"Professor Nini…"
Dark stared at the notification on his Sorting Card, and a sense of foreboding crept over him.
"Don't tell me Professor Silf actually approved her request?"
He tapped the notification open, still reeling in disbelief. He had assumed that someone as responsible as Professor Silf would never in a million years greenlight Professor Nini's "Dungeon Day Trip" proposal.
And yet the reality staring back at him from the screen seemed to be staging a rather serious challenge to his sanity.
[Professor Nini: Yay! Professor Silf agreed to my request. This morning at ten o'clock, we will officially be entering the dungeon for a half-day adventure. Please make your preparations in advance — and don't forget to bring lunch!]
"So it's gone from a day trip to a half-day trip?"
"Does that make any real difference?"
Dark's expression darkened immediately. The notification hadn't mentioned any other professors accompanying them — if it was just Professor Nini on her own, could she really look after an entire year group of students?
And the more he read it, the more dubious this notice seemed.
Bring lunch, it said. Was this a spring picnic?
Speaking of which — spring was here, wasn't it.
...
Since the snowfall on Valentine's Day, the weather had indeed been trending gradually warmer.
It was March, after all.
Dark thought it over, then left a message on the corkboard he'd bought specifically for this purpose, telling his Magic Guide Spirits to be ready to be summoned at any moment once they woke up.
Only after that did he pry the vegetable basket from DemiDevimon's claws and sit down to enjoy his breakfast.
"Yomi—"
Drifloon came floating over, nuzzling up against him.
Dark speared a cherry that had been set aside as garnish with his fork and fed it into Drifloon's mouth.
"Ah——"
DemiDevimon watched this exchange, one eye twitching with sudden inspiration, and promptly sidled up as well, doing its best impression of Drifloon.
Dark blinked, but went ahead and stabbed a strawberry anyway, tucking it into DemiDevimon's mouth.
"Nom nom."
DemiDevimon chewed the strawberry mechanically, and for reasons it couldn't quite articulate, felt a sudden prickling behind its eyes.
So begging for food was really that simple?
How many opportunities had it missed, all this time?
"Yomi?"
Drifloon turned to look at it, utterly perplexed.
...
After finishing breakfast, Dark rummaged through the cupboard and produced a spare lunchbox, then packed a bottle of apple juice and a bottle of Cow Grass juice, picked up the vegetable basket, and headed to the Canteen together with DemiDevimon.
A dungeon spring outing — the very concept was enough to give him a headache just thinking about it.
But he went along with it, more or less.
After all, they were setting out at ten and returning by midday — lunch could only be eaten inside the dungeon.
He'd head to the Canteen, grab some rice and roll a few rice balls, or throw together a few sandwiches with bread. That would probably do the trick.
"I'd imagine that's what the other students are thinking too."
But when Dark stepped into the kitchen, there wasn't another student in sight.
He was curious, but he didn't dig into it.
When the Halfling Cook aunt asked what he needed, he mentioned the "Dungeon Half-Day Trip."
The Halfling aunt immediately volunteered to prepare everything for him.
By the time Dark came back to his senses, his lunchbox had been stuffed to the brim with a colourful spread of food — all the kind that would still taste good even after it had gone cold.
Dark hastily thanked her. The Halfling aunt just smiled warmly and said, "Don't mention it — taking care of the children is what we're here for. As long as you enjoy it, we're happy."
Dark thanked her again, and then left the kitchen.
He handed the lunchbox to DemiDevimon and sent it back to the dormitory, then headed off to class himself.
Friday still had one Dueling Class left.
After class, he'd have to swing back to the dormitory to drop off his Dueling textbook, then gather at the Castle gate.
He could bring the lunchbox along then.
Some of his classmates, however, seemed to have different ideas entirely.
When Dark walked into the Dueling Class classroom, he was startled to find quite a few students already there.
And every single one of them had come loaded down with bags packed to bursting with all manner of snacks and fruit.
These were the very same people who had looked utterly alarmed and worried when Professor Nini first mentioned the "Dungeon Day Trip."
And yet now that the day had actually arrived, they'd thrown every last shred of that apprehension right out the window.
Perhaps it was faith in their professor.
Or perhaps it was simple excitement at the prospect of a spring outing.
Who could say?
Dark turned back around and walked toward his familiar seat.
He had barely settled into his spot in the last row by the window when Diana whipped her head around, her round rosy face lit up with excitement. "Dark, Dark — guess what I brought!"
Dark replied, "Candy."
Diana pulled an entire bag of sweets out of her drawer and announced cheerfully, "You guessed right!"
Dark: "..."
Just as he was processing that with wordless resignation, Rose turned around, patted her backpack, and said, "Don't worry, I brought Diana's share too."
From the look of it, she'd probably packed pastries or something similar.
But surely you don't think I was surprised because Diana only brought candy and forgot to bring lunch?
I really wasn't!
Dark pressed a hand to his forehead and reminded them, "Don't pack too much. We're going to the dungeon, not on a picnic."
Girls already had less stamina to spare, and Rose in particular was the delicate type. If she really lugged that enormous pack around, she'd probably be dead on her feet before they'd even gotten far inside.
But Diana immediately jumped in, "Don't worry, I've got plenty of energy!"
Dark: "..."
Fine. They'd apparently thought this through more than he'd given them credit for.
...
"Ding-ling-ling——"
When Professor Jones stepped into the classroom right on the bell, she immediately noticed that the atmosphere was distinctly different from usual.
She couldn't help asking, "What's this? Good news?"
A boy from Knight House raised his hand boldly. "Yes, Professor. We're about to enter the dungeon for a spring… adventure!"
"A dungeon adventure, is it?"
Professor Jones gave a thoughtful nod, then remarked offhandedly, "Well then, today we'll be covering some of the dueling rules specific to dungeons."
Emma in the front row looked up curiously. "Professor Jones, there are dueling rules inside dungeons too?"
"Of course there are."
Professor Jones walked up to the lectern, turned to face the students below, and smiled. "For a Magic Guide user, dueling is one of the primary means of resolving disputes. Accordingly, different environments come with different sets of rules.
Take the street duel that Dark Demon participated in on Valentine's Day, for instance — that's one such variant.
Inside a dungeon, in order to avoid drawing monster attacks, there are new rules in play. We generally refer to this as the Silent Duel."
"Silent Duel?"
Dark's interest was piqued as well. He looked up and listened carefully.
Professor Jones wrote the characters for "Silence" on the blackboard and said, "A Silent Duel is, in general terms, built upon the foundation of a Silence Card. Both the Magic Guide user and their Magic Guide Spirits must remain within the Silence Card's area of effect.
The main differences from a standard duel are two.
① No sounds may be produced.
② There is no Magic Sphere. In fact, the majority of duels that take place outside official matches have no Magic Sphere. Doron, you look like you have a question?"
Doron, hand raised high, immediately asked, "Professor Jones, what if you don't have a Silence Card?"
Professor Jones gave a satisfied nod. "That's an excellent question — but I'm afraid I can't answer it for you."
Doron: "But…"
Professor Jones gestured for him to sit down, then continued, "The Silence Card is the foundation of the Silent Duel. Without a Silence Card — or a Magic Guide Card of comparable effect — engaging in a duel with someone inside a dungeon is nothing but asking for trouble.
As your professor, I strongly advise against it. But if you ever find yourself in a situation where you have no choice, stop and think carefully: do you have what it takes to face a monster surge? Alright then, let's continue… Dark Demon, did you have a question?"
Dark lowered his hand and stood. "Professor, without a Magic Sphere, how is the winner determined?"
Professor Jones said, "I know you have experience with street dueling, but a Silent Duel in a dungeon is fundamentally different. Its purpose is to resolve disputes as swiftly as possible while keeping everyone safe.
As such, a Silent Duel does not allow direct attacks on the opponent's person. Typically, one single-star Magic Guide Spirit is designated as a stand-in for the Magic Sphere — once that Spirit is defeated, the Magic Guide user is considered to have lost."
"I see."
Dark nodded in understanding.
With that explained, he had a solid grasp of how the Silent Duel worked mechanically.
With sound forbidden, a Magic Guide user could only perform summoning through silent incantation, which placed extremely high demands on the caster's technique.
And with no voice to convey commands, the rapport between a Magic Guide user and their Spirits became absolutely critical.
How do you communicate without sound? How do you relay tactics to your Spirits in real time?
These were skills that came into their own in special circumstances.
What's more, Ultimate Moves that relied on sound to function — such as Alluring Voice or Hyper Voice — would be rendered completely useless.
All in all, the Silent Duel placed even greater demands on a Magic Guide user than a standard duel.
Duels of this kind inside dungeons also tended to favor fast, decisive tactics that resolved things as quickly as possible.
After all, dungeons were fraught with danger — no one ever knew when a monster might come bounding out of nowhere.
...
Professor Jones walked through the fundamental rules of the Silent Duel in thorough detail, and in the second half of the class, she had Dark and Virt come up to the front together to give a demonstration.
As sons of the Kingdom's Twin Swords — and both active members of the Dueling Club — the two were reasonably matched, their gap in ability within acceptable limits on the surface.
Virt, too, seemed to have made progress lately; there was a visible sharpness in his eyes now, a glint of fighting spirit that hadn't been there before.
What could you say — that was the son of the Hero for you.
That inextinguishable courage was something truly rare.
The two took their positions on opposite ends of the lectern. Per Professor Jones's instructions: silent, starting with single-star Spirits, no high-star Magic Guide Spirits, no high-power spells or Ultimate Moves — settle it quickly with light techniques.
It was only as they moved into position that Virt suddenly realized — was this perhaps the very first time he and Dark had faced each other head-to-head in front of everyone?
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