Book 3: Chapter 152: Demon Tide Eruption |
Lob people. And the “Black Ogg” surrounded this shop. The white-aproned, skirt-wearing staff member who had come to deliver the warning told the guests off.
She seemed to be a senior staff member here. Her attire was very similar to a maid's, but she wasn't as meek as a typical maid; her personality was resolute and decisive.
After being reprimanded, Og restrained himself a bit, but he still crossed his legs, flipped through the menu, and curiously asked about the origin of the food. The head chef was dressed like the other staff, but she was the one who handled the tough ingredients the store couldn't process. Her enchanting and fighting prowess was not to be trifled with, yet she patiently answered all his questions.
“The ingredients for this food are all obtained by the nearby tribes through hunting. We purchase a portion for storage and then hand it over to the head chef in the shop for cooking.”
“Head chef? Is he a Third-Tier Chef?” Og asked, now also curious.
Chefs were common, but specialized Third-Tier Chefs were rare. This was because their core abilities had to be focused on the chef profession, resulting in combat effectiveness far below other professions. Currently, most of the chefs within the Mage Alliance came from the 'Feast Ritual School.'
“Yes.” With her last shred of patience exhausted, the staff member left to attend to other matters in the back.
Seeing that the scene had finally quieted down a bit, Sylutia walked over. It was only when she approached behind Og that this classmate reacted.
“That scent and faint fragrance... could it be?” He turned around in surprise, saw Sylutia standing behind him, and sprang to his feet with a shocked expression before sitting up straight.
“Yes, just passing through.” Sylutia looked around the place. Most of the people dining outside were wearing the academy's robes, a mix of brown and white. The city alliance had just been established here, and she was still new to the area. “So you've already been to a city alliance before?”
“Ah, that. You find out on the eighth day here,” Og said, rubbing his head.
“Back when I finished dealing with a demon beast, I was really hungry and didn't want to keep chewing on hardtack. So, I asked the locals where the nearest city was. I ended up going to a city about the same size as this one, except that city was by the river and had a harbor and cargo ships.” His voice trailed off as he reminisced. “I remember eating a good grilled fish that time. I kind of want to try the grilled crocodile legs from around here too. Is it tasty?” Shilu asked, forgetting the main topic.
“By the way, this place is called Greenwater Bay, about seven hundred kilometers northeast of here.”
After finishing his talk about the city alliance, Gangu quickly became curious and asked Og Ya about the assessment. “How many have you completed now?” the big man leaned in, looking like he had lost the will to fight. “A hundred and eight. And you, Chief, how many are you at?”
“About eighty or so,” the young girl replied, tilting her head slightly as she recalled the number.
“Ah, that...” Gangu's mouth fell open, utterly incredulous.
His own “battle” achievements were fairly mediocre; only half had he completed alone. Having finally recognized his own limits, he felt a bit deflated. “Eighty heads, and you've completed more than seventy alone? That’s way too fast.”
“You're just too fast,” Og Ya complained. Sylutia was focused on Construct Spells and hadn't prepared any means of flight or rapid travel in advance. Chasing down demon beasts through these mountains naturally couldn't be as fast as someone who could fly.
“I can actually do some flight-related spells, but the speed is still slower than me running on the ground.” The flight-related spells Gangu had learned only allowed for a slow, leisurely flight; he wasn't specialized in them. “So we could find a flying bird person,” Og said casually. “Hey, wait, maybe you could carry me, and I could be a guide for a few.” Og Ya thought about it. “Yeah, you can go pick a bird person right now.”
“Hey, that's a good point.” Sylutia immediately started thinking about the feasibility of that idea.
After that, Og Ya asked if he had seen any other apprentices. “What about Isabel? You dealt with those snaketail beasts back at the divide, and you said you met a kid who got seriously injured in the first exam,” Gangu mentioned. “Right, and weren't you just negotiating with Isabel recently about exchanging skills?”
“Isabel...” Gangu Ya recalled that apprentice. He came from the 'Ximilye' district, his parents were official mages of the Alliance, and he had a refined personality. He had always been quite prominent among their peers, with good grades, ranking in the top seventy. “I found him too. That kid went directly to the outer areas near the tribes, hunting those low-rank, weird hybrid monsters.” Gangu said their way of hunting was pretty rustic.
“I see...” Og Tia felt the urge to facepalm. Had she set her expectations for that classmate too high?
“And you, Chief? You must have some really impressive methods to take down so many demon beasts,” the other party asked back out of curiosity.
“Well, my method is pretty simple too. I just summon a lot of birds and have them help me scout and search.” Og Ya suddenly realized that her method of searching was actually quite plain: just cast a wide net, relying purely on her own strength to sustain the summoning of so many birds and maintain the synesthesia connection with each one, using them as her eyes for reconnaissance.
“No wonder you're the Chief. Truly formidable.” Gangu gave a thumbs-up, feeling only admiration.
Soon, the “Pan-Fried Bear Fat” Gangu ordered arrived. The pure white bear fat, after being heated in a pan with herbs, gave off an enticing aroma. A single bite was pure energy.
Watching Gangu eat heartily, Og Tia couldn't help but think. No wonder he was so robust; he probably relied on these high-nutrient foods to strengthen his physique. Otherwise, it would be difficult for a mage to have such a constitution without related abilities.
After finishing their meal, the two went to the local city alliance office area, inquired with the staff there, and obtained the local data.
“There are indeed some demon beasts active nearby, but only two of them have reached the Third Tier,” the local staff member introduced for them. “Chief, how do you want to split this?” Xilu Ya asked, looking at Og Tia.
Og Tia nodded, then asked the staff member about the local situation.
“What's the approximate density of demon beasts in the western mountain range right now?”
The staff member said they hadn't counted, but based on the records of powerful hostile creatures they had cleared in the area, there were probably around 1000-1500 Third-Tier demon beasts in the mountain range. It was clearly impossible for most apprentices to complete their assessment.
Was this the difficult problem the academy had set for them?
Her thoughts circled around before suddenly landing on the recent Shadow World erosion that had been cleaned up. Although the surface continent was limited, if they were to enter the Shadow World, who knew how many there would be.
However, their cohort hadn't yet entered the Shadow World, and many apprentices had no experience with it. Forcing them into such danger would be very risky. With the information gap, many could suffer severe disadvantages or even be lost there.
The elites selected from the entire Alliance weren't meant to be consumed by trials like this. Og Ya shook her head, thinking the academy probably didn't intend that.
Oh well, she would just do her best. It wasn't her place to guess at the teachers' reasoning. Maybe they had designed it this way and just hadn't expected most people to be able to complete it. Gangu had hidden a few new demon beasts in the recorded areas, so she could handle them. “You just go and finish those, Xilu Ya, I'll deal with this record of ones hiding in new spots later,” she said.
In the afternoon, 80 kilometers north of Greyhard Keep.
Og Ya slowly descended from the sky, surveying her surroundings.
This was an area of cliffs and canyons, difficult for ordinary people to traverse. The terrain was treacherous, with thick, dry vegetation and trees filled with many insects and reptiles. No wonder that demon beast had hidden here without anyone bothering it.
She raised her left hand in the air, and the silver ribbon tied around her wrist loosened automatically, turning into strands of silk that wove through the air before transforming into agile warblers that darted into the forest below.
Those birds nimbly flitted and wove through the trees, their eyes searching for any trace, while Og Tia in the sky closed her own eyes, perceiving the information transmitted by each bird through her consciousness. The birds fanned their wings and turned in the air, and they called out. After a few wingbeats, Og Ya opened her eyes and directed her flying gaze toward the depths.
About a dozen warblers gathered at that spot. They surrounded a half-hidden cave entrance, which showed obvious signs of beasts coming and going.
It was very large. After observing the traces, Og Ya estimated its height at around two meters, with sharp claws similar to a bear's. There was definitely something inside; she could sense its aura and energy fluctuations. Its aura was well-hidden, but she could sense the creature's powerful life force. “It probably hides its strength well, with a level comparable to a human official mage,” she murmured. “Let's see how it moves.”
Entering to take a look was necessary, but...
When Og Ya smelled the stench coming from the cave, she still abandoned the idea of entering directly.
She manipulated the spell again. The warblers in the air formed a large circle, then dispersed back into threads, re-forming into three large silver birds. They had broad, thick beaks and short, stout wings.
【Bionic Spell · Giant-beak Bird】
[A spell imitating the giant-beak bird. This species has a sturdy beak capable of cracking nuts. As a Transcendent entity, it can easily crack open the skulls of other creatures.] “Ladies, go in and scout the cave. Go!”
Minutes later, the sound of a beast's roar came from inside the cave, followed shortly by the sound of hurried running. Then a massive, dark brown beast appeared before Og Ya's eyes.
Its body was similar to a brown bear's, but its head resembled an ape's, and it had extremely long, interlaced fangs on both its upper and lower jaws. 【Third-Tier Fanged Beast (Dark Forest Fanged Beast)】
[A bloodthirsty and ferocious savage beast, said to have a branch lineage from an ancient Primordial Beast, now only found in remote, untouched places.]
After running out, it let out a huge roar, shattering the birds that had been harassing it, before its gaze locked onto Og Ya in mid-air. Its intelligence was high, despite its low-grade ferocity. It was very wary, and its behavior was quite different from ordinary wild beasts; it didn't seem to be afraid.
After sizing up her strength, the savage beast immediately fled back into the cave, showing no intention of fighting at all. Even though its physique was a hundred times larger than the human before it, an ordinary beast's instincts would have made it fight with extreme confidence.
Smart and cunning, Og Tia thought for a moment, then hesitated no more. She summoned three large birds in succession, sending them charging into the cave. 【Bionic Spell · Swallow Swift Raptor (Steel Beak Sword)】
[The beak, sharp and narrow like a sword, after being enhanced by a flight acceleration rune, gains tremendous penetrating power, making even beings of the same tier dare not challenge its edge.]
In the minutes that followed, sounds of fighting and roaring came from inside the cave. Finally, the fanged beast stumbled out, covered in wounds. It tried to leap, using its half-meter-long sharp claws to swipe at Og Ya, but the young girl easily dodged. Dodging past its attacks, the birds' steel beaks, sword-sharp, fell once more, piercing it through the heart. The Swallow Swift Raptors attacked again, ending its life. “Success,” she said with a nod.
After the battle, Og Ya removed the fangs from the corpse, keeping them as rare materials, before leaving the place.
In the following week, the apprentices of Tetis College found it increasingly difficult to find demon beasts worthy of being opponents. Just as everyone thought that only a small number of people would pass this assessment, a strange wave of energy erupted from various parts of the mountain range, followed by traces of Shadow World erosion appearing everywhere. It felt like a tide, surging forth, the erosion bursting out like a powerful force from the underworld. Countless demon beasts swarmed forth in the night, from all directions, some weak, some powerful, as if reality itself was being eroded.
It was at this moment that Og Ya finally understood why the academy was conducting this assessment. They had probably anticipated this wave of impact and laid the groundwork in advance, allowing the new students to adapt.
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