Dand's Point of View:

"Did he really do it? Did he actually manage to take down hundreds of ogres and a grade-4 monster?" I couldn't believe it. I just witnessed someone around my age—or maybe even younger—defeat a ridiculous number of enemies of his rank and, to top it off, kill a monster one grade above.

"He really did it." Kolly's words beside me confirm what I saw. I stop the forced escape attempt. "Should we go to him? What do we do, Dand? You're in charge." All my classmates look at me, waiting for orders.

"I don't know… I can't see any monsters nearby." The portal gives off a terrifying hum, and a moment later, the function to leave the dungeon becomes available. "It's working! The platform's working again! Professor Maki must've dealt with the interference. Let's go see him!"

He's lost an arm during the fight, but that's nothing the school's chief healer can't fix. It's better if we leave quickly so he can be treated as soon as possible. Everyone nods, and we run toward where our savior is kneeling—smiling.

Maki's Point of View:

I've never felt this exhausted after fighting a single monster before. A grade-4 really is on another level. Toward the end of our fight, I noticed something: the ogre lord wasn't fully used to its new body and had only recently ascended. Those factors limited it just enough for me to win.

I see my ear lying on the ground and my arm not too far from it. A recently ascended monster managed to damage me that much—I need more training if I want to keep breaking limits. Especially with my Banner; resisting the ogre's Banner was a constant annoyance throughout the entire fight.

"I did it! I killed a monster one grade above me." Feelings of joy and accomplishment spread through my body. More than anything, I managed to keep the students safe. I look up to see them all—some worried, others visibly relieved. They rush out of the protective dome toward me. "Professor Maki, the platform is working again! We have to go so your arm can be treated!" Serti is the first to reach me but stops less than a meter away when he sees me standing up.

I glance at the space where my arm should be. "Don't worry about that." My Law of Life and Death activates, erasing the remaining traces of mana, Imra, and Laws from the ogre lord before I infuse a good amount of life mana to restore my arm. They all arrive just in time to hear my words—and to see my arm begin to grow back.

A few seconds later, both my ear and arm are as good as new. I notice a few curious looks toward my tattoo, but most of them just stare with open mouths, shocked by how fast I healed—almost as fast as that ogre lord. "We should collect the monster cores. We can't let them go to waste."

They all get to work immediately. Each captain leads their own group, trying to finish the task as quickly as possible. I walk up to the grade-4 monster to take its core—it's as big as a basketball and weighs several kilos. I need to bring this to Susan. Someone has to analyze this orb and figure out how it managed to evolve. Something feels off about all of this.

I sit down to rest a little while waiting for my students. My Personal World remains active, monitoring every corner. I can't leave a single spot unchecked. The overload of information gives me a slight headache from fatigue—it's the same feeling I had back at the festival, though that time I lowered its range to avoid nausea. This time, I can't afford that.

Something's wrong with this dungeon—or maybe it's the maintenance team's fault. This kind of incident shouldn't happen. I'll need to find answers once I speak with Susan. Finally, my students finish collecting all the cores. They all insisted that I should keep them since I was the only one who fought and at least deserve that much as a reward. I store them in my storage bracelet before heading out.

My students leave one by one, and I stay behind, observing the scenery around me. Marks of a brutal battle cover the place. At least with this kind of dungeon, there's no need to clean up—the dungeon itself absorbs the mana residue and monster corpses to regenerate and produce more later.

Once everyone's gone, I give one last look at the ogre lord's corpse—a creature that should never have appeared here. "Why is it that every time I see ogres, something bad happens?" I sigh in exhaustion, already imagining the stress of explaining all this later, and finally leave the dungeon.

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"I'm glad you all made it out safely. The evaluation reports will be handed to Professor Gustav." I notice a few curious looks—some clearly wondering what'll happen next. "Don't worry about anything else. I'll take care of it. Enjoy your weekend; I'll see you all in class next week, classmates." I smile at them before dismissing them. I'm only their professor inside the dungeon—outside, we're classmates again.

Everyone quickly disperses into groups, except for one person who stays behind, waiting for me. "Something wrong, Dand?" I ask the promising young man. His skills are above average, and he has leadership and sound judgment during fights.

"Professor Maki…" Dand seems a bit nervous as he speaks.

"I'm not your professor right now, only during evaluations. You can call me Maki." I interrupt him midway.

"I can't call you that. After everything I saw and everything you did, you deserve to be called professor far more than most teachers." His words surprise me a little. "The thing is… do you take disciples?" His gaze is fixed on me, his eyes full of determination.

"Disciples?" I tilt my head slightly, caught off guard by the question.

"Yes… or maybe an assistant? I'd like to learn under your guidance. I want to get stronger—and if I follow you, I'm sure I'll become stronger than I ever imagined." I'm speechless. The young man's determination hits me hard.

I've never considered taking a disciple or an assistant. I'm still learning how to grow stronger myself every day. I'm not sure I'm the right person to guide someone else, but I can't turn down that look in his eyes. Dand is truly convinced of the path he wants to take, and with his potential, he could become a future pillar of our territory.

"I've never really thought about that, Dand." I notice clear disappointment on his face as he hears my words. "But if you want to walk under my guidance, I have no problem with that. I don't know how much I can teach or help you, but I'll do my best for us to grow stronger together—whether as disciple, companion, or perhaps… a future friend." A big smile forms on the blond young man with dark eyes standing before me, his messy hair swaying with the wind.

"I only ask for a couple of things for now: call me Maki when I'm not acting as your professor, and let me think about it properly. I never imagined having an assistant, disciple, or companion." I need to think about it carefully and maybe ask my friends for advice.

"Yes, Maki. Thank you so much. Come find me once you've decided; I'll be waiting." The young man gives me his dorm number and building name. "See you later. If you need any help, just let me know." I wave him off as Dand runs away, his eyes firm and his smile calm.

"An assistant or companion… that idea never once crossed my mind." Some ideas start to swirl in my head—future plans where I might involve him. "It doesn't sound so bad when I think about it. Now I need to focus on a few other things." I call for a carriage to take me directly to Susan's office.

"Maki? What are you doing here? You should be enjoying the start of your weekend." Secretary Clari calls out to me from behind, catching me off guard since I had deactivated my Personal World after leaving the dungeon.

"Clari, I wouldn't want to be here either. Something happened, and I think it's best to tell Susan about it." I give her a quick rundown of the situation.

"That definitely needs to be dealt with immediately. Let me contact the headmistress." She pulls out a device to call her. I'm always fascinated by how I can't hear anything through it—if I forced my senses, I could, but the person using it would notice.

"Headmistress Susan will see you right away." We say goodbye and promise to have another night of drinks like last time.

When I enter, Susan stands with her back to me, gazing out the window. "Maki, my protégé, it's been too long. You should visit me more often—some drinks while we talk about your new school life might ease the stress of running this academy." Susan smiles faintly, but her eyes are serious.

"Hello, Grandma. I promise I'll do that—next week or maybe the one after." I sit down on the couch before continuing. "Clari should've told you something already. Let me explain in detail." Susan sits in her chair without saying a word.

I explain everything that happened during the evaluation, mentioning every small detail. By the time I finish, she looks furious—I don't think I've ever seen her this angry.

"Let me handle this. This time they've gone too far. Don't worry about it anymore; this definitely won't happen again." Susan's tone is firm.

"They've gone too far? Has this happened before?" I ask, surprised.

"Unfortunately, yes. The maintenance and supervision of the student dungeons are handled by the company owned by the son of a congressman here in the city, like me. He doesn't have any authority in this academy; I only accepted his proposal because his father is a friend of mine." Susan rubs her forehead with a bitter expression.

"They've never faced real danger before when a teacher was with them, but there are times when students enter alone to earn extra money. I don't even want to imagine what could happen if something like this occurs again." She smiles faintly to soften the mood. "I'll take care of the rest—don't worry. Now, tell me about you and the little princess Brendu." Susan pulls out a bottle of wine before I even realize it…

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