My Goddess is Good at Pretending

Chapter 470: Easier Said than Done

In the heart of a misty forest where ancient trees towered towards the sky and the air was thick with enchantment, Dorothy led her team to face a daunting challenge within a colossal, mystical tree.

They stood at the base of the giant tree. An opening in the trunk beckoned them forward. The entrance was illuminated by a soft, inviting glow. As they stepped inside, the mist from the forest seemed to follow them, creating an atmosphere of both mystery and anticipation.

Inside the tree, they found themselves in a vast, hollow chamber that extended upwards into darkness. The walls were lined with intricate carvings and more glowing runes, which pulsed rhythmically as if alive. In the center of the chamber stood a pedestal with an ancient book. Its pages fluttered as if stirred by an invisible wind.

"What’s this?" Sam approached the pedestal.

"Wait." Dorothy tried to prevent the boy from advancing carelessly.

Yet, the runes on the walls flared brightly all of a sudden. A deep, resonant voice echoed through the chamber. "To advance to the next trial, you must overcome the traps of the ancient tree. Work together, use your wits and your magic, or be ensnared forever."

With a rumble, the chamber shifted. Vines sprang from the walls, twisting and writhing like serpents. The floor split into a grid of tiles, some of which began to sink or emit bursts of magical energy. From above, a thick, enchanted fog descended, obscuring vision and dampening sound.

"Wind." Evelyn summoned a gust of wind to clear the fog, revealing the patterns on the floor tiles.

Elysia then cast a nature magic, and communicated with the vines, calming their movements to create a safe path.

As everyone moved carefully across the shifting floor, they encountered puzzles embedded in the walls. These required them to decipher the ancient runes and align them in specific sequences to deactivate sections of the trap.

"I can do this." Dorothy took the lead, guiding the others in solving these intricate puzzles.

Once the puzzles were solved after repositioning the ancient runes, several magical guardians in the form of spectral animals emerged from the walls all of a sudden.

Dorothy as the team leader and a talented swordmaster, stepped forward. She used a combination of offensive spells and sword techniques to slash the specters, but she only managed to take down four, and the rest passed her.

Sam used his shield and sword to protect the girls, but something ensnared his leg, making him trip and fall. "Ack!"

"!~" Evelyn casually swung her daggers, eradicating the surrounding magical specters effortlessly.

"They are level 22 specters." Erina strangled the magical monster with her golden gauntlet.

"Yeah..." Dorothy wiped her sweat with relief.

Based on the information, it was the trap challenge with the highest level of difficulty on the first floor. Even with five students, it would be challenging to defeat more than ten specters with almost the same level as them, the new students, at once. However, it was also accompanied by a higher reward.

"Are you okay?" Elysia crouched down and cast her healing magic. The path was blurred by the fog and mist, but the boy committed a fatal mistake by falling in the middle of the battle. It could cost him a life if he wasn’t careful in real battle situations.

"You... you are not only a buff support, but also a healer?" Dorothy widened her eyes, shocked by the sudden revelation.

"Uhm, yes? Heal is also a support skill." Elysia responded with an innocent expression. She knew healing skills were super precious in this world, and it wasn’t really the time to use that skill, but the situation required it.

"Thank you, Lady Ely. Uhm, this might be a bit rude, but may I know whether you deliberately keep your skills a secret? Are you affiliated with any faction? You may not know yet, but all healers are protected by the Holy Church. You should not hide that." Sam expressed his gratitude and concern.

"Fufu, thank you for your concern. Yes, I am affiliated with my background, and I cannot reveal my skills casually. You need to be extra careful of your surroundings, or it will be fatal, Student Sam." Elysia smiled in reply, but she did feel this boy was pretty strange.

<| Lv. 23 | Sam Barnett | Apprentice Warrior | Male (16) |>

<| Talent: 2 Stars | R |>

<| Luck: 1 | Fate: 99 |>

<| Lv. 25 | Dorothy Fraser | Swordmaster Apprentice | Female (16) |>

<| Talent: 3 Stars | SR |>

<| Luck: 67 | Fate: 218 |>

Elysia checked Sam’s status screen to Dorothy’s. She compared their fate and luck but didn’t bother to check the other stats.

’Wow, his luck is only 1 point...’ Elena was taken aback. She couldn’t help but recall a boy on Earth with a pitiful luck, and a criminal whose luck was stripped by Elysia due to his crimes.

’Uhm, I wonder how he can still live safely even with only 1 luck point.’ Elysia asked in wonder, but she didn’t wish to do anything. Fortuna might be angry if she twisted other people’s fate, luck, and fortune casually.

"I see..." Dorothy looked at the ground, feeling somewhat disappointed. She hoped to recruit a healer to work for her and her family, and she had to secure one at the academy before graduating.

A healer was already in sight right on the day of the enrollment test, but unfortunately, the healer was already secured by a particular faction. However, the opportunity was still there.

"The path to the next floor is open." Evelyn pointed at the newly emerged passage.

"Let’s go to the next floor. Our team leader wants to aim for the top ranking." Erina gathered the bubbles from the fading magical specters for Dorothy.

After absorbing the bubbles into the magic device, the score increased. Dorothy then led her team to the second floor.

The second floor was a misty swamp with lots of monsters hiding under the water. The students had to keep themselves safe in crossing the rivers and swamps.

Starting from the second floor, the other students could steal the other team’s score. So, each team had to be extra careful and alert to other teams. Once they lost the duel, the losing team had to give up their score to the winning team and start over from zero score.

However, Elysia’s team bypassed any danger and flew straight to the next floor, crossing rivers and swamps with Erina’s all-gold flying bike. However, they occasionally stopped to drop some ’mines’ to accumulate more bubble scores.

---

"Achoo!" Sam sneezed as he hugged his body with a thick towel near the campfire, shivering slightly.

They currently took shelter in the safe area on the third floor. In the previous challenge, a sudden attack came out of nowhere, and Sam fell into the river by accident.

Fortunately, their team won the duel, but Sam was shivering because he was drowning in the cold river for several minutes when the duel occurred.

"Slurp!" Sam sipped the hot herbal tea Ely made to warm himself.

"..." Dorothy hugged her legs, waiting as her team members required a short break.

During that moment, she reconsidered her team members. She felt that Ely had to hide one’s true identity for a reason.

It was probably the same for Lucia and Eve. They were the refined noble ladies with mysterious backgrounds. However, they had to play as commoners.

’Let’s see if you can continue hiding your identity in the academy. I’ll reveal everything sooner or later.’ Dorothy harrumphed in her mind.

She opened her notebook. Her team had her as the primary damage dealer, Ely, and Lucia as super useful supports, a universal mid-range mage Eve, a versatile rich lady Erina, and a useless shield Sam.

Erina held a long-range weapon and would switch to the gauntlet if the situation required it. And, Erina’s equipment was all-gold and high-tier. She felt that Erina was fond of flaunting one’s wealth at every opportunity!

’How rich is this Erina? Minamoto Family and her surname come first... so, she probably comes from the east. But, is her family so extravagant as to pamper her with a golden spoon? But, she can be the best faction supporter. I need to befriend her too. But, how do you do it? I’m not good at socializing...’ Dorothy struggled with her own thoughts.

"My lady, why do we play as common students and help them to gather scores?" Lucia couldn’t help but ask in a whisper.

"Wouldn’t it be nice to put your mind elsewhere and just focus on simple things once in a while? We’ll go to war the day after tomorrow, and we’re playing in another God’s domain to find out his purpose." Elysia closed her eyes with a faint smile adorning her face.

"The concept of fun, it’s complicated. I am happy every time I pray and sing songs of praise to you."

"Did you enjoy the trip with me?"

"Yes. This is a great honor."

"Then, that’s the point."

"Uhm..."

"Come here and tell me more about yourself. I want to hear your stories."

Elysia pulled Lucia closer to her. Based on information from the Sky God Spirit and Ice God Spirit, Lucia was once a frightened newborn spirit, emerging out of a spirit tree fossil buried by the ages.

By the time Lucia regained consciousness, Lucia was still a wisp of spirit, and afraid of almost anything. As a lost spirit, Lucia had nowhere to go, but fortunately, the newborn spirit spotted a safe-looking floating island.

Thus, it was how the blessed spirit took shelter in the Sky Library, nurtured by two God’s spirits as a new priestess. Time passed and Lucia manifested her human form.

Regardless, Elysia wished to hear the real-life stories from Lucia directly.

Since it would be story time, Erina and Evelyn also wished to listen. Therefore, Elysia cast a sound barrier to prevent any sensitive information from being heard by Dorothy and Sam. The voice was altered to sound like the usual girls talk.