Chronicle of the Eternal: Volume 1 (26 page)

Even though Regal has
steadily been growing stronger and his stats have been rising above the other
students in leaps and bounds, he didn’t participate in the second and third year
inter-academy tournaments. Rather, he asked Piora to take his place.

After making sure to craft
Piora some rare-grade leather armor suited just for her, she shone like a
bright star in the tournament thanks to Regal’s equipment crafting skills.
Piora managed to finish at rank 55 the second year, and rank 31 the third.

Piora was the one to leak
the news that Regal was the one who crafted all their equipment, and at one
point there were over a hundred requests for weapons from other students. Of
course, he declined these requests and told the students that he doesn’t have
time to fulfill them, remaining polite the entire time.

Regal has been busy for
the past two years; his time spent training his skills, helping his squad
members, and spending time with Veronica. He has also asked Veronica out on a
date four times, and to be his girlfriend on three more occasions. He
understands the others’ pain when asking her out because he himself got the
same answer, that she isn’t interested in love, every time. Despite this, she
still remains attached to Regal so he can only helplessly cling to his
feelings.

***************************************************

“I’m sorry, I can’t go in
with you,” Piora says apologetically while Regal and the rest of his squad are
gathered outside Theore Substructure along with the rest of Bluemist Academy.

Regal looks at her and
says with an understanding tone, “Because you are level 10, right?”

“Yeah...”

“Don’t worry about it. We
will be fine with one less brute anyway,” Regal chuckles while dodging Piora’s
fist. “You are so small, yet you swing those things around like hammers!”

“Shut up!” Piora’s hair
bobs up and down as she continuously tries to hit Regal.

“There is no need to be
sorry anymore, now is there? We should be out by a little before midnight so
why don’t you meet us then?”

“Who would be sorry for
you?!” Piora storms away while Regal just smiles at her back.

He soon turns around and
leads the rest of the squad into the clocktower and descends into the dungeon.

As Regal’s squad enters
the main entrance room of Theore Substructure, they take their time to choose a
pathway. There is no fear from other students ambushing them like three years
ago as everyone holds Regal in much higher regard thanks to his crafting
skills.

Regal chooses a path at
the far end of the tunnel, his squad moving at a quick pace as they explore the
first level to find the path down. Some rats climb out between the pipes on the
walls, but two or three bullets hit in unison as soon as they appear and kill
them. Regal’s squad has been working together for three years now, they are
capable of working as a team even if no words are said.

It takes the squad almost
an hour before they finally locate the stairs down to the second level. All the
rats in the room are already dead, showing that another squad has passed
through recently.

On the second floor, a few
Frostbite Wolves are lying dead on the ground. Their ears aren’t taken, showing
that whoever passed through was in a hurry. Most squads won’t take the ears of
the Frostbite Wolves unless they are the largest, level 5 wolves. This is
because now all the squads are heading for the third floor to collect the ears
of Serf, the goblin like creatures who give the most experience and whose ears
are worth the most points.

The rush to the third
floor that all the squads are taking part in isn’t because being first will
give that squad an advantage, but because of a friendly competition amongst the
academy's different squads. There is no reward for being first, but everyone
still participates in the contest of who is the quickest. The winning squad
usually boasts about their victory for the next few days and garners some
respect from the other students, but that is all they receive.

Regal hears the sound of
footsteps from above as another squad is rushing to the third floor to get a
head start on the others. He silently signals for his squad to leave and they
disappear into one of the tunnels just as the new squad arrives.

“Looks like we aren’t
first,” the female student Sare Yuler says to Hazel Marquis as they step onto
the second floor.

Hazel looks around at the
room before nodding her head and saying with a sigh, “Indeed, but that doesn’t
matter. We found the stairs quite early so we still have a chance to be the
first onto the third floor. I can’t believe I let that Piora be the first to
reach level 10. I am so close, yet she beat me.”

“I heard it’s because of
the weapons Regal Havier made for his squad. They’ve been killing the most
enemies for a while now. We should get him to make us some weapons too.”

“Why would I want him to
do that? Besides, he never accepts requests from anyone.”

Lawe is also in Hazel’s
party, and speaks to her sweetly, “I am the number one student in Bluemist
Academy. My rating in the inter-academy tournament was even higher than Piora
in the last tournament. Why don’t I go ask him to make one for you? Surely he
would be respectful enough to help me out a little.”

“No, I do not want charity
from some boy, especially some strange Soulless. My weapon is fine, it is a
rare grade pistol that cost quite a lot. I also focus on alchemy more than
anything so even if he could create something better, which he can’t, it would
be meaningless.”

“If my darling says so,”
Lawe places one arm around Hazel’s waist and pulls her close, causing her to
turn bashful.

As the couple lean in for
a kiss, Min Triss and Sare Yuler, Hazel’s other squad members, turn around and
let out a groan as if this is something that annoys them.

Unbeknownst Hazel’s group,
Regal is leading his party on a mad hunt to find the stairs to the third floor
before anyone else. Ahead of them, a troop of four wolves walks around a corner
and blocks their path.  Three of them are standard level 5 Frostbite
Wolves, while the last one is a variant Thunderfrost Wolf.

“Veronica, slow them down.
Astore, use your heaviest attacks on them. Kilde draw your knife for when we
reach them,” Regal says as he draws his revolver and starts firing at the
wolves while they continue to advance.

Per his orders, Veronica
casts the wind element Tier 6 Divine Art ‘Severing Wind Dance’. The pentagonal
alchemy formula in front of her lights up with a mysterious hue as blades of
wind whistle through the narrow tunnel and entangle all the wolves, cutting
into them and draining their health at the same time.

Astore uses an earth
element Tier 8 Divine Art ‘Stone Death’, creating a heavy barrage of fist sized
stones against the wolves who are practically sitting ducks. The wolves are
crushed under the stones that are as numerous as rain, with only the
Thunderfrost Wolf surviving.

At this moment, Regal’s
squad reaches the spot where the final wolf is standing. Kilde moves ahead of
the squad with his knife drawn back. His blade glows red and leaves a bloody
trail as he uses a martial Tier 7 Divine Art ‘Severing Slash’, cutting through
the wolf’s neck and decapitating it upon death.

Regal and his squad don’t
stop moving but continue to rush through the tunnel at the same fast pace as
they were before. From the beginning till the end, the four wolves didn’t slow
down these students at all.

After only half an hour
Regal comes across the room with the staircase descending to the third floor.
He isn’t the only one here, as Hazel and her squad have already found it and
are fighting the Frostbite Wolves in the room.

“Why do you need to be
first?” Veronica asks quietly from beside Regal.

“What do you mean? This is
the competition we all take part in, to be first,” Regal whispers back to her.

“I know, but I don’t
understand why. There is nothing to gain from being first, and there is nothing
to lose if you are not.”

“If you come on a date
with me tonight, I will tell you why.”

“I’m sorry, I have no
interest in love.”

She doesn’t look sorry at
all, and only stating her rejection as a matter of fact. Perhaps it is because
she has turned Regal down so many times, but it doesn’t sting much anymore.

“...I figured. Well, there
is no reason to this competition. It was only a few squads that started it
first, but then everyone began joining in. Think of it as a tradition in the
figurative sense.”

Veronica seems confused,
but doesn’t question it anymore. Rather, she asks, “Should we not hurry before
Hazel’s squad reaches it?”

“They are still battling
the Frostbite Wolves and the variants in the room. We just have to wait a bit
and... Now! Let’s charge through now!”

Regal leads his squad to
charge through the Frostbite Wolves which have now thinned in numbers. Another
squad was also apparently waiting for this moment, as they charge for the
stairs from the other side of the room at the same time.

Hazel sees Regal’s and the
other squad charging for the exit and furiously shouts, “That’s cheating! How
dare you!”

Without warning, a clear
blue alchemy construct appears in front of Hazel like a shining star. The
formula and sigils overflow from the five pointed star and signal that it is an
Over-Tier Divine Art.

The alchemy Divine Art
‘Tide Apocalypse’ is cast in a room only eighty feet wide and long. A monstrous
amount of water is summoned at the expense of a lot of Hazel’s mana, flooding
through the room towards the two squads.

“Regal, you go first and
leave the sign. Only you are fast enough to get to the stairs before the attack
hits us. We will be down there shortly,” Veronica says quickly after analysing
the situation.

Not refuting her, Regal
increases his running speed and dashes for the stairs, leaping over the
Frostbite Wolves in the way. He normally runs much slower so the rest of the
squad can keep up with him, but when it is him alone, his speed can increase greatly.

Regal dives down the
stairs, stumbling and falling, moments before the water washes all the wolves
and students away, some of it flowing down the stairs and causing Regal to
stumble down further toward the third level. If there was a light source in
front of Regal when he was running he could have used ‘Shadow Dash’ to double
his speed and easily reach the stairs, but unfortunately the limitations of the
Divine Art didn’t allow him to use it at that time.

Climbing to his feet and
descending the rest of the stairs, Regal arrives at the third floor to find it
completely empty. No enemies, and no flag from another squad. Feeling proud of
himself, he takes his time to take out the prepared flag and prop it up through
the steel grate floor. The flag is a cheap stick with a parchment attached to
the top that says Regal’s Squad.

A minute or two after
Regal places the flag down, Hazel descends in a flurry with the rest of Regal’s
squad and the other squad just behind. Seeing Regal standing there proudly with
his flag, the two squads adopt sour expressions.

Lawe looks like he is
about to attack Regal, but Hazel drags him away with the rest of her squad. It
is only a friendly competition after all, and isn’t worth someone fighting to
the death over. There is always next time for Hazel, and she is unlikely to
make the mistake of leaving the stairs open for someone to charge in again.

The other party gives
Regal wry smiles before also heading off, only saying words of greeting and
farewell.

Only Veronica, Kilde and
Astore are left in the entrance room with Regal. He is satisfied after leaving
the flag there, even if his Soulless squad members are indifferent.

Regal leads his squad out
of the entrance room and into one of the paths leading away. The third floor is
the largest, and final, floor of Theore Substructure so it doesn’t matter which
direction they go. It looks similar to the second floor, only the paths are a
bit wider and taller, and it is a bit colder too.

There are also a lot of
locations that are called shafts. Regal enters one of them very soon after
leaving the entrance room, not encountering a single Serf along the way.

The shafts are cylindrical
rooms about two hundred feet in diameter. A few enormous pipes travel across
what seems to be a bottomless pit of darkness and form the walkways for
students to cross the shaft on. These are dangerous rooms where falling off the
pipe means falling to death, as many students have learned.

Regal cautiously leads his
squad to the other side of the shaft without any Serf coming out and breathes a
sigh of relief.

Further down the path a
group of three Serf appears. They are short in stature, only four to five feet
tall, with sickly green skin that seems to be diseased. Two of them wield iron
axes while the other has a bow.

Unlike earlier when
Regal’s squad bore no expense of mana to ensure they reached the third floor
first, now they are cautious with the energy spent over killing each enemy.