Parallel Memory

[Mia's POV]

It has been almost 3 days since I started training my student, Zero Elea, for the Tournament of Academies.

I have been surprised many times by him. He could endure bizarre training and his physical stats appeared to be better than any talented students.

Though he lacks the battle sense of a veteran Explorer, it is still very high compared to his fellow peers.

He is also the student who has one of the highest talents she has ever seen.

She was excited to know that she would be teaching a class full of talents such as Hiro, Zion, and others who are considered the Golden Generation.

However, among the gold, she had found a diamond. If Zero was not there she might have chosen to mentor Lisa or others who possess Magic Art.

But unexpectedly someone who is very talented and also uses Ice Magic like her showed up.

She couldn't be happier to teach Zero. Zero has fulfilled all of her expectations and gone above and beyond them.

He not only did not complain during the training but also endured it for many hours. People who don't shy away from working hard will be the ones to become somebody in the future.

But today he has done something he should be punished for.

I arrived at the location that I decided on at 8:50 10 minutes before the time for the meet-up.

Slowly a crowd started to form around me.

This is why I refrain from coming out in public too much. People always disturb me by surrounding me and not giving me an ounce of privacy.

I wanted to escape from that place and go somewhere without any people.

However, I had to wait for Zero, or else he would not know where I am.

Ten minutes passed by as I continued to wait for Zero.

The time was already 9:00 am but Zero didn't show up.

The small crowd had become so big that it might have covered the whole space around the Fountain of Tyche.

The people were staring at me like I was some kind of rare animal.

And the noise that they are making could only make this place more annoying.

5 minutes had passed and there was no sign of Zero.

Did anything important come up? Or is he sucked into Gates?

Gates have been increasing as of late. The Authority is trying to research the problem but right now they have no idea.

The good thing is that the dungeon rank is low and many people survived after Explorer ventured inside to help them.

I quickly checked my phone for any place near here which is experiencing a Gate right now.

As of right now, the most recent Gate appeared 5 days ago and there are no signs it will happen again.

The first option was less likely as he would have informed her if anything of importance came up.

It seems that Zero is running late because he has become tardy.

In her role as a professor, Mia Frostine couldn't help but notice the disciplinary problem Zero is displaying.

No matter how powerful one might be, one ought to have some kind of morals and discipline.

The crowd surrounding me did not make waiting for Zero any more enjoyable. He really needs to be punished for making this situation last longer.

It was not until 5 minutes later that Zero finally showed up though he ended up getting rolled in front of me.

( What is he doing? )

He seemed to have fallen down after walking through the crowd. He seemed so tired after going through the crowd that his current state might suggest he had just been through a dangerous battle.

It was contrary to his appearance when he went through those difficult training sessions. He would not even flinch when his body has reached its limit.

However, he appears to be so exhausted that he has fallen off while trying to push through the crowd. Professor Mia has already noticed some kind of mismatch in personality Zero shows sometimes.

He would at times be a flirty and happy kind of person and sometimes a serious person who seemed desperate to get stronger.

However, it was not my place as a professor to pry into Zero's history. He might have gone through some things that led to him being like that.

Her job as Zero's mentor was to protect him and show him the right way to achieve his goals.

Seeing the pathetic state Zero was in, she thought she would not be too harsh when giving him the punishment.

"Huff… Puff…"

He was sweating and almost out of breath. Whether it was because he was running due to being late or from trying to push through the crowd, he seems to have a difficult time getting here.

"Zero"

Though he might have already suffered, it is imperative as an educator to let Zero know that you can't just be late without facing some kind of consequence.

"Apparently someone needs to be disciplined."

I thought about what would be the most appropriate punishment for coming late.

I would not want it to be too harsh since it was his first mistake and also because while coming late was inexcusable, he might have his circumstances.

In addition to being light, Zero's punishment should also be beneficial to him. What is the use of punishment if it does not change or benefit him?

It would be an absolute waste of time for both Zero and me if I were to punish him like some punishment where the person is made to stand there for the whole day. ( Some people make them do it.)

(...!!!)

AH! I got it. I previously decided to let Zero challenge The Orc dungeon which is a low-level Rank-D dungeon but I might need to change it to a high-level Rank-D dungeon.

The Orc Dungeon needs a team of Rank-E + or at least one Rank-D in a team to conquer the dungeon.

But for a high-level Rank-D dungeon, you would need Rank-C - or at least a team of Rank-D + to conquer it safely.

In Rank-D, Zero might have difficulty - but based on her understanding of Zero's power, she concluded he was at the same level as Lisanna.

She thought she might start off with a light training since it will be the first dungeon training with Zero.

But since Zero needs to be punished for coming late, she decided to change the level of the dungeon.

"Today, you will need to conquer The Lair of the Brutal Lion."

"The Lair of the Brutal Lion?"

( is this not the dungeon that is said to be the most difficult under Rank-C. )

The environment is tough for beginners and monsters are quite skilled. The monsters present in them are mostly beasts with less intelligence but it is compensated for by their far superior physical abilities.

Their abilities to hunt in the group are also far superior to many monsters and therefore, it is difficult to fight with them.

Just looking at the difficulty, it is borderline Rank-C - dungeon.

This would be my first attempt at trying to clear a Rank-D high-level dungeon. I had previously conquered mid-level Rank-D dungeons, and it was neither too hard nor too easy to conquer them.

I could manage to deal with the dungeon bosses without using Dual Art, though it was definitely not easy to defeat them.

"The Lair of Brutal Lion is the perfect place to test your physical abilities and also to fight against a group. We might never know what will be in the Tournament of Academies. It could be a survival test or it could also be a group fight. To prepare you for this, Lair of Brutal Lion."

( OH! So that is the reason. )

I nodded to Professor Mia's explanation.

Indeed, The Lair of the Brutal Lion is ideally suited for those things. Professor Mia is really visionary, to be able to plan for all those things. I knew she would not be so petty as to punish me for coming a little late. I honestly thought she was doing this becau…

" And also because you came late. I don't know the reason but you should have at least informed me if you were to come late."

"O_O"

( SO THAT'S THE TRUE REASON! )

And here I was praising her for being visionary and magnanimous. I knew she would not be so kind as to spare me for being late.

Her actual goal for choosing The Lair of Brutal Lion was definitely because I came late.

I wanted to shout and complain about how it was unfair to give such a harsh punishment just for coming late.

However, it was really my fault for coming late. And it was not like I could not conquer that dungeon.

Sure it might be difficult for a normal Rank-D - but I think I could manage to conquer it. Regardless of how difficult it is to defeat the monster, the rank of the monster will always be Rank-D + and below.

Professor Mia observed Zero's expression and his reply when she mentioned The Lair of the Brutal Lion. She was impressed that Zero didn't complain about going to The Lair of the Brutal Lion.

Either he does this because he has no choice but to compel her or because he is confident about conquering it.

Well, she will find out soon which one it will be.

"Follow me."