Chapter 127: The Instructors High-Stakes Gamble: Betting SSS-Rank Crystals on the Royal Princesses

Chapter 127: Chapter 127: The Instructors High-Stakes Gamble: Betting SSS-Rank Crystals on the Royal Princesses

As the Nine Star Zenith Academy instructors reviewed and watched the various groups of students compete for the top position and debated on who they thought would win.

With one busy drinking from his endless jug, and another admiring her co-instructor.

Varkesh enlarged the feed on Group 3 with a flick of his fingers, and a crimson and rocky plain unfurled across the spatial tent, stone pillars jutting from blood red earth, distant cliffs chewing at a dark horizon.

Ten students advanced in loose formation with Silas Dracul Aethernis at their front, his expression enraged with his voice loud and precise.

He ordered his teammates around with the easy and absolute arrogance of someone who had simply never considered the possibility of being ignored and someone who thought that they were better than everyone around them.

Circling on top of the group was a bunch of shapes all of which were winged, scaled and patient.

The monsters of Floor 17 were the Crimson Wingdrakes which had dark red and scaled lizard bodies that were bigger than the lizards of the previous floor and nearly two times it’s size along with long lizard like tails and sharp hooked claws.

’Tch, annoying wannabe dragon bastards.’ Silas thought, as no matter where the group moved there was always at least one of those lizards on top of them.

’They are quite strong for being lizard beasts, they might have some amount of drake or wyvern blood in them.’ Varkesh thought as he watched the feed.

’I wonder, could they have dragon blood?’

’HA, who am I kidding, it would be over for any student if they even had a little.’ He shook his head, discarding those useless thoughts.

These could not be mistaken for anything mythical like a dragon, or even a wyvern because of their puny size and their lack of awe and strength, with the closest looking thing being a drake and that to play to a certain extent, of course excluding lizards themselves.

The Crimson Wingdrakes were diving ambush predators, each burst of flight powered by a mana discharge that let them accelerate hard enough to punish anyone relying purely on ground tactics.

One peeled off from the circling pack and dove towards the group.

"Formation," Silas said, not raising his voice at all this time.

His group moved as two students stepped forward to bait the dive while a spellcaster behind them fired a concentrated mana bolt straight at the creature’s wing membrane.

The Wingdrake twisted mid dive but Silas was already moving.

His blood fire fist flashed once as the Wingdrake hit the crimson dirt and didn’t get back up before a second student finished it.

The rest of the pack kept circling above, wary of the group below them now.

"Don’t chase, you dumbass, let them come to us." Silas said to one of his group members.

Varkesh nodded, satisfied. "Good instincts, he refuses to waste time or burn mana chasing them."

"His timing could be sharper on that first intercept." Brannoc grunted.

"You say that about nearly every student," Garrick pointed out.

"BECAUSE EVERY STUDENT’S TIMING COULD BE SHARPER."

Maerwynn was watching the teammates rather than Silas himself. "The relevant detail is that his group responds without hesitation, that kind of synchronization is difficult to build this fast."

"The means and way he used to achieve it may be questionable but it works short term."

"Precisely, which is why I expect them to be one of the top groups here." Varkesh said.

"But he could use a good bitch slap with all his I’m above you attitude." Garrick said seeing how he treated his teammates.

"Second place for now." Garrick then checked the live rankings scrolling along the tent’s edge.

"With a small chance of moving into first." Varkesh added.

"Unless the current leaders have an opinion about that and somehow mess up, they have it in the bag." Vespera tilted her head.

Maerwynn gestured, and a new feed bloomed into focus on the screen as a vast underground cavern with twisted crimson undergrowth and trees grew straight out of the stone floor in dense, gnarled clusters with their canopies fused into a ceiling of dark foliage overhead and thick veins of crimson liquid pulsing visibly through channels in the bark like the whole forest shared one slow heartbeat.

Ten students fought at the center of a clearing, surrounded by a loose, snarling ring of enemies.

The monsters on Floor 19 were Crimson Howlers. Tall, upright and muscled wolves in dark red fur with elongated arms ending in claws that shredded armor like wet paper.

They weren’t clever but they were coordinated enough to circle, bait, and use careless openings to their advantage, which made them far more dangerous than anything else in the dungeon.

One lunged for an exposed student, as it took advantage of an opening in their rear.

A green eyed and blonde haired elf stepped into its path before anyone could shout a warning, slipped past the swipe with almost lazy precision, and put her blade through its chest in one motion.

The Bloodwolf dropped as she was already turning toward the next one going after her back.

In the front of the group, a petite violet eyed woman with two small purple black demon horns and a cascade of dark purple hair wove a spell with one hand while directing the rest with the other voice.

"You! Left side! Don’t let them circle us!"

A shield wielder slammed a charging wolf sideways as a mage’s burst of concentrated water drove two more stumbling back.

The elf advanced again with graceful movements that also looked almost bored, like she’d already solved the entire fight three moves before anyone else caught up.

"NOW that’s a good student." Brannoc leaned forward so fast his chair creaked as he zoomed the screen to see her movements.

"She’s the leader?" Garrick asked as he expected the other to take the lead instead of the other one.

"It seems like student Freya Yggdrasil took the lead with student Amara Asmodeus co-leading Group Two."

"And with both of them being at SS Rank it’s not surprising they are in first place currently." Maerwynn nodded.

"Don’t forget that they also have three Peak A Rank students to support them and with one of those students being a healer." Vespera added.

"They don’t have to worry about injuries as much as the other groups without one, it’s no wonder they’re first." Vespera’s said as her smile sharpened.

"Yes they are strong, that’s why I believe Group Two has the greater chance of winning." Varkesh crossed his arms as he didn’t expect anything less of a group having two princesses in it.

"You’re very attached to that prediction Varkesh, but I can’t fault you in it, seeing how well these two are doing." Garrick said seeing Group two in action.

"Obviously Garrick and I have good reason to be ."

"You can’t compare nobles with normal commoner students and in the same way you can’t compare Royals with your average nobles."

"Both have potential otherwise they wouldn’t be here, having more doesn’t mean anything as they haven’t grown into it yet." Maerwynn said quietly, eyes still on Freya.

"But, I can’t say that I disagree about Group Two taking first place."

The last Bloodwolf fell as Freya checked her group’s condition and before letting anyone step toward the next battle she waited for every single nod before moving on.

’Good,’ Maerwynn thought.

’She puts her team’s state ahead of her own greed, that’s good judgment, not like most of the nobles here.’ She thought looking at a certain demon vampire barking orders at his group.

As different thoughts flowed through every instructors, Garrick set his cup down with a decisive little click tired and bored just watching kids play.

"All right, let’s make this little exam a bit more interesting, what do you say?" He asked smiling with a genius plan to cure his boredom.

"That sentence has never once led anywhere sensible, especially for you Garrick." Vespera’s ears twitched warily.

"Oh come now, I just want to spice things up a bit."

"How much, would each of you be willing to bet on the final rankings?" Garrick said.

"HA! NOW we’re talking!" Brannoc slapped a massive palm on the table hard enough to make the projections jitter.

"We are not gambling on a student examination." Varkesh’s expression curdled.

"No, no, no, we’re not gambling, my good demon."

"We’re making an informed prediction on who will win with a little incentive, of which could go to the winning group, see its for the students." Garrick said entirely too innocent.

"So what are you proposing," Maerwynn asked slightly amused as she too was getting a bit bored.

"SSS Rank mana crystals, each of us picks a group, or a student with the winner taking it all."

The tent went quiet for a beat as Vespera’s smile crept back slowly.

"That’s not a small incentive, but other also not as risky as your normal bets, did your pockets finally run dry Garrick?"

"My pockets are as full as my never ending wine bottle, thank you very much." He said before quickly changing the topic.

"So how confident you are all in your groups?" He smiled in a way that just looked like someone begging for a punch to the face.