Chapter 31: Inspection

Words : 1108 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

Chapter 31: Inspection The unsuspecting ’creature’ was back without knowing the situation outside. He only cared about grabbing his uniform and spending as much time as possible soaking in spiritual water. Luca was okay with ending up very wrinkly from soaking too long. At least he was going to stay alive. Luca accepted the fact that he was going to have to do it this way for some time. He had all intentions of improving his physical abilities, but it would be impossible to do it instantly unless he made one of those body-building pills that were all the rage for the Espers. The problem was that he wasn’t sure if his Dungeon had the materials. One reason why Dungeons were sought after was because of the rare materials inside. Now that he’s thought about it, he never concerned himself with the core of the Dungeon and the resource deposits. Back then, the guilds fought tooth and nail to have exclusive rights to close because the loot was too good to pass up. "D-29, does this Dungeon have a core? What about resource deposits?" The question excited D-29, who had been worried since earlier. The Host was showing interest in the Dungeon, and hopefully, this would help encourage him to figure out how to access level 1. "Yes, Host! Once we unlock the next level, we should be able to open the Dungeon proper!" Luca, who now held grievances against gooey creatures, shivered at the mention of opening Dungeons. The earlier exercise left him with a considerable shadow that had him asking whether monsters would come out once opened. "Oh no, Host! From what I know, there shouldn’t be any monsters considering the classification of this dungeon." "Maybe we shouldn’t think about that. I’d rather not jinx it again." "I understand, Host. But were you looking for a particular resource?" "Mn." "I was hoping to find some low-grade spirit stones as well as some Iron Silk plants." Luca wasn’t sure if it’d work, and frankly, he was scared it would work too well. What if he ended up looking like a bouncer after taking one? Won’t people wonder how that happened in a day? Then, eventually, he’d deflate like a balloon. Now, that was sure to attract attention everywhere. Luca was so engrossed with his plans that he cut it too close to class. Thankfully, today was a calibration day, and the main goal was to check the students’ mecha compatibility. Since yesterday, he had been expecting the worst, and this sudden decrease in strain surprised him more than the concept of mecha compatibility. They were made to do a set of exercises that got Luca wondering about its relation to mechas. And that was all. Not that Luca was complaining about the lighter workload, but he felt like it was a scheme of some sort. So, he still did the ’warm-up’ and as much weight training as possible to catch up. While the dedicated student worked hard to form some sort of muscle, several combat-ready students were being debriefed by their instructors. "You’re late." Instructor Falco looked over several students who just returned from a mission with the active military members. As usual, Kyle was responsible for explaining why they missed the assessment test and the first day of classes. However, this explanation was one that they used for anyone outside the Marshal’s immediate circle. "We’ll have to rank you behind the students who took the assessment." "That’s fine, Sir." Instructor Falco could only look at the recognized leader of this ragtag group. These kids, who used to be at the Junior Military Academy, never cared about things like ranking, so he could only sigh as he dismissed them. "The earlier lateness was due to a mission. But I expect to see everyone in class tomorrow." Falco was glad that the military managed to recruit kids who were hell-bent on contributing to the military. But it was still necessary to attend class and learn more skills. __ While the Academy staff was being won over by promises of improvements in the Military Academy’s facilities, some pretentious students were busy digging for clues. "Do we have any new leads?" Xavier asked Kyle, who shook his head. "We haven’t detected sudden changes in spiritual energy. By now, we’ve started looking for places with higher concentrations, but it would take a while to cover the school." The detection was being done covertly so that the sweep couldn’t be hastened any faster. Xavier didn’t feel comfortable waiting for something this monumental, but he understood the need to work carefully. "If nothing turns up, have the others monitor the school gossip. Sometimes, things are easier to figure out that way." __ Luca read Ollie’s message asking about when they could hang out again. But as much as he wanted to give him a positive response, he had been so pressed for time that he couldn’t even spare some time to go to the cafeteria. He was lucky to have a space that allowed him more time to train, so Luca utilized all possible moments to train and learn. But he suddenly remembered the Dorm inspection announcement and decided to check whether everything was clean enough. Technically, he was confident because he hadn’t even used the room, only hiding there to disappear into his space safely. But that also meant he hadn’t dusted the place in a while. So, Luca left his space and returned to his minimalist room. It was still the same wall and the same light that flickered when someone passed the small corridor, and there was still the faint buzz of the centralized heating system. Everything was the same except the bathroom door that suddenly opened with a soft hiss. Only for an unfamiliar guy-no, a giant guy, to show up. Not in a million years did Luca expect to see a tall, broad-shouldered, and unbelievably unreal person emerge from his bathroom. He was dripping wet and was only wearing a towel that slung low around his waist. His long hair was draped behind his back, and Luca didn’t know where to look. He froze. The guy froze. They both blinked. And their eyes eventually locked in mutual shock. The awkward silence stretched for what felt like an eternity as Luca’s brain short-circuited. He wasn’t sure what to do and how to escape. "What the—" the guy finally started, nearly scaring Luca into fainting. He wanted to scream, but his throat locked in surprise, so he went for the next best thing. Luca bolted for the door like his life depended on it. Because it probably did. "Wait—don’t open that!"

Chapter 31: Inspection

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