"That exchange taught me a lot of things," Est said as he ate the sandwich that Ian and Isaac had prepared earlier.
"It taught me a lot as well," William commented as he picked up another sandwich from the basket that was in front of him.
After the battle, Est invited William to join them for lunch. The shepherd happily accepted because free food was always a good thing. Est chose to have a picnic at one of the most scenic areas near the Magic Division, and William had to admit that the place Est chose was a good spot to have a picnic.
Isaac and Ian were also eating by the side, but they only listened to the conversation. Surprisingly, Kenneth was there as well because William had dragged his roommate with him. Est didn't mind because the talk that they were going to have was about the dungeon exploration they would undertake tomorrow afternoon.
Since Kenneth was one of the party members, Est thought that having him around would, also, be a good thing.
"Have you decided which dungeon to explore first?" Kenneth asked.
Est didn't reply. Instead, he looked at William as if telling Kenneth that the one calling the shots on the exploration would be him. Kenneth glanced at the red-headed boy who was happily eating the sandwich in his hand.
Feeling his gaze, William decided to tell them where they would go in their first dungeon exploration.
"I want to go to the Goblin Crypt first," William said with a serious expression.
"Goblin Crypt?" Est asked. "Is there any particular reason why you want to go there?"
"No. Just simple curiosity." William lied. "Based on the information that I read yesterday, the Goblin Crypt is a Grade B Dungeon. It has thirty floors and some say that it is one of the hardest dungeons for beginners."
William was surprised when he saw the information on the Goblin Crypt that he found inside the academy's archives.
The Goblin Crypt that he could access from his Ring of Conquest only consisted of twenty floors and was a Grade C Dungeon. Obviously, there was some discrepancy between the two dungeons and William was very curious if the Goblin Crypt that he had been exploring all these years had a relationship with the one inside the academy.
"According to the rumors I gathered, most First Years can't get past the Fourteenth Floor," Est commented. "It is said that many Hobgoblin Shamans, who specialize in Dark Magic, can be found on that floor. It is best that we only go as far as the Thirteenth Floor just to be safe."
William nodded his head in understanding. His first fight against the Hobgoblin Shaman almost wiped out his entire herd. If not for James', and Owen's, timely assistance, William and his herd might have died on that fateful night.
"Good. Our goal for this exploration is to safely reach the Thirteenth Floor," William said with a serious expression. "We will not challenge the Hobgoblin Shaman. Although that monster is in the lower tier of Grade C, it is still a tricky monster to fight. Especially if you don't have any resistance to curses and Dark Magic."
After finalizing their strategy, William and Kenneth returned to the Martial Class Division. The fight against the Magic Division Classes had made the students of the Martial Classes more motivated to train. This was good news for the instructors and they happily opened the training ground to accommodate the feisty students.
William was still a few meters away from the entrance of the training grounds, but he could already hear the clash of weapons against each other.
"It seems that the 'exchange of pointers' woke them up from their daze," Kenneth commented.
"Mmm. This is a good attitude to take," William replied.
When William and Kenneth entered the training grounds, they saw all the students of the First Year Martial Class hard at work with their training.
Grent was in a corner of the training ground, getting attacked by a dozen students. A big smile was plastered on his face as he calmly dodged, and blocked, the attacks that the children were raining down on him.
William watched for a few minutes before nodding his head in appreciation. He then raised his voice to call everyone's attention.
"Rally to me!" William shouted.
The students immediately stopped what they were doing and fell in line in front of William. Priscilla walked behind William before facing the other students, befitting her rank as Vice-Prefect.
"Your performance in the battle against the Magic Division Class was good," William said as he looked at the students in front of him. "How was it? Is the Magic Division Class strong?"
""Yes!""
"Indeed they are strong." William nodded his head. "However, that doesn't mean that they are undefeatable. The reason why the majority of you lost is because you have been lazy in your training. We need to fix this issue. That's why, starting tomorrow, all of you will wake up at five in the morning!"
William paused briefly in order to allow his words to sink in. "I am going to train all of you from the ground up. Everyone is going to train. There will be no exceptions! I'll make sure that during the inter-class-battles, our Martial Division will reign supreme! Anyone who doesn't want to participate will not be given breakfast and lunch! I don't need slackers in the Solaris Dormitory. Do I make myself clear?"
""Yes, Head Prefect!""
"Good. Carry on with your training and I'll see you all tomorrow!"
""Sir, yes, Sir!"
------
While William was giving out his orders in the Martial Class Division, Carter was inside the training room of the Third Year Magic Class Division.
"As you may already know, the most effective way to not get hit by a magic attack is to dodge it," Carter explained. "Of course, if you have strong magic powers, creating a barrier is also a good option.
"However, not everyone can do this. Each and everyone of you have different Magic Affinities. Those who have Low-Grade Affinities will not be able to block strong magical attacks. That's why you have to train yourself on how to dodge properly."
Carter summoned his silver staff and gave everyone a sweet smile. "Today, we will start your Defensive Combat Training. All of you will face me one by one. I will fire a single magic spell and it will be up to you whether to dodge it or block it. Those who perform well will receive a reward from me."
The girls giggled as they looked at their handsome professor and readied themselves to give him a lasting impression.
Just like Carter expected, not more than thirty people, out of three hundred students, were capable of blocking his magic attack. Some of the fool-hardy ones turned into particles of light after Carter's spell pierced through their defenses.
Those with lower grade magic affinities took his advice to heart and just focused on dodging. Carter praised these students as well, which made them quite happy.
"I'm very impressed." Carter praised the entire class after the last student had returned to her position. "All of you have the makings of great mages."
His flattery was happily accepted by everyone, which made the atmosphere very lively.
Carter was someone who understood human nature and used the students' emotions to his advantage. "Now to give out the rewards I promised. To those that have performed well, I will give you three candies. Please line up and accept your rewards."
The students made two lines. One for the boys and one for the girls. Carter personally handed his "candies" to everyone, which made him look like a fair and kind instructor.
"Those who receive only one candy, don't feel bad about it," Carter announced. "Train harder and, in time, you will also receive more candy from me. However, a part of me wishes that all of you will not suddenly become experts on our next meeting.
"Why? Because these candies are personally hand made by me. It takes time to make them and I will run out of stock if all of you suddenly become amazing mages. Please, have mercy on me."
The students chuckled because Carter acted like he would suffer if all the candies he had on hand disappeared.
After giving his final words of encouragement, Carter left the training grounds with a smile on his face. While it was true that he had worked hard to prepare those candies, he was also looking forward to the fruits that he would harvest in the future.
The more the students ate the candies that he had prepared, the more their consciousness would be open to his suggestions. While it may not be as powerful as a charm spell, being able to manipulate them to do things that seemed "natural" to them was scarier.
For now, Carter was willing to "plant his seeds" and wait until they were ripe for the picking. When that time came, the plan that he had in mind would also become a reality.