I got to the train station quickly and without problems, but I still felt uneasy, as I was essentially being hunted by some mages from Russia. They believed that my magical tool belonged to them. Most likely, the body I ended up in had its own history up to seven years old, I should try to find out more about it.
However, I have many questions for them. Firstly, how did they know I had this tooth? I didn't tell anyone about it. Only someone who knew me from childhood up to seven years old or immediately after could know. But then why didn't they kill me and take the tooth back then? Strange. And if we assume they found out later, then the question arises, when did they find out? Of course, I didn't hide it much; sometimes it hung over my clothes. I didn't pay much attention to it; if someone asked, my answer would be that it's just a simple ornament, and it's impossible for a non-mage to understand that it's a magical tool. And a mage, even of average level, would have to hold it and direct magical energy into it.
And if we talk about an unarmed glance, only a high-level mage who understands magical tools could do that. I have only met one high-level mage directly, and that is Zhang Kong. He definitely cannot belong to this group of mages. A simple passerby? Unlikely, because first, they would have to see the tooth, and second, they would have to look closely at it to understand its nature. The only possible outcome remains: I have already met members of this group of mages who know what the tooth looks like and have seen it in photographs or drawings.
But who could be involved in this? While I was thinking about this, I decided to check my notes on future events. I marked the eighth page as successfully passed; it contained information about Mo Fan's trip with Tang Yue for the fire seed. As I was putting away my notebook, I saw Xu Zhao Ting heading towards me, with a backpack on his shoulders.
"Hi, how did you spend time with your family?" he asked, sitting next to me. I looked at my watch; it was only half-past nine, still half an hour to wait.
"Yeah, everything's fine, only Jiaxing Xia complained that I called rarely, but otherwise, nothing," I answered briefly, I wasn't going to tell him about the incident last night.
Time flew by unnoticed, and soon we were on a train heading to Xiamen, from where we planned to get to Bo City by taxi. The railway connection had not been restored yet. Xu Zhao Ting buried himself in a book on lightning magic on the train, while I returned to thinking about the group of Russian mages calling themselves "Guardians." The main question was, are they watching me now? Most likely not, otherwise, they wouldn't be looking for me, and considering that they have at least a top-tier hunter at their disposal, taking the tooth from me by force would not be a problem for them. So, this proves once again that someone among them saw my tooth, recognized it, informed them, and then they couldn't track me because something happened, and they lost sight of me.
Based on this, I can estimate the approximate time of my discovery: it was shortly before the tragedy in Bo City, after which I left the city and soon disappeared in the jungles near Suzhou. There is a possibility that to get to me, they might capture Mo Fan or Jiaxing Xia, or Mo Jiaxing. Well, I have to accept this possibility, but I don't think they will do that. For kidnapping, first, they need to be sure that I care about them, and second, it could attract attention to them, and I don't think they need that, otherwise, I would have already been searched for as a thief of a magical tool. However, all this is very imprecise and carries a hint of my hope that both Mo Fan and Jiaxing Xia are still needed by me. In any case, I need to learn as much about them as possible, but how?
The easiest way is to find the one who found me, but the problem is that he might have died during the tragedy! And I might not even know him! Lure them to myself? No, I'd rather not take that risk, not at the middle level, to lure such people to myself, at least not at the beginning of my development. So what can I do then? Nothing, only cultivate and develop, and also try not to show anyone my tooth, and also stick to more or less strong organizations for my protection.
I spent the rest of the journey cultivating. The road was not short, so I could count on progress. I started cultivating wind, first, there was only one star left until the release of magic, and second, I could do it openly. Controlling forty-eight unruly hyperactive stars at once was not an easy task, let alone subduing another one. However, by the end of the train journey, I had almost managed to bring it under control; tonight, it will be mine!
"Shall we call a taxi right away, or do you need to go somewhere else?" Xu Zhao Ting asked when we got off the train.
"Yes, perhaps. I wanted to buy some books. They say that Xiamen has the best books," I said confidently, heading away from the station in search of bookstores.
"Where did you hear that?" Xu Zhao Ting asked suspiciously, following me.
"Oh, what difference does it make? If I want to read books, right?" I asked, continuing to look for shops. In fact, I had just decided to urgently buy a few books. First, I needed a book on the space element, and second, I needed information about Russia. I was going to buy all this later, before entering Mingzhu, and read it at my leisure, but the appearance of the "Guardians" forced me to hurry.
"And why do you need a book on spatial magic? You've awakened lightning, and you can't awaken space at the middle level of magic?" Zhao Ting asked, seeing what books I was buying.
"How do you know you can't? And you need to read for general development, and I want space as my third element," I answered his question confidently.
"Well, you know, that's what they say. And wanting to awaken and awakening are different things. Perhaps you will never need this book," he insisted, shrugging.
However, the books were bought, and I wasn't going to argue with him, so we quickly called a taxi and drove to Bo City to the military base on Mount Xue Feng. The road was quite long again, so I started reading the purchased books. Some people can't read in a car; I feel sorry for those people; they waste a lot of time on such trips. We reached the military base by evening; the taxi driver stopped right in front of the gates.
"Stop, who are you and why are you heading to the military base territory?" asked a guard who approached us. Yes, the laws are strict; you can't get into a military facility without permission, especially after what happened. Only the guard's voice seemed familiar to me, but I couldn't remember who it belonged to.
"We are hunters from the Baofeng team, arrived on a mission to help the military," I replied, taking out my hunter's card and handing it to the approaching guard. When he came closer, I recognized him as soon as he stepped into the lantern light.
"Jiaxing Yun, when did you become a hunter?" Zhang Xiao Hou asked, approaching us.
"Oh, and Xu Zhao Ting is with you! Where is Mo Fan? Isn't he with you?"
"No, he's cultivating in his apartment in Shanghai," I replied, handing him the card.
"Zhao Ting and I decided to become hunters to gain experience fighting monsters and improve our cultivation for admission to Mingzhu."
"Yes, when you fight monsters, your cultivation grows before your eyes," Xiao Hou replied, looking at my card. I then took out the mission contract.
"And what level have you reached in these two months? I've already reached the third stage."
"I'm approaching the boundaries of the middle level; just a little more, and I'll sense them, and then it won't be far to a breakthrough," Xu Zhao Ting said.
"And how are He Yu's successes?"
"She has almost reached the third stage; she is currently cultivating in the barracks," Xiao Hou replied, returning my documents.
"And you, Jiaxing Yun, what have you achieved?"
"Don't ask him, or you'll be ashamed. In nature, he became a monster, just like Mo Fan, cultivating at a monstrous speed."
"Yes, not that monstrous. I told you I reached the third stage long before the exams, I just didn't tell everyone," I replied, embarrassed, taking the card and contract.
"Is that true? I've fallen behind you again?" Xiao Hou asked, surprised.
"Yes, I'm already a middle-level mage," I said calmly, which made his jaw drop.
"Can you take us to the head of the part?"
"Uh, what? Yes. Wait, no, I can ask someone to escort you; I can't leave my post," Xiao Hou replied, having recovered.
"Did you really reach the middle level?"
"Yes, so will you at least show us the way?" I asked, seeing that he was much more interested in my cultivation than my request.
"Okay, follow me," Xiao Hou said, turning towards the gate.
"Did you awaken a second element? What is it?"
"Yes, by the way, you didn't say you awakened one," Zhao Ting added, supporting Xiao Hou.
"Lightning," I replied in one word, which stunned them both.
"You're not kidding?" Xiao Hou asked, greatly surprised by my answer.
"No, but as you understand, I can't release magic yet. Give me a couple of months, and you'll see me throwing lightning," I grinned at his question.
Xiao Hou grumbled a bit more, but soon we were walking with another mage towards a large stone building on a steep mountain slope. Around, as last time, there were wooden barracks and other houses for various needs. Fifteen minutes later, we entered the office of the head of this military base, who turned out to be the well-known Zhang Kong.
"Are you hunters from the Baofeng team?" he asked us as soon as we entered.
"Yes, we arrived to help the military according to this contract," I replied, handing him the contract along with my hunter's card.
"I see, start tomorrow, and for now, you will be taken to the barracks. Get a good rest, there's a lot of work tomorrow," Zhang Kong said, after reviewing the documents and returning them to me.
"And haven't we met somewhere before?"
"We have. We're from the group of students who came here for practice a couple of years ago," Xu Zhao Ting replied, smiling awkwardly.
"Yes, back then our classmate Mo Fan killed a phantom wolf," I clarified the moment of our acquaintance.
"You know Mo Fan, that dual-element mage?" Zhang Kong asked, slightly surprised.
"How is he doing? Has he decided to join the army? Do you know?"
"He's in Shanghai, staying at home cultivating, preparing to enter Mingzhu University," I replied.
"I see, good. Go and rest, tomorrow you will be performing a raid on the lair of the one-eyed wolves. You need to be in good spirits," Zhang Kong said, after which he called a low-level mage, who led us to the barracks. We found ourselves in a semi-empty building where half the beds were vacant. And the military slept on the remaining half.
"And why are half the beds here empty? Shouldn't the barracks be fully staffed?" Xu Zhao Ting asked doubtfully.
"All those who slept on these beds died during the tragedy in Bo City. Newly arrived soldiers were housed in new barracks buildings. So this one remained half-empty," our escort replied sadly.
"So we can lie on any of the free beds?" I asked, looking around the barracks.
"Yes, I'll go on; you'll figure it out yourselves?" the escort asked, and after our affirmative answer, he quickly disappeared.
All the beds in the barracks were bunk beds. We quickly chose one by the wall and, putting our backpacks at its base, lay down to sleep. Well, Xu Zhao Ting lay down to sleep. As for me, I waited until he fell asleep, grabbed a book on air cultivation, and quietly left the barracks, heading outside the military base. I was determined to subdue all the stars of wind magic and release middle-level magic.
Finding a place far from the base, I began to cultivate, subduing the last star. It didn't take much time, only an hour and a half, as it was almost mine. After that, I decided to perform middle-level magic. It was a rather exciting moment. Choosing a place where I would use magic, I began to build star paths and connect them into a star map. I did this slowly, without rushing, as the stars still obeyed me weakly; I needed to improve my control over them as quickly as possible.
After half a minute, the star map was built. I felt energy filling me; all that remained was to choose a place to direct the spell. This place became a group of trees slightly below where I was. First-tier middle-level wind magic – wind blades, surrounding whirlwind. From my magic, the trees within a five-meter radius of the spell's center turned into a pile of splinters! After this magic, it would be difficult for low-tier leaders to survive, let alone high-tier leaders. Still, in terms of power, thanks to my innate secondary wind seed, which has almost reached the small level, only a small push is needed; first-tier magic has surpassed second-tier magic!