Earl Huidun in Peril

"Your Excellency, this old man will use the Blood Sacrifice Technique to open a path for you shortly."

Achilles brandished his staff, fending off the endlessly whipping vines as he turned back to speak to Huidun.

"My disciple, we have fallen this time. After you return, the strength at your side will be greatly diminished. You must learn to endure in silence. Your master believes that, with your talent, you will soon surpass that old bastard."

Achilles blasted back the vines swung by the Vine Dragon Withered Wood with an Explosive Flame Technique, then a bitter smile surfaced on his face.

"However, your master must still tell you this: endure in silence. That old bastard dared plot against you, so someone must be directing him from behind the scenes.

"Do not think of avenging your master. Your task is to stay alive and ascend to that supreme position.

"Only then will you have the strength to challenge him and those behind him."

Watching the vines lash toward them again, Achilles spoke with resolute eyes.

Then Achilles, clad in a mage robe embroidered with gold thread, turned to the one-armed knight beside him and said in an unquestionable tone:

"Torey, once I break open a path, you must take Earl Huidun and leave here safely.

"This old man remembers that these past few days, the noble class led by Melinda and Isabel has been holding practical lessons just outside this forest. You can create a disturbance and draw those two here.

"I believe that once they notice the commotion, they will rush over immediately. With those two protecting you, you can retreat safely."

Torey tore strips from his tattered cloak and tightly bound the stump of his severed hand, then nodded.

At that moment, tears of rage, regret, and pain streamed down Earl Huidun's handsome face, which was drenched in sweat.

"No, Teacher Achilles, you cannot do this. There must be another way. Teacher, you cannot use the Blood Sacrifice Technique."

As he spoke, the wand in the earl's hand faintly began to glow again, and a burst of Chaos Magic struck the vines that continuously swung and lashed at their defensive perimeter.

Yet Achilles revealed a loving smile.

"Do not cry. This is the final lesson your master will teach you. From now on, you will have no more tears. You will become an iron-blooded king."

He did not look at Huidun again. Instead, he turned to Torey, the earl's knight commander, said, "Prepare," and began chanting an extremely obscure, dark, and terrifying incantation.

As the chant rang out, red light began to emanate from his aged body. Yet only those beside him could see that this so-called red light was actually blood evaporating from the surface of his body.

Meanwhile, at the camp outside Nanmu Forest, after three days of simple training, Isabel had already taught them about the troubles they might encounter while hunting in the forest's outskirts and several ways to handle them.

Naturally, what she taught were only basic principles. The real difficulties encountered during the hunt would still have to be resolved by the students themselves.

The hunting journey was about to begin, and their performance in this hunt would also affect their future studies.

The academy's most important purpose in training them was to produce mages truly capable of fighting, thereby strengthening the kingdom.

Naturally, this near-combat hunting exercise could reveal whether they truly possessed a talent for battle. Those without such talent could still switch to other paths, such as potion-making, while they were young.

The academy had not given up on those students who had yet to successfully engrave a Magic Rune Corridor.

Instead, over the past few days, it had given each of them several Magic Crystals and materials for engraving Magic Runes. During the hunt, they would need to use the Magic Crystals they had engraved themselves to deal with problems.

Then the two teachers announced that the ten-day hunt had begun.

Most of these little ones were the children of local nobles, and first-in-line heirs at that.

They had received education in combat-related knowledge from a young age, because the main force in the kingdom's foreign wars was still armies formed from gatherings of minor nobles like them.

Watching these pampered little ones hold bows and arrows, their faces brimming with the excitement of believing victory was already in their grasp, Chen Cheng shook his head repeatedly in his heart.

He had lived in these mountains and forests for who knew how many years. With their age and strength, even if they were given bows engraved with Magic Runes, it would still be useless if they encountered Magic Beasts.

Fortunately, the academy had not forbidden servants from accompanying them this time.

Chen Cheng had also seen through the reason this hunting class had been established: it was meant to test the students' understanding of danger and their own strength, as well as their ability to respond to peril.

The so-called hunting points for prey were not nearly as important.

After all, no noble would become a hunter who did everything personally once they came of age. They belonged to this world's ruling class, and they learned magic and gained power in order to better rule the capable people beneath them.

Calm, objective, and effective methods of dealing with problems were the practical skills they truly needed to master.

Chen Cheng also took an ordinary bow and arrows, while the Iron Sword at his waist was sufficient as a sidearm.

After Isabel announced the dismissal, Coles was carried away by his servant and vanished from sight.

The other students also formed teams with the descendants of viscounts and barons whom they knew and were close to.

Only Fini's side appeared rather deserted, with only Chen Cheng and her.

This was because of the peculiar nature of Fini's noble status.

Her father's status as a second-rank baron was somewhat connected to Chen Cheng.

Fifteen years ago, the year Chen Cheng was born in this life, his father's identity in this life was exposed, stirring every kingdom in the human world.

Across the entire continent, cries to exterminate the remnants of the former dynasty rose one after another.

The Kingdom of Como was naturally among those calling for extermination.

When word returned that the remnants of the former dynasty had been wiped out by the Kolmo Kingdom, every kingdom across the continent fell into celebration.

It was at that time that Kekebor used money to pave his way, latched onto the current chancellor, Holmes, and spent nearly all his savings to purchase a baronial title. Overnight, his social status changed from a lowly merchant to a lofty noble.

Naturally, he was not the only noble of this kind. At the time, countless people had seized that opportunity to spend money and rise from merchants to nobles. Even among the noble children here, some had obtained their status in the same way.

Yet for some unknown reason, Baron Kekebor, who had risen from merchant to noble himself, began distancing himself from those merchant nobles.

Then, in order to blend into true noble circles, he followed traditional nobles in their refined pursuits, only to be looked down upon by those old-established nobles.

This was why Fini had almost no true friends at the academy.

The reason for "almost" was that there was one special existence in this class—Akasto.

He was a round, chubby Little Fatty who always wore a cheerful smile around others. Yet despite his young age, he already showed the potential of a crooked merchant.

Previously, he had been the one to buy out the method of making glasses from Chen Cheng. It could be said that this business had earned him quite a lot recently.

His father was also an extremely wealthy merchant, practically the richest man in the Kingdom of Como. However, this tycoon differed from other merchants.

His wealth was enough for him to operate in the Royal Capital, after which the chancellor in court could easily push him into the rank of a great noble with a third-rank earl's title.

Yet none of that was what he pursued. On the contrary, this wealthy man possessed an obsessive love for money and enjoyed making it, rather than yearning for the pretentious life of a noble.

The money he had earned from his previous business with Chen Cheng had also won him considerable face before his father.

Thus, when this fellow saw Chen Cheng and Fini standing all alone, he eagerly scampered over to Chen Cheng's side.

"Hey, my good brother Brown, why are you and this young lady all alone? I happen to have no team either. How about the three of us form one?"

When he ran, he looked like a rolling ball of flesh. Fini frowned at his pudgy appearance.

Then, thinking of the large sum of Gold Coins he had previously offered as payment, the young lady did not say anything more.

Chen Cheng, however, quite liked dealing with this fellow. Perhaps his unscrupulous merchant behavior, regardless of status, reminded Chen Cheng of the world from his previous life. Thus, even though he clearly knew the Gold Coins this fellow offered were nowhere near equal to the generous profits involved, he still sold him the method for making glasses.

"How is it, my crooked merchant friend? The great sales of glasses must have made your father very happy."

"Heh, Brown, don't say that. We agreed on it beforehand—once the contract was signed, there could be no backing out. But if you have any ideas for good, ingenious products, tell me about them. This time, I'll definitely give you a price that satisfies you."

Seeing the light gleaming in Little Fatty's small eyes whenever money was mentioned, Chen Cheng shook his head speechlessly.

Throughout the entire process, Chen Cheng did not see the sort of scene written in novels from his previous life, where someone came over to trample on them. After all, Fini was also the first-in-line heir of a baron.

They might look down on Fini's father, but Fini had genuinely grown up in a noble household. There was no need for them to come flaunting themselves brainlessly before her.