Chapter 87: Ch 87: Practice Drill

Noah sat there quietly while trying his best to ignore the two people sitting beside him. He could feel both of their gazes on him, and it was starting to make him feel uncomfortable.

"Are you both going to keep staring at me?"

Noah finally asked, unable to tolerate the strange atmosphere anymore. Daniel immediately looked away, but Alan did not seem bothered at all.

"I am just making sure you are sitting comfortably. After all, you are our responsibility now."

Alan answered casually, but Noah could tell that there was something else behind those words.

"Since when did I become your responsibility?"

Noah asked, and Alan smiled.

"Ever since we met. Do you think I can trust you to take care of yourself?"

Daniel asked, and Noah was about to tell him that he had always looked after himself just fine when he suddenly recalled what had happened until now, and he wisely chose not to say anything.

Two approving smiles met his eyes before he heard Ethan coughing from beside them.

Three pairs of eyes turned to look at Ethan, and he quickly clarified why he was here.

"Excuse me, but Noah is my partner. I would appreciate it if you hand him over-"

"No. Just sit down in the seat beside me for now. Besides, we are all friends here. I am sure the teacher won’t mind such a thing."

Alan said, not very firmly, because he tried diplomacy...not that it helped a lot.

The expression on Ethan’s face was still bad. But their professors quickly entered during that time, making Ethan sit down with a sigh.

Noah noticed the way the female teacher did a double-take when she saw the arrangement Alan had forced in the middle of the class. But she wisely chose not to say anything because it was Alan and Daniel.

While she was recovering from her shock, Erin decided to take over for her, and he quickly gathered everyone’s attention by clapping his hands.

"Everyone, today we have a very special activity. You will be going monster hunting in our hologram dungeon. Don’t worry. I heard what happened last time, and I assure you that it won’t happen this time because there is no dungeon."

A few students laughed at Erin’s joking tone, but most of them looked worried about their future due to their previous dungeon experience.

Noah had a lot of dungeon experience, but even he felt a little hesitant to enter one so soon. So he was sure it was much worse for the others.

Their female teacher recovered quickly as well and decided to take over from here.

"Look, the last dungeon was a fluke, and we are still looking into it. But your experience this time is not a dungeon, so get over your fear and start preparing. After all, your job will be to deal with the dungeons in the future."

She reminded everyone of the reality they had forgotten, and the students slowly began to nod at her words.

Seeing this, the professor gave them a smile and gestured for them to follow her.

"Let’s head to the training area next. We will be running team drills today, so let’s have fun."

...

"Noah, you are coming with me. The teacher told us that this is a team drill, but she never said that it had to be with our partners."

Daniel quickly found the loophole in this situation and tried to take advantage of it...

Or, that was what he tried. But the first round of dummies told them all why it was not a good idea for two guides to pair up.

Noah was pretending to be harmless, so even though he could take down these monsters, he did not do so. And Daniel was not as good. He somehow managed against normal monsters, but the bigger ones were a struggle.

Still, he was not giving up or asking for help from Alan or Ethan, who were watching from the sidelines.

"Hey, Daniel, are you sure you don’t need any help?"

Alan asked with an amused smirk, and Daniel instantly replied with a frown on his face.

"Keep your stupid self away from me! I am going to prove to you that I don’t need an esper to save me."

Daniel promised as he shot down another monster, and that ended the drill.

Their score was not impressive, but considering that both of them were guides, it could be seen as a miracle.

Alan and Daniel were bickering, which was a normal thing for Noah to see by now. But he honestly did not mind it since it indicated that those two were on speaking terms.

Still...

"That score is not good. I am sure we will all fail if we submit this. Should we try again with our real partners?"

Ethan asked, and before Daniel could complain, Noah grabbed Ethan’s wrist to drag him toward the dummies to practice.

It was easy to adapt to Ethan’s fighting style since it was not flashy or fast. But it was precise enough for Noah to provide ample support.

He kept his gun at the ready and guided Ethan just when it seemed like he needed it. It was a perfect display of partnership, but the results still fell short of Alan’s solo run.

But that was just because Alan was a monster without an end to his power.

"It seems like Alan is far too good at this. But won’t the score be better if you do this with Daniel? He can support you-"

"Forget about it. Daniel’s guiding is painful, and it will just distract me. I am sure my score will fall if I head in with him...however, I won’t mind taking you with me. What do you say, Noah? Want to try this once with me?"

Alan asked, trying to get Noah to agree, but it made Noah nervous. He took a step back and then another until he backed into something...or rather, someone.

A beautiful face framed by blue hair looked down at Noah before letting out a sigh.

"Student Alan, aren’t you being a little too much? You are making Student Noah feel uneasy."