"Those who wish to give up must submit a letter to the academy's administration."
Two days after the funeral, the school broadcast this message to the students. The consequences of what had happened in the dungeon were still present, and now each student had to decide whether they would continue following that path.
'Classes will only resume on Monday, so I'll use Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to train even more.'
Enrico entered the training room and began running in circles, maintaining a steady pace as he tried to ignore the exhaustion.
[As always, obsessed with training.]
"Huff... I need to be. I'm still weaker than many people here. Besides, several people I wanted by my side died."
He increased his pace.
Only one person from Class E had managed to survive, and out of the thirty students from Class D, only eight had survived: Kai, Valença, Serenya, Sílvia, Elian, Caelan, Liam, and Enrico. The number was already frightening, but what surprised Enrico the most was discovering that only three students from Class C had survived.
That worried him quite a lot, because there should have been a character in that class who would become friends with the protagonist.
His name was Kevin Laplace.
Fortunately, he had survived.
That information brought some relief to Enrico. At least that part of the story still seemed to be following the path he knew.
After running for fifteen minutes, Enrico stopped to drink some water. It was then that he noticed the names of the students who had decided to quit were being announced. He continued listening while drinking until one name made his expression change.
Kevin was one of them.
His fist struck the wall.
"Damn it."
If his name had already been announced, then he had already left. Enrico did not know if he would be able to find him again or if the boy would simply abandon that world of magic forever. Without wasting any more time, he went back to training.
Two hours later, he fell to the floor, breathing heavily. His entire body was tired, but he was still not satisfied.
'...System, I want to make a pact to enter dungeons that I've already completed again for training. What could I offer to achieve that?'
[Defeat a Ninth Circle mage and sacrifice them.]
Enrico remained silent for a few seconds.
'Do you think I'm an idiot? We're going to need many Ninth Circle mages to survive, and I can't even touch a First Circle mage, let alone defeat a Ninth Circle one.'
Enrico stood up, still incredulous at the proposal.
[If you really want a dungeon for training, I can offer an alternative. But with limitations.]
"What?"
A list appeared before him.
First: You can only enter the dungeon once a week.
Second: You cannot bring items that help you.
Third: You cannot bring anything back.
Fourth: You cannot bring other people.
Fifth: Only dungeons that appear in the arcs of the original story can be revisited, such as the zombie dungeon, even if they had differences.
Sixth: As the cost of the pact, for each entry you must bring a core related to the dungeon's level and enter with only 40% of your mana, which must last throughout the entire incursion.
Just hearing that made Enrico irritated.
It was full of disadvantages.
[But you gain something interesting. The percentage of all your spells or other types increases by 2% of that spell's circle level for each main enemy defeated. This dungeon has six of them, so you could improve your circle by 12%. Although, at your current level, you cannot defeat any of them alone.]
Enrico thought for a few seconds. The proposal still seemed bad, but at least there was a concrete way to increase his strength.
'It's still bad, but if I want to grow, I'll have to accept it... Can't you increase it to twice a week?'
[No. That is not negotiable. It is what the Constellations offer.]
Enrico sighed.
'I can offer the pact, but they're the ones who decide, huh?'
"All right. I accept."
[Starting dungeon creation. This will take a few hours.]
Enrico stood up and stretched. He still had another pact in mind, but he could only offer it after completing the next arc, as they had said. For now, he could only wait and continue training.
Looking through the window at the administration building, he hoped that no other important character would give up.
'I hope no one else quits.'
[Well, bad luck for you, because Valença seems to be heading there.]
Enrico ran to the window. When he saw Valença walking in that direction, he rushed after her.
No.
This couldn't happen.
Losing her now would practically be asking to die.
Valença had done nothing.
She had been useless.
Even someone she disliked had done more than she had.
How could someone like her become a mage?
She looked at the letter in her hands and remembered her dream of becoming a mage to help her village. For years, she had believed that she could achieve that goal if she kept working hard, but now that certainty had disappeared.
It did not matter.
There was no way someone like her could reach that prodigy. With that thought, Valença arrived at the administration office door, took a deep breath, and began opening it.
"Where do you think you're going?"
She turned around and found Enrico standing behind her. Valença gave a bitter smile.
"What are you doing here?"
Instead of answering, he asked another question:
"Did you come to quit?"
"Yes. So what? It doesn't matter for a commoner like me, right?"
She stared at him with empty eyes. It was as if the flame that had once existed inside her had been completely extinguished.
Enrico thought of several ways to stop her. In the original story, Valença developed an inferiority complex toward Enrico, but, thanks to Kai, she managed to regain her confidence and overcome it.
But now it was different.
He was the one who had won the duel.
That should have completely destroyed her confidence. Enrico realized that if he simply tried to convince her to continue, he probably would not succeed. She needed something else.
Enrico saw Valença begin opening the door again.
He had no choice.
He would have to become that kind of character. Valença was already entering the administration office when Enrico's voice interrupted her.
"Do you know why I used to pick on you?"
Valença became confused and stopped in front of the door. Before she could answer, however, the following words made her body freeze.
"Because I was jealous of you. I saw that one day you would surpass me, and I ended up acting like a child."
Enrico clenched his hand as he spoke. Valença remained completely incredulous, not knowing how to react to that. That genius... had been jealous of her?
"I wanted to keep you beneath me, but I did it in the worst way possible. Instead of training, I spent my time bothering you. It was humiliating. Until I learned that without effort, you can't achieve anything."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"I... considered you my rival."
Then, Enrico turned his back to her.
"If you're really going to give up even though someone like me continued after being surpassed in everything... then I never should have considered you a rival. And one more thing... I'm sorry for what I did."
Without waiting for a response, he began running away.
Valença remained motionless in front of the door. For a few seconds, she could not even organize her thoughts.
That genius considered her a rival?
Someone like her?
Her gaze slowly fell onto the letter she was holding. She tightened her fingers around the paper and bit her lips as she remembered the fear she had felt in that dungeon, how weak she had been, and how she had been unable to do almost anything to help.
And even so...
Someone saw her as a rival.
Someone she considered far above herself had looked at her and seen someone who could reach him.
And, on top of everything, he had even apologized.
She remained standing there, thinking about Enrico's words, without noticing that Kai was watching everything while hiding behind a tree. He had also come to try to convince her not to quit. However, when he saw Enrico walking away after saying those words, Kai simply smiled and decided not to interfere. Then he walked in the opposite direction.
Meanwhile, Enrico cast one last glance backward, trying to find out if Valença had changed her mind.
[You're good at this.]
'Everything I said was true. That's exactly how the original Enrico felt about her. Except for the rivalry part and the apology.'
Enrico scratched the back of his neck and sighed.
'I hope it was enough.'
On Monday, Professor Virelle was in the classroom observing the students. Seven of them were present. She almost sighed when she looked at Valença's empty seat, but soon turned her attention back to the students.
"All right, class. I have a few things to say."
Everyone looked forward with different expressions. Even Liam, who, despite having lost an arm, still held his spear. Sílvia also seemed more serious than before.
"First—"
Knock.
Someone knocked on the door.
Valença entered.
"Sorry, Professor. I had a problem and ended up arriving late."
Everyone immediately noticed the training injuries scattered across her body. Virelle also noticed them and let out a small grunt, accompanied by a slight smile.
"That's fine. Sit down. Next time I won't be so lenient."
Valença walked to her seat and sat down in front of Kai. Her eyes were shining again.
The flame had been rekindled.
Kai smiled, happy for his friend.
Virelle observed all of them for a few seconds.
"No one quit."
Her eyes looked like those of a true teacher at that moment.
Enrico, Kai, Valença, Serenya, Caelan, Elian, Liam, and Sílvia remained silent, listening attentively.
"The first announcement is as follows:"
Virelle paused briefly.
"You will be promoted to Class C."