Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Mission Completed
"HUFF, HUFF, HUFF..." Andre gasped, staring at the pairs of crimson eyes.
The owners of those eyes were panting heavily as well.
At this point, both sides had been chasing each other through these mountains for three days.
’Seven Silver Frost Wolves left.’
Andre took a deep breath, then stomped his right foot hard. A series of earthen spikes shot up from the ground.
"AWOOOO!" The Wolf King saw Andre’s move and let out a howl, immediately dashing to the side.
The remaining six wolves scattered to the sides as well.
"Elemental Impact!" Seeing the wolves separated, a faint smile touched Andre’s exhausted face. He then began tracing a Witchcraft Curse Seal with one hand.
In barely a second, Andre unleashed the Elemental Impact, hurling it at one of the Silver Frost Wolves and instantly blasting it to smithereens.
After killing the first Silver Frost Wolf, Andre didn’t stop.
He unleashed a volley of Elemental Impacts, killing four more of the remaining six Silver Frost Wolves.
Now, only two Silver Frost Wolves were left: the Wolf King and the Wolf Queen.
These two were the strongest of the pack, each possessing the combat power of a High Level Wizard Apprentice.
"I had no quarrel with you, but you insisted on making an enemy of me. For that, I’m sorry."
Andre looked at the Wolf King and Wolf Queen, who were now showing signs of fear. He took another deep breath and activated his Eye of Truth, searching for their weak points.
The moment he activated it, a white spot appeared on the bellies of the Wolf King and Wolf Queen.
That was their weak spot. Seeing that the two wolves were still unwilling to leave, Andre sighed and once again lifted his right leg, stomping forward. Earthen spikes shot up from the ground again.
This time, however, the Wolf King and Wolf Queen didn’t dodge to the side as before. Instead, they opened their massive maws, and a blue light began to gather within.
Once the blue light reached its peak intensity, the two wolves spat two Ice Bombs at Andre.
Andre remained perfectly calm. With a flick of his hands, the ground where the Wolf King and Wolf Queen stood turned into a patch of soft mud, trapping them.
Next, Andre swatted the two Ice Bombs away with his hand. He then clapped his hands, and a yellow glow appeared in his palms. Two Stone Spears materialized and ended the lives of the Wolf King and Wolf Queen.
"Hah... finally done."
Having dealt with the Wolf King and Wolf Queen, Andre’s exhausted body could no longer support him. He collapsed onto the ground, and a faint yellow glow on his body slowly dissipated.
This yellow glow was the Earth Armor, the second Talent Witchcraft he had acquired from the Earth Elemental Bear.
If it weren’t for this Witchcraft with its terrifyingly high Defense Power, Andre never would have spent three days playing cat and mouse with this Silver Frost Wolf pack in the mountains.
’The last mission is finally complete.’
Lying on the ground, Andre watched the snowflakes drift down from the sky. He took a Recovery Potion he had personally concocted from his Storage Ring and chugged it down.
’This one tastes pretty good—orange juice!’
As Andre felt the Potion’s effects spreading through his body, his eyes gradually lost focus, and he drifted into his memories.
「Five months ago.」
After teaching him at the academy for a month, Farrete had assigned him a series of missions.
Once he was certain Andre had memorized all the tasks, he had thrown him into this forest, claiming that a Wizard who has never faced life and death is not a good Wizard.
Then he told Andre he could return to the academy after completing the missions, and promptly vanished before his eyes.
The forest Andre was in was called the Black and White Forest, which served as the dividing line between the territories of the White Wizards and the Black Wizards.
Because of this, it was also a hiding place for many outlaws.
Among the missions Farrete had given him, several involved capturing Black Wizards who had violated the White Wizard treaty.
When Andre first saw this mission, his vision went dark. These Black Wizards were all Official Wizards.
’Sending a High Level Wizard Apprentice to capture several Official Wizards? Was he serious?’
Andre wanted to complain to Farrete, but his senior had already disappeared. He had no choice but to figure out a way to complete the mission.
After thinking for a long time, Andre found a way for a mere High Level Wizard Apprentice to defeat Official Wizards: by making Magic Potions.
Therefore, using the knowledge of Magic Potions stored in his mind, he spent a grueling three months searching the Black and White Forest. He finally managed to create several Potions and, after enduring many hardships, succeeded in incapacitating all the Black Wizards with them.
Actually, "incapacitating" wasn’t quite right. Since it was his first time using poison, Andre didn’t control the dosage properly and directly turned three of his targets into corpses.
And now, he had finally collected the last item on his list: the Magic Plant, Silver Heart Grass.
Silver Heart Grass was a very special type of Magic Plant. It grew symbiotically with Silver Frost Wolf packs and thrived in the cold.
Since Silver Frost Wolves preferred cold environments, this Magic Plant could often be found near their dens.
Besides inducing an early breeding season in Silver Frost Wolves, the greatest use for Silver Heart Grass was as the main ingredient for a type of Calm Potion.
That was why the Wolf King had led its pack to chase Andre through the mountains for three whole days—for the sake of its future generations. But in the end, it had cost them their lives.
’Hah, I’ve got the Silver Heart Grass. Time to head back to the academy. I wonder how Potato is doing.’
Once the Recovery Potion had run its course, Andre took two Witchcraft Scrolls from his Storage Ring and tore them.
With a rush of wind, several pairs of wings unfurled from his back.
With the Multiple Wings of the Wind deployed, Andre cast a Gentle Wind Technique on himself. Aided by the wings on his back, he flew toward the wolves’ den.
Three hours later, Andre returned to the den and harvested every last stalk of Silver Heart Grass.
While harvesting, Andre activated his Eye of Truth again to carefully inspect the inside of the den.
After confirming there were no other creatures or wolf pups inside, Andre finally left the den.
He followed the trail of the wolf pack’s pursuit, gathering the corpses of the Silver Frost Wolves he had killed one by one.
These corpses would fetch a good price back at the academy.
By the time he finished collecting the bodies, the sun had set, heralding the arrival of night.
As the sun went down, the cold wind in the mountain forest grew increasingly sharp.
Andre coolly chugged another Recovery Potion. The battle with the Silver Frost Wolf pack had completely drained his Spiritual Power and Magic Power.
He had originally thought one Recovery Potion would be enough for him to recover.
But after making a round trip to collect the bodies, his head began to ache again from the depletion of his Spiritual Power.
’Back to the academy tomorrow!’
Andre found a nearby tree hollow and climbed inside. He affixed several Disguise Scrolls to the entrance, both for camouflage and as a windbreak.
After placing the Scrolls, Andre took a Magic Energy Furnace from his Storage Ring. Tossing in a single Magic Stone would provide him with warmth for ten days.
