Versatile Mage: Shadow Assassin

The sun was shining brightly, birds were chirping endlessly, and the fresh air was invigorating.

A black-haired youth woke up, jumped down from a tree, stretched lazily, and began walking toward the town.

"Judging by the time, Mo Fan and the others should be arriving soon," murmured the youth—Jing Wuji, now fully rested.

He didn't know how many days he had slept, but looking around, there were no signs of human activity other than his own.

"Brother Fan! Watch out, there's danger—don't walk so fast!" From afar, Zhang Xiaohou's voice came through.

They got here fast.

Jing Wuji walked toward the direction of the voice.

Two disheveled and ragged figures appeared within his line of sight.

They also noticed Jing Wuji, who, in contrast, looked only slightly dirty.

"Jing Wuji, did you succeed?" Mo Fan asked as he hurried over.

"Yeah."

"Nice!" Zhang Xiaohou ran over excitedly. After all, it was a magic tool they were talking about!

"Alright, Mo Fan, you'll stand by the cave entrance in a bit. I'll lure the demon out—make sure you're ready to release your magic and aim for a good score," Jing Wuji instructed bluntly.

"Yes!" Mo Fan smiled. This assessment felt more like a field trip—just a little exhausting.

"What about me?" Zhang Xiaohou suddenly remembered the scoring part.

"You were the one who used Wind Track to leap over the cliff and tie the rope on the other side, right?" Jing Wuji had seen the cliff when he came through.

"Yeah," Zhang Xiaohou nodded.

"Then you're fine. Your score should already be high. Just help Mo Fan get a better score now. I'll go draw the monster's attention." Jing Wuji finished speaking and merged into the shadows.

"You can farm scores like that? This brat doesn't take our exam seriously!" Zhan Kong muttered through clenched teeth.

As if something struck him, Zhan Kong suddenly wore a pained expression. "Now I have to buy a magic tool out of my pocket… My poor wallet!"

…

Mo Fan stood at the cave entrance, fully focused, waiting for Jing Wuji's signal.

From within the cave came the sound of rapid footsteps and vibrations in the ground. A figure emerged, followed by a pair of giant, ghostly green eyes glowing like twin flames.

"Now, Mo Fan—release your magic!" Jing Wuji shouted, then instantly vanished into the shadows.

"Fiery Burst: Bone Scorch!"

A searing flame erupted from Mo Fan's palm, the crimson blaze growing swiftly.

He hurled the fireball, which roared through the air, sending waves of heat across the surroundings.

Boom!

The fireball struck the wolf-type demon with pinpoint accuracy. At first, the flames seemed to die down, as if unable to ignite the demon's fur.

Then the fire burst into life like crimson vines, flaring up from inside the beast's body—truly living up to the name "Bone Scorch."

Ssshh—

The sound of fire burning through fur rang out, along with the beast's painful roar.

Driven by instinct, the wolf-type demon leaped into a nearby pool, rolling around to extinguish the flames on its body.

But when it jumped out of the water, its once ghostly green eyes had turned blood-red—it had gone berserk!

Jing Wuji had just reappeared beside Mo Fan when he noticed the demon's transformation.

"Get out of here! It's gone berserk! Xiaohou—Wind Track!" Jing Wuji shouted before charging toward the demon.

This was his plan—so if something went wrong, he had to take responsibility!

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaohou quickly arranged his stars into an orbit within his spiritual universe.

"Wind Track: Rapid Step!"

He grabbed Mo Fan and fled along the winding track, quickly escaping the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Jing Wuji was struggling. His offensive power was far too weak. The dagger forged from shadow could only leave shallow wounds on the wolf-type demon, while the beast could kill him with a single blow!

Damn it!

Jing Wuji cursed under his breath and turned to flee deeper into Cave I.

In less than five seconds, the wolf-type demon nearly struck him with its claws. Fortunately, he managed to dodge the attack in time by using Shadow Phase, though his clothes were torn.

Now covered in tattered clothing, Jing Wuji led the demon deeper into the cave while skillfully evading its attacks.

They were here!

Once he reached the deepest part of the cave, Jing Wuji fully melted into the shadows, leaving only the raging wolf-type demon behind.

Thankfully, his abilities were particularly effective against monsters and people without light-based skills—otherwise, this would've been a deadly encounter.

At the cave entrance, Jing Wuji quickly emerged from the shadows. His magic energy was nearly depleted.

He had used Shadow Phase over ten times to avoid the demon's attacks. Even with more mana than most, such repeated use had drained him.

"Chief Instructor! The demon inside has gone berserk!" Jing Wuji shouted, then quickly ran to Mo Fan and Zhang Xiaohou's side.

"Impossible. That's not a demon—it's a summoned beast belonging to one of the instructors. There's no way it could go berserk," Zhan Kong instantly appeared and revealed the truth.

As expected, it wasn't a demon. The moment Jing Wuji laid eyes on the wolf-like creature, he realized it wasn't any kind of demon he recognized.

"That may be true, but you'd better go in and check, just in case later students end up getting killed by mistake," Jing Wuji said, not caring whether Zhan Kong believed him or not. After that, he turned and led Mo Fan and Zhang Xiaohou back the way they came.

On the way...

"Are you serious? Summoned beasts shouldn't be able to go berserk," Mo Fan frowned, still finding it hard to believe.

"I am. Otherwise, I wouldn't have dragged you two away," Jing Wuji replied, deep in thought.

Zhang Xiaohou watched the two quietly. He didn't know the full details of what had happened in the cave, so he didn't feel it was his place to say much.

Originally, that wolf-type summoned beast had behaved completely normally. Even after taking a direct hit from Mo Fan's second-tier Fiery Burst, it didn't go berserk. It had acted with reason and caution. So what exactly caused it to lose control?

It's important to remember that summoned beasts obey the commands of their summoners. Especially those used in exams—they're rarely if ever, ordered to kill. But once that summoned beast lost its reason, it seemed determined to destroy everything in front of it.

It must have come into contact with something. But what inside Cave triggered it?

There were rocks inside the cave. Some weeds at the entrance. And... water—inside the cave!

Water!

Jing Wuji locked onto the key clue.

That's right! It was the water! The wolf-type summoned beast only went berserk after it came into contact with the water!

The realization hit Jing Wuji like a bolt of lightning.

"I get it now—it was the water in Cave I that caused the summoned beast to go berserk! Instructor! Get someone to collect a sample from the pool in the cave and analyze the water's composition!" Jing Wuji shouted to the side.

"Got it. Hey, kid—when exactly did you realize we were following you?" The two instructors stopped hiding and revealed themselves. One of them immediately dashed off toward Baicao Valley.

"I've known for a while now." Jing Wuji still had a nagging feeling that something was wrong with this whole incident. But with so little information, he couldn't tell what was causing that feeling.

Sigh… I hope it's just my imagination.

Please add to your favorites! Support the novel with investments and recommendation votes!