Chapter 60 (1/2)

Ch. 60: Talking While Walking

After the fruitless battle with the goblins, Loren and the group found the stairs to the third floor without encountering any monsters again.

The fact that they weren’t encountering any monsters at all made it obvious that there was something weird was happening, so Loren thought Ain and his party would feel uneasy, but they were far from being uneasy. In fact, they were rejoicing at the fact that they didn’t encounter any more monsters.

“At this rate, we’ll reach the fifth floor in no time.”

The other students nodded happily at Ain’s words, but in Loren’s eyes, if they were to become adventurers at their current level, the possibility of all of them surviving for a year was equivalent to him suddenly being able to use magic tomorrow.

He seemed to have been misled by the fact that they were examinees, realizing that those who took exams weren’t always ones who had the ability to pa.s.s.

“Seems like they would have a short run.”

Lapis muttered indifferently, as if she was thinking the same thing, and all Loren could do was nod.

“By the way Loren, have you noticed?”

“That there’s no sign of blonde pigtails and her party?”

Lapis pouted slightly at Loren’s response.

Loren guessed that she expected him not to know and ask her, and start the conversation from there, but Loren couldn’t pull off feats such as feigning ignorance and asking back, when the answer was clear as day to him.

On their minds was the party that entered before them, led by Parme with Klaus proctoring them.

According to the map given to them by the princ.i.p.al, there should only be one set of stairs that led to the levels below, and since they were moving so smoothly, it wouldn’t be surprising if they had caught up to them by now.

But there was no sign of them at all, which raised Loren’s concern.

“Their skill levels are higher, and they have more combat experience, so they must be moving a lot faster than us.”

“It doesn’t seem like we pa.s.sed them either.”

Ain and his party took quite a while to defeat the weakened goblins.

It was unlikely that they had overtook Parme’s party.

“Maybe they already made it down to the fifth floor.”

“Hmm?”

Lapis growled as she spread out the map and checked their pathing, making sure the students couldn’t see it.

“It depends on how skilled the other party is. If they are like ours, they shouldn’t be able to get past the fourth floor.”

“If you’re talking about Parme’s party, they are near the top when it comes to swordsmanship alone.”

Feim interrupted Lapis’ muttering.

Ain and the rest of the party were ahead of them, but she had slowed down to where they were.

Lapis’ mood worsened as Feim came over, but Loren covered Lapis’ face with his palm, as her expression started becoming stern, and decided to ask her a few things.

If it wasn’t related to exploring the dungeon, it didn’t count as advice or warnings, so it was a move based on the calculation that it didn’t stray from the limits of a proctor.

“Is that blonde pigtail called Parme that strong?”

“Of course. The girls in her party are all swordsmen that are in the top ten for this year’s exam.”

“What is this difference in level between the two groups?”

“Hahaha, you think so too?”

Feim laughed, but it wasn’t a laughing matter for Loren.

And if what Feim said was true, it meant that Parme’s group was already at the fifth floor or even further.

“We’re not n.o.bles and we’re not talented either. We’re just a group of ordinary people.”

“Wait, I thought the training school was meant for raising talented people.”

Loren turned towards Lapis, since she was the one who said so, and Lapis nodded, telling his she wasn’t lying.

“That’s the basis. But you know, even if you’re talented, there are people with greater talents than others.”

Loren knew that was true.

A wide range would exist, and on one side of the spectrum would be those with incredible talent, while ones who were just barely more talented than most would be on the other.

“It’s fine for the people at the top, since they could work hard together, but for people in the middle and below, we feel inferior when we see those people who are called prodigies.”

“Yeah, I’m beginning to get what you’re saying…”

From what she had just said, although the school slogan was to raise talented individuals, but it seemed that they were accepting those that weren’t talented at all.

Loren started wondering why they would do that, but Lapis gave the answer.

“It’s because some people find relief when they see and know that there are people below them. It may be effective, but it’s quite a worthless thing they’re doing.”

“Hahaha, it’s not all that bad. We’re taught how to fight and given education properly, after all.”

Loren wondered if Klaus knew about this, but he concluded that he most likely didn’t.

It was because if he did know, he wouldn’t have let Loren in charge of a dropout level group.

“We get support funds from the nation as well.”