Chapter 567: The Secret of Dark Demon’s Intelligence (6k)
Ding-dong!
After assigning the homework, the end-of-class bell rang just then.
He thought for a moment and called Spike up to the podium.
The development speed of beastmen was usually stronger than that of humans.
A twelve-year-old beastman prince already had the height of an adult, walking with a mighty aura.
Despite being a beastman, Spike’s beastly components were not many.
His facial features were also delicate among humans, with two semi-circular cute ears peeking out from his fluffy hair. His limbs were slender yet strong, perhaps one of the rare handsome men among the lion royalty.
Of course, this was under human aesthetics.
“Spike,” Dark spoke in a low voice, “your math grades are not ideal.”
When Spike was called up, he felt something was amiss, and at this moment, his heart tightened as he whispered, “Professor, I did not have prior exposure to this subject before entering school…”
Dark asked, “Did you review the book after class?”
Spike immediately nodded, “Yes.”
Although the teaching assistant in front of him seemed younger than him, there was an indistinct sense of intimidation he always felt from him.
The instinct of a beast made him dare not be reckless.
However, Dark quickly asked, “Did you understand it?”
Spike’s expression froze, and he whispered, “Professor, it’s not easy to understand…”
Dark tapped the desk, finally addressing the main point, “You need help.”
Spike helplessly said, “Yes.”
Dark continued, “If I pick a good student to pair up with you and give you some assistance, what do you think?”
After hearing this, Spike’s expression changed several times, and he solemnly said, “Professor, I cannot accept.”
Dark tilted his head slightly, glanced at him, and understood.
After all, he was a beastman prince. Although he didn’t know why Spike came to Saint Maryann for schooling, he clearly had a higher self-esteem than ordinary students.
For him, seeking help from the professor might be acceptable, but seeking help from a peer would not be.
Thus, the “one-on-one” strategy failed unilaterally.
Drawing from this example, in Saint Maryann Academy, “one-on-one” might not be suitable for promotion.
After making up his mind, Dark said, “Alright then. For Math, the most important thing is to lay a solid foundation. Seeking help from classmates is not shameful. Even if you don’t form a fixed group, you can humbly ask questions. As long as you learn more and ask more, you will gain.”
Spike sighed in relief and said, “Professor, I will ask.”
“Hmm.” Dark nodded and said, “You may go back.”
…
Once Spike returned to his seat, Dark packed up his things and left the classroom.
When Spike firmly refused, he emitted a slightly unusual aura that caught his attention.
“Is it because his self-esteem was hurt?”
He pondered slightly, unconsciously slowing down his pace.
Suddenly, someone appeared in front of him.
Instinctively sidestepping, he saw the person also dodging in the same direction, and they faced each other again.
Dark simply stopped moving, and the person opposite him staggered to the side, stopping after a few steps.
He asked with concern, “Are you okay, fellow student?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” The person turned his head while speaking and suddenly exclaimed in surprise, “You’re that Dark Demon?”
Dark looked at his uniform and said, “Yes. What’s your surname, senior?”
“My name is Cole, Cole Osiris, a third-year student from Fool’s Academy.” Cole Osiris introduced himself actively, “It’s fate that we meet here. Fellow student, do you have a guide yet?”
“A guide?” Dark’s heart stirred, revealing a hint of curiosity.
Cole Osiris’s eyes flashed with delight, saying, “Exactly, a guide. In our third year, we have a club task to lead second-year newcomers through their first dungeon adventure. If you haven’t found a guide yet, you might consider me.”
“Really?” Dark scrutinized him without reservation.
Cole Osiris was of standard height for a fourteen-year-old boy, with brown hair and average looks. There was nothing particularly outstanding about his physique, making him hard to spot once he entered a crowd.
His face gave no indication of good or bad.
Yet, his sudden appearance and mention of a guide made him seem extremely suspicious.
Cole Osiris seemed to sense Dark’s hesitation and immediately explained, “The ‘guide’ task rewards 1000 credits. You know it’s not easy to accumulate credits. And like you, top students like yourself don’t really need a guide to navigate the dungeon. If I become your guide, I would essentially get these 1000 credits for free.”
Dark nodded, understanding, “Then why should I let you get these 1000 credits for free?”
Cole Osiris immediately said with a thick skin, “Isn’t it the same for everyone? Since we have such good chemistry, how about it? Of course, I’m not doing it for free. If you agree, I can give you a piece of valuable intelligence.”
Dark sized up Cole again and couldn’t help but smile, “How about this? I’ll buy this valuable intelligence with five hundred credits. Although the credits are halved, you get them without doing anything, isn’t that even better?”
“Uhh…”
Cole Osiris probably hadn’t expected Dark to say that, and for a moment, he didn’t react.
Dark prepared to turn away, “If you’re unwilling, then I’ll leave.”
“No, wait,” Cole Osiris hurriedly said, “five hundred is fine, why not make a profit without effort?”
As he spoke, he quickly took out a palm-sized notebook from his small bag and started writing furiously.
Once he finished a page, he tore it off and waved it at Dark, “Money for goods.”
“Alright.” Dark took out his Selection Card and transferred five hundred credits to Cole Osiris without hesitation.
Cole Osiris was astonished by his attitude towards the five hundred credits as if they were insignificant.
But he kept his composure until the credits were confirmed, then said, “Since we’ve done business, how about… giving me the guide slot?”
Dark took the paper, politely saying, “Senior, your shamelessness truly sets a new benchmark for me.”
With that, he glanced at the information on the paper, didn’t read it thoroughly, and walked away briskly.
Only when his figure disappeared around the corner did Cole Osiris curl his lips into a cunning smile.
…
“Poor acting skills.”
Dark almost simultaneously sneered.
“Who does Cole Osiris belong to?”
He soon arrived at the “History of Magic” classroom, sat down, and took out the paper again, laying it on the desk.
“Dark
, “How was your class?” Diana tilted her head back onto his desk and asked with a sidelong glance.
“It went well enough,” Dak replied, then lowered his head to look at the content on the paper.
Diana curiously asked, “What’s this?”
Dak said, “Information about the location of the boss on the tenth floor of the dungeon.”
“Oh.” Diana straightened up, sitting properly, and after a moment she suddenly exclaimed, “What?”
Dak repeated each word clearly, “Information about the location of the boss on the tenth floor of the dungeon.”
Then he twirled the pen in his hand, pondering inwardly, “Why is Cole Osiris telling me this information? What is his motive? Is he trying to lure me to a certain position on the tenth floor of the dungeon, or does he have some other plan? There’s too little information…”
After a while, Dak put aside these thoughts and focused on the lesson.
…
At noon…
Dak found Eve and Irina eating in the cafeteria and placed his tray next to Eve’s table. Following closely were Diana and Rose.
He did not avoid Diana and Rose; instead, he directly handed Eve a folded letter shaped like a ‘field’ character and said, “This is for you, read it later.”
Eve put away the letter without asking about its contents right away but instead turned to talk about shop matters.
The initial testing of the dueling disk ended with very excellent results. Both they and the external representative of Saint Maryann Academy had great confidence in the future of this project.
“October!” Eve exclaimed excitedly, “We plan to launch the dueling disk at the beginning of October. Besides the basic card packs sold alongside it, we will follow our plan to include cards inside model Easter eggs for sale. On October 4th, the day of the ‘Silver Cup’ opening, we will also promote the simulation duel game.”
“The ‘Silver Cup’?” Dak asked with interest, “Is it a duel competition exclusive to second-year students?”
Of course, he had heard of it, but he had never gone into detail about it.
After all, compared to the ‘Silver Cup’ exclusive to second-year students, he was more interested in the ‘Golden Cup’, which is open to all except first-year students.
Eve said, “We learned about it from Mr. Fernando…”
Foster Fernando, who is the external representative of Saint Maryann Academy.
Eve briefly explained the outline of the ‘Silver Cup’. Diana’s eyes immediately lit up, and she said with great interest, “This is much more interesting than the novice tournament!”
Eve smiled and said, “The ‘Silver Cup’ and ‘Golden Cup’ are both large-scale events, divided into preliminary rounds and main tournaments.
As long as one earns sufficient credits in the preliminary rounds, they can advance to the main tournament. The main tournament has eight slots and uses a double-elimination format. Didn’t your dueling class professor tell you?”
Dak chimed in, “Probably, it might be mentioned in the next couple of weeks?”
Eve continued, “I heard that for events like the ‘Silver Cup,’ you only need to pay one hundred credits as an entry fee at the start. For each win, you earn another hundred credits. After advancing to the main tournament, the rewards increase even further. Therefore, most students will sign up.”
Upon hearing about credits, Dak perked up.
He immediately asked, “The ‘Silver Cup’ starts in October?”
Eve confirmed, “Yes. On Friday, October 4th, there will be an opening ceremony for the ‘Silver Cup.’ Then on November 1st, also a Friday, there will be an opening ceremony for the ‘Golden Cup.’ The ‘Silver Cup’ runs until Christmas, whereas the ‘Golden Cup’ is held throughout the year.”
Dak understood, “It seems the ‘Silver Cup’ and ‘Golden Cup’ are regular competitions used by the school to assist in teaching. Considering Professor Jones’ personality, he will likely use the results of the ‘Silver Cup’ as part of the assessment for second-year students.”
…
Dak’s guess was completely accurate.
During the second period of “Dueling Class” on Thursday morning, Professor Pavar Jones thoroughly introduced the ‘Silver Cup’ and directly announced that it would be part of the practical assessment.
The Dueling Class consisted of theoretical and practical assessments.
The practical assessment for first-year students involved scoring based on two random duels.
However, Professor Jones clearly did not intend to continue using the first-year assessment method.
The experimental assessment score for second-year students would be based on the results of the ‘Silver Cup’ and ‘Golden Cup’ competitions, ultimately determining their scores.
“Wit Gold, do you have any questions?” Professor Jones asked when he saw Wit raise his hand.
Wit immediately asked, “Professor, do we also need to participate in the ‘Golden Cup’?”
Professor Jones responded with a matter-of-fact expression, “The ‘Silver Cup’ lasts only one semester, but a school year has two semesters. 1 + 1 = 2, don’t you understand?”
Wit’s tone faltered, “But what about the ‘Golden Cup’…”
Professor Jones chuckled, placing his hands on his chest, “Isn’t competing with upperclassmen what you’ve always looked forward to? Are you scared now?”
“No,” Wit quickly withdrew his hand.
Other students who wanted to argue also fell silent, no longer questioning.
A corner of Professor Jones’ mouth curled up as he said, “The timing of the ‘Silver Cup’ and ‘Golden Cup’ won’t overlap. Even though it may be impossible to win the championship, I still hope you can go further in the ‘Golden Cup.’ Any other questions?”
At this moment, a student from Fool’s Academy raised his hand and said helplessly, “Professor, what if we don’t join the Dueling Club?”
Professor Jones slowly replied, “For you, I have a different set of assessment standards.”
Some students in the audience quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as they weren’t given a zero, everything was fine.
…
In the afternoon after the Dueling Class ended.
Dak obtained the information he needed from Eve.
He returned to his dormitory and reviewed the materials.
The photos attached to the materials were of Cole Osiris, a third-year student from Fool’s Academy.
Cole Osiris’ academic performance at the academy was average, always falling somewhere below average.
His background was also clear; he came from a commoner family, was discovered by the academy, and received an invitation to enroll, thus joining Saint Maryann Academy.
After successfully enrolling, his life trajectory underwent significant changes.
Even the village where he lived benefited greatly; within just two years, it transformed from a village into a town, and the living standards of its residents improved rapidly.
Furthermore, Cole Osiris had contact with a baron in a nearby territory.
The information indicated that the baron intended to adopt him as his son.
For Cole Osiris, who came from impoverished origins, this was not necessarily a bad thing.
However, Cole Osiris did not immediately agree.
“Is he playing the waiting game?”
Dak tapped the table, understanding the situation.
On the surface, Cole Osiris did not seem to have any obvious ties to any faction, but his background revealed something else.
Display, he should be a rather easy person to buy.
Money, resources, power, can easily bewitch his mind.
“In other words, he is likely just a messenger.”
Any smart force would never expose their identity to such a person.
If one wants to find the person behind Cole Osiris based on him, the difficulty naturally increases.
“So, this dungeon’s tenth floor boss, should I accept it? Or should I accept it?”
Dark was uncertain.
The tenth floor boss concerns the “Gate of Advancement” mission.
If he takes it down, he can obtain the key to the eleventh floor, greatly aiding future adventures.
But if it’s a trap…
Ultimately, who would set up such a foolish trap?
Dark’s doubts deepened for a moment.
And now it’s only the third Wednesday of the month; he can only enter the dungeon on the fourth Thursday.
If it’s a trap, wouldn’t this intelligence come too early?
Although most elite monsters in the dungeon aren’t part of the refresh mechanism, what if someone kills it over the weekend?
Then wouldn’t this intelligence become invalid immediately?
After careful consideration, Dark went to the clubroom and asked Senior Sister Broni to pass a message to Cole Osiris.
…
At 7:30 PM, Dark set out tea and pastries in the clubroom’s partition and received Cole Osiris.
He didn’t press hard nor reveal Cole’s background; he simply calmly asked about the source of the intelligence.
After much hesitation, Cole eventually revealed it.
As Dark had guessed, he was merely an insignificant messenger.
Someone suddenly approached him, asking him to deliver this intelligence to Dark Demon while trying not to leave any traces and avoid suspicion.
Cole did try, but his acting skills were terrible.
As for who approached him, Cole didn’t know.
“He probably used a transfiguration spell card like that; I’ve never seen that face at the academy. At first, I thought it was a relatively unfamiliar first-year student, but the materials he used to pay me made me reconsider.”
Since he had started speaking, Cole Osiris had no more reservations and spilled everything out like pouring beans.
“After all, that person didn’t ask me to keep it a secret, right?”
Cole Osiris grinned and laughed.
…
After sending off Cole, Dark continued to ponder.
Around 8:30 PM, he made a decision.
Desire couldn’t blind his heart.
Greed couldn’t dominate him.
He decided to release this intelligence as a task.
Task Name: The Secret of Intelligence
Task Description: Confirm whether there is a floor boss at the coordinates indicated by the intelligence. If so, kill it and report the details, including the loot obtained. (Watch out for traps)
Task Restrictions: Third Year and above
Task Reward: 500 credits
The reward wasn’t much, but the key point was the intelligence attached to the task.
If the intelligence is true, then the intelligence itself is the reward.
What Dark wanted was to confirm the authenticity of the intelligence and gather information related to the floor boss mentioned.
This wasn’t difficult.
For top students in the third year, it was just a matter of doing it casually.
Dark put down his pen, planning to post the task after attending the “Alchemy Class” the next morning.
Since the start of the second year, finally something unexpected happened.
But for some reason, he didn’t feel danger; instead, he was excited, almost eager.
“A peaceful life always needs a little touch of color.”
Dark whispered softly, then迎来了吸血鬼之花。
Victoria and Phoenix held hands and knocked on the clubroom door.
It was Wednesday evening, and the first-years had just completed their first astronomy class at the top of the Spiral Bell Tower.
Immediately after class, Victoria and Phoenix rushed to the tenth floor.
They entered the clubroom and quickly befriended the golems.
Dark inquired about the astronomy class, then was surprised to find out that their astronomy professor was actually a recent graduate!
Joseph Bruno, once a sixth-year student at the Mana Academy.
On April 1st, during the Easter Duel Festival, he stood on the podium with Dark.
Dark remembered vividly that this senior smashed eggs and revealed a bunch of piglets.
“Did he successfully stay on?” Dark wondered.
Staying on at Saint Maryann Academy isn’t easy.
But that senior winning the championship at the Easter Duel Festival proves he’s excellent enough.
However, the first-year “Astronomy” course is still considered an elective, indicating that Mr. Bruno might not be a full professor yet.
“Come to think of it, the secret path gate key from Ophelia Brad should have been obtained from him…”
Dark lowered his head and chuckled lightly.
…
In the “Alchemy Class” on Thursday morning, Professor Kazel delved into the composition of the “Eye of Truth.”
The homework for this “Alchemy Class” was to absorb as much of the content taught as possible.
Professor Kazel will teach the students how to activate the “Eye of Truth” next Thursday!
The “Eye of Truth” is an extremely rare secret technique that can only be mastered after connecting with the “Door to Truth.”
Once the “Eye of Truth” is activated, alchemists can measure the value of things from the perspective of the “Door to Truth.”
No value can escape the judgment of the “Eye of Truth.”
Originally, this secret technique could only be mastered by alchemy masters after reaching the pinnacle of their studies, but Professor Kazel allows students to master it right from the beginning of their alchemy studies…
If past alchemists knew this, they would surely be green with envy.
…
After the “Alchemy Class,” Dark headed to the task hall and posted “The Secret of Intelligence.”
He also took on the official tasks “Safety First” and “Gate of Advancement” at window number ⑨.
Apart from these two tasks, new adventurers usually take on some material collection tasks.
But since Dark doesn’t have a “Dungeon Storage Box,” he temporarily didn’t take any.
He has ample credits, no need for club points, and isn’t particularly interested in the tasks themselves.
Just as he was preparing to leave, he noticed that the task “The Secret of Intelligence” had already been taken!
