The tower stairs felt longer on the way down.
Not physically.
Mentally.
Cadet 317 walked behind the male lead and the female lead, staring at the stone steps while his brain attempted to process several extremely unpleasant facts.
Fact one.
Something under the academy wanted out.
Fact two.
The seal was collapsing faster than the original story.
Fact three.
He had just volunteered himself as a tour guide for the dungeon that had not opened yet.
He sighed.
"I really need to learn how to stay quiet."
The female lead glanced over her shoulder.
"You say that often."
"I mean it occasionally."
The male lead continued walking without slowing.
"You know the structure below."
Cadet 317 scratched his head.
"Parts of it."
"You remember it."
"Some rooms."
"Some traps."
"Some monsters."
The male lead stopped halfway down the stairs and turned around.
"That is enough."
Cadet 317 raised a finger.
"I would like to remind everyone that in the original timeline I died in that dungeon."
The female lead blinked.
"You died."
"Yes."
"In the test."
"Very quickly."
The male lead stared at him.
"And now you are volunteering to return there."
Cadet 317 shrugged.
"I am attempting to die later."
The female lead almost smiled.
Almost.
They reached the bottom of the tower.
The academy courtyard had changed since earlier.
Several instructors were stationed near the sealed fracture. Barrier formations glowed faintly across the stone.
Students had been cleared from the area.
Good.
Less witnesses when reality started breaking again.
The male lead stopped near the sealed crack.
The female lead stood beside him.
Cadet 317 stood a few steps behind them.
Because standing slightly behind potential heroes seemed like good strategy.
The male lead spoke first.
"You said the dungeon opens during the midterm."
"Yes."
The female lead asked quietly,
"What is the first level?"
Cadet 317 walked closer to the cracked stone.
He pointed downward.
"The entrance chamber is directly beneath this courtyard."
The male lead frowned slightly.
"Convenient."
Cadet 317 nodded.
"Very."
The female lead looked at the barrier runes.
"The academy knows this."
"Yes."
The male lead crossed his arms.
"And yet they send students inside."
Cadet 317 shrugged.
"Educational experience."
The female lead gave him a flat look.
"You are joking."
"Yes."
He pointed again.
"The real reason is control."
"The dungeon creatures are contained by the barrier layers."
"Students are sent to test their combat ability."
The male lead looked at the cracked stone.
"And the deeper levels?"
Cadet 317 hesitated.
That part was not fun.
"The deeper levels contain stronger creatures."
"And at the bottom..."
The female lead finished the sentence.
"The sealed entity."
He nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Silence followed.
Then the ground vibrated again.
Much stronger this time.
Barrier runes flared bright gold across the courtyard.
One of the instructors shouted.
"Containment pressure rising!"
Cadet 317 stared at the crack.
Dark vapor seeped through the barrier lines.
Not a full breach.
But enough to make his system flicker again.
Containment integrity decreasing
Entity activity rising
"That is not good," he said.
The male lead stepped forward immediately.
His aura expanded slightly.
The female lead moved beside him.
Cadet 317 looked at both of them.
"You know you two always stand in front when things go wrong."
The female lead replied calmly.
"You always stand behind."
"I am strategically positioned."
The ground trembled again.
This time the crack widened slightly.
One of the golden barrier sigils shattered.
Instructors rushed forward to repair it.
The male lead spoke quietly.
"If the barrier breaks again..."
Cadet 317 nodded.
"Something else comes out."
The female lead tightened her grip on her sword.
"What level creature?"
Cadet 317 considered that.
"Probably something we should not fight in the courtyard."
The male lead looked ready.
The female lead looked ready.
Cadet 317 looked at the nearest exit route.
Preparation.
The crack pulsed again.
Then a shape moved beneath the barrier.
Something large.
Very large.
The instructors shouted commands.
Barrier circles intensified.
But the shape continued pushing upward.
Cadet 317 felt his stomach drop.
"That," he whispered, "is not first layer material."
The male lead asked quietly,
"What is it?"
Cadet 317 answered honestly.
"A gate guardian."
The female lead frowned.
"But the gate should not open yet."
"Exactly."
The ground exploded again.
Stone fragments scattered across the courtyard.
Barrier sigils shattered.
And a massive claw punched through the cracked seal.
Cadet 317 stared at the enormous claw rising from the fracture.
Then looked at the male lead.
Then at the female lead.
Then back at the claw.
"Good news," he said calmly.
Neither of them responded.
He pointed at the claw.
"That is only the hand."
The creature began pulling the rest of its body through the broken seal.
And it was much bigger than the courtyard.