"Thank you, Professor," said Edward, but he didn't move immediately. "I'd like to ask something."
"Go ahead. If I can answer, I will."
Edward nodded. "I'd like to challenge a dungeon or a cursed land soon. Can you tell me if I have to follow any specific rules? And where can I apply for the mission?"
The professor's eyes sparkled with curiosity. 'So soon, and he already wants to challenge it? He's confident...' he thought.
The information had reached him in the last few hours. This boy was a Master of Multiple Beasts, someone who, initially, already had an advantage over his peers, so he could understand his source of confidence.
'If he manages to take advantage of that to earn a lot of points, it will benefit him,' he thought and nodded. It was a valid move, although a little hasty for his taste, but he wasn't going to say anything about the students' decisions. They follow their own path and forge it.
"All I can tell you is basic information. For example, you need to find a teacher willing to give you that mission, and they must be high-level. That teacher is the one who will give you all the information you need, so you'll have to find out everything."
Edward frowned. 'Finding a high-level teacher willing to support me in this will be too difficult,' he thought.
Even more so because of his reputation as a Lux.
The professor in front of him noticed his concerns, so he smiled in response.
"It shouldn't be a problem. Many high-level professors issue those missions every time. Sometimes it's enough for them to find you interesting for them to do so, since they have to meet an annual quota of missions issued anyway."
Edward nodded. "I see, that's good to hear." He smiled, thanked him for the information, and then headed down the same hallway he had come out of the academy, as he had been instructed.
Someone was supposed to be waiting for him, but since he had returned so early, it was normal that no one was there. Anyway, he didn't need it. The academy doors were supposed to be open all the time, waiting for the return of students who were on vacation.
'I wonder what these long corridors mean. Why corridors and not just a normal farewell? What lies behind these long corridors, with occasional torches?' he thought.
The fact that this was the exit and entrance for the star students leaving for vacation was, to say the least, enigmatic.
It wasn't a realistic part of the academy; just a hallway and a control office at the end of it. Nothing else.
'Will it always be like this when I want to leave the academy?' he thought, hoping it wouldn't. This wasn't pretty at all, no matter what.
Soon he reached that crossroads... where he frowned.
"Professor Owen." He greeted him, a little dazed.
Owen was wearing different clothes and was coming from the hallway leading to the awakening room.
'What is he doing here?' he thought.
Owen was also stunned to see him arrive. "Haven't you left, student Edward?" he asked, surprised.
"I'm returning to the academy, Professor. My vacation is over." Edward was respectful. He looked at the clothes Owen was now wearing and frowned.
They were the same clothes the principal had worn before.
'An elder of the academy?' He was in shock.
Was that talkative, loud-mouthed Professor Owen, who had taught him for three years straight, an elder of the academy?
An elder was even above a high-level professor!
They sat at the same table as the principal to make decisions about things to come!
Owen didn't notice his gaze; he was too stunned by his words.
'Didn't he just leave this afternoon?' he thought, frowning. 'There must have been an emergency.' He realized.
He wanted to ask him, but...
'Forget it. It's not good to investigate the murky terrain of cursed surnames.' He simply nodded to him.
"If you're back, then fine. Since there's no one waiting to guide you, follow me. I'll lead you inside," he said.
Soon, Edward was walking behind Owen down the long hallway. It was exactly the same as before.
'How curious,' he thought.
As he walked, he looked again at Owen's clothing.
'An elder...' he thought. He didn't know what an elder was doing teaching young people who weren't even star students; that kind of person was hard to find.
It was easier to see the principal than an elder. And these guys don't suddenly level up. A new elder appears every 10 or 20 years, when one of them retires.
Therefore, he shouldn't have been promoted recently.
'Maybe he can issue those missions.' He remembered what the professor had told him outside.
"Interested in why I wear elders' clothes?" Owen asked suddenly.
Caught off guard, Edward nodded. "Although I'm more curious to know if an elder can issue the first hunting mission inside a dungeon or a cursed land," he replied.
Owen stared at him, stunned. That question had never been answered that way before.
"Are you interested in getting that first mission?" he asked.
"I'd like to get it, but I was told that only high-level teachers could issue it."
"I see." Owen nodded. "It's not much use to you, is it? A mission lasts only one month from the time it is issued, and then it expires. If you decide not to pass it at that time, you can reapply six months after its expiration date. If you tried and failed, it can no longer be issued. You're just starting today; you should take your time."
Edward nodded. He knew the rules.
"I'll take a few days to get to know the academy and its rules, then I plan to challenge the mission," he replied.
Owen finally became interested and stopped to look at him. "Are you trying to get the bonus points?" he asked.
"That's what I want," he replied.
"Oh." Owen resumed walking once more. "I've heard you're quite good with a sword. Is that true? Rumor has it you're a natural talent."
"I must have something if I'm going to be so presumptuous as to challenge something so dangerous right after entering, right?" He replied, smiling.
"Are you asking me to issue one to you?" Owen asked.
"I was wondering if it was possible. You were my teacher for three years and are the only one I know who is at a very high level in the academy... With my surname, I don't know who else could help me."
"Haha, you're right." Owen nodded. "If you're so determined, I won't say anything else. Young people need to have guts. But if you want me to help you, tell me which dungeon you want to challenge. I warn you, I don't issue missions for low-level dungeons," he said.
He had standards. It was no wonder he was one of the most respected elders at the academy, although Edward didn't know that.
Edward smiled. 'Good. If I can solve this as soon as I arrive, it would be a great relief,' he thought.
"I want to challenge the Defective Cursed Land of the Fire Undead," Edward replied calmly.