—
The day had finally arrived, students began to gather within the courtyard, bickering with one another about the event. The dungeon was a place for adventurers to test their mettle and net grand items and rewards for their efforts. It was also somewhere to gain rare materials to either sell, trade, or upgrade your own weapons. Though, for this dungeon, it was mostly used by traveling adventurers and mages since Auradelle was mostly a mage-heavy kingdom. Which was mostly due to the Academy being placed in the center of the kingdom.
Many of the students discussed possible plans and were curious about what they could do to secure the best score possible.
"Maybe there's gonna be a secret trick to the test…"
"Do you think we should take some more potions…?"
"Please let me get good teammates…!"
The chatter continued as it seemed most of the students had arrived with some lacking afterward. Iris stood by one of the courtyard columns, holding her arm tenderly. She'd been one of the first to arrive at the courtyard and seemed focused on what was ahead. She noticed her sibling passing by, but didn't make herself seen as he'd been surrounded by other students. Many cheered and applauded him as he accepted the praise gracefully.
"I know, I know. You're all quite excited for the Dungeon Walk, yes? Well, I think we all know who's going to be taking first place this year. So you better pray to the heavens you get placed in my team!"
The students cheered as he basked in the attention. Iris' grip on her arm tensed up as she felt the tinge of disgust towards her brother's words. Even if his skill was more than exceptional, she couldn't stand his attitude when it comes to others praising him. He'd always been cocky, but this wasn't helping his ego whatsoever. Iris lowered her eyes at the prospect of trying her best during the walk, even bracing herself to try and communicate with Dante.
"I'll try my best today…I can't and won't mess up…!"
She clenched her arm once more before hearing a voice call out from the distance, she turned slightly to see a familiar face approaching quickly. Dante was running up to Iris, wearing clothes that seemed different than his usual attire. It seemed he'd equipped some adventurer gear, with some leather armor, matching his arm bands. He also came equipped with what seemed to be a pouch. Iris tilted her head at seeing his appearance, he seemed to fit more of an adventurer's look than one of a mage.
"Sorry I'm a bit late, got caught up in preparation."
"You look…awfully different…?"
"Oh this? I got equipped for the trip to the dungeon, my sponsor wouldn't let me leave for the Dungeon Walk without this."
"Oh, I see…but wait, why are you wearing armor…and those bands."
"Hm…I never explained that to you."
Dante took out his wand and quickly shifted it into its sword-mode. Iris' eyes widened at the sight as his golden sword, she'd seen his wand before and thought nothing of it, though its design was one she'd never seen before. She seemed marveled at the idea of a wand swapping into a sword, though her expression changed quickly before crossing her arms.
"You still stink at casting, that's no excuse."
"H-hey, I'm still learning! I'm more of a swordmage than not!"