100 strikes of the Fire Sword Dance? And you're saying he has to take all 100? He'd die. He'd definitely die.
When Obern said those words, that was all that filled Prince Philly's mind.
No, why hit him 100 times in the first place? Three minutes and thirty-two seconds—that's Brother's record. Does falling short of that justify 100 lashes?
At first, he agonized over the "why."
It has to be a lie. He's just talking big; he won't actually do 100.
Then came denial.
Aaaah! No! Why?! That madman will really do it!
Finally, he reached the stage of raging against the world.
And something had felt off just now. Professor Obern usually spoke in a low, gravelly voice, striking dramatic poses. But this time? "I'm gonna give you 100 real lashes." Like he was talking to a child!
But that's exactly what made it feel so real—and terrifying.
As Prince Philly clutched his head in agony, someone placed a hand on his back. He flinched and turned to see Amaen.
"Let's go knock it out."
"..."
"Why're you already so tense?"
"...You won't get 100 lashes if you fail."
"True enough. Haha."
Amaen grinned sheepishly. Who could blame Philly for nearly yelling, This commoner bastard…!
"Begin."
Obern made the declaration.
What do I do? Traps—there's one over there. Seconds are ticking by one by one. Once it started, his heart raced even faster. Something stuck to the flailing prince's face.
"Euphu."
A spiderweb had latched onto his face. Damn, what rotten luck. It was sticky, refusing to come off properly. Why are there spiders in a brand-new dungeon?
"Philly, I told you not to worry."
Did his frantic face-wiping look like crying? Lania and Amaen approached him.
"We'll wrap it up quick."
If you're so chill, then…
At that moment, Lania shook out both hands like she was dusting them off.
Paang!
A drum-like boom echoed in the air. Then Amaen chanted something.
"Collum na, Rapidia."
"Collum na, Rapidia."
⟨ Beginner Elemental Magic: Earth ⟩
Drdrdrdr— A usable stone protrusion jutted from the ceiling.
That was when Lania leaped lightly. Astonishing leg strength. She soared to the ceiling, grabbing the protruding stone handle. Then forward, arm over arm, swinging ahead.
It might be indelicate to say of a marquess's daughter, but she was nimble as a jungle monkey.
"Incredible!"
"Martine-style Pitch Throw Law, right?"
Admiration burst from the onlookers.
Then something triggered.
Gring—Pewk!
The sound of a trap activating. Someone let out a dizzying scream.
"Aqua Scutum."
But Amaen called out clearly, and a blob of water formed in the air, blocking the shooting arrows. The arrows pierced the water, but their paths veered wildly, missing Lania by a wide margin.
"Hyup!"
Lania crossed the passage without touching the floor once, then stomped the tiles ahead furiously.
Kwaaang!
Tiles shattered, wrecking the mechanisms inside. Amaen grabbed the dazed Prince Philly's wrist and pulled.
"Let's go."
The passage floor was riddled with suspicious holes anyone could spot. Normally, spears, poison gas, or arrows would shoot out.
"They're all disarmed…!"
Nothing activated as Amaen and Philly crossed. The moment they reached Lania—
"...One minute, fifty-eight seconds."
Obern announced the time. Cheers and roars erupted shortly after.
"Woooaaah!"
"Almost half the time!"
All the first-years cheered without reserve. Even if the second prince was more popular, the freshmen felt a pure sense of belonging to the third prince. A few third-years clapped too before glancing around and stopping.
Philly turned to Obern as well. Shockingly, Obern raised a thumbs-up.
"Uhaaa…."
Philly's legs gave out, and he collapsed. His heart still pounded.
"N-no… no 100 lashes."
He'd survived again. Amaen offered a hand, and Philly smiled, taking it to stand.
But someone begrudged their success.
"That's invalid!"
It was Professor Damon Richmond.
What's with the bullshit? But it didn't seem like nonsense.
"Why nitpick?"
"They didn't properly disarm the traps!"
Damon fumed. "They just temporarily neutralized part of it. By breaking the weight sensors."
Professor Damon grabbed a nearby rock and tossed it toward the spot Amaen and Prince Philly had walked over.
Thud.
The rock hit the floor harmlessly. Then—
Kagagagang!
Iron bars shot from the ground, flinging the rock. It hit the ceiling, and—
Pipip ing!
More bars burst from other holes.
Kagak, persek!
The rock shattered against multiple bars.
"See? It reactivated!"
"Not a full disarm, huh."
Prince Philly gaped in disbelief. The traps weren't fully disarmed. Lania and Amaen grinned awkwardly.
You're laughing now?! He almost snapped.
"Walking carefully worked fine. Running was risky," Amaen declared proudly.
Professors Obern and Damon kept bickering.
"This way, my students can cross even faster!"
"Then do it."
"Prince Leon!"
The second prince's pride must've been hurt too. When Professor Damon called, he stepped forward without refusal, mimicking Lania's method. He crossed to Philly's group in seconds.
"Forty-three seconds. An overwhelming victory for our Prince Leon."
Obern sneered at Damon's words. "You joking? Looks like all you teach is copying and imitating."
"Take that back!"
Seeing grown adults squabble like kids in front of students wasn't pretty. As Philly sat sighing—
Someone approached. Philly looked up and flinched. The second prince, having crossed the traps, stood before him, smiling down.
"B-Brother."
They say you can't spit on a smiling face. Guess you can.
"Who're you calling brother, you trash?"
"...."
Being suddenly insulted would've pissed anyone off—especially hot-tempered Philly. But he couldn't retort. Far from anger, he trembled like a scared dog.
"I told you to stay out of my sight. You enroll here anyway, and now our classes overlap."
"I-It wasn't on purpose; Father insisted…."
"Philly."
Prince Leon still smiled, speaking quietly so others amid the professors' fight wouldn't hear.
"Withdraw."
"Pardon?"
"Submit your withdrawal. Get out."
"...His Majesty told me to attend Emerald School."
Leon placed a hand on Philly's shoulder. Applying pressure, Philly felt like his shoulder would shatter.
"Agh!"
"Shut up. Don't make a sound."
"K-Khuk!"
"I don't care about your excuses—withdraw. Trash like you doesn't deserve to learn anything. Withdraw!"
His shoulder screamed, but he couldn't even scream. Tears welled in Philly's eyes, about to spill.
Kwak.
Lania gripped Prince Leon's wrist.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Something's on Your Highness's wrist."
"What? Khuk!"
Even that absurd excuse left him speechless. Her grip was like iron tongs.
As Leon tried to scream—
The knight commander's son, guarding him, grabbed Lania's wrist.
"Touching His Highness's sacred body? You've got guts."
"Touching a lady's sacred body? You've got guts."
Lania shot back. Despite his much larger hand clamping her wrist, her expression didn't change. Even the knight commander's son was stunned by her composure.
As their strength contest was about to begin—
"Euphu."
Philly wiped his face again. That damn spiderweb stuck once more. How did spiders even get in this dungeon, webbing everywhere…?
"Wh-what is this?"
The web was tougher than normal. It yanked his hair painfully. The moment Philly looked up at the ceiling—
He thought it was a hallucination. Something that shouldn't be here clung to the ceiling's depressions.
A sound escaped Philly—not quite a scream or a sigh.
"Uh, uhhh…."
Instance dungeons had traps, not monsters. They just mimicked some dungeon, not its living inhabitants. So no monsters should be here. Bugs might sneak in from outside, sure. But giant spiders? Multiple ones clinging to the ceiling? No way.
How long had they hidden? Or crawled in from inside?
One dropped silently. Onto the knight commander's son's head.
Dog-sized, it sank fangs into his nape without a sound.
"Kaaaaah!"
His scream echoed. He flailed, ripping off the spider, then stomped it—splat—its guts burst.
"Uh, uwaa, uwaaak!"
His nape swelled grotesquely. He wheezed, struggling to breathe.
"Sp-spiders!"
Philly screamed. Like a signal flare, dozens poured from the ceiling. Even onto Philly's head….
Piiing!
A ray pierced the falling spider. Turning, Philly saw Obern pointing his staff this way.
Spiders skittered across the ceiling toward him too.
* * *
Thank goodness I have Pellelian. Otherwise, I wouldn't know what caused this sudden mess.
—It's a summoning trap.
Really?
—No other explanation. Some summoning trap here activated, pulling in monsters from designated coordinates. Rare for one to be here.
—Desert necromancers love summoning magic. Bug handlers especially. Makes sense they'd mess with dungeons like this.
Spider tamers—total villains.
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[Sand Barun Ruins lv22]
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Definitely different from the creepy ones in the Great Forest—drier, dustier. Not super strong individually, but their numbers… Especially swarming those kids.
The others can die for all I care—Amaen and his friends, I'll save.
Go, Obern!
H-how?!
But Obern couldn't charge right away. Right—he's tall, so heavy. Not built to ignore traps and dash with spiders incoming.
Some spiders got skewered by spears, so traps still worked. And plenty headed our way.
"Wh-why are they coming here?!"
The first-years hiding behind me screamed. More spiders swarmed this side especially.
Ah, that's it!
The side effect from eating the Crimson Tarantula King's inner core: "Incites unknown hostility from spider-type monsters." Snowballed into this.
No choice. Time to hunt spiders.
Die!
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡Intermediate Elemental Magic: Wind lv2
I blast them down and smash. Demonic essence trickles in. Some tried webbing students—kidnapping attempt?
Worried for Amaen & co., but—
"I'll save them! You protect the other students here!"
That slimy Professor Damon stepped up. His magic seemed better than Obern's. He buffed himself for speed, trampling spider corpses, hopping traps to reach Amaen.
Good riddance—the creep's gone. Time to show my real power a bit.
Obern, chant a cool spell. Something about piercing.
I like how quick on the uptake he is. No "Huh? What?" backtalk. Total opposite of my past life.
"Paporans Hastam, Mortem in Silentio... I command in silence…."
First- and third-years clustered around me. Obern chanting gravely in the center? Honestly cool, even to me.
But I'm the star.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡Transparent Hand lv17
Pulled a longsword and talisman from sub-space. Darksteel Sword, Sunset. The talisman ignited flames.
The flame-wrapped blade looked straight-up magical.
"Slash and pierce."
With Obern's words, I danced the sword of fire.
Desert spiders sliced and skewered en masse. Legs piled dozens high. Hundreds of eyes burned, spewing acrid smoke.
🎉 LEVEL UP! 🎉Level increased.
I heard the level-up chime. The moment Obern earned fame for inventing the Fire Sword Dance spell.
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