CHAPTER 46: CHAPTER 43: JUST LIKE AT THE START OF THE JOURNEY

Bear!

The torch in the hand of a magic apprentice ignited out of thin air once again.

"Hmm?"

Andrew’s eyes narrowed sharply.

He saw that, as Hubert’s voice and words, slow and flickering like a dying candle in the wind, continued, the torches held by the magic apprentices, which he had shot through and extinguished, were quickly reignited with blazing magic flames.

"...Impressive."

Andrew took a deep breath, recalling Pete’s introduction of Grand Mage Hubert before his death, "No wonder he was once a contender for the ’Magic Guide Sorcerer’ level, even if he’s injured and dying from a failed breakthrough, he’s still this formidable?"

Since his arrival, Andrew believed he had done his utmost preparation in the limited time available—

First basic ability and its derivatives: Water Spirit Technique, Seed of the Water Spirit.

Second basic ability and its derivatives: Water Soul Constitution, Flame Immunity, Water Magic, Water Spirit Sensing.

Third basic ability and its derivatives: Fingertip Series, Long-range Water Needle, Invisible Enchantment.

All of this combined made up his current self—

On the defensive side, he had the "Water Spirit Technique" to protect the soul and "Flame Immunity" to specifically counter flame magic.

On the offensive side, there was the "Water Spirit Sensing" that covered a battlefield, the physical agility from the "Water Soul Constitution," plus the recently acquired Long-range Water Needle that became unpredictable under "Invisible Enchantment," and also the big, lethal move aimed at Hubert hidden in the Tear of the Water God.

In every aspect, he had pushed his abilities to their limits.

He could not be stronger than he was now.

"But... when actually facing Hubert again, I still can’t help but feel nervous."

Andrew thought, "That’s normal."

Then he saw the magic apprentices outside the camp parting to the sides, making way.

A tall, slender young man in the simplest magic robe Andrew had ever seen walked out.

"Eh? Eh eh?!"

Andrew was stunned, "Hubert has rejuvenated?"

However, he quickly realized it wasn’t the kind of unbelievable rejuvenation that even in this Flame Realm would be hard to believe.

Because he recognized it: "That’s not Hubert, it’s ’Cook’! The Cook mentioned by Lisa earlier, the true top magic apprentice under Hubert, Cook!"

Compared to other magic apprentices, Cook didn’t have any hostility and even seemed a bit refined.

He appeared a bit frail, looking even more slender in the night wind.

After walking out, he even gave a faint smile to Andrew’s side.

That smile seemed to congratulate him: "Congratulations, you’ve become an impressive magic apprentice like us."

Andrew: "..."

His expression remained unchanged.

After Cook came out, he stepped aside.

The one who followed him out was still not Hubert, but a girl who could be described as "fit."

She was very much like those athletic girls from previous life memories, who aimed for a peach-shaped butt as the ultimate goal, with an exaggeratedly impressive figure, very alluring overall.

Only this girl’s back had an enormous pure black iron hammer almost as tall as her!

"Sally." Andrew called out her name in his heart.

If Cook was the top magic apprentice under Hubert, then Sally was the top apprentice flame warrior in the lab.

The key was, the two of them had a very close relationship, almost inseparable, so much so that other magic apprentices secretly called them "conjoined twins."

"Hey, Andrew!"

After Sally walked out, she directly raised her hand in greeting, her gaze mostly curious rather than hostile.

Andrew furrowed his brows again and still didn’t respond.

Then Cook stepped aside to the left, and Sally to the right, as both simultaneously bowed: "Teacher!"

The small, frail figure of Hubert, draped in a wide robe, finally walked out slowly.

"Teacher!" All the other magic apprentices also respectfully bowed. None of them dared to breathe loudly.

Andrew naturally wouldn’t bow to him.

Instead, he felt a strong urge the moment Hubert stepped out: "Catch him by surprise! Don’t waste words, just use the ’big kill move’ stored up and take down this old fellow!!"

In Andrew’s view, this wasn’t impossible; it actually had a high probability of success.

The existence of "Water Spirit Sensing" granted him a naturally broad field of view and a very long sight range for "aiming."

The hand-eye coordination provided by "Water Soul Constitution" made "hitting" after aiming a non-issue.

Coupled with the ultra-long-range and stability of "Long-range Water Needle," his current offensive and defensive capabilities were entirely interlocking, embed each other, and complement one another!

However, just when Andrew was about to take action, he forcibly suppressed the impulse and did not make a move.

"Can’t kill."

The water-like sixth sense of Water Spirit Sensing came into play, with a strong feeling in his heart: "If I act now, I can’t kill him!"

From about fifty meters away, Andrew focused intently on Hubert opposite him.

The opponent seemed so frail and old that a gust of wind could blow him away.

Yet, that was the problem: In Andrew’s eyes, even though the opponent stood there, he seemed poised to shift in any direction at any moment.

It gave him a terrifying feeling of "unable to aim," "un-aimable!"

"Damn it."

Andrew gritted his teeth softly.

But he was not discouraged because of it.

The opponent was, after all, someone who almost reached the "Magic Guide Sorcerer" level; if it were too easy to kill, it wouldn’t make sense.

Silently suppressing the "big kill move" once more, Andrew remained calm.

At that moment, aside from the "crackling" of the blazing magic flames, only the occasional roars of desolate beasts from deep within the desert and the increasingly fierce howling of the night wind across the starlit sky could be heard.

Andrew even felt an illusion as if he had returned to the time right after he crossed over—

Night.

Flame.

Apprentices.

Hubert.

And the residents behind him.

It seemed that nothing had changed.

The only thing different from then was probably himself.

"So, upon seeing the teacher, you won’t even utter a greeting?"

In the silence, Hubert spoke.

Andrew was silent for a moment, then smiled slightly, giving a slight bow: "Hubert, Teacher."

Hubert nodded, seemingly satisfied: "Haha, that’s more like it."

After greeting the teacher, Andrew took the initiative to ask: "Teacher, how did you find me?"

As he spoke, he continued trying to aim at the opponent.

This time, Hubert did not answer.

The one who responded to his question was, instead, Cook who was next to Hubert.

Cook clapped his hands, and an apprentice flame warrior walked out from the crowd, dragging along two people.

Upon seeing the two people being dragged out, Andrew understood: "So that was the issue here!"

The two dragged persons were from those troublemakers who came with Raymond to bother him earlier in the evening.

So both he and Barbara had been negligent, letting those troublemakers go.

The result was that the intelligence "Andrew with a girl from the Warm Fire Commerce Association" got leaked.

What happened next was predictable: Hubert, upon receiving the intelligence, immediately commanded all apprentices to stop searching various parts of Wildfire Town and instead surround the temporary camp.

Because as long as they found him, they would find Barbara.