Chương 243: The Next Level

After reaching the agreement with Headmaster Sorin and collecting his possessions from around the campsite, Damion, Phil, the Headmaster and Professor Moretti went through a portal opened by Professor Klein. When Damion walked through the portal with Phil on his shoulder, Professor Klein looked a bit sheepish before excusing himself.

"Guess he didn't want to explain why he dropped me in midair at the start," Damion said as Professor Klein retreated.

"Don't worry about him. He was told to put you in the most dangerous area of the exam," Professor Moretti said.

"I guess he thought that meant midair."

"It doesn't matter, I can fly," Damion smirked.

"He was aware. I think he was checking to see how well you coped under pressure."

"Are we going to the dungeon right away?" Damion asked as he looked to the Headmaster.

"Your time slot begins first thing in the morning. Meet me here at first light and I will escort you to the city." After giving Damion his instructions, Headmaster Sorin turned and left with Professor Moretti. Since he was now back in school, he decided to head to his dormitory and surprise Elicia. The young woman was probably enjoying her two-week vacation from Damion, he suspected she would be quite shocked to see him before the exam was scheduled to end.

When Damion entered his dormitory, he could hear a sweet voice singing from somewhere inside. He recognized Elicia's voice, but not the song. Music and other art forms existed on Nerotath, just like they did on Earth, but Damion always focused on magic, so outside of books, he seldom had time for artistic studies. Phil began to chirp along with Elicia's singing, but Damion quickly hushed the Snow Hawk. He wanted to surprise her. Phil took up his perch outside the kitchen, while Damion crept towards the singing.

To his surprise, Elicia's singing was not coming from her bedroom, but from his. Pushing the door open, Damion walked in to find Elicia laying on his bed with her tablet out reading something while singing. The motion of the door swinging open startled Elicia. Jumping up from the bed she was about to rush at Damion when she realized who it was that was standing in the doorway. Damion put on a sad face and hung his head. Seeing him look so dejected, Elicia rushed over.

"Oh, no. How did you get eliminated?" Elicia asked, pulling Damion into a hug.

"Did they send you somewhere else? Don't tell me… you didn't… you didn't kill someone did you?

"I, well, I was just…" Damion paused for effect.

"I was just trying so hard. And everything was going well. I was helping out a group of weaker students and an Unstable Breach appeared."

"A Breach! Oh no," exclaimed Elicia. If a Breach appeared in the exam area and caused a beast wave, there was no telling how many students might be hurt or killed.

"What happened? Did the ones you were with… could you not save them?"

"No, I went into the B Rank Breach and cleared it," Damion whispered in Elicia's ear. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"What?" Elicia asked as she pushed away from Damion. She could hardly believe what he said, and she did not believe he was serious.

"I did. And then your grandfather came and said I was too strong for the test area, so tomorrow he is going to let me go into one of Argentum's B Rank dungeons."

"You are so mean," Elicia pouted.

"I was really worried about you."

"Sorry. Couldn't resist. But I do get to go into the Holy Forest dungeon tomorrow. Apparently, your grandfather reserved the entire dungeon for me."

"Are you serious?" Elicia asked. She was confused. Letting Damion go into a B Rank dungeon was certainly against what Dean Teft wanted and it would help him grow stronger. Why was her grandfather doing this?

"Yep. Now I just have to figure out what to do until tomorrow morning. Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

"Not really. Julie Fontane has been nosing around the dormitory. I'm not sure what she wants, but I've been keeping an eye on her."

"She's probably trying to figure out how to get the spatial artifacts I took from her cousins back."

"Maybe," Elicia said.

"Nothing else?" Damion asked, feeling a bit disappointed Elicia did not have any exciting news for him.

"I guess I'll just take a nap then. A comfortable bed for a day before I'm back to sleeping in my tent."

"First, I recommend a bath." Damion turned slightly red at Elicia's comment, but she was right. It had almost been a week since he had a real bath. Even with his belt of purification, he was still beginning to smell, and not in a good way.

"Right," Damion said as he began taking off his armor and setting it on the bed. Once he started removing his gear, Elicia began helping him. Piece by piece was stripped off and when they were down to Damion's regular clothing, they both hesitated for a brief moment. Neither of them had been in this situation before. Over the last few months, they had grown closer, even kissed a few times and spent late evenings snuggling.

But aside from the time Damion had accidently seen Elicia in her sleeping clothes, the two had maintained a certain level of restraint. Now it seemed they were at an impasse. Move forward, or take a turn down friendship lane, perhaps forever. When Damion reached down and grabbed the edges of his shirt to pull it over his head, Elicia stopped him.

"Let me," Elicia told him as she began to lift his shirt up. After removing his shirt, Elicia reached down and pulled hers over her head. Grabbing Damion's hand, she led him into the bathroom where they continued to disrobe each other for a thorough wash. In the morning, Damion awoke early, like he normally did. Nestled in the bed next to him was Elicia. What started with an evening shower had unexpectedly turned into an all-night affair.

The increase in physical strength and stamina granted by the magic running through his and Elicia's bodies had given them the ability to keep going well into the night.

"Don't go," Elicia mumbled as Damion started to slide out of bed.

"I have to go to meet your grandfather and head to the dungeon," Damion whispered in her ear before giving her a peck on the cheek. After getting dressed and donning his armor, Damion and Phil headed out of his dormitory to meet Headmaster Sorin in front of the school. The sun was just peeking up over the horizon, but the Headmaster was already waiting for him in a ground car.

"Perfect timing," Headmaster Sorin greeted Damion. As soon as Damion climbed into the ground car the vehicle started moving.

"Have you done your research on the Holy Forest?" Headmaster Soring asked.

"Yes. I don't think I should have any trouble surviving. I'm actually rather surprised you picked this dungeon instead of the Silent Valley. I've used the battle simulator to experience that one, I think it would be a much greater challenge."

"And a certain death for someone at your level. The guardian and champions that appear in the Silent Valley are all peak B Rank. Whereas the Holy Forest guardian is only early B Rank, and the champions are only Peak C Rank."

"True, but don't you think sending me into a dungeon where most of the Demonic Beasts are passive is going to be just as easy as sitting around the exam area like I was?"

"How you spend your time in the dungeon is up to you. But at least this way, if you want to challenge yourself, you can. And I would encourage you not to take the Demonic Beasts inside the dungeon lightly. They may not be aggressive, but once they are provoked, they are just as deadly as any other Demonic Beast."