The instructor led everyone to a unique gateway.
It looked like a portal but at the same time it didn't seem like any portal Arthur had encountered before.
The swirling white light radiated an intense sense of purity, unlike the energy of destruction that all the other portals he had entered emitted.
The instructor in charge, a middle aged man dressed in a casual black outfit with well trimmed beards, glanced at the group of students and explained.
"This is one of the latest inventions of the academy. A simulation of an E Rank dungeon. It is built on the knowledge of many E Rank dungeons encountered over the years, so the dungeon you land in might be different from that of your friend."
Arthur listened to the explanation in surprise.
Murmurs of puzzlement also spread through the students, after all this was the first time they were hearing about something this unique.
'Technology?' Arthur raised his brows curiously.
This would be the first time he encountered anything remotely close to technology in his stay in this world.
He glanced curiously at the portal, trying to understand how it was made, but couldn't come up with anything.
"Starting from the first person, you may begin to enter." The instructor commanded before stepping aside to give space to the approaching youths.
One by one, the students began pouring into the portal.
A young lady from the crowd couldn't help looking curiously at the instructor before asking,
"Sir, since they are entering before us, wouldn't they have more time to clear the dungeon than we do?"
Hearing her words, the instructor glanced toward her and shook his head with a smile.
"Once everyone enters the simulated dungeon, I will activate the simulation. Aside from that, the time in the simulation is altered so that no matter how long one takes to clear it, they will return to the real world at the same time."
Those at the later parts of the line finally exhaled in relief.
The girl thanked the instructor and the group returned to silence as the youths continued entering.
It took a while before Arthur's turn finally arrived.
Being the last person, he couldn't help glancing around briefly at the surrounding instructors before stepping into the portal.
He felt a wave of distortion in his perception, and in the next moment he appeared in a different place.
It was an icy land filled with creatures resembling ice sculptures scattered here and there.
[Please prepare, the examination will start in 5 seconds.]
A line of words appeared in the air, interrupting Arthur from studying his surroundings more.
'Titan, come.' Unwilling to take any chances Arthur immediately summoned Titan.
If what he had heard from the other youths wasn't wrong, he needed 100 points to pass the entrance examination.
He only had 1, so in this trial he needed 99 more.
It was an absurd number and even Arthur had a hard time believing he could achieve it.
A black void appeared in the air before the towering Two Meter Tall golden knight stepped into view.
The moment it appeared, it raised its massive sword high and glanced around with caution flickering in its gleaming golden eyes.
Finally, after assessing the danger, Titan turned toward Arthur and bowed, waiting for his command.
Arthur's voice was cold and solemn as he commanded,
"Titan. I want you to go Beast Mode and clear the dungeon in the quickest time possible!"
Titan sensed the seriousness in Arthur's voice and could tell that Arthur truly needed this.
The golden helmet raised slightly and Arthur was stupefied to realise that rather than the golden eyes he was used to, Titan's eyes were now pitch black.
[Please note! Your summon has activated Calamity Mode.]
[In Calamity Mode all stats are doubled!]
Black lightning flickered in and out of existence around the towering golden knight.
Black fire also drifted around Titan.
A dark aura spread through his sword which he raised, and at that moment the countdown finally finished.
[Please clear the E Rank dungeon in the shortest time possible!]
Immediately the voice faded, Arthur turned to Titan, only to notice that he had disappeared.
The next scene was a bloody massacre.
Arthur was unable to keep up with Titan, but he noticed flickering black light phasing in and out of the ice filled dungeon.
One moment Titan was at his right, then the next he was at his left, then above him, in front of him and so on.
It didn't seem as if any time had passed at all before Titan appeared in front of Arthur with his sword embedded into the ground in a mock salute.
[Congratulations, Player, on clearing the dungeon in the shortest time.]
[Congratulations on setting a new record.]
[Estimated time: 3 seconds.]
"What?" Arthur widened his eyes in shock.
Through the corner of his eyes he noticed the darkness around Titan gradually fading.
Titan soon returned back to normal, though he still maintained the respectful bowing pose.
"This… what the hell is this?" Arthur was speechless.
What kind of concept was clearing an E Rank dungeon in 3 seconds.
Can anyone even beat his record?
Arthur had at least expected him and Titan to clear the dungeon within a minute.
He was hoping for a small chance of victory…
Looking at Titan, his happiness was reflected in his eyes.
"Good. Good. Good!" Arthur couldn't help laughing wildly.
At that moment, the system flared to life.
[Detected the use of a Celestial Stone in the components of the simulated realm, would you like to obtain it?]
Arthur was stunned at the words.
Taking a Celestial Stone from the academy?
His eyes flickered with thought.
What if taking the Celestial Stone alerted the academy the moment he did?
[Player, please note. The simulated realm collapse will only happen 3 days later without the Celestial Stone supporting it.]
Arthur thought for a long while before nodding, 'Alright then, System, stea–take the Celestial Stone.'
[Congratulations on obtaining your third Celestial Stone.]
[Would you like to summon your third Calamity?]
Just as Arthur was about to agree, another line of words flickered into existence.
[You will now be returned to the real world.]
Immediately the voice faded, Arthur felt his vision dimming slightly.
Hastily he could only unsummon Titan before returning to the real world.
The moment he returned, he realised he had appeared on stage with more than 300 others.
It seemed the System had automatically screened out those who failed to meet the academy requirement with the combination of both points.
As soon as everyone appeared, their eyes were drawn to the glowing display situated atop the swirling white portal.
Even the instructors couldn't help looking to see who had cleared the dungeon in the shortest time.
They had a few guesses, after all there was a student with a Variant Warrior class who managed to rank as high as 90 in the first test, and there were also three others close to him with 88 points.
Everyone stared in anticipation as the glowing words finally appeared before their eyes.
[Winner: Arthur Pendragon.]
[Class: Calamity Summoner.]
[Clear Time: 3 seconds.]
[Points: 100]
The moment the glowing words materialized in the air everyone was dumbfounded.
The whole arena fell into absolute silence as ripples of disbelief swept through the crowd.
Rubbing his bald head, Arthur chuckled, his voice loud enough for everyone to hear due to the silence.
"Why do you all seem so surprised?"
…
A/N: if you enjoyed the chapter please drop some powerstones and golden tickets (we're still at 0)
Gifts are highly appreciated too! Thank you!