Chapter 478: Mist Forest
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Shangguan Hui had short, center-parted hair and was always dressed in long-sleeved tops and long pants, making her look like a man.
On the first few days, her gender could hardly be distinguished. After a few classes, the students in Class 2 of the Sword Dao faculty could confirm her gender.
Apart from her attire, her personality seemed like a man's as well. She was not as emotional as females and was capable of analyzing problems rationally. This was the reason why she was close to most females as they treated her like their best male friend. They would look for her to analyze their problems if they encountered any.
Her roommate, Zhou Ling, was completely different as she was a straightforward person. She was not tall at barely 1.6 meters. However, she had a sweet-looking face, and in addition to her fame, she was the ideal girl that many of the boys in the class liked.
Shangguan Hui was asked to join Zhou Ling's team in the first place. They wanted to look for another two of their roommates to join them, but they realized that it was too late. A group of boys surrounded two of their roommates. They then had to allow three of the boys to join their team.
Three of the boys were Zhou Ling's admirers, and one of them was Si Tuhao who had already achieved iron-level.
Si Tuhao was 16 years old this year and was the eldest among all the students in Year 1 Class 2 of the Sword Dao faculty. He was only two months younger than Lin Huang. However, he was tall. Despite only being 16, he was already 1.85 meters tall. He looked rather matured like a young man in his mid-twenties, which contributed to the reason his classmates addressed him as Uncle Hao.
Si Tuhao was Zhou Ling's admirer. He confessed to Zhou Ling after class on the first day when they had met each other resulting in Zhou Ling being frightened and running away. She avoided him for more than a week.
Soon, however, she realized that Si Tuhao was a good person. Although she did not accept him as a love interest, the both of them had then become friends.
Two of the boys called Yang Jie, and Zhao Ze were Zhou Ling's admirers as well. Their results were quite outstanding in Class 2.
Shangguan Hui's team was one of the few stronger teams among all the teams in Class 2 of the Sword Dao faculty.
"We're quite lucky as we've been directly sent to a lakeside!" Zhou Ling shouted. They were celebrating their fortuitous circumstance.
"Let's have a look at the map to identify our exact location," Shangguan Hui reminded in the first place.
"The lake in front of us is one of three large lakes in Mist Forest, Brumaire Lake. It seems like we don't need to worry about food for the next few days," Si Tuhao announced happily after studying the map.
"We're now at the Southwest of Brumaire Lake. There's fish in the lake that can solve our problem about food supply. However, we face another problem at the same time." Shangguan Hui looked at the rest of the team members warily.
When they heard what she said, they immediately shifted their focus to her.
"Firstly, it's rather difficult to kill monsters in the water compared to monsters on land. The lake has a large area which is more than 800 square kilometers wide. If we stay in the same position for three days, perhaps we won't even be able to encounter a monster that drinks water.
"Secondly, towards the North is the lake. There could be many hidden badges there. To look for the badges, we either have to search along the lakeside or enter the forest.
"Our target is not to pass the assessment safely, but to accumulate as many points as we can!" The four of them nodded their head as they heard what Shangguan Hui said.
"Xiao Hui, what shall we do?" Zhou Ling knew that Shangguan Hui was an opinionated person. She would not need to think hard with Shangguan Hui around.
"First of all, let's familiarize ourselves with the environment. If there are no strong monsters here, we'll set up camp here. Regarding the food, let's look around later if there're any monsters that we can hunt for food. If there aren't any, let's think of ways to catch the fish. It'll be best if we can prepare enough food for the coming three days. We can either make dried meat or dried fish. We won't need to worry about food for the next two days, or waste time on that." Shangguan Hui kept quiet for a while and suggested, "As the mist dissipates tomorrow, we'll head towards the west and enter the forest. We'll then start hunting monsters."
"I agree!" Zhou Ling did not think twice and immediately agreed with her.
"Alright, let's do what you said." The three of them did not raise any objections.
Shangguan Hui then randomly picked up a tree branch and stuck it into the ground. She then glanced at the time and said, "It's now 11 a.m. In order to increase the efficiency of detecting the badges, let's now explore the areas in three different directions. Zhou Ling and I will head towards the east. Yang Jie and Zhao Ze will go to the south. Since you're the strongest, Si Tuhao, you shall head towards the west and go into the forest. The main purpose is to check if there're any badges nearby or any lonely monsters. Let's gather over here at this exact tree branch at noon. Enable the silent and vibration modes on your Emperor's Heart Ring. Contact each other if there're any further updates."
"Is it a good idea to separate the five of us?" Zhou Ling asked, feeling insecure.
"It'll be fine. Our main purpose is to look for the badges. If we bump into any monsters or the other teams, come back in the first place to avoid conflict. The assessment has just started, and none of us will have any of the badges. even if we encounter Mu Xiao from the Saber faculty, they probably won't fight us. Moreover, the places where the massive monster crowds will gather have been marked on the map. The nearest monster crowd is situated west, and it is 30 kilometers away from us. If there're monsters at other places, perhaps they'll be the lonely or small monsters," Shangguan Hui explained.
"Alright, let's do what you say. We'll gather here at noon. If anyone of you discovers any lonely monsters, we'll kill them together and make them into dried meat. If there aren't any monsters, we will catch fish and dry them." Si Tuhao nodded in agreement.
Yang Jie and Zhao Ze did not disagree with her.
Three of them then headed in three different directions.
Shangguan Hui's decision was out of Lin Huang's expectations as he never knew that a girl would think in such a way. He thought that Si Tuhao was supposed to be the team leader as he was the eldest and also the strongest. He never expected Shangguan Hui to take power from him or for the three boys not to disagree with her at all.
"Five of them headed towards three different directions. They are kind of brave… However, the girl doesn't seem to feel nervous at all. She must be the same as Lin Xin in the sense that she has been to the wild zone." Lin Huang seemed to be able to identify the difference between a newbie and a veteran. While the rest of the people were still trying to familiarize themselves with the environment, Shangguan Hui had already assigned tasks to her teammates on the first day. It was obvious that a newbie would not be able to do that.
"It looks like she's from the Shangguan family." Deputy Dean Wang did notice Shangguan Hui's performance. He forced a smile, shaking his head. He had heard before about her creating some trouble during the graduation examination.
Shangguan Hui was supposed to score full marks in her cultural course. However, while answering the questions, she had questioned the teacher, pointing out that the accurate term had not been used. She then gave various types of answers based on different interpretations of the question.
Eventually, her marks were deducted by the teacher who examined her paper.
Since the Shangguan family was one of the six royal families, Shangguan Hui's issue alerted the master of the Shangguan family. Eventually, the Shangguans pressured the person who had set the exam questions in the Division 7 Union Government. That person then admitted that it was his fault. In the end, she was assigned full marks in her cultural course.
However, her combat abilities were not exceptional. Therefore, she was assigned to Class 2 of the Sword Dao faculty according to her total score. She did not raise any objection and simply accepted the arrangement made by the Martial Hunter College.
Of course, Lin Huang knew nothing about it. He just knew that the Shangguan family was one of the six royal families. However, he did not realize that any of the students with the same surname would be from that particular family. Therefore, he did not ask any further about Shangguan Hui's identity. However, even if he knew Shangguan Hui's identity, he would not treat her any differently.