19 The royal institute Ferum

(A few days back.)

"We are here scholar Simon!"

Hearing their coachman, Simon closed his book and put it in his leather pouch. "Hey Erik, wake up we are already here." Shacking Erik by the shoulder, he let out a grunt before letting a giant yawn out. "AHH~~ damn that was a long ride."

Rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes he grabbed his stuff and got off the coach followed by Simon who just shook his head. 'He slept for most of the ride and he still complained about it?'

Walking up to the young coachman he handed him a few silver coins from his coin pouch. "Thanks, again for the ride Jimmy, her is a little extra."

Seeing the silver coins his eyes shined and quickly put them in his pocket. "Thank you very much, scholar Simon, if you need another ride just send me a Peri bird. Have a good day." Snapping the reins, the two brown lizards that are pulling it let out a grunt.

""Kruu...""

Erik who was standing in front of the pathway that leads to a giant gate stretched his body before picking up the preserved dead body.

*Crack* *crack* *crack*

"Ahhh~ finally off and I can get paid..."

Simon ignored his commend as he walked towards the person standing by the white stone gateway that is already expecting their arrival.

The bulky adventurer seeing the scholar walking ahead, fastened his pace to catch up to him.

Getting closer towards the gate Simon could see a beautiful woman in a lime green robe with white lining, which covers her slender body. She has emerald green eyes that could pierce right through a person, light green hair that matched with her attire, and two pointy ears poked out behind her silky hair. She was quite tall and her smooth stainless face, and with just one smile she could charm every male looking at her, but instead of a smile she had a frown on her face.

Seeing the frown on her face Simon began to sweat nervously and had a pained smile on his face. Erik on the other hand who saw the beauty couldn't help but be dazed.

Being a few meters apart now, Simon approached her and bowed. "Good to see you teacher."

Hearing her student speak, a tick mark appeared on her head, and took out a short silver wand that was attached to her robe.

Pointing her wand at the bowing scholar a small light blue magic circle appeared.

Simon who didn´t hear a response from his teacher looked up while still at a 90-degree angle and turned pale. "Wait wait wai- GAHHH!"

The wand was pointed right between his eyes as blue lightning shoot at him. Feeling the lightning strike cursing through his body his muscles tensed up and he fell to the ground.

Finishing her spell she put her wand back and looked at the scholar that is occasionally twitching on the ground. "Good to see you my ass! You are 3 days late, tss. And who are you?"

Seeing the beautiful mage looking at Erik he got out of his daze and straightened his back. "I- I am Erik. My party and I took the job of protecting him during the dungeon dive."

*Sigh*

Letting out a tired sigh her frown turned into a light smile.

"Sorry for the poor display of me. I am Luthana Meliamne. It was a quite stressful week, and the headmaster has been bugging me the whole time about Simon's arrival."

Seeing her smile he froze up before stammering, "D- Don´t worry you are beautiful- Ah eh- I mean you are fine. Ah eh I mean it´s fine." Realizing his blunder he turned bright red.

Chuckling cutely at the bulky man's antics she turned back towards her disciple who was slowly standing up.

"Ugh, teacher it isn´t my fault that it took longer than expected, the dungeon's activities are going up." Now back on his two legs he dusted his white robe and looked at his teacher with teary eyes. The shook really hurt but didn´t leave any injuries.

"I don´t want to hear any excuses. Because of you, the headmaster has been breathing down my neck the whole time." Not sparing another glance she turned back and walked towards the giant building behind her.

*sigh*

"Yes, teacher..."

Looking towards the blushing Erik, his mood got a little better, and chuckled a little. 'So this brazen and boisterous meathead could make such a face too.'

"Come on Erik, let's get this over with."

Taking a deep breath he cleared his head and nodded.

Walking on the Stone pathway towards the institute, Erik was amazed at the many students and extravagant buildings. He already saw his fair share of noble buildings and stuff during his adventure years, but this is on a completely different level.

Luthana who was walking in front lead them inside the giant institute until reaching a 2-meters double white wooden door and knocked lightly on it.

*knock* *knock*

From the other side of the room, a deep manly voice could be heard. "Come in."

Opening the door she stepped to the side and looked towards the man seated behind a large brown desk with so many pieces of papers on it that it already tilted. He had long grey hair with few strands of white in it. His head was buried in the mountains of papers writing at lightning speed with a feathered pen. To his right was a young woman that was soring the papers. She wears a blue formal attire and has short black hair that reaches her shoulders. She was more cute than beautiful.

"Headmaster Ferum, scholar Simon has finally arrived."

Saying those words the sound of scribbling suddenly stopped and looked up showing his tired face that had big dark circles under the eyes.

He showed a smile before turning towards the young woman. "Hela, be a dear and get us some tea please."

Shoveling the papers a little bit she, nodded curtly. "I will be back shortly."

Leaving the room she closed the door leaving only 4 people in the room.

"Simon, good that you are finally back. Now tell me what you found."

Taking a step forward he bowed lightly. "Yes, the reason I took so long coming back is that I underestimated the activities of the woodland dungeon. The tier 2 monsters already reached the 1 floor, and the tier 3 monsters have been spotted on the fifth floor and are moving up in mass. The mana that the dungeon is releasing has been increasing exponentially and countless new species of monsters have been spawning everywhere. Even the save zones aren´t spared as the Blessing was overwhelmed. On my way back I have found a dead Nagirus inside a safe place on the first floor."

Hearing all that the headmaster frowned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It is worse than I have imagined. At this rate, a monster stamped will form." Glancing at the bulky adventurer who listened attentively to the conversation, he saw that he was carrying the dead Nagirus body. "But why did you take the body back?"

"Ah, right. Because I found out that it died due to a relative potent poison."

Stroking his beard the headmaster mumbled, "Hmm, a poisonous or venomous monster inside the woodlands dungeon. How unlucky. It won´t survive for long anyway, but a concerning find indeed."

"Emmm, I don´t think it will die so soon."

Hearing the tall adventurer talk everyone in the room turned towards him. The headmaster tilted his head a little and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Scratching the back of his head with his free hand he said, "Well, I heard that a grey snake managed to kill a level 49 scout, showing high intelligence and reflexes, of course, I didn´t take it by the word, but some truth is surely there. Putting one and one together I think it was the same monster or same species that killed the Nagirus."

Stroking his grey beard the headmaster closed his eyes, thinking about what the adventurer just told him. "Hmmm... it could be a unique monster that spawned there."

*sigh*

"What a troublesome matter..."

Opening his eyes again, he placed his hand on a white crystal ball that was on his desk. The crystal ball immediately began to emit a bright white light, before projecting a holographic panel.

On the screen appeared a man, that looked like he was in his early 30s in a white military-style uniform with gold linings and many medals sitting behind a white desk that was also covered in a mountain of papers. He has sharp golden eyes and snow-white hair tied in a ponytail. His pretty face combined with the noble aura could even make married wives fawn over him. Seeing the one who called him he showed a surprised expression before quickly turning into a tired smile.

He spoke in a gentle voice that could soothe one's heart. "Why have you called me again Ignus Ferum? I thought, as the headmaster of the prestigious Ferum institute, you also have a ton of paperwork to do."

"I wouldn´t call you if it wasn´t important Clint."

Hearing the headmaster's words his smile disappeared as he turned serious, making his sharp golden eyes even sharper. Folding his hands in front of him he signaled his old friend to continue.

"I have called you as another unique monster has appeared. This time it is in the woodland's dungeon on the first floor. I will send you some scholars to help you investigate this matter. Station there at least 5 imperial guards and 2 imperial mages. I want you to handpick 6 soldiers that are going to escort him."

Hearing that more work is piling up for him his eyes slightly twitched. " *sigh* You don´t have to worry about that. The royal family already send me a message that they want to make a dungeon dive. Apparently, the second princess is also joining the dive. So I already made the preparations."

Mentioning the second princess Simon couldn´t help but sweat profusely.

"What, the second princes want to enter the dungeons at a time like this!? Well, whatever then. That´s all from me. Notify me when something happens."

"Will do."

Taking his hand off the crystal ball, he looked towards Simon. "You can take a rest now. Just give the monster corps to Hela. Your break is well deserved, but I want to have a report about the dungeon tomorrow."

Simon silently nodded at him and before turning back as he heard the sound of the door opening.

Coming in was Hela, but now with a trail of tea.

Handing each on a cup of tea she silently stood beside the table. Everyone took a sip of the tea and let out a satisfied sigh.

""""Haaa~""""

"Thanks, Hela. The tea is great as al-"

Stopping mid-sentence the headmaster put down his cup and mumbled. "Looks like we are getting a visitor."

Finishing his words a person in black clothes appeared in the room. Despite wearing a cape and face mask hiding the person's identity, the tight clothes wrapped around her skin highlighted her curvy body and plump ass.

Walking up to Simon she handed him a letter with the royal family's emblem on it. "The king wants you to meet him in the royal palace in a week, Simon Ferum."