The Mysterious Black Magician

Chapter 172 - Dungeon Exploration

In the end, the faculties decided to invite some guests from another school for the celebration.

Principal Mar believed that the Academy and the city needed associates if they wanted to improve further.

Before the night veiled the world, Almina, Maena, Kesha, and Miss Ice, went to the dungeon together with their party members. They were composed of an all girls party and totaled 10 members.

When they arrived, almost all eyes from other people who wished to enter the dungeon were stolen by their mere presence.

"Look it was the goddesses," one of the people around pointed.

"Weren't they the one who reached the second deepest floor?"

"Yes, it was their group!"

"They were supposed to be the leading group who reached the deepest record, but these few days, an unknown group of people came and dominated the dungeon floors and surpassed it."

"Looks like they want to reclaim their dominance this time."

"No no, I heard that another group reached the same level as they."

"Which group did you mean?"

"Hmm, they called themselves 'The Strongest' I think!"

"The Strongest? That's a bold name. Wait, I think the name rings a bell to me... Uhm... Isn't it the group of that youngman from one of the great families on the Outerworld?"

"Yes, he is from the Sun family. One of the Great Families on the Outerworld."

"Oh, that guy! I know it! He's not only a handsome young man but also a powerful one."

"Yeah, there were even some talks about him being the next Ace of the academy." 

"And I heard he learned some truly powerful spells these past days."

"And many girls had a crush on him!"

"There was even gossip that the goddess Almina had a crush on him..." Whispered someone.

"Really?"

(Nod nod)

"Deym! What a lucky bastard!"

Many people were whispering around them.

"B-Big S-Sister Ice, aren't we going to enter already?" Almina asked in doubt after noticing that they were standing in front of the gate for a couple of minutes already. And they were surrounded by many people who wish to enter as well.

"Ahhh, sorry Almina!" Ice suddenly said while wearing a sorry face.

Almina and the others knitted their brows. "What do you mean Big Sister Ace?" Maena followed with a question.

"I mean, something came up, the academy faculties wanted to send me an errand, but don't worry! In exchange for me, some groups will be joining you this time."

"Hmm... An errand?" Kesha asks in puzzlement.

"Yes, yes! It seemed like they came up with the idea of celebration. And they wanted me to be the one sending the invitation personally."

Ice said with a sorry face. Deep inside she wanted to travel to other places even for a little time. Being constricted inside the Underground Channel for long made her miss many things. 

It was the right time for her to enjoy herself while also doing an errand. She could also gather some data from the other academies. For sure many promising youths were out there.

"I-Is that so? It is regretful that Miss Ice can't be with us this time. But it's not like we can do something about it. It must be the academy's strategy."

Almina said regretfully.

Right after saying it, "Amulet!" Someone called out.

They glanced to where it came from. "Are we late?" Said the handsome young man.

"Kiko Sun!" Kesha exclaimed.

Whispers immediately enveloped the surrounding.

Together with his friends, Kiko arrived at the dungeon entrance.

Almina did not say anything and darted her eyes away and shot a look to Miss Ice.

Ice broke into a soundless laugh while looking away.

Kiko pleaded her last time that he wanted to have a joint exploration. He said that with their two parties joining together, there was a big chance that they could reach the deepest floor and become the leading exploration group once again.

Miss Ice declined because Almina's group never aimed to become the leading group as the dungeon explorer. Their main goal was to improve themselves in combat and also to breakthrough by fighting monsters of different kinds inside. The dungeon was the perfect place for them to improve as the monsters became stronger every time they went down. Looting the dungeon was just a bonus for them.

Though sometimes they also get a mission from the barracks about subjugating a group of monsters that run amok at the nearby village and towns inside the Human City Zone 7's border.

Seeing the skeptical face of the academy Ace, Kiko told her that he has some special feelings towards Almina. And he believed that Almina did too towards him.

Miss Ice gawked. She believed that Almina had someone else in mind. She wanted to tell him that his thought might be wrong. But Ice thought that it would be mean of her if she did it.

She decides to secretly assess Kiko's strength by downloading his data from the academy. As expected, the guy in front of her was no ordinary person. In some aspects, he was ahead of Almina and some were behind. It is also right to say that the two of them were nearly as strong as the other. Though she could not say if who was stronger among them because the data they presented to the Academy wasn't 100% accurate. But it's probably about 80-90% genuine.

This guy in front of her has this air that he was the kind of person who likes hiding his real strength.

Ice thought that Almina and Maena might become more competitive when there was another strong person in the group besides them. It might help them to improve further.

Since Almina's party consisted of all girls, for safety measures, she also invited another group that consists of girls and boys.

Kiko frowned slightly at Almina's uninterested behavior. But before he could react, "are we late?!"

Everyone heard a slightly big voice. It was coming from the back. But since the person who spoke was a tall person with a burly figure, everyone easily identified him.

"Bob?!" Almina was slightly puzzled. Bob together with Chloe and their party members. Bob's party members were compose of members from their section.

Ice then explained to her that they too would be joining the exploration.

After hearing her, Almina sighed in relief. She wanted to cancel today's exploration after Kiko's group showed up. But now that Yman's friends were here as well, there's no reason for them to postpone.

Kiko knitted his brows. He didn't expect this group of weaklings to come together with them. Not only did they come from the lowest section, but they were also from the circle of friends of that hateful person.

"Miss Ace, will they not drag the whole team?" Kiko asked in a little annoyed tone.

"Watch your mouth dude!" Bob exclaimed. He disliked Kiko's tone. And the way he said it was seemingly looking down at them.

After the appearance of the dungeon, most of the elites declined the mission of helping the surrounding village and prioritized the mission inside the dungeon because they could earn much money inside.

The missions of helping the relative villages that were being hassled by the surrounding hostile monsters were pushed to the lower sections.

Almost every mission that some of their members got injured. So Bob was a little dramatic when someone looked down at them. It was thanks to Miss Almina's party for sending a few of their strong members to accompany them. If not because of them, they are mostly dead by now.