Chapter 8
Hunter Alliance.
"Ever since Lu Ze joined us, I feel like I've become a bystander."
After the mission ended, Li Wenjie couldn't help but complain.
"Who says otherwise? Every time we fight demons, we don't even get to lift a finger. Lu Ze's summoned beast wipes them out instantly; it's like he's not even a novice mage."
Fei Shi nodded. He had heard that summoners were impressive, but he didn't expect them to be this impressive.
Normally, they would need to put in a lot of effort to deal with a single-eyed demon wolf, and there might even be injuries.
But ever since Lu Ze joined, even an adult single-eyed demon wolf is just a matter of a claw from his summoned beast.
This should have been a good thing, but the captain, for the sake of fairness, directly gave more than half of the bounty to Lu Ze.
That's why they all looked so miserable; although it was a bit dangerous, their pay would have been two to three times what it is now.
"You two should stop complaining; being able to share the bounty is already generous of Lu Ze," said the vice-captain, Cai Tang.
Li Wenjie and Fei Shi were stunned. This was the first time they had seen the vice-captain speak up for someone else.
Could it be...
The two exchanged glances, wondering if the vice-captain had taken a liking to Lu Ze.
But Lu Ze was so young and talented; would she really be interested in him?
At that moment, the frail little Ke stepped forward, "It's safer with Lu Ze around; I think it's great."
They were just ordinary hunters, with the greatest aspiration being to break through to the intermediate level.
"That's true; if the pay is lower, then so be it."
Li Wenjie and Fei Shi were just venting a little. Although they often dealt with demons, they still felt uncertain inside.
After all, they were just the most basic novice mages among hunters.
But now, with Lu Ze's presence, they felt incredibly secure even while sleeping.
"Alright, Lu Ze is so young and has come to be a hunter, likely because he lacks money. He might be the summoning student from Tianlan High School," Xu Dahuang said.
Xu Dahuang wasn't foolish; summoners were so rare, and considering the previously rumored "genius summoner," it was hard not to connect the dots.
If he wasn't focusing on his studies to become a hunter, it could only be for that Stardust Magic Tool.
Since that was the case, he might as well help this summoning genius a bit, as a way to contribute to Bo City.
For every mission's bounty, Xu Dahuang would give Lu Ze sixty to seventy percent of the earnings, keeping only ten percent for himself and distributing the rest among the other teammates.
In the past, he could take forty percent of the bounty, but now he willingly settled for ten percent.
Time flew by, and soon it was time for outdoor training.
In the nearly past year, Li Xingze had completed many missions with the city's demon-hunting team, but unfortunately, the bounties were not high.
He certainly couldn't afford to buy a Stardust Magic Tool, so he could only resort to the more practical option of renting, a channel that the captain Xu Dahuang had informed him about.
His cultivation had broken through to novice level two two months ago, but he was still far from novice level three.
If he had a Stardust Magic Tool of spirit level or above, he might have already reached novice level three by now.
[Forbidden Spell Scrolls: 10]
During this period, Li Xingze had drawn five times from the paid lottery, but his luck remained consistently poor.
Other than a Tang knife and a devil fruit, the rest had little more than collectible value.
[Alchemical Weapon: Seven Deadly Sins - Jealousy.]
An alchemical weapon from the dragon world, indestructible.
With Uchiha swordsmanship at his disposal, he was in need of a suitable weapon!
[Cat Fruit - Wildcat Form.]
Eating this devil fruit would grant him a beast-like robust body, significantly enhancing his strength, impact resistance, endurance, agility, and other physical qualities.
Mages were completely fragile compared to demons, but if he consumed this devil fruit, his survival ability would increase several levels.
Unfortunately, it was just an ordinary animal type; if it were an ancient type or a mythical beast type, Li Xingze would be very willing to use it to enhance his power, but an ordinary animal type was too lackluster for him.
Under the leadership of Teacher Zhang Jianguo, a group of students boarded a bus heading to their destination.
After crossing a vast expanse of wasteland outside the city and sitting for nearly half a day, they finally arrived at the Snow Peak Mountain Station.
Li Xingze, Mo Fan, and Zhang Xiao Hou wandered around the station until they heard the instructor's call to gather from a distance.
"Gather at the square."
"Gathered, gathered!"
100 students stood neatly, immediately attracting the attention of the hunters from the station.
"Look, look, the interns from Tianlan High School are back, hahaha, we can watch the rookies embarrass themselves again."
"Isn't that right? Since the interns arrived, the station has been the liveliest. Guess how many of this batch will be scared to the point of wetting their pants?"
Listening to the mocking voices of the hunters around them, many female students' faces turned red with anger, while the male students glared at the hunters indignantly.
So what if they had been mages for a few years longer than them? What was there to be so proud of!
Li Xingze silently observed this scene; these hunters, clearly only junior mages, still had the energy to mock these fledgling newcomers.
It was truly laughable.
"Chief Instructor!"
"The Chief Instructor is here!!"
"I am your Chief Instructor for this training session—Zhan Kong. You should consider yourselves fortunate, as you are the first batch of trainees I have mentored since I took this position."
Zhan Kong's imposing demeanor silenced all the students.
"Rest assured, since you are my first batch of trainees, to ensure that you pass this training assessment, which is crucial for your college entrance exams, I will give you a special privilege!"
"I know that you are the most outstanding young mages in Bo City, and I believe you have enough strength to handle this training assessment."
"So, this major training is going to be very, very simple."
Chief Instructor Zhan Kong smiled harmlessly.
"I just received a bounty. As long as any one team or individual among you 100 students completes this bounty, your training evaluation will all pass, and you will receive an A."
A bounty!
That required a seasoned mage team to complete!
"What if no one can complete the bounty?" asked Zhou Min, the class leader.
"Then all will be unqualified," Zhan Kong replied calmly.
"Hey, hey, we've only just learned magic for a short time, and you want us to complete a bounty? Are you kidding me!"
"What kind of nonsense instructor is this! I think he just got in through connections!"
All the students showed angry expressions, and many began to curse.
Logically, this training was supposed to be a mere formality, but unexpectedly, just by changing the instructor, the difficulty had increased so much!!