Dungeon Trials [4]

Noah's POV:

"Wait!" I alerted, stopping James in his tracks, the weight of my words was left hanging heavy in the stillness of air.

We were currently in the heart of a labyrinthine jungle, surrounded by towering trees.

In the dungeon trials, the area was artificially engineered. One moment, you would be in grassy fields and in the next, amid towering trees.

"What?!" James asked, his voice filled with a mild vexation. "Dude, you scared the living daylights out of me,"he grumbled. "No need to scream like that?"

With a finger, I pointed at a certain area —the very same he was about to go in. "I think there's a trap there."

Anastasia, her gaze now attentive, followed the trajectory of my extended digit, her delicate brow gave out the skepticism she had.

"It baffles me", she said. "How do you know about these traps?" Curiousity was genuine in her voice. "You've never checked that area before. You've saved us at least seven times!"

"Yeah, she's got a point there," James chimed in. "How do you do it?"

"My propensity, forgot?" I lied with the smoothness of past era politicians.

Or is it present? Time is sometimes weird to me.

In truth, with Nano, granting me various vision including X-ray vision and fifty other unique visions, but of course, I will not say that.

To demonstrate, I picked up a rock from the ground and threw it at the area I indicated.

Before long, the ground cracked open, revealing a treacherous gap filled with sharp, wooden logs.

These traps were not fatal but it could definitely leave you with bleeding wounds.

But the smell of blood would undoubtedly attract monsters.

"Damn this fucking traps!" James cursed, his gaze locked on the pit infront.

His face twisted with a mixture of fear and disgust.

"He he" James chuckled nervously, his laughter filled with unease as he imagined what would have happened if he fell.

Anastasia arched an eyebrow, her confusion palpable in her voice. "So, what's your secret? What exactly does your propensity allows you to do? "

But instead of answering her, I pressed my finger against my lips in a silent gesture, urging them to maintain silence and alertness.

Sensing the shift in my focus, James and Anastasia instinctively reached for their weapons.

'They're here.'

It was no coincidence that Class A1 had chosen the same path we were walking in.

I guided our steps to intersect with theirs, knowing full well the confrontation that awaited.

In my augmented vision, I could see a sizable group of students marching towards us.

Indeed the main cast was here.

***

Emily Reed's POV:

With a seamless motion, I drew the bowstring, channeling the essence of mana into the bow, imbuing it with wind attribute.

Taking a moment to survey the unfolding scene ahead, I carefully released the taut.

With a resounding noise, the metallic string reverberated, launching its stored tension into the arrow.

𝑺𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒉!

In a swift swish, the arrow cut through the air, flying at its intended target with lethal precision.

But, just as the arrow was about to make contact, a guy leaped into the scene, wielding a machete.

In a single, fluid arc, he cleaved down, severing the trajectory of my arrow.

The entire sequence happened in a fleeting moment, leaving me in awe of the his exceptional reflexes.

Fascinated by the sudden occurrence, I boldly advanced, stepping into the scene.

My gaze was immediately met with a guy with jet-black hair and pallid complexion. "It's him," the realization escaped my lips, and my brows furrowed instinctively.

Soon Aeravat, Takahashi, and Aurora followed my lead, equally fascinated by the commotion.

"It's me! I'm in your class!" The machete guy, raised both hands in a peaceful gesture of surrender, his companions following suit.

"Hmm, quite surprising," Aurora whispered softly from behind.

Aeravat motioned for all of us to stop while he advanced to greet them.

-"Hey, isn't he from our class?"

-"Yeah, that weire guy?"

The murmurs spread like wildfire through the crowd.

"What is?" I finally asked, my gaze still fixed on him.

"That he managed to survive on his own. We met many traps and monsters, and we've already lost around ome-twenty classmates," Aurora explained.

It dawned on me that indeed, ome-twenty students had already been eliminated in the dungeon trial. Now, only two hundred and seventy-seven remained in our class.

A majority of them, of course, were weaklings.

"And yet, he's still standing? Until now?" Aurora remarked.

Truly strange for a weakling like him to survive until now. His mana pressure was barely sensable.

Was it luck? Or perhaps something else?

Or what if... he was hiding his cards? That was a very definite possibility.

He was accompanied by two others who I assumed were also part of our class.

Honestly, with the class being so large, I can hardly even recall half of their names or faces.

***

Noah's POV:

"So, Noah?" Aeravat inquired, his gaze focused as he inspected the previously revealed trap crouching down to get a closer look

"Yeah," I responded, observing the main cast, feeling a sense of unease.

"And you two are James and Anastasia?" Aeravat confirmed, to which they both nodded.

"Did you come across the dungeon entrance in the direction you came from?" Aeravat asked as he slowly rose to his feet.

"No, we saw clear signs of battles and the remains of slain monsters everywhere, but we couldn't find any dungeon entrance," I explained.

Aeravat's eyebrows furrowed with the newly revealed information.

"Signs of fighting? Corpses of dead monsters? That can only mean..." he trailed off, his suspicion clear in his voice.

"Yes, the other classes are nearby," I confirmed, aligning with his thoughts.

As our conversation continued, a sudden disturbance caught us off guard.

Something flew out from the surrounding underbrush, casting its shadow over all of us.

'What the...?!'