Chapter 571: Dark Demon’s定向越野（Orienteering）(4k)
Orienteering… The assessment for students in this simulated adventure was almost comprehensive.
And most of the elements were essential for entering the dungeon.
The most basic element was stamina—if one couldn’t sustain a rapid run for three hours, then even if they entered the dungeon, they wouldn’t be able to go far.
In addition to stamina, the ability to identify maps and directions was also very important.
If one still couldn’t find their way with a map guiding them, then in a complex underground maze, they would only end up lost.
As for the competition among students and the mechanisms protecting magic markers… these elements had some similarity to the monsters and guardian bosses in the dungeon.
Dark quickly found the first magic marker.
It was a ghostly decoration painting in the third-floor bathroom of the castle.
To collect magic from that ghostly decoration painting, one had to answer the question posed by the ghost lady—a math problem!
After a brief moment of surprise, Dark answered the question in two minutes.
Using the “Mana Collector,” after collecting the mana, the number “9” suddenly appeared in the upper right corner of the ghostly decoration painting.
Dark glanced at the “9” and exited the bathroom, just as two classmates arrived.
“Hello, isn’t that Dark? You got the same magic marker as us?”
Shiweite and Lentchen, being fellow students from the Noble Academy, were relatively familiar with Dark.
He waved his Selection Card and said, “Probably.”
Shiweite immediately said, “In the bathroom? We need to speed up, Lentchen!”
“I’m already speeding up, Shiweite,” Lentchen complained.
The two walked past Dark and directly entered the bathroom.
Then came a wailing scream, reminiscent of encountering a ghost.
…
At the beginning of the assessment, since there were ample opportunities to collect magic markers, no one interfered with others. It was simply too much effort for little gain.
Dark activated his Selection Card, switched to the map, and quickly locked onto the nearest second magic marker.
Ultimately, this was a race.
As long as he stayed ahead, the interference during the assessment would be minimal.
Of course, due to some students’ magic markers being outside the inner circle and further away in the castle, this peaceful period wouldn’t last long.
To avoid competing in the strongest central area, some chose to abandon nearby magic markers and head straight to the outer areas.
With everyone having different goals, the likelihood of consistently finding each magic marker first decreased.
Dark encountered this situation when he found the second magic marker.
Outside an empty office on the fifth floor, two students had already reached it, each probing their card packs, staring at each other.
Since the assessment had just started, the magic markers inside the office still had plenty of chances left; they didn’t need to compete.
But one was from the Knight Academy and the other from the Noble Academy, and they seemed to have a poor relationship. Neither wanted to yield.
When Dark appeared as a third party, the male student from the Noble Academy glanced sideways and exclaimed in pleasant surprise, “Dark, you’re here…”
But before he could finish, the male student from the Knight Academy quickly moved his lips, instantly drawing a magic card from his pack and shouting, “Push Spell!”
Suddenly, a force surged from the heels of the Noble Academy student.
“Ah—”
His feet slipped forward, and he fell backward like stepping on a banana peel.
The Knight Academy student sneered and rushed into the room.
“Roar!”
A fierce roar erupted inside the room, and the Knight Academy student froze, cold sweat dripping.
“Thud.”
The Noble Academy student finally landed on his butt, gasping in pain.
Actually, Dark could have helped but didn’t. Instead, he stopped and curiously looked at the office.
Inside, the Knight Academy student was frozen in an odd pose, as if facing a chasm full of danger but with a treasure chest just out of reach.
Combining the roar, Dark realized what he was seeing.
“So, this is an illusion?”
He made his decision, walked up to the Noble Academy student, and asked, “How are you? Can you stand?”
“Of course.” The Noble Academy student stood up awkwardly. “I didn’t expect him to use the Push Spell.”
“This is a technique,” Dark smiled. “Let’s go in together?”
The Noble Academy student looked at the office, his gaze firm. “Alright.”
Dark nodded slightly and led the way into the office.
As he stepped in, his vision suddenly revealed a terrifying giant beast.
The beast was covered in lumps, with sharp fangs, and drool hung from its mouth.
“Roar!”
With a roar identical to the previous one, the beast lunged forward, its breath foul.
Dark squinted and took a step forward.
The beast halted abruptly, opening its mouth wide, ready to bite down.
Dark’s vision went black, as if he were swallowed by the beast, feeling the wetness of flesh.
Vision, hearing, smell…
These sensations triggered tactile feelings.
Everything was truly incredible.
But his will was strong enough to ignore these fears and continue forward.
Every step brought more terrifying illusions.
Even when his vision turned black and he heard ghostly howls, his skin felt cold and clammy, he did not stop.
Two minutes later, the blackness in his vision rapidly receded, and he had broken through the illusion.
Turning his head, Dark saw the entire office clearly. In front of him was a desk, with a wooden log emitting faint mana fluctuations.
He shook his head and summoned the “Illusionary Worm” from his card pack.
Three seconds later, the small glowing bug appeared.
“Illusionary Worm, eye of truth.”
Following the command, the Illusionary Worm’s eyes widened, and a huge eye appeared in front of it, suddenly emitting intense white light.
Under the light, the desk and wooden log melted away like snow.
A meter away, the real desk and magic marker were revealed.
After collecting sufficient mana from the magic marker, a “9” appeared.
He turned to look at his brave classmates and walked between them, leaving the office.
“I hope they don’t get confused, or we’ll have to start over…”
…
Dark’s simulated adventure went smoothly.
Second-year students, regardless of which academy they were from, generally did not use magic cards against him.
Even when faced with competition, he could communicate amicably and successfully obtain mana.
Seeing him, those students often stopped fighting and “amicably” coexisted.
This continued for over an hour.
When time became tight, things changed.
Dark hadn’t deliberately sped up and had collected only seventeen units of mana in over an hour, with three markers still missing.
He had long left the castle and arrived at the circular building in front of the dungeon entrance.
“Is it inside?”
Looking at the map, Dark raised his head.
This Roman-style palace-like circular building had only two floors, the first floor over twenty meters high and the second floor ten meters high.
On the perimeter of the first floor, rows of stone pillars carved with monster patterns were neatly arranged.
Entering the building felt like traveling back in time to ancient times.
An ancient and vast atmosphere instantly enveloped him.
Inside the building, shouts echoed.
Clearly, many people were already inside.
“It looks crowded?”
After hesitating, Dark still walked in.
The deeper he went, the clearer the shouts became.
He perked up his ears and exclaimed, “Diana is in there?”
So he unconsciously quickened his pace.
Passing through the stone pillars and entering a spacious corridor, he walked straight ahead.
After a while, the path opened up, revealing a large open plaza.
Even though he had been here before, Dark couldn’t help but be drawn to the twelve massive statues in the plaza.
Then he suddenly noticed that one of the statues had a huge “1” floating above it!
This “1” was very noticeable.
This place’s magic marker was placed atop the statue.
Dark couldn’t help but comment, “They want people to climb up?”
Riding golems wasn’t allowed, nor could they be used to collect mana.
If someone drew this magic marker without a “Flight Spell” card, they would have to climb up.
“Luckily, it’s a lion-headed monster statue, not the angel statue with exaggerated hearts…”
Dark looked away.
Second-year students were arguing under the lion-headed statue.
Besides Diana, there were Wit, Robert, and Tudor.
Good grief, these four didn’t have any “Flight Spell” magic cards!
Dark couldn’t help laughing.
He finally understood why they were arguing here.
“Looks like those who can fly have already collected mana and left. The rest are grounded…”
“I guess they all want to climb up to collect mana, but because of interference, they can’t. If they give up, they won’t be satisfied.”
“In any case, these four are stubborn. Hmm, Wit seems to stay because Robert is here?”
“In short, this dragging isn’t good. I should help them.”
Dark’s lips curled, and he took out the “Flight Spell.”
“Whoosh!”
He struck a superhero pose and instantly soared into the air.
…
“Look, someone is flying!” Robert suddenly patted Wit’s shoulder, looking displeased.
Wit looked up and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, finally able to leave!
Tudor was about to shout again but remained silent.
Diana puffed her cheeks angrily and ran out.
“When I learn the Transfiguration Spell, I’ll turn into a bird… No, I’ll turn into a flying bear!”
Only one unit of mana remained on the magic marker at the top of the lion-headed statue.
Since someone was already flying up, the four below no longer had reason to argue.
Wit and Diana left soon after.
But Robert and Tudor were still unsatisfied until the “1” on the lion-headed statue turned into a “0,” and they ran again.
…
“So, flying is the test?”
After collecting the mana, Dark descended and continued searching for the next magic marker.
“Still two left, let’s go here first… I remember there should be a thick forest around here.”
…
“Next… The nearest magic marker is in this direction… forest?”
Wit, looking up at the distant forest from the circular building, confirmed the direction and ran.
Even though he had collected twelve units of mana, time was still tight.
He knew that competition would increase as the assessment progressed, and he had failed twice, so he needed to speed up.
…
At the same time, in a dense forest a kilometer away from the circular building, students were struggling to move forward.
Although they saw this vast forest daily in the castle, they mostly regarded it as a “background” and never thought of exploring so far from the castle.
If not for this simulated adventure assessment, they might never enter the forest until graduation.
They wouldn’t know that the forest was filled with mysterious things!
Andriana repeatedly checked her Selection Card map, trying to find a correct path through the dense forest of giant trees.
Her brown twin tails swayed, and a few harmless freckles dotted her face. Sweat dripped from her rosy cheeks.
Honestly, she had been wandering in the forest for over ten minutes.
But as a student from the Knight Academy, she had unyielding spirit and determination: “Where is the magic marker in this forest!”
Her scream pierced through the tree canopy, startling the glowing butterflies nesting in the leaves. They scattered, lighting up the entire canopy like a firework display.
Andriana froze, gazing upward in awe.
“How beautiful…”
As she marveled, the startled butterflies gathered at the treetops, becoming more numerous and gathering together.
