It was already the next day, but Asher and Alyssa were still unconscious.
Rumors spread instantly that Asher Greville got hurt in the D Rank dungeon, making many people elated in the World Academy.
"Kevin, you have a good chance to gain the No. 1 spot now," Ria said to Kevin with a smile on her face.
"Don't be so happy, Ria. His score in the physical test was still too good," Eva replied while sitting down on one of the sofas.
"Yeah, but our professor told us that most of the marks are given based on your performance in the Dungeon Exploration," Ria said as she took a snack from the table.
"Serves him right, who told him to be so arrogant," Ria said, looking at Elena.
"I don't care much about rankings right now; he is already D-Rank," Kevin said with an annoyed look on his face.
"Yeah, we should work on ourselves for now. But I am glad that girl will step down as the Year Representative," Elena walked over and sat beside Ria, speaking with a confident look on her face.
She didn't like the fact that people always compared her to a cripple like Alyssa.
Although, after the physical test, nobody really thought Alyssa would be able to maintain her Top 10 spot. But the fact that both she and Asher were in the medical facility, most people, including Elena and Kevin, assumed Asher and Alyssa probably made a mistake in the D Rank Dungeon.
***************
"Why can't we meet him?" Damian was arguing with a staff member when Professor Elsa came out of the medical facility.
He had heard the rumors but couldn't believe that Asher would get hurt in a D Rank Dungeon so much that he would have to stay in the medical facility.
What they didn't know was that Asher and Alyssa had come out of the dungeon a long time ago.
"Both of you can go back for now; he is fine," Elsa said, but Damian was still not budging.
"Okay, we should go, Damian," Amelia pulled Damian's hand and took him away from the building.
She knew about Elsa Robles, who was her mother, Sylvie's friend, and a famous SS Rank Hunter.
Elsa looked at both of them go and sighed in relief.
'Why does every bad thing involve him?' Elsa looked back at the huge building behind her.
First, the incident with Professor Erwin, and now this.
Although she herself didn't know what had happened and why her student was in the medical facility, she had been told that their test got delayed, and they got a bit injured.
Farnus had carefully controlled the information and made it so that nobody except the people present there knew about the Dungeon Defect.
Inside the Medical facility,
"His body is healthy, but he is showing no signs of waking up," The Doctor respectfully reported to Farnus, who was standing in front of the room Asher was staying in.
"Did the girl wake up yet?" Farnus's presence was heavy for some of the low-ranking doctors.
"Ah, no, actually, she would wake up, but it seems she is mentally drained," The Doctor replied hesitantly.
"Get her to wake up and tell us what happened inside," Farnus was turning when one of the junior doctors shouted.
"Ah, Asher Greville has woken up!" He informed making the head doctor stepped inside the room quickly.
Only a few doctors were allowed to heal Asher and Alyssa, and all of them were picked by Farnus himself. The old man didn't want anybody to learn about the incident that happened as it would greatly affect the image of the World Academy.
Asher's head was still dizzy as he opened his eyes, but the bright light in the room made him squint.
"What happened?" Asher thought as he stood up and looked around.
But as he stood up, he could feel that his left arm was a bit painful. Although it was fully healed, the aftereffect was still present.
The pain made Asher instantly remember the moment he had defeated the boss and found himself unconscious.
"Don't move much for now," a man's voice wearing lab clothes resounded in his ears.
"Are you feeling fine?" The head doctor asked while looking at the monitor.
"Yeah," Asher stood up from his bed.
"Wait, don't move around too much--" The head doctor advised, but he saw the indifferent expression on Asher's face.
"You can leave," Farnus appeared behind the head doctor and ordered him.
"Yes, as you wish," The doctor bowed his head a bit and left Farnus and Asher alone.
Asher saw an old man wearing a white robe with a few designs on it. It was attire he remembered very well.
"Do you want to talk in my office or here?" Farnus still had his usual look that showed his endless confidence.
"In your office, but first I would like a few things," Asher said as he looked around but turned his face to look at Farnus's eyes.
"My and Alyssa Astaria's spatial rings," Asher said as Farnus took out both his and Alyssa's spatial rings.
These spatial rings were specially given to the Year Representatives, and their owners could open them with their own mana.
He tossed it towards Asher, who caught it with his hand.
"You can give it to her when she wakes up," Farnus said as he disappeared with Asher as well.
It was one of the artifacts that Farnus possessed that allowed him to teleport to certain locations he had marked with a few people as well. As the location could not be changed once chosen, it was a Rank S Artifact.
"What does the heir of the Greville family want to talk about?" Farnus sat on his chair behind his table, which was neatly organized.
His words and actions did not reveal even a single speck of hesitation or anxiousness about the incident that happened yesterday.
Asher sat down on the sofa; he could feel that his body was still tired from the aftereffect of using his skill, but he looked calm right now.
"A dungeon defect happening due to the World Academy's fault, a professor trying to kill a student. I wonder what you want to talk about," Asher said with an indifferent face.
Normally, a hunter on the same level as Asher would have been trembling due to the pressure from his body alone, but he was calm.
Farnus raised his eyes as a amused look appeared on his face.
"Are you saying it's our fault?" Farnus didn't give in to Asher's provocation as smiled maintaining his demeanor.
Farnus Calmort, the strongest human in the world and one of the wisest as well. He was known for his great intelligence and insights.
No matter what, for Farnus, Asher was only a young boy who still didn't know much about how the world worked.
"Accidents happen in dangerous places like dungeons; you cannot blame us," Farnus replied.
"Well, if that's all, I should leave," Asher was about to stand up when Farnus tapped his finger on the table and spoke again.
"Well, from the way you are speaking to this old man, it seems like you want some compensation," Farnus could guess that the young man was not like others his age.
He was trying to convey that he was ready to conceal the information about the dungeon defect, but he needed a price.
"Well, what can the Principal of the World Academy offer me?" Asher sat again and looked directly at the Principal.
"Hahahaha, young man, do you want to bargain with me?" Farnus laughed again.
"What do you want? Tell me the price. For World Academy's peace, I wouldn't mind a loss either," Farnus gave an open choice but didn't specify any offers himself.
He wanted to know what Asher wanted before he would slowly pressure him down to a good deal. What Farnus wanted was Asher to admit that he willingly challenged a C Rank Dungeon and eliminate the possibility of the Dungeon Defect happening.
"Token of Cartiala seems like a fair trade," Asher's indifferent eyes stared at Farnus.
"Hahahahahahahaha," Farnus laughed.
"Asher Greville, you may leave. You are free to try and do whatever you want," Farnus smiled while provoking Asher.
It was true that conflict with the Greville family and few other elite families was troublesome but he could still handle them. It would have been different if Asher had died but he was alive.
He didn't know that the young man in front of him would have the audacity to ask for one of the greatest possessions he held. For him, the future headaches were better than giving up on that token.
It was not an artifact nor a special mana-related item, but it held significant value that both of them knew very well.
Asher's eyes ventured towards the robe that Farnus was wearing.
"Well, a full robe would have suited you more, right now it's rather dull." A smirk formed on Asher's face.
A heavy pressure loomed in the room, as Farnus's expression turned serious as he looked at Asher.
"What do you mean, young man?" Farnus asked while looking directly at Asher.
"Just an opinion, nothing much," Asher stood up, ready to leave, but before he got closer to the door.
A white-colored token with a few delicate designs on it floated in front of Asher, whose eyes were cold right now.
"Does anybody else know about it?" The old man asked as he suppressed his thoughts to kill Asher.
"Well, if nobody knows that I possess this token, nobody will know about that as well," Asher said with an indifferent voice.
"Very well, you may leave, and Vice Principal Xander is in charge of the rankings. Both of you need to provide proof of your kills inside the dungeon," Farnus said as Asher left the office.
Farnus clutched his fingers as various cracks started appearing on the wall of his office room.
'How did he know?' Farnus had only one thought in his mind.
It was a known fact that Farnus possessed an ancient rune, and one of the students with great talent with a spear would get his legacy. But what was even more coveted was the armor that Farnus possessed.
An SSS Rank Armor, one of the most powerful armor artifacts that came out of a dungeon. But despite being coveted, it was appraised as a blood-bound artifact, so nobody other than Farnus could possess it.
But Farnus later discovered another ability that the armor possessed, and that was his ability to pass half of the armor down to someone and protect them from death. If the inheritor of that armor was about to be killed, Farnus would be able to teleport to save them. It also allowed Farnus to know the location where the other half of the armor was.
This phantom armor would only activate in the face of death, but the problem was that Farnus had already used it on someone. Nobody knew, but Farnus had already taken Kevin Whiteheart as his successor and secretly gave him the armor.
Only the family head of the Whiteheart family knew about this, even Kevin himself didn't knew that he possessed such armor.
The biggest secret of the Principal of the World Academy, one he never wanted the world to know.
As Asher was being escorted by a staff member his face went cold, but he still didn't knew about a weird black tattoo appeared again while he was talking with Farnus but dissapeared shortly after.
