The Assessment Mission

"Thank you." Li Xin smiled.

Before long, the brothers Chen Si and Chen Chen arrived as well.

"Hello, big brother. Sorry for the trouble, but we'll be counting on you to look out for us during this assessment." Chen Si cupped his fist toward Yue Shen.

"No need to be so formal," Yue Shen replied, a little embarrassed. "And just call me Yue Shen. I'll help wherever I can."

Not long after the brothers arrived, Lin Jialu came too. Accompanying her was an elderly man who looked to be in his sixties or seventies.

Lin Jialu wore an ice-blue mage's robe that day and stood respectfully beside the old man.

Glancing at everyone present, Lin Jialu bowed slightly and said softly, "Inspector, everyone is here."

The old man nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to Yue Shen. "Fifth tier?"

"Yes." Yue Shen dismounted and bowed.

The navy-blue mage's robe the old man wore made his profession clear. He was a wind mage, at that.

"Let's set out." The old man said nothing more, though he gave Yue Shen a rather curious look.

"How unusual. There's even someone at the fifth tier here," the old man murmured.

He then took a long staff from his Storage Ring. With a light wave, he enveloped his body in a green glow of magical power.

"You may act as though I'm not here. I won't offer you any help, either, unless you intend to withdraw from this selection tournament."

The old man had barely finished speaking.

The green light around his body suddenly flashed, and he vanished on the spot.

Short-Distance Displacement Magic. Yue Shen's gaze shifted slightly. Being a mage looks rather fun.

Following the lingering fluctuations of magic in the air, Yue Shen immediately pinpointed the old man's approximate location.

"Yue Shen, Haochen, what are you looking at?" Li Xin asked in confusion when she noticed them suddenly turn their heads to stare in the same direction.

"Nothing," they answered in unison.

Li Xin: "..."

Li Xin pressed her lips together without speaking. Instinctively, she felt certain the two were hiding something from her.

"Brother Yue, did you notice it too?" Long Haochen asked quietly beside Yue Shen.

"Notice what?" Yue Shen asked in return. "I don't understand what you mean."

Long Haochen froze at his answer. He raised a hand and pointed in the direction they had been looking. "Then why were you looking that way just now, Brother Yue?"

"I hadn't slept in so long that I wasn't used to it," Yue Shen said quite naturally. "I slept wrong last night and got a stiff neck."

Long Haochen: "..."

Although he instinctively believed Brother Yue would never lie to him, wasn't this lie a little too careless?

Still, since Yue Shen had no intention of telling him, he did not press the matter.

"Hello, I'm Lin Jialu." Lin Jialu stepped forward and offered Yue Shen her hand with easy grace. "Sorry for the trouble, but I'll be counting on you to look out for us during the assessment."

"Hello. Yue Shen." Yue Shen shook her hand. "I'll help however I can."

Now that everyone had arrived, they were naturally ready to set out.

Before that, however, Lin Jialu took out a parchment map and gathered everyone around.

"According to the map, we need to head east all the way until we enter Demon-Controlled Territory." As she spoke, Lin Jialu took out five round tokens and distributed them to the group.

Yue Shen looked at the token he received and discovered that his was different from everyone else's.

"This is so the number of demons you kill can be counted separately from ours," Lin Jialu explained.

Yue Shen nodded slightly and tucked the token inside his clothes.

"These are our Identity Tokens. They're engraved with information such as our identities, where we come from, and our contestant numbers.

"If we fail the Entry Pass Test, the Inspector will take our Identity Tokens back," Lin Jialu explained. "These tokens also allow us to pass through the border defenses. Our group's task is to kill twenty-five demons, while Yue Shen's task is to kill a fifth-tier demon."

At this point, Lin Jialu looked up at Yue Shen. "Fifth-tier demons almost never act alone, so going off to kill one by yourself would be extremely dangerous."

"That's true." Although Yue Shen did not think hunting a fifth-tier demon would be difficult, he still gave a perfunctory nod. "But that's what my assessment requires."

"It's too dangerous," Lin Jialu said. "We should find a patrol led by a fifth-tier demon. You can handle that demon, and we'll take care of the rest."

"That works for me," Yue Shen replied.

After receiving Yue Shen's agreement, Lin Jialu visibly relaxed.

Following a brief pause, Lin Jialu continued, "But since we're acting as a group, we should choose someone to take command."

At that, everyone turned to Yue Shen.

"I won't be taking command," Yue Shen volunteered. "Mainly because I'm still unfamiliar with everyone's specific abilities. Besides, if we really run into danger, I might not be able to look after everyone in the group. You should choose a leader from among yourselves."

After some discussion, they decided to let Lin Jialu take command and coordinate everyone during battle.

"Jialu, come here." Li Xin reached out and pulled Lin Jialu onto the back of her Rose Unicorn. The two spoke quietly about something the others could not hear.

Once everyone was ready, they set off straight for the border.

Haoyue City was rather far from the human border, and four members of the group were riding ordinary horses, so it took them nearly an entire day to reach the border region.

With their contestant tokens for the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament, Yue Shen and the others passed smoothly through the checkpoint manned by the Temple Alliance troops guarding the border.

After a short rest at the military base, they headed straight into Demon-Controlled Territory.

To reduce their chances of being discovered, they left their horses at the military camp. Li Xin also sent her Rose Unicorn back to its own space.

Since their target was only a demon border patrol, they did not venture too far into Demon Territory.

Instead, they consulted the map, found a spot where the terrain gave them an advantage, and concealed themselves to await a demon patrol.

After all, this would be their first time facing demons. A little caution could never hurt.

Yue Shen was in no hurry, either. There was still plenty of time before the assessment ended, so he did not mind waiting a while.

"What are your mount companions?" Lin Jialu approached Yue Shen and Long Haochen and explained, "Since I'm commanding the group now, I need to understand your mount companions' abilities too."

"Give me a moment, Sister Jialu." Long Haochen suddenly rose and beckoned toward a spot nearby.

Before long, a huge Two-Headed Lizard ran up to the group.

"Don't be afraid, everyone. This is my mount companion," Long Haochen explained. "His name is Haoyue. He's a magical beast with both light and fire attributes, and he can cast spells of both attributes."