The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Arrival to Gerel

The carriage began moving.

The wheels rolled steadily along the road as the academy convoy left the capital behind, with several other carriages following closely behind.

Ares sat beside the window, quietly watching the scenery change.

The academy had already explained the basic rules of the practical before their departure, so there wasn’t much left for the instructors to discuss.

Still, Ares went over the details in his mind.

The practical was essentially a dungeon exploration competition.

The students would enter a dungeon near Gerel and compete against teams from their own academy as well as students from several other kingdoms who had been invited to participate in the event.

The rules were fairly simple.

Each team would be graded primarily on two things.

How deep they managed to reach inside the dungeon, and how many monster cores they managed to collect.

The deeper they went, the higher their score would be, while monster cores would provide additional points depending on their quality.

There was also a time limit, so recklessly pushing forward without considering their supplies and condition would be pointless.

Ares glanced toward the others inside the carriage.

Eight people.

Two first-years, two second-years, two third-years, and two fourth-years.

With a group like this, there shouldn’t be much difficulty.

The older students would handle stronger monsters while the younger ones could support them, and with eight people working together, they should be able to explore considerably deeper than a normal group of students.

The academy had also made the competition considerably more interesting by offering prizes.

The winning team would receive a gold medal, along with 300 gold coins to be divided among the members.

On top of that, they would be allowed to choose from a selection of valuable rewards, including enchanted weapons, swords, magical equipment, and other rare items provided by the participating academies and sponsors.

It was quite a generous reward for a school event.

But the prize wasn’t really what interested Ares.

The actual objective was simple.

Go as deep as possible.

Collect as many monster cores as possible.

And return alive.

Ares looked outside again.

A dungeon exploration competition, huh?

After 3 days...

The carriage continued along the main road, its wheels rolling steadily beneath us as the scenery outside gradually changed.

I had been staring through the carriage window for some time when Charlie suddenly spoke.

"By the way, Ares, congratulations. Your father was promoted to Marquis, right?"

I turned my attention toward him.

"Thank you."

Charlie smiled.

"Don’t worry about it. The reason you were chosen as one of the participants is probably because you’re not just an ordinary noble anymore. The same goes for me and the other seniors. We’re all here because the academy expects quite a lot from us."

"I know."

I wasn’t particularly interested in discussing my father’s promotion, but Charlie seemed to have no intention of stopping there.

"I also know you’re not very good at talking with people you don’t know well, but we’ve already worked together during the last practical mission, right? So you don’t have to be so reserved around us."

He gave me an easygoing smile with his eyes closed.

Urgh... this guy.

Even though he’s kind, I don’t particularly like being around someone this friendly.

It’s not that I hate him.

He’s just way too kind.

"Ahaha... Thank you for that."

"No worries."

I leaned back against the seat and looked outside again.

There were still several hours before we reached Gerel, so I decided to go over the details of the event once more.

Our team consisted of eight members.

Five first-year students, one second-year, one third-year, and one fourth-year.

Charlie and I represented the first year, while the others were selected from the upper years, including the fifth princess, Lyra.

With eight people working together, clearing the dungeon shouldn’t be particularly difficult.

At least, that’s what I thought.

The real objective wasn’t simply winning the competition.

How deep could we reach?

How many floors could we clear?

And most importantly, how many monster cores could we collect before the event ended?

Those were the things that would determine our final ranking.

I rested my head against the carriage.

Three days of traveling just for a practical examination...

Honestly, I would have preferred staying in the capital.

But there was another reason I didn’t completely dislike this trip.

The carriage continued forward.

After several more hours, the road gradually became busier, and the scenery beyond the window began to change.

At first, I saw only scattered houses and farmland.

Then the buildings became more frequent.

Stone structures replaced wooden ones, roads widened, and eventually the distant outline of enormous walls appeared beyond the horizon.

I raised my eyes slightly.

So this is the city of Gerel.

It was much larger than I had expected.

The outer walls alone stretched farther than I could comfortably judge from our current distance, with several massive gates positioned along them. Towers rose above the walls at regular intervals, each carrying the crest of Gerel.

But what caught my attention wasn’t simply the size of the city.

It was the atmosphere.

Gerel was different from the capital.

The capital was dominated by nobles, academies, government buildings, and the royal influence that surrounded them.

Gerel, on the other hand, felt like a city built around movement.

Large caravans entered through the gates alongside merchant wagons, while adventurers carrying weapons walked among travelers and craftsmen transporting equipment toward different districts.

There were also strange-looking machines positioned near some of the larger buildings, their metal frames covered with magical circuits that glowed faintly as they operated.

Magical technology seemed considerably more common here than in the capital.

I narrowed my eyes.

So this is why Gerel is called one of the kingdom’s largest cities.

The carriage passed through the main gate after our identification was checked, and the moment we entered, I understood just how enormous the city actually was.

The streets extended in several directions, with entire districts seemingly dedicated to different purposes.

There were residential areas packed with buildings, enormous training grounds, magical workshops, research facilities, and even several towering structures whose functions I couldn’t immediately identify.

The deeper we traveled, the more impressive the city became.

Eventually, the carriage turned toward the eastern district.

The buildings gradually became more spacious, and the number of ordinary civilians decreased as we approached the area reserved for the academy’s event.

A massive stone complex eventually appeared ahead.

Its outer walls were reinforced with magical barriers, while several large towers stood around the perimeter.

Beyond those walls was an enormous open area where dozens of carriages had already gathered.

Students wearing different academy uniforms could be seen walking around the grounds.

Some carried weapons.

Others wore robes marked with magical symbols.

And judging from the unfamiliar emblems on their uniforms, several of them clearly came from outside the kingdom.

I looked at the enormous structure ahead.

So this is where the practical will begin.

The carriage finally slowed down before the main entrance.

Charlie looked outside and smiled.

"Well, we’re finally here."

I didn’t answer immediately.

My eyes remained fixed on the massive complex.

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