Chapter 260: The Academy's Ocean of Knowledge
Liam Moon went to Professor Leon's office. He was there to submit his report on the problem children he was accompanying in the Dungeon. When he arrived, he found that besides Leon, the god Baldr was also present.
Many of the gods in this world had certain issues with their intellect, perhaps because they had never truly suffered any setbacks. In Tenkai, the scheming between gods was likely quite straightforward. However, there were a few gods who were intelligent and sharp, with perfectly sound minds—gods like Takemikazuchi, Hermes, Ouranos, and the one right in front of him, Baldr.
"You've been here for a few days now. What are your thoughts, Gieg?" Baldr asked with a slight smile, sizing up the disguised Liam.
Liam handed over his written report. "The knowledge I can learn here at the Academy is incredibly fulfilling. Compared to Orario, it's obvious that this place holds the world's most precious and cutting-edge wisdom. I'm truly fortunate to be able to study here."
Leon glanced at the report before replying to Liam. "Gieg, please inform the others on my behalf. Tell them to come to my office after class tomorrow."
Liam nodded.
Leon continued, "So, what do you think of Iglin and the rest of the Third Squad?"
"In my judgment, if they continue to explore the Dungeon every day as they are, they will all be dead within two months. If they're lucky, they might last until the third."
Leon nodded. "A very accurate assessment. Without you, that squad would likely have been wiped out within the first month."
Liam let out a quiet sigh of relief. "Yes. The Dungeon has pitfalls, monster parties, random monster spawns, and more. Fighting as individuals, they could be wiped out at any moment due to a lack of coordination."
Baldr sighed. "That's why we hoped you could guide them. They have potential and strengths, they just lack coordination."
Leon then handed over the files for Nina and the other three. Liam gave them a quick look.
"So, aside from Nina, all of them have clashed with various other squads and been transferred multiple times. And now they've been lumped together into a 'problem squad'?"
Leon and Baldr had certainly had their work cut out for them.
The lessons that school fails to teach are often taught harshly by the real world. Baldr and the others clearly didn't want Reche and her teammates to die senselessly in the Dungeon, which was why they had asked for Liam's help. However, changing one's personality is difficult. As the old saying goes, it's easier to change rivers and mountains than to change a person's nature. Unless a person goes through a major upheaval or faces a life-and-death crisis—multiple times, even—their personality will likely remain the same for their entire life.
Reche and the others were all talented individuals. All four of these young adventurers were top-tier among Level 2s. Even Nina was an outstanding healer.
During the Dungeon internship, Academy teachers were deployed on every floor. But as the floors got deeper, it was impossible for them to provide immediate support. Furthermore, there was always the chance that some adventurers in Orario would take a disliking to the Academy students, maliciously picking fights or even causing them harm.
Orario's laws could generally only maintain order on the surface. Down in the Dungeon, especially if there were no witnesses, anyone unfortunate enough to be killed by another person would simply be recorded as killed by monsters or missing. The Academy students were, for the most part, armed with a great deal of theoretical knowledge but only limited practical experience. They lacked the skills to deal with adventurers who fought monsters day in and day out.
To confront the unknown and turn it into a weapon for one's own growth—that also included being wary of other adventurers.
"So then, first-tier adventurer Liam Moon, are you confident you can protect the Third Squad?"
Liam nodded. "I won't make any absolute promises, but I will fight with all my strength if an emergency arises."
With the protection of an adventurer of his caliber, they could handle most of the unexpected situations the Dungeon could throw at them.
Leon was silent for a moment, then looked at Liam. "Actually, Nina has some small problems of her own. I hope you can help her with them as well. I'd like you, as a fellow student, to be the one to ask her about them."
I see. The teachers at the Academy were incredibly considerate. This educational environment was truly admirable. They cared about the physical and mental development of every single student, and they were meticulously concerned about each one's safety. An academy like this deserved its reputation as the best educational institution in the world. Perhaps it was this very educational philosophy that had branded the Academy with such an authoritative status in the hearts of people everywhere.
Leon added, "Nina is going through a phase. We heard about your situation from Hermes. You, who have personally experienced the transformation from a mortal to a powerhouse, might be the most suitable person to guide her."
Seeing Liam nod in agreement, Leon and Baldr both breathed a sigh of relief. The conversation then shifted to casual chat.
"Our current educational model at the Academy is student-centric," Baldr explained. "We frequently organize off-campus activities and travel the world, allowing students to see everything and form their own worldview. From there, they can choose the path that suits them best."
What kind of divine school is this? They actually let students travel the world. It was true, that was the proper way to cultivate a student's worldview. Only by seeing the entire world could one establish a proper perspective. The Academy did just that. Perhaps in the future, Liam too could travel the world, no longer confined to just Orario.
Seeing that it was getting late, Liam prepared to leave, but Leon stopped him one last time.
"Gieg, where do you think the Third Squad will be forced to stop?"
"The 12th Floor!"
As the floors descended, the monsters grew progressively stronger. The 12th Floor was the last floor of the Upper Levels, and the 13th was the first floor of the Middle Levels. The monsters on the 12th Floor were significantly stronger than those on the 11th. If the members of the Third Squad were still a disorganized mess, that was as far as they would get. When teammates from different classes coordinated with each other, the result was a synergy where one plus one was greater than two. If they failed to do that, the risk of injury and death would rise sharply.
Liam returned to his room and picked up the books he had borrowed to continue reading. With his current strength, his memory and reading ability had been greatly enhanced. He could essentially memorize everything after just one read-through. But even with such efficient reading, it was a fool's dream to think he could learn all the knowledge in the Academy that interested him, at least not in a short amount of time.
The next day.
The Third Squad arrived on the 12th Floor. And on this floor, Iglin and the others found themselves in a bitter struggle. They were now facing a small dragon, over four meters tall. To be precise, it was a bipedal winged dragon—a wyvern—that looked somewhat like a lizard. Besides this wyvern, there were also various goblins in the area, including Orcs.
Right now, the wyvern swooped in from a distance, landing directly in front of Iglin.
Iglin, Reche, and Kris gritted their teeth and faced the wyvern together. They didn't dare to take the attack from its tail head-on. After barely dodging the monster's strike, the wyvern swiped its claw, and the immense force sent Iglin flying.
Nina began to chant, "O wavering sacred wheel, breath of white, a hundred flowers sing your praise, O pure hill—Dia Saint."
A white light enveloped the three fighters, its healing power restoring their wounds and stamina. But the monsters here were simply too strong; they were beyond what the team could currently handle.
"Retreat!"
After carefully assessing the condition of the three combatants, Liam gave the order to fall back. There was no need for them to continue fighting.
"Are you kidding me? We can still fight!"
Just as Kris was about to argue, the wyvern's massive jaws snapped toward his head. He tried to dodge, but his stamina was depleted; he no longer had the strength to even move out of the way.
As Nina cried out in alarm and Kris's life hung by a thread, a black magic bullet shot out and struck the wyvern in the eye.
"ROAR!"
The magic bullet tore the monster's eye to shreds. The wyvern turned its furious gaze toward Liam.
"Iglin, carry Kris! We're retreating!" Liam commanded in a tone that brooked no argument. Iglin was about to retort but was stunned by Liam's powerful aura. His body trembled, and he nodded involuntarily.
In that instant, Iglin had sensed an aura even more dangerous than the wyvern's. He's only Level 1, so why was I so intimidated by him? Is this his racial talent?
The wyvern charged. The Oni Power overflowed from Liam and extended onto the blade of his katana. A wave of negative emotions—fear—spread from the dark energy, washing over Kris and the others. The eerie feeling lasted for only a second before dissipating.
Terrified, Iglin stumbled and fell, bringing Kris down with him from his back. Nina, Reche, and the others looked back and saw Liam's jet-black longsword.
The wyvern's head was severed from its body. Hot blood sprayed all over Iglin and Kris. The massive head rolled to a stop beside Nina, causing her to let out a piercing scream.
The other monsters, witnessing this, froze in their tracks, then turned and fled in terror.
Liam sheathed his blade, reining the Oni Power back into his left arm.
"How pathetic," he said coldly. "With your skills, you could have easily reached the 13th Floor even without me. When are you going to finally cooperate with each other? Are you waiting until someone gets killed? If you're that eager to die, you'd be better off letting me kill you!"
They were ashamed.
Iglin, Reche, and Kris couldn't bring themselves to meet Liam's gaze. The three of them together could barely manage to escape, yet Liam had killed the wyvern in a single blow. He had now proven his worth through sheer power.
Liam snorted. The internship had been going on for four days. Today, he had finally had enough and decided to intervene, slaying the wyvern himself. These useless teammates were the type to admit their mistakes but never change their ways.
The wyvern was now dead, having turned into a magic stone and a drop item: an Infant Dragon's Fang.
"Why do you all look down on each other so much? Do you really think you're all geniuses? If you're such geniuses, how come you're a level higher than me, yet I can take on all of you at once?"
The members of the Third Squad never cooperated. When they encountered monsters, they would even fight over kills, wasting unnecessary stamina. They had none of the coordination of a proper team.
Liam's gaze fell upon them. "You should know that stats are raised through extensive training, while levels are raised by accomplishing great feats. Fighting over kills won't significantly increase your stats!"
He gestured to the dead monster. "I took care of this wyvern all by myself. How is it that you guys couldn't provide any help at all and only ended up holding me back?"
Looking at their current state, Liam sighed.
"There are no more than five Infant Dragons on this entire floor. Including the one that just died, that leaves less than four. So, in order to cultivate your teamwork skills, we're going to go kill another one. For now, everyone rest here."
The 12th Floor was vast, and a white mist obscured visibility, making it difficult to find the Infant Dragons. Without cooperation, they would waste a lot of unnecessary energy. And if they were unlucky enough to run into another team of students, they would have to compete. They might not have enough stamina left to handle the dragon.
Kris and the others exchanged glances, then took out potions and began to drink. They only chose to follow the parts of Liam's orders that they agreed with, and resting was certainly one of them.
The Infant Dragon was the juvenile form of a much larger dragon, and they appeared on both the 11th and 12th floors. The competition was more intense on the 11th, so Liam had brought them to the 12th to train their teamwork.
Nina came to Liam's side, looking at him apologetically. "I'm really sorry for all the trouble, Gieg."
Liam shook his head. "You can try to teach a man with words and fail, but a hard lesson from life will teach him in an instant. Their attitudes are ridiculous. I just hope that when they do learn their lesson, it won't cost them their lives."
"But they have you, don't they?"
Liam glanced at Reche and the others. "With selfish people like them who have no sense of teamwork, do you really think I can team up with them forever? Nina, never underestimate the Dungeon. A great number of adventurers die here every year. People die here every single day."
He looked directly at her. "A team like this... as soon as I'm not around, you'll be wiped out in less than three months if you keep exploring the Dungeon every day. I guarantee it."
Iglin pretended not to hear Liam's lecture. Reche remained withdrawn, not saying a word unless absolutely necessary.
And Kris just flashed his signature smile. "You're wrong, Gieg. I'm a genius, and a genius doesn't fall at a hurdle like this!"
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