NOVEL NEXT chapter 25
25
With a flick of his fingers, time moved on to a month later, the day the teacher led the team on a field exercise.
On the stage, a knight clad in golden armor passionately delivered a speech:
“Students, today is the day to test your achievements. Are you ready?”
The students below the stage, more or less eager, responded with a thunderous:
“Ready!”
“Good, that’s the spirit I want to see. First, let me introduce myself. My name is Hus Gold. Some of you may already know me. Profession: Knight, one of the teachers responsible for your safety during this practical training. And this elf teacher beside me, I believe you’re all familiar with her, as she taught most of your magic basics. I won’t introduce her further. Now, let’s have our teacher Mira say a few words.”
Hus Gold gradually stepped back to give Mira the floor, and she pressed her watch to indicate no need for applause.
“Hello hello, everyone! I am your beautiful, gentle, and lovely teacher Mira. The important things have been mostly covered by Teacher Gold, so I won’t elaborate too much. I only have one thing to say,” Mira’s demeanor suddenly turned serious, “Do not take the practical training lightly. Even with us teachers leading, it’s never 100% safe. Every year, there are unfortunate ones who die due to their own carelessness. I hope all of you return safely, and don’t become this year’s unfortunate ones because of a momentary lapse.”
After Mira’s words, the atmosphere below became somewhat heavy as most students silently shelved their playful thoughts. Seeing everyone’s acknowledgment, Hus Gold robustly continued:
“Give yourselves half an hour to pack your things, then assemble here. Dismissed.”
The lineup quickly descended into chaos, and Gu Ming, with his two companions, joined the large group packing. As the trio was about to head to the assembly point, an unexpected person approached them.
“Brother Gu!”
Seeing him, Gu Ming also smiled and asked.
“Why are you here?”
Lance rubbed the back of his head and replied, “Aren’t you guys heading into real combat? I thought I’d come to see you off.”
Gu Ming patted his shoulder, “Alright, I appreciate the gesture.”
Just as Gu Ming was about to leave with the two girls, Lance quickly grabbed him. Gu Ming turned around with a puzzled look.
“Is there something else?”
Lance glanced towards the direction of the two girls. Gu Ming gently explained, “It seems he has something to say. You go ahead and assemble; I’ll be right there.”
Mia and Tina, understandingly not asking further questions, held hands and cheerfully bounced away.
Once the girls had left, Gu Ming looked at Lance again.
“All secretive. out with it,” he said.
Lance cautiously asked, “Brother Gu, I heard that recently you’ve gotten into trouble with Moore.”
Gu Ming nodded slightly to hear more.
“You should be careful then. I heard Moore’s cousin from a higher grade will also participate in this combat training.”
Puzzled by this information, Gu Ming asked,” A senior participating in junior training? Doesn’t the academy care?”
Lance explained: “Brother Gu might not know this but previously it wasn’t allowed; however over recent years for some reason – maybe because people have been disappearing during secret realm trainings and even noble families’ children have been affected – they’ve put a lot of pressure on the academy. Consequently policies have relaxed quite a bit; now students can bring along an upperclassman for protection. Actually, I’ll also be entering this year’s training so please look after me when we’re there.”
Gu Ming nodded slightly, feeling that taking care of him was no big deal, after all, he had also obtained quite a bit of information from him.
“Brother Gu, speaking of which, you really need to be careful of Moore’s cousin. That person is also a fifth-tier, so please be cautious.”
Gu Ming merely gave a perfunctory reply. What a joke, there are differences even within the fifth tier, not to mention, his own apparent strength was absolutely above the average fifth tier. No matter how the opponent made his move, Gu Ming was not the least bit flustered.
After discussing, the two headed towards the training field together.
…
“Da Gou”
“Dao”
“Er Yu”
“Dao”
“San Hu”
“Dao”
After the roll call, seeing that everyone had arrived, Hoskin waved his hand grandly,
“Depart!”
The large troop densely packed, arrived at the academy’s teleportation gate. Hoskin made his final summary in front of the gate,
“Listen well, the numbers on your crystal counters represent the number and quality of the demons you’ve slain. The more you kill, the richer the rewards. And the tokens on your waist are the teleportation cards. Once activated, it means you’ve lost your qualification. Did everyone get that?”
Rules: First-tier 10 points, second-tier 30 points, third-tier 50 points.
“Understood.”
Miri chanted a string of spells, and the gate gradually began to flicker with light, turning into a vortex. One by one, the students slowly walked in and disappeared at the gate. Gu Ming and a few others also followed closely behind and vanished on the spot.
…
Within the Mystic Realm
Beside the azure lake, on the grassy shore, a figure slowly rises.
“Sigh, so this is the mystic realm?”
Gu Ming begins to survey his surroundings. There are no towering trees around, only dense green grass that stands in stark contrast to the outside world, each blade reaching up to a meter high.
Gu Ming wanders through the wetlands, his eyes searching ahead for a direction.
“This path is tough to navigate, with all this sludge. I need to find them quickly.”
Hiss, hiss, hiss… A five-meter-long green snake behind Gu Ming slowly approaches. Its yellow eyes see Gu Ming’s sudden bending movement as an opportunity and strikes like lightning.
“Fireball Technique!”
Caught off guard, the snake is hit by the fireball, its scales emitting black smoke.
The severely injured green snake, dragging its heavy body, wishes only to flee this dangerous place. Its instinctual fear is palpable, but Gu Ming won’t let it escape so easily.
“Tsk, I didn’t expect that. My fireball didn’t finish you off, beast. Let’s try this then, Demonic Thunder!”
The sky rumbles with thunder, and bolts charged with demonic energy, trillions of volts strong, strike the green snake and the grass around it. If the snake could speak, it would surely ask, “Is all this really necessary, big brother?”
When Gu Ming goes to inspect, all that’s left of the snake is ash.
With the snake’s demise, two passive skills, Magic Absorption and Fantasy Harvest, activate immediately. With no injuries to heal, Magic Absorption simply replenishes the magic power Gu Ming had lost. Fantasy Harvest, as usual, adds 5 experience points.
Species: Snake Demon
Level: 29
Skills: Venomous Fangs, Scale Armor
“Tsk, this Fantasy Harvest is getting less reliable. A nearly third-tier demon only gives me 5 experience points. Well, out of sight, out of mind.”
With a single thought from Gu Ming, the panel disappears into the unknown.
Looking at the movement in the grass behind him, Gu Ming stretches lazily and draws his long sword.
“Alright, it’s your turn now, Star Rain, Demon Descending Thunder.”
The two area skills began to clear the field on a large scale. Wherever Star Rain passed, it was like a barrage of bullets; grass and demons were shredded to pieces on the ground. The mix of green and red was somewhat nauseating to look at.
Demon Descending Thunder was more straightforward and brutal. Wherever the thunder struck, not a blade of grass remained; a large blackened patch spread out, especially since this wetland conducted electricity even further. In the end, Gu Ming simply relied solely on this skill.
If there were people around, they would definitely mistake him for a demon in human skin. This was because the skill Demon Descending Thunder itself carried demonic energy; this is also why Gu Ming usually could only use Meteor Sword Technique.
“Ah, it looks much more open now; the path has improved quite a bit too. feels much better,” he said.
Gu Ming glanced at his counting crystal in hand and couldn’t help but feel even better as he hummed a tune and strolled leisurely along.
Crite Gu Ming: 270
What Gu Ming didn’t know at that moment was how his seemingly casual actions had shocked the teachers outside the secret realm.
“Where is this student from? How is this possible? A freshman who just entered the secret realm not long ago has already scored 270 kills?”
“It seems he’s from House Crite. the young master who reached Tier 5 strength right upon entering school.”
“Sss!”
Hos and Mirelle among other teachers couldn’t help but gasp in astonishment.
An elderly man dressed in purple mage robes atop a high building couldn’t help feeling sentimental,
“It seems House Crite has produced another dragon.”
This old man was none other than Hermes Dan, Dean of Royal Academy.