Organizing profit-hungry students who are the cream of their age group. Seems tough, and it is.
But mentioning we had to cover 30 kilometers through wild terrain, overcome a bunch of obstacles, and likely fight a real monster... didn't help much either, but it knocked some arrogance out of them.
Then, as the acknowledged top mage among us and flashing my hunter badge, I played on their greed and said that following me would guarantee their artifact and top grade for university admission.
That shut them up for a bit, and listening to my words, they started unpacking their two-week ration backpacks, maps, and essentials.
Next, I assigned standard roles: earth mages speed us up with earth waves, wind mages scout using wind paths, fire and ice mages prepare to attack at any moment, water mages prepare to defend when needed, and even light mages work as lanterns at night.
I tried to give them as much magic practice as possible. In real wild conditions, I'd recommend conserving reserves except for scouts.
But since this exam was just a realistic simulation with no dangers besides the wolf at the end and predatory vines before it, I trained them to release magic on my command.
Evenings had drills. Fire mages shot at water shields and trees, ice mages put out the aftermath. For wind and earth mages, a simple exercise.
Wind mages back off then charge us, earth mages repel them with earth waves. Light mages worked lanterns... don't despair, guys, I get your pain—I went through it in my past life.
After eight days, we reached a 10-meter-wide cliff. Going around would take too long, so pulling rope from my backpack, I raised it overhead and loudly asked:
"Who's the brave wind mage who'll tie the rope on, jump across the cliff, secure it on the other side so we immobile plebs can cross?" I gave the volunteer a chance to show off to the girls.
"Leave it to me!" Several guys surged forward, but Zhang Xiaohou got there first.
No wonder he hooked up with so many girls in his past life—he knew when to act. True, they all died before his eyes, but let's not dwell on the sad stuff.
With a running start and wind magic, the guy barely made it across, tied the rope around a tree, and opened the path ahead. I let the others go first and crossed last.
Looking at the full figure of that same Zhao Kunsan or the matchstick-thin bodies of some girls, if they were normal people, no way I'd let them pull that off—I'd sweat building a temporary bridge.
But mages' bodies, though far from matching monsters and only on high magic levels rivaling the weakest servant, are still stronger than they look.
A day later, we reached dense demonic vine thickets. No need to overthink—I ordered fire mages to burn the vines, ice mages to freeze the ground. We passed calmly.
Another day, and we finally reached the target—the One-Eyed Wolf's cave.
Seeing the young mages getting jittery before the danger, I confidently laid out our plan to ease their fear:
"The plan's simple as half a yuan. For max safety, scouts stick with us, not ahead as usual. They'll pull people from potential strikes. Water mages at the rear—your job is timely shields. Light mages in the middle, blind the wolf's eyes, but first hang lanterns around us. Ice mages, with me, freeze its legs—aim low on the body. Earth mages, if the beast breaks free, repel it with earth waves. Fire mages, blast fire into its face—your goal is to blind it."
"Xu Zhaoting," I addressed our sole lightning mage, "with the fire mages, target the head—short-circuit its brain, let it stand stunned while we kill it." The guy nodded steadily.
"And last, cease fire on my command. Got it?" The students nodded solemnly.
Repeating the plan twice more to make sure they memorized it, I led them into the cave depths. We moved slowly but confidently. Magical lanterns lit above our heads.
Sensing the beast with spirit magic a bit early, I ordered the kids before panic set in:
"Prepare spells!" And discreetly released a spirit element spell to calm the attackers—otherwise, despite my ten days of training, they'd bolt like in canon, heels flashing.
Three seconds later, it appeared—not exactly a one-eyed wolf. But we'll fix that quick.
"Attack per the plan!" I led by example, firing "Hardening" at the wolf's legs.
Thanks to the spirit magic holding on its last legs, the students followed. Not all, but I had enough: three ice guys, four fire, and crucially the lightning mage. The rest didn't matter much.
"Cease fire!" During the attack, I'd edged closer to the wolf. When the magic barrages stopped, I dashed at full speed.
While the wolf was dazed and hunched, I leaped and manifested the purchased attack artifact—a short sword—plunging it into one of its seared eyes. Then bolted back to the kids, better safe.
Seeing the wolf slump, the kids perked up. But I cut off victory thoughts, cosplaying a particularly cautious hero:
"Open fire!" The kids hesitated at first but obeyed.
"Xiao Hou, blue bracelet should be at the cave's end. Fetch it, please," I told Mo Fan's idle friend.
"Yes!" He didn't argue, racing on wind paths. No wonder he joined the military—very dutiful guy.
A couple minutes later, as the kids exhausted their magic energy and sat resting on the cave floor, Zhang Kong flew in on wind wings.
"What's happening here?!" He froze at the sight of the half-charred, half-frozen meat chunk with sparse fur bits. After death, monster bodies don't hold up well to magic blasts.
"My Wufer!" Right behind him ran the summoning mage on foot, half-fainting, dropping to his knees before the meat chunk.
No surprise—we killed his summoned beast he'd poured resources into. Plus soul backlash from its death. If he weren't Black Church, I'd almost pity him.
"I'm back!" The scout finally arrived with the blue bracelet.
"No idea what's going on here," I took the bracelet from his hands, "but I know Instructor Zhang Kong pays for it all." I handed the task item to the stunned soldier.
His shocked face mixed so many emotions, I regretted not bringing a camera.