The class leader smiled faintly and asked an unexpected question. "Do you remember the essay question in our admission exam? It asked about the hero's sacrifice and whether his decision was right or wrong. I bet most of you lost points in the essay portion because you gave lousy responses," Terrwyn speculated and drew chuckles from her classmates.
She pointed at Luka. "I bet he gave an incredible response, and that's why Luka became a co-valedictorian. My point is that the dragon is the equivalent of that essay question. If we slay the boss, we will win the competition outright because the points from defeating this creature will outweigh the rest of the monsters appearing in the event."
"So our class strategy for the dungeon trial has two elements: conserve our energy while fighting the small-fry; and defeat the dragon when it finally appears. Now, we know this second goal is challenging to accomplish, and that's why I've been focusing our practice on defeating the dragon. Does that make sense to you guys?"
The class members nodded. Once Terrwyn clarified her intentions, they couldn't further complain.
On that note, Luka brought everyone back to the school campus.
Chapter 109
The Dungeon Trials (Part 2)
After a week of vigorous and tiring practice sessions, the Elite Class lined up in morning assembly with other freshmen classes. Everyone stood while eyeing each other with mixed emotions. Although the representatives had disavowed joining together as one army inside the dungeon, some groups formed secret alliances anyway. But none of them offered to work with the Elite Class.
However, Luka's classmates were surprisingly confident because they went through hellish practices daily for the past week. The students were anxious for the trial to start to show off the results of their intensive training.
The classes entered the portal in an orderly fashion, with the Elite Class as the last group to join the field. To avoid an outcry of favoritism, the dungeon master placed the parties in a circle inside the mile-wide arena. The place was a flatland with no obstruction -- and no place for the students to run or hide from the monster stampede!
"You have one minute to prepare," a robotic voice called out from above.
The secret allies began to move from their starting positions and reorganized their formations. Consequently, the Elite Class stood apart from the other parties.
Terrwyn ignored them and focused on her classmates. She looked each person in the eye as the leader gave a prep talk. "We practiced all week, and everyone knows what to do. I will take the lead and guide us away from the others. We'll go slow and easy while conserving our energy. Remember that our objective is to take down the dragon. Now, let's go!" Terrwyn clapped her hands and started moving down the field.
The other classes were surprised by her action because some planned to use the Elite Class to cover their backside. Now, the remaining groups had to pull fighters from the frontline and turn them into rearguards! However, the class representatives could not complain because they chose not to work with the Elite Class. Thus, the remaining leaders had to adjust their formations on the fly.
Terrwyn glanced back to observe these changes and laughed inwardly. She already understood their strategy but decided not to accommodate the other parties. Besides, the Elite Class must stand apart to prove itself on the battlefield.
"Ten seconds! Five, four, three, two, one, begin!" Monsters abruptly materialized on the horizon.
"Charge!" someone yelled. Students began to rush up the field and crashed into the monsters like a sea tide.
The beastmen within the Elite Class watched with envy as other students began their deadly ballet for survival.
Luka activated his Spatial Sense and tracked the movements of all the classes and monsters. Once he identified the types of enemies that appeared, the scout delivered his report. "The closest enemies are a goblin horde led by a goblin king, two generals, two mages, one shaman, and four lords; they are in the southern section of the arena. To our east is a wolf pack with a hundred dire wolves. In the north, there's a group of fire elementals led by a fire lord. Please decide which group to fight, if any," Luka said.
"The elementals are troublesome enemies. They could damage our equipment with their hot flames," Kherherac pointed out immediately. He possessed repair skills and helped maintain the party's gear. "And the dungeon rules restricted our weaponry."
Terrwyn nodded. "How many goblins are in the horde?" she inquired.
"There are roughly five hundred normal goblins," Luka answered after a quick check. "But they seem to use better equipment than ordinary goblins," he noted with concern.
"Let's fight the wolf pack," Wickkuil suggested. "I don't want my sword blade to chip while slashing at goblin armor."
The other warriors nodded their agreement. If their swords broke, they would have to fight with their fists. Unfortunately, few of them possessed barehanded fighting skills.
The light mage began casting a slew of buffs on his party members, such as Bless and Protection from Evil. These spells would slightly increase attack rates and damage infliction as well as improve their armor protection. Although these individual spell effects were minimal, they combined effectively to increase the students' overall fighting potential. If these buffs could help reduce his classmates' injuries, Luka would conserve more mana after the battle.
Once Luka finished enhancing the fighters, he said, "Alright. I'll lead the wolves to us. Hang on!" He used Touch the Horizon to appear above the dire wolves.
The vicious beasts jumped in the air to bite him but couldn't reach his height. They gathered under his body because the cunning animals believed that he would run out of magic power sooner or later. And then the pack would feast on his body!
Unfortunately, the prey betrayed their expectations. Luka waited like a cool cat and ignored their provocations. When the entire pack gathered on the ground below him, Luka used Void Step and strolled back to his party.
When the agitated wolves saw the students in the distance, they changed targets and rushed toward the humans! "HOWL!" The pack gathered momentum and pounded the ground. Each dire wolf sought to run faster than its companion. Their mouths drooled with anticipation of feasting on chewy flesh and hot blood.
The two rangers, Viggo and Gertorn, stood behind a wall of shields and started firing arrows; they focused on hurting the monsters' mobility instead of making kill shots.
Luka used his perch to attack the wolves trailing behind the frontrunners. He realized that some of the more cunning monsters were using their younger compatriots as meat shields. The archer used his shots to pull these wolves toward the front, and then Luka turned invisible to remove their aggression toward him.
Now injured, angry, and humiliated, the older wolves changed their targets to the students and attacked them instead of the missing Luka.
Luka hovered above and watched the battle. He couldn't attack the monsters without breaking his invisibility effect. Nor did the mage wish to intervene at this early juncture. The warriors in his class needed to build confidence by defeating these small-fries. Luka felt satisfied with their teamwork as the students worked in unison to kill the dire wolves. He was amazed to see Kherherac make a lucky shot; he fired a stone bullet through a poor wolf's eye and killed it instantly!
When his party nearly finished eliminating the wolf pack, Luka landed on the ground and cast Light Cure to heal his injured classmates. Then the scout returned to the air and checked on the other classes.
To his dismay, the observer discovered that some students already left the field! The reason was simple: they broke their class formation and went solo. The muscleheads compounded their stupidity by fighting trolls; their damage infliction couldn't outpace the trolls' remarkable regeneration skill. In the end, the fighters had their skulls bashed in, and the dungeon master quickly pulled the defeated students out of the arena.
Luka pitied these students because he knew that they were the most likely candidates to drop out. But then again, th
eir families will save on tuition if their children departed sooner since the kids had no hope of successfully graduating.
The scout refocused and devoted his attention to the nearby threats on the field. He saw that no class chose to fight the goblin horde. Luka feared that the goblins were waiting for the humans to become distracted by other monsters and then jump in for a pincer attack. The scout landed on the ground and pointed in their direction. "I recommend we take out the goblin horde before they create mischief for the students," Luka proposed.
Terrwyn quickly glanced at her classmates' equipment and confirmed they were in good shape. She nodded her approval. "Please pull them to us," the party leader ordered.
The mage teleported in front of the horde and threw a fireball at the goblins. BOOM! He released Bel and Gripper on the ground and turned invisible. When the smoke cleared, his pets taunted the fire blast survivors and started running toward the Elite Class.
The stupid goblins gave chase while ignoring their Goblin King's commands.
Luka hovered high above the horde's leadership and followed silently as the monsters rushed toward his compatriots.
The mages from both sides began to trade fireballs. Luka teleported back to his party and cast a Light Barrier to prevent the magical explosion from hurting his classmates.
The goblin shaman created a wall of wood to protect himself and the adjacent goblin king. However, the mages were caught in the blast and killed.
The student fighters turned berserk and sawed through the fodders' ranks before the goblin lords stopped the berserkers' incursion. The two sides proved evenly matched, but there were only four lords in the horde.
"Shieldmen and spearmen, block the lords! Everyone else, focus on the king and shaman!" Terrwyn ordered.
The students executed her command. Shieldbearers and spearmen obstructed the goblin lords and pushed the monsters aside; this maneuver freed the student berserkers to attack the goblin king and shaman. Kherherac, Viggo, and Gertorn shot their ammunition at the enemy caster to interrupt his spells; they quickly turned him into a pincushion.
The goblin king stood a head taller than the humans and carried a bastard sword. He tried sweeping the pests away. But Wickkuil and Thrabruil bravely blocked the powerful strike and froze the king long enough for others to stab his back.
Yosdrar took advantage of the slim opening and rushed in. Whoosh! In a flash, the goblin king's head rolled on the ground! The victor held his prize in the air and roared!
The remaining goblins became demoralized with their liege's defeat and started to run.
But Luka cast Earth Bind on their feet and snagged the horde's remnants in place.
The Elite Class quickly took down the rest of the goblins. But before the students could celebrate their victory, a massive meteor flew toward their heads!
Luka immediately teleported to the giant flaming rock and cast Time Stop! He looked down at his class and yelled out. "I can't hold it for long. Run!" he urged. The mage held out for ten seconds before he released the meteor. Luka teleported to a safe distance; he watched as the rock finally crashed on the ground and created a massive crater. The shockwave of the collision blew him and the other students away. BOOM!
While stopping the meteor, Luka realized it came from the fire lord. The high-ranked elemental took joy in Luka's predicament and watching the human struggle. Luka decided to take out the fire elementals before they hurt anyone else! Unfortunately, his water magic proficiency was still low, meaning that he couldn't defeat them independently. Luka reluctantly divine summoned Glacius despite the high mana cost to do so.
When the ice god arrived at the arena, he noticed the pests right away and frowned. Glacius raised his hand and made a fist. "Frozen Wonderland!"
Luka gasped as the deity greedily drained his magic to fuel the spell. As he watched the twenty fire elementals and one lord transform into glittering ice sculptures, Luka had a flashback. He witnessed a similar scene when Luka was five years old. Assassins attacked his royal carriage after supper with the king's family. His mother bravely drew their attention to let the child escape. Somehow, Luka divine summoned Glacius and used the same power. It turned everyone, including his mother, into ice! How did she survive?
Glacius snorted and vanished.
Luka sat on the ground and focused on recovering his magic. Although he carried a full magic recovery potion, Luka preferred to avoid using the expensive potion. After all, the mage paid 1,000 gold pieces for it! He wouldn't make any money during the dungeon trial to help defray its cost. Moreover, Luka carried only one vial due to the event's restrictions on bringing equipment into the arena.
Bel and Gripper quickly reached his position. Seeing no monsters nearby, the two examined the ice sculptures with great interest.
The Elite Class eventually arrived. They saw a pale-looking Luka and decided not to disturb his meditation to treat their wounds. The students felt guilty because they lost track of the elementals even though Luka already warned about these monsters. Moreover, he could teleport away from the meteor and leave them behind. Instead, Luka saved them. Again.
"Form a perimeter around Luka. We can't let him hog the limelight in this trial," Terrwyn said while staring at the conquered forms of the fire elementals and the vast, frozen landscape.
Chapter 110
The Dungeon Trials (Part 3)
Luka's mind was in turmoil. For some reason, he had subconsciously locked away memories of his fight against the assassins and its aftermath. Consequently, he felt strange seeing Glacius, who treated the summoner coldly. Furthermore, Luka finally understood why his mother sealed her mana -- to stop a magic runaway.
When Luka was a toddler, he often watched ice fairies surround his mother and play tricks on the household staff. Juliette's extreme affinity with ice magic attracted these ice elementals to her. And Luka could visualize them due to his strong magic power.
He saw them engage in snowball fights in various rooms and create puddles of water in the hallways. Servants and knights carefully watched their steps, or else they would slip and fall. Mop squads often ran around to clean the wet floor.
Luka had forgotten these occurrences when he fell into a coma and recovered inside the bell tower in Lumina city. His mother possessed the nickname of "Ice Queen" for her formidable ice magic, and she was among the best magic swordsmen in the Morninglory Kingdom.
When Glacius used his Frozen Wonderland power to turn everything into ice, the ice god included Juliette as a target; the deity couldn't distinguish friends from foes amongst the humans standing near Luka. The ice fairies most likely drained her magic power completely to resist the divine magic. Nonetheless, her human body became tainted with the divine power and couldn't control the new energy.
Pope Demetrius probably received a report regarding the duchess' abnormal condition and used High Appraisal to examine her body. He learned how to save Juliette's life and stop the magic runaway -- by sealing her ice magic. The church leader placed a temporary seal on the patient and then explained her condition. He attained Juliette's permission to close off her ice magic permanently but felt guilty about it. Demetrius then offered her a spot in the valkyrie squad, and she accepted.
Although Luka didn't witness his mother and godfather's negotiation, he deduced this exchange and resolution. Luka already sensed Demetrius' seal on her body while the ice fairies had long disappeared from her vicinity. Luka felt guilty for forcing his mother to seal her precious magic, and he didn't know how to make amends with her. Frankly, he didn't care about the dungeon trials anymore and wished to immediately teleport back to the family estate.
Suddenly, a furry paw stroked his head. [Luka, why are you upset? And can you afford to sit on your ass while your teammates are in trouble?] Bel felt his emotional turmoil via their magical bond. And he had some idea of why Luka became upset. Thus, the demon king intervened to pull Luka out of his misery.
Luka opened his eyes and frowned. He saw a band of wyverns swo
oping from the sky to attack people! Each monster was the size of a car and adroitly danced in the air to avoid missiles. These cousins of dragons lacked breath weapons and relied on their jaws and claws to attack.
These wyverns were targetting all the students on the field. Two had separated from its pack to harass the Elite Class. Luckily, the shieldbearers stood firm and blocked the monsters. However, these physical hits were denting the shields and rapidly reduced their remaining lifespans!
Uhaen's ogres shattered the ice on the ground and threw razor-sharp shards at the wyverns' wings. But their efforts failed to score meaningful hits to aground the fliers. Evanora and Kayna were more successful in hurting the wyverns with their magic. Thus, the wyverns focused their attacks on those two mages.
Luka calmly observed the battle to learn the monsters' flying pattern. Once he memorized and predicted their movements, Luka attacked! "Spatial Blade!" His magic sliced through the tough, leathery skin and instantly decapitated a wyvern!
"Wah!" The remaining monster flew higher and screamed for help.
The packmates heard the cry and immediately approached. When they saw their friend's decapitated body on the ground, the twelve wyverns became angry and flew in a straight line -- toward Luka!
"Shieldmen, protect Luka! Everyone else, attack!" Terrwyn ordered.
The melee fighters desperately slashed at the fliers to make the beasts veer away. The students peeled off three of them. Uhaen's ogres knocked down two more with their clubs.
The rangers directed their arrows at the wyverns' eyes and harassed two more to fly off-course.
Gripper threw Bel at another wyvern, which gleefully opened its mouth wide to swallow the rabbit. However, Bel kicked the lower jaw and forced its mouth to snap shut! The demon king then thumped his fist on the monster's skull and knocked it unconscious. Bel rode the wyvern and steered it away from the students. Boom! The ground shook when the wyvern crashed! Luckily, the rabbit hopped off in time and landed safely in Gripper's arms.
The Divine Summoner: Godson of Altima Page 88
