Unlike Felix, they took thirty to forty minutes to consume them entirely.

There was only one box remaining.

Within were scroll parchments, a physical copy of the intermediate spell he had purchased.

He had already grasped the spells and had practised them through the digital format.

However, these were also useful, as they could be sold outside the academy at a considerable price.

There were students, most notably those from low-income backgrounds, who purchased items with the intention of selling them outside the academy to generate a profit.

No rule restricted students from doing so, as long as the purchase had been made with their merit points and the transactions took place outside the academy.

This was why the academy was more focused on how the worker had obtained the potion within the academy premises than on why.

With so many opportunities available, it was easy to understand why many sought to enter the Grand Avalon Academy.

Ezekiel opened their profiles to see their strength.

[ Name: Victory

Race: Cybernetic-Enhanced Flaming River Deer

Lesser Beast - First Rank (91.5%) ]

[ Name: CR1

Race: Cybernetic-Enhanced Sabre-Tooth Rabbit

Lesser Beast - First Rank (51%) ]

[ Name: CR11

Race: Cybernetic-Enhanced Sabre-Tooth Rabbit

Lesser Beast - First Rank (50.5%) ]

[ Name: CR21

Race: Cybernetic-Enhanced Sabre-Tooth Rabbit

Lesser Beast - First Rank (51%) ]

The improvements were far less significant than those of Felix.

Ezekiel guessed that it was due to the quality of the magical ore he had given them.

He didn't even have any spare to try out on Spiral Fang.

This was the best he could do at the moment.

Since Ezekiel wasn't keen on drawing too much attention by exterminating the goblin camps again, the only way he could think of was buying the magical ores at full price from outside the academy.

He placed the matter at the back of his mind.

"How do you all feel?" Ezekiel asked.

"I feel slightly stronger than I was before," CR1 responded.

"Me too," CR11 and CR21 added.

"I also feel the same way," Victory replied.

"Do you notice any unique improvements in your skills?" Ezekiel asked.

Since his connection to them was weaker than with Felix, he could only receive a faint impression of what was going on within them.

"No, I don't feel anything else strange within me," CR1 responded.

The other two CRs, including Victory, nodded in agreement.

"Okay. That's it for now. You can inform the others what has happened. Also, tell them that I'll get theirs next time," Ezekiel said.

They nodded in understanding.

"Thank you for this privilege, Master," CR1 said, bowing respectfully.

The others followed suit.

They were aware that Ezekiel had just fulfilled the promise he made to them.

Ezekiel nodded silently.

He took them into his storage ring.

He stored the boxes, including the ones containing the scrolls, in his storage bag.

"It's time to train," Ezekiel said, looking at his skills to decide which one to improve.

***

Three hours later

Ezekiel improved his Firespark spell, raising it by 12 per cent.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

◆ Spells:

┗ Fire Spark - Intermediate Spell (23%)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

He decided to complete one more quest before returning to his dorm room to take a long break and prepare for his new class.

Ezekiel didn't need to return to the Dungeon Hall to select a quest.

One of the reasons students did so was to leave intel that someone had taken the quest.

Depending on the difficulty, the Dungeon Service Nurses could calculate the time it should take to complete the task and use that to ensure students were safe in case they didn't return within the expected timeframe.

Ezekiel already had the kind of quest he wanted to complete in mind.

He dispelled the concealment he had placed on the cave before boarding Felix and vanishing deep into the forest.

Meanwhile, at a cluster of massive boulders filled with caves of various sizes.

Three students landed at the entrance of a cave.

"Do you sense that?" Salin asked, his voice filled with excitement, "The mana signatures have gotten stronger."

"I can sense it too. But it's currently weakened. I think a battle between numerous powerful magical beasts might have taken place here," Gerith responded. He wore a jacket over his combat uniform.

Although there was no rule discouraging students from wearing what they wanted over their uniform, not many fancied it because it got in the way of the uniform's enhancements and would be entirely destroyed in battle.

Attires with protective enhancements higher than those on the uniform were forbidden.

As such, only students from poor backgrounds wore extra attire to hide the worn-out areas of their uniform from others, since they were unable to purchase an additional set from the academy beyond the free ones that had been issued.

"How about we investigate it to see what's inside? If it's an injured magical beast, we could land a killing blow on it and harvest it to sell outside the academy. And if there's nothing there but only lingering magical signatures, then we can call it a day," Batar said. He wore a pair of gloves and gripped his enchanted iron sword as he stared inside the cave with interest.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. Remember, there have been growing reports of attacks with magical beasts far stronger than the required strength range in the dungeon," Gerith responded with a frown.

"Even the other departments have begun complaining about this issue. However, the academy has yet to respond to the matter. I personally think that we should avoid anything suspicious for the time being. When the dungeon returns to normal, then we can harvest as many materials as we want."

"Tsk!! You're always so cautious. Don't you know that it's at times like these that we can harvest from the dungeon as freely as we want? Everything we do will be blamed on the mysterious, powerful magical beasts," Batar retorted, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

"Once the dungeon returns to being safe and fully operational, then it will be much harder to do all these things. Besides, everyone else is currently competing for quests after the Worst One completed the Goblin Extermination quest. Sooner or later, they will also find this place and investigate it themselves."

"What do you think, Salin?" Batar asked, turning his head to the captain of their group, who appeared to be deep in thought.

"Gerith is right. Let's leave. It's not worth the trouble if we encounter something dangerous," Salin shook his head, sighing.

Suddenly, he smiled michevously, "But I don't plan on completely abandoning it. I have a plan."

Batar's expression shifted from disappointment to excitement as soon as he finished his words.

"What's the plan?" he asked curiously, listening in attentively alongside Gerith.

"We'll lead others to this place so they can investigate it and see if there are any dangers inside. However, it comes at a price. We'll have to share whatever is found with them equally. If it's truly the hideout of some powerful beast, we might be able to take it out before those top rankers arrive," Salin explained.

"That's an incredible plan," Batar responded cheerfully.

Gerith nodded in agreement.

"Come on, let's go put it in action before someone else finds this cave on their own," Salin said, turning around to leap down from the rock.

The others nodded and followed behind him.

However, just as they were about to take another step forward, a powerful aura descended upon them, and their bodies froze in place.

Slow, steady footsteps echoed from behind them.

They swallowed hard.

Sweat beads poured down their faces.

Instantly, they bit their tongues and began channelling their mana to break free of the mental pressure that had seized their bodies.

"Growl!" A terrifying roar erupted from behind, accompanied by a fierce wind that sent them crashing to the ground with a 'Baangg!'

Before they could rise back to their feet, an enormous shadow loomed above them.

The students raised their trembling heads up.

Above them stood a massive four-legged beast, its body shaped like a tiger, striped in golden yellow and black. Around its neck flowed a thick mane of the same colour. Sprouting from its sides were a pair of golden wings that spread wide as it lifted itself into the sky.

The magical pressure the beast exuded was far more powerful than any beast they had ever encountered.

They immediately pissed their trousers.

"I don't want to dieee!!" Garith muttered with trembling lips, voicing the thought sealed in the hearts of the other two, who were too terrified to speak.

They realised that this magical beast had emerged from the very cave they had planned to explore.

If they had known, they would never have dared to approach it.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

The mysterious, powerful magical beast flew down toward them.

As it opened its jaws wide, they finally saw its sharp, menacing rows of teeth.

Before they could even comprehend what was happening next, a stream of scalding purple flames shot out from the beast's jaws.

"AHHHHH!!!"

***

Several distances away from the area,

As Ezekiel soared toward his selected hunting grounds on Felix's back, a sudden, terrifying roar resounded through the air, jolting him out of his thoughts.

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