“Esty… are you okay?”

A soft voice called out to me, yet I remained thoughtful. My mind has been a bit confused since yesterday.

I don’t know why, it just… doesn’t feel real.

Like I had a dream that blended into real life, and now I couldn’t tell which parts were true.

“Esty…?”

Ella called my name again, gently tugging on my sleeve.

I finally turned to look at her. Her light blue eyes were locked onto me, filled with concern. Her fingers were holding onto my arm like she was afraid I’d slip away.

I gave her a small smile. Then, I reached up and brushed a few strands of her wite hair behind her ear before replying softly.

“I’m alright, I’m just thinking about a few things.”

Today was finally the day of the dungeon subjugation, and currently, we were riding on the bus, heading towards the dungeon.

And yeah… in just two or three days, word had already spread.

Everyone knew Ella and I were dating.

Which explained why she was glued to my side, her fingers wrapped tight around my arm like she owned it.

I could feel the other stares too… Mia’s, Maria’s… even Rose’s.

None of them said anything, but their looks said plenty.

And honestly? It was kind of awkward.

I tried to talk with them earlier, to explain or at least say something, but Ella dragged me to sit next to her before I could.

I sighed quietly.

I’ll talk to them later. After this dungeon run.

“Fuuu…”

I let out a deep breath, and then came the voice over the speaker.

“Students, we’ve arrived!” Miss Helena’s firm voice snapped through the bus.

She was the instructor assigned to supervise us because she specialized in telekinesis magic, which could be super useful when saving a student.

All of us left the bus, and immediately, in front of the bus, a giant blue glowing gate could be seen, swirling around.

A faint, powerful mana oozed out of it.

Then, Miss Helena stepped in front of the group. Her black boots crunched on the gravel as she turned around to face us, arms crossed over her chest.

Her expression was extremely serious, way more than normal.

“Listen up! This isn’t a training exercise. This is a real dungeon!”

Everyone straightened up, even the usual loud ones went quiet.

“This gate leads to an S-ranked dungeon,” she continued. “That means extremely dangerous terrain, traps, and monsters that could kill you if you’re careless.”

“Tch, come on, Miss Helena,” Ulgar spoke up, grinning widely

“We’ve got me in the team. What’s the worst that could happen?”

A few students chuckled.

Ulgar pumped his fist into his palm. “I’ll smash whatever comes at us. Just leave the big ones to me, alright?”

I scoffed inwardly at his words.

It seems that the beating from before wasn’t enough.

Helena didn’t even blink.

She just looked at him calmly, bored even, and said flatly, “Ulgar.”

He blinked.

“Yeah?”

“If you break formation even once,” she said coldly, “I will knock you out myself and leave you behind as bait.”

The laughter stopped.

Ulgar gritted his teeth at her words, before reluctantly nodding his head.

Helena looked at the rest of us now.

“Some of you might think you’re strong enough to handle things on your own. You’re not. Not in here.”

Her gaze turned to Ulgar for a moment.

“If you separate from the group, you die. If you rush ahead, you die. If you ignore orders,” she let the words hang for a second, “you might get your teammates killed.”

“Each squad has its roles: attack, defense, and support. You follow your team leader. If you have a problem, speak now or leave.”

No one moved.

“Good.”

She nodded, satisfied, and started to turn toward the dungeon gate.

But then—

“…Why is Aestrea the main leader, though?”

The voice came out loud and clear, in an annoyed and confident tone.

Miss Helena stopped and turned back with a sigh.

“Rayn…” she said flatly.

Then she crossed her arms.

“Aestrea is the strongest student here. That’s why he’s the leader.”

Rayn…?

Vivian had mentioned him being a beastkin.

I turned to look at him. He had sharp, black eyes and short, rough hair. His ears twitched as he looked right at Miss Helena, clearly irritated.

“Strongest?” Rayn scoffed slightly.

“Just because of those baseless rumours, it doesn’t mean that he is actually stron—!”

And right then, I moved.

There was no sound.

In one blink, I was already standing in front of him.

Rayn’s eyes widened as he didn’t even have time to react.

I looked him in the eyes and smiled.

Violet energy rolled off my shoulders, light but heavy in the air, like heat waves.

Vrrrm…

Ting—ting—ting—TING!

Twelve floating swords appeared around him.

They were spinning slowly, all of them pointed right at him. One at his throat. One at his knee. One between his eyes.

He froze.

“You got anything to say?”

My eyes glowed intensely as I looked down at him.

I wasn’t going to waste my time with someone as weak as him, even though he may be stronger than most of the students here.

“Tsk, show-off.” I had Telmo curse behind me.

I smiled more.

Snap!

Two more swords shone into existence, right in front of Rayn’s face.

His body twitched.

“A-ah… I get it!” he said quickly, hands raised a little.

The swords vanished with a soft whssh.

Rayn took a step back, his eyes locked on mine. His fists were clenched, but his arms were trembling slightly.

“Satisfied yet? Or do you actually want to test how sharp those swords are?” I added with a bored tone.

Rayn gritted his teeth, however, he couldn’t deny the fear in his eyes.

After all, he was only an A-rank awakener. Could he beat an SS-rank aura?

The answer was obviously no.

“Great!” Miss Helene, on the side, clasped her hands.

“Then… I think no one has objections, right?” She looked around.

This time, even the doubters kept quiet.

A few nodded, some looked away, but none of them argued anymore.

“Alright, everyone! Back to your groups, we’re heading into the dungeon,” Miss Helena finally called out in a firm voice.

The students scattered, forming lines and bunches as they returned to their squads.

Ella leaned in close, eyes sparkling as she smiled at me.

“See you inside, Esty~”

She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

Chu!

And of course—

Fweeeeet!

A loud whistle rang out.

“Damn, didn’t think the princess would be the first wife,” Derek said with a grin, walking up behind me and slinging his arm over my shoulder.

Before I could say anything, another arm wrapped around my other shoulder.

“Tsk, tsk. We were sure it’d be the Saintess or maybe that shady black-market girl,” James added, shaking his head like a disappointed dad.

I raised an eyebrow, then curled up my lips.

“She’s not the first wife.”

Both of them froze.

Their eyes widened.

“…You’re telling us there are more sister-in-laws?!” Derek gasped.

“Come on, spill it! Who’s next?!” James leaned in, almost grabbing my collar like I owed them answers.

They looked way too excited.

I just shook my head with a sigh.

“You guys are idiots.”

But before they could press more, I heard soft footsteps approaching.

I turned my head.

Maria and Mia.

They walked toward me slowly, both a little awkward.

Maria looked like she hadn’t slept. There were dark bags under her eyes, and her lips were slightly chapped.

Mia had her hands clasped in front of her, looking nervous but still holding her usual calm.

The air between us got heavy for a second.

Derek cleared his throat and slowly removed his arm.

“Uh… bro, good luck.”

James nodded, backing up with him.

“Yeah… we’ll just—yeah.”

They both stepped away like mice dodging a cat, leaving me standing right in front of the girls.

“…Ugh,” I muttered under my breath, rubbing the back of my neck.

The moment I made a sound, their eyes lifted and locked onto me.

I scratched my cheek and looked at them.

Maria didn’t meet my eyes. She kept staring down, biting her lower lip. Mia glanced up at me once or twice, like she wanted to speak but didn’t know how to start.

They looked… drained.

I let out a soft sigh and gave them a small smile.

“Hey…” I said gently, stepping forward.

Both of them looked up at the same time.

“You two okay?”

Mia gave a little nod. Maria hesitated, then shrugged.

I didn’t say anything else. Instead, I stepped closer and gently slid my arms around their shoulders, pulling both of them in, one on each side.

Their bodies stiffened at first.

Then relaxed.

Time to be a little bit of a scumbag… ahem.

“Alright, enough of the long faces,” I said, squeezing their shoulders. “You’re both too pretty to look so miserable.”

Mia huffed at my words.

“Easy for you to say.”

Maria stayed quiet, but her fingers curled slightly into my sleeve.

I smirked.

“What, you think I’d let you two go into a dungeon looking like that? People might think I didn’t satisfy you last night.”

Maria’s face turned scarlet red.

“Wha—”

Mia choked on air, her eyes widening.

I leaned in, lowering my voice just for them.

“Mia, if you keep pouting, I’ll have to find a way to shut you up. And we both know how well that works when I’ve got my hands full of those perfect tits of yours.”

She gasped, her face burning.

I turned to Maria, my lips brushing her ear. “And you—those thighs could crush a man’s skull. Lucky for me, I’ve got other plans for them.”

Maria made a strangled noise, her entire body tensing.

“Y-You—!”

I pulled back, grinning.

“There. Now you’re both blushing. Much better.”

Maria punched my arm weakly.

“You’re the worst.”

Mia covered her mouth, but the smile in her eyes was unmistakable.

Just then, Miss Helena’s voice rang out.

“Group One! You’re up first!”

A low hum filled the air as the dungeon gate rippled, glowing brighter.

Blue light shimmered like water, pulsing with mana.

I stepped forward with Maria and Mia following right behind me, while James and Derek quickly hurried over.

Our footsteps echoed across the stone as we walked toward the swirling blue portal.

Snap!

The sound echoed faintly.

And then we stepped into the dungeon together.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep