Chapter Forty-One: Bounty Mission

Upon seeing Shi Fangcheng, she immediately greeted him warmly, "Hi, Teacher Shi, you're here too."

Shi Fangcheng, uncharacteristically, blushed and looked awkward. "Ah, Teacher Xia Li, what a coincidence."

Xia Li, a water-element mage who had already reached the level of Magister, always had a faint mist swirling around her shoulders. When sunlight touched it, sometimes a rainbow-like glow would materialize. The two chatted idly:

"One of my students from Class D has already broken through to the mid-stage mage rank. How about your class?"

"Ah, congratulations! I have two in my class..." Teacher Shi scratched his head.

Teacher Xia Li always took the initiative in conversation, while Shi Fangcheng, acting out of character, appeared a bit shy, revealing a bashful side to his rugged demeanor. To the students, these two were already acknowledged as a couple.

The student Teacher Xia Li mentioned, who had broken through to the mid-stage, was, of course, Bai Shengye. He drifted at the back of the group, leisurely and detached, never drawing attention to himself. Even in team battles, he always served as the support alchemist at the rear, never charging into the fray.

As a result, none of the teachers knew his true combat abilities. The speed at which he had advanced also sparked much speculation and gossip.

Among the envious and jealous, there were whispers: "He's only advanced thanks to potions; his strength is hollow and unreliable. Just look at his entrance scores—he landed in Class D, clearly nothing but a show-off..."

On the continent, the prevailing belief still revered powerful mages, while support professions like alchemists, barrier masters, and diviners, no matter how skilled, were considered mere assistants at best.

Bai Shengye appeared indifferent to such judgments, but secretly thought, "Since I’ve chosen to hide, I’ll hide to the end. Just don’t let me catch you injured—otherwise, wounds that could heal in half a day will make you suffer for a month."

Ling Xiaolei spotted him in the crowd at a glance—his silver-white robe unstained, making him stand out wherever he went.

She waved her hand, and Bai Shengye reluctantly approached.

"What is it? Want to team up across classes?"

"Don’t flatter yourself. This is for you."

Ling Xiaolei rummaged through her backpack and handed him a pouch stuffed full of Soulbinding Grass.

"Hmm? What for?..." Bai Shengye opened the pouch and peered in. "Soulbinding Grass?" A faint blue glow seeped from the edge of the bag.

"This is for you, to thank you for saving Blackfeather last time, and for always looking after Shen Zai Guo."

A trace of surprise and emotion crossed Bai Shengye’s face, and he gave an embarrassed smile. "Then I’ll accept it—as a token of our affection."

"Goodbye!" Ling Xiaolei replied without hesitation.

Soon, another class arrived, led by the bespectacled male teacher—Class B. The most eye-catching among them was the beautiful golden-haired light elf, Ling Meng. Wherever she went, she drew the gaze of all, with admirers beyond count.

Ling Xiaolei had originally thought Blackfeather would team up with her and said, "I’ll go check if there are any missions..."

But when she turned back from the notice board, Blackfeather was gone, leaving only Shen Zai Guo following her with the spirit rabbit in her arms. Scanning the crowd, she spotted Blackfeather ingratiating himself with the light elf beauty, which made her bristle with anger.

"Hey there, beauty. I don’t think we’ve met before. Do you have a team? If not, why don’t we team up? My group could use a healing mage."

Once Class B disbanded, Blackfeather went straight to Ling Meng and began his relentless pursuit.

"Sorry, I already have a set team in my class," she declined politely.

Though Ling Xiaolei was annoyed, she was used to Blackfeather’s shameless flirtations. She continued selecting missions at the board, muttering to herself:

"So what if she’s a light elf—just because she’s pretty, tall, and fair-skinned... Is it all just perfection? What’s so special? Blackfeather, you heartless idiot, have you forgotten who trains with you in Twilight Forest every day, who helps you set up barriers? One day I’ll make you see—I’m the strongest support!"

Shen Zai Guo, however, seemed a little downcast.

Blackfeather returned from his fruitless attempt with Ling Meng and rejoined Ling Xiaolei and Shen Zai Guo.

"Aren’t you off to team up with the light elf? We won’t get in your way," Ling Xiaolei taunted.

"I can’t bear to leave you two," Blackfeather replied, picking through the missions on the board.

At the center was a magically-rendered map, depicting mountains and rivers in striking detail, scaled accurately. He could even make out the swirling clouds atop a mountain by the river, the drifting mists so finely rendered they seemed real. Blackfeather thought to himself:

"This map is surprisingly realistic."

Suddenly, a red flash appeared atop that mountain—a circular dot lit up, and beneath it, half-hidden behind the mist, the vague outline of a derelict building shone through. Blackfeather’s heart skipped—he recognized that silhouette at once.

At the same time, a new mission appeared on the right side of the notice board:

"Mission Rank: S. Mission Objective: Unknown new monster sighted near the mountain peak..." Blackfeather read from the task bar, but as soon as he finished, the mission abruptly vanished. The blinking red dot on the map disappeared as well, and the mountaintop was once again shrouded in cloud.

"What... it’s gone? Did someone accept it? Impossible—missions in a zone only appear on one board. It must be the monster hiding."

He looked over the map several times; the mist closed in again, completely obscuring the mountaintop from view.

But the outline of that building was now clearly imprinted in his mind—no doubt, it was the abandoned research institute he’d been searching for. Recalling the white scorpion incident from a few days prior and Bai Shengye’s information, he felt even more certain the institute was near the Holy City. In his mind flashed the memory of those icy corridors and the blinding surgical lights overhead.

He quickly memorized the location of that hillside, then pretended to keep browsing for other missions.

Yi Xin walked up and found few C- or D-ranked missions remaining. Completed tasks vanished from the board, so he casually took a B-ranked one.

Blackfeather did the same. "Let’s take this one, then—B-rank mission, full speed ahead!"

The task was simple: clear some mutated water monsters from the riverbank. Shen Zai Guo wielded her greatsword as the main force, Ling Xiaolei provided support from the back, and in a few moves, they finished it.

Blackfeather, though, was distracted, plotting how he might sneak across the river under the cover of night to investigate the research institute.

At last, the practical lesson ended. After submitting the mission at the nearby Mage Guild office and collecting their reward, Blackfeather did not return to the city. Instead, he told Ling Xiaolei and Shen Zai Guo that tonight’s training session was canceled.