Chapter 24 - 25 : Despair (1/2)

Soon, they used the teleportation array and appeared in a small square, Arthur noticed they are in some kind of a small town, there were some people passed, they were surprised by the appearance of the students for a second, but they soon resumed what they were previously doing without a care in the world, it seems students coming here is a frequent thing.

The group of students didn't stay in the town, they immediately headed for the dungeon, it was still morning so they would arrive early to the dungeon. An hour or so, after crossing a small mountain, they arrived at the entrance of a rocky cave, there was a sign which surprised Arthur.

El Kassia dungeon entrance: recommended LVL: 40-90

He didn't expect to see a sign like this, nonetheless he shrugged it off and followed them inside the cave, truthfully there was nothing special about this dungeon, it was more like a labyrinth than a dungeon, after walking for sometime, the cave showed 2 different ways, and the deeper they went the more complicated the dungeon became. Finally, they encountered some lizard-like monsters

Salamander Lvl 67

It was a red-like lizard with some fire coming out of its tail, it didn't seem intimidating though because of its small size, but they always roamed in groups of 3 or more. Just like that, the students began training and attacking together to kill the salamanders, team-work necessary but for new students, it was quite hard for them to work together, especially for someone like Lucy.

To be quite honest, with her magma attribute, a simple magma lance was enough to pierce and melt the creature, even Frederic was surprised by how powerful the magma was.

As for Lisa since she was high leveled, she didn't need to attack, she just stood there watching Lucy with jealousy, though she glanced sometimes at Arthur and you could notice some anger and rage in her eyes but she didn't dare act for she knew the difference in strength between them, she even saw how he easily bound Frederic with those chains.

As for Arthur, he didn't attack nevertheless he made a transparent chaotic dark mana around Lucy, it wasn't noticeable by anyone, and it was much weaker than a normal barrier, but it should hold out against attacks from those monsters. He knew it was against the rules to protect those students for they had to experience real danger to grow up but he didn't care, it's not some stupid rules that are going to stop him from protecting the person he loves.

Just like that, they kept advancing in the going deeper in the dungeon, and the monsters increased until it was hard for the students to kill them, even Lucy could only some minor damage to the salamanders. So Frederic decided to stay there and encourage the students to try their best and win against those monsters, but he actually was thinking of a way to separate Lucy from Arthur, but it seemed near impossible for Arthur kept sticking to Lucy even when she is fighting even though he didn't help her.

Even if he wanted to force a fight he knew it would end up badly for him, so, for now, he decided to stay low until a chance comes up, after all, he brought up something special with him, it was a talisman curse, it's very rare to find and more difficult to create.

The one he had is to reduce the stats of the one it touched by 5%, so it's like reducing the stats by half and he believed if he can decrease Arthur's stats by at least half he would have a chance to get Lucy, because for him if he can kidnap her and use her as a hostage to get Arthur, it would be the best way to lure him, even though his stats would be reduced, it would only be for an hour and just 1 hour is not enough for him to either win or capture him.

Evening soon came, and all the students except were exhausted and could barely walk, they found a safe area in the dungeon and camped there. They made tents and some fire here and there and split into different groups, friends stayed with each other while some other male students accompanied Lisa, as for Lucy and Arthur they sat alone in a corner.

Arthur appraised Lucy and saw her LVL became 58, to raise 2 LVLS in one day but apparently the experience one gets from killing monsters in a dungeon is better than killing normal monsters in forests or other places.

Actually, Arthur was curious as to what exactly is a dungeon, how is it created or why? but even after going through a lot of books he still couldn't find anything so he decided to give up his search for the time being.

Night slowly passed and all students soon went to their tent to sleep, Lucy was also tired by she just leaned on Arthur's shoulder and soon soundlessly fell asleep, it seemed uncomfortable for her to sleep like that so he used his lap as a pillow to let her sleep more comfortably.

Truthfully, it was the first time she slept in his lap and felt kind of awkward but nevertheless he stroked her hair and stayed awake all night, he wasn't worried about Frederic or Lisa but you never know when danger comes and since he wasn't the least bit tired, staying awake all night didn't matter to him.

Morning finally came, and all the students woke up including Lucy who was slightly surprised to see herself sleeping in his lap, nonetheless she didn't stand up, she smiled at him with her enchanting face and he couldn't help but blush a little, to gaze at by this beauty no matter how many times, it still makes him embarrassed even though they were lovers.

Since he already gave her a lot of food, she retrieved some food and began devouring them, seriously every time he saw her eating he wondered where all the food goes, it's like there is a black hole in her stomach.

After breakfast, they continued hunting the salamanders and if they ever encountered a small-boss it will get dealt with by Lisa, honestly she was considered strong, her magic attack was weak but damn she was savage at attacking, her strength is no joke for a human even Arthur was slightly surprised, though with a punch from him it's sure she will turn into minced meat, nonetheless her strength is decent, at least for now she is considered more powerful than Lucy.

Another day peacefully passed, and the students seemed to get more excited, even Lucy managed to level up one more time, her strength grew every second she fought and her control over magma was perfect, she didn't use the fire attribute anymore for it was useless compared to the magma, even Arthur wanted the magma attribute as it seemed powerful but compared to his ancient fire it was truly a joke nevertheless that didn't stop him from wanting to have the magma.

*********

Outside of the El Kassia Dungeon, Arnold stood there alone, grinning as if he was mad, finally his spies informed him that the demon girl got out of the academy grounds and it means he can act and retrieve her, to be honest, he wasn't worried about Arthur for he was very confident in his powers, he heard Frederic also came but since the holy church was close with royalty he was sure Frederic wouldn't dare oppose him, in fact, he may even help him.

Without wasting time, he entered the dungeon with incredible speed as he was happy he finally going to capture the girl and be rewarded by the pope since he seemed to really want to get his hands on the demon for some reason but of course he didn't dare question his orders but after 2 weeks of patience finally a chance came. He came alone because he was already a bishop and no matter who came with him it would only bother him except other bishops came with him.

*********

As the students were fighting the salamanders like usual with Frederic, Lisa watching them and Arthur staying close to Lucy to watch her, a man suddenly came dashing in their direction, it was a handsome middle-aged man with a green-hair and a white sword sheathed to his waist. His arrival seemed too surprised everyone including Frederic and Arthur.

Feeling suspicious of this man, Arthur couldn't help but appraise him for he seemed not someone weak or a pushover

Arnold Kloer(human) : LVL204

'What! 204? that's higher than the principal, who is this man!', though Frederic was little shocked, he soon smiled and bowed towards the man while respectfully saying

”Lord Arnold, pleased to see you, what brings you to this low-level dungeon?”

It would be a lie to say Frederic wasn't overjoyed, quite the opposite, in fact, he was delighted, a chance finally came, he already knew the holy church tried to get Lucy, but he didn't think they would send someone Arnold a bishop! he was just guessing but what else would a bishop appear here, it's not like this dungeon has a precious treasure or anything of the sort.

”haha, Mr. Frederic, I've come here just to retrieve something.”

While saying that, Arnold directed his gaze at Lucy who already finished killing the salamander.

Lucy, hearing the man's name and seeing his appearance couldn't help but tug Arthur's sleeve and softly say

”He's one of the 3 bishops...”

Although she trusted Arthur, Lucy was a little anxious, because bishops are known to be extremely strong and rarely come out to carry out missions but seeing him here, it was obvious it was to retrieve her, but she was curious why would they go to such lengths. She always wondered about that, after all, she was only a normal demon so why would the holy church chase her to the end of the world just to capture her, it really intrigued her.

Arthur seeing the Lucy little anxious, giggled for a bit before patting her soft head as if reassuring her, he then turned his head and looked at Arnold, the man seemed an upright and kind man, but who would have thought he would be in the holy church? maybe not all the people there are so greedy and evil but since he came to retrieve here, kind or not that didn't matter.

”I presume you are that famous black-robed man who slew my disciple, I believe you have met him? he was a swordsman like me.”

While laughing, Arthur stared coldly at him and replied

”Indeed I have met him, unfortunately, he was so weak that he died in just one attack.”

Arnold was a little angry to see someone mock his deceased disciple, but he didn't let his emotions get the better of him but he really wanted revenge for his disciple for he really doted on him and raised him since he was a child and seeing die just like that made him quite sad, plus his killer is in front of him is in front of him why wouldn't he take revenge.

”I believe you know why I'm here so why not cut to the chase and begin fighting, I'm really interested to see how would you handle yourself against me.”

As he said that, he unsheathed his sword and took a fighting stance, one hand holding the sword and the other behind his back.

As for Arthur, he was little curious to see how powerful he is, after all, he didn't get a strong opponent since the young dragon, and to finally meet one made him rather excited. He wanted to go full out and see what would happen.