A blue magic circle descended from the air onto the mountainside. Along with two flashes of light, two figures steadily landed on the ground.
Aurelian spun around once, taking in the scenery all around her.
This was a vast mountain path, surrounded by tall, lush green wild grass and wildflowers of various colors.
The trees grew thick and vigorous, towering into the clouds.
As she looked at this naturally beautiful scenery on the mountain path, her eyes were full of shock.
Ever since Aurelian was born, this was her first time leaving the royal capital.
And on the very first time she left, she appeared in such an outdoors environment.
Everything was filled with novelty, and Aurelian's mood was extremely delighted.
But before she even had time to be happy, Viktor's voice sounded faintly from the side.
"This is, Milut Wilds."
In the game, this place was the monster-grinding area outside the safe zone.
The monsters that appeared in Milut Wilds were not weak. They were generally between level twenty and level thirty.
And Viktor's purpose for bringing Aurelian here…
"This is today's course content."
"Learn how to fight."
As his voice fell, his figure turned into a cluster of flames, disappearing from Aurelian's sight as if scattered into ashes.
Viktor's completely unclear request left her confused for a moment.
And his sudden disappearance caused Aurelian to panic.
Around her, it was frighteningly quiet.
"T-Teacher…?"
She opened her mouth in a panic, calling out to Viktor, trying to get a response.
However, the only sound that came was the rustling of grass as the wind blew past.
With Viktor's disappearance, Aurelian's panic multiplied several times.
She couldn't feel anyone nearby, not even the slightest trace of Viktor's presence.
This made her feel a painful sensation as if she had been abandoned all of a sudden.
Very soon, the first unnatural sound belonging to the dangerous wilds echoed out.
A monster had detected the presence of an outsider. It slowly approached Aurelian, its body producing creaking joint noises.
It was a treant emitting a black aura all over its body. Like a humanoid, it had two branch-limbs as its arms, and tree roots for legs.
The purple leaves on its body looked like a tree that had been corrupted by black miasma.
The monster's large body seemed to cast a shadow over Aurelian's head.
Her brain instantly went blank, as if it had crashed.
With no actual combat experience whatsoever, simply encountering a monster like this made her forget how to use magic.
"This is a Corrupted Treant. Use magic to attack the upper part of its branches."
Suddenly, Viktor's voice gave her a hint right by her ear.
Aurelian instantly snapped back to her senses. The monster before her was real.
She had nearly made a huge mistake just now.
Wild monsters would not spare you because you zone out, they would only become more ferocious.
Aurelian's nervous heart calmed down quite a bit, and she quickly searched her mind for the magic she had learned.
Soon, after calming herself, she began preparing to construct a spell.
She raised her hand, and in an instant, a magic array began forming between her hands. Several simple lines twined together, and a small burst of flame shot out.
[Tier 1 Magic: Spark]
Thankfully, she had not forgotten about elemental advantage.
After being hit by the flame, the monster's body caught a small fire, but after shaking itself, those flames gradually went out.
Looking again at the Corrupted Treant, it didn't seem to be heavily affected.
Seeing the treant only slightly damaged, Aurelian's heart immediately panicked again.
Fear surfaced on her face, as if that corruptive aura would pounce on her in the next second.
"No! Don't come any closer!"
Terrified, she shut her eyes, stepping back while repeatedly conjuring fire magic in her hands.
Fireballs continuously struck the darkened treant one after another.
Although the effect wasn't great, quantity would eventually trigger a qualitative change.
Under Aurelian's barrage of magic attacks, the treant, ignited in many places, soon burned with intense flames, completely devouring its body.
The flames faded, and the monster's sounds abruptly ceased.
Aurelian opened her eyes cautiously. The monster before her had already turned into a pile of ashes.
"It… died?"
Aurelian found it unbelievable. She lowered her head, looking at her own palms.
Because she kept casting magic, her palms were slightly burning hot.
But… this monster, was it really killed by her own hands?
Aurelian couldn't believe it, yet everything before her was undeniably real.
This feeling made her feel… Extremely… thrilled.
Totally different from everything those mages had taught her before.
"Not bad. At least you didn't fail on the first try."
At some point, Viktor had reappeared beside Aurelian.
While giving her a small compliment, he picked up the crystal and corrupted branch left behind by the dead monster.
He stored them in a player's backpack.
After finishing this, his gaze returned to Aurelian.
"Aurelian, finish walking this mountain path. That is your lesson and assignment for today."
"And by the way, if you want to give up, then tell me. I will end our lesson."
Aurelian hesitantly nodded.
Although defeating her first monster gave her a bit of confidence, allowing her to understand that she too could fight…
She still wanted some reassurance, so she couldn't help asking Viktor, "You will stay by my side and protect me, right?"
Viktor did not speak. He simply turned into flames again and vanished with a whoosh.
But this time, Aurelian felt a bit more at ease.
She knew her teacher was always by her side.
And her teacher… was very strong.
Her first battle in the wild had given her a very liberating feeling.
Freedom and freshness flooded her mind.
Soon, three more Corrupted Treants staggered out of the forest.
This time, Aurelian was prepared. The Tier 2 magic she had readied beforehand was released in an instant.
[Tier 2 Magic: Flame Bomb]
A much stronger fireball than before struck all three Corrupted Treants at once.
Although her level wasn't as high as the monsters, the power of Tier 2 magic still inflicted considerable damage.
Flames rapidly rose on their bodies, branches breaking and scattering.
One of them exploded and died instantly.
But the remaining two treants were more stubborn. Even with their arms burned into charcoal, they rushed toward Aurelian with mouths open wide.
Aurelian formed a simple spell in her hand. A black magic array began taking shape in her palm.
It was the illusion magic Viktor had shown her.
[Tier 1 Magic: Gray Mist]
A cloud of mist enveloped the two damaged treants. They froze for a second, then crashed into each other.
With the heavy impact, their remaining HP emptied out, and their bodies slowly crumbled into dust and scattered with the wind.
Aurelian walked up.
These monsters did not leave corpses after death; they weathered away completely.
This meant she didn't have to worry about feeling uncomfortable from seeing a corpse after killing a monster.
She picked up the materials from the ground. Hearing a few roars from behind, she turned around nervously.
This time, five monsters came together, and one of them was completely different from the other four treants.
It was a monster formed of entwined flowers. Its body was huge, more than twice the size of those treants, and from time to time, it emitted all kinds of hallucinogenic fragrances.
Beneath its body, thorned vines were waving.
Aurelian's heart pounded wildly at the sight. This time, she didn't have the time to prepare a Tier 2 spell.
She could only rely on simple Tier 1 fire spells to deal with two treants first. The pollen spreading toward her made her consciousness less clear.
Even basic Tier 1 spells began feeling complicated.
With a sharp swish, a vine suddenly shot out from the grass beside her feet, wrapping around her ankle and dragging her toward the flower monster.
The moment she was tripped and hit the ground, Aurelian instantly sobered up.
'Danger!'
But at that moment,
BOOM!
A terrifying, seemingly unextinguishable flame ignited, burning through the vine behind her.
The moment she was able to move, Aurelian quickly turned her head.
The remaining three monsters had already been completely engulfed by blazing flames.
Viktor stood immersed in the fire. In that sea of raging flames, not even a spark touched him.
Within the flames, he collected the green crystals left behind by the monsters.
Only after doing this did Viktor walk out, and the intense flames behind him dissipated soon after.
"You failed."
Under Viktor's cold gaze, Aurelian trembled slightly, still shaken.
"If this were a real encounter, you would already be dead."
Out in the wild, there was no chance to relax.
A human who loses consciousness would only become monster food.
Aurelian felt a little dejected, but she truly hadn't reacted in time.
She wanted to say something to explain, but then she heard Viktor speak.
"But with me, do not fear failure."
"If you fail once, then start over from the beginning."
Saying that, Viktor's body again turned into flames and vanished.
Once more, five monsters appeared before Aurelian.
As if pre-arranged, they attacked just like before.
This time, Aurelian was ready. She pulled the treants while avoiding the vines and pollen.
After wearing them down, the treants were burned to ashes.
A vine then shot out of the grass to ambush Aurelian.
But this time, it struck empty air.
Aurelian stepped backward, conjured a Tier 1 fire spell, and threw the flame straight into the flower monster's mouth.
In an instant, the pollen became an explosive and highly flammable catalyst. The dust ignited in an explosion, blowing the monster apart.
Aurelian let out a breath of relief, but this time, she didn't forget to stay cautious.
Only after making sure there were no more sounds nearby did she finally relax, sitting down heavily on the ground.
The scorched marks around her, along with the monster remains, all clearly proved everything that had just happened.
"I… I really did it!"
A strong, indescribable sense of achievement surged into her heart, giving Aurelian an unprecedented satisfaction.
This incredibly fresh experience was a first for her.
It made her extremely excited, thrilled to the core.
She rested for a while, and when she felt her mana had recovered enough, she stood up again and continued forward along the mountain path.
Her lesson was not over.