The Author's Playground

The journey through the simulated dungeon continued, but for Astra, it was pure hell. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Not because of the monsters. Not because of the terrain.

But because of the endless Lucian praise.

"Wow, Lucy-chi! You’re amazing!" Quaso cheered after Lucian effortlessly deflected an incoming attack. "That parry was so smooth!"

"Right?" Elijah smirked, throwing an arm around Lucian’s shoulder. "Our guy here doesn’t just fight—he makes it look cool."

Lucian, clearly uncomfortable with the attention, sighed. "You’re all exaggerating."

Astra, trailing behind the group, clenched his fists. ’I was literally right there too...’

What about him?! He could fight too! He had lightning magic, for crying out loud! Yet every time he tried to contribute—

"Astra, don’t use lightning on the stone monster."

"Astra, don’t blow up the cave ceiling."

"Astra, maybe read the enemy descriptions first?"

Every single time.

And to make things worse, even when he did do something right, it was Lucian who got the credit.

Like earlier, when Astra spotted a hidden enemy before it ambushed them—

"Nice reflexes, Lucian!"

Or when Astra pointed out a suspicious trap on the ground—

"Lucian, your awareness is really sharp!"

Astra gritted his teeth so hard it was a miracle they hadn’t cracked.

At one point, he tried to get some recognition for himself.

"So, uh... that last fight, my movement was pretty good, right?" he said, hopeful his presence will be noticed.

Elijah gave him a patronizing nod. "Yeah, yeah. You were there."

****

The ground trembled as a massive, stone-scaled serpent reared its head, its eyes locked onto the group. Its muscles tensed like a boulder, ready to crush them in an instant.

"OOOOOOOORIIIIIIIIYAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

A loud voice echoed followed by a brown haired lass launched herself forward, gripping her massive war hammer. With a fierce battle cry, she leaped high and brought the weapon crashing down onto the serpent’s head.

It came from the Class F student: Quasolium

"AiYYAahhHHH! iT hUrTS!"

The impact only sent a small crack and made the hammer stuck in the head. Eventually hurting Quaso’s wrist like it’s nerves from her own actions.

"Victoria—its eyes!" Lucian commanded.

Victoria reacted instantly, a gust of wind swirled at her fingertips before she unleashed a razor-sharp blast straight into the serpent’s glowing orbs. The monster hissed, thrashing wildly as it recoiled from the sudden blindness.

"Okayy I got it out!"

Quaso didn’t hesitate as she finally let the hammer out from its head.

Seizing the opening, she swung her hammer once more, striking the weakened spot with a resounding smash. A deep fracture spread across the serpent’s stone-like head.

Lucian dashed in next, as he slashed at the cracks in the serpent’s armor, his ice magic seeped into the openings, spreading like veins of frost through its body.

The beast roared, its tail whipping violently as it fought back.

"Astra, attack now!" Lucian commanded.

But the chubby class F student remained still, ignoring the call.

"What? Why should I?"

"Hurry up!"

"Tsk, you’re the leader, right? Do it."

This time the serpent finally regained its composure and took the opportunity to lunge toward Victoria.

"Victoria!" Lucian’s heart pounded.

Yet Victoria who seems out of her thoughts, only snapped back to reality when the monster was inches close to her.

A blur of motion—

’CLANG!’

Elijah threw himself in front of Victoria, raising his dagger and sword in a desperate defense. The impact sent him skidding back, his arms shaking from the force, but he didn’t fall.

The serpent recoiled again, thrown off by the unexpected resistance.

"Princess, you aren’t paying attention. If this is a real battlefield, you will be dead, you know?"

"I- I’m sorry..."

"Oya? Princess, you seem to be not yourself."

Lucian’s eyes hardened but gradually turned relief as he saw Victoria all fine. No more hesitation. Ice scattered violently around him, and the air grew more frigid.

Then a massive wave of snow burst forth, encasing the serpent in a block of ice, locking it in place. Cracks spiderwebbed through its body as the dungeon temperature plummeted.

With one final step forward, Lucian raised his sword. Blade hovered with a loud crack noise as he swung down, cleaving through the serpent’s core.

The monster let out a final, ear-splitting shriek before shattering into countless shards of ice and stone.

Silence fell.

Lucian slowly lowered his blade and sheathed it back to his scabbard.

Then immediately...

Then, without hesitation—

"You...!"

Lucian stormed forward, looking pissed than his usual expression. He grabbed Astra’s collar and yanked him close.

"What the hell were you doing?"

Astra, despite being pinned against the wall, merely scoffed. "Relax. It was just a training dummy. She wouldn’t die from that."

BAM!

A sharp crack echoed through the air as Lucian’s fist collided with Aster’s face. He staggered, nearly losing his footing, a trickle of blood forming at the corner of his lip.

"Whieeew" Elijah whistled, clapping his hands lazily.

Lucian wasn’t done.

Another punch.

Then another.

And another.

Astra’s vision blurred as the repeated blows sent waves of pain through his skull, his body barely holding up. And yet, even as he swayed on his feet, his smirk remained.

"What? Didn’t you insist on being the leader for moments like this?" He rasped out, wiping the blood from his mouth. "You could’ve taken everything down all by yourself, but no—you wanted to look ’cool’ in front of everyone."

Lucian’s fists clenched, but he said nothing.

"That position of yours should be mine you bastard!"

And here it was, an awkward silence.

Then, a slow chuckle filled the tense air.

"Do you know what we call people like you?" Elijah stepped forward, tapping Aster’s chest with a finger. "A kid desperate for attention."

Astra’s eyes twitched. "What did you just say, you punk?"

"What? Everybody knows why you’re acting like a little shit. It hurts your ego, doesn’t it?"

Astra’s expression darkened. His jaw clenched, as his hands curled into fists.

"Let’s be real." Elijah tilted his head, taunting. "Who would want a fat-ass pig leading the group?"

Tension snapped like a wire under too much pressure. Aster lunged forward, his rage finally boiling over. Elijah, as if expecting it, merely took a step back with an amused grin.

Before the situation could explode further, a voice cut through the hostility.

"Alright, enough of that!" Quaso, the brown-haired student, stepped between them, raising her arms in an attempt to defuse the situation. "Come on now, let’s be good friends!" she said, her voice lighthearted, almost hopeful.

Well, It didn’t entirely work.