Suddenly, five cat-like shapes rushed in from around them, but the shapes had three heads, a spiky tail, and yellow light dancing within its eyes.
"Not to worry, these are just barbed-tail cats. Everyone hurry and attack. Show me the results of your magic training." Fanny breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the magical creatures.
Numerous bone arrows swiftly materialized out of thin air as students finished their incantations after Fanny had finished speaking. The bone arrows shot towards the five barbed-tail cats with whooshing sounds. Although their speed was fast, three of them were hit by the bone arrows and blood immediately blossomed on their brown fur, affecting their speed.
However, the first two that had rushed up first actually evaded the students' bone arrow attacks and dashed straight for them. As the students panicked, their bone arrow attacks veered off course or exploded in midair as they repeatedly made mistakes in their frenzy.
The two barbed tail cats darted left and right. Fanny made her move just as the one of the left was about to charge into the defensive perimeter. The same bone arrow magic in her hands resulted in three bone arrows that flew unerringly onto the three heads of this cat.
Three shrill wails emitted from the barbed-tail cat's mouth and it shrank from making another rush. It ran away fearfully instead.
The other barbed tail cat made for Han Shuo, and in fact it had set its sights on him. In the other students' panic, their bone arrow magic continued to be riddled with mistakes and didn't slow down the cat at all.
Gene was only concerned with Fanny's side and in the heat of the moment forgot about the threat on the right. He only reacted after Fanny had fought off the barbed tail cat, but it was already a bit too late. The cat had directly charged to in front of Han Shuo, and its three fanged cat heads along with razor sharp claws went directly for him.
"Bryan, be careful!" Fanny and Lisa both screamed in fright.
Han Shuo's face stayed calm and didn't panic as he saw the barbed-tail cat bearing down on him. A cold curve even played at the corners of his lips.
Han Shuo suddenly snaked out a hand like lightning when the barbed-tail cat's claws were in front of his face. His left arm swung violently, and the durable wooden sticks intended to be a tent structure that were tied to his arm caught the barb tailed cat's sharp claws.
His right hand immediately thrusted out, and the others seemed to see a bright red line drawn through the air. Han Shuo's right hand landed on the cat's lower abdomen, paused for a second, and was then retracted.
Gene's bone arrow support also arrived at the same time, and two arrows tardily shot towards the barbed-tail cat. Three ghastly wails sounded out from the three heads as it fell listlessly to the ground with an audible thud, where it then laid unmoving.
The four already injured barbed tail cats were spooked by the fall of this cat and they cried wildly as they hurriedly retreated, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
"Eh? Master Gene's bone arrows are so strong, they killed this barbed-tail cat in a flash! The bone arrows that we and Master Fanny shot towards our cats only injured them and weren't nearly as powerful!" Amy gave a soft exclamation and looked at Gene in surprise.
The others also thought it was odd after Amy's words, and even Fanny gazed at Gene in astonishment. She said with a perplexed look, "Bone arrow is just a basic attack magic. You were able to immediately kill a barbed tail cat with this magic. This is truly amazing!"
Gene's expression was a bit strange in the beginning, as if he was also befuddled as well, but after Fanny's words, he immediately displayed a very confident smile, and nodded faintly at everyone,as if he too was paying respects to the power of his attack magic.
"Bryan, when you slashed at the cat with your right hand just now, why did I seem to see a red line slash through the air? What's going on? Although Master Gene killed the barbed tail cat, it seemed to have been you who made it off balance, right?" Lisa had been paying attention to Han Shuo and thought briefly, thinking it was a bit odd.
"Heh heh, don't think nonsense Lisa. Bryan merely hit the cat once, but his hit didn't have much effect. What harm could he bring to the barbed -tail cat with his errand slave strength?" Bach flicked a disdainful glance at Han Shuo and said in a voice heavy with sarcasm.
Han Shuo smiled dumbly and didn't say much, but the other students, having seen the same sight, also looked at Han Shuo with some confusion. They all soon decided that Han Shuo hadn't had any effect, and it was Gene who had killed the cat.
After all, to them, Han Shuo was just an errand slave that they could bully at their leisure… how could an errand slave have such strength and ways?
"Alright alright, let's get out of here. The barbed-tailed cat is a magical creature that picks on the weak and fears the strong, but this type of creature is a pack animal and would cause some trouble for us if they came back with reinforcements. These low level magical creatures have no magical cores, and their skin isn't worth much. Ignore them and let's leave!"
Fanny didn't pay much attention to Gene after that initial moment of astonishment as she urged everyone to pick up their dropped belongings and hurry on their way. This cause great disappointment for Gene as he thought that Fanny would definitely see him in a different light.
The group of twelve repacked their belongings under Fanny's cries and continued southbound.
Han Shuo trailed the pack and wore a bizarre smile before he left. He'd peeked at the two wounds caused by Gene's arrows and could smell a burnt smell already emitting from them. Its flesh could be glimpsed from the wounds, and he could see that it was already a charred, burnt mess.
This barbed tail cat's death was due to the red spellfire of Han Shuo's Mystical Glacial Spellfire and had nothing to do with Gene.
He looked at his right hand and circulated his magical yuan. A bright red spellflame abruptly erupted from his middle finger. Han Shuo breathed a sigh of appreciation for the power of the Mystical Glacial Spellfire as he admired the flame, finally chuckling to himself before catching up to the others.
Night. Bright moonlight filtered through the dense tree branches and leaves to scatter on all corners of the Dark Forest. A few unknown bugs serenaded the night, bringing some joyful sounds to the otherwise peaceful forest.
A bonfire burned bright red, warming the chilly night air. Han Shuo picked up a few branches with fresh meat draped over them and continuously turned them over the blazing flame. Delicious meat scents began to waft out into student noses after he applied some spices onto the pieces of meat.
"It smells so good! Bryan, how do you know how to do this?" Lisa exclaimed in surprise as she wrinkled her cute nose as her gaze locked onto a piece of meat gleaming with oil.
"Your performance when you met the barbed tail cat today was terribly disappointing. You panicked so much that you couldn't even cast the most basic bone arrow magic. This won't do! And Master Gene, although your last bone arrow magic was quite amazing, you were too lax earlier. If it wasn't for Bryan's high alertness, he surely would've been harmed by the cat."
The students were gathered around the bonfire as they listened to Fanny's loud lecture. Her brow was furrowed and she seemed to be very displeased with the students' and Gene's performance earlier in the day.
The students had timid expressions on their faces and seemed to be listening very intently. However, their eyes kept traveling to Han Shuo's meat rack, and many swallowed audibly.
Han Shuo had been a full time otaku in his previous life and had taken care of his daily needs. He'd naturally honed his cooking skills. The development of this world's cuisines were a far cry from the time in which Han Shuo had resided in. People had started salivating when he'd merely deployed the slightest bit of his skills.
Han Shuo snuck a few glances at Fanny as her lecture sounded in his ears, a bit startled by Fanny's commanding aura. It looked like Fanny was the true organizer of this time's outing. Gene's position, who was also a teacher in the necromancy major, seemed to be a bit lower than Fanny. No wonder he was a bit afraid of Fanny. It wasn't as simple as him having a crush on her.
"Alright, let's stop here. We'll run into more danger along the way. I hope you won't be as careless next time. Let's eat."
After hectoring the students for a while, Fanny was also extremely tempted by the delicious scent of meat. She'd been on the road all day today and had partook only simple bread and clear water. Her stomach was the first to speak up now that such delicious food was in sight.
"Master Fanny, this is yours. Lisa, this is yours. Bella, Bach, Gene, these are yours…" Han Shuo had a strange smile on his face as he passed out the meat.
"Mm… Bryan, nicely done! This meat is delicious!" Fanny licked her lips after eating a piece and kept forth a steady stream of compliments. Han Shuo's heart lurched at the sight of this arousing scene.
"Not bad…It's actually really good! Bryan does have some skill!" Lisa was also smiling happily and she devoured half her meat in the blink of an eye."
"What kind of meat is this? This is disgusting! It's not fully cooked yet."
"Ew… this is gross. There's no flavor to this."
"Damned Bryan, you did this on purpose. This meat is still raw."
Bach, Gene and Bella, as well as some others with grudges against Han Shuo cursed repeatedly after taking a few bites.
Han Shuo smiled honestly with an innocent face, "Eh… maybe a few pieces really weren't ready yet. Sorry, bad luck!"