The horned lizard was clearly far more intelligent than the others. It recognized Serena’s threat.

After evading her attack, it pulled back, vanishing into the haze, refusing to show itself again.

The remaining lizards changed their tactics.

Instead of direct charges, they began slipping through the poisonous fog, darting in and out with ambushes like assassins lurking in the shadows.

By now, Serena had roughly identified the species. These must be a mutated strain of Thief Lizards from the Emerald Forest.

Individually, they weren’t particularly strong. Apart from thick hides and sharp fangs, they had no special abilities.

But in packs, they were like wolves of the wilderness or hyenas of the plains, able to bring down prey far stronger than themselves. They were not to be underestimated.

At first, Serena struck down several mid-tier lizards, but the rest kept coming, seemingly endless.

And with a horned lizard of higher grade still lurking nearby, she had to conserve her mana. The only order she could give was: hold the line.

Whoosh!

Lynn hurled a Lesser Fireball at a lizard lunging from the fog.

It struck its neck, knocking loose a few scales, but the damage was negligible. Against their hide, a lower Zero-Ring spell was almost useless.

He gripped his silver-arm bracer-sword, preparing to press the attack

But the beast retreated swiftly, melting back into the poisonous mist.

“This won’t do…” Lynn muttered grimly.

When Serena first spotted the ambush, she called everyone to gather.

Now, all six of them were outside, fending off the pack.

Swish!

Another lizard burst forth. Lynn loosed another fireball.

This time, the beast took the hit but did not retreat; it charged straight at him.

Lynn tightened his grip on his sword, eyes sharpening.

Bang!

A streak of dark light shot past him, an arrow of magic from Leah’s hand.

It slammed into the lizard’s skull, leaving a bloody hole in its head.

It was the Zero-Ring Intermediate spell Arrow Shot, conjuring a metallic bolt.

Its advantage: solid power with minimal mana cost. Its weakness: it required physical arrows, and its applications were narrow.

Leah’s cheeks flushed with excitement. She sneaked a glance at Lynn, secretly pleased that at least in sorcery, she wasn’t behind this peer of hers.

“Careful!” Lynn barked, yanking her back as he swung his sword.

The wounded lizard hadn’t died. It lunged forward, jaws gaping, already upon them!

White Crow Sword Qi wrapped the silver blade as Lynn drove it through the wound Leah had opened, straight into its brain.

The beast howled, fatally struck. But in its final moment, it still snapped at them with its bloody maw.

In desperation, Lynn scooped Leah up and leapt back. They narrowly escaped being torn apart.

Serena, who had been preparing a spell to aid them, exhaled in relief and let her magic dissipate.

“During battle, you must never lose focus,” she scolded sternly. “Every distraction could cost your life. The academy cannot afford the time for you to ‘grow at your own pace.’ You must adapt quickly.”

“I’m sorry, Lady Serena. Sorry, Lord Lynn…” Leah bowed her head.

In truth, she had already cast a defensive spell on herself. Against an ordinary mid-tier lizard, she could have withstood a few strikes.

But she didn’t argue because Lynn had no such defense. None of the others had a protective spell they could cast on him, either.

Which meant that, just now, she had nearly gotten her teammate killed.

The thought turned her pale, fear lingering in her chest. She apologized again in a small voice.

Lynn only shook his head. He hadn’t minded; even if he’d been bitten, he still carried the Golden Shadow Pendant.

Pulling Leah closer to Serena’s position, he was about to speak when a shout rang out from ahead.

“Lady Serena!”

It was Rosa.

As a body-type wizard, her long-range magic was weak.

But her defenses were far stronger than Lynn’s, and she could last in the toxic mist longer than anyone. So instead of falling back, she prowled alone through the fog, clashing with the beasts.

This freed Serena to stay mobile, offering support where needed.

But after some time, even Rosa reached her limit. She could no longer keep breathing the miasma, and now signaled that she needed to retreat.

Just then, Serena’s eyes sharpened.

She had glimpsed the shadow of the horned lizard lurking behind Rosa.

It was waiting to strike while Rosa fell back!

Serena hurried forward to cover her.

But even after Rosa rejoined her, the beast did not attack.

A sense of dread gripped her. She spun around

The mist swirled thick, concealing everything.

But Rosa’s face changed. She shouted in alarm:

“Leah, Lynn, watch out! The horned lizard is right in front of you!”

Neither of them had noticed, but the beast had circled.

The massive horned lizard loomed before them, maw yawning wide, lunging straight for their heads.

Its speed was terrifying to them in the blink of an eye.

“Look out!”

Leah reacted quickly this time. She fired off an Arrow Shot and, without hesitation, stepped in front of Lynn to shield him!

In that moment of crisis, she hadn’t thought it through; she simply acted.

From a distance, Serena and Rosa’s faces changed sharply.

Shhhk!!

A golden misty silhouette appeared beside Leah. Lynn grabbed her and pulled her back at lightning speed, narrowly evading the horned giant lizard’s strike!

Hisss hisss

Iron vines burst from the ground. The horned lizard gave an enraged roar, stomped with its powerful legs, and quickly withdrew, choosing not to pursue.

Serena and Rosa rushed over. Leah was still clutching Lynn’s sleeve, shaken and pale.

They didn’t question him, but Lynn spoke up on his own:

“This was a life-saving artifact gifted to me by the Golden Shadow Wizard. My apologies for not mentioning it earlier.”

“It’s fine,” Serena shook her head. “Even among fellow academy members, keeping a few things back is natural and wise. I never asked you to reveal everything in the first place.”

She turned her focus back to the mist, watchful for another strike from the horned lizard.

“Lady Serena, this can’t go on,” Lynn said firmly. “The power module can’t be fixed quickly, but I may be able to restore energy to the Land Barge’s defense system.”

“How long would it take?” Serena asked.

Nearby, Theodore fought off another wave of lizards.

“I don’t know,” Lynn admitted honestly.

Serena thought for a moment, then nodded. “All right. We’ll buy you as much time as we can.”

Inside the poisonous mists, every second drained their mana as they kept up their barriers, and on top of that, they had to fend off the constant attacks. The longer it dragged on, the worse their chances became.

Lynn nodded, dismissed the golden misty veil, and headed back into the Land Barge with Leah at his side.

“Serena, do you think Lynn can actually pull this off?” Joel asked weakly, watching Lynn’s retreating figure.

Though injured, he hadn’t lost much combat strength, still stronger than Leah. He stayed outside to fight, planning to rotate inside when he could no longer hold on.

“…I don’t know,” Serena said after a pause.

Breaking down in the Poison Mists was dangerous enough. Surrounded by the lizards, it was a death trap.

At best, they could last a few more hours.

Rosa and Theodore overheard, and their expressions grew grim. Despair began to creep in among them, smothering the air.

Everyone knew piloting a Land Barge and repairing one were worlds apart. The Eight-Legged Land-Barge was a creation only specialized First-Class apprentices could craft. Lynn was merely a Second-Class apprentice.

“I… actually have faith in him,” Leah said softly, loosing another arrow of light to drive back a lizard.

“After all, he became the Golden Shadow Wizard’s student for a reason.”

Serena turned, surprised at the young girl’s quiet conviction. A faint smile crossed her lips.

She remembered being just like Leah once, young, brimming with hope and trust.

But at this point, they had no choice. Serena drew a long breath and said firmly:

“Pull the line tighter. Conserve your mana.

“We’ll hold the enemy back for as long as possible.

“As for the rest, we leave it to Lynn!”

The group compressed their defenses, making the shield perimeter smaller to ease the burden.

The only relief was that the horned lizard, perhaps wary after its failed strike, remained hidden, waiting patiently.

And patience was something these mist-twisted lizards had in abundance. They had learned long ago to linger in the fog until prey weakened or collapsed.

The horned lizard could wait.

The battle ground into a stalemate.

As time passed, Joel and the others’ mana reserves dwindled.

Oddly enough, the lizard pack seemed to ease their attacks as well, fearing the prey’s desperate last stand.

Ordinarily, that would have spelled the end.

But over an hour later, the Eight-Legged Land-Barge suddenly thrummed to life.

A faint silver glow rippled over its surface.

“Yes! The shield’s back online!” Joel shouted in disbelief. Relief swept across the group.

“Lynn… he really did it.” Leah let out a weary sigh of relief.

But this time, she didn’t relax. She kept her eyes sharp, scanning the mist.

The lizards were restless, sensing something was wrong. The green fog around them churned and swirled.

“Don’t just stand there, get back inside, now!” Serena commanded, her stance fierce and hawk-like as she stood at the front.

“Yes!” the apprentices responded, retreating quickly toward the land Barge.

The lizard pack launched a furious assault.

Dozens of the beasts surged at Leah and the others.

Serena didn’t move. She stayed still, even as Rosa neared the hatch. She waited. Patient.

At the hatch, Rosa scanned the poisonous haze one last time.

Then she shook her head toward Serena.

So… it didn’t take the bait. Serena exhaled, disappointed.

She had originally thought that the horned lizard would seize this moment to attack the remaining apprentices. That was why she had spoken with Rosa in advance, asking her, given her skill in scouting, to keep watch and relay its general position.

But to her surprise, the horned lizard was far more cautious than expected. It never once revealed itself.

After waiting a while longer without spotting any trace of it, Serena finally returned to the Eight-Legged Land-Barge.

The ordinary lizards, failing to breach the defensive barrier, had already chosen to retreat.

Together, Rosa and the others managed to bring down a few stragglers, but most of them slipped back into the poisonous mist.

Fortunately, with the defensive barrier restored, those mid-tier zero-grade lizards won’t be able to break through. Unless the horned lizard itself makes a move…

Serena gave a cold snort. If the horned beast dared to show itself, she was more than ready. With one last glance at the swirling mist, she too stepped back into the barge.

...

“Lynn’s array work is truly remarkable.”

“I doubt there’s another Second-Class apprentice in all of the Hossens' domain with that level of skill!”

“Exactly, perhaps even the Silver Ring Academy wouldn’t find many Second-Class apprentices of his caliber!”

In the lower cargo hold, the others showered Lynn with praise.

He only smiled and shook his head. “I’ve simply had more practice with this type of construct, that’s all.”

It wasn’t false modesty. While his expertise with the Rambiel Skiff had reached mastery, his general foundation in magical arrays was still only at a proficient level.

Serena remained on the barge’s upper deck, maintaining vigilance. She spoke with them through her badge, and after some discussion, decided Lynn should continue working on repairing the power module, so they could leave the Poison Mist Hollow as soon as possible.

The others, save for Joel, would take turns keeping watch.

Joel was the unluckiest of them all. Not only had he lost his leg, but it had been crushed and chewed beyond recovery. Otherwise, he might have returned to the academy and, with enough contribution points, persuaded a full wizard to reattach it.

Now, his only option was to regrow the limb, a far costlier process that would almost certainly shave years off his lifespan.

Lynn offered no objection; he was thinking the same thing as Serena.

If they kept the barrier running constantly in the poisonous mist, even without fighting, they could last at most twelve hours.

But once they left the mist, that time would increase by at least half. Without the miasma, they could further conserve energy by only activating the barrier when under attack.

In that way, the protective shield might last one or two times longer, long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

Events unfolded just as they had planned.

Four hours later, Lynn finished repairing the power module.

Amid cheers, the Eight-Legged Land-Barge lurched forward once more.

The lizard pack pursued relentlessly. The horned lizard even revealed itself several times, forcing Serena to drive it back, and on one occasion, nearly dying in the process.

Still, it refused to give up the chase, hounding them until they finally emerged from the Poison Mist Hollow.

Yet persistence doesn’t always bring reward.

Barely half an hour after leaving the mists, their reinforcements arrived, not another land-barge, but a First-Rank wizard!

The horned lizard realized something was wrong far too late. Within moments, it was slain under the wizard’s assault. The remaining lizards fared no better, wiped out in a single sweep.

“Thank you for your aid, Teacher Grace,” Serena said respectfully as she and the others disembarked. The First-Rank wizard was inspecting the fallen horned lizard with interest.

Grace gave a slight nod, then asked suddenly:

“Where did you first encounter these lizards? Was it at the site where the distress array transmitted its initial signal?”

“Yes, right in the Poison Mist Hollow,” Serena replied.

Grace inclined her head, then turned to Leah. “Leah, did you notice this one carried a trace of draconic bloodline?”

“I did, Teacher Grace,” Leah answered, a little nervously.

Grace was elderly now, long past the point of further advancement. These days, her greatest joy lies in teaching the young.

At least seventy to eighty percent of Hossen's apprentices had attended her classes at some point.

All those present, save for Lynn, had studied under her before.

If not for the recent shortage of hands, she would never have been stationed at an outpost.

“Tell me, what clues did you use to judge it?” Grace asked.

“The dragon-like horn… and its vertical pupils…” Leah stammered.

Grace did not press her. This was more habit than a true test. She smiled gently and added:

“Horns and pupils can be indicators, but they’re only superficial. The clearest sign of a draconic bloodline in this beast was its dominance over its kin.

“A normal lizard pack would have fled long ago after such heavy losses.

“And if you’d taken the time to feel more carefully, you would have sensed a faint aura of suppression from it that oppressive presence is the truest mark of dragon’s blood.”

“I understand, Teacher Grace,” Leah said quickly, nodding.

Grace considered for a moment, then looked over the apprentices once more.

“Do you know why I made a point of raising this subject?”

A kindly smile softened Grace’s face as her gaze swept slowly across the gathered apprentices.

Leah shook her head, looking lost. Beside her, Joel and Theodore furrowed their brows, feigning deep thought.

Grace’s eyes lingered a moment longer on the unfamiliar Lynn. He gave a slight shake of his head, indicating he didn’t know either.

“What about you, Serena? Do you know?” Grace asked again.

Serena thought carefully for a moment, then her eyes lit with realization.

“The nest! Magical beasts with draconic blood often inherit the dragon’s hoarding instinct.

“And just now, Teacher Grace, you asked us where we first encountered the lizards… You must be hinting at the location of their nest!”

“Correct.” Grace nodded with satisfaction, then patiently explained:

“So, aside from the aura of a dragon’s might, if you find a beast’s lair filled with treasures, you can often deduce that its master may carry a draconic bloodline.

“Remember that well.”

“Yes, Teacher Grace!” the apprentices chorused.

Lynn was no exception after all. Grace had just imparted valuable knowledge, and it wasn’t too much to call her “teacher.”

“Good… By the way, I noticed your Land Barge can still move. If you could reach the next outpost, these lizards wouldn’t pose a threat. So why did you send a distress signal?” Grace suddenly asked.

Serena briefly explained what had happened. Grace nodded, then glanced at Lynn in mild surprise before smiling.

“Well then, since your cruiser is operational, follow me. I’ll take you to sweep out this lizard nest; it will be your rightful reward.”

“Really? Thank you, Teacher Grace!” Leah was the first to cheer.

The other apprentices couldn’t hide their joy and excitement either.

A nest belonging to a high-tier beast with dragon’s blood was sure to hold countless treasures!

...

Half an hour later, under Grace’s lead, the group arrived at the lizards’ den.

It was a network of underground caverns within the Poison Mist Hollow, with many exits leading outside.

The main chamber was an oval-shaped hall. Above it lay a smaller cave, clearly the personal lair of the horned lizard.

After easily wiping out the remaining lizards, they entered the horned beast’s den.

The moment they stepped inside, their eyes were dazzled by piles of gold, gems, and sparkling crystals strewn across the ground.

Though not all of great value, the sheer abundance created an overwhelming impression.

Further in lie rarer materials, beast bones, unusual ores, and a few magical plants.

Most striking among them was a massive spine, scarred with bite marks, already decaying.

Grace recognized it instantly as the spine of a draconic beast.

Beasts with dragon blood and true draconic creatures were worlds apart, the latter’s bloodline far purer and more potent.

So this must have been the source of that horned lizard’s trace of draconic blood… A pity it’s rotted and worthless now.

Grace pulled back her gaze, then, after some thought, smiled and said:

“There are six of you… Hmm, this hoard is worth roughly two thousand magic stones. I’ll take forty percent. The remaining sixty is yours to divide.”

In truth, she had slain most of the lizards herself and even discovered the nest.

That she was still willing to leave sixty percent of the spoils to the apprentices was an act of great generosity.

The apprentices knew this well and thanked her profusely.

But just then, Grace gave a soft exclamation and strode quickly to the dragon’s spine.

Beside it lay a fresher beast carcass. She stretched out her hand, and from the seemingly empty air above it, a ball of shadowy black fur shimmered into view.

“Well now, what an unexpected prize.” A smile spread across Grace’s face.

“A cat-type beast carrying draconic blood… It seems your share of rewards just increased by another five hundred stones.”

She glanced at the feline carcass on the ground, then studied the bite marks on the spine. The truth quickly became clear.

This dragon spine had first been discovered by the cat-beast, but the lizards had seized it, killing the creature in the process.

Yet its cub had survived, thanks to a special gift for concealment.

“Tell me, should I sell this beast and divide the stones, or would you rather decide how to handle it yourselves?” Grace asked.

Lynn’s eyes fixed on the creature flickering faintly in her hand, his heart suddenly stirred. He asked curiously:

“Teacher Grace, what makes this beast so special that it could survive in such a dangerous lair for so long?”

A beast that carried dragon’s blood and endured in this perilous nest was no ordinary creature.

If its innate talents were suitable… it might be the perfect choice for his first familiar.

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/AetherTL