Chapter 23: The Forest of Magical Beasts
Stunned into silence, the group took a long moment to regain their wits before turning their gaze toward Du Xin.
"You... are a Great Mage?! Or perhaps even a Lord Archmage?"
The burly man from earlier dismounted his horse, bowed his head respectfully, and asked. In this world, not all nobles were mages; however, anyone capable of casting a Tier 2 spell instantly was invariably a member of the nobility.
"Archmage? I really wouldn't know. I've spent all my time living in the mountains with my teacher, so I'm not familiar with the specific classifications for cultivation levels."
At that moment, a young woman with long chestnut hair stepped out of the carriage and offered Du Xin an explanation.
"Magic is categorized into eight tiers—from Tier 1 to Tier 8—plus the ultimate level known as Forbidden Spells. This classification is based on a mage's comprehension and mastery of the elements, as well as their proficiency in channeling magic. Correspondingly, mages are ranked as follows: Magic Apprentices (capable only of Tier 1 spells), Mages (Tier 2), Great Mages (Tier 3), followed by Archmages, Great Archmages, Grand Mages, Great Grand Mages, and finally, the currently most powerful rank: the Magic Saint. As for Forbidden Spells, only the legendary Magic Gods are capable of casting them without consequence. Allow me to introduce myself: I am Xian Yue, an Earth-element Archmage."
Xian Yue fixed her gaze upon Du Xin, her eyes burning with intensity; a competitive spirit—completely undisguised—radiated from her. She was the youngest Archmage in all of Yu Bei City—indeed, a true prodigy within the entire Azure Empire. Having attained the rank of Archmage before the age of twenty, she had secured a spot in the top ten of the Azure Empire's "Genius Rankings." Yet, judging by Du Xin's appearance, he seemed even younger than she was—naturally, this sparked a desire within her to measure herself against him.
"This is Lord Xian Yue, a Tier 4 Archmage from the Yu Bei City Mage Guild. And as for me, my lord... my name is Zhong Shan."
The burly man beside her also introduced himself. Their current objective was to venture into the Forest of Magical Beasts to hunt a Tier 3 creature known as the Striped-Wood Beast. Although it was merely a Tier 3 beast, it was frequently guarded by Tier 4—or even Tier 5—magical beasts, making the hunt extremely perilous. Consequently, having an additional Great Mage—or perhaps even an Archmage—join their ranks would be a tremendous boon for the entire team; thus, Zhong Shan had begun to entertain the idea of recruiting Du Xin into their party. "Hello everyone. My name is Ye Yan—I suppose you could call me a Magic Adept. By the way, would it be alright if I joined you on your journey to the Monster Forest?"
Du Xin introduced himself. Upon hearing this, Zhong Shan was absolutely delighted; gaining an additional mage of Magic Adept caliber was naturally cause for celebration—especially one specializing in Ice Magic, a discipline renowned for its offensive power.
"You are more than welcome, Sir! If you wouldn't mind, we actually have another carriage available at the rear of our convoy."
Zhong Shan was overjoyed, though he did not attempt to escort Du Xin to the most luxurious carriage in the entire convoy—the one occupied by Xian Yue. Instead, he asked Du Xin somewhat sheepishly.
"No need. I already have my own mount."
Du Xin waved his hand dismissively as he spoke. At the same time, he gave a casual wave toward the sky; a faint wisp of blue magical energy drifted upward, and a massive blue bird came soaring down. This was a mount Du Xin had acquired specifically to aid him in his travels as he explored every corner of this small world.
The entire convoy instantly erupted with gazes of envy and jealousy. A *contracted* magical beast—that was a luxury reserved solely for the high nobility. And a *flying* beast like this one? That was an extreme rarity. However, when the blue bird drew close enough for them to get a good look, the onlookers instantly lost their composure.
"A... a Tier 3 magical beast! An *Ice Falcon*!"
In terms of magical beast classification, this single bird was worth more than their entire convoy combined.
Xian Yue cast a sidelong glance at Du Xin. Although her eyes held a hint of disdain, she—being of humble origins herself—could not help but feel a twinge of envy.
Du Xin mounted the Ice Falcon; with a single powerful beat of its wings, the bird vanished from everyone's sight, only to reappear before them moments later.
The convoy resumed its forward march. Finally, just before nightfall, they arrived at the outskirts of the Monster Forest. Here stood a small town—a settlement populated entirely by mercenaries and merchants. Some stopped here to resupply their provisions, while others sold off the carcasses of slain magical beasts or the rare magical materials they had harvested at the risk of their very lives.
"Sir, perhaps we should rest for the night here in this Adventurers' Town? We can conserve our energy and wait out the night—the time when magical beasts are most active—before venturing into the mountain range tomorrow morning."
Du Xin furrowed his brows. Zhong Shan, assuming Du Xin was displeased with the suggestion, was just about to offer an explanation—when, unexpectedly, Du Xin spoke. "Who came up with that name? It sounds absolutely terrible!"
Zhong Shan's face went dark with exasperation; he felt utterly flustered and at a loss for words.
"Oh, you were asking if we could rest here? No problem at all—go right ahead."
As he spoke, the Ice Falcon perched beside Du Xin took flight, drawing the gaze of many onlookers.
The caravan found an inn and retired early to rest, with everyone making preparations for their entry into the Monster Forest the following day.
The night passed without incident.
At six o'clock the next morning, everyone rose. Without lingering to rest further, and immediately after breakfast, the caravan set out on the road toward the Monster Forest. They abandoned their horse-drawn carriages, and everyone mounted a type of steed known as a "Horned Horse"—a beast clad in scaly armor. These horses were rumored to possess traces of monster blood, granting them superior stamina and speed.
Du Xin rode alongside the others while the Ice Falcon soared overhead, serving as a lookout. Since territorial skirmishes were constantly erupting within the Monster Forest, no reliable maps of the region existed. However, with the Ice Falcon scouting from the sky, the group encountered very little combat during the first half of their journey; they merely hunted down a few relatively rare—yet easy-to-kill—monsters to harvest their materials.
By noon, the group had penetrated deep into the central zone of the Monster Mountain Range's periphery. Suddenly, the Ice Falcon swooped down from the sky and conveyed a message to Du Xin, prompting him to call the group to a halt.
"Everyone, we've run into a bit of trouble ahead. If we proceed further, we face three distinct routes: to the left, we would have to traverse the territory of the Tier 3 'Magic-Patterned Tigers'; the central path leads through the domain of the Tier 2 'Silver-Blade Wolves'; and the far right route leads into a swamp. We don't know exactly what lies within the swamp, but according to your intelligence, your ultimate destination is the 'Magic Vine Forest'—and traversing the swamp is undoubtedly the most direct and optimal choice."
Having delivered this explanation, Du Xin looked over the members of the mercenary guild—including Xian Yue. Ultimately, however, Zhong Shan decided against the swamp route; instead, he chose to take the longest path—the one on the far left—and cut through the territory of the Magic-Patterned Tigers. "Let's take the path to the left. The swamp is far too dangerous; every mercenary group that has attempted to cross it has undoubtedly paid a heavy price. Mages, in particular, are ill-suited for traversing a swamp. As for the Silver-Bladed Wolves, they could easily pin us down for an entire day—and within the Forest of Magical Beasts, the night is undoubtedly the most perilous time. What we need most right now is time. As for the Magic-Patterned Tigers—though they are Tier 3 magical beasts—there are, at most, only two adults among them. We could take them down within an hour while keeping our resource expenditure to an absolute minimum."
As he spoke, Zhong Shan kept glancing at Du Xin and Xian Yue, seeking their input. Eventually, Xian Yue nodded in agreement; as for Du Xin, he remained indifferent—it made no difference to him either way.
After resting for half an hour, the group once again set foot upon the narrow path leading deeper into the forest.
They trod with extreme lightness, still hoping to slip past safely without alerting the Magic-Patterned Tigers. Xian Yue cast a Tier 2 Wood-element spell—*Aura of Nature*—to mask most of the group's presence, hoping to evade the tigers' keen sense of smell.
However, things did not go according to plan. Just as Du Xin and the others reached the halfway point, a thunderous roar rang out—a sound so powerful it shook the very trees, sending leaves raining down all around them.
zw443sx