21 Mark Kalashnikov, The Genius arrives...

One by one the students entered the dungeon.

After casting those teleporting barriers on each student, Shin also went in, to keep a better watch over the students.

Jareth was the last person to enter the dungeon.

He tilted his head and found a student standing near the entrance of the dungeon. (They are standing inside the dungeon right now...)

The young boy had bright golden hair and pupils, he looked exceptionally handsome and his aura seemed to be much stronger than all of the other students.

When Jareth entered the dungeon, Mark stared at him and smiled a little.

"Professor, I wanted to warn you about something, I can sense that there's something wrong with this dungeon… can you look into it?" (Mark)

Jareth was actually more surprised to find out that Mark's mana detection capabilities were already on par with Shin's.

His eyes narrowed as he looked at Mark.

Seeing that Jareth didn't answer his question, Mark became a bit nervous, he tried to explain.

"Uh, you see, I am a bit more talented in mana control and detection, so I can sense if some place is highly dangerous… uh.." (Mark)

While Mark was trying to somehow explain things to Jareth. Jareth was thinking about something totally different.

'As expected of the person who can go toe to toe with the peak strength of the protagonist… Mark is indeed an exceptional talent…' (Jareth)

In just a few seconds, Jareth had understood the whole plot instantly.

He speculated that in the original game plot, Mark must have also detected the abnormality of this dungeon.

But the principal was a careless guy.

The principal left the students to conquer the dungeon alone and himself started to meditate on a nearby mountaintop, he only came to save the day when things were about to get out of hand.

And since the principal was not present, Mark must have had no one to complain to about this dungeon, thus this scene was not mentioned in the game plot.

But now, the scenario has changed a lot.

Jareth and Shin are the ones accompanying these students and they are always present right in front of the students. 

Thus, Mark chose to warn the professor about this dungeon beforehand.

Yet, he was feeling awkward as it was difficult to explain the situation. The only abnormality that Mark was detecting was a high density of mana and a strong presence of killing intent.

But since he couldn't detect any strong monsters either, just like how Shin couldn't detect any strong monsters earlier, it was difficult to explain why he felt that the dungeon was dangerous.

...

Jareth nodded his head and said in his usual cold tone:

"Hmm, to be able to detect this at your level, you are indeed talented… don't worry about any dangers, you are being protected by two grade-2 mages after all…" (Jareth)

Mark was quite surprised to hear such unexpected praise from Jareth. Moreover, it seems Jareth believed what he had said earlier about the dungeon being abnormal.

A smile appeared on Mark's handsome face, he used to think that Jareth was a difficult-to-talk type of person, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

'It seems he favors those who have talent and can show more results compared to the weaklings in our class… sigh, is this what they call the indifference of a cold-hearted wizard…' (Mark)

Mark belongs to a rich family and has been taught by private tutors since childhood, thus he knows a bit about history and other things. 

'It is said that in ancient times, wizards used to be selfish and ruthless people who could kill people without batting an eye, if we see it from that perspective, then Professor Jareth suits the image of a wizard than anyone else…' (Mark)

(As a rival of the protagonist, his brain works in the totally opposite direction of the 'hero'… he thinks Jareth is more suited to be a wizard compared to the kind and benevolent Shin…)

While Mark was contemplating in his mind, Jareth asked him one more question:

"Why did you come to inform me by the way? Don't you think that Professor Shin will hear your problems better than me?" (Jareth)

"Uh, you see, Professor Shin is too kind, I think he might not be as strong as you Professor Jareth…" (Mark)

'Holy burger! This guy thinks I am stronger than Shin, from what angle do I look strong!? Ahem!' (Jareth)

"Well, I will keep an eye on things, you go and experience this dungeon, don't lose this rare chance of gathering precious combat experience because of mere distractions…" (Jareth)

Jareth then glanced at the cave and saw that there were nearly ten separate ways, he stared at the darkest path and pretended to be mysterious. 

He said in his usual cold tone:

"I will take care of the pests that are wandering in the area, just remain careful and avoid strong killing intent filled places…" (Jareth)

Hearing Jareth's assuring words, Mark nodded his head in satisfaction and walked on the other roads. Leaving the darkest path which Jareth was looking far away.

Noticing the fading figure of Mark, Jareth heaved a sigh of relief and walked into a brighter path, he didn't want to go to dangerous places either. 

(What he didn't know was that the path he chose later got combined with the path that looked dangerous at first glance…)

…

On the other side.

Mark walked through the small cave and after walking through several other diverging paths he came to a wider area.

Mark slightly glanced behind him and said in a calm voice.

"Come out, I know you guys have been following me…" (Mark)

At Mark's voice, several hobgoblins came out from the various paths that were connected to this wider area.

Seeing that there were ten hobgoblins Mark smirked a bit and said in a mocking tone.

"Just this much? You can't even touch me with such a small number!" (Mark)

[Grade-5 Earth Magic: Thorn field!]

Gigantic spikes made of stone sprang out of the ground and the walls of the cave and pierced through the bodies of the hobgoblins around him at an extremely fast speed.

Mark didn't give them the slightest chance to fight back and used his stone spike to pierce through their heart in an instant.

The monsters didn't even know when they died or how they died. Thick red blood splattered on the spikes and painted them red.

The suffocating smell of blood spread everywhere in the area instantly.

"Heh, you guys are weaker than I was expecting…" (Mark)

Without wasting too much time on these weaklings, Mark left the scene and walked into another path nearby.

"Let's see what other monsters are here in this dungeon…" (Mark)

…

Near the middle area of the dungeon.

'Hmm, Student Mark indeed has some exceptional capabilities… he might be the strongest amongst this batch of students…' (Shin)

Shin had a wide mana detection range and thus he sensed it immediately when Mark used grade-5 magic to defeat his opponents.

'In my opinion, with just a few years under his belt, he will be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with us grade-2 mages eventually…' (Shin)

Every professor who was teaching Mark and his classmates knew the stark difference in capabilities between the regular students and Mark.

They knew that it might take months for the other students to catch up to Mark's current level at this rate.

This is the reason why Mark is favored by nearly every professor in the academy.

…

…

Author's Notes.

Yo! It's your beloved author here! The main star has entered the chat bois! Mark supremacy is at its peak! Let's goo!!!

Question of the day.

Do you think Jareth will be able to keep himself out of trouble?

1. Yes 

2. No

By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.