First Time, Go Easy (Seeking Collection)

After Gu Changying left, the square did not stay quiet for long before it erupted into commotion.

Su Ning came before the formation of Class 1, Year 2 with several Military Mages and began explaining everyone's assignments.

"Li Gui, Cai Kun, Zhang Shui—you'll be in Fifth Team of Second Peak, under Captain Liu."

As she spoke, she pointed at one of the Military Mages standing beside her. Then she continued, "Xu Yang, Fang Ping, Shi Yu, you..."

The now-silent students listened as their names were called one by one. Bai Mo noticed that their homeroom teacher was calling them in order of their student numbers, and the assignments followed that order as well.

By that logic... he should have been assigned to the same team as Zhao Qingying and Zhou Tianyuan. Just as the thought crossed his mind, Su Ning called out:

"Zhao Qingying, Bai Mo, Zhou Tianyuan—Fifth Team of Third Peak, under Captain Chu!"

Hearing his assignment, Bai Mo looked at Zhou Tianyuan, who had turned around to look at him, then glanced at Zhao Qingying, who greeted him. He smiled.

His gaze finally settled on the second Military Mage to Su Ning's left.

A strange look flashed through his eyes.

Captain Chu's current appearance was truly hard to compliment.

His face was pale, but it was covered in bruises. His eyes were bleary, and there were dark circles around them.

Combined with the bruising on his face, Bai Mo guessed that someone had beaten him up.

Besides that, his cap sat crookedly on his head. One of his military boots was tucked into his uniform pants, while the other pant leg had been rolled up, exposing a patch of hairy leg.

He stood quite straight, though. When Bai Mo, Zhao Qingying, and Zhou Tianyuan came to stand behind him, Bai Mo faintly caught the smell of alcohol.

Bai Mo found the man strange, as though he had just woken from a drunken stupor. But was drinking allowed in the military?

He exchanged glances with the other six classmates already standing there, then looked at his two teammates.

Everyone's eyes held varying degrees of doubt, but no one said anything in the end.

Su Ning soon finished reading the assignments, and the forty students of Class 1 were led away by captains from six different peaks.

Bai Mo and the others followed Captain Chu in silence. Among the nine following him, several wore hesitant expressions as they looked at Captain Chu.

They looked as if they wanted to ask something, yet could not bring themselves to speak.

Bai Mo was observing their surroundings. They had entered another street connected to the square.

There were no merchants or Hunters on this street. From time to time, a squad of Military Mages passed by. Simple stone walls of uniform height lined both sides of the road.

Shouts drifted out from within.

They continued in silence. The students who had wanted to ask questions ultimately failed to gather their courage. Instead, Captain Chu spoke first.

His voice was somewhat refined, his tone gentle, and his enunciation clear—rather at odds with his current disheveled appearance.

"My name is Chu Yunlong. You can call me Old Chu or Captain Chu. You heard what Boss Gu said. If you have any questions now, you can ask me. But before you ask, you need to say 'Report.'"

"Report!" Zhao Qingying spoke first. Her voice was crisp and forceful; judging by her voice alone, she sounded more like a Military Mage than anyone else.

"Speak."

"What are these peaks, like First Peak, Second Peak, Third Peak, and so on?"

"They're part of Middle Town's Military Mage organization. Nine Peaks Mountain has nine peaks, and Demon Beasts live on the mountains. Third Peak is responsible for guarding the Third Mountain."

At this point, Chu Yunlong glanced at the nine students behind him and added, "I'll briefly introduce the situation at Third Peak."

He paused, organizing his words. After everyone waited silently for several seconds, he said:

"Third Peak has nine teams. Teams Four, Five, and Six are responsible for patrols. You'll be joining one of them. I'm the captain of Fifth Team. As for Third Peak's military commander, his name is Yang Biao. It's enough for you to know that such a person exists."

Bai Mo, Zhou Tianyuan, and Zhao Qingying all looked at him. They had not expected this man to be their captain.

"Report!" A somewhat skinny classmate called out.

"Speak."

"Won't we be living in town?"

Chu Yunlong turned back to glance at him and said with a smile:

"The Patrol Team has day and night shifts. When you're resting, you'll stay in town. Generally, you won't be restricted too much."

Hearing that, Bai Mo glanced at the man again. Could it be that he was drinking while off duty, then got dragged in to fill a vacancy?

"You're right." Chu Yunlong's words left everyone confused, but Bai Mo knew they were directed at him.

Mind Element?! Bai Mo thought, while his will stirred to conceal his Mind Wave.

Zhou Tianyuan, walking behind him, called out, "Report!"

"Speak."

Zhou Tianyuan had waited a long time without hearing anything about what concerned him, so he could no longer hold back and asked:

"What are the Patrol Team's daily duties? What rules do we normally have to follow?"

"Our usual duty is to patrol Third Mountain's garrison area, investigate the movements of nearby Demon Beasts, and drive away Demon Beasts trying to enter the city. If you encounter Demon Beasts head-on, follow the captain's orders."

Chu Yunlong continued speaking.

"Oh, and only one team patrols during the day. Nighttime is more dangerous, so two teams patrol then. Fifth Team is on duty tonight."

After saying that, he turned back and glanced at Bai Mo and the other two behind him.

"Don't be nervous. We'll go easy on you the first time. We won't ask you to do anything—just follow along."

"As for discipline, there are only two requirements for you: obey orders and hold your posts."

With that, he stopped walking.

"This is the dormitory. Wait here for now; I'll go call the Sixth Team captain. The Fourth Team captain is still on patrol. He'll come find you once he's back."

As they watched Chu Yunlong leave, everyone curiously looked around.

The place consisted of two-story buildings. The yard had plenty of exercise equipment and a ball court, though no one seemed to be using them. Several Military Mages in tank tops stood around in small groups, both men and women.

Seeing them appear, they pointed and whispered among themselves.

Before long, Chu Yunlong emerged arm in arm with a square-faced middle-aged man. The two walked over to them.

Before Chu Yunlong could introduce him, the square-faced man spoke in a bold voice.

"My name is Kong Changming, captain of the Fourth Team. Which of you are assigned to the Fourth Team?"

Three classmates raised their hands.

Kong Changming nodded and waved.

"You three, come with me. Old Chu, we'll continue tomorrow."

"Fine, we'll continue tomorrow. Next time, I'll beat you to death for sure," Chu Yunlong shouted fiercely. Then he looked at the remaining six and beckoned to a Military Mage taking a stroll in the yard.

"Liu Zi, your team has three new recruits. Take them over and assign them dorm rooms."

The Military Mage called Liu Zi slowly walked over. Only then did everyone notice the cast around his lower leg.

"Captain Chu, you need me?"

"These three students are assigned to your team. Take them over and help them get acquainted."

"Alright." Liu Zi nodded. Remembering that his captain had mentioned this a few days ago, he rubbed his crew cut and looked at the three people Chu Yunlong had indicated. A gentle smile appeared on his face. "Follow me."

After arranging the people for the other two teams, Chu Yunlong's gaze fell on Bai Mo and the other two. He said leisurely, "Now it's just us. Come on, I'll introduce you to your teammates and show you your dormitory. Then it'll be time to change shifts."

Bai Mo and the other two followed him to a break room. There were five people inside—four men and one woman.

"Captain Chu!" ×5

"These are the new recruits this time. Get acquainted."

The three students and five Military Mages stared intensely at one another for two seconds before the female Military Mage slowly stood up.

Her eyes were brown. Aside from the stern, composed air of a Military Mage, she also carried a sunny warmth.

"I'm Zhong Ling, a Fire Magician, Elementary Level."

After her, a burly young man also stood up and said in a deep, muffled voice, "Jiang Cheng, Earth Element, Elementary Level."

After hearing their introductions, Bai Mo gained a general understanding. Among the five, only Zhong Ling, who had spoken first, was a Destruction Mage. The four male Military Mages respectively wielded the Earth, Wind, Shadow, and Light Elements.

Seeing that they had finished introducing themselves, Chu Yunlong slapped his forehead and said carelessly, "Look at my memory—I nearly forgot myself. I'm a Mind Mage, Intermediate Level, with Water as my secondary element."

An Intermediate Level Mage?! Bai Mo and the other two were a little surprised.

But remembering that this was Modu, they found it only natural. When they saw everyone looking at the three of them—

Bai Mo stood first and imitated the way they had introduced themselves. "Bai Mo, Space Element, Elementary Level."

Upon hearing Space Element, Chu Yunlong and the other five all showed surprise. Awakening the Space Element at the Elementary Level was extremely rare.

But the introductions continued.

"Zhou Tianyuan, Water Element, Elementary Level."

"Zhao Qingying, Wind Element, Elementary Level."

Chu Yunlong looked at Zhao Qingying's and Zhou Tianyuan's backpacks, then said to Zhong Ling, "Zhong Ling, take Zhao Qingying to the dormitory to put her things away. You two, come with me."

He pointed at Bai Mo and Zhou Tianyuan.

The two followed as instructed, and he led them to a dormitory.

Inside were three people who had already changed into Military Mage training uniforms. They were all their classmates.

Two were from the Fourth Team, and one was from the Sixth Team.

"You students have been assigned to the same dormitory. Lights out is after ten at night, and loud noise isn't allowed."

Chu Yunlong said.

"Bai Mo, Zhou Tianyuan, come to the break room from earlier in fifteen minutes. I'll familiarize you with patrol duties."

"Alright!" ×2

It was clearly a six-person dormitory. The two chose their beds. After chatting with the other three inside for a while, they got up and headed to the break room.

The sky outside had darkened as well, and the moon had emerged.

In the break room, aside from Zhong Ling and Zhao Qingying, everyone else was there.

"You're here."

Seeing them approach, Chu Yunlong nodded, rose to his feet, and said, "Zhong Ling and the others are in the car. Let's go."

Middle Town lay between Fourth Peak and Fifth Peak, not too far from Third Peak.

Zhong Ling drove everyone there, and they arrived in twenty minutes.

"Ugh—"

After getting out of the car, Zhou Tianyuan couldn't help dry-heaving. Bai Mo and Zhao Qingying didn't look much better either.

Zhong Ling's driving was simply too wild and aggressive, and the road was uneven on top of that.

"Hahaha, if you want to puke, don't hold it in. Ride with her a few more times and you'll get used to it."

The big guy Jiang Cheng laughed heartily, while smiles appeared on everyone else's faces as well.

They had all remembered what they went through the first time they let Zhong Ling drive.

Bai Mo didn't take his advice. He took several deep breaths of the wilderness air before asking uncomfortably, "Do you all drive like that?"

"No, I'm just a little impatient by nature." Zhong Ling shook her head.

"We take turns. If you know how to drive, you'll get a chance too," Shadow Mage Zhang Lan said as he walked over and patted Bai Mo on the shoulder.

The three of them looked up at the open-top pickup parked in the camp, then exchanged glances.

"What normal high school student knows how to drive one of those!?"