An Encounter

"Rumble~"

With a thunderclap that shook heaven and earth, rain immediately poured down in torrents. Pearl-sized drops fell in strings.

Pitter-patter~

The roars of beasts that had been heard everywhere in the Magical Beast Mountain Range abruptly fell silent.

Jonathan was sheltering in the hollow of a giant tree. He glanced at the sky and saw that the rain probably wouldn't stop anytime soon, so he sat cross-legged and began cultivating battle-qi.

Half a day later, the rain gradually let up.

Jonathan opened his eyes and walked to the hollow's entrance. Sunshine now blanketed the outside world, gilding everything in sight. Even the air felt unusually fresh and invigorating.

Jonathan continued deeper into the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Besides mercenary groups, students from various academies also came here in teams. They generally didn't venture too deep, though; the territory of a sixth-level magical beast was already their limit.

Before long, Jonathan came across a group of five young people. There were both magicians and warriors among them, men and women alike.

"They're all sixth-level, and the oldest looks only twenty-five or twenty-six. The younger ones are probably under twenty. Interesting. Leaving the warriors aside, the only place that could produce magical talents like these is probably..."

Jonathan was naturally referring to Ernst Academy.

"Come to think of it, Linley should be a fifth-level magician by now, right?"

Just learning to sculpt had given him an almost cheat-like boost.

Still, he was a little behind Jonathan.

Linley had become a seventh-level dual-element magician at seventeen, but Jonathan had achieved the same at just over sixteen. He was undoubtedly the greatest magical genius in the history of the Yulan Continent.

At that moment, the little group was facing a peak sixth-level magical beast that was incredibly close to seventh level—a Red-Tailed Silver-Armored Scorpion.

This magical beast looked as if it wore gleaming silver armor. It was several zhang long and over one zhang tall, with two enormous, exceptionally hard pincers. Its sharp fangs parted now and then, letting out wisps of purplish-black poisonous mist.

A steel-like crimson tail extended from its rear. It was the beast's strongest weapon: it could spew red-black poisonous flames, and when it whipped about like a lash, it let out a fierce whistle.

Several of them had already suffered minor injuries, but this wasn't the time to rest. The moment anyone faltered, the Red-Tailed Silver-Armored Scorpion would launch a vicious attack.

None of them could hold it back alone.

For now, they were managing to withstand it only because two warriors were bolstered by Wind Element and Earth Style magic.

A little farther back stood a young man holding a bow. Whenever the Red-Tailed Silver-Armored Scorpion tried to leap past them and attack the rear, his peerlessly sharp arrows drove it back.

After bolstering the warriors, the magicians joined the attack as well.

Compared with the warriors' attacks, the two magicians were the real damage dealers, inflicting the greatest harm on the Red-Tailed Silver-Armored Scorpion.

A melee tank, a ranged archer, and magicians providing powerful attacks and support.

Why did this setup look so familiar?

The Red-Tailed Silver-Armored Scorpion seemed to be losing patience. Its crimson tail began spewing poisonous flames, and a large cloud of vision-obscuring poisonous mist billowed from its mouth.

Before long, everyone was engulfed in the poisonous mist.

With the poisonous flames burning over such a wide area, they could only defend themselves; they couldn't immediately escape the ring of mist.

Great earthen walls rose up, enclosing them all inside and temporarily blocking the poisonous flames and mist.

But the Red-Tailed Silver-Armored Scorpion smashed at them furiously with its pincers. Before long, cracks appeared in the walls.

"We're out of healing potions, too. I told you not to provoke it, but you wouldn't listen."

"What good is saying that now? It's already come to this."

"Stop arguing. When it breaks through the walls, that'll be our best chance to escape. I'll cast the Wind Element spell Haste on each of you, and then we'll split up. If even one of us gets away, that's something."

Everyone's faces grew grim. Splitting up gave them the best chance of survival, but anyone caught by this magical beast would be doomed.

And once separated, they would be alone in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, where danger would increase enormously.

Not just from magical beasts, but from humans too.

They had run into a group of them before, but had managed to drive them off together.

"Roar~"

A furious roar came from outside. Then everything fell silent.

"Listen. Why has it gone quiet out there?"

"I'll use Wind of Perception to check."

The Wind Element magician then said, "The Red-Tailed Silver-Armored Scorpion has no life force left. But there's someone else out there. He must have killed it."

"Does that mean we're saved?" The only woman in the group, an Earth Style magician, looked delighted.

"Let's wait for him. In the Magical Beast Mountain Range, humans are the least trustworthy. Betrayal can be even more dangerous than magical beasts."

Jonathan saw that they weren't moving and couldn't help remarking, "You're pretty cautious."

"Come out, all of you. If I could kill that magical beast, do you think I couldn't break through your nearly shattered earthen walls?"

Soon, the walls vanished, revealing the group inside.

"Thank you for saving our lives, senior." One of the warriors cupped his fists and smiled in gratitude.

"Just words? Is that all your lives are worth?"

"I went out of my way to save you. Hand over all the sixth-level magical beast cores you have, and we'll call it even."

One of the rules of being an assassin: fair trade. Never do anything without compensation.

Of course, the rules also said not to meddle in matters that had nothing to do with you, or you'd only invite trouble.

Jonathan hadn't saved them for their money. He wanted to ask about Fenlai City and confirm some details from his memories.

The easiest thing to use as a reference was Linley.

If he had become a fifth-level magician, that would mean the world hadn't changed much and was still following its original course.

That would help him plan for the future.

A hoarse voice came from beneath the black robe. "Are you unwilling?"

They couldn't make out what he looked like. After exchanging glances, they decided it was better to pay to avoid trouble than to risk not making it back alive.

After taking the items, Jonathan said, "You were lucky to run into me. Otherwise, you'd have become a meal for that Red-Tailed Silver-Armored Scorpion."

"Yes, thank you, senior."

They thanked him repeatedly.

"You two are young, yet already sixth-level magicians. Are you from Ernst Academy?" Jonathan looked at the male and female magicians.

The male Wind Element magician replied, "Yes, senior."

"Everyone says Ernst Academy is the greatest magic academy on the continent. Have any geniuses emerged there recently?"

"Senior, don't we count? We're already sixth-level magicians in our twenties."

"You two? Heh. If you were at the peak of sixth level and on the verge of breaking through to seventh, you might just qualify as geniuses in my eyes."

"As you are now, reaching seventh level before thirty would be pretty good."

The two magicians didn't entirely agree, but they didn't dare talk back carelessly. Who knew whether the strange old man before them was volatile?

In their eyes, the person in front of them, cloaked in black and hiding his figure, was sure to be ugly and at least forty or fifty years old.