“You don't even know how to set up a contractual magic circle for an equal contract? Who taught you your magic basics? Even someone like you can become the top freshman?” Ol' Amos was very dissatisfied with Meng Lei, and he criticized him sternly. “A qualified Magician… Not only must he… but he must also…”

“Ol' President, can we leave all that for later and deal with this t.i.tanic Dragon-Ape infant first?”

Meng Lei was rendered rather speechless. Was this old geezer once a Department Head of the Moral Education Department? Hence the terrible work habit of being fond of criticizing and lecturing others?

“Hmph!”

Ol' Amos snorted, greatly dissatisfied with Meng Lei's att.i.tude. Regardless, he still taught him how to set up the contractual magic circle for an equal contract anyway. Meng Lei got the hang of it right away and mastered it after just one round of explanation from Ol' Amos.

He successfully set up the contractual magic circle after that.

Bzzz!

A dreamy, colorful glow enveloped the t.i.tanic Dragon-Ape infant in the little nest, and the little fellow, which was sound asleep, slowly opened its eyes. There was a confused, lost, naive, and adorably silly look within them!

Meng Lei squeezed out a drop of blood and successfully signed the contract. The way the little fellow looked at Meng Lei instantly became a lot more affectionate. It leaned over and rubbed its head against Meng Lei's hand affectionately as it called out in a babyish voice.

“Wah~ Wah~”

“Haha, it already sees you as its closest companion!”

Ol' Amos twisted his beard and broke into a smile, a hint of gratification coming over his face.

“Ol' President, how do I take care of it when it's so young?”

Meng Lei also broke into a smile, raising the question as he stroked the little Dragon-Ape's head. The little fellow wasn't actually that small. It was about the same size as an adult gorilla. It just seemed small and inconsequential relative to an adult t.i.tanic Dragon-Ape, that was all.

“Magical Beasts are tough and ferocious by nature. They'll grow to become strong and robust in an extremely short time after they're born. In this respect, we humans have no hope of even competing with them.”

A smiling Ol' Amos stroked his beard and explained, “You need only to wait for it to pull through its two-days-long weak stage. After that, it'll become just like any other Magical Beast and feed on raw meat and mature on its own.”

“I see!” Meng Lei clicked his tongue in wonder. “To think that Magical Beast infants don't actually feed on milk. This particular characteristic of theirs is very similar to non-mammalian animals. How amazing!”

“Non-mammalian animals?” The old academy president stared blankly at him for a moment.

At that moment, a series of chaotic footsteps suddenly rang out. Meng Lei looked over to see a Fire Cloud Mercenaries member running in. “S-sir! T-this is terrible, Magical Beasts have come attacking!”

“Magical Beasts?”

Meng Lei's pupils contracted, and he ran out of the cave in a flash.

Hiss!

Rustle, rustle!

Thump, thump, thump!

Strange, peculiar sounds rang out in the thick, dense forest. Trees shook and weeds broke. The whole forest within five kilometers ahead of them was shaking!

This unusual activity added a hint of creepiness to the usually quiet and dead silent forest. The Fire Cloud Mercenaries members gripped their weapons tightly, their countenances were awfully somber.

The a.s.sa.s.sins standing guard on the periphery had reported an invading wave of Magical Beasts. Their numbers were unknown, and the targets were making a straight line for this area!

This situation was exceedingly abnormal and completely strayed from the usual workings, but this was what made it even more terrifying instead. One must know that they were currently in the far depths of Magical Beast Forest—even a random old Magical Beast around here was a high-grade one!

Besieged by high-grade Magical Beasts? Just the thought of it alone made one's scalp tingle!

“Captain, what do we do?” a member asked nervously as he gripped his weapon.

Their leader was calm and rational and stayed composed even in the face of danger. He replied, “No need to fear! With Lord Saint Domain around, what can a mere few Magical Beasts amount to?”

“That's true!”

The mercenaries nodded one by one, their fear lessening slightly. A Saint Domain expert could destroy the heavens and earth. How would typical Magical Beasts possibly be a match for them?

“Where are the Magical Beasts?”

Meng Lei walked out of the cave at this point.

The captain hastily answered respectfully, “Sir, they are currently closing in on us!”

He'd only just spoken when a Magical Beast dashed out of the forest.

It was a wolf species of Magical Beast. Its body was ten meters long and fully covered in steel needle-like fur. Its contours were well-proportioned, its muscles sharply defined, and it was full of a physical strength kind of aesthetic.

The strange thing was that this particular wolf-type Magical Beast had two heads—one white and one black—and this color division continued throughout its whole body, which was also half-white and half-black. The color division was clear and distinct, just like the national treasure[1]!

“That's the Seventh-Grade Magical Beast, Sun-Moon Double-Headed Wolf!” A mercenary called out its name.

“A Seventh-Grade Magical Beast has actually scared all of you this badly?”

Meng Lei stared at the Sun-Moon Double-Headed Wolf, rendered somewhat speechless.

“Sir, there are more!”

The captain let out a wry laugh.

At this point, a second Magical Beast dashed out of the forest. It was as large as a truck container and had eight legs. This was a spider species of Magical Beast that was fully blood red in color, but it had a human head and looked incredibly horrifying.

It was the Seventh-Grade Magical Beast, Man-Visage Demon Spider!

Then, it was followed by the third, fourth, fifth…

As the trees shook, Magical Beasts dived out of the forest one after another like mushrooms sprouting after rain. They came in a variety of sizes and species, carrying with them an astounding might and cold and vicious looks in their eyes.

“Seventh-Grade Magical Beast, Tri-Eyed Poisonous Toad!”

“Sixth-Grade Magical Beast, Iron-Armored Crocodile!”

“Seventh-Grade Magical Beast, Raptor!”

“Seventh-Grade Magical Beast…”

“Oh my Dragon G.o.d!”

“Why are there so many high-grade Magical Beasts?!”

The sight of so many high-grade Magical Beasts caused every Fire Cloud Mercenaries member's legs to shake, and fear and panic came over their countenances.

Too many!

Too many high-grade Magical Beasts were showing up!

Were there 50 of them? Or 100?

But what made them despair the most was that an endless stream of high-grade Magical Beasts was still arriving one by one. How were they supposed to fight them all?!

“S-sir, what should we do?”

Blood drained from the captain's face. He gazed at Meng Lei, having already placed all his hopes on him. A ferocious tiger was hardly a match for a pack of wolves, much less a group of high-grade Magical Beasts?

Besieged by this many Magical Beasts, even if the Fire Cloud Mercenaries was strong and had wonderful coordination, they still didn't have even a shred of hope!

They'd be ripped apart and become food in those Magical Beasts' bellies!

Everyone else from the Fire Cloud Mercenaries also stared hard at Meng Lei, their despairing and fearful faces full of hope.

Now that things had come to this point, Meng Lei was the only one they could rely on!

“Ol' President, why are there so many Sixth-Grade and Seventh-Grade Magical Beasts congregating here when everything's perfectly alright?”

Meng Lei didn't pay any heed to the Fire Cloud Mercenaries members. Instead, he frowned and raised a question. Every high-grade Magical Beast had their own territory, and they usually fought and went at one another's throats. Why would they show up here together?

“It's probably because of the t.i.tanic Dragon-Ape.”

A glint flashed across Ol' Amos' eyes as he pointed at the t.i.tanic Dragon-Ape carca.s.s. “A high-grade Magical Beast's flesh and magic core hold lethal attraction to Magical Beasts of lower grades. If they can devour and feed on it, it'll boost their strength and might even help them to level up.

“When they were battling and dismembering the t.i.tanic Dragon-Ape earlier, its vital energy dissipated into the air and drifted out. This ended up attracting the Magical Beasts here.”

“So that's what happened!”

Meng Lei nodded slowly. “Those guys' noses sure are sharp! But this is just as well. Saves me the trouble of going around like a headless chicken to look for them.”

“What do you intend to do?” Ol' Amos raised his eyebrows. “I have to remind you, dealing with this many Magical Beasts won't be easy. If you really can't handle it, then you'd better run. You aren't their target anyway.”

“Run? That word doesn't exist in my dictionary!”

[1] Refers to the panda, China's national treasure