Zhu Qiu left the palace.
However, without any clues, how was she supposed to find the location of those magic creatures?
Magic creatures could be distributed very close to the Human City or very far away.
The area was so vast that searching would be incredibly troublesome.
‘I should think of a way to save time and effort.’
Suddenly, she had an idea!
Zhu Xiaxia had given her a Wind Element Crystal. Wouldn’t it be convenient to use it to fly up and search?
Zhu Qiu found an empty, deserted area and used her Magic Power to fly high into the sky, ensuring she wouldn’t be discovered by the humans below.
‘Let me see, where are those magic creatures?’
She flew outside the Human City, and after searching for 15 minutes, she locked onto a dark area in the distance.
Wherever magic creatures passed, not only would the grass wither and the ground turn dark purple, but even the sunlight in that area would be shrouded and become dark.
The more magic creatures gathered, the more serious this condition became, making it even more obvious in Zhu Qiu’s field of vision.
‘It should be there.’
Zhu Qiu flew quickly toward that direction. As the distance grew closer, several small figures appeared around the dark area.
They didn’t look like natural objects; instead, they looked like people.
‘These people should be Archmage Dinksway and his Young Mages mentioned by the King, right?’
Zhu Qiu slowed her flight speed and stopped near a large tree not far away. She hovered in the air, hiding behind the dense leaves and observing quietly.
She wanted to see what exactly was going on with these people.
Dinksway wore long, purple robes and was tall, forming a sharp contrast with the other Young Mages who wore black robes.
It was easy to identify who the leader was at a single glance.
All of these people had their faces covered uniformly, leaving only two small slits for their eyes to observe, as if they were afraid of being seen.
“Students with great dreams, you have been studying Magic with me for so long. Today is the day for your practical combat. Do not disappoint me.”
Dinksway reached into his robes and pulled out a Purple Crystal Ball.
“First, your Teacher will demonstrate how you should deal with these magic creatures.”
He held the crystal ball with one hand and began to chant a spell.
Several Demonized Wolves within the pack suddenly launched a collective attack, pouncing toward Dinksway.
“Awoo—”
“FLAME IMPACT!”
A wall formed from purple flames flew out from in front of Dinksway, knocking down all the reckless Demonized Wolves.
Their bodies were scorched by the flames, and they fell to the ground in pain, letting out constant, mournful howls.
“Do you understand? Just use any offensive Magic to kill the magic creatures that rush at you.”
“I have already laid down a magic circle in this area. These magic creatures will not rush over all at once, so there is no need to be afraid. Remember, this is not only your first practical combat but also a kind of test I am giving you. You must take it to heart.”
After Dinksway finished speaking, he took a few steps back.
“In order. Number One, you go first.”
“Yes, Master.”
The other Young Mages cooperated by stepping back, leaving only one person to face the pack of magic creatures.
“This time, I will only test the aspect of power. Do not worry about timing. Under my control, the magic creatures will definitely rush over the moment you finish your chant. You only need to focus entirely on chanting your Magic. Do you understand?”
“Understood.”
The Young Mage began to chant.
The moment he finished his chant, five Demonized Wolves pounced.
“THUNDERBOLT!”
Lightning pierced through the body of the first Demonized Wolf and chained to the four beside it. They all fell together, their limbs splayed back.
“Master.”
Dinksway only gave it a look before replying, “Your power is insufficient. You only killed the first one, and you only caused superficial injuries to the Demonized Wolves behind it. You still need to practice diligently.”
“Master, but they clearly all fell down.”
“That is because your Thunderbolt has a paralyzing control effect, which is why they fell. Come back. I will not be mistaken.”
“Alright.”
When Number One walked over, Dinksway stuck a label on his chest.
“B-plus.”
“Keep working hard.”
Dinksway patted Number One’s shoulder.
“Next, Number Two.”
“…”
Zhu Qiu watched from the tree, completely stunned.
This so-called Archmage Dinksway wasn’t clearing magic creatures at all; he was clearly using those magic creatures to test his apprentices.
But what she couldn’t understand was why these magic creatures were so stupid, pouncing in groups of exactly five every single time.
When she used to deal with magic creatures, they would all rush up together.
It was completely different from what was happening now.
Zhu Qiu suppressed the doubt in her heart and continued to observe every move of these people.
“Number Eight, grade, C-plus. Next, Number Nine.”
Number Nine stepped forward.
Zhu Qiu was suddenly drawn to Number Nine.
‘This build… it looks so familiar, like I’ve seen it somewhere before.’
“Master, I am ready.”
The moment Number Nine spoke, Zhu Qiu recognized the voice immediately.
‘Isn’t this my brother Sote’s voice? Why is he a Magician?’
Zhu Qiu was momentarily confused. She wondered if she had misheard or if she had simply mistaken him for someone else.
Could someone just happen to have a voice similar to her brother?
“If you are ready, then begin.”
“POLAR ICE SPIKE!”
After a short chant, the Young Mage summoned several prismatic ice spikes from his palm, stabbing them one by one into the pouncing Demonized Wolves.
“Awoo—”
The Demonized Wolves were easily handled by the Young Mage.
“Master.”
Dinksway involuntarily began to clap as he walked forward.
“Number Nine, you did very well. You are the only one among these Magicians to pass the test perfectly. Therefore, your grade is S-rank.”
“Thank you, Master.”
Number Nine immediately gave a salute.
“I saw your potential long ago. You were the last one to join this group, and your training time has been the shortest, but that does not hinder your growth.”
“For your sake, I have decided to let everyone come for practical combat every day. Anyway, there are plenty of magic creatures now, so we are not lacking in materials for training.”
“Master, I will definitely continue to work hard.”
Zhu Qiu watched the entire process of Number Nine killing the magic creatures from the tree and shook her head.
‘I must have been mistaken. This guy can’t be my brother; he has no Magic Talent, and it’s even more impossible for him to kill five Demonized Wolves at once.’
“Dinksway blew a whistle.”
“Assemble.”
The Young Mages stood in line.
At that moment, one of the Young Mages asked a question.
“Master, what about these remaining magic creatures? Are we just going to leave them like this?”
“Yes. Let them breed for a bit so we can quickly replenish our magic creature resources.”
Hearing those words, Zhu Qiu was dumbfounded.
‘Is this guy really just using the magic creatures? He’s even letting them breed?’
The King said Dinksway was going to deal with the magic creatures, right?
From the look of it, it’s a joke.
As expected, how could Dinksway have good intentions?
Zhu Qiu planned to wait until these Magicians left before killing all the magic creatures herself.
But at that moment, the sentence she least wanted to hear appeared.
“Friend in the tree, you have been watching for so long. Are you still unwilling to come down and meet us?”
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