So I entered to dungeon to confirm. Guess what? The goblins in Zones One and Two have been cleared. Not a single one is left alive. And the goblin camp where they once lived… I can't explain it. You need to see it yourself to understand the situation better.

-OblivoiinEdge33: Yo, are you sure someone from the Magus Department didn't sneak into our dungeon to do this? Because I don't think anyone in the Magical Swordsman Department can pull this off by themselves.

The only other answer I could think of is that the top twenty rankers across classes decided to spread to eliminate the goblins, securing the merit points for themselves.

-T-Fanatic21: Top ten ranker from Class One here. No. None of us formed a group within a class or across classes to take on the Goblin Extermination quest. But there's someone I think might be responsible for this.

-OblivoiinEdge33: Who? Don't keep us in suspense!

-T-Fanatic21: There's a group that has been monopolising the quest lists for some time now.

Anyone who wants to take on bigger quests to earn merit points must speak with them first, or else risk offending multiple individuals across classes.

I won't mention their names to avoid getting into trouble, but anyone who has attempted taking on powerful quests before them knows what I'm talking about.

-OblivoiinEdge33: Damn it! I know who you're talking about! I also have no doubt it's them.

Soon, everyone began linking what had transpired in the dungeon to Draven and the others.

But because of the authority they currently wielded, none of them spoke out.

Instead, they shared such information only among themselves.

Before long, the news broke into the other Departments, taking them by surprise.

***

Dungeon, Zone Two

Ezekiel had just completed a fifteen-hour training session.

'If others knew that I had grasped five spells in just fifteen hours, I wonder what they would think,' he thought.

They would most likely think like Jaran. That he wasn't the true Ezekiel.

Heavy bags hung under Ezekiel's eyes, evidence of how exhausted he was. Yet he never once thought about quitting because he was already used to this kind of training.

Ezekiel allowed himself only two hours of rest.

An Awakener's endurance was far greater than a human's, and it was his goal to test his to the absolute limits.

Ezekiel summoned up his status to assess his improvements.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

◆ Spells:

┗ Sky Dash - Advanced Spell (12%)

┗ Fire Spark - intermediate Spell (11%)

┗ Molten Grip – Intermediate Spell (6%)

┗ Mud Cloak– Intermediate Spell (9%)

┗ Fire Ring – Intermediate Spell (6%)

┗ Armour Coat – Intermediate Spell (9%)

┗ Magnetic Pull – Intermediate Spell (9%)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

He took his time dividing his training among them all equally.

Unfortunately, Ezekiel hadn't gained any insights into the Basic progression level of the spells.

They were all Intermediate spells, so even if they were weak compared to higher grades, each of them could still fiercely contend against the skills of other top rankers.

He learnt them all in hopes of triggering a system quest that would help improve them rapidly, like Sky Dash.

Ezekiel thought of it like providing wood for a burning flame.

With enough resources, the rewards might spread to his other spells.

Ezekiel was certain there was nobody within the Magical Swordsman Department who could match him.

Not even in the other Departments, except for a few.

With rumours of Esther and various other top rankers vying to break through to Rank Two and become the first in the entire Department, Ezekiel knew it was only a matter of time before he was outclassed again.

Once that happened, the vast disparities in strength would return, and his abilities would no longer be enough.

Ezekiel had been pouring his entire focus into honing his skills, so his raw strength was still lacking. Still, he wasn't lacking in quality and quantity.

He didn't dare say he could now face those in the Magus Department.

At best, he could hold his own for several seconds longer.

His cybernetic beasts were still his greatest arsenal.

"That's it for today."

Ezekiel walked out of the cave and spotted Felix in his cybernetic form, lying on the ground with his head resting on his paws.

His cybernetic eyes scanned the surroundings, picking up even the faintest heat or mana signatures approaching them.

Sensing his master's approach from behind, Felix rose on all four paws. He turned toward Ezekiel.

"How was your training, Master?" Felix asked.

"What do you think?" Ezekiel replied with a smile, pointing at the inside of the cave.

Felix gazed inside and saw a mixture of molten magma, blackened walls and ground, blades embedded deep into the stone, and shards of metal scattered across the floor.

It looked as though a fierce battle had unfolded within, yet it was all the result of Ezekiel's training.

'As expected of my master. Even his training is this fierce,' Felix thought, pride surging in his cybernetic core.

"Let's leave."

Felix nodded and transformed into his jet mode.

Ezekiel jumped on his back.

They soared into the skies.

As they arrived at the teleportation platform, Ezekiel unsummoned Felix and exited the dungeon.

When Ezekiel arrived at the Dungeon Hall, he noticed a crowd gathered inside.

Hearing the contents of their discussions, he realised that they had all gathered here because of the Goblin Extermination quest that he had completed.

The news hadn't yet spread that he was the one responsible.

He kept his head low and squeezed through the crowd to get out.

Several students spotted him, but their gazes shifted away seconds later. They paid no attention to him, as they were too occupied with the discussion at hand.

Suddenly, just as he was about to reach the exit, someone blocked his path.

Ezekiel raised his head and saw the two individuals standing before him.

James and Tiana! The two Class Three Dungeon Service Nurses!

Ezekiel furrowed his brows, wondering why they had blocked his path.

Did they want to question him about the Goblin Extermination quest?

That was the most likely answer.

"Can we speak with you?" Tiana asked, looking at the young man before her.

She didn't see any stain on him, indicating that he had been training within the dungeon.

She could sense that there was indeed something different about him compared to the previous times they spoke, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

She only hoped he wouldn't refuse her request; otherwise, they would have to do things the hard way, which was something they didn't want to do, because it could draw attention from the other students, leading to a situation that would make it even harder to discuss with him.

"Okay," Ezekiel nodded.

As Dungeon Service Nurses, it was part of their responsibility to question students about any drastic changes in the dungeon to ensure their safety, if they were struggling to grasp things on their own.

Ezekiel had learnt about how they questioned some students a day before a few of the Magical Swordsmen Department Dungeon Services Nurses were injured from facing a Rank Two Lesser and Rank Three Sacred Beasts.

There was no information on how such powerful beasts had emerged in the dungeon.

Since they always rescued him when he trained until his body collapsed, never failing to take him to the hospital for treatment, he saw no reason to refuse their request and risk making unnecessary conflicts.

Tiana and James both sighed in relief.

"Follow us. Let's discuss somewhere private," Tiana said.

They turned and exited the door.

They went to the back of the Dungeon Hall.

"I'll go straight to the point. Did you complete the Goblin Extermination quest?" Tiana asked, scrutinising Ezekiel for any signs of falsehood.

"Yes, I did," Ezekiel nodded.

"How did you do it?" Tiana asked.

"I killed them using my abilities, and with some disposable alchemical weapons and magic items," Ezekiel responded calmly.

He had already come up with answers for this question beforehand.

Unlike the silence he had given Chioma to prevent her from asking too many questions, he chose to answer the Dungeon Service Nurses with a reasonable explanation of what had transpired so that they wouldn't grow too suspicious.

"Is that all? Did you also have someone assisting you to accomplish this?" Tiana asked.

Ezekiel shook his head.

"Okay, you may leave. Thank you for truthfully answering our questions," Tiana said with a smile.

Ezekiel nodded silently. He turned around and left.

Although he had vanished from sight, they could still sense his presence even as he walked away.

They withdrew their senses.

It was, after all, a crime to monitor students' activities, and anyone found doing so would be severely punished.

Even if the academy was currently facing challenges that had caused its security to be somewhat lax, none of them were brave enough to attempt to break the rules.

Tiana glanced at her brother.

"What do you think?"

"With the Goblin Extermination quest now completed, if, after its refresh, it's not given enough time to return to its former state, the students will push farther into the dungeon in search of more tasks to spar against and quests to take on," James responded.

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