Royal

Days at the Academy seemed to pass by excruciatingly slowly for Alicia Meltia Asher, as she simultaneously juggled between her training and managing her fledgling business.

And on top of that, she had to give the new students a tour of the Academy, a luxury they themselves hadn't received when they joined as first years.

'If only Alastor was here...Could have just left everything to him.'

Even though she was called the 'Machine' by some of her peers, she was only human in the end, and thus could feel fatigue.

She looked at the large crowd of first years assembled, 'Did the difficulty of the exam go down? Why are there so many of them?'

Thankfully, she did not have to deal with this job alone, as some other students had been chosen as well.

She observed the crowd carefully as Headmistress Illia gave her speech, looking at the students reactions or expressions towards other students.

'So that's the top ranker.' 

She scrutinized the handsome blonde boy who seemed to be happily talking to another girl behind him, Alicia recognizing the girl to be the daughter of another Elder of the Alliance.

'He's strong for his age...but that's it. He's not the monster Alastor was when he entered, slaying a Viscount rank directly.'

'Unknown Root, Unknown Battle Aura, Mana approximately B-A grade in potency.'

'Current Assessment: 35%'

Almost naturally, Alicia calculated how much strength she would need to defeat him.

'Julian Licht. Let's see if you live up to the title given to you.'

...............................................................................

Julian was speaking to Rietta, the girl who had helped him in the examination, when he noticed their tour guide staring at him. He felt weird, as if she was staring into his very being.

"Who's that, Ri?"

Rietta, already reduced to Ri, answered quickly, "Alicia Asher, daughter of Elder Asher of the Alliance, and one of the Royals of the Academy. Also called the 'Second Coming of Illia'."

Julian questioned, "Royals of the Academy?"

Rietta elaborated patiently, "Apparently, last year's top group was a batch of monstrous geniuses. An archer who could take the wings of a butterfly from leagues away. A madman who was a physical beast. A rogue who could hide in plain sight. A user of strange Eastern arts. And Alicia herself."

"But none of them compare to the King."

Julian was listening attentively, and asked, "King?"

Rietta told him, "The rank 1 last year. Apparently, he has won every fight of his without an injury. He is the youngest person to unlock a Weapon Aura and become a Knight, and is predicted to become the youngest Hero as well. Some already call him the successor of the Spear Hero. The true monster who supressed all the other geniuses in his year, Alastor Stele."

Julian seemed excited, "Whoa.....When can I fight him?"

Rietta sighed at her companion's nature, "Of course that's what you think of. Apparently, he's taking an extended leave from the Academy to train."

Julian praised Rietta, "How do you know so much about the Academy before we even finished our first day?!"

"I have my ways...." Rietta said mysteriously.

Observing their childish conversation, a white-haired boy nearby scoffed. 

"If you're here to play around, then it's best to just give up and drop out. This isn't fun and games."

Julian said, "What rank were you? On second thought, who even are you?"

The boy seethed, "I am the son of-!"

Soon enough their argument got heated, to the point where Alicia's voice was getting drowned out as she continued the tour.

Suddenly, the shouting stopped, leading to the other students turning to look in that direction.

Both boys were gasping for breath, trying to breath while the air itself avoided them.

Alicia said calmly, "I do hope I won't be disturbed so rudely again?"

After hasty nods from the two, she released her magic and continued the tour.

Rietta looked at the casual display of advanced magic with awe, 'So cool!'

...............................................................................

The 'Royals' had gathered in the training grounds in the evening, finished with their responsibilities for the day.

"The new ones are underwhelming." A got straight to the point, not holding back anything.

"They're weak, but many. Like fodder."

Amber agreed, "I think it's because of the change in the entrance exams. It feels like they're just trying to create a bunch of half decent soldiers with this lot."

"That's why they're being taken to a dungeon today. The weaker ones will be filtered out after seeing what they have to fight," reasoned Alicia.

Axel said, "I spoke to some of them. They seem to have quite a twisted view of you guys."

Karna raised his eyebrow inquisitively.

Axel said as he tried to restrain his laughter, "Apparently, someone started calling our group the Royals of the Academy. They think we're going to start acting like bullies suddenly."

That drew a chuckle from the group as they finished warmed up.

Another battle royale (sponsored by Illia Construction and Shielding Company) began.

Axel was showing signs of progress, not getting eliminated at the very beginning for once as he defended against a barrage of wind blades.

...............................................................................

Julian and Rietta were put in a team along with the obnoxious white-haired boy, now identified as Nexus, as they explored the dungeon.

The demons in the dungeon were mostly newly born demons, having small, impish forms.

Much to each other's dismay, Julian and Nexus found themselves neck and neck as they cut through the demons, with Rietta occasionally providing explosive firepower. She did however, have to strain to control her immense mana, to avoid bringing the cavernous dungeon's roof down on them.

They felt the change before they saw it. A goat's bleat could be heard in the tunnels, echoing off the walls.

Julian and Nexus reacted instantly, turning to attack the source of the noise, just to see a nightmarish chimera disappear into a side tunnel.

'A Baron rank.'

Julian felt something was wrong with the dungeon, 'How can a Baron rank suddenly appear when all we have been fighting are unranked demons?'

Nexus instantly took off towards the tunnel where the demon had entered, "That one's mine!"

He disregarded Julian's shout to stop, as he rounded the corner, just to come face to face with the demon. It's mouth was wide open, and it's tongue shot out like a frog's, wrapping around Nexus as it pulled him off his feet.

The boy struggled as he managed to free one arm, and tried to stab into the Baron's tongue, yet his dagger simply slipped off the mucus covering it.

As Nexus was about to enter the demon's mouth, a flash of light illuminated the cavern, the demon's tongue was cut off and seared shut.

Julian stood with his blade drawn fully, dazzling and pure light covering the blade. Simply seeing the light seemed to anger the Baront, as a claw flew at Julian's side.

A well placed fireball was all the demon could grasp, as Julian dodged to the side to allow Rietta to attack.

Nexus clambered back to his feet, "Like hell I can let you outshine me!"

His daggers found purchase on the demon's furry back, as he began harrying it relentlessly.

With Julian serving as the main attacker, Rietta as the mage, and Nexus as a rogue, they were doing quite well.

Just as Julian thought, 'We might just be able to win this!'

Nexus was sent flying by a long, serpentine tail, groaning as he bounced off the rocky wall. Julian felt his sword arm freeze as the same tail wrapped around it, stopping his light blade.

The demon was hiding behind both Nexus and Julian, not allowing Rietta to use her signature explosive skills. The fight had suddenly taken a turn for the worse, as despair was thick in the air.

The Baron grasped Julian tightly around the waist, bringing him to it's mouth as demonic essence flooded to restrict him further.

Julian thought to himself, 'Is this how I die? But there's so many things I have yet to do....And I still haven't found out that person! I can't die until I do!'

Julian felt his unique Root react, something deep within him awakening from his strong desire. As that immense power stirred, the demon felt a sense of danger coming from the human it was about to consume.

Julian's eyes were glowing a brilliant white. However, just as he was about to embrace the feeling, a change occured.

The Baron ranked demon exploded into a shower of gore before it even realized what happened, leading to Julian being released from the strange state he had been in.

In place of the demon, a stark white spear with black veins was jabbed into the ground, an eerie yet invisible aura surrounding it.

A hand emerged from the dust cloud formed by the demon's death, and grabbed the spear, pulling it out in one smooth move.

"Hmmm, it seems choosing to pass some time with this Dungeon was the right move."

Alastor Stele looked down at Julian Licht, the 'protagonist' of the novel he was in.

"Hello there."