Artificial Gate Massacre I

The next couple of weeks passed by in a similar manner. Thankfully, weapons training class began focusing more on learning theoretical knowledge and dealing with simulated monsters.

Mav's subconscious memories allowed me to easily breeze through the classes.

No wonder he was accepted into the Academy… His academic talent is excellent.

I had helped Perseus and Lucia with their work, tutoring them after school.

After one week, I had mostly recovered from my wounds and began joining Lucia with her afternoon workouts again. Perseus would occasionally come with us and watch.

During that time, my strength had increased slightly.

[Strength: F+ → F++]

Sometimes we would see other students training as well. Whenever Leo saw me, he would frown and move to the other side of the training facilities.

Four weeks after school started, the classroom was buzzing with excitement when I stepped into the classroom for weapons training class.

Everyone was wearing different armor and carrying their weapons.

I was wearing light synthetic armor that I had bought for my remaining 100 credits. Using some of my monthly allowance from Mav's family, I bought ten weak firebombs for 5,000 credits. Obviously, I brought my trusty longsword with me.

Today was the day where we would be challenging the artificial Gate.

While the Academy's Noosphere was hyper-realistic, the settings were limited. 

Common monsters, such as minotaurs, gorgons, and wyverns, were well understood and could be almost perfectly simulated. However, more rare monsters such as driders, treants, and basilisks were less known and could not be replicated with the Noosphere.

The Academy wanted to prepare their students for real Gates, so they used S rank demonic cores and magic designed by the Sages to artificially open Gates under controlled conditions.

These Gates were comparatively safer and they also had their staff stationed throughout the Gate to ensure the students' safety. Drones and cameras would record the students' performance and ensure that no unforeseen circumstances could endanger the students.

Artificial Gates had been tested rigorously before the government had allowed the Academy to use them for educational purposes.

The safety precautions were meticulously planned and they always repaired the equipment.

Casualties were always kept to the minimum.

The public had trust in the Academy, which had maintained the most stringent safety standards possible while also providing the most authentic Gate-clearing experience for their students.

An incident occurring in an artificial Gate? The idea was unthinkable.

"...this will be dangerous."

Despite my preparations, I was nervous.

In the original novel, this day became known as the "Artificial Gate Massacre."

***

Gates were very rarely cleared by an individual. Teams would typically work together to clear Gates, even when they were F ranked.

Mr. Kvasir had assigned me with three other students who were the lowest ranked.

This didn't mean they were bad. They were just held to impossible standards-- after all, the main characters and fellow monsters dominated Class A.

The higher ranked students were in six groups of three, while the lower ranked students were in three groups of four.

My group members were Perseus and two other students that I did not know well.

"Hello," I greeted them as we stood together in the waiting room. "I'm Mav."

Perseus reluctantly introduced himself when I nudged him lightly. "My n-name's Perseus…"

"Nice to meet you!" A cheerful, orange-haired girl grinned. "I'm Saffron."

"You can call me Lucas," said a boy with green eyes and long black hair. "Let's do our best."

Saffron carried an impressively large axe and wore light, monster-leather armor. Lucas' bow was slung over his shoulder and he had several knives on his body in various places.

"Me and Saffron will handle the front. Perseus and Lucas, you can stay in the back."

The others easily agreed. This was the most obvious arrangement.

"I have one thing to request from you," I spoke seriously. "When things become dangerous, please listen to me."

"Okay!" Saffron bobbed her head, causing her orange hair to bounce.

Lucas also agreed. "…sure."

Perseus simply nodded, too nervous to speak.

Suddenly, the walls on either side of the room began shifting. Metal doors opened and revealed nine swirling portals that radiated bloody light.

The aura was stifling and the sudden wind that filled the room caused several students to wince.

One of the staff members announced, "All groups can now enter their designated Gate!"

We approached the sixth gate along the wall.

The staff member waiting next to our Gate asked, "Last checks: does everyone have their gear? Does everyone have their watches connected to the Academy network?"

We all nodded and the staff member stepped aside. After looking at each other for several seconds, we walked through the Gate together.

The disorienting feeling of stepping through the Gate was exactly like how I imagined.

When my vision cleared, I found myself standing with the others in the middle of an empty cave tunnel. The only illumination came from reddish crystals that encrusted the cave walls.

The smell of wet stone and mold permeated the air.

Saffron stepped forwards but I blocked her path with my arm.

"I'll be the vanguard," I whispered softly as I enhanced my eyes. My mana began materializing as glowing blue lines that traced across my face and sclera.

Suddenly, the dim darkness was bright as day.

"There isn't anything ahead."

Lucas questioned me. "Isn't enhancing your eyes wasteful tiring? You should conserve your stamina for fighting, right?"

I shook my head. "Don't worry about that."

The green-eyed boy looked uncomfortable but decided that arguing wasn't worth the effort.

"Let's go," Saffron said, before walking ahead.

"Stop!"

I grabbed her by the back of her leather armor, pulling her away from the webs that hovered about three centimeters from the floor.

"Stepping on these will notify the monster that something has entered their territory. Judging from the webs, the monster is probably an insectoid category monster that has spider features."

Saffron gulped, stepping backwards. "Maybe you should lead the way…"

I nodded, patting her on the back. "Step where I'm stepping and we should be fine."

I began carefully stepping over and ducking under the webs that covered the floor, ceiling, and walls.

The light footsteps behind me indicated that the others had begun following.

I checked my watch.

[09:12]

The Artificial Gate Massacre. T-minus forty-eight minutes.