“Fan Mo, fall back. Leave this animal to me!” Captain Xu Dahuang shouted as he and Fei Shi both arrived in time.
The two looked as though they were on a flat escalator. They didn’t take a single step, yet they were moving rapidly along the flat ground.
Mo Fan knew that this was the primary spell of the Earth Element, Earth Ripple!
Earth Ripple was also a movement spell, it could control the surface of the ground to initiate quick movement. Wang Sanpang was also capable of this. However, he was not as adept at it as Feishi.
“This is a Colossal-eyed Ape Rat, they usually live underground. Thus, they’re experts in digging holes and particularly enjoy the city sewers. They can stretch their neck and their eyes can release a piercing red light beam… This thing is like a mixed rat, capable of high speed reproduction. Their survival abilities are high. The sewers and garbage lots tend to have quite a few of them. Normally, they eat human leftovers. However, if their hunger reaches a certain degree, they are able to eat humans as well, making them a terrifying and common Magical Beast!” Soon enough, Vice Captain Guo Caitang informed everyone about this creature.
_(Ed. Note: Ah, comic book combat time. Look at that paragraph. And he said all that in the middle of an attacking giant rat!)_
Colossal-eyed Ape Rat?
The Magical Beast classes had discussed this creature a few times; this creature was an expert at living underground and hole-digging! It was the Lan Xiang University amongst Magical Beasts!
Normally, whenever this kind of Magical Beast encountered a Magician, they would run away peeing themselves. How come this one dared to even initiate attacks!?
“This one is evidently extremely rash. I reckon it’s starving; requiring a large amount of food and energy. Fortunately, we happened to find it!” Feishi said as he smiled.
These people were different from the group of students who ran like dogs when they first encountered Magical Beasts. Whether it was the Captain Xu Dahuang, the girl Xiao Ke, Wind Mage Guo Caitang or Uncle Feishi, they wore a different attitude when they faced off against the Colossal-eyed Ape Rat.
They were all spread out, but they stood at a distance where they could support each other.
They formed an attack formation, while maintaining a distance where they could retreat if they encountered danger.
Mo Fan, who had just joined their team as a member, was awkwardly standing there. It looked as though he had told his teammates, “After you retreat, I will challenge this creature.” However, the truth was, he was slowly shifting behind his teammates; on the inside, he was cursing Fei Shi for not using Earth Ripple on him.
The sound of an empty stomach grumbled out.
This Colossal-eyed Ape Rat was indeed extremely vicious, as it didn’t run away despite seeing so many people. Its eyes immediately locked onto the closest person to itself; the Wind Mage, Li Wenjie.
It was the red light beam! This animal that lived amongst the human city’s dark corner looked as though it wanted to shoot through the people moving around it presently. Its intense roaring was particularly fierce in the air of the evening school campus.
“You want to attack us?” The Wind Mage Li Wenjie was laid back.
Mo Fan practically didn’t see Li Wenjie meticulously focus his mind to link the Star Paths, yet a cyan Wind Track emerged around his body, blowing around his white shirt.
_Swoosh!_
The red piercing beam shot forth, but Li Wenjie left behind only a wild breeze at his former location. His figure had already flashed five meters away. How could one be that handsome?
“Fool, you dare to come out and harm people with just this little skill?!” Li Wenjie stood in front of a table tennis stand as he coldly smiled toward the Colossal-eyed Ape Rat.
When the Colossal-eyed Ape Rat saw its beam was ineffective toward this nimble human, it flew into a rage as it spread its four sharp limbs.
With a neck and head that strange, the Colossal-eyed Ape Rat’s speed was actually a few times faster than the Spirit Wolf which Mo Fan had met before. If it used this speed to go against students, even if they were able to stay calm and complete their Star Path, they would still be too late casting their spells!
The time it took for students to cast their spells was around four seconds, whereas the Colossal-eyed Ape Rat was able to get to Li Wenjie from a place forty meters away in a short two seconds. Its claws ripped right for Li Wenjie’s face.
Mo Fan couldn’t help but feel apprehensive; he was scared Li Wenjie would lose his life.
Looking at his surroundings, neither the Water Mage, Xiao Ke, nor the Earth Mage, Fei Shi, seemed to have any intention on saving Li Wenjie.
“Wind Track, Flash Steps!” Li Wenjie was not flustered at all. His gaze was calmly watching the Colossal-eyed Ape Rat dash over as he coldly spouted the name of his spell.
_Swoosh!_
Li Wenjie’s body once again disappeared from his original location. The Colossal-eyed Ape Rat’s claws smacked against the stone table tennis stand, reducing the table to powder that flew off into the surroundings.
After the creature realized that its claw had failed, it immediately began to look for Li Wenjie.
_Swoosh!_
Li Wenjie’s took another step, he once again left behind a dust trail before he quickly flashed twenty meters away.
_Swoosh!!_
Li Wenjie stopped behind a cotton tree planted inside the cantina. To Mo Fan’s surprise, the Wind Mage had once again disappeared from his sight.
Following this, a red beam fiercely hit the cotton tree Li Wenjie had stopped behind. The cotton tree was pierced straight through by the beam, leaving behind a blackened hole. Ash blew out of the hole from the superheated steam and charred wood, drifting down in a cloud of dark motes.
Wind Track, Flash Step!
Mo Fan saw this as he gasped in surprise.
In school, all the Wind elemental students had only grasped the Wind Track’s Swift Travel. To move fast with Swift Travel was only possible if you were able to create a Wind Tunnel. Although it was indeed quick, it was still not as fast as Li Wenjie’s Flash Step!
If Zhang Xiaohou had grasped Wind Track’s Flash Steps back then, he would definitely have been able to thrash that Spirit Wolf around a few times, and get out of the difficult situation of being chased deep within the cavern.
Although it was also a primary spell of the Wind Track, its effect felt evidently on a different level. The Colossal-eyed Ape Rat’s sensitivity was even above that of Spirit Wolf. However, at the end of the day it still wasn’t able to touch the corner of Li Wenjie’s clothes.
As expected, the things you learned at school were far too limited. Only when you were exposed to this kind of environment and constantly gaining practical combat experience would you truly be able to raise your strength.
_It was a wise choice to join the Hunters, only when I follow these Hunter Mages who are fearless in front of the Magical Beasts will I be able to grow. Going with those students who pee their pants when they see a Magical Beast is definitely a bad choice._
It wasn’t that Mo Fan disliked his classmates, but he had come to realize many things after battling against the Spirit Wolf.
Pursuing examinations, grades, target shootings, attending Magical Beast classes, and analyzing battle techniques were completely useless when you actually encountered a Magical Beast. The only way to improve was to fight, to constantly face Magical Beasts like this.
“Have a taste of my flames!”
Captain Xu Dahuang flew up confidently. There was already a ball of scorching hot flame in his palm. The flames illuminated the sturdy uncle’s face, which carried some disdain for the creature before him!
_____________
Translator: Tofu
Editor: RED
*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes
*[12.47 to 13.07]: don’t ask me about the tree sap