Sinking Hope

On the other hand.

"Evan?" Feliciel asked curiously.

"Yes, my Lady. The complete details are in this note," Gota replied, placing a book on Feliciel's table.

Feliciel took the book, opened it, and slowly read the information Gota had obtained about Evan some time ago.

"It's really irritating..." she muttered while reading the book.

She then thought of something and said, "Kidnap him, no matter how," and closed the book, placing it on the table.

"I was also planning that, but if you is willing to wait..." Gota said.

"Wait? Is that necessary?" Feliciel asked.

"In the next six months, the academy will hold a second exam in the wilderness. I think that would be a good plan," he answered.

"Then who will you send there to capture that kid?" Feliciel asked again.

"It would be difficult to confront him all at once. I believe someone who can easily disable the enemy, a nimble demon without being noticed," Gota answered, describing a potential person.

She think about it for a moment, Feliciel snapped her fingers and said, "I know who this is."

After a while, following Feliciel's wait, finally someone whom Gota desired eventually arrived. Feliciel called that person without them having to come before.

Someone knocking the room and Feliciel says, "Go in, Vigor."

A man with black hair, wearing a tattered black robe and red eyes. This person was truly like an unnamed extra, their existence not interesting to anyone, but chosen by Feliciel.

"You call me?" he said.

Gota surprised he can't sense that person's aura when he was arrived. Who saw him for the first time, he was amazed at how ordinary this person seemed. He even had doubts about his mistress's choice. But, whether he liked it or not, Gota entrusted the kidnapping task to him.

"How about it, Vigor? Will you accept the mission from me?" Feliciel asked.

"As long as the payment is fair," he replied.

Vigor answered and spoke with few expressions. His face was flat, and his voice sounded very heavy. All in all, this person was completely ordinary. Seems nothing special on him.

"Ten gold coins, how about that?" Feliciel said.

"Not enough," Vigor replied crossing his hand.

"Fifty," Feliciel continued.

"Agree--"

"But there's a condition," Feliciel interrupted Vigor's words.

"Bring the target back without any harm, not a scratch. If you succeed, I will give you another fifty gold coins, making it a total of one platinum coin, and if you're not–" Feliciel proposed.

"Easy," Vigor replied with a flat expression.

"Gota will explain the plan to you. You two should get acquainted," Feliciel said, then sat back in her chair casually.

Vigor and Gota exchanged glances, and Gota took the lead, guiding him to where they would discuss the plan.

On Evan's side, he was undergoing many changes, both physical and magical. "I'm curious about the outside world, I can't wait for six months," he muttered while jogging that Sunday morning.

Well, he had no other choice. Besides, he didn't like taking too many risks to do something like that. He likes being safe.

Time passed quickly, and the day they had been waiting for finally arrived, the day of the second exam this year. Each student had formed their own team and was ready to undertake the exam.

The rules were simple: find any items or objects in the forest or dungeons scattered in various places. The better the item, the higher its value. Well, if they had to come out alive.

The kingdom and the academy made sure that the dense forest chosen for the exam was safe and not as terrifying as the participants imagined. However, they kept this a secret to strengthen their mental preparation for what awaited them. Hopefully.

"Begin!"

The signal was given, and each team immediately entered the forest. Evan, as the leader of his team, led them slowly into the forest while considering their respective roles.

"What's the map like, Ash?" Evan asked as they walked.

"Just straight ahead. There's a large clearing with a red mark in the middle, that's likely the target item, but it's highly probable that other students have already gone there," Ash replied.

"The problem is, there will be many students there, and it's highly likely that conflicts will arise. Furthermore, there will definitely be some teams trying to sneak in and take the item, wasting the efforts of other teams engaged in conflicts."

"So, you mean it will be pointless for us too?" Evan asked.

"Yes," Ash confirmed, adjusting his glasses.

"What about other locations?" Evan asked again.

"Still straight from the clearing, there's a dungeon and two regular ruins on the right and left, I'm not sure what those ruins are, but they might be smaller versions of a dungeon," Ash answered.

"But," Ash noticed something on the map.

"But?" Evan asked curiously.

"There's a strange symbol near those ruins, I assume it's a monster or a trap," he said.

"Let's choose the farthest location, a dungeon," Evan said.

"There's one thing, though. The point on the map isn't marked in red but in black. Are you sure about it?" Ash asked.

"It's impossible for the academy to mark it if we can't handle it, right?" Juliet commented.

"I think so," Ash replied.

"It will take a lot of time to get there. Is there any other way? Like riding a horse or something?" Juliet suggested.

"There is," Evan said, stopping in his tracks.

Ash and Juliet stopped as well, curious about the idea Evan had. Over the past six months, he had constantly surprised them, whether openly or silently. He had unintentionally used advanced magic, which in the adventurer's world could only be used by adventurers ranked S to Heroes.

Evan tightly embraced Ash and Juliet, then used wind magic beneath his feet to propel the three of them high into the sky, guided by Ash towards their destination.

Their actions were witnessed by several instructors stationed at various points. "Wait, where are they heading?" one of the instructors said.

In a short time, they finally arrived in front of the entrance to the dungeon. It looked like a water portal, its purpose unknown. The entrance was filled with water, and the water itself emitted a bright light.

"It doesn't seem as terrifying as marked on the map," Juliet said.

"Yeah... We won't know until we enter. Let's go," Evan said, entering first.

As they entered, they were shocked to find the entire place filled with water except for the spot they were standing on, where the water seemed to be suspended.

Evan noticed strange creatures resembling pufferfish moving around, and there were several buildings like watchtowers or houses nearby. The place resembled a submerged village.

"More difficult than I imagined..." Evan muttered, deep in thought.

Suddenly, Juliet stepped forward and effortlessly moved through the water. "Oh yeah, that's it," Ash said, following suit.

They used protective magic to create a shield around the area they were standing in. This protective magic acted like a shield, preventing anything from entering, making it easy for them to hold back the water.

"I didn't expect it to be like this," Evan remarked, doing the same.

The problem was that their voices were slightly muted since they were essentially underwater, and they also struggled to fight against the continuous influx of water monsters.

At one point, numerous pufferfish monsters began heading towards them. The exact number couldn't be determined, but judging by the size of the crowd, there were probably around a hundred.

The monsters relentlessly slammed into their shield, overwhelming the three of them in their fight against the pufferfish. Evan then used earth magic, summoning it wherever the fish were present.

"It's never-ending!" Evan exclaimed.

Evan was about to use lightning magic, but Ash immediately stopped him, shouting, "Don't it or we'll be affected too!"

It wasn't clear, but Evan could still hear it. He understood Ash's concern – if he used lightning magic, it would spread throughout the area, affecting their shield and depleting both of their magical energies. Evan's magic might be enough to erode their shield, allowing water to rush in and drown them.

Evan had another idea. He chose the element of wind to attack the monsters. Extending his hand, he created a large circle of magic in front of him and unleashed endless gusts of wind towards the pufferfish.

Ash and Juliet realized this and moved away as far as possible because Evan's magic was not ordinary.

Once Evan finished annihilating them all, Ash and Juliet breathed a sigh of relief. If they hadn't moved away, their fate might have been like that of the submerged trees and buildings, with the dismembered bodies of the pufferfish monsters scattered around.

Evan smiled, gave them a thumbs-up, and continued walking, leaving behind the debris and the carcasses of the mutilated fish.

"Seriously... Can you come up with something more sensible than that?" Ash asked.

"No, no, of course that's sensible. Since we're in the water, it's difficult for the wind to enter, especially with weak force," Evan replied.

Evan's meaning is more like when you blow air through a straw underwater, only bubbles will come out.

After walking for a while, they once again stumbled upon a cave, but it was bigger than before. Without hesitation, Evan entered, followed by his two friends behind him.

As they entered, they were surprised to find a gigantic room lined with steel walls as far as the eye could see. At the very end, there was a large door with carvings of the ocean and a whale leaping out of it. It was a beautiful picture. However, they had to pass through a horde of underwater monsters. Not fish, but more like humanoid creatures. Their bluish-green skin was covered with armor, some were unarmed, and others wielded weapons ranging from swords to spears.

At the same time, they heard a loud cry of a whale that made their ears ring. Once they regained their senses, they were shocked to see a multitude of those humanoid monsters swimming towards them, aiming their weapons and ready to eliminate the intruders.

The three of them had no choice but to fight back only with magic. Evan, Ash, and Juliet were ready to battle those monsters.