Extra Pages: The Author's Odyssey
Chapter 284: Mid-Term Exam [2]

"Tsk, I can't believe that fucker is always at <E> rank" Hora Breack muttered to himself as he saw the distant figure of Lucas Darkheart.

Hora is one of the Aric followers but for some reason, Hora hasn't received any orders from Aric.

"Why isn't Master doing something about him." The master that Hora said was Aric.

A few months ago Aric wanted to kick out Lucas from Academy and he had given his order to him.

However, all of their methods failed.

Not only Lucas didn't care about his surroundings, but He was also strong.

And right now Lucas had become a disciple of Yato, which means he couldn't touch him.

But Hora wasn't going to stop either, He doesn't care if Lucas is a disciple of Yato.

At this point, Hora wanted nothing more than beat the shit out of him

"This all for Master Aric," Hora muttered, his voice sounding from as he clenched his fist.

Aric has changed since coming back from vacation, unlike before we're Aric treated him like a bug, the current Aric is different.

Thinking thus far, Hora couldn't help but feel his heart thumping in excitement.

Acknowledged.

That's how the current Hora felt.

He felt that the current Aric had finally acknowledged his hard work and dedication.

All of his hard work had finally paid off.

Aric now finally treated him like someone who was worthy of following him…

Staring at Lucas in the distance, Hora couldn't help but recall the conversation he had with Aric two months prior. Before Silva City.

…at how Aric wanted him gone

Yes…

Since Aric had asked for it, now that he had been acknowledged, he must use anything within his power to satisfy Aric.

Be it kneeling down, washing his clothes, to cleaning up bugs. He was prepared to do it.

Hora was prepared to do anything that was asked of him…

Staring at Lucas in the distance, Hora licked his lips.

'You must pay a price for offending someone you shouldn't have…'

As Hora's gaze bore into Lucas, a fire ignited within him, fueled by a potent mix of loyalty to Aric and a burning desire for vengeance. With each step Lucas took, Hora's determination hardened, his resolve strengthening with every passing moment.

In his mind, there was only one goal: to make Lucas pay for daring to defy Aric, for standing in the way of their plans, and for simply existing as an obstacle to be removed.

With a grim determination, Hora began to formulate a plan, his mind racing with possibilities as he assessed the situation. Lucas may be strong, but he is not invincible. There were ways to bring him down, to humble him and remind him of his place.

But first, Hora needed to bide his time, to wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. He couldn't afford to act recklessly, not when the stakes were so high and the consequences so dire.

Hora made a silent vow to himself. He would not rest until he had achieved his goal until he had proven himself to Aric and shown Lucas the true extent of his power.

With a steely resolve, Hora set out to make his mark on the world, to carve out his own path and ensure that no one would ever dare to underestimate him again. And as he stepped forward into the darkness, he knew that the road ahead would be long and fraught with danger.

But he was ready.

Ready to do whatever it took to achieve his goals.

Ready to make Lucas pay for his defiance.

And ready to prove himself worthy of Aric's trust and respect.

***

My mind was already focused on what was to come.

According to what I remember writing in the novel, this dungeon was located in a cave-like setting, meaning that there wasn't much room to manoeuvre the body freely.

Moreover, the visibility inside of the dungeon was also low.

I still vividly remember writing this part of the novel hence why I knew a lot of what was to come. With Adrian being ranked, the level of difficulty was on a much harder level. Though I didn't know the full layout of the dungeon as I never dwelled too deeply into it, I knew what monsters were present, their weak points, and where the traps were located.

…this was good.

"Alright, everyone please pay attention to me"

Snapping me out of my thoughts was the loud shout coming from the professor.

"I will now open the portal. Once you enter, you will automatically be transported towards your designated post."

Glancing at every student present to make sure they understood, the professor nodded

"Have a nice trip…"

Finished with what he wanted to say, glancing towards a staff member wearing a black Nova uniform on the right, the professor nodded in his direction.

Nodding back, the staff member pulled a lever.

-Vuuuuam!

Right after the lever was pulled, the glow around the portal intensified as the residual magical power being emitted from the portal quadrupled in magnitude. The air around us solidified due to how thick the mana in the air was.

Staring at the massive portal before him, the professor moved to the side and gestured towards a certain group not so far from where I was.

"G ranks first…"

-Vuuum! -Vuuum! -Vuuum!

On cue, after seeing the portals light up, the students standing in line for the G-ranked section entered the portal one by one.

As I stared at the students entering the portal, I couldn't help but notice how their group was much bigger compared to the other groups.

It seems like there were a lot of ranked students present…

That, for the next five minutes, students would enter the portal one by one in a single line.

"Looks like everyone entered… please change the dungeon level"

After making sure that every student had entered the portal, glancing towards the left, the professor gestured towards the staff member on his right to once again switch the dungeon grade.

Nodding his head, the staff member once again pulled the lever