Gerald, bringing with him his usual obnoxious smile.

  The instructor for the Dungeon Crawling course arrived soon after. It was a middle-aged wood elf with a top-knot behind his head, but that wasn't the most interesting part about him. It was the fact that there was a giant that followed right behind him, its scales gleaming rainbows against the Azure and Amber suns. It moved with a hypnotic slither, flicking its tongue against the air, before stopping right behind the man.

  “A Gleamsnake…” Rognor muttered under his breath, a strange fascination gleaming over his eyes.

  Quill turned to the crowd of Initiates. They were more scared than respectful, but Quill couldn't help but share in Rognor's sense of wonder and curiosity. It wasn't every day he got the chance to see such a rare beast in front of him.

  “My name is Lehm.” The instructor said. He then announced another test, promising a secret reward that would be revealed to whoever passed it. Quill was already itching to grab first place. Either it was a box of Cores, another growth elixir, or something else that provided a great boon that he couldn’t achieve by himself as he was right now.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “I know it's your first day and all, but this is Gilhem. I’m looking to see if you're up to the tasks fit for an Initiate of this academy.” The test was rather straightforward. The class needed to form groups of four before heading into the dungeon to find a Ratlizard’s egg. The first group to make it back out and bring to Lehm a single Ratlizard egg would be awarded the secret reward.

  Quill rolled his eyes. He had nothing against practical tests. In fact, he appreciated them compared to standard lectures–they were actually something that he needed to put effort into. But he was starting to wonder how much of a monopoly the Circle had on the market as a whole, seeing that they're willing to throw resources left and right to their Initiates.

  “This is going to be easy.” Quill overheard a person from the crowd around. “A Ratlizard's one of the weakest magic beasts in the continent.”

  “Professor Lehm’s practically handing out freebies at this point.” Another said.

  The consensus was that this test was going to be easy, almost as easy as strolling through the academy garden. After all, Ratlizards known to be weak pests at farms that ran away at the first sight of trouble. They didn't have much going for them. Among the magic beasts, Ratlizards were the only ones that couldn't care less about eating other magical beings. Instead, they fed on decaying matter.

  The normal diet of a magic beast was different from that of normal animals. Most of them preferred eating other magic beasts or strange plants in order to grow their own Cores, advancing them similarly to how a mage would advance by absorbing Cores. But Ratlizards were different.

  They didn't really care what they ate. As long as their bellies were full and their mouths quenched, they hardly chased after magic advancement. The overconfidence from the crowd was reasonable then, but Quill wasn't stupid enough to fall for it.

  After all, Lehm didn't say that they wouldn't encounter other magic beasts inside the Dungeon. With the dungeon’s current size and shape, Quill guessed that it was a Bronze Tier Dungeon at the lowest. Maybe it was higher, depending on the size of the chambers and pathways.

  “Rognor. Narrah.” Quill turned to both of them. “You’re with me. I’ll make sure to bring back the eggs, so stay with me and listen to my commands.”

  Rognor turned with a nod. “I’ll try not to drag anyone down.”

  Narrah smiled with a wide grin. “Sure! Though I don't think I can accomplish much with my magic.”

  “That's fine,” Quill said. “Both of you have the perfect Archetypes for a group expedition into a Dungeon. Trust me on that.”

  “And you're just going to leave me out?” Gerald stepped into the conversation with an exasperated frown, almost like he was trying to put on a show. “Talk about harsh, Cranfether. I could've sworn we were already friends.”

  “What are you talking about?” Quill brought a hand in front of Gerald, stopping him from pushing further. “You have appearances you need to keep up as a representative of the Solheathe family. Are you even allowed to talk with me right now?”

  “I don't really care about that," Gerald said. “So what will it be? I’m sure I can help, seeing that I’m the only mage here that's almost closing in on High-Bronze.”

  Quill sighed. “Do what you want.”

  Once the groups were all formed, the Initiate parties started into the mouth of the Dungeon. Quill and his group rode the wave into the living structure, and before long, shadows loomed over their heads.

  The Dungeon itself was similar to the ruins of a dilapidated cathedral-tower, torn and cracked with chunks and pieces of cobblestone littering the entrance. The walls and ceiling were worse for wear, bringing sunlight into the inside of the Dungeon where a flight of stone stairs led them down into the underground.

  Quill cast Mana Light as they descended the stairs. He held it on top of his palm, floating with a constant light as sunlight narrowed behind them. Darkness started to eat away at the remaining light shining from above. The air was cold and musky, and their footsteps echoed against stone walls and dirt ceiling.

  They had already passed the mouth of the Dungeon, and it was only a matter of time before they would eventually arrive in one of its ‘stomachs.’

  Compared to the Dungeons Quill had explored in the past, this Dungeon in the academy was disproportionately small and young. He could tell from the space they had to work with alone that it was only around a hundred years old or less, and so it would be hard to find old and diverse ecosystems of magic beasts and fauna.

  That revelation alone told him two things. One was that there were only a few magic beasts here, and that they were most likely only as small as the Dungeon allowed them to be. Two was that the magic beasts here were only at Iron Tier at the highest, given the fact that there weren't any high-quality plants and grass to feed on.

  Quill arrived at an intersection in the cave. With no time to waste, he flipped a coin in his head and called for his group to the right path, eventually leading them to a chamber.

  It was one of the Dungeon’s Stomach, a giant chamber that stretched hundreds of feet high into the air. Each Stomach had its own ecosystems and biomes, and this one wasn't an exception by any means.

  Quill walked over the sparse bushes as he passed small trees that dotted the expanse of the grotto, an underground forest teeming with natural and unnatural life. His eyes caught the lights of the Glowshrooms, littering the edge of a spring water along with ferns and moss that cut through the center of the biome.

  “It’s pretty.” Narrah pet one of the Glowshrooms, running her hand along the head before it shrank to a dim light. Rognor only kept watch over her as Gerald continued to wander through the grotto, a seeming interest showing on his face.

  “We can stay for a few seconds to rest, but we can't find Ratlizards here.” Quill said over the distance. Ratlizards usually preferred dry and solid ground to build their nests, and this biome was far from that ideal environment. After a few minutes, he opened his mouth to call them back, but before he could, a faint crack echoed in the bushes.

  Quill stood still in his tracks. Gerald stopped at his flank. Both of them turned to the shrubs beneath the low-hanging branches, and what greeted them back were eyes.

  They were the eyes of a Bronze-Tier Greencat.

  Thanks for reading!