"Probably not. I don't have the skills for that," Se Lei shrugged.
"By the way, Lieutenant Luo Dong, may I take the surviving fangs of the three-eyed wolves to make new daggers?" I asked, as my alligator tooth daggers were, firstly, practically useless, and secondly, already quite worn out. By the way, not a single whole soul dropped from any of the three wolves, but even the soul shards of a pack leader would be good nourishment for my tooth.
"Yes, please, if there are any whole ones, take them, they are not particularly useful in the army," Luo Dong replied with a shrug. He was right, these fangs were not much different from alligator fangs, they conducted magic just as poorly, and for mid-level artifacts, for which it was profitable to use them, they were no longer suitable because of this. However, I don't need them to conduct magic; it's enough for me that these fangs are stronger and can be sharpened better, which will allow me to cut the skins of pack leaders like these wolves, and ordinary servants can be chopped up like ordinary sausage. "Se Lei, go find our novice mages and bring them back."
"Yes, sir, Lieutenant," Se Lei drawled sluggishly and disappeared into the shadows. I, on the other hand, headed towards the wolf that died last; only it could have intact fangs; the other two had their skulls crushed along with their fangs.
"Zhou Suiyin, examine everyone and provide healing assistance to those who need it..." Luo Dong continued to give orders, but I had moved far enough away not to hear them.
To my great happiness, the fangs remained intact, so in a couple of days I will have new daggers. By the time I finished extracting the necessary fangs from the wolf's mouth, and it must be said, it's not that easy, the novice mages returned, led by, surprisingly, Zhang Xiao Hou. It turned out he wanted to return for us, but prioritized the survival of the other mages, but still expected our return at the site of our yesterday's camp. How he managed to convince those mages who were already over thirty to obey him, and we have a couple of them, I never found out, although I didn't really want to.
After a rather long rest, in the afternoon, we headed back, on which nothing unusual happened. I, on the other hand, thought a little about the fact that if the canon strives to be fulfilled, then all the actions that should happen but were not described strive to happen in such a way that the described canon is fulfilled. But then it turns out that this sortie was possibly in the original, and our lieutenants died saving the others, which means something must change. However, I don't think their salvation will negate anything in the future; the canon still strives to happen.
We returned the next day closer to evening, and the day after that we were sent to patrol the surroundings within ten kilometers around the base. Not that it's a fun job, but they won't take you on sorties every time; they'll keep talking about rest and all that, damn them! This continued for about a week, during which I cultivated space in my free time, and at night I went beyond the base and worked on the lightning element, and tried to find new spells in wind magic, although with little success.
Sometimes I was thrown in different directions by gusts of wind, sometimes I managed to raise a weak breeze, spending energy as if for a full-fledged spell, sometimes I even managed to create a mini-hurricane, but it was as useful as the breeze. However, I felt that my control over the wind stars was noticeably increasing after each attempt; it's not just practicing spells, but rather a deeper understanding of how the stars themselves work.
If standard spells and their refinement can be compared to ordinary muscle memory, then this is an understanding of the principles of the system's operation and the ability to change it at will, although still unsuccessfully. Although thanks to this, I can now cast mid-level magic in just nine and a half seconds, a very good result for a little over a week.
As for the magic of merging wind and lightning, there has been even less progress here, although I can complete one star path and build the second up to three stars, but then I need to cast the first spell and only after that build and release the second. Of course, this is also of great importance in a real battle; the speed of switching between magics has become almost instantaneous. But this is not a true fusion. I tried to build two paths simultaneously, but I couldn't build more than three stars. However, I think that creating new types of star paths and new spells also helps in this matter. I should try experimenting with lightning, but for now I don't have time; I want to get a concrete result in wind magic first.
So, after a week of patrolling, we were informed that another team of hunters would awaken tomorrow, and that the day after tomorrow there would be another raid on a monster lair, after which Zhao Tin and I would be free. By the way, our contract was signed for the minimum possible time, that is, only two weeks, but it has the option of extension at our discretion.
In connection with this, we were given two whole days of rest to prepare for this raid. Xu Zhao Tin decided to delve into cultivation, while I went on business to Xiamen; I needed to sell the souls of servants on the market, of which I already had three; I received another one from the wolves killed during the patrol. Well, and also to visit a couple of places.
I reached Xiamen around noon, after which I spent a couple of hours looking for someone who would buy souls from me at a reasonable price. As a result, I found such a person and sold him each for three and a half million yuan, resulting in ten and a half million! A rather large sum, even for mid-level mages.
But I already had plans on how to spend this amount, sadly. For nine million, I bought two reusable vessels for servant souls. The remaining money, I decided to spend on buying bait for beasts. Firstly, it could be used for training, luring a bunch of monsters to myself. And secondly, if necessary, it could be used to cover tracks. I still remembered that some "guardians" from Russia were likely hunting me. There was no news of them for a week, which proves that they are not watching me or Zhang Rou, but this does not mean that they cannot find out where I am simply by knowing what mission I am performing in the league, even the location is indicated there. Of course, I have no idea where they were this week, but perhaps they don't check information about me every day, but it doesn't matter at all.
I had to search for the bait for a long time, as it is impossible to find it in open access; it is simply forbidden, and I couldn't act the same way as with the cursed seal; after all, the seal is a semi-forbidden product. I had to spend about one hundred and fifty thousand yuan just to be introduced to the right person, and then another two hundred and fifty to have this person arrange a meeting with the seller of the bait in the city. But it's not even about the money; it took a lot of time too; all the manipulations and searches took about six to seven hours! And the meeting with the seller was scheduled only for the next day.
The military part knew that I was going to Xiamen and might stay there overnight, so there should be no problems; I rented an apartment for one night and stayed in the city peacefully. I should clarify a bit about the bait; it is a crumbling stone saturated with elemental energy, which, when removed from its case, attracts beasts even better than an ordinary bell or some devices. I had the option of using a device to count monsters in the area or elemental energy in the vicinity, but they are located in the military department or do not have the attractiveness I need. However, it is worth saying that ordinary bait is in no way comparable to the rain of the black church, although they have one basis, the rain is much more effective and can interest even supreme commanders and warlords.
At six o'clock in the morning, in a back alley of the large city of Xiamen, I met a man dressed in simple jeans and a sweater with a black cloak thrown over it, and wearing black glasses. This was the seller directly connected to the Chinese black market. I was dressed in gray jeans, a black t-shirt, and a sports jacket, with glasses with transparent lenses and a baseball cap on my head.
"Heard you need beast bait?" the seller asked with a smirk. "Getting ready to finish someone off or just decided to spice up your life?"
"None of your business, all of it," I replied сухо. "How much for a portion?"
"One hundred thousand yuan," the seller replied briefly, leaning against the wall.
"Can I see the goods before buying?" I asked with suspicion in my voice. In fact, dealing with the black market is not new to me, and this is my first experience, but I've watched many movies.
"Ha, who do you take me for? Of course, you can! I'm an honest seller," he said, taking a small, five by three centimeter metal box resembling a matchbox from his cloak pocket. When he opened it slightly, I saw a small brown stone emanating strong elemental energy. "Crumble one of these, and all the servants from the vicinity will flock, possibly even a couple of pack leaders will come."
"Excellent," I said, nodding my head and finally convincing myself of the bait's properties. "Give me five of these, do you have them?"
"You wound me; you warned about the availability of goods upon meeting; it's five hundred thousand yuan from you," the seller replied, taking four more identical boxes from his pocket and closing the first one.
"Can I get your contact, in case I need anything else?" I asked, handing over the money specifically withdrawn for this purpose.
"Yes, I'll be happy to have a mutually beneficial deal again," the seller smiled, taking the money and handing over the bait, along with a slip of paper with his contacts. "Alright, goodbye, kid."
"Wait, can you find information about an organization?" I asked him, putting the purchases into my portfolio.
"Seven hundred and fifty for an attempt, then more, depending on how difficult it was to get," the seller said, turning his head.
"A Russian organization called: 'Guardians', here's a deposit," I smiled, handing over the money.
"As you wish," he said, jokingly giving a salute. "When there are results, I'll contact you; get ready with money; I won't give it to you until you pay."
After meeting with the black market man, I walked for a couple of hours, waiting for the hunters' league to open, where I went without changing clothes. In the morning, the league building was still empty; some consultants were just taking their places. Behind a couple of counters stood quite cute girls, but I headed towards a young guy, as I wasn't sure that the "Guardians" hadn't bribed them too.
"Hello, can I get a hunter's league card?" I asked, smiling and adding a slight Russian accent.
"Yes, of course, your name and cultivation level?" the guy asked politely.
"Yun Ivan, father is Chinese, mother is Russian, insisted on a Russian name," I smiled, explaining the strange name, seeing the guy's surprised look. My appearance, more European than Asian, helped me pass myself off as a mix of Chinese and Russian. Although there were features from both races. Perhaps my body is the product of such a marriage; I don't know.
"Ah, I see," he exhaled with relief, shaking his head. "Such things happen. So, what about your cultivation level?"
"Mid-level lightning, ten-star control," I said calmly, while telling the truth; in a week I managed to subdue three stars! Even despite their harmful nervous character. "Second element is wind, first stage is novice, I can cast magic."
"Okay, just a minute, place your hand on the stone and confirm your cultivation level," the guy said, handing me a rectangular black stone, the same as Zhang Rou had a week and a half ago. I quickly placed my hand on it and directed the necessary amount of energy into it to match the described cultivation level. "There you go," the guy said, handing me a new card. "You have been assigned the novice rank, and there is also..."
"I know, my father is a hunter," I interrupted him. "Can I take a mission to help the military in the city of Bo? I heard there was a major tragedy there two and a half months ago?"
"Yes, you can, shall I sign you up?" the consultant asked politely.
"No, I need to clarify with my father," I refused, waving my hands. "He is an experienced hunter, he might advise something better. Can I find out, just in case, who is currently carrying out this mission, so that my heart is at ease?"
"Yes, of course, one minute," he said, looking at something on the computer. "So, currently two hunter teams are carrying out this mission. The first is 'Baofeng', consisting of two novice-rank hunters; one is a mid-level mage, the second is at the peak of novice. Their contract is valid for another half a week. The second team, 'Bao Qing Che', starts its mission today. It consists of four people; one is a high-rank hunter, one is a high-level, and two are mid-rank. Two mages are at the mid-level, one of them has reached the second stage in one element, two are at the novice level. Upon receiving more detailed information about the teams, the league will be obliged to inform them that you were looking for information about them."
"No, thank you, I think I'll go. The main thing is that hunters are helping after the tragedy," I said, saying goodbye to the consultant, after which I quickly left the league.