Don't Mind Me, I'm Just A Mystic arts Major

Aurora had arrived at the dorm late because of the swarm of fans.

She walked into the room to see Zach cuddled up in the corner of the bed, sleeping peacefully.

She didn't disturb him and went to sleep beside him, minding the boundaries.

The next day came in the blink of an eye, and Zach woke up early due to the fact that he slept early.

The people that gathered around for the second trials were way fewer than last time; half of them were probably eliminated.

Zach could still see Angie in the crowd and a few other serious cadets. Unlike last time, the crowd was silent, no chitchat whatsoever.

In front of them was a structure that reached for the clouds, a large pillar riddled with symbols that stretched upwards.

Zach looked at it in awe; this was the monument that birthed the founding of Saint Academy.

An artificial fissure.

This structure in front of him was a marvel designed by the greatest mystic artists in the empire.

The instructor's eyes swept across the cadets' nervous faces.

"The next trial will be a fissure raid," he explained, gesturing towards the large structure.

"The tower consists of 100 floors, every floor more difficult than the last. You will have to rely on teamwork, grit, and a good amount of luck to be able to pull it off."

He gestured towards the large, pagoda-like structure.

"You will be split into groups... the team that clears their fissure first will be guaranteed a top spot. In this round, the use of astras and innate abilities are allowed."

The robed instructor gave a brief overview, splitting the crowd into groups of 8.

Zach ended up with Angie, the guy he fought in the second round, Nathan, and five other cadets.

The round started, and everyone charged into the massive portal.

"You all will follow my command," Nathan said, standing in front of the group.

"The monsters in this round aren't real, but that doesn't mean they can't kill you, so be alert."

"Wait, who made you captain?"

"I did. Got a problem with that?" Nathan inched closer to the cadet.

"N-no."

Zach just watched on the sidelines as the group went on.

Inside the rift was a narrow cave filled with light crystals.

The group walked for a bit; their boots crunched under their feet.

In the distance, a serpent riddled with shards of crystals noticed them.

"Prepare yourselves!"

The beast charged in, opening its gaping maw. Nathan summoned a sword and a shield, charging straight in.

Zach and Angie stood behind, watching the group.

"Won't you go help your team?" Zach glanced at Angie, who stood beside him, folding her arms.

"It's not just my team, you know," she glanced at him.

The snake had bypassed Nathan, going in for a brown-haired girl in the back, but was stopped by another cadet.

Zach wasn't much of a leader, but this definitely didn't seem like good leadership.

Nathan grabbed the snake's tail, lashing it like a whip against the cave's ceiling.

The rubble that fell nearly hit his own teammates.

The snake stood up again, and Nathan slashed at its head, leaving a dent in its skull.

The beast wiggled and zipped past Nathan into the distance.

"Wait, come back here!" Nathan gritted.

"Yelling at the monster won't change anything," Zach stated.

"It's obvious you're not cut out to be a leader," Zach spoke calmly.

"What did you just say?" Veins popped out of Nathan's neck as he walked closer to the calm Zach.

"You heard me." Zach's gaze turned cold.

"Your ignorance and recklessness will be the reason this team dies. You're trying to brute-force your way into the heart of the fissure, but you keep forgetting that you're too weak to do that in the first place."

Nathan raised the sword inches from Zach's face.

"Don't think because you beat me by accident once that you're suddenly stronger than me."

It was true; Nathan was rank 47, and Zach's rank was in the 100s. Nathan was called for another duel when Zach stepped down, so the ranks changed.

So statistically speaking, Nathan was stronger than Zach.

Zach just swatted the blade away, walking away from the group.

"You don't have the eyes of a killer, Nathan." He turned back.

"Where are you going!?" Nathan shouted in anger.

"Me...?" Zach pondered.

"You want to brute-force your way, right? I simply want to show you how it's done."

Whoosh

Zach's figure turned into a blur as he dashed into the distance.

"Where's that guy going?"

Zach knew he had to at least get his rank up if he didn't want to be kicked out of the academy, so a little show of strength here and there wouldn't hurt.

Zach stopped in the distance to see a few monsters that looked like skeletons wrapped in soggy flesh.

Monster: Ghoul.

[100/100 HP]

[Rank: Imp]

[Weakness: just kill them]

[Strength: teamwork]

[Attack potency: weak.]

[Poison type: none]

[Existence stone drop: 0]

Zach charged in, wielding the Kamamowdo. The katana glowed a bright red aura as Zach cut down the group mercilessly, leaving dead bodies and mangled corpses in his wake.

The monsters were generally weak, not even worth his time, so Zach decimated them in seconds.

It had been only 3 minutes since they entered the fissure, yet Zach's watch rang, signaling a team had cleared their own fissure.

Zach got faster, cutting down the monsters with minimal time wasted.

The injured snake from earlier was spotted; instantly it lunged at Zach, who used the Light Chains to bind the creature and, with a wave of the blade, cut it in half.

[Congratulations! You Have Killed The Imp Pit Python]

<Bonuses have been directly added to your inventory>

He stopped just short of the exit portal in just minutes, and the gatekeeper, a giant orc wielding a club, stepped out of the shadows.

It roared, charging towards Zach, but Zach remained stoic.

It swung down its club at Zach, but Zach didn't even move to the side to dodge.

Boom

A dust cloud erupted.

The orc grinned in satisfaction, but noticed something was off.

Its club was snapped in half.

As the impact was about to collide, Zach activated the armor's ability, redirecting the attack as soon as it landed.

Zach raised the katana in the air and swung it down. He'd been charging the blade with energy for the past month before he came to the academy, just to see how powerful the attack could get.

Boom

The attack sent a large wave of energy, slashing the monster in two with a single strike.

And best yet, Zach didn't need to use any of his mana because he'd been storing them in the past.

Monsters popped up out of nowhere, all surrounding Zach as the leader that kept them all at bay had died.

"How troublesome..." Zach summoned the Cursed Tachi.

Meanwhile, the group rushed to catch up to Zach.

"What! Really!? How fast is that kid?" Angie complained, running ahead of the group.

They passed by a few monster corpses, too many to be decimated in such a short amount of time.

As they reached the end of the tunnel, more and more mangled corpses of monsters came into view.

"He couldn't have done this. It's only been a few minutes," one of the cadets complained.

They all stopped as the tunnel led to a huge opening where hundreds of monster corpses lay dead.

Zach stood in the midst of the carnage, bathed in blood, maintaining a composed look.

The group watched in awe as Zach sheathed his sword.

"What. No way."

"Did he do all of this? That fast?"

Zach didn't say a word, stepping into the exit portal casually.

"4th place, Team 67," the instructor shouted.

Zach came out of the same entrance he went in, the grassy field in his view.

In front of him were the three teams that came out faster than him.

Aurora's group, and a few of the other cadets, like Andrew the number 3rd and Alice the number 4th.

Zach's group came out third.

Nathan stepped out of the portal, followed by his group.

Zach clearly looked odd with monster blood smeared all over him.

Back at the administrative office where a live feed of what happened in the dungeon played out, an instructor watched Zach's performance with an unreadable expression.

He wasn't wearing the usual robe, so his appearance was apparent.

Long gray hair and sharp blue eyes that could cut through any illusions.

"Hmm... who is this kid?" He asked and soon a robed figure came out. "That is one of the cadets this year. Name: Zachariah Keal." The robed instructor bowed.

There seemed to be some sort of hierarchy even in the academy.

"Zachariah Keal?" The man raised a brow.

"Yes, sir..."

"Where have I heard that name before?" he pondered.

"You must be referring to Leonard."

"Aha!" The instructor exclaimed.

"Haha, you mean to tell me this guy is Leo's kid?"

"Apparently it's true." The robed figure confirmed.

"No wonder..." he leaned back in his seat.

"Seems like the tiger has birthed another of its kind."