My Support Class, Hunting Soul Beasts Myself?

"Me? Alone?"

Ning Rongrong pointed at herself.

Although she possessed the Reversal Soul Skill Trapped Beast and could theoretically hunt soul beasts under 2,800 years, was Flender being a bit... too confident in letting an auxiliary-type soul master hunt a soul beast on her own?

"Yes... Oscar, come over here and listen as well."

Coming out of the boys' dormitory not far away, Oscar had just stepped outside when he was spotted and called over by Flender, his face full of reluctance.

"The most important thing for an auxiliary-type soul master is the ability to protect oneself; only then can you provide support to your teammates. Hunting a soul beast is the perfect way to train that self-preservation."

"Hunting a soul beast? Dean, who is getting a soul ring?"

Oscar was stunned for a moment.

Flender gestured with his eyes toward the spot beside Oscar.

"Doesn't our school refuse to take in level 20 soul masters..."

Oscar hesitated, speaking as if it were a matter of course, before being ruthlessly interrupted by Flender.

"She is level 30, one level higher than you."

"Oh! Dean, so you mean you want me to support her in killing a soul beast?" The moment Oscar thought about hunting a soul beast with the girl he had a crush on, he grew excited, but then he suddenly realized something. "Wait, Dean, I remember Ning Rongrong is an auxiliary-type soul master from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, right?"

"That is exactly right."

"So the two of us auxiliary types are going to support each other to hunt a soul beast?" Oscar came up with what he thought was a reasonable answer.

Flender shook his head. "Incorrect. She will hunt one soul beast alone, and you will hunt another, setting an example for your junior."

Ning Rongrong had been listening with boredom, but she suddenly perked up and looked at Oscar.

Oscar, however, was startled. "Dean, I'm only level 29! It's not my time yet!"

"You've been stuck at that level for so long; you might just break through. It's the perfect time to absorb a soul ring."

"What am I supposed to use to fight? Do I even have a weapon, Dean?"

"Small matters like weapons—figure it out yourself."

Flender scratched his head. He hadn't really considered these details; after all, he didn't truly intend for them to hunt soul beasts. He just wanted them to train their stamina during the process.

And as for using the guise of hunting soul beasts...

Wasn't it strict enough?

Plus, with him personally supervising the whole process and having someone else do the same thing, wasn't it perfectly measured?

"Fine, then please trouble the Dean to take us to the vicinity of some soul beasts."

Ning Rongrong, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke. Her words caught Oscar off guard.

"Wait, you just agreed to that?"

Oscar asked in disbelief.

"Is it that difficult?"

Ning Rongrong turned her head, wearing an expression of disdain.

"Very well, then, follow me."

Some time later, at the entrance of the Star Dou Great Forest.

"Once you enter, from the moment you encounter your first soul beast, you must survive for four hours. I will be watching you at all times, and if you truly encounter unavoidable danger, I will intervene."

Flender adjusted his glasses and continued, "Oscar, you go first. Ning Rongrong, you enter ten minutes later... hm?"

Flender turned to look for Ning Rongrong, only to find that she had already vanished.

He adjusted his glasses again and took to the air.

In the forest to the left, a thick, white mist hung in the air.

In the forest to the right, Oscar's figure was clearly visible.

"Strange... Ning Rongrong should have entered the forest on the left. Why is this girl so impatient?"

Flender wondered. After a moment of thought, he decided to trust that Oscar had the ability to protect himself, turned, and entered the forest on the left.

At this moment, Oscar had no idea that Flender wasn't watching him, and he was working hard to find a soul beast that matched his strength.

According to his understanding, Flender would respond when he made the right choice.

Just after entering the forest, he encountered some Blue Silver Grass. Flender did not respond, so Oscar accepted that.

Blue Silver Grass was everywhere in the forest and posed no threat; from the perspective of self-training, it certainly wasn't what Flender wanted him to challenge.

Then, he heard the sound of teeth gnashing behind him.

He turned his head to see a Wind Wolf prowling behind him.

Oscar felt a sense of threat from the creature.

Oscar decided to run.

"Mommy, Dean, is this spirit beast qualified enough? As a food-type, it's pretty good that I managed to survive under this Wind Wolf King!"

Oscar shouted loudly, but Flender did not give any response.

At this moment, Flender, who was on the left side of the forest, was still on his way to find Ning Rongrong when he suddenly sneezed.

"Why do I feel like someone is calling me?"

Flender focused his spiritual power onto his ears, but he still didn't hear any sound.

He shook his head.

"I must have misheard. Oscar should be able to handle it on his own. I need to think about which way to go."

In front of Flender was a Y-shaped fork in the road; at first glance, there was no difference between the two sides. There was only one path leading in from the forest, and Flender wasn't sure which way Ning Rongrong had gone. Although his spirit skill could improve his vision, it seemed to have failed in this white mist, and he couldn't see where Ning Rongrong was.

"Let's go left."

Flender made his choice.

Not long ago.

When Lu Ma watched the cutscene finish and regained control, he didn't care what Flender said; he saved the game and walked straight into the white-mist-filled forest on the left. In Lu Ma's eyes, such NPCs existed only to unlock new features.

The reason for choosing the left was also very simple: the first dungeon he encountered had white mist, so he felt there must be good things inside the mist. If there was something like a Holy Spirit Scroll, he could level up immediately after absorbing a spirit ring.

If it turned out to be dangerous, he could just reload the save and return to the entrance to choose again.

So, he went in.

Just like Flender, Ning Rongrong, who had entered not long ago, arrived at a similar fork in the road after ignoring those decade-old Blue Silver Grass. And Ning Rongrong's choice was neither the left nor the right, but the wild path in the middle. The reason was even simpler: those well-trodden paths clearly saw frequent traffic, so what good things could possibly be there?

True treasures must be hidden away.

Unlike Oscar, and unlike Flender's thoughts, she really wanted to obtain a spirit ring this time.

Her goal was to get as close to 2800 years as possible; as for the species, it didn't matter.

Lu Ma believed that no matter what spirit beast he absorbed, the spirit skill obtained would definitely still be spirit power amplification.

The inverted first spirit skill was very intelligent; from Lu Ma's perspective, the age of every spirit beast was clearly marked above their heads.

Ink-line Snail, 27 years; Nether Wasp, 233 years; Mutated Ghost Vine, 799 years; Golden-armored Scaled Beast, 947 years.

As Ning Rongrong gradually ventured deeper into the forest, the level of the spirit beasts she encountered increased. Now, she was surrounded by thousand-year spirit beasts, and those eyeing her covetously had hidden themselves.

Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent, 1437 years, spirit ring absorption success rate 100%;

Wind Wolf King, 1566 years, success rate 100%;

Pink Lady, 1879 years, success rate 100%...

Ning Rongrong stopped in her tracks; the spirit beast in front of her surprised her.

Man Faced Demon Spider, 3001 years, suppression success rate 80%; on this basis, spirit ring absorption success rate 60%; on the basis of successful spirit ring absorption, 10% chance to obtain an External Soul Bone.

It wasn't that she was surprised because she guessed this was the same model as Tang San's, but because she discovered that she could still suppress it, and the spirit ring could still be absorbed.

Probability?

Just a moment ago, Lu Ma tested a save, and the answer was—it's possible.