Chapter 43: Among Seniors

Max was currently in his dorm room, packing his personal things for a three-day Quest trip with the Third-Year Seniors. Adrien, the leader of the group, had explained what they sought and why he was needed on this quest.

From the beginning, it was obvious to Max that these people were eyeing his [Salvation] skill. When things went south, they needed him to heal them back to perfect condition so they could push forward without fail.

Although seeking his help was a very valid reason, what kind of quest would incapacitate a person to the point where they couldn't continue? Furthermore, these people wanted him along with them, a person who had barely reached Level 4. Would he not get killed easily? If so, who would heal him back to new?

That was when the party leader introduced the rewards, which made Max nod his head in agreement to the quest. They also guaranteed his safety. With the Academy Head Teacher's approval, Max decided to do this, coming directly to his dorm to get ready since they had to depart right away.

Max took both his sword and his bow, just in case a situation arose where he needed to use them. Even though the promise they made was solid, he couldn't simply hand his safety over to the hands of others. He needed to prepare on his own to save himself if push came to shove.

Once he packed everything, he left the dorm and headed towards the entrance of the Third-Year premises, waiting for the others to arrive. While he was waiting, a lot of Third-Year students exited the gate and gave him strange looks, but they did not come over to talk to him. Perhaps the restriction on having conversations with lower-years was still in place, yet to be lifted after this evening.

Well, I will miss the competition results, he thought, since he wouldn't be here for the next three days. Thus, he wouldn't be here to witness the changes that were going to happen among the first-years.

While he was lost in his own thoughts, a group exited the gate with their own gear and equipment. They were already wearing their armor and weapons right from here. They looked cool with all their shiny armors and weapons. On the other hand, Max looked completely plain, with a sword hung on his hip and a custom-made bow slung across his shoulder.

"Max, are you ready?" Adrien asked with a big smile.

Max nodded his head. Shortly after, an alchemic vehicle came to a stop in front of the gate. Everyone stepped into the vehicle. From here, they had to travel to the train station, where they would take a hyper-speed alchemic train to a location called Buczacki.

It was located in the north of the Kingdom, a region that shared borders with other Kingdoms. This borderland was mostly made up of mountains and hills. It held an abundant amount of natural resources and plenty of Dungeons.

Their destination was one of these Dungeons, and their goal was to conquer it. Because it was an A-Rank Dungeon, people from different guilds and independent Adventurers crawled all over the place. Therefore, they would face tough competition once they arrived.

However, since they were still wearing their Academy uniforms, they could easily bypass every obstacle. It was a privilege they received simply by being part of the Academy. Everyone showed respect to this uniform. While it was mostly respect, half the time it was actually fear.

Although the Academy had very little internal power, the amount of external support they received was enormous. Even the King had to think twice before making any decision that involved the Academy.

Because of this, they did not need to worry about any danger while they were traveling. They simply had to worry about what would happen once they entered the Dungeon.

The vehicle sped through the traffic and reached the station earlier than the train's scheduled time. Thus, they sat in the waiting area for the train to arrive.

"Max, how is your academic life going? Are you enjoying it?" Candice, the party's Healer, suddenly asked as they all waited.

"Yes, Senior Candice, it's okay. Things are going smoothly," Max replied. Not knowing what else to say, he just responded in generic terms.

"It is usually boring for the first two months, and only then does a lot of fun stuff happen. So don't worry, you will be very busy from here on out," Leon, the party's Tank, chimed in.

Max simply nodded his head without saying anything.

"Most of all, the first year will be fun, so enjoy it as much as you can. Once you enter your second year, life becomes difficult," Harold, the Ranger, said.

"So, Max, you awakened three classes. How is your training going? Do you have enough time to practice all of your skills?" Adrien, the party leader, asked.

"Yes, Senior Adrien. Although it is a little difficult to improve all of my skills at the same time, I am still working constantly without leaving anything behind," Max replied.

If he had only one class, he would have at least reached 100% proficiency in one skill. However, because he had three, he had yet to reach even 20% proficiency in his combat skills. Unless he participated in actual battles, he wouldn't increase his skill proficiency anytime soon.

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While they were conversing casually, the hyper-speed train arrived and came to a stop. Everyone prepared to board the train.

Suddenly, however, their path was blocked by another group of people. Surprisingly, they were also wearing Third-Year uniforms.

"Adrien, what the hell are you doing here?" a burly guy standing at the front of the other party asked, looking at Adrien.

"What kind of question is that? Why else would anyone be at the train station? We are traveling," Adrien replied nonchalantly.

"Are you all ready to die for this Quest? You know you will be doomed without the [Rings] Elixir." The guy's face filled with disbelief upon seeing the party.

Suddenly, his eyes shifted towards Max, who stood silently to the side, and his expression changed immediately.

"Don't tell me... Hahaha!" His words trailed off as he suddenly started to laugh. "Everyone, look at this! This guy actually went and brought someone from the first year to enter an A-Rank Dungeon!" The burly guy pointed at Max, laughing in a mocking manner.

"What is your name, kid? No, wait, I heard your name earlier. Oh, Max... Maximus. Yeah, Maximus. What are you doing with these people, kid? They will definitely kill you; you are doomed from the start. I suggest you abandon these people, go back to the Academy, and do your training. Don't die for these people. It is not worth it," the guy advised.

"Boyd, just go away, man," Adrien simply said, without getting angry at the guy.

"Adrien, why are you so stubborn? Are you ready to kill some innocent first-year just for your pride?" Boyd did not go away as he continued.

"Dude, what are you talking about? Even if we are doing what you claim, what does any of this have to do with you? Why are you even talking to us?" Adrien rebutted.

"Hahaha! It is just advice; you will fail. We are the party that is going to conquer the Dungeon. I just wanted to save your unwanted effort and an innocent life," Boyd said, his eyes moving to Max.

"Well, we appreciate your concern and care. Now, if you would be kind enough to make way, we will continue our journey," Adrien said as he walked past the group.

The others followed him, including Max. As they left, Max noticed Boyd and his party looking at him intently.

Once the party left those guys behind, they settled into a single compartment. After a few moments, the train sped down the tracks. It would take three hours to reach their destination. There were no stops in between, so everyone settled into their seats.

Max couldn't even sightsee through the window, as the outside completely blurred. The speed they were traveling at was enormous. It was truly a miracle what alchemic technology could achieve.

Max simply sat in his seat, thinking back on the conversation they just had. The revelation was clear: not only were Adrien and his party going on this particular quest, but another party, or potentially even more parties, were traveling with the exact same purpose. Therefore, it was a competition to see who could complete the quest first and obtain the rewards.

Adrien hadn't explained what kind of rewards the quest offered. He had simply explained what Max was needed for and what he would receive once the quest was completed. However, seeing the heavy competition now, it seemed some highly sought-after rewards were involved.

"Are you thinking about what those guys said?" Adrien suddenly asked.

"Oh, yeah. I was thinking about the [Rings] Elixir. What is it?" Max asked.

Boyd had said that without the Rings Elixir, they were doomed. Adrien's party must have come seeking him because they couldn't get this Elixir. Practically, his [Salvation] skill was equal to the Elixir they needed to do this quest.

"Very well. I was waiting for the right time to explain it, but since you already know about it, let me explain the full context of this Quest," Adrien said. "This quest, or rather the assignment we are currently doing, is a mandatory one directly imposed by the Academy. In the future, when you reach your final year, you will do this exact same quest."

"What is the purpose of this quest? It is our first triple-level Dungeon, where we have to defeat three Boss monsters. The best part is that everyone knows exactly what kind of Boss monsters we are going to face. That is because it is a standard Dungeon quest that Academy students have been doing for a very long time. You can imagine the decades worth of details that have been recorded. However, even with the known details about the Bosses, it is still very hard to defeat them. The last time a party conquered that Dungeon was two and a half decades ago."

"So, most parties fail at the second level during the Boss stage. The reason being the poison that the Boss uses to attack. Over the years, people have tried different methods to counter this poison. However, none worked. Eventually, people discovered that there was no cure for it.

"But, there are some immunity elixirs that can slow down the poison to a certain degree. That elixir is called [Rings]. People use this to reduce the effects of the poison and defeat the enemy. Even then, it is still very difficult to conquer the second Boss, eventually leading parties to fail and abandon the quest."

"The traditional way to complete this quest is to buy the [Rings] Elixir. However, the [Rings] Elixir is considered a high-rank elixir. It is very hard to brew and extremely rare to find on the market. Thus, only a few parties from influential families can obtain this elixir and monopolize it. Because of this, every year, people usually only aim to conquer the first level and then exit the Dungeon. This is our party's second trip. Last time, without the Elixir, we only reached Level 1 and abandoned the quest.

"But that was when we heard a rumor that a first-year student had a miracle Skill that could heal any poison or disease. So, we went to the Academy Head Teacher and called for you. You know the rest." Adrien explained everything.

A poison so strong that even a high-level elixir fails against it? Max thought to himself. He had recently finished reading about different types of poisons, but he hadn't read about this unique one.

"What is this poison called?" Max asked. He just wanted to know if he had read about it, though he was pretty sure he hadn't read about a poison that lacked an antidote.

"The poison the Boss uses is called [Z0]," Adrien said.

[Z0]? That is a weird name, Max thought. Suddenly, he remembered reading about a similar topic in that book. "Does that name mean we don't know the original source of the poison?"

"Yes. No one has been able to extract the poison from that Boss Monster to analyze it and find an antidote," Adrien said.

Max could understand this. Since even fighting and defeating this monster was hard, who in their right mind would think of extracting poison from it directly? It was a suicidal thought, and that was also the reason why no one had found an antidote for this poison.

"Well, I can understand the situation. But how will I help on this quest? If I travel with all of you, wouldn't I get poisoned as well?" Max asked after hearing the whole story.

"Don't worry. We have one vial of the [Rings] Elixir for you to use," Adrien said with a smile.

Hearing this, Max nodded his head. This quest was going to be interesting.