"You are to form a team of at least 3 and maximum of 5, head over to Ancient Zombie City.Record yourself Killing one Zombie using the Wind Slash rune attack. First place with highest kills using the wind slash battle skill would be given a high grade rune which will personally be inscribed by me."

She grabbed her folder and walked out without another word.

The Hall erupted into groans of shock. If it were just the high grade rune then it wasn’t much but to also have a rune master inscribe on you increases this prize by 100%!

But some students weren’t as excited. They already had pending assignments from other lecturers. The workload was suffocating, and they barely had time to study as it was.

Igris pursed his lips. He didn’t care about the workload but was troubled as he would need to join a team. He needed a team to enter the Ancient Zombie City safely, and more importantly, he needed someone to record him using the Tempest Wind Blade.

He stepped out of the Hall into the bustling corridor. Before he could even pull up the academy’s team-finding forum, a figure blocked his path.

The figure was short seductive figure with cropped black hair, wearing a crop top, a short skirt, and high socks. She looked like a cute middle-schooler, but the pointed ears poking through her hair betrayed her Elven heritage. Behind her stood two guys—one muscular and scowling, the other thin and stoic.

She swayed her hips as she walked towards him, She stopped just inches from him, close enough that he could smell her perfume.

"Hey! My name is Serra. I’m an Elf. The two behind me are Timothy and Stanford." She pointed at the muscular one first, then the thin one.

"Would you like to join our team?" Would you like to join our team?" she took a small step closer, her chest nearly brushing against his. She batted her eyelashes at him, her smile widening into something almost wolfish. "We could really use someone like you."

Igris blinked. He was skeptical, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. If he rejected them, his Null Talent reputation meant no one else would team up with him.

"I’m Igris. Thanks for asking. I’d like to join."

"Perfect!" she chirped. She reached out and placed a hand on his arm, her fingers light and warm against his skin. The touch sent a jolt of electricity up his spine. "I knew you’d say yes. I have a good feeling about us, Igris."

Instantly, the two guys behind her frowned. The muscular one, Timothy, stepped forward aggressively.

"Are you sure you want to team up with him, Serra? That’s the guy with the Null Talent. Everyone knows he’s trash. He’ll just die and drag us down in the Level 10 Ancient Zombie City."

Serra turned and raised a delicate eyebrow at Timothy. "Talent isn’t everything. Igris was among the first to inscribe the battle skill today, which means his future as a Rune-smith is secure. With such precise control over dust energy you have no idea the amazing things he could do with his fingers."

As she said this, her body trembled and she bit her lips seductively, bashing her eyes at him. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Timothy opened his mouth to argue, but Serra didn’t give him the chance.

"Alright, since that’s settled, let’s go."

’’’

The boundary of the Ancient Zombie City was packed.

Zombie Walkers were rather weak dimensional creatures. They had Slow Speed, Medium Strength, and Weak Constitution. They had been taught in school how to deal with them. A typical level 5 player who wasn’t too terrible at cultivation had no trouble dealing with one or two.

Although Igris had never fought a real Zombie Walker before, he could tell from their stats that they were much weaker than the Vigor Ants he had been farming.

"When we enter the ancient city, you don’t have to do much," Serra said, falling into step beside him. "Just follow by my side, leave the rest to them." She gestured to Timothy and Stanford.

"Alright." Igris nodded in agreement. Since he could easily pass the combat test, he had no plans on stealing the limelight.

With the two youths having no intention of talking to him, Igris was happy to be free of the small talk. He stood by the side, pretending to fiddle with his phone while actually checking his system stats.

While the two youths discussed the combat test with Serra, they kept assuring her, claiming that with them around, Serra was definitely getting first place on the Guide City combat test.

Their tone made it seem as though obtaining first in the Guide City combat test was as easy as drinking water.

"That may be so, but you have to do it well for me. Nothing must go wrong. I have to be first in the Guide City combat test at all costs," Serra said, her cute face hardening with ambition.

"Beauty Serra, rest assured. What kind of true experts can there be in a small place like the Ancient Zombie City?" Stanford, the thin one, said without concern. "Ignoring the fact that I’ll be joining forces with Timothy, just me alone would be able to guarantee that you get first."

Seeing Serra frown slightly, Timothy hurriedly said, "Serra, rest assured. We will do our best. We guarantee you that nothing will go wrong."

"Good." Only then did Serra nod slightly.

"It’s about time we enter. All of you are to focus."

With Serra saying so, all Stanford could do was swallow the words he was about to say. He gave Igris a pissed look, clearly annoyed at the dead weight they were carrying.

The four of them went to the administrative center to grab a pass and then took a carriage towards city.

Serra kept glancing at him with smiles in the way. Approximately an hour later, they reached Ancient Zombie City.

The Soldiers were already verifying the students’ candidacies. With three to five people to a team, they each brought their candidature passes to a verification machine. They gathered their fingerprints, scanned their passes, and checked the items on them. Only when they were confirmed to be the candidate in question—and that they hadn’t brought any item that aided in cheating—were they allowed entry into the ancient city.

Most of the students weren’t nervous. Instead, it was the family members who came with them who were almost fainting while standing beyond the warning line. They watched helplessly as the students entered the ancient city, some almost having a cardiac arrest.

Igris and his team lined up to go through the inspection, passing through a secured passage before arriving in front of the ancient city.

The gates to the ancient city had already opened, but everything inside seemed to be a blurry mist. There was no way to discern the interior.

Guarding the ancient city’s gates, the Soldiers who were armed to the teeth urged, "Stop looking and enter quickly. There are plenty of people lining up behind you."

Igris followed Serra and company toward the ancient city’s gates. However, when they passed through the gates, he realized he couldn’t see them. He hurriedly walked through the blurry gates and felt a strange giddiness overwhelm him as goosebumps erupted all over his body.

But with just one step, the scene before Igris’s eyes opened up. The mist inside the ancient city was gone. He could clearly see the stone-paved streets and ancient buildings with blue tiles and red walls lining the streets. Serra and the other two were right in front, just a few steps away from him.

’Those scientists theorized that the dimensional zones are equivalent to another spatial dimension. It does seem to make sense from the looks of it.’

After most students had entered, they curiously sized up the ancient city just like Igris. Although they had watched footage inside the Guide Ancient City from the school’s video material, to truly step in here gave them a different feeling. The antiquity and the atmosphere that seemed to span the entire gamut of human experiences were things that video footage couldn’t capture.

The Soldier gathered the batch of candidates and mentioned a few key things to take note of. When that was done, the combat test officially began.

All the students who participated in the assignment rushed for the ancient city’s streets and alleys, hoping to kill the most number of Zombie Walkers with their Wind Slash skill to obtain a better result.

Of course, there were people who harbored the hope that a few dimensional crystals would drop during the test. That would make things even better.

However, the Soldier had also made it clear that the students were to be responsible for whatever happened during the assignment.

Igris and Serra headed deep into the ancient city. In the beginning, there were plenty of students, so the Zombie Walkers that appeared weren’t enough for them to kill. Serra and company didn’t intend to snatch the mobs with the other students, so they circled around the battlefields and ventured deep into the ancient city.