IRM Chapter 31

Ji Chi held the mission sheet and genuinely felt like he was a diligent, conscientious student who took training seriously.

But Professor Joseph clearly didn’t think so. He felt like he was about to be driven to vomit blood by this rebellious thing.

Joseph had a lump of frustration stuck in his chest, trying his best to speak pleasantly, “Don’t worry, with your group’s current score, even if you don’t do anything from now on, you’ll still be solidly in first place.”

Ji Chi waved his hand. “That’s not really the reason.”

Joseph stared at him, gritting his teeth. “Then what IS the reason?”

He had the violent feeling that if Ji Chi didn’t give a suitable reason, he’d take his life right there.

Ji Chi couldn’t think of an excuse for the moment and tentatively said, “Uh, these past few days I’ve discovered many of my shortcomings and want to train more?”

Joseph took a deep breath, couldn’t hold it in anymore, and burst out cursing, “Do you think I’m stupid?! Don’t you know how bad the situation is right now?! Antoine is in the Dark Night Forest right now! With his personality, he definitely won’t let you go! And there’s that damned divine taboo! Even I don’t know what effects it will have on you! And you’re telling me you want to train? I think you’re looking for death!”

Ji Chi said: “But I feel that among all these people, I’m the least likely to die.”

This was the honest truth. Even if the final boss of the main storyline, the Archangel, had a sudden whim and ran over from Angel Kingdom to throw a big move at Ji Chi, it would at most scrape off a bit of his armor value, causing less damage than when Evan’s shield reflected back at him last time.

Joseph felt this damn thing simply didn’t know his place. “You think you’re something special because you’ve practiced other professions? Let me tell you right now, the most important thing for mage professions is spells! The most important thing for other professions is also profession skills! So tell me, how much swordsmanship, archery, and summoning have you learned now?”

Good grief! You really know how to hit my sore spot!

Ji Chi looked at him with a shocked expression, because indeed, all the skills he had worked so hard to grind had been sealed, and although they would be at max level once unsealed, he couldn’t exactly take out a loan for summoning magic to show Joseph right now, could he?

Though his alchemist skills were still there… but performing an impromptu bare-handed potion bottle crafting would be too embarrassing!

Ji Chi was momentarily speechless. He thought about it and decided to rely on comprehensive strength to speak, not believing that six-dimensional all-A attributes couldn’t move a mage!

Speaking of which, what right do you bunch of short-legged glass cannons have to look down on me anyway!

Ji Chi looked seriously at Joseph. “Professor, what exactly do I need to do for you to let me go?”

Joseph looked at him warily. “Don’t think of anything funny. It’s impossible. I won’t let you go.”

“Professor, after all this time, you should understand me. Unless you make me completely convinced, I won’t give up.”

Joseph glared at Ji Chi while holding his breath. The two stared at each other for a while before Joseph finally sighed helplessly. “Fine, if you can get Madam Emma’s magic grimoire, I’ll let you go!”

Ji Chi was suspicious. “Really? It’s that simple?”

Joseph sneered. “Come talk to me when you can actually get it.”

Madam Emma was currently not far from the mission board area. She was healing a student who had been caught by Antoine, gentle and soft water mist swirling around from her hands, enveloping the mage’s body and gradually repairing the internal injuries.

Seeing the student’s complexion improve, Madam Emma smoothed the wrinkles on her long dress and stood up. She looked up at Ji Chi, who had somehow appeared beside her, and asked gently, “Do you also have somewhere that feels uncomfortable?”

Ji Chi shook his head and said sincerely and quickly, “Professor Joseph has something he doesn’t understand and wants to borrow your magic grimoire. I came to fetch it for him.”

Madam Emma was stunned for a moment, then couldn’t help but giggle. After finally stopping, she wiped the tears that had formed at the corners of her eyes. “In all these years, this is the first time I’ve heard such a reason for wanting the magic grimoire.”

Ji Chi sighed disappointedly. “So there’s a procedure for this too?”

Madam Emma’s lips curved up slightly as she gently stroked the magic grimoire she always carried with her. “Because this is also a test. Guess how many students try to get the magic grimoire from me each year?”

After hearing her words, the mage who had just been healed couldn’t help but blush, as if recalling some embarrassing past, brushed his bangs and turned his head away.

Ji Chi didn’t speak, just quietly observed Emma.

In the young mages’ learning process, Madam Emma served as an encyclopedia-like figure. She was knowledgeable and kind, and when teaching theory classes, she tended to be long-winded and chatty, but students still liked her very much and often came to her with questions.

Such a personality and role meant she wasn’t an aggressive person, so conversely, she was testing the students’ aggressiveness.

That was troublesome. Ji Chi slightly frowned.

His current attack methods were extremely simple, only ordinary basic attacks with sword swings. Although he had the strength and speed bonuses from his physical attributes, trying to simply and roughly seize the magic grimoire from her hands without harming Emma was indeed difficult.

Madam Emma looked at him with a smile. “It seems you’ve already realized.”

As she spoke, she waved her hand to create a water bubble that sent the mage on the ground out of the tent. Her index finger gently rubbed against the lustrous water magic crystal at the center of her wand. “Your bet with Joseph is about continuing the mission, right? I’m sorry, but if it were me, I also wouldn’t let you continue taking risks. Moreover, I know you’re different from ordinary mages, so I’ll give my all to stop you.”

Ji Chi didn’t wait for her to finish speaking and unethically charged forward first, trying to snatch the magic grimoire while she wasn’t paying attention.

However, when he was still more than ten meters away from Emma, he felt like he had stepped into a swamp. His arrow-like speed was dragged to the lowest point by the thick, sluggish water mist.

Emma casually drew a soft, bouncy water membrane and bounced him back. “Hmm? You’re the first person who can move in stagnant water. That’s already quite remarkable, but without magic to break through…”

Ji Chi’s lips curved up as he lifted his foot and stomped hard on the ground. Water elements spread out like ripples, running far into the distance.

Emma paused for a moment and shook her head with a laugh. “I actually forgot you can control elements. You really are… cheating.”

Ji Chi had just freed himself when he was immediately enveloped by another layer of water mist. This time, his smile froze, and he looked at the water mist in surprise—he could no longer control the water elements within it.

Emma’s wand tip danced lightly, and streams of crystalline blue water flowed around her. “Professor Joseph taught you all how to summon elements, right? That’s a skill you need to master in Magic Academy, but when you advance to Combat Academy, more experienced professors will teach you how to use—power from within your own body!”

The abundant magic power within her flowed out from her wand tip, transforming into distinct streams of water, then condensing into flexible and strong chains that extended and interlocked, crisscrossing throughout the entire space.

Ji Chi looked up to see that his body was completely surrounded by crystalline chains. Realizing something, his pupils contracted, and he suddenly looked at Emma!

Emma smiled gently at him and lightly flicked her wand upward. “Alright, just obediently listen to the professor.”

The dense chains around him suddenly tightened, each one binding tightly around Ji Chi, wrapping him securely into a huge sphere, trapping him inside without any ability to move.

Seeing this, Joseph breathed a deep sigh of relief and shook his head. “These children just don’t know their place…”

Emma also smiled and turned her gaze away, but soon she sensed something wrong, made a puzzled sound, and hurriedly turned back!

“Thank you for the reminder, Madam Emma.” Ji Chi’s voice came from deep within the chains with a smile. “I haven’t paid attention for so long that I almost forgot—my profession talent is mage.”

Along with his voice reaching the outside came the sound of bubbling boiling water.

Suddenly, bubbles appeared on the smooth blue chains, first as small as sesame seeds, then the entire chain sphere began shaking from the bubble impacts.

“What is… happening?” Madam Emma was surprised. “He can’t possibly control my magic power…”

As she spoke, her eyes gradually widened because she discovered that Ji Chi wasn’t controlling anyone’s magic power, nor the elements wandering in the air, nor any kind of magic—he was simply releasing the magic power from within his own body!

Just like Emma had done before, Ji Chi continuously released the magic power from within his body. Since he only knew Fireball, his magic value defaulted to fire element, and upon leaving his body, it transformed into burning flames, evaporating all the surrounding residual moisture completely.

The heavy binding chains were quickly evaporated into misty vapor. Ji Chi slowly broke through the mist and walked toward Emma. He hadn’t stopped releasing magic power, and with each step, the temperature of the surrounding space rose dramatically, with faint flames swirling around him.

Emma discovered in horror that she could no longer cast magic, or rather, the water streams she released were instantly evaporated, having no effect at all.

“Ji Chi! Withdraw your magic power!” Joseph saw that Emma was already having difficulty breathing due to the high temperature and immediately shouted sternly!

Ji Chi obediently restrained his aura and came before Emma, gently taking the sheepskin magic grimoire from her arm. “I’m sorry, Madam Emma. I must go on this mission—it’s also to protect myself.”

He glanced sideways at Joseph, used wind elements to gently send the magic grimoire to his side, and left the tent.

After he left, Madam Emma slowly wiped the sweat from her forehead and clutched her chest, unable to speak for a long time. After a while, she finally said hoarsely, “This is really… forget it, let him be free. He’s much stronger than we imagined.”

Joseph’s fingers tightened on the magic grimoire as he remained silent, seeming to acquiesce to Madam Emma’s words.

As soon as Ji Chi walked out of the tent, a group of people swarmed around him.

Evan had heard about this from Brandon outside and looked at Ji Chi with concern. “You’re not hurt, are you? We were worried when you didn’t come out for so long…”

Brandon had been sent out early by Madam Emma’s water bubble and wasn’t clear about what happened in the tent afterward. He first looked Ji Chi up and down to confirm he was unharmed, then breathed a sigh of relief and asked curiously, “So? So? Is that scumbag dead?”

The others were obviously also concerned about this question, looking at Ji Chi expectantly.

Ji Chi shook his head. “He used forbidden magic to escape, so the Dark Night Forest will be much more dangerous recently. Everyone should move in groups.”

The young mages present exchanged worried glances, obviously still shaken by that madman.

Bill and the others had also come to join the excitement near Magic Academy. Hearing this, he carelessly patted Brandon on the shoulder, almost pressing the young master into the ground. “No problem! I’ll protect you! That An-whatever-ione, I could slap him to death with one hand!”

Ji Chi said helplessly that he understood, but please lift your hand first—Brandon is about to be slapped to death by you!

Bill looked puzzled and lifted his hand: “?”

“No! Brandon—”

Outside the camp, the young master sat dejectedly on a bear drinking healing potions and asked Ji Chi, “So are we going to do that S-rank mission now?”

Ji Chi paused, was silent for a moment, then looked seriously at them. “Actually, our group’s score is already sufficient. The S-rank mission isn’t necessary, and the recent forest is also dangerous… But I want to do this mission. It’s not about grades—it’s very important to me.”

After hearing this, the young mages turned back and said “oh.”

Ji Chi: “?” What do you mean “oh”? Don’t you have any other reaction?

Evan saw his confusion and smiled. “Even if this mission wasn’t important to you, as long as one person wants to do it, I think everyone would go together, because…”

Evan smiled softly. “We’re friends!”

The bears chimed in. “That’s right, that’s right! Everyone’s friends! If there’s a mission, we must do it together!”

Ji Chi: Thank you, bears. I’m very touched, but I vaguely still feel like you just purely want to join the fun.

Saintness Coralie, who had been silent, suddenly spoke, “Did Madam Emma give any hints about that mission?”

Ji Chi was startled. Ah, he had forgotten about this. But since the reality mission overlapped with the academy mission sheet, the hints should be similar too.

Ji Chi nodded guiltily. “We first need to go to Silver Moon Spring to find the… nightingale.”

He suddenly noticed the description of “true nightingale” on the panel mission and frowned slightly.

What did “true nightingale” mean? This description was quite different from the mission sheet.

If the academy knew there were two different types of nightingales, the nightingale description they gave would definitely be more specific, since this was a mission for first-year young mages, and the difficulty would certainly be much simpler than missions given to bored players.

Ji Chi thought about it and decided not to make a fuss for now, following the content given on the S-rank mission sheet. After all, this mission was related to Saintness Coralie, and according to Reize, Coralie was still under the Church’s suspicion, so they should be more cautious.

“Mm.” Upon hearing Silver Moon Spring, Coralie didn’t show any special reaction, only her hidden fingers silently clenched tight.

At this time, at the boundary between the center and outer edge of Dark Night Forest, a young and beautiful woman was strolling through the pitch-black, quiet forest.

She wore a dark red long formal dress, with a wide off-shoulder neckline revealing delicate collarbones and half a shoulder, while exquisite and complex lace at the neckline made her snow-white skin appear even more alluring.

She elegantly raised her hand to adjust the wide-brimmed hat on her head and frowned unhappily. “I seem to smell a disgusting odor. Do you smell it too, Lu?”

From the darkness behind her emerged a man dressed as a servant. The man had pale skin and handsome features. He didn’t answer her, only bowed slightly in response.

“Oh, look at my memory. I forgot again that you can’t speak now. How boring…” the woman complained coquettishly.

Just as the woman’s words fell, a pungent bloody wind suddenly swept over, and a bloody, mangled figure appeared abruptly in the void. The figure was incomplete and damaged, barely recognizable as humanoid.

The incomplete humanoid moved quick as lightning, extending a hand to viciously grab the man’s neck. Black mist swirled and probed around the neck, trying to absorb something.

But soon it made a shallow sound of confusion. “Hmm?”

The woman looked at the disheveled Antoine in surprise, covered her lips with her hand, and laughed softly. “I was wondering what stunk so badly. Turns out it’s a mage who touched the forbidden… What’s wrong? Feeling strange? You can’t absorb Lu’s blood, can you?”

Antoine quickly abandoned the man and turned to pounce on the woman, but was restrained by Lu, unable to break free no matter how hard he tried.

He even sacrificed part of his flesh and blood trying to escape Lu’s control, but discovered in horror that it had no effect at all.

The woman wasn’t frightened at all. Instead, she slowly approached and extended her slender fingers to gently trace Lu’s handsome face. “Because he’s my familiar. Of course you can’t absorb his blood~”

Antoine suddenly looked up at her and said hoarsely in shock, “You are… a demon?”

Only the demon race would call the things they summoned “familiars.” At this moment, Antoine finally understood why his sacrifices weren’t working—fresh blood and sacrifice were the demons’ domain.

The woman giggled and looked at Antoine with interest for a while, then instructed the familiar named Lu. “Capture him. Such an interesting thing—the little master will definitely be very happy to see it.”

The woman turned to look in the direction of Silver Moon Spring. “Ah, I really miss her…”