I Ended Up in a Magic Academy

Chapter 6: Dungeon Trial: The First Exam Part 2

The crowd had gathered when we went to the dungeon trial exam, and they never really left, they just moved with us. It felt more like a parade heading toward the training grounds, especially with the smell of fried snacks drifting through the air from vendors who had appeared out of nowhere.

I noticed Elira staring at one of the food stalls with a weird, intense look on her face, making me wonder if she was actually thinking about selling food, too.

But the fun vibe vanished the moment we hit the grounds. The air got quiet and heavy. Suddenly, our faces were everywhere, blaring from the giant crystal screens all over campus.

Even the older year students stopped what they were doing to watch. They weren't just curious anymore, they were serious. Everyone knew that the S-class freshmen were the ones who would eventually run this place, and they wanted to see if we'd actually make it or just go down in flames.

The dungeon entrance gate stood tall in front of us, carved into the stone like a giant.

The instructor gave us a sharp, cold smile. "The rules are simple. Get in, stay alive, and clear the dungeon."

While waiting, I looked over at my own team to see Seiren standing perfectly still like an elegant noble, whereas Shayna was a total mess next to her, shaking and fidgeting so hard she could barely keep her head up.

When I tried to communicate with my team by saying "Hey," Shayna didn't even let me finish before letting out a tiny squeak and hiding her face in her hands, leaving me standing there feeling awkward and wondering what I had even done.

Seiren looked at Shayna and then turned her cold gaze toward me to ask out of nowhere, "Are you friends with Lucia Lozano?" prompting me to blink in surprise and clarify that she was more like an acquaintance, to which Seiren simply replied, "I see," before immediately returning to her silence.

The instructor raised his hand, cutting off any more talk as he ordered, "Team 1. Get moving."

As the dungeon gate opened with a heavy thunk and cold air spilled out, we could view the inside of the dungeon through the academy's large crystal screen, which displayed the first team to appear, the powerhouse group: Zinnia Elrod, Pavel Godfrey, Caen Damaris, Team 1.

Zinnia Elrod stepped in without a sound. She didn't rush. Instead, her presence softened.

Pavel Godfrey followed right after, muttering, "Alright," as he rolled his shoulders once while fire mana flickered faintly along his arms.

Caen Damaris entered last as gravity mana quietly distorted the space around his feet, flatly stating, "Let's not waste time."

From the corridor ahead stepped the Minotaur, a Class 2 Living Beast serving as the dungeon trial challenge for the first year Class S freshmen, which snorted loudly as the ground cracked slightly beneath its massive weight.

Pavel grinned, saying, "Let's make it at least under 6 minutes," just as the Minotaur rushed at them with a heavy impact that shook the entire corridor.

Pavel moved immediately, stepping into its path without hesitation to shout, "Hey! Over here," as fire erupted along his fist when he slammed upward in a blow that did not break the beast but successfully forced its momentum off balance

The moment Pavel shouted, "Zinnia, switch!" she was already gone like a shadow slipping between moments, appearing directly under the Minotaur's flank to press a mark of destabilizing shadow mana into its joints and instantly slow its movement.

Caen then followed up by lifting a hand to cast his gravity spell while declaring, "…Kneel," choosing to simply play a support role alongside Zinnia rather than crushing the beast with pure pressure so that the primary damage could be left to Pavel and his destructive flame spell.

The Minotaur's stance faltered as if the ground had suddenly become heavier than its body could bear.

Pavel exhaled and stepped in again even faster, focusing his condensed fire into reinforcement along his arm as he delivered one clean strike to the ribs that sent a loud crack echoing through the dungeon.

The Minotaur roared in pain and tried to retaliate, but Zinnia had already disrupted its balance again, shadow mana tightening like invisible threads around its movement.

Caen followed up calmly by initiating a second gravity shift.

The beast hit the ground on both knees, its massive frame trembling as if the strength had been forcibly drained from its body.

With assistance from Zinnia and Caen, Pavel didn't hesitate, he charged his flame magic to the fullest. He drove forward with a final enhanced strike, fire and physical reinforcement combined.

The strike landed with a heavy, crushing impact that seemed to echo through the entire space right before everything fell silent.

__

As I looked at the monitor watching the battle unfold inside the dungeon, Pavel moved like a blunt storm in a performance that turned the exam into a true display of power for the first year Class S.

I glanced at Elira, who possessed Cold Flame and let out a quiet yawn since she did not seem interested in any of this at all, while Lucia stood composed beside her, prompting me to turn my attention back to the monitor.

The Minotaur was defeated, and as the dungeon trembled once, a faint magical timer floating above them flickered to show 5 minutes and 45 seconds.

__

While Zinnia exhaled softly, Pavel rolled his shoulder and flexed his hand once as if testing the aftermath of the strike while muttering, "Could've been faster," though Caen had already turned away to flatly state, "…Sufficient."

The other teams watching the crystal screen fell silent as the recorded time appeared right before the next announcement echoed through the hall, proclaiming, "Team 2: Alex McElfresh, Cassandra Langston, Ealric Griffin."

Alex let out a relaxed sigh and scratched the back of his head, muttering, "Well… we're probably not first place material, huh?" which caused Ealric to chuckle and reply, "As long as we don't embarrass ourselves, its fine."

Cassandra stepped forward immediately, her violet eyes narrowing slightly at both of them as she sharply demanded, "Who do you think I am?" causing the air around her to instantly grow heavier.

Alex blinked and asked, "Uh… our ace?" to which she confidently replied, "Good. Then follow my lead, and don't slow me down," right before the dungeon gate closed behind them with a heavy echo.

For a moment, none of them spoke inside the damp, thick air of the dungeon that made footsteps sound louder than they should, right before they finally saw it.

Alex let out a small breath. "Okay… that's bigger than I expected."

"Focus," Cassandra said immediately as she started casting.

Lightning cracked softly along her fingers as she stepped in first. She struck the Minotaur's arm just as it began to charge, not enough to stop it, but enough to break its rhythm. "Ealric, hold it!"

"Already on it," he replied. Earth mana surged from the ground, forming a thick barrier under the beast's step.

The impact shook the corridor, but Ealric held firm, gritting his teeth. "This thing is heavy…"

Alex then followed up with his wind spell. Magic gathered around him as he shifted the airflow inside the corridor, subtly messing with the Minotaur's footing and timing.

Cassandra noticed immediately. "…Nice," she said briefly.

The Minotaur roared and tried to recover, but Ealric stepped forward and slammed his earth magic into its knee joint. The beast staggered.

"Now!" Ealric shouted.

Cassandra didn't hesitate the moment the beast staggered, held in place by Alex and Ealric, and seeing her chance, her eyes locked onto it as she released her "Volt Strike."

Lightning gathered around her arm then she released it. A sharp flash cut through the air.

The sound followed right after, loud and heavy, like thunder crashing in a closed space, while sparks of electricity scattered and faded around the monster.

The outcome had been decided the moment the strike was formed, and as the Minotaur collapsed with a heavy thud, a timer floating above them recorded 08 minutes and 2 seconds.

Alex let out a slow breath, muttering, "Our ace is a beast," while Ealric sat back slightly and agreed, "Yeah she is."

She dusted off her sleeve like nothing had happened, simply saying, "Too slow."

Alex groaned. "We're under ten minutes!"

Glancing back at the fallen beast for a second, she admitted under her breath, "…Not bad," before turning away again.

__

I watched them in silence and had to admit those three worked well together, giving a small nod as I noticed the others around me doing the same since no one was openly saying it, but everyone understood that clearing the dungeon in under ten minutes wasn't normal.

For most students in the lower ranks, B to C class included, it would take thirty minutes at best, sometimes even longer if things went wrong, but the A-class students can make it under 20 minutes because they can be called late bloomers.

This wasn't just good but already well above standard, though Team 1 remained on a completely different level, causing me to glance back at the screen again just as the next team was called.

"Elira Frostborne, Sol Whitlock, Lucia Lozano. Team 3."

The announcement barely finished before people were already paying closer attention.

This was one of those teams where you could feel it immediately, something wasn't going to go smoothly, not because they were weak, but because they were too strong in different ways.

The moment they stepped inside the dungeon, the air changed as Elira Frostborne moved first with no hesitation in her steps while Cold Flame flickered at her fingertips.

Lucia Lozano followed almost at the same time. Water mana gathered around her like a controlled current.

The Minotaur barely finished turning to rush at them before Elira spoke under her breath, "…Mine."

Lucia's eyes narrowed slightly. "No," she replied softly. "I'll handle it."

And just like that, the dungeon turned into something else entirely.

Elira surged forward first. She cast fire, then ice at the same time, fusing both into her signature Cold Flame. The spell burst outward in a controlled arc, meant to overwhelm everything in its path.

Lucia answered immediately, casting a higher-level water spell. Pressurized currents snapped into place to intercept and redirect, not letting Elira fully take the lead.

It wasn't teamwork, but rather competition wearing the shape of coordination

The Minotaur roared, confused more than anything else, caught between two completely different styles of overwhelming force.

Behind them, Sol Whitlock walked in at a normal pace.

He looked at the chaos for a moment, then let out a small sigh. "We are going to fail if you do it like that,"

No one responded.

Sol remembered the opening ceremony, the moment he thought it would be a good idea to provoke Elira just a little, out of curiosity more than anything else.

He rubbed the back of his neck and let out a small breath as he recalled the terrifying memory of Elira's Cold Flame during the opening ceremony, realizing that if the instructor hadn't stepped in right after, he probably wouldn't have made it past that first day and now he was supposed to work with both her and Lucia.

Elira and Lucia continued trading control of the battlefield, one pushing forward, the other locking openings down instantly.

Neither wanted to give the other the final hit, and both women were smiling as they fought the Minotaur.

And somehow, it worked.

Elira didn't stop moving. Cold Flame kept bursting from her hands in sharp, controlled flashes, each one pushing the Minotaur back just enough to keep it off balance.

"You're being slow, noble woman. Are you out of mana?" she muttered under her breath, speaking to Lucia.

Lucia didn't respond. Instead, she casted her main spell: "Aqua Magic: Tidebreaker Stream!"

A strong surge of water shot in beside Elira's flames. It was precise. It cut off the Minotaur's movement paths, forcing it into smaller and smaller openings.

The two of them weren't really talking anymore but just kept going, completely halting the Minotaur when it tried to push through their relentless assault.

It finally gave out mid-motion, collapsing like its body just stopped understanding what it was supposed to do.

Silence followed until a soft chime echoed through the dungeon, causing a timer to flicker above them.

8 minutes and 54 seconds

Elira clicked her tongue immediately. "I had it first."

Lucia didn't even look at her as she stated, "You were slower," causing Elira to bark back, "You keep interfering with my spell!"

"You did it too," Lucia replied with a shrug while smiling, "so I'm just returning the favor."

Sol finally stepped forward slightly, glancing at the corpse and then to the two girls. They smiled at each other, but animosity was leaking out. He just sighed as he plainspokenly muttered, "…We finished the exam at least."

The two girls paused before letting out a simultaneous "Tch," completely dissatisfied in completely different directions.

Sol sighed again, a little tired now. "…Can we go back now?"

__

While watching the screen, I saw both women smiling as they defeated the Minotaur, constantly interfering with each other's spells while Sol just stood there watching.

I looked back at the two women on the screen again, they were smiling like maniacs while killing the monster.

It's better to stay on good terms with them, yeah.

Looking very pleased and clearly eager to start the next team, the old instructor with the long white beard announced the final group, "Emil Remington. Shayna DeRose. Seiren Silvius. Team 4. Get ready and enter the dungeon."

__

A while back, while Teams 1, 2, and 3 were still undergoing the exam, the professor in charge quietly left the main observation area and moved to the back corridor, where a mysterious man dressed in a black hood was already waiting.

"Is it in progress?" the hooded man asked flatly.

The professor stroked his long white beard, glancing toward the glowing crystal monitors in the distance. A slow smile crept onto his face as his eyes briefly reflected the promise of reward.

"Yes, he replied." The exam is proceeding as planned.

Behind them, the faint hum of the academy continued, unaware of the conversation unfolding in the shadows.

The elderly man shifted his gaze. "So… we make Emil Remington fail, correct?"

"Correct," the hooded man said without hesitation. "At all costs. We need him to fail and return."

The white bearded man simply nodded, not fully understanding what was happening in their state.

From his sleeve, he produced a small black orb and placed it into the professor's hand.

"Inject this into the Minotaur. It will ensure the outcome."

The professor studied it closely.

His expression changed the moment he recognized it. "…An artifact," he muttered.

For a brief moment, hesitation flickered in his eyes.

But then—

his gaze drifted back toward the wealth quietly promised to him.

Slowly, his lips curved into a smile. "Well, he said softly, closing his fingers around the orb, if something happens… it won't be my fault."

And just like that, he accepted it.