Zero Potential: Chapter 8 (Patreon)

Chapter 8

Ninety-seven sweating teenagers who are all frightened and have been running around frantically trying to get the necessary supplies to survive for a week in the local dungeon. The elites all had clingers-on gravitating to them like flies to great dung heaps.

The reason for why there were suddenly so many more students was simple, while Terra’s class had been the cream of the crop of the elites of Class A students, the others who hailed from the privileged children of viscounts, barons, and even exceptional knights all made up the other classes that now merged into Terra’s class.

Just watching them all act in this flustered state made Terra wondered how anything in the future got accomplished. There was however one surprise, while everyone went out of their way to avoid Terra, who was beyond considered to be a commoner, there was one person who apparently sought her out.

As the prince and other upper aristocracy had minions from the other Class A groups of students who had all been added together. One solitary person who also had minimal clothing and gear stuck out like a sore thumb.

Sigh.

Seeing the girl caused a surge of emotions to flare up within Terra, as the person that now came to her was none other than the dark-skinned Diviner, the very same one who had gotten herself caught last night while trying to chase her.

The reason why Terra now felt conflicted about this Diviner coming near her was that she felt at least partially responsible for the situation that this Diviner now found herself in. In a way, she was much like Terra, forced to be here with no tools, no rations, and no visible way of protecting herself. The Diviner was also the only person, other than herself who managed to make it to Class A with her, from the very back of the running formation at Class F. Terra also knew that it was her very own Battle Aura, that not only gave the Diviner the energy to be here, but also put enough fear into the other students of Class A to make it so that the Divinerhad been able to catch up to the middle of the Class A pack.

This was going to be a problem. On the one hand, Terra knew that she owed the Diviner nothing. She knew that all she did was offer a chance to succeed and the Diviner took it. On the other hand, she also felt a sense of camaraderie with the Diviner, as she too was ostracized by the others for where she came from.

Resolving to put the Diviner down as gently as possible, Terra sat there and waited. The Diviner for her part just arrived and nodded, then stood comfortably next to Terra. Not so close that she would be annoying, but not far enough away to show that they were anything but grouping together.

Had she planned all of this? Had she somehow seen this to be the exact way to interact with Terra. Somehow forcing herself onto Terra, while not saying a word or being overtly hostile. Honestly, after realizing what had happened, Terra was mildly impressed, as there was nothing to do. They had not spoken so there was no way to rebuke the girl. Terra could leave, but that would mean that she herself had to leave her carefully chosen spot on the side, away from the prying eyes of nobles. She could also rebuke the girl telling her to go away, but the distance between them would make it so Terra would seem overly irrational. Seeing that this Diviner was still showing herself to be more than she claimed, Terra couldn’t help but be impressed and stated, “well played.”

The Diviner, who had up until this point been portraying a sort of feigned indifference, looked startled that Terra had spoken. An act that was shown by the way her eyes opened wide, but then she quickly regained her composure and slightly turning her head towards Terra just nodded.

Once again, Terra was impressed by this interaction as well, as she had planned on using it as an opener to start a dialog with the girl. One that she would eventually use to politely but forcefully tell the girl to stay away from her. However, with her just nodding, it made it so Terra would have to initiate the conversation, something she was not willing to do, especially as it would be harder to justify why she would tell the Diviner to stay away. Honestly, the more she interacted with the girl the more fascinated she became.

A question once again came to the forefront of her mind while dealing with the girl. Namely, why had she never heard, nor has she interacted with this Diviner in her past lives? Surely someone like this would have been easy to notice, right? So why now? Why here, and most importantly why was this girl clearly going out of her way to be near Terra, while trying to not be near Terra at the same time?

There were so many questions that Terra at least felt somewhat justified to keep the Diviner around. First, she was at least partially responsible for the girl being here, as it was her Battle Aura that had allowed the Diviner to run that much faster and catch up to the Class A females. Second, it was clear that she at least had some modicum of power when it came to being a Diviner, as everything she did was just enough for Terra and Terra alone to notice, and no one else. Finally, she wondered why this girl clearly hid their powers, as their ranking was not a true F rank in potential, as she could wield and cast at least magic that would be on par with a third-tier magician, or Class C, as would be noted here. Yet, she was strong enough and capable enough to surpass most of the future aristocracy who had been training all their lives for this role. Seeing it, Terra felt convinced that the girl knew more than she was letting on. Worse, it was apparent that she somehow knew that Terra herself had known more as well, and that she too was keeping a secret.

Thunderous Clap!

Just when Terra was feeling comfortable enough to ask a direct question to at least figure out the illusive girl’s name, one of the instructors began clapping their hands loudly. As they clapped, their hands echoed in the wide-open cavern, drawing everyone’s attention right to them.

“Today, we begin our first of many live training scenarios. Today we stand within one of the greatest marvels our world has ever seen, a dungeon that goes fifty floors deep, and is filled with monsters and fauna that are not native to our world, and will die if you try to remove them from this mana enriched environment.” The female professor began speaking.

As she spoke, Terra noticed that something was off, the instructor only noted that the dungeon went to floor fifty. Was that a sign that they wanted the true depth of the dungeon to go unnoticed, that they didn’t want any students thinking that going down past floor fifty was an option? Logically there were merits to keeping the dungeon smaller. This way, if students wanted to make progress, they could stop at floor five, rather than ten, noting that floor five was a tenth of the way, whereas most didn’t feel accomplished until they at least reached floor ten in her past life.

While that did seem to be the case, there were a few minor inconsistencies now that Terra realized might actually show that the dungeon had not been explored beyond the fiftieth floor. First of all, in this lifetime Terra had never seen the Dean’s Grand Staff of Wizardry, a staff that was soul bound to one user and would then shatter upon their death. Being as the Dean was still alive, but not brandishing the staff was strange, but he did have ways of hiding it. Though at first Terra knew that he liked to show off the staff as a symbol of power over the new students. Yet, the fact that it was not here, well that could mean that people had not found the secret hiding spot for the entryway to the second half of the dungeon on floor fifty.

By all accounts the part of the dungeon that began after floor fifty was often considered to be a second dungeon that just had its entrance spawn near the first dungeon. With her prior knowledge of the location of the entry doorway to the second dungeon, Terra made a note to at least check it out. Especially if it meant she could be the first to explore the different levels of the second stage of this dungeon. If she recalled correctly around floor 90 is where the great staff resided, then on floor 100 was where the Cursed Crown resided. The crown was cursed, unless someone wielded the blessings of the Gods, at which point the blessings would overcome the innate corruption within the crown and change it to the Crown of Divinity, a must if Terra was to conquer the supreme being of evil.

There was also a legend that the Cursed Crown would either turn someone who did not have the blessing into either the supreme being of evil, or one of its henchmen if they dared wear the crown without the blessings of the gods. That was the only reason the crown had stayed in place in the past, this little bit of lore was also likely another reason that the professors would keep the existence of the second dungeon a secret. For if anyone else other than Terra touched the crown, it would spell their own demise. Though again, after having worn the crown so many times, it almost felt odd to not have it in her possession by this point. At the very least, keeping the crown from the being of ultimate evil, or its minions would be preferrable to almost any other fate. That was when Terra made the note that she would see the condition of the crown and if it was still cursed, she would remove it with divine objects that could withstand the corruption and place it in a bag of holding that are prone to drop from time to time on the dungeon’s lower floors.

Pausing, mid thought, she looked around to see that everyone was now looking at her.

“What?” Terra asked.

With that, the clear mocking smiles and ridiculing laughs of her former friends and allies came to her.

“Look at her, she is scared stiff.” A few of the girls mock cackled to her.

With a glance it was clear that apparently the instructor had called out to her for some odd reason. Realizing this to be the case, she moved forward and asked, “what?” Again.

This time the instructor was clearly at her limits.

“Ms. Rose, you have been randomly selected to go first and explore the second floor of the dungeon, for your self study in survival. You will exit this floor and proceed to the next by yourself. Once you leave here the door will be locked for one hour’s time. Once that hour is up, the doors will be unlocked, at which time you will be allowed to exit the dungeon. Again, you don’t need to kill anything to pass. This is just a mere observation on your scouting and survival acumen.” The instructor said.

Hearing that, Terra nodded to herself. It was clear what this was, some form of hazing ritual for her.

“I take it the others will follow me?” Terra asked, walking forward to the staircase noted. Honestly this was perfect for her, as she wanted to have a reason to leave this floor. Now that she was all but being forced to go down the steps by herself, she had a clear reason as to why she went further. Also, the fact that she was going by herself meant she didn’t have to find a reason to randomly leave behind a party.

“No, due to the unprecedented number of students in Class A this year, we will need to split up the groups. Two of you were chosen to go today, while the rest will trickle into the second floor over the course of the week.” The instructor said.

With that, Terra nodded to herself, as she understood the task. She and the Diviner were going to be offered up as sacrifices to an uncleared dungeon. Then two days later their bodies would be found when the other students partook in their own training. This of course would be after one-on-one training with the instructors, and group exercises on how to use magic, how to spot signs of recent monster activity, and how to avoid traps. Fortunately for Terra, she was an expert.

Striding confidently forward, she heard a few of the students whispering to her.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be sure to find your body later.” Charleman, the prince mocked.

Hearing that, Terra paused and stared at the prince, then seeing the way he was posturing and preening before the other royalty, Terra felt something snap in her mind. It was small, a mental failsafe that she had built into her mind, a piece that told her who was worth protecting and why. At this moment, the prince was off the list. Realizing this, and realizing that she really hated the egotistical prat, decided to do something.

“No you won’t.” Terra said, staring at him directly in the eye. Then with her mind made us, she activated her Obfuscation Aura.

GASPS!

With that everyone who had been staring at her, instructors included let out a gasp of shock as she disappeared from right before their very eyes.

Realizing it had worked, Terra strode forward silently, somehow feeling the shadows bend to her will and surround her. She walked until she was right before the prince who was staring around frantically trying to see what happened to her. With a slight smile, she moved behind the prince, and then placing her lips right next to his ear she spoke in a low sultry tone, the tone that used to drive him wild, “for you will never see me coming or going.”

Gasps!

More gasps and frantic movements of the crowd around Terra. Everyone was at a loss, they had heard the words, but for the life of them, they could not seem to find her. Then to add the piece de resistance to the whole ordeal, she was rewarded by the great system.

Obfuscation Aura: Rank III: You have unlocked the Third stage of Obfuscation Aura. All actions to hide your presence, to include your aura, are 30% easier with this aura activated, while all actions of enemy targets to locate you are 30% more taxing.

Note: Only one aura can be maintained at a time.

Smiling with a satisfied canary eating grin, she strode forward. Then finding a discarded blade that was cast down by one of the nobles who had begun trying to set up a makeshift camping area, she strode forward.

As she walked, she was certain that the instructors were now casting some for of detection magic to detect her, but were clearly getting flustered when they couldn’t seem to find her exact location.

Standing right next to the instructor who had been standing next to the doorway leading down to the second floor of the dungeon, Terra decided to speak once more. “Class A student, Terra Rose reporting for assignment.”

“WHHHAAA!” The instructor cried out with fear, at the sudden sound that came from next to him.

Seeing his reaction caused a bit of a smile to form on Terra’s lips, but she was already on her way down the staircase.

Creak!

The thick solid iron doors groaned loudly as she opened the doors that normally took powerful mechanical constructs to pull open. With that, she felt the gaze of a hundred people looking at her, or rather towards her, but then she felt the moment every one of their minds hit her aura and slid off. It was a weird sensation, as she knew this was the way her mind interpreted the contest of wills that would go on between her, the aura wielder, and the students and instructors, those that were trying to break through her will, but to no avail.

As she passed the threshold she gave a sharp heel kick backwards, causing the door to slam shut as loosened chains clattered against the outside of the gated door. She was in, and now it was her time to enter.

As she entered, she was met with a new system message, one that all but confirmed the apparent lack of progress on this double dungeon that existed right under the school’s nose.

Warning: You are entering a restricted area. Below is a dungeon of destiny where monsters live. Furthest explored floor: 50.

Seeing the message, and that all progress had in fact stopped on floor fifty. This was huge, as it meant that before Terra lay at least fifty floors that she knew by heart that were filled with first time drops and goodies that could all go to her.

Realizing that this was the case, Terra confidently strode forward, her goal to get to the very bottom. With this, she wanted to make sure all those first-time drops went to her and were bound to her. Also, she made a note to see if there was a reason why no one had taken the time to go down below floor fifty. She did remember there being a slight trick to uncovering the second entrance, but nothing that was too crazy to achieve. At least not as far as she remembered. That said, she did remember there being notice that the last fifty floors were only discovered within the past decade in her previous restarts.

Again, more signs that the world had changed, but Terra could not quite understand how the being of supreme evil caused so many changes to happen all at once. But that could all come later, for now she had to find all of the different items that would now belong to her as the initial explorer and clearer of the secret dungeon.

Smiling greedily to herself, she confidently strode forward, as she would make this start her best start ever.