In just a few moments, Xu Yunfeng's Apprentice Robe was tattered and torn. Not only that, but his neck, arms, and other exposed skin were covered in scratches from his own fingernails, each wound dripping with fresh blood.
"Med... Medicine..."
Mumbling incomprehensibly, Xu Yunfeng stumbled to his feet and lurched forward, only to fall back to the ground after a few steps.
As if he had fallen hard, his agonized howls grew louder, the sheer pain in his voice enough to make one's skin crawl.
Pei Ze frowned slightly and turned to leave, intending to notify a teacher.
'He's a classmate, after all. I can't just leave him to die.'
'Too bad I haven't learned the Communication Skill yet. Otherwise, I could have summoned someone with a single spell and saved myself the trip.'
Seeing Pei Ze leave, Qishan assumed he was trying to take the chance to escape and sneered, "Pei Ze, are you scared..."
However, before he could finish, he was cut off by a low growl that sounded like a beast's roar.
A short distance away, Xu Yunfeng suddenly began to writhe violently. His entire body swelled rapidly as if being pumped full of air, his skin splitting open as blood spattered everywhere.
One could even hear a dense series of CRACKs and POPs from within his body as his bones shattered.
In just the span of a few blinks, a living person had transformed into a monster nearly three meters tall.
The monster's body had almost no intact skin. Its gnarled muscles and tendons were gruesomely exposed, a nauseating sight.
Two pale, sharp horns on its head jutted obliquely toward the sky.
The faint stench of sulfur had, at some point, begun to permeate the air.
"ROAR!"
The monster roared at the sky, its scarlet eyes gazing coldly at the surrounding Wizard Apprentices.
Only then did the surrounding crowd snap out of their daze, screaming and scattering in all directions.
The female student closest to the scene also reacted, her face deathly pale as she turned to flee. Unfortunately, she hadn't run far before a sharp pain shot through the back of her head. The last thing she heard was a sound like a watermelon bursting, and then her consciousness plunged into eternal darkness.
From the side, Pei Ze and Qishan saw it clearly. The horned monster had caught up to the female student in just a few large strides and swatted her head, which burst open like an egg, splattering blood and brains everywhere.
Even more terrifyingly, the force of the blow sent countless bone fragments shooting out in a fan-like pattern, like buckshot from a shotgun, riddling the ground with holes.
HISS!
Pei Ze and Qishan both sucked in a sharp breath.
'What the fuck is that strength!'
'Even a Knight wouldn't be much more than this!'
Official Knights, according to their strength, are divided into four ranks in ascending order: Beginner, Middle, High, and Peak.
A Beginner Knight's constitution is about eight to ten times that of an ordinary person.
A Middle Knight's is eleven to thirteen times.
And from the power of the horned monster's last strike, its constitution had definitely reached the level of a Middle Knight!
'Run!'
Without hesitation, Pei Ze and Qishan turned and fled in unison.
A Middle Knight required at least a Second-level Wizard Apprentice to handle. A First-level Wizard Apprentice facing one would be killed nine times out of ten.
They had no desire to die a miserable death like that female student.
Coincidentally, they both chose to run in the direction of the Garden District.
On second thought, it wasn't surprising. The various medicinal gardens in the Garden District were guarded by Official Wizards year-round. As long as they reached it, they wouldn't have to fear the horned monster even if it followed them.
However, perhaps because the two of them running together made for a larger target, the horned monster scanned its surroundings and finally chose them as its prey, charging after them menacingly.
Qishan heard the commotion, and when he glanced back, his face instantly paled. He cursed silently, 'Damn it.'
He pushed himself to his absolute limit to speed up, but was soon shocked to find that he was actually a step slower than Pei Ze!
'How is that possible?'
A flicker of bewildered suspicion crossed Qishan's eyes.
He had already constructed five Will Runes, strengthening his constitution to four times that of an ordinary person. How could Pei Ze possibly be better than him?
WHOOSH!
As he was reeling in shock and suspicion, the sound of something sharp cutting through the air came from behind.
The expressions on both Pei Ze and Qishan's faces changed, and they leaped aside without a moment's hesitation.
BOOM!
A huge black shadow slammed like a cannonball into the spot where the two had just been, sending shrapnel-like stone fragments flying in all directions!
As the dust settled, the horned monster stood before Pei Ze and Qishan like a great wall.
Its body looked bloated, but its speed was astonishing, allowing it to easily catch up to the two of them.
Qishan scrambled up from the ground, a look of panic flashing across his face as he stared at the powerful, savage monster before him.
'No, this monster is way too fast. I can't outrun it!'
'What do I do?!'
Qishan's mind raced. His gaze suddenly swept over to Pei Ze, his eyes flickering indecisively for a few seconds before he gritted his teeth and quickly spat out several syllables.
A short distance away, Pei Ze suddenly felt his body tighten. The next moment, he was lifted uncontrollably off the ground and sent flying toward the horned monster.
Without a second glance, Qishan seized the opportunity and turned to run.
'I don't have to be faster than the monster, I just have to be faster than Pei Ze!'
But in the next second, a giant, invisible hand suddenly seized Qishan's body, lifting him up and hurling him toward the horned monster.
Mage's Hand!
Qishan's face contorted in horror. He whipped his head around in terror, his eyes meeting Pei Ze's icy gaze.
The latter had, at some point, already landed back on the ground.
'How is that possible?!'
Qishan wore an expression of utter disbelief.
'The maximum range of a Mage's Hand is ten meters, but I was clearly more than ten meters away from Pei Ze! Logically, the Mage's Hand shouldn't have even been able to touch me!'
However, Qishan no longer had the luxury of pondering this question.
Seeing its prey delivered right to it, the horned monster let out an excited growl and swung a massive fist at him.
Feeling the violent gale rushing toward him, Qishan's face instantly drained of color. With a strange cry, he pulled a Scroll from his pocket and ripped it apart.
BOOM!
A dense elemental aura erupted in an instant, transforming into a cone of fire that engulfed the horned monster's head and face!
Burning Hand!
A One-Ring Spell!
The scorching flames instantly submerged the horned monster's upper body.
Burned by the flames, the horned monster couldn't help but let out an earth-shattering, agonized howl. The momentum of its fist slowed for an instant, but in the next second, it pushed forward fiercely, breaking through the flames to smash heavily into Qishan.
BOOM!
Qishan was sent flying like a kite with a broken string.
While still in mid-air, a series of dense CRACKs echoed from within his body. It was impossible to know how many bones had broken in that instant. He landed on the ground and didn't move again.
More than ten meters away, Pei Ze watched, the corner of his eye twitching slightly.
If he hadn't used the Dizziness Technique to delay the horned monster's attack at the critical moment, and then used Mage's Hand to pull himself back in time, he would be the one lying on the ground right now.
However, his situation wasn't much better now.
The moment Qishan fell, the horned monster's attention immediately shifted to him, and it charged with a furious roar.
Pei Ze took a deep breath. While controlling his Mage's Hand to strike at the horned monster, he rapidly retreated.
The only silver lining was that the horned monster had taken a Burning Hand to the front and was seriously injured. He wasn't without a chance to finish this monster off.