Confirming there were no more threats, Jeremy strode over to the falcon’s corpse, bending down to pull his short blade out. The twin blades, originally carved with sharp rose patterns, were now dyed red with fresh blood, radiating an even more eerie and bloodthirsty aura.
Jeremy closed his eyes, muttering a basic incantation he had just memorized last night: [Purification].
It took an extremely dragging amount of time before the pungent streaks of blood clinging to the blades’ surfaces began to fade and were completely eradicated.
Jeremy fell into a deep silence. Jeremy knew that the casting speed of a magic spell depended entirely on the threshold of magic power within the body, but this snail-like pace... was truly beyond acceptable. It should be noted that this was merely the most basic and simple everyday magic, carrying absolutely no offensive properties.
Jeremy secretly felt fortunate that he hadn’t foolishly rooted himself to the spot chanting incantations to attack the magic beast pack earlier. If he used that speed to cast offensive magic, he was afraid that before he could even finish the chant, his throat would have long been bitten off by them.
The sharp, piercing pain on his right arm became increasingly distinct. Jeremy withdrew his thoughts, storing the twin blades into his soul weapon space. Then, relying on his memory, Jeremy used his will to take out a recovery potion from his spatial ring and decisively popped the cap, draining it dry.
Although the original owner was a child neglected by his family, as the heir to the Duke’s family, the most basic privileges were still fully maintained. It wasn’t so pathetic that his ring didn’t even have a few high-grade potions for self-defense.
"Captain, how did you get injured?" Lucius took long strides, slowly walking over. Lucius’s gaze was glued to the deep gash exposed on Jeremy’s arm without blinking.
Just as Jeremy thought the other party was going to say a few polite words of comfort, Lucius let out a relieved sigh, casually dropping a sentence: "Thank goodness, looking at this situation, you won’t die for the time being."
The corner of Jeremy’s eye twitched slightly. Jeremy began to suspect that this guy had missed the course on basic communication before entering the academy: "...You really know how to talk."
Lucius blinked his narrow, elongated phoenix eyes feigning innocence, his tone sounding extremely sincere: "I just have a habit of telling the truth."
Jeremy gave a cold snort, ignoring Lucius, and looked down to check the condition of his arm.
After ingesting the recovery potion, although the pain had not completely dissipated, the bleeding stopped immediately. The flesh and skin torn apart by the beast’s claws were beginning to interweave and automatically heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
This was the first time Jeremy truly felt the authenticity and miraculous nature of the magic system in this world. Truly worthy of being a high-grade potion, the recovery effect of this liquid was even more exaggerated than what was described in the fantasy novels Jeremy had read...
However...
Jeremy looked up, his sharp gaze sweeping over the four people standing around him.
These people were clearly not rookies starting from zero. If solely considering their magic manipulation level and practical combat experience, they were capable of leaving Jeremy dozens of streets behind.
That raised a massive question in Jeremy’s mind.
"Your combat strength far exceeds my expectations. So in the beginning, what was the reason you all pretended to be weak and ran for your lives alongside me?"
A full fifteen kilometers of forest path. Their willpower and patience to act out that entire play were truly commendable... Could it be they intentionally wanted to hide their true strength?
Just as Jeremy was deep in thought, Lucius put on a resolute expression, his tone as solemn as a knight swearing an oath of loyalty: "What are you saying, Captain? You are the commander, so every decision you make is naturally an order that I must absolutely obey. As for the other three..."
Lucius’s gaze lightly swept over the remaining three members, the smile on his lips not diminishing in the slightest, its curve carrying a hint of bewitching sarcasm: "...I guess they consider themselves superior, treating others as merely cumbersome trash, which is why they didn’t want to step up and shoulder the risks just to let others benefit."
The sharp, provocative implication was thrown out without any hesitation. Evelyn and Phoenix maintained absolute silence after hearing it, their facial expressions not revealing the slightest bit of dissatisfaction, practically tacitly admitting to that provocation.
However, Leon standing opposite could not swallow this attitude. Leon slightly lifted his eyelids, his cold silver-gray eyes flashing with clear hostility: "You make yourself sound so noble. Are you some kind of hypocrite tired of living or what?"
Being cursed right to his face, Lucius still did not show any anger; instead, the smile on his lips deepened.
Lucius looked harmless and composed, but every word escaping his mouth reeked of an underlying challenge: "Leon’s personality is truly a complete contrast to your cold appearance. Did I say anything that touched upon your weak spot? Suddenly flaring up as if your tail was stepped on."
The pair of Crescent Blades that Leon had just put away appeared once again, hovering by his coat lapel. Leon’s voice was brimming with murderous intent: "Nauseating trash."
And almost simultaneously, Lucius’s silver Soul Devourer chain also slithered out of his palm, as sharp as a venomous snake waiting to strike back.
Jeremy—who was playing the role of a reluctant spectator—had to admit that his train of thought was completely unable to keep up with the developments of this bunch of freaks anymore.
Yesterday, even though these two didn’t have any direct interaction, on the surface they seemed to still maintain a fake peace. Jeremy thought that facade could hold up for a while, who would have expected that just stepping into the second day, the temperature of their relationship had dropped below zero, shifting straight into drawing weapons and demanding a life-or-death battle. What the hell was this...
At this rate, he was afraid their makeshift team would be expelled by the academy for the crime of killing each other before they even passed the rookie assessment.
Seeing the tense situation about to erupt into an internal battle, Jeremy was just about to open his mouth to fulfill the "procedural" mediation duty of a captain, when the ground beneath their feet suddenly shook violently.
"What the f-"
Before the rest of the words could even escape his throat, the sloping ground cracked open, revealing a giant grayish-black energy vortex.
The vortex’s formation speed was so fast that it only took a mere few seconds, and its spreading range was enough to swallow an entire large area. The five people present there had absolutely no window of opportunity to react or dodge in time. In just a split second, everyone was forcefully swept inside by the massive gravitational pull...
When his vision was restored, Jeremy found himself floating in the middle of a vast ocean.
The harsh sunlight shattered and sparkled on the water waves, reflecting straight into his eyes and making his vision sting. A suffocating pain rose from his lungs; Jeremy felt as if he was about to drown. He struggled with all his might to propel himself to the water’s surface, scooping up the newly restored oxygen as violent, throat-tearing coughs rang out continuously.
Wait... continuously?
Jeremy wiped the stagnant water on his eyelids and looked around.
His four freakish teammates were also struggling to stay afloat around him, looking no less pathetic than he did. And the place they were clinging to was a vast, endless sea with no visible boundaries or shores...
This sudden spatial incident had directly interrupted the fiery clash that was about to erupt between Lucius and Leon.
But at the same time, it was also like a cruel death sentence: their resting time had completely ended.