“I’m violent? Well, sorry about that!” Xu Wenjing said with a hint of resentment.
“Hehe, just kidding! You’re so pretty, and what you did just now was so graceful—you’re totally a heroine!” Lin Qiufeng grinned, not holding back on the compliments.
“Hmph, who knew that big-toothed bear was just in its juvenile stage? If it wasn’t, would I have done that? The mission only said we needed a juvenile big-toothed bear to complete it.” Xu Wenjing snorted lightly.
These two just watched the whole time and didn’t even bother to help.
Looks like she forgot—they’re both newbies, just awakened, full of magic power but without any matching skills.
Feels like all they can do is watch the show? “Ehehe, since we’re done, let’s head back!” Lin Qiufeng laughed awkwardly.
“Yeah, let’s go.” Xu Wenjing shot Lin Qiufeng a huge eye roll and finally said helplessly.
She really wanted to get away from these two who could drive her crazy.
Just as they were about to head back, a beast’s roar echoed from the forest not far from them.
Hearing the roar, Xu Wenjing’s face changed and she shouted to the other two, “Crap, it’s an adult big-toothed bear! We need to run!”
She’d just killed a big-toothed bear that had just entered its juvenile stage.
It was easy, but it still used up half her magic.
If it was a bear that had been in the juvenile stage for ten or twenty years, she’d have a tough fight ahead.
But if it was an adult, all she could do was run.
Lin Qiufeng snapped back to her senses at those words and took off running, Bai Ling right behind her.
She wasn’t afraid of an adult big-toothed bear, but she didn’t want any extra trouble.
The less, the better.
And if she revealed her true strength, who knows what they’d think! Bai Ling didn’t care what others thought of her, but she did care about her friends’ opinions.
To others, she could be a demon or an angel, but in front of her friends, she only ever wanted to be an angel.
Not long after they ran off, an adult big-toothed bear appeared in the area they’d just left.
Its arms were as thick as water tanks, its whole body covered in shiny brown-black fur like blades, reflecting a dark gleam.
Its two huge fangs were over two feet long.
It walked up to the corpse of the juvenile big-toothed bear Xu Wenjing had killed, saw it lying motionless on the ground, and let out a sky-shaking roar.
The sound was deafening, sending shockwaves in all directions, echoing through the sky.
Xu Wenjing, who hadn’t run far, shivered in fright when she heard it.
The roar didn’t last long before fading away.
Even though they couldn’t see the adult bear’s expression, it was easy to guess—it took the gradually cooling corpse and left.
It wanted to punish the one who killed its child right then and there, but it just didn’t have the strength.
Even as an adult, speed was still its fatal weakness.
The three of them only relaxed after the roars in the forest faded away.
They’d run so fast they were almost at the edge of the forest, about to leave it behind.
Once they were out, they finally felt safe.
Even though the adult big-toothed bear wasn’t that fast, if it chased their scent all the way to a human city, that would be a real problem.
They finished the mission without any real danger.
On the way back, only Lin Qiufeng was talking, Bai Ling would answer once in a while, and Xu Wenjing stayed silent like a clam.
By the time they got back to the academy, the sun was already setting.
They walked along the campus path, the sunset casting their shadows long behind them.
“Come on, we’re back! Why don’t you smile? Didn’t we finish the mission?” Lin Qiufeng had only seen Xu Wenjing’s stone face the whole way back, so she asked out of curiosity.
She didn’t realize she was the reason for all this.
Bai Ling was fine—she didn’t talk much and didn’t cause much trouble.
“I can’t be happy, all because of a certain someone!” Xu Wenjing stared straight at Lin Qiufeng, but the latter didn’t react at all, as if she hadn’t noticed Xu Wenjing’s murderous glare.
The clueless Lin Qiufeng really hadn’t noticed.
Besides, the sun was almost down—she couldn’t see anything anyway.
“A certain someone? Who? Haven’t you been with us all afternoon? If you met someone else, then we—” Lin Qiufeng stopped mid-sentence, realizing the atmosphere was off.
She saw Bai Ling and Xu Wenjing both looking at her like she was a dumb kid.
Even though Bai Ling was a bit clueless, she could still tell what was going on.
“Uh… was it me?” Lin Qiufeng finally caught on, looking completely shocked.
“Yeah!” x2 Bai Ling and Xu Wenjing both nodded seriously.
Looks like this silly girl finally got it.
After being so seriously confirmed, even Lin Qiufeng’s thick skin couldn’t stop her face from burning.
She turned as red as an apple, but luckily the sunset made everything look reddish, so Bai Ling and Xu Wenjing didn’t notice.
They just thought Lin Qiufeng’s face was even thicker than a city wall.
“Waaah~ Xiaoling doesn’t love me anymore.”
To hide her blushing, Lin Qiufeng started acting cute and lunged at Bai Ling, rubbing her face against Bai Ling’s delicate cheek.
Maybe she was immune by now, but Bai Ling didn’t feel anything about girls touching her anymore.
She let Lin Qiufeng act spoiled, even if her face got squished into all kinds of shapes.
Bai Ling didn’t care.
To her, this was a sign of a close relationship, and she liked it.
“Alright, that’s enough for today! Let’s go submit the mission together tomorrow.
I’m heading off, you two get some rest!” With that, she took off—she didn’t want to be the third wheel here.
“Wait!” Bai Ling called out to Xu Wenjing, who had already turned away.
Xu Wenjing looked back in confusion and asked, “What’s up? Anything else?”
“Thank you for today!” Bai Ling said seriously.
It was her principle—if someone helped her, even if they really wanted to but couldn’t, she’d still do her best to be good to them.
Lin Qiufeng also thanked her.
“Thanks.” She might be silly sometimes, but she knew how to tell gratitude from grudges.
“It’s nothing, really! Just a small thing!” Xu Wenjing was a bit flustered by the sudden thanks, but when she saw Bai Ling’s serious face, she smiled and answered.
“If you ever need my help in the future, don’t hesitate.
I’ll definitely help you, trust me!” Bai Ling was still just as serious.
“Okay!” Xu Wenjing agreed without hesitation.
After going back, Xu Wenjing went to the academy library to look up some old books.
She finally found a yellowed scroll with rumors about healing magic.
When she learned about that magic’s power, she was completely shocked, and she had no idea how much she’d need Bai Ling’s ability in the future.
