“This corpse isn’t right.”
Xiliya continued inspecting the forest fox’s body. Her words finally caught Mira’s attention, making her turn back.
Mira couldn’t see anything wrong with the forest fox. She only saw Xiliya’s staff approach the corpse, and suddenly, a dazzling light erupted from the tip.
“Such strong magic fluctuations?” Xiliya frowned. “This forest fox has abundant and chaotic magic power. Logically, a low-level magic beast shouldn’t have this much.”
The difference between magic beasts and ordinary animals wasn’t that great. Just as there were humans with and without magic talent, any creature would have individuals with affinity for magic power, and this talent was easily passed down through bloodlines.
In other words, magic beasts and ordinary animals were likely the same species long ago, but over time, they evolved into two races. In one branch, the magic talent stabilized through evolution and inheritance, while the other branch without magic talent became ordinary animals.
Thus, most magic beasts didn’t differ greatly in appearance from ordinary animals. The term “magic beast” actually referred to “wild beasts that could use magic,” and unlike humans, their magic talent was more primal and instinctive.
This talent basically determined a magic beast’s upper limit. Common small magic beasts like forest foxes generally didn’t exceed low-level.
“What does that mean? Is there a problem with the amount of magic power?” Mira clearly hadn’t grasped Xiliya’s point.
“It means the magic power outburst in this magic beast wasn’t natural—like all its potential had been forcibly squeezed out. Don’t you think this forest fox was fleeing a bit too fast?”
Xiliya glanced sideways at Mira. “Going further ahead might be dangerous. Are you sure you want to keep following me?”
Something unusual must have a cause. Xiliya was almost certain this was the manifestation of the exam anomaly. Pursuing it further might lead to unknown dangers.
Xiliya intended to see it through to the end. It was better if she handled it alone, so at least Ximo wouldn’t get dragged into the danger.
Xiliya admitted she had some selfish motives. If Ximo was circling near the barrier edge waiting to rendezvous with her, her risk of danger would be low. That way, if the academy detected something wrong and lifted the barrier to stop the exam, Ximo could withdraw to safety immediately.
However, Xiliya’s well-intentioned warning took on a different meaning in Mira’s eyes. The headstrong young lady puffed up indignantly.
“What do you mean? I won’t hold you back. Are you looking down on me…?”
At that moment, a rustling sound came from the nearby bushes. Xiliya turned her head and saw another forest fox. The instant their eyes met, it bolted into flight. Without wasting words on Mira, Xiliya chased after it.
Mira followed along, but Xiliya didn’t plan to persuade her anymore. If she wanted to follow, so be it.
Damn it, I’m not useless for everything… Mira gritted her teeth, gripped her staff tightly, and tried to accelerate. She wanted to take down this forest fox to prove to Xiliya that she could hunt magic beasts too!
But just as Mira prepared to sprint, Xiliya blocked her.
“Eh? What are you doing?”
“No need to act. We’ll just follow it.”
Only then did Mira realize that Xiliya had been deliberately keeping a distance from the forest fox ahead. Despite easily dispatching the previous one, she was now intentionally trailing it.
“Don’t you think it’s suspicious?” Xiliya said flatly. “This forest fox is fleeing in exactly the same direction as the last one.”
“I’m curious where exactly they’re trying to lead us.”
Xiliya’s gaze sharpened as she decided to play along and follow the forest fox to investigate.
…
The chase lasted over twenty minutes. The high-intensity pursuit and magic output had pushed Mira to her limits.
She didn’t have to stick with Xiliya, but every time she glanced back and saw Xiliya still handling it effortlessly, she’d inexplicably get competitive, grit her teeth, and force herself to keep up.
Does this person’s magic never run out? And her strength in combat earlier was terrifying too. Compared to Her Highness Melrose…
After witnessing Xiliya’s prowess, Mira couldn’t help comparing her to Melrose, but she quickly shook her head to dismiss the thought.
What was she thinking? Melrose was the imperial princess, one of the Empire’s top young talents. No matter how strong this Xiliya was, she couldn’t compare to Her Highness Melrose, right?
Amid her wandering thoughts, Mira suddenly noticed Xiliya had stopped. She quickly halted as well.
“What’s wrong? Did we lose the forest fox from earlier?”
“Looks like we’ve arrived.”
The forest fox had stopped fleeing upon reaching this spot and instead hopped into the nearby dense bushes to hide. Xiliya ignored it and surveyed the surroundings.
This was near the western side of the Mist Forest—a vast swamp land. The dense woods, vines, and uneven muddy pits made movement here extremely difficult.
Normally, examinees wouldn’t want to hunt magic beasts in such a troublesome place, since the exam area was huge. But now…
Xiliya used flight magic to weave through the dense foliage and hover in midair for observation. Soon, within her line of sight, she spotted a panting examinee leaning on their leg, looking around warily for something. This person had clearly been lured here chasing something too.
As expected, her guess was correct. Those forest foxes were deliberately luring the forest’s examinees to this swamp land.
Xiliya understood now. In a normal exam, examinees wouldn’t chase a few hard-to-catch forest foxes this far, since there were plenty of other magic beasts in the Mist Forest.
But now, most of the magic beasts in the forest had inexplicably disappeared, and the forest foxes—which fled at extreme speeds—had become the only source of points. Thus, the examinees had no choice but to chase these few “baits” all the way to this swamp land.
Xiliya frowned. Whatever might be lurking in this swamp for the moment, she was far more concerned about something else.
Generally speaking, the lower a magic beast’s grade, the lower its intelligence—and forest foxes weren’t social creatures. So why had these forest foxes acted as bait to lure all the examinees here?
As Xiliya pondered this, several low-level snake-shaped magic beasts burrowed out of the nearby swamp land. Mira’s eyes lit up. They hadn’t encountered a single other magic beast after wandering the forest for half the day, yet now three had popped up at once.
Unlike Mira, who struck a battle pose ready to slay the magic beasts for points, Xiliya realized something. She planted her staff into the ground, closed her eyes, and began chanting a spell.
