His classmate began to raise their hand, wanting to be the one to answer such a simple question from such a beautiful teacher.
Desther looked at the teacher in front.
Blonde hair with a length slightly above her shoulders. Wearing reading glasses as well as a standard teacher uniform that slightly outlines her curvy body.
'She still has those dark eyebags that she is trying to conceal with light makeup. I remember this started exactly a week ago,' Desther thought inwardly.
Aside from that, he also noticed the slight stain on the right shoulder of her uniform.
"Let's start with you, Victor."
The boy named Victor smiled and stood up.
"According to what we know so far, Dungeons are separate spaces that contain different kinds of monsters or beasts. They started appearing around the world five years ago, during the Age of Descent. Inside them are various monsters that, if not cleared in time, will break out and create chaos in the real world."
The teacher, Rosa, nodded her head, satisfied with Victor's answer.
"A clear and concise answer. This is exactly what we know about dungeons so far. Of course, more is still being discovered by researchers, but one thing we could know for sure is that dungeons are dangerous and full of monsters."
"Now, we know that dungeons are dangerous, but how dangerous are they, and how do we identify their danger?"
She paced around the room and nodded toward another student to answer her question.
"Teacher, the researchers label dungeons with grades depending on their threat level. As far as we know, they have a special tool that they use to measure the mana activity of a dungeon's gate or portal. The size of a portal is also an indication of a dungeon's grade. The more intense the energy and the bigger the portal, the greater its threat grade or level."
"Good. Now, dungeon grades are divided into seven categories. From weakest to greatest threat, they are classified as F-Threat, E-Menace, D-Crisis, C-Disaster, B-Catastrophe, A-Calamity, and then S-Super Calamity."
She paused for a bit, looked at the students, and seeing that they were listening carefully, she nodded her head and continued, "So far, we have ten active A-Calamity dungeons, hundreds of B-Catastrophe, and thousands of C-Disaster and below dungeons. As for S-Super Calamity, none has been discovered, so this just remains a theory for the time being."
"Well, A-Calamity is already too much to handle, so I hope there won't come a time when we encounter a Super Calamity," she said, in a bit of a gloomy tone.
"Anyway, you will only be focusing on F-Threat and E-Menace grade dungeons, so don't research too much about the other grades, so ignore them for the time being."
She pointed and allowed a lot of Desther's classmates to answer her questions regarding dungeons.
Desther himself was made to answer as well; everyone was not spared.
Strangely enough, none of the students showed dissatisfaction; everyone seemed to be too intent on learning this bit of information, even though these were discussed a few times already.
'Well, I guess it just helps to recall from time to time,' Desther thought, finding the class getting a little boring.
He wanted to fetch out his phone and secretly read a few chapters, but he was afraid that Teacher Rosa might catch him in the act. She was, after all, already an Awakened Professional with enhanced attributes.
"As said before, to undergo your awakening, you must bathe in mana energy inside a dungeon," she continued.
"Generally, it takes at least ten minutes inside a dungeon before one would be able to awaken their Talent."
"Awakened Professionals will be present inside the dungeon during your awakening to prevent any mishaps, but you need to take note that dangers are always present inside a dungeon, even though the monsters inside them are being regularly cleared."
"Since you will be randomly teleported the first time you enter a specific dungeon, the first thing you must do once inside is to find the nearest gathering point and meet with the others before doing your First Kill."
"Monsters inside an F-Threat dungeon, though remaining at Tier 0, still possess considerable risk for you bunch. Even if you somehow awakened a powerful talent, the best course of action would still be to find the nearest gathering point before going for the First Kill, alright? Of course, no one is stopping you from doing it as long as you are confident with your success."
"Again! Do not take unnecessary risks. We are no longer in the Age of Descent. Combat Professionals can assist you for the First Kill to prevent any accident and allow you a smooth-sailing awakening process, understood?"
The reminders made everyone nod, including Desther.
For their awakening ceremony, they will need to enter inside a Regulated F-Threat Dungeon and bathe in the mana inside it.
It was already public knowledge that each Dungeon has a Core that must be destroyed to completely destroy a dungeon and to prevent it from spawning any more monsters.
Once a dungeon core was destroyed, the dungeon would dissolve and hence, would be considered as cleared.
As for Regulated Dungeons, they are dungeons that were purposely left uncleared for whatever purpose they may serve.
In this example, the Regulated F-Threat Dungeon that they would go to was left uncleared so that it could be used to awaken students like them.
Of course, since uncleared dungeons could still spawn monsters, Awakened Combat Professionals would clear the monsters inside but leave the dungeon core intact so that it could continue to serve its purpose.
For the time being, monster spawn rate and where they usually spawn inside a dungeon were still being studied by the experts, so for now, it was generally assumed that they spawn at random.
Caution must be exercised at all times while inside.
Tier 0 monsters, those at Level 10 and below, were enough to decimate any of them if they were careless.
Of course, after the Age of Descent, schools already incorporated basic defense classes so they were no longer as helpless during those dark times.
Teacher Rosa's reminder made everyone heighten their vigilance. None of them wanted to die during their talent awakening ceremony after all.
"Right, there's still an hour left before your awakening ceremony. Follow me to the Supply Department to claim your basic supplies. You must ensure to equip and prepare yourself with necessary equipment."
For an event as important as an awakening ceremony, the college would provide basic equipment for them to use while inside the dungeon.
Every student was, after all, a future Awakened Professional—an asset of humanity.
These sets of equipment, of course, must be returned once they are done with the awakening ceremony.
Arriving at the Supply Department, Desther and the others were made to choose their equipment from the varieties displayed in the stall.
After notifying the teacher, he ultimately chose a small dagger, leather armor, and then a leather bracer for his forearm. All of them were standard equipment and were enough to handle most Tier 0 monsters.
They were each limited to only three pieces of equipment as well since they were not expected to kill a lot of monsters during their awakening ceremony.
These pieces of equipment were mostly for their self-defense in case something goes wrong.
Aside from these standard issued equipment, Desther and the other students made sure to prepare themselves with various supplies as well.
Basic necessities, such as food, water, a map of the dungeon, and other miscellaneous tools, were packed inside their bag. This was part of their Wilderness Survival Guide after all.
Even though F-Threat Dungeons were relatively small compared to the upper-grade dungeons, the world inside could still be compared to a city, so bringing such basic supplies was still necessary.
Caution has been instilled in their brain; a living Awakened Professional was, after all, more valuable than a dead one.
Observing around, Desther noticed the determined and solemn gaze of his classmates as they wore their issued equipment.
Some even had concealed rage in their eyes, while some were visibly nervous as well.
With what happened during the Age of Descent, Desther could not blame them for how they feel.
Considering the timeline, they were just twelve or thirteen years old when all the chaos started.
Although five years had passed, the chaos and their survival against all odds when they were escaping from city to city before getting saved were still fresh inside their minds.
Some reunited with their families, while some became orphans just like Desther.
Seeing the concealed rage within his classmates' eyes, Desther could not help but click his tongue, 'Revenge, huh!'
Like him, he also knew that some of his classmates also lost a relative or two during the chaos. Some, of course, were relatively lucky.
Familiarizing themselves with the issued equipment, an hour passed in the blink of an eye.
Led by Teacher Rosa, Desther and the others finally came into the dungeon that they were going to awaken into.
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A/N: Will release two chapters a day.
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