Chapter11-One-Second Clear

At the entrance of the Tin-Silver Royal Academy's underground labyrinth, both students and professors alike were utterly shocked by what Daniel had just pulled off.

After all, from the moment he awakened his Talent until now, less than an hour had passed in total.

"Even the heirs of the most elite noble families can't possibly improve their strength that quickly, right?"

"I remember the fastest record before this was someone breaking into Tier-1 in just an hour. But now, Prince Daniel's performance puts even that to shame."

"Hey, you're forgetting something," someone pointed out. "Sure, it's been an hour since he awakened his Talent—but since he arrived at the labyrinth grounds, it's only been a few minutes!"

"I did the math… it's probably under three minutes!"

The moment that was said, the entire crowd fell into silence.

Everyone here was a top student of the Royal Academy. Simple arithmetic wasn't exactly a challenge.

[Howling Cave]—cleared in 1 minute and 6 seconds.

[Mournwood]—cleared in 6 seconds.

Even adding the time he spent walking between dungeons… the whole ordeal barely reached 3 minutes?

Heavens above…

How on earth did Prince Daniel achieve this?

How could anyone be this powerful?

Daniel, however, paid no attention to their gasps or whispers. His entire focus was now directed toward the dungeon portal standing before him.

[Village of Undead]

This particular labyrinth was one he had read about in strategy guides before.

In the entirety of Royal Academy, this dungeon was one of the few that could actually lead to real casualties.

Unless a group entered extremely well-prepared and backed by powerful individuals, few dared to challenge it.

Its level range was from 18 to 30—a massive gap that alone hinted at the dungeon's difficulty.

Daniel mentally reviewed the key points from the guide.

According to what he remembered, the true challenge of this dungeon lay in its three Undead Bosses.

Due to a unique mechanic, to defeat them completely, you had to kill all three within a 10-second window.

If their deaths weren't synchronized, and more than 10 seconds passed, the dead ones would resurrect.

Only by bringing all three down together could you earn total victory.

It was this very mechanic that discouraged most students from even attempting the dungeon.

"I wonder if clearing this place will get me to Level 30?" Daniel murmured to himself.

"If the EXP isn't enough… I guess I'll have to run it again."

Without another thought, he stepped into the glowing portal.

Almost the instant he entered, the Dragon Glass Stele at the entrance of the labyrinth grounds flared with brilliant light.

Before entering the [Village of Undead], Daniel had already made his preparations.

He now had a solid grasp of how dual staff wielding worked.

Even without skill cooldowns, there were still cast wind-ups and recovery frames between spell uses.

That, he suspected, was where the benefit of dual-wielding truly shined.

Currently, his Spell Power was sitting at 3118, thanks to the +1000 boost from Spring Rebirth.

One cast of Thunderfall Shield dealt 124,720 damage.

But if he used two staves simultaneously—double-casting—the damage would instantly double to 249,440.

Almost 250,000 damage in a single burst!

Even undead creatures wouldn't walk away from that.

With that thought fueling him, Daniel stepped into the dungeon.

The moment he could move again, he raised both staves high into the air.

A split-second later—

The entire Village of Undead was engulfed in a blinding thunderstorm.

It looked like the whole graveyard had turned into a lightning-infused nightclub.

BOOM!

CRACKLE!

Arcs of lightning rained down with terrifying force, striking grave after grave.

Damage numbers flared into the air:

—249,440

—249,440

—498,880

…

Within just one second, every single creature in the dungeon—living, dead, or somewhere in between—had been reduced to smoking charcoal.

Back at the labyrinth entrance, the professors and students stared in stunned silence.

One second? Really?

"No. No way. The Dragon Glass Stele must be broken. It has to be."

"I swear to the heavens, Daniel's Talent must have mutated."

"But even if it had mutated, that doesn't explain a full clear in ONE SECOND!"

"This isn't even remotely logical!"

It was as if the string of consecutive shocks had numbed their ability to feel awe.

Still, one of the professors snapped back to his senses and urgently pulled out his [Gnome Communicator] to contact Daniel's assigned mentor.

"No… this can't wait. I need to find out what the hell is going on with Prince Daniel."

"Has he been hiding his true power all this time?"

Among the crowd, Roderick staggered to the edge, dazed and hollow-eyed.

"This can't be real… it just can't…"

"I get it now. You're all in on this, aren't you? You're all conspiring to trick me!"

"I—I am the real genius here! I won't let you deceive me!"

Tin-Silver Kingdom — Royal Academy — Headmaster's Office

Headmaster Owen was hunched over his desk, calmly signing graduation certificates for the Academy's students.

When he reached Daniel's name, his pen paused for a moment.

The Uncrowned Prince... such a pity.

He had personally witnessed Daniel's tragic fall after the Blood Moon Incident, where the boy lost everything.

And now… he had awakened nothing more than a miserable F-rank Talent.

Still, Owen thought, perhaps I could pull some strings and arrange a stable position for him here at the Academy...

Just as he was about to sign Daniel's certificate, a sharp ringing came from his pocket.

Frowning, Owen pulled out his [Gnome Communicator].

When he saw the name on the caller ID, he scratched the back of his bald head in confusion.

"Huh? What's Simar calling me for?"

After a moment of hesitation, he accepted the call.

"Owen! Something huge just happened!"

"It's the Uncrowned Prince—he shattered all the records in our underground labyrinth!"

"I'm telling you, every single record has been obliterated by that boy!"

"Do you know how fast he was? His longest run was under a minute—and his fastest? ONE SECOND!!"

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd never believe it. He cleared the [Village of Undead] in a single second!"

Owen's brain went blank.

He instinctively glanced at the clock on his wrist.

Wait… hasn't it only been about an hour since Daniel awakened his Talent?

Wasn't he an F-rank Talent holder? Furniture Craftsman, wasn't it?

Isn't [Village of Undead] a late Tier-1 dungeon—Level 18 and above?

And now they're telling him Daniel cleared it in one second?

What in the world is going on?!

Owen sat frozen, utterly baffled. He understood every word coming from Professor Simar's mouth.

But he couldn't grasp the meaning behind them.

Surely it wasn't… literal, right?

You're kidding me.

A one-second clear?

Not even a Goddess descending from the heavens could pull that off!