Class Two Students

"Damn it…" Karle cursed his luck.

Everything had been going well for them. How did their luck turn this bad?

Karle was a student from class two. Although he had not managed to get a place in class one, it did not mean he was weak, quite the opposite, he was a young prodigy who achieved tier four at just sixteen years old.

Unfortunately, that was not enough to get him a place in the top ten of the entrance examination. Despite his best efforts, his final ranking was thirteenth.

But he was not satisfied with that result. He believed he was not inferior to the students in class one. Quite the opposite, he was confident he could defeat some of them in battle.

And today's dungeon was his first opportunity to prove it.

He planned to show an outstanding performance during today's dungeon dive, achieving better results than the students in class one and thus paving the way for his eventual rise to class one.

For that purpose, he and several classmates decided to team up inside the dungeon, splitting the points and using the advantage of numbers to accumulate as many points as possible.

Karle was lucky. Just a few minutes after entering the dungeon, he met with two of his classmates, and the three of them proceeded to eliminate any lizard they met.

Everything went well at the start. Working as a group made it easier for them to detect the ambushes from the lizards and swiftly take them out.

But their smooth start made them underestimate the danger of a dungeon.

After encountering an alligator, the team of three proceeded to attack it, only to fall into a trap.

The monster was not alone and instead was part of a group of six.

When they finally realized the gravity of the situation, one of the alligators had landed an attack on a member of their group.

After that, everything went downhill.

Of the six alligators, the strongest was just at the third tier, but their number and terrain advantage slowly cornered the students, who had to defend their injured companion.

Under normal circumstances, they should have been able to deal with this number of monsters, albeit, with a bit of trouble; but now, they were in a very disadvantageous position.

"Karle, should we retreat?" One of his teammates, a young man called Gerald, asked with a concerned look.

Karle shook his head.

"We mustn't. In this terrain, it won't be easy to outrun them, and we could end up encountering another group of monsters and worsening the situation. Besides, Lorena is injured. She won't be able to keep with our pace."

"But facing six lizards at the same time is too rash. Lorena can control only one at a time, and you and I will have trouble facing the other five."

Karle fell silent. 

"You should leave." Lorena, the injured girl, bit her lips and held her bleeding arm. "I will just break the bracelet and give up. That is the best option."

"But then your score…"

"What can I do? I was unlucky."

Karle bit his lips with a frustrated expression.

Unfortunately, he knew that was the best choice.

Watching the alligators slowly approach them while preparing to attack, Karle made his choice.

But at that moment, a change happened.

"It looks like you need help."

As soon as the voice sounded, a figure appeared behind an alligator.

The newcomer was a black-haired young man holding a spear in his hand. He moved swiftly, stepping on an alligator and stabbing his spear on the creature's head.

The sudden attack alarmed the beasts. They turned toward the newcomer and attacked him simultaneously, but the young man acted faster.

Lightning appeared around his body and plunged into the muddy water, quickly spreading to the alligators.

The lightning zapped several alligators at once. Although it was not enough to kill them, it stiffened their movements for a brief instant.

Taking advantage of that opportunity, the young man attacked another alligator, piercing one of its eyes with his spear and unleashing a torrent of lightning inside its head that fried its brain.

The sudden change startled Karle and his team. But as freshmen of Sanctuary's First, they could be considered as prodigies. As soon as they saw the opportunity, they followed up with attacks, every one of them taking down one of the alligators before the stiffness of the lightning faded away.

Finally, only the tier three alligator remained. It roared in rage when it noticed the situation, but facing four awakened, it was helpless.

A sword, a spear, a bat, and an earth spike attacked it simultaneously, snuffing out its life before it could show any kind of resistance.

Just like that, the battle came to an end.

Karle let out a sigh of relief and looked at the newcomer.

"Thank you for your help just now."

"It's nothing. I'm–"

"Jane Walker, ranked fourth in the entrance examination. I know."

Jane showed a startled expression.

"… Right. It looks like I'm a bit famous." He chuckled softly.

Karle laughed. "Well, you got a place in the top ten, so that is normal. My name is Karle, from class two, and they are Gerald and Lorena, also from class two."

Jane nodded and looked at the injured girl.

"Is her arm alright?" 

"Don't worry. This kind of injury will heal soon for an awakened."

"Even so, you should get medical attention as soon as possible."

"Can't do. I don't plan to abandon the exam yet." Lorena replied.

Jane looked at her and shrugged.

"As you wish. Well, I'll be going. It was nice to meet you."

"Wait a moment." Karle hurriedly spoke up. "Do you want to team up with us? We are pretty strong. I'm sure we could be of help."

Jane shook his head. "Sorry, but not. I prefer to continue alone."

"Is it so?" Karle sighed. "Well, I was not being serious in the first place."

Jane raised an eyebrow.

At that moment, a sense of danger assaulted him.

All of sudden, he felt something grabbing his legs. When he looked down, he saw that at some point, the mud had risen and wrapped around his feet.

The next instant, Karle and Gerald charged toward him.