NoveLight ™
Under the watchful eyes of my peers, I inspected the staff that Alejandra had brought.
The design was simple.
That’s how I had ordered it, after all.
The staff was entirely black, with a round crystal sphere at the top.
The dungeon core had been polished so cleanly that its original form was unrecognizable.
Overall, the balance was excellent.
Even though I hadn’t made it myself, the flawless finish made me feel proud.
“This is good.”
“Well, of course! It was made in collaboration with the Pergamon School.”
The Pergamon School.
Another prestigious name.
Known for their expertise in enchantments, they had a close relationship with the Alexandria School.
“Big companies really do collaborate with other big companies,” I thought, marveling once again at the joint creation of these two large schools.
Next to me, Fiona muttered somewhat sullenly.
“If you’d asked us to make it, we would’ve done even better…”
Sorry, but I wasn’t sure about that.
Maybe there wouldn’t have been an issue with Fiona’s name on it, but the thing is, this staff was technically obtained under the radar.
“So, does it have a name?”
“If not, I can give it one. Hmm… how about Black Scepter? Sounds good, right?”
Arthur chimed in with a ridiculous name, but I easily brushed it off.
I had already decided on a name when I first placed the order with Alejandra.
“I’m going to call it Axis.”
Axis.
This staff would be the focal point for my teleportation.
It was the most fitting name I could think of.
Alejandra, who likely understood the staff’s abilities even better than I did, reacted as if she had expected it.
“Axis, huh? I see, it’s made for that spell, isn’t it?”
Arthur was sharp about things like this.
“Exactly.”
With this, I had removed one more shackle from my teleportation spell.
Teleportation had several limitations, like weight and distance, but the biggest issue was that I had to “see” the destination.
This staff, Axis, would compensate for that.
It’s like in that game where teleportation is essentially done in third-person quarter-view rather than from a first-person perspective.
If that game had been in first-person like an FPS, you probably wouldn’t be able to teleport backward. How could you know what’s behind you?
“It’s time! Everyone, focus!”
The voice of the proctor in charge of this test rang out, and the barrier surrounding us was lifted.
It was Holson, the proctor for exam group 4.
Holson caught my eye and grinned, pointing forward with his finger.
Right.
Time to focus on the exam.
“The final test is simple. Explore one of the designated locations and bring back a verification token.”
There were five locations in total:
All of them were famous locations on the first floor of the Abyss, places I had heard of at least once.
Some guilds and schools even operated Abyss tours for profit, and these spots were likely to be part of their routes.
“This really is simple.”
That was all the proctor’s explanation.
Go to the designated place, retrieve the verification token, and return.
That was the entire test.
“In terms of distance, the Signpost Tree is the closest. I bet a lot of people will head there.”
“Not sure. They’re all more or less the same distance. The Endwind Mill sounds far, but it’s just in front of a massive cliff, right?”
“I think more people will go to the Ruins of Baek-Ah. The place is so large that, with luck, someone might find an undiscovered relic or ruin.”
With so many people, there were naturally a variety of opinions.
But as I listened, I realized that most of them were speaking with one underlying assumption.
That all sixteen of us would be going together.
“What’s the point of the test if all sixteen of us go to the same place? Let’s split up.”
Before the conversation could go any further, I spoke up, making it clear I found the idea ridiculous.
Understanding that having all sixteen of us go together would be impractical, my peers seemed to agree, albeit a little sheepishly.
It looked like they’d been avoiding the topic, but no more.
Since no one had any complaints, they began to divide into smaller groups.
“We’ll still overlap a bit. There are fewer locations than people, so we can split into groups of three.”
“Let’s draw lots to decide. Fair and square.”
Dustin roughly suggested how to divide the teams, and Arthur immediately proposed drawing lots.
But Arthur’s suggestion was out of the question for one person.
“What kind of nonsense is that? Of course, the three of us are going together.”
Ray growled, frowning, and before anyone could object, she threw her arms around both Leif and me, pulling us close as if declaring, “These are mine!”
“But Arthur’s idea does make sense.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Come on, it’s fair. What, are you afraid you’ll lose?”
“Hah?”
“I already made the lots. Want to break them all?”
Ray, in her typical style, shut down any chance of others joining our group.
“Well, we can still use the lots for something. Let’s use them to decide where to go.”
“Hmm, I’m thinking of heading to the Gate of Souls. Every necromancer visits it at least once.”
“Then I’ll go to the Signpost Tree.”
“I decided to start my exploration from the First Cliff. That’s where I’m heading.”
Finally, we managed to have a real discussion.
The groups were roughly decided, and those who hadn’t made up their minds yet drew lots to fill the remaining spots.
And the place Ray, Leif, and I ended up going was...
“The Endwind Mill is really unpopular, huh.”
Ray kicked a small stone, frustrated at the idea of heading somewhere so dull.
“Well, there’s no real merit to it.”
The First Cliff, said to be the spot where the first expedition stepped foot into the Abyss.
The Gate of Souls, rumored to be the passage through which the dead exit the Abyss.
The Signpost Tree, where countless explorers had shared their maps and routes.
The recently discovered Ruins of Baek-Ah, still holding the potential for undiscovered relics or artifacts.
All of those places had something solid to offer, whether material or spiritual.
But the Endwind Mill? It had nothing like that.
It was just a windmill built atop a tall cliff.
A beautiful sight, sure, but we weren’t tourists—we were explorers.
So, it wasn’t surprising that, out of all the candidates, we were the only ones who had chosen to go there.
Looking around, all we could see were natural elements.
Honestly, I had thought that some of my peers, out of curiosity, might have followed us after what they’d seen earlier. Now, I wasn’t sure if I should be relieved or disappointed.
“Well, I don’t mind it. It’s been a long time since just the three of us traveled together.”
Leif, I see you’ve gone back to your usual self.
Still, I agreed with Leif.
Traveling with Ray and Leif felt comfortable.
Even though the two weeks of training weren’t much different from our exploration training, it somehow felt like a much bigger difference than I expected.
Maybe that’s what they mean by people having natural compatibility.
“I’m bored. Roman, tell us about your training. You said something interesting happened, right?”
“Yeah, it was more intense than most people’s.”
Not just among my peers—I’d say it was one of the most eventful in recent history.
I gave them a summarized version of what had happened during the training.
I skimmed over the parts involving Mea and focused on the fight with the Chromatic Fiend.
“So, 11 took the leather?”
“We agreed to split it 50-50.”
“That’s a bit of a shame, though. I’ve heard Chromatic Fiend leather is impossible to find.”
“Exactly.”
“Still, if you nitpick over every little thing, it’ll just make matters worse. Theresia did contribute, so she earned her share.”
I calmed down Ray and Leif, who seemed more disappointed about the leather than I was, and then shifted the conversation to Ray.
“So, how was it for you? You trained with Arthur, right?”
“Oh… that.”
Ray’s mood instantly dropped.
As she fell silent, the confident posture she had been holding began to shrink.
“It was awful.”
“That bad?”
“I barely explored the Abyss. I spent the whole time sparring… and she was ridiculously strong.”
Ray shook her head as if the thought still disgusted her.
“I fought with everything I had, but I couldn’t land a single hit.”
“You mean Arthur’s master?”
“Yeah.”
It made sense.
Arthur’s master, the Guildmaster of the Frontier, was one of the Eight Pioneers, the very pinnacle of explorers.
Even Senior Mea had been that formidable.
I couldn’t even begin to imagine the power of someone who had surpassed the rank of Master.
“She was a complete maniac.”
Even if she wasn’t officially her master, Ray was still being a bit too harsh on someone who had taught her.
After Ray’s story, it was Leif’s turn, but she kept things short, saying it had been pretty ordinary.
We continued to talk as we walked.
There was no risk of getting lost.
Even though Mea’s demon radar was gone, Ray’s beast sense more than made up for it.
Finally, we arrived at the Endwind Mill.
And what we saw was...
“It’s wrecked.”
The mill had collapsed into ruins.