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Chapter 73: Beast Forest Special Training

Ashura felt as if he had sat down inside a Dragon’s maw, and the sword-like gazes around him seemed ready to pierce his body.

Already on edge, Ashura broke out in a cold sweat.

Before he could react, the silver-haired girl beside him said coldly without even looking up, “Someone is sitting here, move.”

The moment her voice sounded, the sharp stares nearby turned into schadenfreude, as though they had seen this scene many times before.

Ashura scratched his head in embarrassment, then poked the girl’s arm with his finger, a move he had often used during class.

The girl beside him instantly stiffened, then whipped around to stare at him.

Ashura flashed his brightest smile, his white teeth gleaming.

When the silver-haired Clara matched the grinning short-haired boy with the image in her memory, her eyes changed from bright to fierce.

Instead of the charming smile he expected after a year apart, Ashura saw her pull a lavish Magic staff from her space ring in an instant.

She chanted, and the large gem at the tip of the staff pointed straight at Ashura’s forehead.

The battle-hardened Ashura immediately realized Clara meant to call down lightning on him.

His body moved at once: one hand pushed the staff aside, and the other clamped over Clara’s mouth.

Clara refused to let the scoundrel off, twisting to escape the hand on her mouth while swinging the staff like a club at Ashura’s head with her free hand.

Seeing her relentlessness, Ashura instinctively slipped an arm around Clara’s slender neck, covering her mouth from behind as though pulling the gagged girl into his arms.

His other hand seized the wrist brandishing the staff, and he shouted nervously, “It’s me, what are you freaking out for? I didn’t provoke you, did I?”

Clara glared at Ashura with those beautiful, fierce eyes; gagged, she could only pinch the soft flesh at his waist with her free hand.

The two roughhoused like a bickering couple for quite a while before they noticed the sudden silence.

Looking around, they found the whole class gaping at them with jaws dropped.

Clara’s face flushed scarlet; she gave Ashura’s waist another vicious pinch, straightened up from his lap, and pretended to flip through the textbook.

Ashura rubbed his newly cropped head in embarrassment, and a chubby boy in the front row asked timidly, “Are you Ashura?”

Ashura glanced at Na Wei, the chubby fellow he used to get along with, and nodded, “Long time no see, everyone.”

With a boom the classroom exploded into chaos again, and several classmates who knew Ashura crowded around his desk, firing off questions.

Their gist was, “King of Cutting Class, you finally came back!”

“Where have you been this whole year? You’re the first freshman to ditch the academy for so long…”

Ashura only said that family matters had taken him home, that he had cultivated in his hometown all year, and had just now returned.

At this point he clearly heard the silver-haired girl next to him give a heavy “Hmph.”

The questions kept coming, and male students from other classes, unaware of the situation, asked Class 13 about Ashura as well.

When they learned he was an obscure slacker, most of the boys curled their lips in disdain.

Just then the bell rang, and a pretty female Instructor walked into the room… the homeroom teacher of Class 13, Instructor Ella.

Everyone hurried back to their seats, though the boys kept stealing glances at Ashura’s table.

Instructor Ella also noticed Ashura’s return and let out a long sigh of relief, while Ashura gave her an apologetic smile.

Ella rolled her eyes dramatically at him, and the coquettish gesture made several male hearts skip beats.

The influx of boys from other classes was not only for Clara; bouquets symbolizing affection always crowded Instructor Ella’s office door.

Instructor Ella first delivered earth-shaking news: the academy’s latest assessment would be held in 3 days, and the venue would be Beast Forest.

The young trainees cried out in surprise; Beast Forest had always been forbidden territory for Humans and was something they discussed but never dared explore.

Even Clara covered her small mouth in shock.

Ashura, however, remained calm; he had survived alone in Beast Forest for several months and had once slain an Earthquake Berserk Bear by himself… now, with his current strength, he could kill one unscathed.

So the location itself did not bother him, but he was curious about the test format and hoped there would be rewards.

After the exclamations died down, Instructor Ella continued, “This assessment is team-based: 1 Magic class will pair with 2 Warrior classes as a single unit. Students from other classes, go ask your own instructors for details.”

With a rustle, more than half the students left, leaving only the 14 lightning-element magicians of Class 13 staring at one another; the classroom had not felt this spacious in ages.

Instructor Ella smiled helplessly and went on in her pleasant voice, “The goal is to familiarize you with Beast Forest. Each class will have 2 Instructors accompanying you, and they will intervene only when you face danger you truly cannot handle; otherwise you must reach the target on time by yourselves.”

“All problems you encounter in Beast Forest must be solved on your own. Treasure this team exercise, because next time you will enter in randomly assigned small squads with no Instructor, and casualties are expected, so this experience is vital.”

The Class 13 students felt quietly relieved yet still worried about the tougher test to come.

Instructor Ella then began her lecture.

Ashura listened intently for a while but still understood little; a year without formal Magic theory left him behind the curve.

Although his Magic level was not low thanks to being a dual mage-warrior, he had yet to integrate Magic perfectly into real combat.

While he was zoning out, a notebook covered in neat handwriting slid over from the seat beside him…

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