Chương 241: Too Easy

With five fellow students making their camp with him, there was very little Damion could do without rousing suspicion. He spent as much time in his tent as possible, avoiding the watching eyes behind the recon drones. This gave him the freedom to take out his tablet and work on his artifact. He was nearing the point where the enchantments were worked out for each function. Once that was finished, he would have to create the bridge enchantments to connect them all together.

When the bridge enchantments were finished, Damion would have the hardest of all tasks left, building it. Up to this point, everything was theoretical. Sure, his enchantments should work, but that did not mean they would. The material used to build the artifact could force him to alter the enchantments. If that happened, it would be almost like starting over. Since if one glyph changed, even slightly, he would have to change every glyph, or it would all fall apart.

Thomas, Yuri and Geoffrey, did not spend much time at the camp. Each morning, they went out in one direction or another and returning at the end of the day with their prizes. Damion would store their loot in his inventory, granting the four of them a growing number of points. Unfortunately, none of the beasts the trio encountered were Ice, Light, or Holy affinities. This left Damion without the materials he would need if he wanted to start work constructing his artifact.

Inara would also go out every morning, hunting for points. She of course was able to keep all her kills, though she did offer Damion a few carcasses as payment for him storing her loot. The final member of the campsite, Ronald, never left. The Wood mage felt he had seen quite enough action for the duration of the exam and elected to stay in camp.

The presence of two C Rank beings meant no Ferocious Beasts would come near their little area, which allowed the Wood mage to spend the remainder of the exam as if he was on a vacation. Not everyone watching the exams were satisfied with Damion's arrangements. Headmaster Sorin for instance, was glad his grandson and Mage Wells were getting along, as it likely meant the Ice mage had no idea Thomas had tried to have him killed, but he was making the exam too easy.

As Headmaster, he had insisted Damion participate in the exam since every other student that had ever graduated from Silver Spire had. But now, now he was thinking the young prodigy needed his own exam. The boy was just too powerful for the testing area. To make matters worse, an Unstable Breach had appeared and while the recon drones could not identify the Rank of a Breach, apparently young Mage Wells could.

Not only did Damion announce to his group that the Breach was a B Rank Unstable Breach, but he led them inside. If not for Professor Moretti stopping him, the Headmaster would have sent an official team to clear the Breach. However, the exam was proctored by Professor Moretti and the combat instructor insisted that any aid given, would result in the affected student's failure. As much as he would like Mage Wells to fail, causing his own grandson to fail with him was not a preferred outcome.

As the hours ticked by, Headmaster Sorin watched the entrance of the Breach with unblinking eyes. To his surprise, the Unstable Breach never spat out a multitude of Demonic Beasts and late in the day, the group reemerged. Just after Mage Wells exited the Breach, the portal collapsed. Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

This left the Headmaster and the other Professors the question of, did the Unstable Breach collapse on its own, or did the group somehow clear it. After carefully listening to what the students said after emerging from the Breach told the Professors something far more serious had happened. Inside that Unstable Breach, the students had encountered a tall dark being. From the conversations of the students, the Professors and the Headmaster knew what they had encountered was a member of the Iblis race.

Unfortunately, until the exam was over, there was no way for a detailed report to be taken from the students and the Headmaster had no way to know what a member of the Iblis race was doing in a B Rank Unstable Breach. Or was there. The next morning, Headmaster Sorin had a new plan and was setting it into motion.

"Professor Moretti," Headmaster Sorin greeted the Fire mage.

"I trust you slept well."

"Fine. This year's exam is going quite smoothly."

"Exactly what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh? Want me to round up a few strong Ferocious Beasts and have Professor Klein drop them into the test area? That should liven things up a bit."

"No. I was thinking, perhaps we can remove what is making the exam so easy."

"You mean Mage Wells," Professor Moretti said. He was not liking where this conversation seemed to be heading.

"The kid is strong, too strong for this area, but you were the one that insisted he be tested with everyone else."

"An error on my part. I had not envisioned him being this strong. I thought he was still at the beginner stages of C Rank, but he seems to be in the upper stages of the Rank."

"Headmaster, short of him making some mistake and getting himself disqualified, there is nothing in the rules that give me the leeway to remove him."

"I was thinking we might offer him a greater challenge."

"I don't understand."

"Mage Wells has more experience than anyone else here and it is clear he won't have any issue passing the exam. I propose we pass him. And in lieu of the first-place reward he has already won, allow him a real survival challenge."

"You aren't thinking of sending him back into the labyrinth are you? Dean Teft was quite clear on his not being allowed into unknown groups until she is certain whomever was behind the assassination attempt is dealt with."

"I was thinking he might enjoy a true B Rank dungeon. From what we saw a few days ago, he's capable of clearing an Unstable Breach. Why not let him either survive for a week in a B Rank dungeon or clear it in less time to pass." Professor Moretti looked at Headmaster Sorin for a moment, trying to determine what he was planning. The cost of reserving a B Rank dungeon, just for one elite student, it would be ridiculous.

Even if Damion could clear the dungeon, it would take him quite a while and in that same timeframe other groups would have been able to clear it at least three or four times.

"And have you cleared your idea with the Adventurer Association?" Professor Moretti questioned.

"I can't believe they would be alright with one of their dungeons being shut down for a week."

"Of course I have gotten their authorization," Headmaster Sorin said with a smile. He was not about to admit what it cost him. He traded a week's access for Damion in a dungeon for a week's access of the Adventurer Association to the school's S Rank dungeon. The only upside he was able to negotiate was that Damion could keep all his spoils, but the teams going into the school's dungeon had to give up half of their spoils to the school.

S Rank spoils being far more valuable than what was found in a B Rank dungeon, Headmaster Sorin considered it a small victory.

"And what has Dean Teft said of your plan?"

"She is on board with it. Teft believes the boy needs a better challenge than this area as well. Thinks this little vacation is doing more harm than good for him, and the other students."