32: Beast Hunting?

Evelyn rushed back to her dorm room after the combat class, which was her last class for the day. It was already evening, the reddish glow of the setting sun cast over the academy grounds.

When she reached the door of her dorm room, she inserted her ID card into the lock, instantly unlocking it.

Entering inside, she went to a small armoire from where she had taken out the bow and arrows earlier. After opening it, she carefully placed the whip inside and securely locked it. She swiftly changed into her usual brown training dress before heading towards the door again.

Just as she was about to walk past the door, she encountered Zoya, whose face appeared flustered and reddish, as if she were blushing. The two nearly collided, as Evelyn seemed to be in a hurry to leave the room.

"Um... I'm heading to the training grounds. I'll be back later," said Evelyn as she continued walking ahead.

Zoya, who was trying hard to conceal her flushed cheeks from her roommate, felt relieved that Evelyn didn't scrutinize her face closely. She entered the room and collapsed face-down onto her bed. "Damn that Cedric... I will definitely freeze his balls next time he teases me like that.

"Anyway, since I have some more points on my watch. I might as well go to the convenience store to grab some snacks. Evelyn is finally going to talk to me today... I can't wait for the day she will call me 'a friend'," said Zoya, getting up from her bed as her eyes welled up. But she fought back the teardrop trying to escape from her eyelid.

***

"You are already here," said Troy, who was sitting inside the general training unit. He was wearing a brown t-shirt and trousers, which matched his brown hair that was slicked back, along with his brown eyes.

Anyone could have mistaken him as a Brown, but he wasn't part of the Brown family. From the brown dress they were wearing, it was obvious that it was the training dress color of the first-year students.

"Yeah... I hope I'm not late," said Evelyn as she walked up to Troy, who stood up from his seat.

"Not at all... You are carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows. I thought you were given a whip?"

The bow and arrows Troy spoke of were the ones she had practiced with when she came here in the afternoon. She had it locked in one of the lockers in the storage room of this training unit before leaving for the alchemy class with Steve. So, she immediately retrieved it when she came back here before looking for Troy.

"Yeah, I was given the whip... but this was my weapon before we even had the combat class. I had it locked in a locker.

"So, why did you ask to meet with me here?"

"It is very important. Why don't we go to a quieter place so no one can eavesdrop on our conversation?"

The two of them left the sitting area and walked deeper into the general training unit, which was more secluded and devoid of other students.

***

Elvis was seen at the outdoor section of the general training unit, wearing his own brown training uniform. He stood watching a group of students practicing with their swords, clearly engaged in sparring with one another.

"I have searched for them throughout the general training unit, but there is no sign of Evelyn or Troy. I just hope that guy isn't up to anything.

"Maybe I should start practicing with the scroll Mr. Ronald gave me," Elvis mumbled.

He left the area and went to another part where there were fewer students practicing their skills. Eagerly, he sat down cross-legged and took out a pill from his pouch. After taking the pill, he entered the state of mana control.

With great speed, the mana from his surroundings was absorbed into his core. And simultaneously, he was circulating and refining the absorbed mana into spiritual energy. This cycle continued until he reached a bottleneck at his current level. He has reached the very peak of the beginner level; all he needs now is a stimulus to have a breakthrough into the intermediate level.

Elvis opened his eyes and smiled widely as he felt his body surge with spiritual energy. "That reminds me. I didn't get to ask Mom if I could take more than one pill at once. I think I should give it a try; perhaps it might help me break through."

Elvis emptied his pouch, discarding every pill it contained. There were a total of four pills in his hand now. "Let me keep two for Evelyn," he said, and he gulped the other two down.

After taking the pill, he felt a slight expansion in his core. Then, mana began to be sucked into his body at an even faster rate than before. Before he knew what was happening, he felt a pang of pain throughout his body. It felt as though his muscles were tearing apart.

"Argh!"

He shouted as the pain continued to increase rapidly. The refined spiritual energy in his body burst out of his body in the form of lightning, crackling even more powerfully and brightly than it ever had before.

Slowly, the pain subsided, and the crackling lightning disappeared as well. Elvis opened his eyes and looked at his body, which appeared to have undergone a transformation. He could feel the spiritual energy in his mana core even more finely than before, and the quantity of spiritual energy he could now harness seemed to have increased as well. "It worked. I have reached the intermediate level. "I'm now a..." he glanced at his watch, "...a 4-star mage." He grinned from ear to ear like a monkey that had been given a banana.

Elvis retrieved his sword and the scroll from the pouch as well. He unrolled the scroll. On it were the fundamentals of sword strikes and swordplay. These are the basics that all sword learners must master before delving into specific sword techniques. After that, Elvis immersed himself in his sword training, mimicking the moves illustrated on the scroll.

Almost an hour had passed, and Elvis was drenched in his own sweat. He was tired and felt his arm muscles aching. But he was not yet finished.

Raising his sword up, while tightly gripping its hilt with both hands. He performed a vertical slash after infusing the sword with his white lightning. But to his disappointment, the lightning only sizzled around the sword. It didn't achieve the Lightning Sword Slash (in which the lightning discharge will leave the sword immediately after he does the slash) he had been trying to do for some time now.

"Oh no... I almost forgot about the meeting in Evelyn's room." Elvis sighed and returned his sword and scroll to his pouch before zooming off towards his dorm room.

—— — ——

In a room, there are two beds aligned opposite each other against the walls. The room was already almost dark, with the only source of light being the white crystal hanging from the ceiling. Three people were currently seated: a boy sitting in the same bed as a girl, and another girl sitting by herself on the other bed. It was Elvis, Evelyn, and Zoya.

"Elvis, I wanted to ask you about those pills you found on our birthday. Do you still have them?" Evelyn asked, finally breaking the silence among the three of them who were eating the fruits that Zoya had bought from the convenience store.

"I only have two left.. I actually took three earlier, and I had a breakthrough into the intermediate level. Why did you ask?"

"You had a breakthrough? Are you now a 4-star? Evelyn exclaimed, looking at her brother before glancing at his watch.

"Why are you so surprised, Evelyn? It's common, especially if you consume a strong pill or if your level is still low," Zoya chimed in.

Elvis retrieved the two remaining pills and handed them to Evelyn.

"Here are the remaining ones. But why did you become so interested in pills?"

"I want to become stronger. I need to be able to protect myself from oppressors like Wilson," Evelyn replied.

"But two pills won't be enough," said Zoya, as she looked at the two siblings sitting together.

"I understand, and that is precisely why I am eager to explore the academy's dungeon to hunt for beast cores, crystal stones, and other valuable resources from beasts."

"You are joking, right? With what strength will you battle the beasts?" Elvis laughed it off. But he couldn't help worrying. Evelyn was not the type to joke. "Do you really think the academy will allow you to enter the dungeon?"

Zoya was amazed by what Evelyn had just said. She had always wanted to enter the dungeon and see how strong the beasts were. She jumped from her bed, "Really? I'm with you on this, Evelyn. There must always be a way when there is none."

The three discussed it further. Elvis finally agreed to it after Evelyn had discussed the idea of mastering their weapons and enhancing their elemental powers through the use of pills and potions they would learn about in the alchemy class.

"I am also aware of the existence of a black market outside our academy. We could consider going there to acquire additional resources that we may require. Money won't be our problem if we could start brewing pills and potions that we will sell there. Evelyn, that was a great idea," said Zoya.

When the curfew was approaching, they concluded the discussion to allow Elvis to return to his dormitory. But they agreed to meet at the general training unit every evening after their last class of the day to further plan their beast hunting adventure.