The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　"Didn't we say we couldn't help each other?" Diana asked in surprise. Doron replied helplessly, "That's the rule. But rules can always be circumvented. If I accidentally let a low-health monster escape, you couldn't just leave it alone if you encountered it, could you? Besides, getting to know each other helps us avoid awkward situations. There are many benefits. Remember, dungeon battles are team competitions!"

　Duolong crossed his arms and began to speak eloquently.

　Looking at it now, it's hard to say whether he's qualified as a substitute, but he's definitely qualified as a support staff member.

　Dak leaned against the side, watching them talk, and felt relaxed and happy just listening to them.

　But the meeting was about to start.

　Edwin Clarissa, president of the Society for the Study of Aristocratic History, stepped onto the podium, cleared her throat, and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. Thank you for attending tonight's meeting, but the meeting is about to end, so please take your seats as soon as possible."

　Before he finished speaking, everyone present had already gone to their seats.

　Six round tables were placed in front of the stage.

　Apart from the first round table, which belonged to the Noble History Research Society, the other five tables were reserved for students of all grades.

　The second-year students' desks were at the back, next to the third-year students' desks. As Dak and his three friends sat down at the desks, they saw that senior student Mary was sitting in the third-year seat. They couldn't help but exchange a glance and a smile.

　It's widely acknowledged that this year's third-year students are not very strong. But the Academy Cup is a competition between students of the same grade. Even if it's a battle of weaklings, as long as one of them is tall, it's fine.

　Senior Ma Li is considered quite capable among the third-year students in the Noble Academy. Her combat skills, in particular, are top-notch, likely due to her participation in the dungeon battle tournament.

　With a quick thought, Dak's mind became clear.

　He poured water for the three people at the table and then waited quietly for the meeting to officially begin.

　Soon, everyone was seated.

　Edwin Clarissa glanced around at the list and said, "The main point of tonight's meeting is self-evident; let's get straight to the point. I'll first announce the list of participants for this year's Academy of Nobles. You can take notes if you're interested. Let's start with the second-year students. First, there's only one duelist for the singles duel competition. There's only one second-year student from the Academy of Nobles, and I believe you're all familiar with him. That's right, it's our Dark Demon!"

　Edwin clapped first, and then a continuous round of applause followed from the audience.

　Dak reluctantly stood up, maintaining his smile, and gave a half-bowing to the senior students who turned to look at him.

　He had barely sat down when he had to stand up again with Diana and the other two, and bow once more to the senior students who were looking over.

　That's the end.

　Then, Edwin Clarissa began reading the list of third-year students... After reading through the entire list, everyone had become familiar with each other at least once, and the atmosphere eased up a bit.

　Edwin Clarissa handed over a document and said, "Now, let's explain the specific rules for this year's Academy Cup."

　After he finished speaking, he began to recite them one by one.

　This part is rather tedious, but you still have to read it.

　At least for people like Dak who didn't have time to look into the details, they did gain some insights.

　The specific rules of the Dungeon Fighter Tournament change slightly each year. This year, the academy will distribute a Monster Handbook to each group based on their grade level.

　Different monsters correspond to different points.

　Students need to enter dungeons to find and hunt monsters from the monster handbook in order to earn points.

　In addition, the academy will announce a total of one hundred mission bosses. Among these mission bosses, some will be hunted according to different grade levels.

　The points you earn afterward will also be different.

　However, another group consists of bosses shared by all students in the entire grade.

　The strongest boss will appear at a certain location at 7:30 PM on Sunday night. Before that, quest hints will be left on the other bosses so that students can confirm the spawn location of the strongest boss in advance.

　And that strongest mission boss is worth 100,000 points!

　Last year's Academy Cup saw the strongest boss snatched away by the Magic Academy, which led to the Magic Academy beginning to overtake the Noble Academy.

　"We must defeat this year's strongest boss!"

　On stage, Edwin Clarissa pointed at the small blackboard and said something harsh.

　He then went on to explain the rules of the one-on-one duel competition. The one-on-one duel competition would still use the departmental competition format. First, there would be competitions between different grades, followed by cross-grade competitions. Each grade could only send one person, and each person had one opportunity to challenge someone from a higher grade.

　Each victory in a duel earns 10,000 base points. The college that wins a duel one grade higher earns another 10,000 base points. The college with the highest score receives an additional 100,000 points as a prize.

　Therefore, if you want to make up for the 100,000 points lost due to the loss of the strongest boss through the duel competition, you must ensure that you accumulate the most points in the duel competition.

　As for the extra points for other wins, it's actually difficult to differentiate them. It's similar to the total number of student credits outside of competitive matches, which remains basically the same every year.

　Everyone is in the same college, receiving instruction from the same group of professors. Their talents and abilities are no less than others, and each has their own strengths. It is only natural that their average grades are similar.

　After listening, Dak suddenly understood.

　"So, to create an environment that allows us to challenge Senior Pandora, we must defeat the strongest boss and widen the gap in points gained during the dungeon battles as much as possible..."

　"This level of difficulty is no less than challenging Senior Pandora!" Dark couldn't help but complain.

　He still didn't know just how strong the strongest boss was. But the sixth-year team participating in the Academy Cup Dungeon Fighter Tournament was definitely not weak.

　The strongest boss should theoretically be the target of the four sixth-year students. Even if he wanted to get involved, it's unlikely he could take on a three-person team all by himself.

　Thinking of this, Dak couldn't help but feel worried.

　The good news is that Pandora will not participate in the Dungeon Fighter Tournament, but the bad news is that Winnie will. Her fourth-year group will probably also be eyeing the strongest boss.

　It's no use saying all this now.

　Edwin Clarissa quickly finished explaining the rules of the one-on-one duel challenge.

　He emphasized, "This year, we have some very outstanding young players who have a high chance of gaining an advantage in challenging opponents of higher levels. But we older folks can't afford to lose face in front of the younger generation. I'll give you fifteen minutes to discuss this. After fifteen minutes, I'll introduce you to the opponents you're about to face."

　After speaking, Edwin Clarissa stepped down from the stage.

　But instead of going to the table of the Noble History Research Club, he turned to the table of the fifth-grade students.

　Dark turned back and began to discuss with Diana and the other two.

　The one-on-one duel is a solo competition, so there's not much to discuss. But the dungeon battle is a team competition, so it's natural to want to understand the team members' perspectives.

　But after a short while, the second-year group became Doron's speaking stage again. He seemed to have made a lot of preparations for the Academy Cup and really, really, really wanted to participate, which made Dark feel sorry for him.

　But he was very excited: "I heard from the upperclassmen that they always use two methods when participating in the dungeon competition. One is to advance in a three-person team, and the other is to hunt separately. The lowerclassmen usually stick together, while many upperclassmen prefer to hunt separately. But the academy only distributes monster scorebooks before the competition starts, and each group only has one. So the premise for splitting up is to have a quick way to record. For us... my suggestion is to split into two groups."

　Diana couldn't help but ask again, "Isn't the rule for the Dungeon Fighter Online that we can't split up?"

　Doron glanced at her, then said helplessly again, "There are no surveillance cameras in the dungeon. I'll repeat myself, there are no surveillance cameras in the dungeon. The only thing we have is the score sheet we found on us. The academy requires us to enter and exit together; we'll enter at the same time and exit at the same time, isn't that enough?"

　Diana glanced at Dark and said, "That's definitely a good idea. Rose and I will be in one group, and Dark will be in another. That should be the most efficient way to group us. Then we can meet at the agreed floor on the third day and come out together."

　“That’s it,” Dorron praised.

　But Rose quickly disagreed, saying, "No. To quickly find and hunt specific prey in the dungeon, you first need the door keys for each floor. Lower-year students can't possibly have too many door keys, which is why you need to team up. Each person has different door keys, and three people together can freely go to more floors."

　Doron looked at her and said, "You're right. But door keys can be bought. And we're not alone."

　After saying that, he reached into his hand and produced a large bunch of "door keys": "Students, we'd be happy to lend you your 'door keys'."

　Rose covered her head in exasperation: "Okay, you're right."

　Doron said, "That's my idea, but the specifics of how to do it are something the three of you need to discuss yourselves. Also, the choice of monsters will greatly affect efficiency. Only by quickly selecting a large number of monsters with moderate difficulty and a decent score can you win the race. This requires knowledge of both mathematics and monster science..."

　Fifteen minutes passed quickly.

　Edwin Clarissa returned to the stage, picked up the microphone, and said, "After discussion, everyone should have a new understanding of the rules for this year's Academy Cup. Next, I will briefly introduce your upcoming opponents. This time, we will still start with the second-year students..."

　Dak and the others listened attentively.

　The selection of participants for the College Cup is conducted within each college, and the final list is submitted to the professors for review before the results are determined.

　However, in addition to the House of Nobles, the candidates for the House of Knights had also been decided long ago, namely Witt Gold, Emma Metis, and Justin Wayne.

　This is the team that is scheduled to participate in the dungeon battle. The spot for the one-on-one duel will be chosen between Witt and Emma.

　But now, while Witt Gold has returned safely, Justin Wayne will not be coming back.

　The Knights Academy had to make an emergency substitution in their second year, bringing on another substitute.

　"How did Robert get selected?" Dark asked, his eyes wide with astonishment. Doron rubbed his nose and said, "It's said that after Witt returned, he insisted on recommending him."

　Have you rediscovered the importance of friends after a month apart?

　Dark didn't want to complain, but he couldn't help it.

　Vitor Goddard has returned from the Holy Mystic Academy, and his strength has certainly increased, as has Emma's.

　If we also add Justin Wayne, who returned from the Holy Mystic Academy… well, now it’s Robert Broheim!

　what is this

　The classic trio's storyline is recreated with a forced summoning of spirits.

　However, Robert is not the same Robert he used to be, so he might not make 1+1+1<2 anymore.

　Once you've vented your frustrations, it's over.

　Dark had a general understanding of the rules of the dungeon battle competition. Since the monster scorebooks were different for each grade, the probability of encounters between students from different grades during dungeon hunts was relatively small.

　The Monster Points Handbook does not necessarily award higher points to monsters with higher strength.

　The academy uses this assessment not only to evaluate combat skills, but also to evaluate knowledge in various other areas.

　For example, monsters that are difficult to find or discover will receive a higher score.

　In addition, when a monster's strength reaches a certain level, the points will actually start to decrease.

　That was a way to prevent older students from "feeding" younger students, and it was also a measure to protect younger students.

　Of course, this also conveniently limits special players like Dark, whose strength surpasses that of their peers.

　"This is probably one of the reasons why Senior Pandora has never participated in the Dungeon Fighter Tournament."

　Dark shook his head and continued looking at the stage.

　The second-year participants were just a few familiar faces, while the third-year participants included quite a few unfamiliar ones. One of them, from the Fool's House, was none other than the one who had previously defeated [The Holy Son] Evan Pearson.

　And among the fourth, fifth, and sixth graders, there were some familiar faces.

　But most of them are still relatively unfamiliar.

　Dark mainly knew upperclassmen who enjoyed participating in duels to showcase their abilities.

　However, there are actually quite a few upperclassmen who don't like participating in duels.

　However, it was normal for Dak to find that he was not familiar with those people, but Doron... gradually discovered that more and more unfamiliar faces were appearing on the list.

　He exclaimed in surprise, "I thought this year's contestants would be the same as last year's, but there are so many different ones!"

　"This shows that the overall gap between everyone is not that big, and everyone has a chance," Dak said.

　Doron said, "Indeed. That means I might suddenly surpass you next year."

　Dark: "Mmm-hmm."

　The discussion during the meeting regarding the contestants from the other three departments was quite intense.

　Although the participation rate of the second-grade group was not high, it was still interesting even though they were just observing.

　Dark found it particularly amusing to see them gritting their teeth at the photo of Pandora.

　He couldn't help but wonder if the students in the other three departments were also having the same meeting.

　Of course, they are the same.

　However, the discussion styles of each college are slightly different. For example, the Knights College meeting this year was held directly in the common room. Everyone except the contestants could observe and even participate in the discussion.

　The level of excitement was indescribable.

　The downside was that they ultimately failed to reach a conclusion, and some people almost came to blows.

　That's the general idea.

　The internal meeting of the Noble Academy gradually came to an end after discussing the contestants from the other academies.

　In the end, apart from those who enjoyed the occasion and stayed in the dueling practice room to socialize with others, everyone else gradually left.

　The four of them, including Dak, were the first to leave. They gathered briefly in Doron's room before returning to their respective homes.

　Putting everything else aside, Doron did a pretty good job in logistics. At least he filled the gap in Dark's lack of "door keys".

　After returning to his dormitory, Dark immediately took the magic cards of "Blue-Eyes Girl", "Cute Beast" and "Fossil Aerial Dragon" and went to the dense forest again.

　It first offered a sacrifice in the dense forest to summon the "Fossil Pteranodon". Then it transformed the two "Sword Beasts" into an ancient sword.

　The "Fossil Aerial Dragon" wields two ancient swords, giving it a more "futuristic fighter jet" feel, especially with the addition of two hovering cannons...

　It was so close; it seemed like it could transform into a Gundam.

　After verification, Dark also confirmed that the "Fossil Aerial Dragon" could indeed wield two Ancient Swords at the same time and enjoy the attribute bonuses brought by both Ancient Swords!