IRM Chapter 25

Brandon followed them dejectedly, and the group walked while looking at the map of the outer perimeter of Dark Night Forest, completely unaware that they had already arrived near the Northland Academy’s camp.

When four towering figures as tall and sturdy as iron towers suddenly appeared, blocking their path completely, the little mages looked up in a daze, and Joseph’s reminder suddenly floated into their minds——

[Remember, don’t go wandering around there for no reason.]

Evan swallowed and stepped back a few paces, tilting his head high up to look at these four burly men who were almost twice his height.

The vital parts of the burly men’s bodies were wrapped tightly in fine steel armor, and the parts not covered revealed thick brown fur. The blue national emblem unique to the Nors Empire was branded on the chest armor. They lowered their heads, their rough faces against the light showed protruding flesh, and under their thick black eyebrows, brown eyes stared at the little mages like wild beasts.

This was the standard attire of Nors Empire beastman warriors.

“You, are mages?” The beastman at the front carrying a great sword opened his mouth to inquire, his muffled voice full of vigor, echoing across the clearing.

Ji Chi stepped forward, shielding the little mages behind him, and looked up at him. “Yes.”

“From the Magic Academy?” The orc’s voice became even deeper, carrying a tense undertone.

Ji Chi looked at him impassively. “Yes.”

The orc’s large nostrils flared once, he snorted roughly, and sparks of excitement flashed in his eyes!

He stepped back with a thud, and suddenly bent down with a whoosh, his round head with two round ears pointing straight at the little mages. “Please team up with us!”

The other three burly men behind him also bent down with a whoosh, shouting in unison, “Please team up with us!”

The deafening request echoed throughout the camp, making the little mages’ heads buzz.

Brandon felt dizzy and had some ringing in his ears. “Wha- what?”

The thunderous commotion also drew the attention of other eyes in the camp. They knowingly glanced at the four meat towers, then at the slender and pale mages in the shadows of the meat towers, and shook their heads with sighs. “Given what the Northland warriors have done over the years, which academy’s mages would dare…”

“Great, sure~” The little mages huddled together, chattering and discussing for a while, then cheerfully agreed.

The onlookers: “?” Are you trying to shorten the average lifespan of mages?

Unlike the onlookers’ train of thought, after Ji Chi and the others figured out that the other party had no ill intentions, they even felt a kind of inexplicable delight!

A lineup of four fragile and short-legged members was indeed not very friendly for wilderness exploration. Even with the cheat-like Ji Chi present, with only alchemist skills available now, it would be difficult for him to handle sudden dangers with ease…

So, if they could have a few strong warrior tools at this time, their task completion efficiency would be more than doubled!

Where could they find such a good thing!

While the little mages were whispering, the beastman warriors who had been treated as tools had already prepared to be rejected. Their not-very-large brains had already thought of seven or eight begging and pleading postures. Suddenly being accepted, they couldn’t quite react.

They stared blankly at this group of little mages who didn’t even reach their waists. “You… agreed?”

Evan looked up with a smile, warmly and gently introducing his teammates to the warriors. The warm demeanor and spring-breeze-like tone he had developed during his missionary work were as bright and beautiful as a little sun, bringing tears to the warriors’ eyes!

Where could they find such a good thing!

The leading beastman wiped his face and clenched his fist with great enthusiasm. “We swear by the warrior’s name! We will definitely protect your safety! We won’t let you lose a single… what’s that thing called on human heads?”

The beastman behind him nudged him and whispered a reminder, “Hair.”

“We won’t let you lose a single hair!”

The little mages: “……”

Wait, why did they suddenly have an unreliable feeling.

The beastman laughed heartily and introduced, “We are beastman warriors from the Northland Academy of the Nors Empire. Our true form is a brown bear, you can call me Bill. As for them…”

Bill glanced at his brothers. “My mother gave birth to six children, and accidentally starved two to death. She was so sad and confused at the time that she couldn’t tell our names apart, and of course she still hasn’t figured it out now, so just calling them Second, Third, and Fourth will do!”

The little mages: “……”

Why could there be so many points to complain about in just one short sentence?

However, their remaining wariness also faded accordingly—— the ancient saying “beastmen produce idiots” was indeed true.

Bill had struck gold by catching a group of mages, and was visibly happy. He suppressed his desire to roar at the sky and asked them, “What’s your mission? I seem to remember that the Combat Academy’s training missions are self-selected?”

“Yes, our current mission is this.” Ji Chi showed them the mission slip in his hand.

Bill bent down and stared at the small mission slip for a long time, then turned to ask his brothers, “Don’t we also have a mission that needs Glowing Flowers? Which mission was it?”

Second turned to ask Third: “Which one was it?”

Third turned to ask Fourth: “Which one?”

Fourth looked at Bill with a shocked face: “Isn’t Bill supposed to remember the missions?”

The four burly men looked at each other in confusion.

Ji Chi watched them for a while and was already considering whether to disband the team.

Bill didn’t want to fight with his brothers in front of the little mages. He scratched his head irritably, suddenly made an “oh” sound, and dug out a crumpled piece of parchment from the gap in his chest armor. It was covered with ink drawings of several blobs that no one could understand, with each blob having a big X marked above it.

He frowned and examined the paper, turning it this way and that. “Our training mission is to kill ten forest wolves, five night demons, and one… what’s this one? Ghoul? Bone dragon? Dark shaman? Forget it, let’s just kill one of each.”

The little mages… the little mages were already getting used to their style.

Bill crumpled the parchment into a ball and casually stuffed it back, saying to Ji Chi and the others, “Perfect, let’s accompany you to pick Glowing Flowers first. I’ll pick a few extra to keep on me, we can use them to attract night demons at night. Don’t be afraid, night demons are easy to deal with! First break their hands and feet so they can’t run fast, then slowly roast them with torches. It’s best not to smash them flat, so the harmful dark elements won’t stick to your body.”

When it came to combat-related matters, Bill arranged everything methodically, displaying a warrior’s qualities to the fullest… he just described the process in somewhat detailed and gory terms.

Brandon had never experienced such things and listened with a pale face, constantly swallowing saliva.

Third saw Brandon’s appearance and, empathizing with something unknown, enthusiastically came over to share his experience. “Don’t be curious, that thing doesn’t taste good at all. It tastes like rotten lizard meat with stink bugs added. I held back for a long time before I managed not to throw up——“

The young master couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Ugh——“

Bill carefully glanced at the pale-faced Brandon, gave his stinking brother a hard smack on the back of the head, and said through gritted teeth, “How can you say such things in front of mages! They are all very delicate and sensitive!”

Third pitifully rubbed his head, knowing he had done wrong. He walked to Brandon and bent down to lie on the ground.

The young master was startled. Although he was somewhat pampered, he wouldn’t treat others this way. He quickly waved his hands. “No, no, this is my problem…”

Before he could finish speaking, a flash of light passed, and a brown bear two meters tall tilted its head to look at him. Its round eyes held honesty and apology. Third said, “Sorry about earlier, come up, I’ll carry you to pick Glowing Flowers.”

The other three burly men also successively transformed into massive brown bears, lying on the ground to signal the little mages to climb on their backs.

As orcs, who made up the largest proportion of the warrior profession, they could fight, tank, and had speed. Except for their somewhat lacking intelligence, all their other qualities were well-balanced. The four dark brown bears galloped toward Dark Night Forest. What would have taken the little mages half a day to travel, they completed in just over ten minutes.

Ji Chi straddled the fluffy bear back, looking up at the black forest ahead that made everyone pale with fear.

Just like its name, Dark Night Forest was like a forest soaked in ink, stretching across one-fifth of the Demon Sword Continent, endless and without any trace of color, so black that even light would be swallowed.

The brown bears continued walking toward the forest. From here, extending hundreds of miles inward could be considered the outer perimeter of Dark Night Forest. Further in was the territory where demons lived, and even the strongest warriors could hardly explore it completely.

Bill turned to look at Ji Chi on his back. “We’ll be counting on you from here on. Warrior armor can’t block the dark elements in Dark Night Forest.”

Part of what made Dark Night Forest terrifying was the black mist that shrouded the entire forest. It was composed of dense dark elements, constantly eroding the bodies of intruders.

Even tank warriors would have their health bars slowly worn down, but conversely, mages who were good at sensing elements could use elemental power to dispel the dark elements.

Like now, the dark elements in the outer perimeter were relatively thin, and one light mage would be more than enough to handle them.

Evan said nothing and allowed points of light to appear around his body. The gentle radiance dispelled the surrounding darkness, leaving a safe and comfortable area for the orcs.

The four bears were amazed.

“A Light Mage! You’re actually a Light Mage!” Second exclaimed in disbelief at his back!

For the despised Northland warriors, every mage was extremely precious, and for those training in Dark Night Forest, every Light Mage was extremely precious.

One could imagine what a great surprise it was for Northland warriors to suddenly have a Light Mage appear in their team!

Evan smiled shyly with pursed lips. “Both Saintess Coralie and I are Light Mages. Brandon is fire-type, and Ji Chi…” He glanced at Ji Chi and said vaguely, “He can also use light elements.”

The beastman warriors wouldn’t pursue why Evan singled out Ji Chi to mention separately. In their view, this sentence meant that this team had three Light Mages!

Three! Can you believe it! The beastmen were moved to tears! They must have been blessed by the gods!

What was there to fear now! The confidence brought by the Light Mages completely depleted what little rationality the beastmen had. They excitedly howled and ran wildly toward the interior of the forest! To repay the little ones on their backs, they ran with extra vigor, and even spun in circles from time to time!

When the warm yellow glow of Glowing Flowers appeared in their vision, the brown bears finally managed to brake, cheerfully setting down the little mages who had been jostled to the point of being deathly pale.

Brandon: “Ugh——“

Third was horrified. “What’s wrong with him again!”

Second slapped Third on his bear head. “Don’t make excuses! It must be something you did again! Look, the one on my back is fine——“

Evan: “Ugh——“

Second and Third: “……”

Ji Chi forcibly endured the discomfort of motion sickness and struggled to climb down from the broad bear back, his heart pounding.

That was too damn thrilling! Ji Chi’s earlier regret about not experiencing a roller coaster instantly vanished.

Under the guilty gazes of the four bears, he recovered for quite a while, then looked up toward where the Glowing Flowers grew. In the swaying warm-colored fluorescence, Saintess Coralie had already bent down to pick a magnificent flower blooming in the darkness.

She gazed quietly at the patch of fluorescence in her hand, her calm-as-water face forming an emotion that was hard to read, like sadness, yet like nostalgia.

Fourth glimpsed her expression and was a bit afraid, quietly asking Bill, “Is she going to throw up too?”

Bill: “Shut up!”

Saintess Coralie glanced at them and put away the Glowing Flower in her hand. “How many do you need?”

Facing this delicate lady mage, Bill the entire bear was very awkward, afraid of scaring her, and said in a small voice, “Five, five will be enough.”

Saintess Coralie nodded, bent down to pull up five flowers and handed them to Bill.

Bill took the flowers in his mouth, lowered his head to stuff them into the magic pendant on his chest, and looked at the little mages. “Can you only take one mission at a time? We’ll take you back to turn in the mission.”

Brandon, who had just finished throwing up messily, took out a handkerchief from his pocket and weakly wiped the corner of his mouth. Hearing this, his face changed dramatically, “What? We have to do that again?”

The bears knew they were wrong and swore to them that this time they would definitely be steady.

****

When Ji Chi, holding a Glowing Flower, pushed aside the thick tent flap and entered, there were still little mages hesitating and indecisively selecting missions in front of the first-year mission board.

Madam Emma was waiting kindly beside them for their selection. Looking up to see Ji Chi, she was slightly surprised. “So fast?”

She took the fresh Glowing Flower and examined it. “Not bad, it was just picked from Dark Night Forest. You can now take on higher-level missions.”

Madam Emma looked at the mission board and gently gave a suggestion, “I recommend you choose this mission to clear carnivorous plants. Although the number that needs to be cleared is a bit much, they’re very common and not very dangerous. With good luck, you could complete it within a day.”

The little mages still dawdling and selecting missions nearby became envious and clamored. “We want hints too!”

Madam Emma smiled at them. “Only proactive and decisive children get preferential treatment.”

Ji Chi scanned the mission board once more, raised an eyebrow, and reached out to take down a mission slip. “We want to take this one.”

Madam Emma was stunned. “Subjugate Night Demons? This mission is quite difficult, are you sure?”

In usual mage training, Night Demon missions were the most unpopular because these monsters’ lightning-fast movement speed was simply a disaster for mages. Combined with their elusive characteristics, they were once listed as one of the monsters most hated by mages.

The little mages nearby also froze, looking at Ji Chi with expressions that said “is there something wrong with your brain.”

“Hmph, geniuses disdain to do those errand missions, right? Especially you people—— Joseph’s students.”

Words full of malice came from the direction of another mission board.

Ji Chi looked up to see a man wearing teacher’s uniform. His skin was a sickly pale color, his right eye was covered by a black eyepatch, and he was leading several senior mages looking in this direction. His remaining left eye was full of gloom and mockery.

In his sarcastic words, rather than targeting Ji Chi, it seemed more like targeting Joseph.

“Tsk—— that old fool, got his genius son killed, and now wants to seek redemption from others? How ridiculous! I think, geniuses aren’t that great after all. Be careful you don’t even know how you died, right? Eastern all-element genius?”