The students experienced a second wind of energy while they were making their way to the magic classroom. Even though I kept my expectations low due to the school's standing, I couldn't help myself but become excited at the thought of learning magic. The reason being, almost all the students here have probably never seen magic up close before. Now that the opportunity to learn magic was right in front of them, of course, they'll feel ecstatic. That's probably why the magic lesson is also the last class of the day because the school administrators knew the student's burning desire to learn magic.

 

Upon stepping into the classroom, a unique smell assaulted my nose. The smell wasn't bad but wasn't great either. The scent was just weird. That's the best way to describe it. Behind the classroom's podium stood a woman wearing a stereotypical witch attire. She wore a big pointy hat and dark loose clothing that resembled a cloak. "She must be really into her role," I thought to myself. The reality was, modern day magicians typically wore everyday clothing. There was no benefit in wearing those kinds of magician clothing found only in fantasy novels. Its only purpose was to make the person wearing it seem more mystical or magical. But most of the time, it just looks weird.

 

All the students got into their seats and proceeded to wait for the teacher to start class excitedly. The teacher didn't speak for a couple of minutes, rendering the room completely silent for a while. Finally, the teacher introduced herself. She introduced herself in a tone reminiscent of how a mother would talk to a baby. She said, "Hello, my little students, my name is Victoria Rosemary, but you may call me Ms. Rosemary, and as you probably know, I am your magic instructor."

 

"Oh no," I thought to myself, my magic teacher is a narcissist.

 

Ms. Rosemary proceeded only to discuss her "great" self and her "grand" achievements for the entire class duration in that same annoying tone.

 

As you could imagine, exiting the classroom, the common facial expression found on students' faces would be one of severe disappointment. Forget even mentioning the word magic. We forced ourselves to look interested in her self flattery. We had to pretend that we enjoyed what the teacher was saying because of the off chance that someday she may decide to teach us magic. We must not ticker her off by showing our true thoughts.

 

Now I had a renewed understanding of why the magic lesson is the last class of the day. The only thing students get out of this class is depression. We were so close, yet so far away from learning magic. It'd be inconvenient for the school if all the students were depressed while in the other classes. Therefore, the magic class is scheduled as the last class of the day.

 

Still feeling disappointed from the lackluster magic lesson, I now needed to go forward with my plans. First thing I did after school was to get the monster core in my room. With the monster core in my pocket, I headed toward the closest sub-branch of the Grand Exchange. It took me around half an hour on foot to get to the branch store.

 

Inside the store, I felt like I was somewhere where I didn't belong. The store was decorated with the most exquisite of items. The floors were covered in a beautiful red velvet colored fabric. Monster cores of all different sizes and colors sat on fancy cushions in transparent containers.

 

The employees wore clean, expensive looking suits. Meanwhile, I wore a dirty school uniform that I've probably had for almost two years now. I looked totally out of place, and the employees' gazes expressed the same thought. I walked to the receptionist and took out my monster core. The receptionist glanced at it and said, "150 dollars, take it or leave it."

 

The receptionist's fast offer caught me off guard. Initially, I was ready to barter. What I didn't expect was to be offered an price so quickly. Truthfully, the offer was already pretty decent. The reality was that the quality of my monster core was really low, so I shouldn't expect much in the first place. The receptionist probably judged it as a waste of time to barter with me, so he promptly offered me a decent offer. I took the receptionist's offer and left. Now with one hundred and fifty dollars in my pocket, the most money I've ever been able to call mine truthfully, I wondered what I should do with it.

 

I knew I wanted to use this money to invest in myself, but I had to be intelligent in what aspect of myself I invested in. I could buy a gym membership to access quality equipment, increasing my strength, endurance, and speed more efficiently. Else, I could enroll in martial arts lessons to learn fighting techniques. My last option was to save up for magic lessons since I couldn't afford one right now with just one hundred and fifty dollars.

 

I reasoned that, on the basis, I continue to explore the dungeon with the skeletons, what I lacked the most was not having a technique or magic attacks when it came to fighting against the skeletons. What I lacked most was raw strength. With that thought in mind, I went to a gym that was relatively close to the school and bought a membership card.

 

For the next hour, I worked out in the gym. My focus today was on my strength. I wanted to increase my power to have an easier time splitting the skulls of the skeletons I face. After leaving the gym, I decided to get myself a proper weapon to use instead of the butcher's knife with the bit of money I had left. With the little money I had, I was able to buy a sword about the length of my forearm. It was sturdy and balanced. I purposely picked a slightly thicker sword because, frankly, there isn't much to cut on a skeleton; it's more bashing than slicing.

 

Since I still had time remaining in the day, I decided to try my luck at the dungeon again. Unfortunately, I only encountered the small skeletons during this run, and none of them carried anything of value. I left the dungeon before I could venture any further down to make it back to the school before curfew.

 

Before entering school grounds, I hid my sword in a bush that was in an inconspicuous position. I couldn't bring my newly obtained sword into school grounds because it would be troublesome if I were to be caught with it. After all, students are not allowed to carry weapons.

 

Very quickly, a month had gone by. Nothing too interesting had happened during school. In the battle lessons, Mr. Ding had us continue sparring each other and occasionally lecture about a bare-hand fighting theory and techniques. Meanwhile, in the magic lessons, it has been a whole month of just listening to Ms. Rosemary talk about herself and nothing about magic.

 

Outside of school, I've been going to the gym every day, pumping iron, getting stronger; I've also been visiting the dungeon whenever I get a chance. In total, I've met three more of those bigger skeletons and managed to receive three monster cores that looked identical to the first one I found. After a month's work, I looked up my Hunter System and looked at my progress.

 

Name: Gideon Lenoir

Age: 15

Title: N/A

Bloodline: N/A

Class: N/A

Strength: F → F+

Agility: F+

Endurance: F-

Intellect: E-

Wisdom: F-

Luck: B+

Abilities: Sprinting (F+)

Techniques: Unarmed Combat Fundamentals (F-)

Status: Healthy

 

Unarmed Combat Fundamentals (F-) (Max: E+): Allows the user to execute the basics of unarmed combat. You know the basics of punching, kicking, and grappling.

 

In a month, I raised my strength stat and learned the skill Unarmed Combat Fundamentals from all the time spent fight unarmed in the combat class. That was pretty good progress, I thought to myself. Today the students got a day off, so I wanted to spend the day going as deep as I can in the dungeon. In preparation for this endeavor, I sold the monster cores I had and used the money to buy a suit of light leather armor. The armor covered all my vitals and was resistant towards blades.

 

Armed with my sturdy sword and cut-resistant armor, I ventured into the dungeon in the morning. Going down the dungeon, I heard some noise in the darkness. However, this time I wasn't afraid. I walked toward where the noise originated from and prepared for battle.

 

After turning around the corner, I was confronted by the same kind of small skeletons that I met when I entered this dungeon for the first time. I unsheathed my sword and prepared for the skeleton's attack.

 

Upon noticing me, the skeleton leaped toward me. Seeing the skeleton's redundant action, I slightly stepped towards the right and swung my blade diagonally. My attack immediately detached the skeleton's skull from its body by striking its neck,  effectively killing it in a single blow.

 

Looking down at the skeleton's corpse, I was reminded of how much I struggled against these things the first time around. After fighting against these things for a month, I had fully adapted to their attacks and discovered how to kill them most efficiently. I had also gotten more comfortable using the sword.

 

I felt proud of my progress, and my confidence in becoming a hunter reached an all time high. This time around, my heart pounded in anticipation of what treasures I would collect and the dangers I would encounter as I ventured further into the dungeon.