"Who?"
Unconsciously, a word escaped his mouth as soon as he entered one of the corners of the door, and his breath caught in his throat.
Turning his head left and right, up and down, his frown itched and an ominous foreboding crept into his heart because the same word continued to ring in his ears.
"Help me!"
"Help me!"
Despite the ominous foreboding, he brushed it off since the sight before him demanded his attention.
A humanoid monster with the same human functional body, except for two grotesque limbs coming out from its back and blank crimson red eyes without any pupils or irises—enough to fill dread in any child.
The saliva dripping down onto the ground almost evaporated the floor.
Hiss!
Every student gasped while some weak-hearted students vomited on the ground.
"Are we going to fight these ugly monsters?"
"If the saliva falls on my face accidentally..."
"Are they really F-rank monsters?"
Numerous comments were thrown out, and the teacher's face became blank upon hearing the nonsensical notions.
While every student became busy in their own world, Sam's attention drifted to the monster, and his eyes stared at it, not leaving any details unnoticed.
Sixteen monsters, arranged four in a row and four in a column, forming a square matrix, stood in place as if time had stopped—only the saliva hung at the corner of their dried and cracked lips.
'Argh! Why do I keep hearing those noises?'
Rubbing his temples, his eyes squinted, trying to catch every minor detail, but still, he was left with failure.
After some time, unable to bear the intensity of the noises, he complained.
'Who's begging for help?
These monsters?'
As this thought came to his mind, his heart pounded in his chest.
'That's why no one ever cleared any dungeon...'
"Enough!"
A loud sound reverberated in the open hall while every student's heart almost leaped out of their chest, and their eyes unconsciously drifted to the monsters in fear that they might rush toward them.
"Phew! Thank God! For a moment, I almost thought the monster would rush at me."
"Same!"
"You idiot! Still confused? These monsters only react if someone enters within a two-meter range of them."
The teacher barked, still continuing.
"Have you not seen the fight video? Someday you will have to fight against those—or even more powerful monsters in the future. So, brave yourself, and all I can say is: steel your heart and accept everything that comes with the journey of rune combat."
"Why are you looking at me? Go and fight those monsters in groups."
Silence!
The students only stared at each other until the teacher's nostrils were about to flare in anger. Rahul raised his hand.
"Sir, I choose Sam and Piyush."
The teacher breathed a sigh of relief seeing someone actively participating, and his head turned almost 90 degrees as he stared viciously.
"Do you think lying down lazily is going to get you anywhere in life? Watch fewer useless stories. You aren't the hero of some story. And if you still don't get it, then you'll continue to be a side story."
Some students standing behind, almost hidden from the teacher's lingering view, yawned, and whispers reverberated in low voices.
"Daily routine! Have you ever seen him talk with a straight mouth? No, never. Always talks with his butt!"
"Brush it off! His daily routine."
"Maybe his wife rejected him last night."
"Hah!"
Low chuckles and carefree whispers continued while the teacher continued to scold the students, and those standing before him bore the brunt.
Unable to bear it anymore, Rahul shook Sam.
"Let's go."
"Hmm. Piyush, let's go."
Nodding his head, Piyush followed Rahul and Sam.
One sword was thrown at Sam; he caught it neatly.
"Rahul, you already planned everything?"
"Hmm. Piyush, catch it."
"Sam, your job is to keep the monster engaged. Piyush, your job is to keep Sam safe, and I will try to clean up the monsters quickly."
Both Sam and Piyush nodded and moved toward their target.
Sam's grip tightened on the sword, and sweat had already soaked the handle, which was trembling.
'Maybe I'm excited.'
Calming down his throbbing heart, he inhaled and exhaled deeply to clear his thoughts and moved with firm eyes.
As he entered the zone of the monster, he noticed the eyelids of the monster tremble, and sharp razor claws glistened in the gloomy air.
Puff!
As he raised his foot for another step, the monster closed the distance in the blink of an eye and slashed at Sam.
Sam was already patiently waiting for the monster to take the initiative, and a faint smile lit up on his face.
Clank!
Chhiii!
His sword deflected the claw, and a second slash was launched, which almost brushed past the tip of his sword.
'Speed was... fine.'
Sam's eyes flickered, and the monster slashed again with its claws, while the back-claws mindlessly flailed in the air.
Clank!
Again, the claws were easily deflected.
"Sam! You're doing great! Just focus on your fight, and we'll handle everything behind you."
"Okay! I'm counting on you if I fall into a disadvantageous position."
"Count on us."
Initially, in the training stage, Rahul was selected as the tackling player, but Sam insisted he wanted to play that role, and his previous position as 'finisher' was given to Rahul, while Piyush worked to support and control the overall situation of the fight.
Getting his teammates' support, a faint smile bloomed on his face.
Clank!
Clank!
Clank!
One by one, every attack and slash were neatly deflected or dodged by Sam. He had already grasped the pattern of the monster's movements, and his eyes shone with overflowing light, staring with hungry intensity.
'So this is how it feels to watch everything from a higher perspective.'
The essence of having control over everything almost intoxicated him, but calming himself, he decided to finish it since these monsters posed no threat to him.
'Sorry buddy! I wanted to gauge your strength, but your 5 to 7 strength stat is really too low to even scratch me.'
Murmuring under his breath, he leaped at the monster without caring about anything.
Sam!
Sam!