The director surveyed the crowd before him and leaned toward the microphone in front of him. Exhaling slowly, he opened his mouth.

"I know most of you are already itching to walk out those doors and into a dungeon..."

The director, a man late in his forties with white, lustrous hair above his head. With sharp cheekbones and a ring-shaped mark right around his eyes, made him stood out from the rest.

With a finely tailored coat resting over a high-collared shirt, the man dressed modestly. A waistcoat lay beneath, adorned with the embroidery of a dove taking to the skies over his right breast. It was the symbol of his house.

With a controlled smile, he pointed toward the crowd below and added, "I know this because I was once among you there..."

With each word spoken, he began raising his voice slowly.

"...I know the fire that is burning inside of you. I know why most of us had our eyes on this hunter license from the moment we gained the ability to think."

"The reasons that brought you many to the doors of our academy might be many exists but i knows it all. Some want to have this to amass a fortune... some may be doing it for the betterment of society..."

"haha!"

"yeah... sure.."

A chuckle escaped the man’s lips as he looked at the reaction of the crowd to the last sentence.

’...really no one wants the betterment of the world... who am I to judge when I will do the same. Not everyone can be the light after all.’ Only after the reaction of the crowd died down did he continues.

"..some of you are doing it for the honor it brings, and maybe others just want to enjoy the privilege a hunter’s license brings..."

He raised his voice again.

"And I’m sure most of you are doing it for the sole purpose of destroying the monster... as they had done the same with your home,"

A strange silence fell over the hall as his words settled in their mind. It was the reality that had been hurting them, a thorn attached to their existence.

Even if one forgets about the catastrophe that happened recently. A single day didn’t pass without the monster destroying a small village and reaping innocent lives in the process.

And that is the reason why people were zealots about getting the license. Some view it as the ladder to greatness, and some showed an unholy amount of fixation on it.

And the latter were the most dangerous of them all.

These were the bunch who had lost everything to these demons and monsters. And now the only purpose in their godforsaken life is to erase their existence. They don’t want fame, nor did they have any greed for the money.

They only knew the language of kill or be killed. Precisely because of this that these were the type of people the hunter academy was looking forward to the most.

Those who would rot to rid the plague.

With a smirk, the director started speaking again.

"I know your eagerness and somehow it is justified... but still I must warn you. Never put the death of a monster above the value of your own life. If it is a situation that demands sacrifice, don’t try to be a hero. If you must, become a coward and survive."

And for the final sentence of his speech, the director announced,

".... here let me tell you a line which most of you have probably heard before. Still hear it again from me... it is not the greatest who survives until the end. It is who survives that becomes the greatest."

"So tell me which one you will choose... Greatness or survival?" He asked, looking at the crowd.

"Survival.."

"Survival.."

"Survival.."

"Greatness.."

"Survival.."

"Survival.."

"Greatness.."

"Greatness.."

More voices called out for survival but there. There were some for whom greatness mattered more than their survival. The teaching they had received from birth didn’t let them value their life more than the pride they had borne with.

’Must be one of us...’ Hearing the word greatness here and there, the director thought to himself.

"I don’t want to take any more of your precious time. You can get your license from the administrative building. According to your rank in the semester, the rank of the armor and weapon will be decided. A few potions will be given for free, and guess what a lucky few will get?" he asked, looking at the crowd with anticipation.

"What?" the crowd asked in unison.

"An Artifact,"

He said observing their reactions. It was exactly what he had expected.

"WHAT!? An Artifact, are you sure?"

"Artifact... how can that be?"

"i must have heard that wrong..."

Some were shocked while other doubtful that the academy would even gift something like that to a passing hunter.

"What are the criteria for selecting those lucky few?"

"Well, didn’t I say it would be the lucky few? Let’s just see which one of you it is. It can even be you." The director said, pointing toward the person.

"Really?"

"Well... if you are lucky enough."

Smiling, The man didn’t give any more hint and let them make their assumptions. Without any further delay he end the ceremony.

"Well, that is all from me. You can go and collect your licenses."

Bowing slightly, he put his left hand above his head and whispered into the mic. "May the light guide us all."

"May the light guide us all."

Everyone followed their teachings.

With the ceremony concluded, the director left the stage and began moving toward his office. While he was still in his way, his secretary arrived in front of him and said with a solemn expression.

"Sir, someone from the temple is looking for you."

Hearing the word temple the man stooped immediately. Gears began churning in as he tried guessing the reason for their untimely visit. In the end, he looked at her with a look of defeat.

"Do you know them? Did they tell you the reason for their visit?"

"They haven’t mentioned the reason for their visit, but I think I’ve seen him with the Inquisitor Marty."

Hearing the familiar name, the director fell silent and began moving toward the place they were resting at the moment.

’Marty. What has this buffoon done now...? It can’t be that bad, right? is it that bad, why would he tell my names.’ Irritated and doing his best to mast it, the director lengthened his place. Soon he reached the place he was staying.

Seeing the Templar isn’t wearing their robe the director hid his worries, ’At least he isn’t on official visit...’

Looking at the man he bowed slightly and opened his mouth, 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"I apologize for having you wait like this."

"no no... I can’t expect such a busy man to be free. we all are follows the path the light has guided so there is no need to worry or as it were my own fault to come unannounced like this."

The Templar muttered, looking at the secretary with the corner of his eye.

Understanding the meaning of his gaze, the director looked at his secretary and nodded his head.

Understanding his intention, she nodded her head and went out of the room. Now that no one was there to disturb their peace, the Templar finally stated the purpose of his visit.

"A new dungeon has been formed around 40-50Km north of the city and i would some help from you in clearing it."