When they arrived at the mission board, it wasn’t exactly packed wall-to-wall with people, but it was still pretty crowded—almost the whole mission hall was filled up.
The mission board wasn’t some kind of ranking list; it was a place to pick up missions and claim rewards.
There were all sorts of missions here, and they were divided by difficulty: E, D, C, B, A, S, and SS, with higher ranks being harder.
The highest-level missions had apparently been sealed away for over a decade.
Right now, the best missions available at the academy were between C and A rank, mostly beast-hunting tasks.
At this stage, only Bai Ting’s team could barely take on S-rank missions.
That was the strongest team, and even they could only just manage it.
Most regular teams could only handle C or B-rank missions at best—anything higher could be life-threatening.
Since they were new students, Bai Ling and Lin Qiufeng didn’t know anything yet.
Plus, since they’d just awakened their magic, they didn’t even know how to use most spells.
So Xu Wenjing brought them along to do some low-level missions, just to let them get some practice.
“Since you two just got to the academy, I suggest you start with some lower-level missions.
That way, you can build up real combat experience, and if you’re in a team, you can earn team points and level up your squad,” Xu Wenjing explained to them.
“Yeah, we’ll do whatever you say.”
“I don’t have any objections.”
“Alright, let’s see if there’s a mission that’s easy to get started with!”
“C-rank hunting mission, hunt a juvenile rock panther… no, that’s a bit tough.
D-rank hunting mission, hunt a young giant-toothed bear… that one’s so-so.” Xu Wenjing muttered to herself as she looked over the board.
“Let’s take this one.
The other lower-level missions are all collection tasks, nothing challenging, so let’s go with a hunting mission.” Xu Wenjing turned to ask for their opinions.
“Sure!” Bai Ling was totally fine with it.
Even if she couldn’t win, she still had her own skills.
She’d only just awakened her magic, but she still had all her abilities from her previous life, and those worked here too.
She’d even tested them out—on Gaia, her skills were actually even stronger, though she had no idea why.
“No problem.”
“Then it’s settled.
D-rank mission: hunt a young giant-toothed bear.
I can handle this beast.
It’s got strong attack power and good defense, but at least I can still hurt it.
We just need to wear it down—it’s not that hard to kill.
Plus, its slow movement is its biggest weakness, so if we can’t beat it, we can always run.”
Magical beasts grow in three stages.
The first is the juvenile stage, where they don’t have any real attacks—just like normal animals.
Next is the adolescent stage, when they awaken their innate magic, and their attacks become way stronger than mages of the same rank.
If you run into a beast a rank higher than you, its innate magic can still put up a fight.
There are also spirit beasts, which also have three stages: juvenile, adolescent, and adult.
Spirit beasts have innate magic too, but they’re weaker than magical beasts.
Plus, spirit beasts don’t usually provoke humans—some even form contracts with people and become their battle partners, fighting alongside them.
Once a contract is made, the spirit beast will stay with its human until it dies.
But usually, spirit beasts don’t want to bond with humans.
But whether it’s magical beasts or spirit beasts, they have one thing in common: not all of them can awaken their innate magic.
There’s always a chance of failure, and if they fail, it’s not fatal, but it destroys their innate magic and their power drops sharply.
Once they fail, they’ll never succeed, and they’ll be stuck as low-level beasts forever—like a tiger with no claws or teeth.
Is that even a tiger anymore? Juvenile beasts are in their first ten years after birth, adolescent is ten to a hundred years, and after a hundred years, they’re finally considered true magical or spirit beasts.
“This mission is in a small forest in the Luo Kingdom, not far from our academy.
It’s not as big as the magical beast jungle, but it’s not tiny either—just right for us right now.”
“We’ll just follow your lead this time.
I trust you won’t get us killed,” Lin Qiufeng said confidently, as if she was talking about herself.
“In that case, let’s introduce ourselves again.
I’m Xu Wenjing, magic rank C, wood element.” Xu Wenjing smiled a little at Lin Qiufeng’s trust, but then put on a serious face.
She could tell that Bai Ling was following her lead.
Bai Ling didn’t seem like much—no opinions of her own.
Did I overestimate her? Probably not, since her sister Bai Ting is so strong.
Hard to believe two siblings could be so different.
“Lin Qiufeng, magic rank B, wood element.” Lin Qiufeng introduced herself too.
Hearing the B rank, Xu Wenjing was a bit shocked.
She’d thought Lin Qiufeng was only C rank.
The team registration only listed names and classes, not magic rank or element.
After all, everyone in Class A was C, B, or A rank, but most were C.
B ranks were rare, and A ranks even rarer.
She was surprised, but not too surprised—there were still a few B ranks.
“Bai Ling, magic rank A, healing element.” Bai Ling still looked totally indifferent, calm and unbothered.
Bai Ling and Lin Qiufeng could stay calm, but Xu Wenjing couldn’t.
It was her first time hearing about the healing element, and she looked confused, but that didn’t stop her from noticing the magic rank.
“What did you say your rank was?” Xu Wenjing asked again, not quite believing it.
“A rank.
Is there a problem?” Bai Ling tilted her head, looking innocent.
“Uh… no, no problem at all.” Xu Wenjing felt super awkward.
“So… what’s the healing element?” Xu Wenjing couldn’t hold back her curiosity.
“Healing magic is basically magic that heals.
It can instantly heal a mage’s injuries.
As long as you’re still breathing, you’ll recover in a flash,” Lin Qiufeng jumped in, as if she was talking about herself.
