Chapter 52 The Black Cloud
***At the Professor's Office***
There were multiple screens in the meeting hall of Professor showing various recordings of students in the dungeon.
The professor all gathered to look at how the students were performing in the practical exam.
Of course, the most eye-catching ones were Hiro, Zion, Lisa, and Sylvia who showed overwhelming power and knowledge to survive.
The professors were all impressed by their performance.
There were also other students that caught their attention, especially Zero who was making the exam look like he was on a trip.
[ "Kakakakakaaa... I can't believe someone bought a tent and grill with them. He seems to be on a trip" ]
[ "Who is he? I don't think I have seen him before." ]
[ "He is Zero Elea, a student of my class." ]
Professor Mia said to Professor Theo. Professor Theo is also a homeroom teacher in one of the First-year classes. He is an energetic and jolly person. He is also extremely chatty and overly friendly.
[ "Zero, Zero... The rumor guy that went with you at Sophia's party?" ]
[ "Yes" ]
[ "Hah? I thought it was only a rumor that he was a student. I can't believe he was really a student. So, is the rumor of you being into younger boys also true." ]
Theo teased.
[ "Don't you think it is a little unethical to date your student." ]
Brianna who hated Professor Mia complained in a disdainful voice. She had been trying to seduce Professor William for years, however, he would never give a glance at her while he would chase after Professor Mia like a dog.
There was no problem between the two but seeing him fawning over Professor Mia made Brianna jealous and salty toward Professor Mia.
On several occasions, Professor Brianna would disagree and try to obstruct Professor Mia. This led to bad blood between the two.
( What is it that I am inferior to her? Okay, I admit I may be a little less pretty, just a little bit than her. And I am older than her but mature women have their own charms. And I am still a gorgeous girl who is chased by many men. Why is Professor William still rejecting even when Professor Mia clearly has a lover. )
To say that it was jealous of fellow women, toward a woman who was more beautiful would be the correct statement.
[ "I can go with whoever I want. It is none of your business. I think the really unethical thing is you favoring the Rich students." ]
Professor Brianna would favor students with a profound background. She would treat them politely and respond kindly while students who were from poor and weak backgrounds were treated harshly by her.
[ "Humph! I don't discriminate against the poor. I only like to teach people who have great talent. What is the use of working hard for someone who would never achieve something." ]
[ "By talent, you mean those students with money." ]
[ "Aie ya. Stop it you two. You two are not a kid anymore, try to act your age. We are here to have an important discussion on the practical exam of the First-year. What do you all think about this year's students." ]
Head Teacher of the First-year interrupted them. Every Professor knows that Professor Mia and Professor Brianna don't get along with each other.
However, they can't interfere with them because it was a personal problem between those two. But it doesn't mean he can't interrupt them when those two are disturbing an important meeting.
[ "They are really good. This year we increased the difficulty of the practical exam and still plenty of them are doing great." ]
Professor Theo said while looking at the screen showing the number of students still in the dungeon.
Previously, Ace Academy used to limit the monster level to Rank-E + for the First-year exam but this time they included even a Rank-D boss monster. This test was on the level of second-years and the result was still better than theirs.
[ "I think we should fail student Zero of Alpha class. He has brought in food, water, and a tent. He must have got information about the test beforehand from somewhere. " ]
Professor William said angrily. He didn't forget about his humiliation at Sophia's Birthday party. He wanted nothing more than to get his revenge on Zero.
Watching Zero enjoy the exam like he is on a trip had made Professor Williams angrier. He could not wait for Zero to get eliminated.
He thought Zero would be eliminated by the three students who were ambushing him but Zero didn't even struggle while dealing with those three students.
If Zero were to be valued by the Ace Academy like Hiro, it will be difficult for him to interfere with him in the future.
[ "For What? Being extra prepared. Don't joke with us, William." ]
Professor Mia said with a threatening voice. Professor Mia knows that Professor William is just doing it to get back at Zero.
Zero helped her when she was in trouble. So, she would also do everything in her power to protect Zero.
[ "He has clearly cheated. How can he have bought those items without knowing what is on the exam?" ]
[ "Don't think Zero is the same as you, William. You can ignore the rule and help your students to cheat. Now, you want to bend the rule and eliminate Zero like that? Who do you think you are?" ]
[ "Clearly you helped him. How else can he know? There must be a professor who told him before and clearly, you are the one..." ]
-BANG!
[ "I just said act like your age. And Professor William, we can't fail Zero just because of you." ]
The Head Teacher gave Professor William a glare telling him to drop the matter. Head Teacher was no fool and he knows the feud between Professor William and Zero.
But Head Teacher couldn't help Zero because Professor William's father was someone in a high position and Professor William didn't interfere directly during the duel.
[ " Vice-Principal what do you think about the test." ]
The Head Teacher asked the vice-principal who had the highest position among the present professor.
[ "Ummm" ]
The vice-principal stroke his bread while watching the live feed of the dungeon.
[ "They are truly the Golden Generation. Most of them had reached Rank-E. Especially, Hiro Ernest, he is in Rank-D - ." ]
[ [ [ [ "Rank-D" ] ] ] ]
The Professors were all shocked to hear the Vice-principal words. They know that Hiro was in Rank-E + when the school started but now he broke through in three months.
[ "He is the youngest to become Rank-D in history. With him, we might be able to do well in the Tournament of Academies." ]
One of the professors happily said. With Hiro's potential, he might reach Rank-C in time for the tournament.
[ "The dungeon test difficulty had been increased but with Hiro's breakthrough to Rank-D, it might be too easy for them. HeadTeacher generates a Rank-C boss monster, Wyvern" ]
[ "Understood, Sir!" ]
[ "Let us see how our students can deal with this monster." ]
Only two hours were left before the headteacher started to make a flock of Wyvern with Rank-C Wyvern leader.
All the teachers continued to look at the screen and watch the student's reactions to it. They were eager to see the potential of the First-years students.
*****
[ "Wyvern" ]
Wyvern was a sub-species of dragon and their Rank ranged from Rank-E to Rank-C. The strongest Wyvern was their leader who would be in Rank-C.
Rank-D was already hard for the students to defeat. Not to mention Rank-C Wyvern. And it would still be easy if it was one Wyvern but there was a group of them.
[ "Yes, it started appearing from the sky about one hour ago. We should leave this area immediately." ]
He ran after explaining the situation to me and I also went with him. We ran like rabbits.
[ "Thank you for your warning. What is your name?" ]
[ "Oh. I forgot to introduce myself. I am Haris Holland, the Top-30 ranked in Ace Academy. What is your name?" ]
Haris proudly said while mentioning Top-30. Don't say Top-30, even Top-100 in Ace Academy is something to brag about.
[ "Zero Elea, from Alpha class" ]
[ "ZERO! You mean that Zero?" ]
Haris yelled.
[ "I don't know who is 'that' Zero but yeah it is probably me." ]
Haris looked stupified by the revelation. 89 percent of First-year had heard the name Zero. It started becoming widespread when apparently he beat Lucas and Rowan like punching bags.
But to Top-30 students like Haris, it was no big deal. They could also defeat Lucas and Rowan. They could not defeat them together but even Zero had the help of Hiro Ernest during the duel.
However, Zero truly caught his attention when rumors started circulating about Zero being the lover of Professor Mia, the Ice Enchantress.
It was already hard to get on the good side of Professor Mia due to her stern personality. And Zero was there dating that Professor.
It was not only difficult but downright impossible to do that. Professor Mia didn't just reject no-name guys like Professor William but also famous heroes.
So, it was shocking for him to know that Professor Mia was going out with Zero, the student known as Romeo.
The nickname that was given as an insult turned out to be a compliment. Zero truly turned out to be Romeo, being able to date Professor Mia, the Unattainable Ice Enchantress.
Some students even started idolizing Zero as the king of romance. The students were praying to him to be able to date girls like Lisa and Sylvia.
They thought it would be impossible for them but even Zero, the Romeo had been able to go out with the Unattainable Ice Enchantress.
It sparked a kind of hope for the poor boys who were rejected by girls before.
[ "So, where are we going?" ]
[ "Don't know. But it is better to go as far as possible from those monsters. There is only an hour left before the practical exam ends. We will pass if we can survive for an hour." ]
I nodded. It was a reasonable decision. With so many Wyvern, even Rank-C students might be dead in a matter of minutes.
We quickly caught up with other students. We all ran until we could see other students approaching from other directions.
[ "What are you doing? Wyverns are coming, run away." ]
[ "What? Wyverns are coming from this direction." ]
[ "No, it is coming from the west." ]
Listening to the words of the students, I realized that we had been surrounded from all directions. It was not west, not south, or east, Wyverns was coming from all directions.
Slowly realizing the situation that we are in, the student's faces turn pale. There was a chance that they could have passed if they kept on running but now they were surrounded.
There was no way for them to defeat Wyverns who had the advantage of being in the air and is led by a Rank-C Wyvern.
I looked around and saw Hiro Ernest and the other Main Characters. They were discussing something with each other.
It didn't take long for us to see the black shadow approaching from four directions.
At that moment, Hiro shouted.