Zero Potential: Chapter 11 (Patreon)

Chapter 11

Up on the surface and even on the first floor of the dungeon, chaos was in action. Professors and nobles alike scampered and scurried about.

At first everyone wondered what exactly had happened, what had changed to make the ground under a dungeon no less have an earthquake. Such actions were believed to be impossible, as dungeons were known for their security and stability. In fact, many safety and evacuation plans called for nobles and their most trusted retinue to go to the dungeon and wait should any natural disasters occur.

Thus, when the very dungeon that had been designated as the evacuation point was ground zero of the perceived tragedy, people got worried. Very powerful people got worried.

It had been over an hour since the second student of F-Class had gone down to conduct their own training. Logically by now, the exit preventing the two F-Class students from coming back up should be unbarred, but no one wanted to trust such a plan.

“Shouldn’t we send a party down to see if the two students are alive?” Alvis, son of one of the more noble Knights asked.

“You fool, they are dead. No one can come back from an uncleared dungeon.” Prince Charleman chided the knight’s son who had taken up arms within his camp for security and resources.

“What? What do you mean? This was only training, they were just supposed to go down for an hour and come back.” Alvis pressed, the words flowing from his lips.

“Do you think this was a test? That their skills were going to be enough to survive down there? They are F-Class, meaning there is no chance for them to grow anymore.”

“Well then that is even more reason for us to go down and save them.” Alvis pressed.

At that Charleman paused, and then looked at Alvis like he had suddenly grown a second head. Then after a second, he began to laugh and cackle madly.

“Alvis, you are new. You come from a strong lineage of knights, which is why I find this romantic notion somewhat appealing. You have already sworn your undying fidelity to me, which is an oath that should you break it, you would shatter your soul, and thereby ruin any chances you have at improving as a Magical knight. This is why I will tell you the truth, those two, those F-Classers they are done for. Their deaths are meant to be an example of what happens when you try too hard, when you strive to rise above your station in life.” With that Charleman paused, as he let these words sink in. He watched as Alvis’ face of outrage for not helping slowly faded away. Then seeing that the knight no longer had the foolish notion to charge valiantly forward into the uncleared second floor of the dungeon and invite whatever evil might have been awakened by the two girl’s sacrifice, he continued.

“Good, now remember, that as a knight, there is a place for you too.” Charleman said, placing a reassuring hand on Alvis’ broad shoulder. Then moving in closely he added in a whisper that only Alvis could hear, “so long as you too don’t strive to be above your station, there will always be a spot for you as well.”

Then with that said, Charleman left patting the stunned into silence Alvis on the shoulder once, before moving on.

Hearing this, Alvis’ was finally able to look around. As he did, he met the gazes of the other nobles, none of whom seemed to be annoyed that they had sent two students to their deaths.

Instead, all he saw were the harsh scoffs and faces of the other noble children and the professors. At this moment, he realized that the only one who didn’t know what was happening was himself, that he had apparently been the fool.

There was no chivalry here, no sign of compassion. Instead, all that surrounded him were dozens of people who were all harpies, no less than harpies and vultures.

Alvis had been warned, he had been told by his father to watch for the true intentions of nobles and to never be pulled into their plots. While he was aware that treachery almost always existed within royalty, he never quite expected it to be like this, which was why hearing and seeing everything now made him so sad. As this was something that he should have avoided, or at least mentally prepared for.

In a way, he felt sorry for the two girls. Girls that he now realized had been sent to their deaths due to their want to do nothing more than take a chance that had been provided to them and reach a little higher.

He was almost lost for words, and just before he acted. Before he almost broke the very oath of fidelity that he had made to be part of the future king’s retinue, he saw a message that let him know that at least one of the two girls was alive.

Dungeon Update: Furthest explored floor: 51.

At that message Alvis paused.

For a moment he thought that time itself had stopped as everyone else had also paused in their actions, as everyone saw the message of the dungeon flashing before their eyes.

Finally, after a minute people began to breathe, and everyone looked around trying to understand what had happened.

Instantly, Alvis, like so many of his classmates, found himself drawn to their equally confused professors who all stared blankly at the message.

“What does it mean?”

“I, I don’t know…” The professor stammered out, as he looked momentarily defeated by the message. After about two more minutes had passed, just when everyone was ready to call it a hoax, they saw another message appear.

Dungeon Update: Furthest explored floor: 52.

“The dungeon goes above floor fifty?” Students asked, by now everyone was truly in a panic. First from feeling the earthquake, then to seeing the floor updates, everyone realized that not only was someone down there, finding a new dungeon, but they were also getting the first kill bonuses.

“We must stop them.” Professor Adleton, a temporary adventurer who was brought on just to provide instructions on how to survive in a dungeon.

With Adleton’s words the other professors paused, but then he spoke to life what everyone else was thinking. “We need to stop them from getting all the first kill loot drops. Who knows what power awaits the slayer of a second dungeon.”

Then like that, the professors who had been adamant that the doors protecting the denizens of the first floor from monsters on the second quickly changed their minds, as the thought of untold power and riches awaited them. Even getting a portion of a first clear for a dungeon was enough to set up families for generations of wealth and comfort.

“Yes, yes. It is our duty to go down and check up on our charges.” Professor Tillerman, the professor in charge of all Class A students began, as he spoke his intentions were clear. He would use his position as head professor as an excuse to go down and search for his wayward students.

Then to add additional pressure to the teachers who were still on the fence about leaving, another system message galvanized them into action.

Dungeon Update: Furthest explored floor: 53.

Seeing the message that the third floor of a previously unknown second dungeon was clear, the professors that had been waffling beforehand suddenly found their motivation to go down and explore this new dungeon for all the rewards it offered. As a first time drops, it was not uncommon to find soul bound items that were directly tailored to the adventurer who made the killing blow to the floor boss. With such visions of glory and rewards flashing within their minds, the professors divided into two camps.

Those that didn’t want to risk their lives toiling in the depths of an unknown second dungeon would stay and watch over the students, while those that did wish to go and “look for their lost students,” opened the mechanically closed doors to the second floor of the dungeon and were shocked to see what they found.

“What happened?” Professor Ira asked to the professors that had been charging forward, only to be stopped at the bottom of the steps. “Did you find them?”

There was a pause, before professor Adelton who had been in the back spoke up, “not them no. But it is pretty clear that we know who is likely on the fifty third…”

Dungeon Update: Furthest explored floor: 54.

“Fifty fourth floor.” Adelton corrected after seeing the message. Then as if a spell had been broken by the sudden alert, the professors who had paused at the carnage of the dead spiders that had been sliced and chopped into clean halves with singular strikes all began moving forward. Thought their paces were nowhere near as enthusiastic as they had been while charging down the steps.

***

By the time the professors made their way down to the fiftieth floor, all they found was a final boss room filled with the corpse of a giant monster. To Tillerman and a few of the other professors the monster before them was easy to notice, especially for Tillerman who was part of the original adventuring team that had taken down the great monster.

The only difference between the first time he had taken down the monster and this one was that a secret room had been revealed, as a giant boulder that always looked out of place had been moved. Seeing the odd boulder, Tillerman moved closer, to see that the boulder had in fact hidden a secret room. There in the room he saw a dark-skinned girl that was clearly part of the groups of immigrants that would traverse the kingdoms lands. Immediately upon seeing the girl, Tillerman recognized her as the second upstart F Class student who had been sent to the tunnels to die.

“You there. Tell me where your partner is.” Tiller man said.

Hearing the words, the young urchin who had seemingly been casting some type of magic paused and turned to face him. There for a moment, her eyes glowed with a slightly golden hue, a clear sign that she was using some type of Divination magic.

Not noticing the incongruity, that an F Class student had apparently been caught casting magic, but before anyone could identify anything out of the order, a system message appeared.

Dungeon Update: Furthest explored floor: 76.

Then over the secret door that had been clearly sealed shut, a message updated itself.

Seeing the old letters of the old tongue Tillerman paused, then moving closer began to translate the message that the sacred door was trying to tell him.

Current occupancy 1 / 6.

Current Floor: 77.

Current Mode: Survival Mode.

Seeing the message, Tillerman paused, almost wondering if the student was crazy. Then seeing that they were in Survival Mode, meaning there was no way for them to possibly escape, not until the last monster died, or the person partaking the trials died. Those were the only two options.

With the details of the message flowing through his mind, he realized that he would not be able to go in after the girl and stop her, or better still steal the kills of the crazed adventurer. Still, he realized that the girl was too crazy. He didn’t know how she had gotten so far, likely an infernal pact or something, but regardless of the reasons for her success thus far, he realized one thing.

“We will set up camp here.” Tillerman said.

“We will?” Adelton asked.

“Yes, the girl is in Survival Mode, meaning that this will not end until she dies. In a way this is terrible for us, as it means that we too will be subjected to Survival Mode, when we enter, but with a full team of six, we will be more than capable of surviving where one student alone can go.”

There seemed to be more, and just as the professors looked like they were about to go into further details of their plans, they paused and then Tillerman as if breaking a subtle spell turned to face the dark-skinned Diviner, “you there. You have done well for your first time in a dungeon. Go up and rest, you deserve it.”

The Diviner looked like she wanted to protest, but then was met with another message before she could complain.

Dungeon Update: Furthest explored floor: 77.

Seeing the message, the Diviner felt a surge of fear and trepidation fill her, as she realized that she might have found her, the future darkling. Realizing that she had more than enough evidence that needed to be presented to her higher ups, she decided to leave so that she too could try to communicate with her bosses and inform them of what was transpiring.

“Very well, thank you professor.” The Diviner said, as she gave a slight curtsey and made her way up the many cleared floors of the dungeon, as quickly as possible. Only stopping her torrid pace once she made it to the top of the steps leading up from the second floor of the dungeon. Only once she was here, did she pause.

Dungeon Update: Furthest explored floor: 92.

Seeing the message, the Diviner realized that she needed to hurry. For the moment it would be known where the future monster would be. But for now it was contained, for the moment.

Realizing that her uniform was far too clean and that she did not look like she had gone through enough trials to have been down here for as long as she had, she quickly dug her fingers deep into the ground. As expected, there was a soft layer of dirt over the top of hard and unbending rock. Still the lair of dirt that was enough to hold grass and other minor vegetation in place was more than enough for her purposes. Grabbing the dirt, then spreading it evenly between her hands she lightly touched her face and then her arms and clothing. This went above her code to always be clean, but in order to blend in, this was a must. No one would expect a dirty F Class student who looked bedraggled to come from the dungeon, while everyone would question a perfectly clean F Class student. Realizing that she might need her cover long enough to get away and make her report she gave herself one last pat down, then added a few clumps of dirt to her long thick black hair. Then seeing that she was ready, she nodded to herself, before leaving.

Moving up, she staggered up the final steps.

“One of the students, they have returned.” A kindly woman called out, it was clear that this was one of the teachers that had apparently stayed behind to watch the others. Seeing her, the Diviner couldn’t help but feel a faint warmth coming from the woman, as it was clear from just a glance that they possessed a good soul, and were far better than many of the other professors of this Academy.

Just as the Diviner was about to bestow a minor blessing on the teacher, she was distracted by yet another system message.

Dungeon Update: Furthest explored floor: 93.

Seeing the message and that she might have waited too long on the bottom floors of the dungeon, she paused and then quickly made her way out, weaving through teachers and students that had gathered around her asking her questions.

“How was it?”

“How did you survive?”

Some of the questions were nice, others were mean and derogatory. In her mind, she could almost see how these people and their attitudes alone would be enough to cause the next dark one to appear. Yet, she bit her tongue as this was not her place to question, only lead by example.

“I need to rest.” The Diviner said, feigning being tired.

“I really must ask you a few questions first.” One knight who had stayed behind asked, his tone was serious and just looking at him allowed the Diviner to know that she was in for a long haul if she were to stay.

Dungeon Update: Furthest explored floor: 94.

Then the message caused her blood to run cold, that one was under two minutes. At this rate she had at most twelve minutes max to get out and make her reply. Realizing that she had limited options to get away, one of the costliest being to kill the guard with his own sword sheathed at his waist, the Diviner came up with a separate option.

Using a bit of Illusion magic, she forced her face to go pale, as she also created yellow spots to form on her arms.

Cough, cough.

“I don’t feel so well.” The Diviner said, as she got close to the knight and began making retching sounds as she desperately reached out to touch the knight.

The knight seeing this and realizing her complexion was that of the dungeon rot, instantly backed up, knowing that such a disease was deadly and highly transmittable.

“Just wait right there,” the knight stammered as he began to move away, then desperately backed away and made to leave after seeing the Diviner drop to her knees and begin heaving on the ground.

Bleh.

“Ah!” The knight shrieked, actually shrieked on his way out, seeing that almost caused the Diviner to lose her focus, but managed to cling on for just a moment.

Then once the knight was gone, and no one was paying her their full attention, she cast her own Obfuscation Aura, then aided by a quick Illusion spell, quickly made her way out of the dungeon, but not before yet another message came to her mind.

Dungeon Update: Furthest explored floor: 95.