Chapter 45: Change of plans [2]
Third person's POV(Point of view):
Allied classes. Class A3, A4 and A5.
Arrows sliced through the air towards the group of students, the incoming attack barely visible in the shadows cast by the forest.
"Evade!" Kenta, alerted as he dove to the ground, narrowly avoiding the ambush.
In a quick display of agility, both Adin and Arisha expertly dodged the lethal projectiles.
Meanwhile, Sera notched an arrow onto her crossbow and fired in the direction of the ambush, shattering the trap mechanism.
"These traps...are not natural." Kenta pronounced his thoughts with a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. After a short pause he added ,"I think they have been strategically set by others—other classes," Kenta explained, scrutinizing the fallen arrows. He was the leader of class A4.
"Who could it be?" Adin asked. Adin was the leader of class A3.
"Most likely class A2," Kenta answered, rising to his feet.
"Those fuckers. Let's hunt them down and make them pay!" Arisha growled, the leader of class A5.
***
-"So, this is the entrance to the dungeon?"
-"No wonder we couldn't find it!"
-"Who would have thought that the entrance was hidden beneath our very feet!"
Indeed, the dungeon was hidden beneath a cluster of rocks, underground.
In the original novel, Aeravat found this entrance when a tired student took a momentary rest upon one of the rocks.
"How did you know about the entrance?" Aeravat asked, but quickly checked himself, shaking his head in realization. "Right, forget I asked. So, you're going on your own?"
Aeravat confirmed, his gaze fixed on Noah's shrinking figure as he began to go back, deeper into the dense canopy.
"Yes, I will rejoin you later, although I sincerely doubt such a reunion will be necessary," Noah replied, a hint of self-assuredness lacing his words.
The rest of the main cast watched Aeravat's behavior with puzzled expressions. They were clueless about what he talked with Noah, and equally clueless of how they discovered the hidden entrance of the dungeon.
Frustratingly enough, they couldn't even ask for explanation since Aeravat wasn't exactly their 'friend'.
Watching Noah's retreat into the dense canopy, the main cast assumed that Aeravat assigned him some kind of solo mission.
After all, they couldn't think any other reason for his departure.
In reality, Noah simply told Aeravat that he had a propensity to navigate and discover hidden locations.
That, of course, was nothing more than a lie. Noah did not have any propensity, a fact that Aeravat will never know.
"You have a propensity to navigate and find locations?" Aeravat first questioned when Noah made his absurd assertion.
'Propensity', a term everyone knew.
Propensity meant the special ability a person is born with. They were gifts, which very few had, an ability gifted from birth—something magic couldn't replicate.
For instance, Aurora's propensity was 'voltaic', which allowed her to command and control thunder.
As for Aeravat, his propensity was 'harmony'.
***
Noah's POV:
In the augmented vision map, I saw around three hundred students coming from my left and six-hundred from my right.
Six-hundred students, a mix of the forces belonging to class A3, A4, and A5.
It seemed highly improbable for class A1 to win the dungeon trial, if they had to face the wrath of three classes combined.
To make matters worse, the allied classes had the highest number of (F+) rankers, serving as their leaders.
Originally in the novel, Aeravat fought against the leader of class A2, Myung Joon, and won the dungeon trial.
But, that seems impossible now.
The plot has went a significant change, but what truly mattered was the eventual outcome of the dungeon trial.
It is the victory of class A1 that brought the main characters together as friends.
"Nano scan," I whispered.
Gradually, a grid of vertical and horizontal lines materialized in my field of vision, initiating a thorough scan of everything within the 100m radius of my vicinity.
[Scanning...] Nano's voice resonated in my mind.
As I set off towards my goal, I saw the leaves gracefully dancing with the wind.
Much like these leaves, my destiny was swayed by the ever-changing gusts of fate, uncertain of where it will ultimately fall.
Ever since my transmigration, a series of strange events has happened.
Events...which should have not happened.
Was this world meant to experience such events?
Double dungeon, for instance, never existed in the original story.
'And yet,' I glanced at the red bracelet adorning my wrist, 'It does.'
Maybe, the core essence of this world remained unaltered, just like the novel.
The characters, the Mystries, and even the anticipated events have indeed come to pass, albeit by taking an alternate path from the original story.
And deep inside, I have a feeling that somehow my transmigration is the reason behind this divergent trajectory of the story.
I mean 'Noah Grey' never existed, or maybe he did but was never mentioned in the novel?
Or maybe he died long ago before the story started to take place?
Who was he?
[Scanning complete, only one monster is in the vicinity, 10m away, hiding in the tall tree branch] Nano's voice echoed through my mind, though my thoughts were consumed by something else entirely.
"Activate battle mode."
Slowly I started feeling the surge of adrenaline course through my veins.
"Kraaa!" Almost as if it was waiting for my command, the colossal Lava chimp leaped towards me.
With a swift maneuver, I narrowly evaded its attack, my body moving with an innate agility.
At the same time, a machete materialized in my right hand.
In an instant, a burst of blinding light shot from both of my eyes, temporarily blinding the lava chimp.
It was flare, another one of Nano's abilities.
"Krrrieeek!" The lava chimp howled in agony, clasping its eyes in pain.
Seizing the opportunity, I swiftly maneuvered behind its back with a dash.
Soon enough, my vision shifted into a chromatic grey hue, as Nano activated the x-ray vision.
The lava chimp's back became transparent, revealing its spinal cord, akin to a translucent pane of glass.
Even its pulsating heart was visible. ~??????????~??????????~??????????—it's heart beat visible to me.
The machete swiftly plunged into the laval chimp's spinal cord, bringing a swift end to the monster's life.
The lava chimp died.
Exhaling a sigh, I contemplated my plan. "Right,..now I should? Yes, I should use fentanyl darts and weaken the leaders of the other classes."
When they fight class A2, everything will be neutralized, or the winner will be severely weak, unable to give any challenge against Aeravat and class A1.
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