Chapter 101 Inspection Mission
Chapter 101 Inspection Mission
The next morning.
Ivan brought with him items he might need, including a long sword, a round shield, a crossbow, and various potions. He came to the mission hall full of doubts.
"Ivan, come over here." Cody called him over from a distance at the side of the hall entrance. "You're here pretty early."
"Cody, haven't seen you in a few days."
Seeing that it was an acquaintance, Ivan felt slightly relieved. It seemed that the situation was not as bad as he had expected.
When he approached, Cody directly introduced the mission: "The academy is the place with the highest concentration of energy particles in this area. A small amount of energy inside the academy will always leak out. This is how the strange forest outside is formed, and it will also attract many demonized beasts to the vicinity.
The Monster Forest is guarded by the Guardian Clan. Our mission is to patrol one of the outer areas, clean up the things that have been attracted recently, and ensure peace in that area."
Ivan nodded. It was good news that he didn't have to go far.
Cody continued, "This was originally the patrol team's mission, but we have been busy with other things recently and are short of manpower. We didn't expect you, a senior knight, to be the one. The patrol will take half a month and the reward is 150 magic stones. What do you think?"
"I'm totally fine."
What else could Ivan say? This conscription order was obviously compulsory in nature.
He had some questions in his mind, but it was not convenient to ask them in public, so he could only agree to it for the time being.
As for the task itself, the reward of 10 magic stones a day is definitely not low. For example, if a new apprentice helps a wizard clean and tidy up the laboratory, or does other errands, he will usually only be paid 1 magic stone.
Cody brought four people, one of whom was the new apprentice Meili, the senior sister of the Kasha Fencing School. Together with Ivan, there were six people in total.
Ivan only then realized that she had joined the patrol team. The two of them were just acquaintances and simply said hello to each other.
"Remember the password, or don't blame me, Harun, for being ruthless."
The academy's walls were huge, and an eight-clawed black spider the size of a carriage was warning the apprentices.
When going out of the academy, one needs to record identity information, including the crystal identity token, one's own aura, meditation aura, and receive a password. Only after completing this series of steps will the guardian Octopus Black Spider let you go.
After coming out of the strange forest, Ivan looked back deliberately. The strangely shaped branches and vines closed together again, covering the path inside.
Cody reminded, "Everyone, stay alert. It's not like inside the academy. You may encounter danger at any time, especially you, Meili."
Mei Li is just a first-class apprentice now, and she hasn't even learned any spells, but she comes out to earn magic stones, which is considered as a care for her.
"Don't worry, brother. I have the ability to protect myself."
Mei Li raised the broadsword in her hand, and the black fighting spirit in her palm flashed.
There are very few civilians among the apprentices. Most of them come from noble or wizard families. They started practicing the Knight's Breathing Technique at an early age. Most of them are quasi-knights and knights. The swords they carry with them are never for decoration.
After giving a few instructions, Cody led five people to start a patrol. They needed to walk the designated area within half a month and eliminate any hidden dangers that might exist nearby.
Ivan thought they were just going to patrol around the academy, but he found that Cody was taking them further and further away. It turned out that the so-called academy covered an area of thirty or forty miles, and their mission range extended to not far from Fengwan City.
For the safety of the new apprentices, Cody led the team on a relatively safe route. Along the way, he kept telling Ivan and Meili things they needed to pay attention to so as to avoid being in a panic when encountering danger.
After what happened on Lar Island, Ivan had seen big things and his heart had become tougher.
As a complete newcomer, Mei Li was obviously a little nervous and kept her hand tightly gripping the hilt of the sword.
Due to the high concentration of energy particles here, the grass and trees grow particularly vigorously. The team carefully shuttled through the complex forest and stopped when they encountered puddles.
The entire large area where the academy is located is called the "Tidal Swamp". Many years ago, it was completely a large swamp. Now part of the area has become land, but there is still a bottomless swamp deep underground. Most of the puddles are silt pools, which may hide demonic beasts or newly bred special elemental monsters. It is necessary to regularly explore the situation and clean it up as soon as possible.
In fact, demonized beasts are easy to deal with, but the difficult ones are elemental monsters born under the influence of high-energy particles. You have to be careful when you encounter elemental monsters that can easily change the terrain.
The others were on guard around the puddle. An apprentice poured some 'mania potion' from a glass bottle. The potion turned into a thin mist and evenly blended into the water. After waiting for a long time, there was no movement.
"Continue to go."
Cody waved and the team continued on the wet ground.
From morning to afternoon, the team patrolled the mission area. When they were hungry, they filled their stomachs with nutritional potions. One potion could ensure that they would not be hungry for two or three days.
"Be careful."
In front of the team, figures suddenly began to move on the tree trunks.
A large amount of gray powder was raised and quickly enveloped them. The figures behind the powder and dust became visible. They were a few gray-winged "itch butterflies". When frightened, the itch butterflies would spread the powder, which would make people feel itchy all over once it touched them.
"wind!"
Following Cody's command, the six people drove the wind element particles together, turning them into a strong wind that blew forward, blowing the spreading powder in the opposite direction, causing the gray butterfly to become unstable and turn around to escape.
'Firebee Cone'
Another third-class apprentice, Haydn, cast a spell, and the flames turned into many cone-shaped arrows, accurately hitting the wings of each gray butterfly.
The flames burned, and the itchy butterfly fell to the ground and turned into charcoal.
Cody said, "This is the most common thing around. You will definitely encounter it during every patrol. It will be very troublesome if you get contaminated by its itch powder. The itch powder itself is not poisonous, and the antidote is not very effective."
Ivan asked, "Is there any way to eliminate it?"
I have seen information about 'Itch Butterfly' in the Science of Everything, but it does not include a method to remove the itch powder. It says that the itch will automatically disappear after two days.
Hearing his question, someone couldn't help but chuckle. He explained, "Dig some swamp mud from deep inside, urinate on it, mix it evenly, and apply it to the red areas. Keep doing it for half an hour and it will be almost done."
Cody agreed: "Yes, I heard that some people have tried it and it worked."
Ivan raised his eyebrows. This was probably a folk remedy. Who knows which genius apprentice came up with it.
The inspection continued until the evening, when the team returned to the college and disbanded.
There were three minor accidents in total that day, but the team handled them easily and the first day of the mission ended.
The next morning, the six-member team assembled, patrolled the mission area during the day, and returned to the academy to rest in the evening. Ivan returned to the dormitory and continued to refine magic crystal water, wasting more than 200 magic stones.
On the third day, the mission was proceeding as usual, and the team finally encountered something tricky.
"Back off, it's a swamp monster!"
In the puddle, a huge monster suddenly emerged from the originally calm water surface. Its body was made up of mud and rotten branches and leaves. It was still growing, and the smell of decay spread all around.
The ground around the puddle rumbled. When the six people noticed the movement, they quickly took big steps back, away from the vibrating ground.
(End of this chapter)