What Era Is This, and We're Still Adventuring the Old-Fashioned Way?

Phantom World, Sun Temple dungeon, third floor—the lowest level.

The floor containing the most dangerous commissions in the exam, a place most candidates dared not set foot in.

Aside from reckless fools with no clear understanding of their own abilities, even highly capable teams would not choose to delve into the lowest level on the first day.

Yet now, a four-person team was racing through the dark tunnels.

Behind them was a furious cyclops, swinging a crude giant club nearly two meters long, made from wood, stones, and rusted iron.

Wherever it struck, the walls cracked apart instantly.

If a human body were hit by such an attack, it would likely shatter even more thoroughly than the walls.

Though they would not truly die in Phantom World, one careless mistake would cost them their exam qualification. No matter how much they had earned from commissions before then, once they suffered a fatal injury and were kicked out, they would just have to come back next year.

Despite such a low margin for error, the running team showed no panic and maintained a basic formation.

Among this batch of candidates, they were undoubtedly among the very best.

After advancing several hundred meters through the tunnels, the team came upon a stone door ahead.

The boy in the lead gave the order. "Get ready—"

The instant the person at the rear entered through the stone door.

"Now!"

"Greasy Surface." The mage at the rear cast a spell, and a thick layer of grease appeared on the ground outside the door.

The pursuing cyclops could not dodge in time. Its feet slipped, and it crashed heavily to the ground, making the earth tremble.

Its giant club flew from its grasp, but the cyclops still refused to give up. It painfully stretched out a hand, trying to grab those little people.

Its oversized but empty skull was not enough to understand what had happened, but it instinctively felt that these little people had something to do with it.

Yet no matter how hard it tried, it could not reach them.

A little adventuring trick: big bodies were weak against doorways.

The female priestess in the team raised her staff. "Thorn Growth!"

Dark green light flashed, and several thorny vines rapidly wrapped around the cyclops. The third person in the team immediately followed up with a curse to weaken the giant's defenses.

Just as the weakening was completed, a blazing fire serpent grazed their clothes and struck the giant's single eye. Its massive body was immediately swallowed by flames. The grease and thorns both became fuel, making the blaze burn ever fiercer.

The cyclops struggled in the raging fire for several minutes before gradually falling silent.

"We did it, Thomas!" the team's mage shouted excitedly. "We completed the highest-difficulty commission! Your control over your bloodline power has become even more refined."

Thomas Reinhardt, the captain of this team, was a warlock.

The Reinhardt family possessed red dragon blood. Most family members were born with extraordinary affinity for fire elements, and it was said that they still maintained relatively close ties with certain ancient dragons.

Within this family, a member's standing did not depend on whether they belonged to the main branch or were the eldest son, but on how much draconic magic they inherited from their bloodline.

Dragon blood was a highly random thing. The main branch did not necessarily inherit more magic than collateral branches. It mostly came down to luck.

For the unfortunate, their upper limit in life was becoming a human lighter. The lucky ones, if they continued to grow, could even develop dragon wings and unleash dragon might.

And Thomas was the most outstanding among his generation in terms of inherited bloodline magic.

Thomas did not seem particularly excited by his teammate's flattery. He merely said calmly, "Use titles while adventuring."

"Yes, Commander!"

The mage immediately corrected himself.

Clearly, he was already used to this somewhat strange request.

Thomas adjusted his clothes and hair. No matter how tense the situation was, a noble had to remain elegant.

He walked over to the cyclops's corpse, picked up a stone shard, and knocked out one of the giant's fangs as proof for submitting the commission.

"Now, no one can compete with us for first place."

Thomas spoke rather smugly.

"Of course," the mage immediately chimed in. "We were the earliest to reach the passing line, and we were also the first to complete the highest-level commission. How could anyone possibly compete with us?"

"As nobles, we must be modest."

That was what Thomas said, but there was not the slightest trace of humility on his face.

In his view, taking first place was already certain.

He had come to take the exam precisely to become first.

From childhood to adulthood, he had never ranked second. He had always possessed absolute confidence in his talent.

He had only failed to answer three questions on the written exam. Surely no one could be better than him. He was guaranteed the highest score.

And now, in the second round, his team had the most resources, the greatest strength, and the highest efficiency. Those mediocre candidates still needed him to distribute commissions to them.

Before long, he would enter the academy officially as the first-place finisher in every round of the exam, as the finest student in Saint Dero's history.

Everything was proceeding according to plan.

Nobles had to be this perfect.

Leading his team, Thomas left the dungeon and returned to the Adventurer Association.

Just imagining the other candidates' surprise and envy when he submitted the highest-difficulty commission and they saw the enormous reward made him want to laugh.

Nobles had to stand out like this.

But when he arrived at the entrance of the Adventurer Association, he saw a sight he had never expected.

The candidates had formed a long line before a small table. On the other side sat a little dwarf, and piled atop the table was a great heap of glittering gold coins.

Even hunting a cyclops at enormous risk would earn him less than a tenth of that pile.

How had she done it?

Thomas could not believe his eyes.

"Go see what she's doing," he ordered.

After saying that, he began nervously biting his fingers. His plan for first place was now under serious threat.

A few minutes later, someone from the team returned.

"Commander, she's helping all the candidates reduce the Adventurer Association's cut. If she handles everything for them, she charges a 5% commission."

"You can do that?"

"Commander, I think it's a good thing, because she can help us save nearly twenty percent in fees."

"Hahaha, that really is a good thing."

Thomas gave a professional fake smile.

Then he began doing simple calculations in his head. If that person took 5% from every candidate, how much money would that be?

He could not say exactly how much, but it was certainly far more than taking on three or five high-difficulty commissions.

If he wanted to take first place, his previous plan would no longer work.

He had to seize every minute and take commissions like crazy.

And every time he took a commission, to keep the Association from taking thirty percent, he would have to voluntarily give this competitor 5%!

Thomas had no time to think further. He immediately rushed into the Association and accepted every highest-difficulty commission...

Two days later, with the first batch of exams nearing its end and only ten minutes remaining before everyone had to leave Phantom World, Thomas sprinted toward the Association. His exhausted body could not drag down his powerful will.

"Submitting a commission! Recovering a rare amulet on the third floor! Good thing I made it."

He did not even have time to find Mia to avoid the fees. With this payment, his total earnings over three days had reached 326 crowns.

More than ten times the passing standard.

That number would definitely surpass that little dwarf who had exploited a loophole, right?

A victor's smile appeared on Thomas's face.

As the victor, he decided to show some concern for the loser. It was part of his noble creed of elegance.

He strolled leisurely over to Mia's little stall and carefully examined the money on her table. At most, it was a little over two hundred crowns.

The advantage is mine!

"Excuse me," Thomas asked warmly. Whenever he held the advantage, he always appeared very approachable.

"You've worked hard these past few days."

"Really? Thanks." Mia swung her legs lazily.

She did not feel she had worked very hard. Instead, she was puzzled why everyone could not figure out such a simple problem and had to let her handle it for them.

In her view, it did not even require calculation. Once the numbers were written down, the answer naturally appeared. She had thought she would mainly earn consultation fees, but unexpectedly every candidate wanted to hire her to handle things for them.

"You've worked so hard, so you'll definitely pass the exam. How much have you earned in total?"

Thomas pretended not to care that much, when in truth he cared desperately.

"Let me check the accounts. Two hundred... two hundred seventy."

"Hahaha, that's not bad either."

"The two hundred seventy is what's on the table. The first bag stacked on the ground has three hundred fifty, and the second bag—"

The moment Mia mentioned the first bag, Thomas's ears had already begun ringing. He did not hear the rest clearly.

He only felt tightness in his chest, shortness of breath, weakness in his limbs, heart palpitations, and a pounding headache.

Judging by the symptoms, his blood pressure had shot up.

Only one final thought remained in his muddled mind. Mia—he would remember that name. No, no one could rank ahead of him. In the final round of the exam, he would definitely make her pay...