Exiting the dungeon, Sophia immediately used the Low-Grade Cooling Charm.
After a mere dozen seconds, the two entered the Nightmare difficulty Westsea Mine Dungeon again.
On this second entry, Sophia seemed like a different person.
As she ran alongside Morintis, she was in a state of high excitement.
The sheer exhilaration radiating from her face struck Morintis as somewhat odd.
Was it really that exciting?
It was just kiting a pack of monsters and blowing them up.
It was just a low-level dungeon, hardly worth such a reaction.
His strange look was noticed by Sophia.
Her young lady temper flared up.
"What are you looking at?
Never seen a beauty before?"
Morintis had seen one, for several years now.
He had to admit, she was indeed quite beautiful.
He mentally compared Sophia to Isla Ning; each had her own charms, neither clearly superior.
One was petite and cute.
The other was tall and proud.
Each had her unique qualities.
But Morintis felt nothing particular about it.
Isla Ning was his friend.
Sophia was his classmate.
Ten minutes later, the mighty Nightmare difficulty boss, the Goblin King, once again fell before Morintis.
Its unwilling gaze, its aggrieved manner of death.
...
Morintis said softly, "Four more times."
They ran the dungeon four times consecutively, all in under an hour.
Sophia used up the remaining charges on the charm.
The charm became dull and lifeless, indistinguishable from an ordinary stone.
Only upon very close inspection could one barely make out some of the runes inside.
Sophia put the used Cooling Charm away.
"The charm needs to be recharged back home."
Cooling Charms weren't single-use items.
After the uses were exhausted, they required recharging.
However, according to Sophia, the recharging process was very complex.
It required a high-level Alchemist to perform.
As for how high-level, she didn't know.
After four consecutive dungeon runs, Sophia's level had reached 14, with 20% experience.
Two more runs would definitely get her to level 15.
Morintis, meanwhile, was still level 15, but his experience had reached 85%.
After level 15, one dungeon run in a two-person party only gave him 26% experience.
The efficiency had indeed dropped by several times.
With a day and a half left until the entrance exam, they had time for two more runs.
Sophia was ecstatic.
"Reaching level 15 before the exam means getting into Xiajing Academy is practically guaranteed!"
"Blockhead Lin, you're almost leveling up too, right?"
Morintis nodded.
"Almost."
Sophia temporarily set aside her competitive spirit against Morintis.
"By then, you'll be level 16, and I'll be level 15.
Our Westsea City will have two people testing into Xiajing Academy this year.
Principal Lu will probably laugh in his sleep."
Having students test into Xiajing Academy was a tremendous honor for any high school principal.
How difficult it was to enter Xiajing Academy was common knowledge.
Only prodigies could test into Xiajing Academy.
And only those who entered Xiajing Academy could be called top-tier prodigies.
Xiajing Academy only enrolled 1000 students per year, selected from across the entire Divine Dragon Empire.
Furthermore, many of these slots were taken by students from major cities and powerful families.
People from smaller cities found it hard to compete with the geniuses from these great families.
Last year, Morona tested into Xiajing Academy, and Principal Lu Yun celebrated for days.
Years ago, Silas entered Xiajing Academy, cementing his name as a genius, something Principal Lu Yun still talked about to this day.
In short, gaining entry into Xiajing Academy was a supreme honor.
The two found a spot and sat on the ground.
The Cooling Charm was used up; they could only wait for the natural dungeon cooldown to end.
Sophia said, "Do you want to try and aim for the top scorer?"
Morintis turned to look at her.
"City top scorer?"
"Mmhmm," Sophia said.
"If you can become the provincial top scorer, you'll receive a lot of points.
Points are very useful in Xiajing Academy."
"Most importantly, you'll have a chance to join the Genesis Academy."
Morintis recalled Isla Ning mentioning that points were more useful than gold coins in Xiajing Academy.
And Isla Ning had also mentioned the Genesis Academy.
"Do you know about the Genesis Academy?"
Morintis hoped to get some information about the Genesis Academy from Sophia.
Isla Ning had only mentioned it briefly without going into detail,
saying he would find out naturally when he got to Xiajing Academy.
Sophia curled her legs.
"I'm not very clear on the specifics either, I just heard my dad mention it."
"The Genesis Academy is probably the most powerful academy within our Divine Dragon Empire."
"If Xiajing Academy gathers prodigies and elites, then the Genesis Academy houses the very best among those prodigies."
"Dad said the Genesis Academy is very hard to get into.
He said I probably don't have a chance."
"But I think you have a chance.
You should try."
"I heard that Senior Silas entered the Genesis Academy back then.
He's the only one from our Westsea City so far."
Sophia looked at Morintis with a bright, shining gaze, genuinely believing he had a chance.
Morintis had taken her through Nightmare dungeons in an unprecedented way,
completely shattering her previous understanding.
She could no longer use conventional knowledge to gauge Morintis's class.
"If there's a chance, I'll try," Morintis said quietly.
He was determined to go to Xiajing Academy; his sister Morona was there.
And if the opportunity arose, he would also try for the Genesis Academy.
Suddenly, Sophia's eyes lit up.
She pointed towards the dungeon entrance.
"Isn't that Leo over there?"
It was indeed Leo.
He was at the dungeon entrance, seemingly looking for a party.
Sophia cast a Detection Skill his way and giggled.
"Can't tell that big oaf is already level 11.
Pity he's a Knight; it's hard for him to find a party."
Parties needed Knights for dungeons, but they needed Knights of a certain level.
An level 11 Knight simply couldn't withstand the monsters in the dungeon.
Even for the Normal difficulty dungeon, you needed at least a level 13 Knight.
Sure enough, Leo looked disappointed after searching around without finding a party.
Morintis spoke up.
"Let's take him with us."
Sophia giggled.
"No problem from me."