Suddenly, five cat-like shapes rushed in from around them, but they had three heads, a spiky tail, and yellow light dancing in their eyes.
"Don't be afraid, these are only barbed-tail cats. Hurry up and attack. Show me the results of your magic training." Fanny breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the magical creatures.
Numerous bone arrows quickly materialised out of thin air as the students finished their incantations after Fanny had finished speaking. The bone arrows shot towards the five barbed-tailed cats with a whooshing sound. Despite their speed, three of them were hit by the bone arrows, and blood immediately blossomed on their brown fur, affecting their speed.
However, the first two who had rushed up first had actually dodged the students' bone arrow attacks and charged straight at them. As the students panicked, their bone arrow attacks veered off course or exploded in mid-air as they made repeated mistakes in their frenzy.
The two barbed-tailed cats darted left and right. Fanny made her move just as the one on the left was about to charge into the defences. The same bone arrow magic in her hands produced three bone arrows that flew unerringly at the three heads of this cat.
Three high-pitched howls rang out from the mouth of the barbed-tail cat, and it shrank back from another charge. Instead it ran away in terror.
The other barbed-tail cat made a beeline for Han Shuo, and indeed it had him in its sights. In the panic of the other students, their bone arrow magic was still riddled with mistakes and didn't slow the cat down 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-tailed cat, but by then it was too late. The cat had charged right in front of Han Shuo and its three fanged cat heads along with razor-sharp claws went straight for him.
"Bryan, be careful!" Fanny and Lisa both screamed in fear.
Han Shuo's face remained calm and he didn't panic when he saw the barbed-tailed cat coming towards him. A cold curve even played at the corners of his lips.
Suddenly, Han Shuo's hand snaked out like lightning as the barbed cat's claws were in front of his face. His left arm swung violently, and the sturdy wooden poles used to make a tent structure that were tied to his arm caught the barbed cat's sharp claws.
His right hand immediately thrust 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 then drew back.
Gene's bone arrow support arrived at the same time, and two arrows shot belatedly towards the barbed-tailed cat. Three hideous wails rang out from its three heads as it fell listlessly to the ground with an audible thud, where it lay motionless.
The four already injured barbed-tail cats were frightened by this cat's fall, and they screamed wildly as they retreated hastily, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
"Huh? Master Gene's bone arrows are so powerful, they killed that barbed-tail cat in an instant! The bone arrows we and Master Fanny shot at our cats only wounded them and weren't nearly as powerful!" Amy let out a quiet exclamation and looked at Gene in surprise.
The others thought it was strange, too, after Amy's words, and even Fanny looked at Gene in astonishment. She said with a puzzled look, "Bone Arrow is just a basic attack magic. You were able to kill a barbed-tail cat instantly with that magic. This is truly amazing!"
Gene's expression was a bit strange at first, as if he was also confused, but after Fanny's words, he immediately displayed a very confident smile and nodded weakly at everyone, as if he too was paying respect 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 slicing through the air? What's going on? Although Master Gene killed the barbed-tail cat, it seemed to be you who threw it off balance, didn't it?" Lisa had been paying attention to Han Shuo and thought for a moment, finding it a bit strange.
"Heh heh, don't think nonsense Lisa. Bryan only hit the cat once, but his hit didn't have much effect. What harm could he do to the barbed-tail cat with his runner's strength?" Bach cast a disdainful glance at Han Shuo and said in a voice full of sarcasm.
Han Shuo smiled dumbly and didn't say much, but the other students who had 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 that it was Gene who had killed the cat.
After all, to them, Han Shuo was just an errand slave that they could bully at will... how could an errand slave have such strength and such ways?
"Alright, let's get out of here. The barbed-tailed cat is a magical creature that preys on the weak and fears the strong, but this kind of creature is a pack animal and would cause us some trouble if they came back with reinforcements. These low level magical creatures have no magical core and their hides aren't worth much. Ignore them and let's go!"
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 was a great disappointment to Gene, who had thought that Fanny would see him in a different light.
The group of twelve repacked their belongings under Fanny's cries and continued on their way south.
Han Shuo followed behind the pack, wearing a bizarre smile before he left. He'd looked at the two wounds caused by Gene's arrows and could already smell a burnt smell emanating from them. His flesh was visible through the wounds and he could see that it was already charred, burnt mess.
The death of this barbed-tailed cat 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 magic yuan. A bright red spellfire suddenly erupted from his middle finger. Han Shuo breathed a sigh of appreciation for the power of Mystical Glacial Spellfire as he admired the flame, finally chuckling to himself before catching up with the others.
Night. Bright moonlight filtered through the dense branches and foliage to scatter to all corners of the Dark Forest. A few unidentified bugs serenaded the night, bringing some cheerful sounds to the otherwise peaceful forest.
A bonfire burned bright red, warming the cold night air. Han Shuo picked up a few branches with fresh meat draped over them and kept turning them over the blazing flame. Delicious smells of meat began to waft into the students' noses after he added some spices to the pieces of meat.
"It smells so good! Bryan, how do you know how to do this?" Lisa exclaimed in surprise, wrinkling her cute little nose as her gaze fell on a piece of meat glistening with oil.
"Your performance today when you met the barbed-tailed cat was terribly disappointing. You panicked so much that you couldn't even cast the most basic bone arrow spell. That's not good enough! And Master Gene, although your last Bone Arrow spell was quite amazing, you were too lax earlier. If it wasn't for Bryan's vigilance, the cat would have surely hurt him.
The students were gathered around the campfire, listening to Fanny's loud lecture. Her brow was furrowed and she seemed very unhappy 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 travelling to Han Shuo's meat rack and many of them swallowed audibly.
Han Shuo had been a full-time otaku in his previous life, taking care of his daily needs. Naturally, he had honed his cooking skills. The development of this world's cuisines was a far cry from the time Han Shuo had lived in. People had started to salivate when he'd used even the slightest bit of his skills.
Han Shuo stole a few glances at Fanny as her lecture rang in his ears, a little startled by Fanny's commanding aura. It looked like Fanny was the real organiser 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's. No wonder he was a little 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 on the way. I hope you won't be so careless next time. Let's eat."
After a while of haranguing the students, Fanny was also tempted by the delicious smell of meat. She'd been walking all day and had only eaten plain 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 handed out the meat.
"Mm... Bryan, well done! This meat is delicious!" Fanny licked her lips after eating a piece and continued to pour out a steady stream of compliments. Han Shuo's heart skipped a beat at the sight of this arousing scene.
"Not bad... It's actually really good! Bryan really has some skills!" Lisa also smiled happily and devoured half of the meat in an instant.
"What kind of meat is this? It is disgusting! It's not fully cooked yet."
"Ew... this is disgusting. There's no flavour."
"Damn Bryan, you did this on purpose. This meat is still raw."
Bach, Gene and Bella, as well as a few others with a grudge against Han Shuo, cursed repeatedly after taking a few bites.
Han Shuo smiled honestly with an innocent face, "Uh... maybe some pieces really weren't ready yet. Sorry, bad luck!"
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