Extra Pages: The Author's Odyssey-Chapter 368: Artifact Frenzy Quest [2]

"Hmm? Where is Lucas? Is he late?"

Sarphina muttered under her breath as she gazed at closed door of student council president office.

Lucas is already late by 10 minutes, and Sarphina was tired of waiting.

At that moment, one of three maids that stood behind her took step towards her and said.

"Lucas can’t come today, there is an practical class going of first year hero cadets. He already called me beforehand."

"Ahh..I see."

A disappointment sigh escaped Sarphina mouths.

Looking at her, A maid couldn’t help but taken back by Sarphina reaction.

’Is she sad because Lucas didn’t come today? How unexpected!’

Wild thoughts were running in maids head.

But only if she knows the real reason behind the Seraphina disappointment she would be swet drop.

’So Lucas isn’t coming today, well It’s fine my training dummy also need some rest.’

That was Seraphina thoughts.

There was reason why Seraphina was telling Lucas a trening dummy.

Unlike other whom she spar in the past, Lucas was different.

His movements, his skills, his technique are all expectional. Experience new stories on novelbuddy

And more then that, Lucas could counter attack Seraphina attacks.

Of course, she is also not going all out since it’s nothing but training spar but still it didn’t mean that she was going easy on him.

Any normal cadet wouldn’t able to handle her attack.

’I knew it, his hiding something.’

Seraphina thought with narrowed eyes.

’I’ll have to keep close eyes on him, more then before.’

***

"Fuck, what was that?" I muttered, feeling a chill crawl down my spine.

I looked around, but there was no one in sight. Maybe it was just my imagination. I shook off the unsettling feeling and refocused on the task at hand. Today was the Artifact Frenzy Quest, and I needed to stay sharp.

Just like I read on my smartwatch and from Lillian’s announcement, Monday was set aside for single combat training from 9 A.M. to 2 P.M. The Artifact Frenzy Quest was a competition to obtain artifacts.

One hundred cadets from the [1-Hero-1] class gathered on the first floor of the Underground Plaza, where the frenzy quest would take place.

"Artifact Frenzy Quests are something Heroes will experience at least once every year," Professor Lillian’s voice echoed through the underground plaza.

The real artifact frenzies happened in places outside of world government control. This was because artifacts found inside a country belonged to the world government by law.

"In the world, numerous cities collapsed during Outcall, and many of their territories remain ownerless to this day. Most of these abandoned cities and ruins contain artifacts of varying power and value. It’s the duty of heroes to recover these items. Today’s training is designed to simulate such an experience, preparing us for the real world."

"The size of the artifact excavation site is ’massive,’ and the concept is ’brawl.’ You will not know the enemy command structure, nor will you have a way to contact your allies or the locations of the artifacts!"

In real life, Artifact Frenzy Quests usually happened between guilds or between guilds and hunter groups. The former was more common 20–30 years ago when laws regarding artifact scrambles weren’t in place. Nowadays, Artifact Frenzy Quests mostly involved fights against demons or fallen humans.

"We have separated you into Team White or Team Black. Team White will be defenders, and Team Black will be attackers. Remember that the concept is ’brawl.’ You must defend or attack as needed while searching for artifacts scattered throughout the area. The team who gets the artifact first by the end of the quest wins."

The students buzzed with excitement and anticipation.

"Now, we will take away your vision."

With that, my vision turned dark. A few surprised cadets let out short shrieks.

"It’s an instructor’s magic. Stay calm. You don’t need to try to disable it."

It seemed a [B] rank Hero could easily blind a hundred people.

Of course, that didn’t apply to me.

When I opened my eyes, I could clearly see what was in front of me.

"We will now guide you to your designated locations."

Artifact excavation sites were usually huge, with multiple floors and even residential areas. Most artifacts were buried deep underground, so excavating them took at least two to three weeks.

Although excavation sites were underground, they didn’t look like caverns or tunnels.

Because of technicians with extraordinary technology, excavation sites looked more like futuristic underground bunkers.

"Hey, hey, don’t step on my foot."

"Ah! Somebody hit me."

Cadets were led underground together.

Fifteen were placed on the first floor, and twenty-five on the slightly bigger second floor.

Evelyn was placed in the middle of the third underground floor. Elera was also nearby, placed on a balcony connected to the third floor’s residential area.

Their fight was inevitable.

As for me, I was placed in a small room on the fourth floor. Unfortunately, I didn’t know where Adrian or Aric were placed.

...And I also didn’t know where Sunny was.

Well, that guy could handle himself. He’s more than capable.

At that moment, I noticed movement from the opposite door. With my mana eyes and a bit of focus, I figured out who that person was.

And, of course, it was Isabella.

Considering the layout of the floor, I needed to cross her to get out to the hall.

In addition, I was in Team Black, and Isabella was in Team White. We were enemies.

At that moment, a loud voice rang out from the speaker above me.

—Artifacts are being kept or moved by NPCs. Team White must protect the artifacts, and Team Black must steal them. Now, we will start the countdown.

The opened doors all closed, and the countdown began.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Once the countdown ended, the blinding magic disappeared.

Today, I decided not to use a sword because I’ve been using it too much lately. This was a good opportunity to use my bow.

’Now Let’s do this.’

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