"Ah, I see," Mo Fan said, looking like he didn't want to know the details. "And what's been happening here lately?"
"Oh, nothing special," Xiaohou shrugged. "True, for the last couple of days, patrol reports have been coming in that a huge number of corpses of one-eyed wolves, rats, and other servant-level monsters have appeared in the north, even a couple of pack leaders." He said with a slightly somber voice.
"Ah, is that bad?" Mo Fan asked in surprise. "Aren't you essentially helping to clear the territory in the north?"
"Yes, it's definitely good that the number of monsters is decreasing, but if there's some stronger monster behind it, like a winged ash wolf, then it's an even greater danger to the city," He Yu explained, her voice suddenly becoming serious.
"And couldn't it be a hunter team?" Jiaxing Xia asked naively, rejoining the conversation.
"No, there's no point for them to kill such a large number of monsters. They can't earn anything from it. Even their souls are very cheap," I replied, remembering what Jiaxing Yun had told me about it. "And how long has this been going on? How many have been killed?"
"A couple of days, and during this time, about two hundred corpses of various servant-level monsters have been discovered," Xiao Hou said, then added a bit uncertainly. "True, this is all we know from the patrols' stories."
"I see," I muttered, and the whole room fell silent. In a couple of days, who could kill so many servant-level monsters? That's too many, even for Mo Fan and me combined. And that means it's either a strong monster or a strong mid-level mage. But then the question arises, why would this mage, or a team of mages, kill so many monsters? They would gain almost no profit. Training? Also stupid, they could find more profitable targets for training.
"And what do you plan to do?" Mo Fan asked, suddenly becoming very serious.
"Most likely, in a couple of days, they'll send a group there to figure out the situation," Xiao Hou shrugged.
"I see, and can we join this group?" Mo Fan immediately asked.
"I don't know, most likely yes," Xiao Hou replied hesitantly.
After that, we talked a bit more. A couple of hours later, Xiao Hou and He Yu left, and we started doing our own things. Zhang Kong sent us to patrol, so that became our main activity. Of course, as Jiaxing Yun had said, it wasn't very effective in terms of training. Especially now, when there weren't many beasts around the base, or the city. But Mo Fan and I volunteered for more dangerous routes, and in a couple of days, we got into a fight more than once.
What can I say, Mo Fan had immense strength, which he also hid, but he lacked experience. Against a leader, even a junior one, it would be difficult for him, let alone a three-eyed wolf, which is a true leader. Although his wolf is also quite strong and develops quickly. Just a month ago, it was comparable to mid-level servants, and now it's approaching high-level ones, though it's still far from them.
Compared to Mo Fan, it was quite easy for me to fight one-eyed wolves. The monster combat technique was honed at Lake Taihu thanks to Jiaxing Yun, who helped me quite a bit. It was very simple. I attacked from a distance with lightning magic, and if the opponent approached, I quickly moved away using wind magic. Mo Fan was quite surprised by such tactics, as he himself simply threw spells at enemies until they died, sometimes dodging.
I was also impressed by Zhang Xiao Hou, who was once sent on patrol with us. As I understood, he also chose the most dangerous routes for patrolling. Xiao Hou fought using wind step and earth wave, one after another, starting the next spell while the first was still finishing. He also used daggers, only now they were the same daggers as Jiaxing Yun's, made from the teeth of three-eyed wolves, not alligators. Xiao Hou fought almost the same way as Jiaxing Yun, only what struck me was that he was slightly inferior to Jiaxing Yun in speed, using two spells simultaneously, while Jiaxing Yun himself constantly used only one, wind step. This seemed very strange to me, but it was probably related to Jiaxing Yun's teacher.
"Wow, monkey, when did you grow fangs?" Mo Fan asked after our first joint fight with Xiao Hou against a group of one-eyed wolves.
"Yes, at the beginning of autumn, I saw how Jiaxing Yun fought, and we have the same main element, so I asked him to teach me," he replied shyly, scratching the back of his head. "He explained the basics to me and gave me two daggers. Soon, however, they became unusable, and during one of the raids, I got the fangs of three-eyed wolves and made myself new ones."
"Jiaxing Yun, who also fights like that?" Mo Fan's eyes widened. "I'm not saying it's very dangerous and risky, but it's also very effective. If you were stronger, you could give me a lot of trouble!"
"I don't know, I haven't seen him in a long time, maybe he's gotten even stronger," Xiao Hou replied, looking at me. "Zhao Ting, you spent more time with him, what is he capable of now?"
"I'm not sure myself, I think he was holding back during our joint hunt, but he's definitely faster than you, and more agile, I guess," I mused, recalling battles with Jiaxing Yun. "Plus, he has the lightning element, but he doesn't use it that often yet, mostly to distract or slow down the opponent."
"Yeah, come on, that's too fantastic," Mo Fan waved it off. "If he's even stronger than you say, then he's just some kind of monster, even compared to me."
"I don't know," I shrugged, noting that after his success, Mo Fan had caught the same disease that had cured me. He now considered all his peers weaker than himself, which could lead to trouble for him. There's always a bigger fish. But is there a bigger fish than Jiaxing Yun? I'm not so sure about that, after all, there should be one biggest fish, otherwise, it's impossible.
We didn't return to this topic and continued our patrol. All this time, Jiaxing Xia was at the base, never leaving it. She was helping in the hospital, where mostly those who got injured during training battles ended up. Although it wasn't quite what she had hoped for, it was also good experience. If she was to be believed.
After a couple of days of such work, Mo Fan and I were finally assigned to a group to investigate the situation in the northwest. Xiao Hou and He Yu were also sent with us, and Se Lei was appointed our commander. On the first day, we found nothing but new fresh corpses. Most of them were one-eyed wolves. Some were burned by lightning, some were cut by wind, others were slashed by daggers, and there were also a few who looked like they had been beaten to death with bare hands! And the hands were clearly human! What kind of monster could beat a mid-level servant monster to death with bare hands?
The day ended with such thoughts, and the next day we met him. Wandering in the area where we found the corpses, gradually moving towards the still undestroyed wolf dens, we heard sounds of battle. We immediately rushed in that direction and saw quite a remarkable sight. A man in black, dirty martial arts clothing, wearing some kind of mask, was fighting a one-eyed wolf hand-to-hand. Around him were scattered about seven more corpses of similar wolves. My eyes almost popped out at the sight!
As for the fight, it couldn't even be called a fight. The wolf was simply trying to escape, and the man was finishing it off. Around the man, wind currents swirled, and weak lightning bolts shot out. The man struck the wolf on the back, breaking its spine, after which it died. A deathly silence fell; we couldn't even speak, let alone move!
The man stood for a moment, the lightning and wind gradually disappeared, and he turned towards us, making my heart skip a beat. I felt like this man could kill us all! And besides the lieutenants already listed in our squad, there were a couple more, which meant mid-level mages, at least second stage! Stepping back from my fear and preparing for a possible battle, I examined his mask. On a white background, as if drawn with blood, was a devilish smile and eyes that inspired terror. In the cut-out eye sockets, there was emptiness, as if there were no eyes behind them, which instilled even more fear in me.
Se Lei took a step forward; he was the commander of the operation and had to be braver than everyone else; fear was simply not allowed for him. However, as soon as he opened his mouth, the man simply turned and disappeared among the trees using wind step. It seemed to me that his speed was close to that of three-eyed wolves! I clearly felt that he was still at the mid-level of magic; thanks to Zhang Kong, who was a high-level mage, I knew the difference. But how could a person develop such immense speed at this level? It's several times faster than Jiaxing Yun, let alone Xiao Hou. This is a true monster mage! I don't even know who he's closer to.
"What was that?" Xiao Hou asked, approaching Se Lei.
"I don't know, but it's likely some very strong mage. Moreover, his body is clearly not weaker than that of one-eyed wolves. We can only guess how he achieved this," Se Lei replied, deep in thought.
"What do you think, Mo Fan, can you handle something like that?" I asked Mo Fan, also coming out of my stupor.
"Yes, did you see him? I wish I could hit him even once, he moves with the speed of a three-eyed wolf!" he replied, his eyes wide with shock. "Plus, he definitely wields lightning and wind, which makes him even more dangerous, and on top of that, both elements are at a mid-level!"
"Senior Lieutenant Se Lei, what do we do now? It's likely this person is responsible for the death of all servant-level monsters recently," He Yu asked timidly, also stepping forward.
"We're returning to base, we'll report this to Zhang Kong, and he'll decide what to do next," Se Lei replied, turned, and after thinking for a moment, said, "Since it's a person, he might not pose a threat, but we can't just leave him be, that's for sure."
"But still, he's incredibly strong," one of the lieutenants concluded. "To kill a one-eyed wolf with bare hands, and he's quite intimidating with his getup."
We returned in silence, each thinking about what we had seen today. I was amazed by this man's strength; perhaps he could even become the third person I would look up to, like Jiaxing Yun and Se Lei. I wonder how far Jiaxing Yun is from that man in terms of strength. If I knew even Jiaxing Yun's approximate strength, I could guess, but unfortunately, I don't know.
Upon returning, Se Lei reported everything to Zhang Kong. Several more groups were sent out, but they found nothing but a couple more fresh corpses. And after a couple of days, the corpses stopped appearing, as if no one had ever been there. Only servant-level beasts continued to avoid those lands.
However, Zhang Kong was not reassured by this situation, and after a meeting with the city's chief, Bo, it was decided to post an announcement in the hunter's league to help find this person. Almost no one agreed, but information was received that such a person had been seen participating in underground fights in Huzhou, his pseudonym being Asura. I was interested that Asura appeared when Jiaxing Yun and I were in Huzhou; perhaps we even met him on the street. It was difficult for me to find out more details, but I kept the investigation of this matter as a possibility. Throughout the base, and the entire city of Bo, after this incident was disclosed, that person was given a slightly different nickname; he was called the death god of Bo.