Howard Spencer finally got to relax in his bed after much delay. His second day at Esper’s academy had been full of action and anticipation.
He had even come face to face with a villain and made ‘friends’ with someone suspicious.
Howard was about to fall asleep finally when he got an incoming message from Jack Hollow of all people. The elder had been the sole reason Howard had become the power he had been in the first place.
So as much as Howard did not want to pick up the phone, he felt like he had no other choice but to pick it up.
/Howard, how was the first day of your academy life? Was it as exciting as you expected?’/
Jack sounded excited when he asked the question. His voice sounded a pitch higher than it was supposed to be and that gave away how fake his concern was.
‘Look at him, asking all these questions as if Jack doesn’t already know what happened. I am sure he’s just calling back to ask me useless questions.’
“The day was exciting. We chose our weapons and even got to enter a dungeon for beginners. I have to say that it was an exciting day.”
/Hoh. And this excitement had nothing to do with the villainess you encountered today?/
Of course, Jack knew about that already. This man had an incredible information network and he somehow knew every piece of news before it was officially out.
“So you already know about it? Well, nothing happened there. Instructor Harris arrived on time and I got protected by our teaching aid. Ah, his name is Horas and he’s quite young but powerful. He also looks like he’s been in this academy for a long time and the students all know him…Jack, are you alright?”
Howard could not help but notice how weird it was for Jack to fall quite like this. Usually, the older man liked to ask questions since they tended to draw out unexpected details.
But this time, Jack lay quiet, not even making any noise.
“Jack, are you there? Did your brain freeze or something?”
Howard tried again, this time his voice even louder than before. Jack finally looked up with a startled look in his eyes.
“Sorry, I was out of it for a minute. So Horas is your teaching aid, huh? What a coincidence.”
Howard wanted to say that Jack was startled but that would be an overestimation. But then again, Jack was someone who was never caught off-guard. So this startled look was a first for him.
It made Howard feel like he was missing something important.
“Jack, do you know Horas-”
“Well, enough about your second day at the academy, I have something for you to take a look at. I sent you a message just now.”
Howard looked down at his screen, only to see a message about a new dungeon opening. It was about a D-ranked dungeon.
“You want me to participate in this? But it only takes the recently passed adventurers, and I don’t think I cut the age range.”
The age range was from 15-20 years old. Howard was only 13 right now so he could not possibly participate in this.
Besides, he had never gone to a dungeon above grade E before. He was not confident that he would be able to clear it at his current strength level. He would be a liability if he went in.
“Don’t worry about your age or your experience. I will pull some strings and get you a temporary identity. You can disguise yourself and participate in this dungeon. It will be the best way for you to gain experience.”
Jack Hollow was forceful and Howard felt his uneasiness spike. It happened often when he talked with Jack.
For someone as chill as Jack, he sure could be forceful about most random things.
‘And when Jack is like this, it is best to give in.’
“Alright, I will fill out this form and participate for now. Are you happy now?”
Howard sighed as he made his decision and Jack finally looked satisfied as well.
“Yeah, that's fantastic. You will need to raise your level quickly if you want revenge on the people who killed your parents and Julie. Don’t you want to make them pay?”
Howard did want the people who took his only family away to pay. But he was more terrified of them coming back for him and his current family.
‘I guess this dungeon is my ticket to getting stronger.
…………………………
‘I declined this invitation, right? I am so sure that I DID DO THAT.’
Horas remembered refusing the dungeon invitation to get away from this specific situation but he still found himself here for some reason.
“Well, look who it is. I did not think I will get to see you again in this life, Horas Spencer. You did ignore all my messages and even ignore them when I directly tried to call you.”
Out of everyone, Horas could have met, he somehow met Jack Hollow out of everyone. He was almost sure that Jack was half the reason Horas had ended up in his current situation.
“I am so glad that your guardian agreed for you to come here. I will have to send Principal Marbel a ‘thank you’ gift in return.”
As soon as Horas heard it, he was sure that it was 100% Jack’s fault he ended up coming here. He surely had a big hand in ‘persuading’ Principal Marbel to send Horas here.
“Anyway, I heard that you met Howard Spencer yesterday. So, how was it? Meeting your bro-”
“You are talking too much, I liked you better when you were just an old memory in my mind. Anyway, what do you want Jack hollow? You better tell me quickly because I don’t have much time.”
Horas stood tall with his head held high. He was not going to show his weakness in front of Jack.
“Well, what I want is something that will happen with time. Oh, and I can see that I am making you late so I should let you go now. Have fun, Horas.”
Jack left just as quickly as he had arrived. His presence never failed to cause Horas’s headaches.
“Mister Horas, you are being called to the briefing room. Your partner is here already,”
Horas sighed and finally headed in.
After all, there was no point in trying to make sense of Jack’s words. All this talk about fate, and what was going to happen gave Horas a bad taste in his mouth.
“Yes, I heard you. I am coming so just give me a sec.”
Horas took one last look at the outside world before he headed in. After the briefing, he and his partner instructor would have a quick look at the dungeon for the first time.
It was protocol to do so before letting rookies into such a dangerous place.
Horas did not know who his partner was but he was not very hopeful. Often, the senior adventurer chosen turned out to be a hindrance and utterly hopeless.
Most people were here to build reputation and fame after all, not to show themselves as competent.
The first thing Horas noticed once he entered the room was that his fellow instructor was female and had short brown hair and brown eyes. But the presence of a familiar scar across her face pulled Horas’s attention.
“Yo, long time no see Horas. It’ll be nice to work with you again.”
Horas blinked, trying to remember why this female looked so familiar to him. But nothing strikes his mind at that moment.
And then his mind decided to remember that scar and that shade of brown.
“Nesh, it's been forever since we last met each other. I did not expect you to be the senior adventurer chosen for this role.”
Horas was surprised but not shocked. He had just not seen Nesh ever since she and Lucas had graduated.
“Yeah, it sure had dude. Being an adventurer sure keeps you busy all the time. You don’t know how many nights I had to spend in a mucus-filled dungeon just to clear it. It’s a tough world out there for us.”
Nesh complained but she looked happy for someone who was dealing with all these inconveniences. Horas was happy for her.
“It’s nice to see both of you here. Here is all the data we were able to compile about this dungeon. The rest you’ll have to gather once you go in.”
There really was not much data available, but Horas still took the offered package and quickly looked through it.
It seemed like this dungeon was based on modern times and it had a lot of tall buildings. It made it much more difficult to tell where the boss monster would be located.
“Well Horas, looks like we will need to go in and find the boss first. Let’s have a good time in there.”
Horas held the information packet close to himself and sighed. Things were never easy when it came to dungeons and clearing them.
The lack of information could turn out to be fatal so Horas decided to be careful. He entered the dungeon with Nesh and instantly started scanning it.
the first thing they needed to do was to make a map of this place and to know where the dangerous monsters were at.
