Hey, Tweety. Where's the letter from Big Bwudder?
Good question. I guess he doesn't have one today.
That little guy's name is Chappy, actually.
It's Allen!
Did you say Allen's here?!
Allen!
I'm home!
EPISODE 13: OFF TO ACADEMY CITY!
Allen, you've grown up so much.
Hard to believe it's been four years.
There's plenty of food, so eat all you want.
Okay!
I see Mash and Myulla have grown up a lot, too!
Huh? What's wrong, Myulla?
She was barely a year old when you were last here.
Her memories of you are probably fuzzy.
SHOCK
Aw man! That sucks!
I play with her through Chappy all the time, so I just assumed we were close...
We appreciate you sending us monthly letters and money, Allen.
But are you still making enough to get by?
Oh, right, I haven't told you yet.
Things have changed, I'm now a guest of the Granvelles instead of their manservant.
And I'll be going to Academy City come April.
WHAAAAT?!
Yeah. It won't be as easy to send money.
So, I just brought a lump sum for you guys instead.
Here, 100 gold coins.
A HUNDRED?!
N-no way, we can't accept that!
Yeah! You're going to need it for life at the Academy!
Aw, it's fine. I still have 600 in savings from selling Armored Ants.
Six hundred...?
Armored Ants? Are those monsters?
That's right.
They're insect monsters that nest at the foot of the White Dragon Mountains.
I came across a lot of goblin and orc boroughs in that area, too.
Wow!
Our son hasn't changed a bit. He's still doing the unbelievable.
You can say that again.
You're leaving already?
Yeah. I have work waiting for me.
I'm gonna go to the Academy when I turn 12, too!
Sounds good. I'll be waiting for you.
Are you my big bwudder from the letters?
How are you doing, everybody? This is Allen.
Has Myulla been sleeping soundly at night?
Mash, I know playing knights is fun
but are you keeping up with your studies?
Dad, make sure you go easy on the booze.
Mom, take good care of yourself.
Yeah, I am.
Sorry I couldn't come visit you more often.
Stay safe out there, son.
Don't bite off more than you can chew, okay?
Bye for now, Mom, Dad.
Bye-bye!
Come back soon!
Well, well. If it isn't our HONORED guest.
Why are you sweeping the courtyard after quitting your manservant job behind my back?
I'm just lending a hand until we leave for the academy.
Hmph!
What's she all grumpy for?
Hey, Allen.
Are you serious about coming to Academy City with me and fighting in the war?
The noble's duty doesn't even apply to you.
Well, that's the job I was hired to do.
You're such a weirdo, I swear.
AAAALLLLEN!
My friends are here.
Krena the Sword Lord.
And Dogora the Axe User.
Let me introduce you.
These are the children of the Granvelle Family who I've been serving the past four years.
Salutations. My name is Cecil Granvelle.
It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.
Ah, she's flipped her noble switch on.
She'll be joining us when we take the entrance exam three days from now.
G-great to meet you.
Lady Cecil! Let's be friends!
S-sure.
Are you two all ready for the exam?
Yeah, totally!
We're tough enough to take down Great Boars now!
Huh? Boars?
Okay, but it's an academic test, you know. Have you been studying?
My warmest welcome to you, friends of Allen.
Please make yourselves at home.
Yessir!
Down the hatch!
Yipee!
Hey! What's the academy like?
There are dungeons, right?
Do you think we'll fight a lot of monsters?
I'm more excited about what happens after graduation.
I'll be one step closer to my dream of joining the knighthood!
We're not telling them about the war, right? Is that really okay?
Well, at least not until the time is right.
They deserve to know about the risk to their lives.
Krena will supposedly be dubbed a baron after graduating from the academy,
which makes her duty bound to join the war effort alongside Cecil.
As for Dogora, well, that's still up in the air.
He may get the option to enlist, depending on his track record after graduating.
So sleepy...
In any case, we're all attending the Academy together.
So I hope they make friends with each other.
Guess I better start praying to Elmea for the ability to check their stats.
3 DAYS LATER
Goodbye, everyone.
We're off!
Thanks for having us!
Safe travels!
Be well, Lady Cecil.
Stay sharp!
Godspeed!
And so, the four of us departed for Academy City.
See ya!
Good luck!
Hey, guys! Check this out!
KINGDOM OF RATASH, ACADEMY CITY
What a huge city!
There are multiple dungeons scattered in and around the city.
I hear that students can brush up on their unique talents at each one.
I'm itching to get started!
We're moving so fast!
This is high quality craftsmanship from the dwarves of the Baukis Empire.
Just how a train should be!
THE RATASH ACADEMY
Are all these people here for the test?
They say about 20,000 hopefuls come from all over the country to take this test every year.
Welcome to Kingdom of Ratash's Academy City.
Before the entrance exam, all applicants must undergo an Appraisal Ceremony.
Appraisal?
Don't you remember when we turned five? It's the same ceremony.
Okay, I'll go first.
Sure. Please step right up.
Here goes.
NAME: DOGORA
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
TALENT: AXE USER
Your attributes have an exceptional rating.
Please move onto the written exam.
Everything's the same as when I was five...
What have I been training my butt off for?
Don't sweat it.
Well, those ranks only reflect developmental speed.
So they don't change based on age or level.
I'll go next.
NAME: CECIL GRANVELLE
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
TALENT: WIZARDESS
These results are also impressive.
Your attributes and talent are just what we're looking for.
She's got S-rank intelligence. That's a Wizardess for you!
NAME: KRENA
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
TALENT: SWORD LORD
My goodness!
You're Krena the Sword Lord! We're glad to have you here!
Nothing's changed since I was five years old...
Don't sweat it.
All right. You with the dark hair, please go ahead.
I've been waiting for this, Allen. Let's see what you've got.
What?
NAME: ALLEN
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
TALENT: SUMMONER
Every attribute is ranked E?!
I-I'm afraid that you fail...
FAIL
His talent didn't show up when we were kids. So he was a Summoner?
What is that, anyways?
The text glitch got fixed, but my development speed is still dragged down by Hell Mode...
Should've figured.
W-wait, Allen failed?! That doesn't make any sense!
It's okay. There are still things for me to do here, even if I don't enroll in the academy.
Don't be ridiculous, you dummy!
Yeah! This isn't right!
What's all the fuss about?
Oh! An elf!
These results have to be wrong!
I should know, I saw Allen single-handedly beat a Murdergalsh!
Wow. He took down a Murdergalsh at his young age?
NAME: ALLEN
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
TALENT: SUMMONER
Yet all his attributes are ranked E.
I've never seen this kind of result before.
So, he really does exist.
What does that mean?
"A boy entirely ranked E shall appear."
Just as Master Rohzen prophesized.
Didn't Rohzen say something else, Headmaster?
Sir Helmios.
I must ask that you address our god, the Sovereign of Spirits, with more respect.
Headmaster?!
Helmios?!
We heard that name during our lecture on the Demon Lord.
Helmios, the Hero and hope of all mankind!
But why would he be here?
What's he doing?
NAME: ALLEN
CLASS: SUMMONER
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
SKILLS: SUMMON, CREATE, FUSE, ENHANCE,
EXPANSION, STORAGE, SHARE, DELETE,
SWORD MASTERY, THROW
His attack is at 570.
Oh, wow! His MP and intelligence are all the way at 1,600.
What? He can see my stats?!
He must be using an Appraisal skill.
Quit telling the whole world, you blabbermouth!
In terms of attributes, he's about on par with an Archwizard.
But he doesn't have any magic skills.
Talk about weird!
Excuse me for existing!
Sorry. Looks like the Appraisal plate wasn't working properly.
R-really? Does that mean he can take the exam?
Sure! On one condition.
You have to show me what you can do with your Summoner talent. Deal?
Allen! Summon one o-
I'm afraid I must decline.
Oh?
I have no idea who you are, for one.
Ah, my apologies.
I'm Helmios.
And heroing is my deal.
HE
RO
Hero?
Can't say I've heard of you.
But given that you've taken a look at my attributes,
it only seems fair that you show me yours with that crystal ball.
Then I'll consider us even.
Sure, why not.
Yes! Data on Hero that I can scrutinize!
NAME: HELMIOS
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
Wow!
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
TALENT: HERO
Amazing!
HERO
Hm. Nothing but A and S ranks.
Seems like he's mostly specced for physical attacks.
And there you have it. Now it's your turn.
All right. Here.
Come on out, Mousey!
It just popped outta nowhere! How cute!
You guys are impressed? Seriously?
This is my talent.
The name Summoner makes sense now.
So I pass the screening process as we agreed, yes?
If you'll please excuse me.
Hey, Allen!
That's no way to talk to Sir Helmios!
Oh, please. Don't pretend you didn't give him some lip yourself, milady.
Pretty kooky kid, huh?
Yeah, but I didn't know it was him!
You're one to talk.
The written test covered basic subjects like math, vocabulary, and history,
but also had questions that gauged our ability to deal with different types of monsters.
A GRADES
B GRADES
C GRADES
The results were...
I got a B! All right!
Allen! You got an S!
And you barely got a C.
So everybody passed.
Why did I get an A?
Please line up here to receive your uniforms!
We're all officially students now!
Where do you think we should live? We have the option of staying at the dorms.
I think we should rent a house instead.
But before that, I heard that students need to apply for adventurer cards.
So let's go to the Adventurer's Guild.
While we get your cards printed, I will explain how dungeons work around here.
Thank you.
The dungeons accessible from this city are separated by difficulty.
There are three ranks: C, B, and A.
The bottom floor of each dungeon has a treasure chest guarded by a boss monster.
It may contain a rare item, so do your best to get one!
Rare items, huh? I already know exactly which one I want.
Any questions so far?
Yes, actually!
Is it possible for me to put in a request with the guild for some D-rank magic stones?
Yes, how many would you like?
I'll offer a hundred gold coins for 10,000 of them.
Can you do that?
V-very well.
Please come back in a week.
Sounds great!
I'd like to stock up on at least two million of them during my three years at the academy.
Okay. Your adventurer cards are ready.
ADVENTURE RANK E
ALLEN
You'll have to start from E-rank.
Wow!
If you plan on adventuring together, would you like to register as a party now?
Yes! We would!
NO-LIFE GAMERS
Our name will be...
NO-LIFE GAMERS
The No-Life Gamers!
"No-Life Gamers"?
What does that mean?
"No-Life Gamer" is a title for people
NO-LIFE GAMERS
who go hardcore and devote all of their time to becoming the strongest they can be.
Wow! I like it!
That's so cool!
I had to balance gaming with work in my previous life.
So I never was a true "No-Life" gamer.
But things are different here!
I can be the GOAT!
TYPE: BEAST
RANK: E TAMA
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE: ABILITY:
AGILITY: CLAW
INTELLIGENCE: AWAKENED ABILITY:
LUCK: BORROWED CAT
How huge!
It's like ten times my house back home...
This is normal in Academy City. People form parties of 10 or 20 and all live together.
So the houses need to be big.
Now that we're settled in... there's something we need to talk about with you two.
Lady Cecil and I have a long term goal.
It's something we have to do after graduating from the academy in three years.
Demon Lord...
So that Hero guy is really strong, huh?
I never imagined the academy was meant to recruit soldiers for war.
I'm going to fight alongside Lady Cecil and defeat the Demon Lord.
Huh? Wh-wh-wh-what?
All right! Count me in!
I'll fight with you!
Thank you! I was hoping you'd say that.
How about you, Dogora?
Huh?
They say half of those who go to the frontlines never come back alive.
Take some time to think it over.
Whoever takes down the Demon Lord would be more exalted than a knight, yeah?
I'd say so.
Sounds like a hell of a job. Sign me up!
KRENA HAS JOINED YOUR PARTY.
CECIL GRANVELLE HAS JOINED YOUR PARTY.
DOGORA HAS JOINED YOUR PARTY.
What is that?!
A floating book?
Hold on, you guys can see this?
Yeah. Is that part of your talent?
Mm-hmm.
We're all in this together now!
So, how should we start preparing to beat the Demon Lord?
There's a whole list of things to do.
We pass trials to become stronger while clearing dungeons.
And get better equipment.
Ideally, I'd also like to add a Cleric who can heal to our party.
Oh, and on a personal note, there's one more thing I need to share...
Huh?
My skills actually develop a hundred times slower than normal.
A hundred times?!
So I need a big stock of magic stones and MP to pass my trials.
Ultimately, I'm hoping to find an MP recovery ring in one of the dungeon treasure chests.
That explains why you put in a request for all those stones...
Anyways, things are about to get really busy!
I'm counting on you guys!
Okay!
Make way for...
...the No-Life Gamers!
Ahem. My name's Carlova and I'll be your homeroom teacher for the next three years.
I'm guildmaster of the Adventurer's Guild in the royal capital.
My talent is Sword Master. I was called upon since we have a Sword Lord joining this year.
You've got big tests in July and February.
Any score less than 40 is apparently an F, so you better study hard.
Got that?
Yessir.
This guy is totally winging it.
One more thing.
The student body here includes serfs, commoners, and nobles.
But the only thing that really matters is talent.
So we're throwing all honorifics and titles out the window.
Just forget your social status.
What?
Hear that?
No more fancy-schmancy talk from me, Cecil.
You made that change a little too quickly for my liking, mister!
See?
Those two are setting a good example already.
At the academy, we have four days of classes and two days off a week.
The afternoon classes are tailored to our talents,
which means there aren't any for Summoner.
So I got permission to use that time freely.
I plan to take part in a little of every class.
FIRST DAY OFF
Soon enough, our first day off arrived.
Is this really the entrance to a dungeon?
It's just smack dab in the middle of town.
Hooray a dungeon!
Yeah! Dungeons rule!
Why are you two so happy about this?
Is this it?
That's what the receptionist said.
So far, it just seems like a normal building.
Whatever. Let's go inside!
You must be the "No-Life Gamer" party.
Welcome to the C-rank dungeon.
I am the Dungeon General Operation System C205.
I will now direct you to another dimension where the dungeon is located.
Dimension?
All travel through the dungeon is separated by isolated rooms,
therefore other adventurers cannot enter yours.
THEY HAVE INSTANCING!
Huh?
Wh-what's going on?
It means we'll be isolated from the rest of the sever!
So I don't have to worry about anyone else seeing my Summoner skills!
Do you have any questions?
What's Allen blabbing on about?
I think he might have gone crazy...
Yes, I do!
Or maybe he was always crazy.
Without further ado, I will now direct you to the dungeon.
May fortune smile upon you.
Awesome. Let's go!
FIRST FLOOR
This place is like a maze.
It must be a labyrinth dungeon.
Hawkins, do your thing!
That's really convenient!
The monsters here are all lower rank, so let's not waste time beating any more than necessary.
We should ignore the treasure chests, too.
They're not worth much and might be boobytrapped.
I want to conquer the C-rank dungeon as fast as possible, so we can move on to B-rank.
Okay!
Roger that!
Alrighty. Let me take a look at everyone's stats.
NAME: KRENA
AGE:
TALENT: SWORD LORD
MITHRIL GREATSWORD
LEVEL:
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
SKILLS:
SWORD LORD (1)
SLASH (1) EXP 0/10
SWORD MASTERY (5)
EXTRA: LIMIT BREAK
EXP:
NAME: DOGORA
AGE:
TALENT: AXE USER
LEVEL:
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
SKILLS:
WAR AXE (1)
FULL MIGHT (1) EXP 0/10
AXE MASTERY (4)
MITHRIL AXE
EXTRA: HEART & SOUL
EXP:
NAME: CECIL GRANVELLE
AGE:
TALENT: WIZARDESS
ANCIENT WOOD WAND
LEVEL:
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
SKILLS:
WIZARDRY (1)
FIRE MAGIC (1) EXP 10/10
SPARRING (2)
EXTRA: PETIT METEOR
EXP:
There he goes again...
Cecil! Enemy dead ahead! It's a slime!
Huh?
I see it!
Gloopity-glop!
Fireball!
YOU HAVE DEFEATED 1 SLIME
YOU HAVE GAINED 8 EXP
I did it!
I defeated my first monster!
Nicely done! Keep it up!
She's so lucky! Wish I had magic.
Badass.
You two have your own skills. Take a look.
Mine is "Slash"?
"Full Might"?
I dunno how it works.
Well, I'm sure you'll learn more at the academy. Everybody starts somewhere.
So, the corpse disappears and just leaves a magic stone behind, huh?
I do want to gather some E-rank stones to make my "Leaf of Life" healing item, but...
I should leave that job to Chappy.
What's Allen blabbing on about?
It's just more efficient.
We better get used to not knowing.
Yeah, that's the best way!
Okay! Let's keep moving!
Croaky-croak!
Hiyah!
Croaky-croaky-croak!
YOU HAVE DEFEATED 1 BIG TOAD
YOU HAVE GAINED 120 EXP
What's going on? I feel a rush of energy!
You passed a Trial of the Gods!
KRENA
DOGORA
CECIL
Bingo!
Now we can go to the next floor, huh?
I am the Dungeon General Operation System C328-01.
Are you ready to leave the dungeon? Or will you proceed to the next floor?
Can we still leave if we choose to keep going?
You will find the Dungeon General Operation System C328-02 on the next floor.
You can leave through them.
Okay, then we'd like to keep going!
As you wish.
Did the room just change?
Welcome!
I am the Dungeon General Operation System C328-02.
Whatcha gonna do, challenge the next floor or call it quits? Spit it out, brother!
What happens if we choose to leave now?
Lemme tell you something, your progress gets saved and you can start from here next time.
Plus, you can re-enter the dungeon as much as you want. Run wild, brother!
We ended our first day of dungeon crawling after clearing the first floor.
Whew, I'm beat!
That's what 10 hours of fighting will do to you.
We decided to spend all our days off on progressing through the dungeon.
No matter when or how often we entered, the dungeon always reloaded exactly the same.
Which means, I can send my summon creatures to farm monsters even during class.
Clearing out one floor a day results in about 200 magic stones. Jackpot!
It's the perfect strategy that only a Summoner can pull off!
C-rank Dungeon: Final Floor
Then, on our fifth expedition,
we reached the final floor of the C-rank dungeon.
There are some tough looking monsters sleeping down here.
That must be the boss.
Hey, Allen. I think we all need a grasp of how strong you are right now.
So, will you use your Summoner powers to fight them?
Good idea. Is that okay with everybody?
Yeah! I wanna see you fight!
You haven't summoned anything but mice and birds, so far.
I spent 35,000 D-rank magic stones to make "Crop of Magic" recovery items,
and used those to push my Enhance skill all the way to level six.
At level six, Enhance boosts two attributes
of my summon creatures by a whopping 500!
CREATE
FUSE
ENHANCE
CREATE
FUSE
ENHANCE
Wh-whoa!
I dunno what that means, but wowee!
Bron! Use Protect!
Teddy! Use Crush!
Amazing!
Of course! Allen is super strong!
That went smoothly.
Hm?
Hey, that must be the treasure chest!
Open it up, Allen!
Okay.
It's a steel sword!
Congrats, guys! We've beat our first dungeon!
Yahoo!
Congratulations on clearing the C-rank dungeon.
Your adventurer cards have been upgraded to D-rank.
We got two gold coins out of that steel sword.
We're off to a promising start!
Let's keep it up!
No-Life Gamers!
Go!