Merpeople, like centaurs, were Magical Creatures classified as "beasts" that had actively rejected the classification of "beings."
They were actually quite intelligent and social, but they had refused to be classified as "beings" because they did not want to be grouped with creatures like Hags and Vampires.
Although thinking this way somewhat went against the purpose of the exam, facing merpeople truly did not require worrying as much about unexpected serious injuries as facing a water monster did.
However, merpeople being highly intelligent also meant they would not be as easily deceived or fooled as dim-witted water monsters.
What should he do?
Bellows gritted his teeth. Merpeople were creatures with a danger rating of XXXX. They were simply not something a third-year underage wizard could handle... not something an ordinary third-year underage wizard could handle!
"If I'd known, I would've learned Mermish from Manus. Sure enough, knowledge always reveals its shortcomings when you least expect it."
If it were Manus, he probably would not have been stopped by the merperson at all... No, even without such formidable strength, Manus might have thought of another way.
If Manus were here, with only my strength, how would he deal with this merperson?
The imagined Manus glanced at the water, then turned to Bellows.
"Why do you need to deal with the merperson? What is your objective?"
Bellows's eyes lit up.
That was right! If defeating the merperson was impossible, then he should not dwell on it. The exam only required him to cross four patches of land and return to the starting point. As long as he could do that, he would have completed it.
He did not need to solve the merperson problem. He only needed to deal with the merperson's attacks... What could accomplish that?
Piertotum Locomotor? He did not