Chapter 48: Trouble
That afternoon, Han Ming went out to purchase supplies for his upcoming journey.
The imperial capital, Fila City, was incredibly prosperous. One could say that as long as you had money, there was nothing you couldn’t buy.
Even expensive magical beast cores were occasionally auctioned off in large auction houses. However, the exorbitant prices were far beyond what an ordinary person could afford.
Han Ming still had some money left from his time at the auction house in Barbarian City, where he had managed to swindle a bit of cash. But that amount was nowhere near enough to buy a magical beast core. Moreover, cores from extreme cold magical beasts were exceedingly rare. He had specifically looked for them before but had never seen one auctioned.
Ice and water elemental magical beasts were collectively referred to as water elemental beasts, with ice being a subset of water.
An extreme cold core wasn’t something every water or ice elemental beast possessed. Even if an ice elemental beast had an ice core, it was still far from being considered an "extreme cold" core.
This time, Han Ming bought dozens of sets of clothes alone. His goal was clear.
The Barbarian Forest.
He had once lived on the outskirts of the Barbarian Forest with his elder brother, Sagus, for several months. Back then, Sagus’s body hadn’t fully recovered, and the two of them had barely managed to survive on the forest’s edge. Now, however, Han Ming was planning to venture deep into the heart of the Barbarian Forest.
The Barbarian Ice Plains!
The deepest parts of the Barbarian Forest contained several mysterious regions: the Barbarian Ice Plains, the Barbarian Desert, the Barbarian Ancient Forest, the Barbarian Storm, and the Barbarian Fire Prison. Beyond these lay an area that no one had ever explored, known as the Ghost Domain.
Han Ming had a vague suspicion that the Ghost Domain might be one of the gateways between the demon realm and the human realm—a seal separating the two worlds. He had heard from Catherine that the demon realm’s seal near the Barbarian Forest had recently become unstable. It was likely located within the Ghost Domain.
Given his current strength, there was no way Han Ming could venture that deep. Rumors said that terrifying fifth-tier magical beasts inhabited that area.
What did a fifth-tier magical beast mean? It was equivalent to a War King in the warrior system or a Soul Mage in the magic system. The headmaster of the Magic Academy, Mokal, was only a fourth-tier Archmage. Even the president of the Magic Guild was only a first-tier Soul Mage, the fifth-tier.
Fifth-tier was already the pinnacle of power on this continent. Han Ming’s elder brother, Sagus, the legendary sacred beast and Fire Qilin, was only a sixth-tier magical beast. If he advanced once more, he would awaken.
And awakening… that was a legendary level. On the Northern Alliance Continent, no one had awakened in thousands of years.
Even the outermost regions of the Barbarian Forest’s deepest areas, like the Barbarian Ice Plains, were terrifying.
The danger of such places was far beyond what someone like Han Ming, who only had the strength of a Great Warrior but no combat aura, or a Great Mage with water elemental abilities, could handle.
Even if he advanced to become a first-tier Water Great Mage, with three additional tiers of strength compared to an ordinary person, he still wouldn’t have much offensive power without cultivating the Water God’s Art. Relying solely on his mediocre water spells, this journey would be exceptionally difficult.
Dozens of sets of clothes were essential. Who knew how many would be ruined by the time he returned? If he was lucky enough to survive, he didn’t want to resort to streaking or any other trendy behavior. He wondered how people in this world would react to such a bold fashion statement.
After buying clothes, he also purchased some spices to add flavor to his roasted meat. Salt was a must, along with other daily necessities. Five hundred water elemental magic crystals should also suffice.
As for weapons, he didn’t need to buy any for now. The three-meter-long giant battle axe he had was impressive enough. Although it was only large and heavy, suitable for basic physical attacks without any additional attributes, it was still a sturdy, albeit low-tier, weapon.
Fortunately, Han Ming had the storage bag Catherine had given him, which allowed him to store all his supplies without having to carry them around.
Speaking of storage bags, Han Ming had once thought they were merely curious items, not realizing how expensive they were. Even Li Chengfeng, the son of a city lord, didn’t own one, which showed just how rare they were. Han Ming had once discreetly observed a storage bag being auctioned off, and it was eventually traded for a third-tier fire elemental magical beast core.
After purchasing all the necessary items, it was already evening. Han Ming began his journey back to the Magic Academy, lost in thought.
His warrior system strength had already reached the peak of the ninth-tier Great Warrior. By normal standards, he should have already advanced to War Madness. Although the first tier of Great Warrior couldn’t be directly converted to the first tier of War Madness, he should at least be a second-tier War Madness by now. Compared to his magic progress, his warrior progress was relatively slow.
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The inability to cultivate combat aura remained a significant weakness for Han Ming.
If it weren’t for the fact that, over the past year, Han Ming had shamelessly asked Catherine for a full set of weighted jewelry and worn it daily, he wouldn’t even have reached his current level of strength. Now, he wore a total of forty sets of weighted jewelry, which had unsurprisingly merged into one.
Even Han Ming himself couldn’t estimate how much strength he had now.
As he pondered his future, Han Ming arrived at the gates of the Magic Academy.
From a distance, he could see that the usually quiet entrance was now bustling with activity, surrounded by layers of people.
What’s going on?
Curious, Han Ming hurried over to take a look.
With his strength, Han Ming easily pushed his way to the front of the crowd.
What he saw nearly made his heart leap out of his chest.
It was the same senior, Phil, from earlier in the day. Somehow, she had found out that he was a student of the Magic Academy.
Now, she was standing boldly at the academy’s entrance, holding an enormous wooden sign that read: “Han Ming! I, Phil Austin, want to pursue you!”
“Look, it’s Miss Austin from the Austin family. The top martial arts genius from the Military Academy.”
“Yeah, she’s so beautiful. I wonder who this Han Ming guy is. What luck he has.”
“Pfft, what do you know? If he’s a student of the Magic Academy, he must be an impressive mage.”
“True, only a noble mage would be worthy of Senior Phil.”
The crowd buzzed with chatter.
Han Ming, however, was starting to get a headache.
What is this lady trying to pull? She’s really causing a scene.
Please don’t let her see me. Tomorrow, I’ll be boarding the airship to Barbarian City. After that, she can do whatever she wants, and I won’t have to deal with it.
Thinking this, Han Ming quickly tried to retreat, hoping to slip away unnoticed.
But he underestimated Phil’s sharp eyes.
“Han Ming! Stop right there!”
Damn, she spotted me.
“Han Ming?”
The crowd turned to look at him. Han Ming was now one of the two main characters of the day, the subject of countless speculations.
When they saw that Han Ming was just a skinny young man with a somewhat decent face, and far from looking like a powerful mage, many were disappointed.
Han Ming awkwardly turned around and looked at Phil helplessly. “What do you want?”
Phil casually tossed the wooden sign aside and stared at Han Ming intently, making him squirm.
Then, she suddenly laughed and said, “Be my boyfriend.”
Han Ming waved his hand dismissively. “Sorry, I already told you earlier today. You’re not my type.”
Phil didn’t back down. “Then what is your type?”
Han Ming sighed. He just wanted to get rid of her. Being the center of attention was really uncomfortable.
“I like… gentle, feminine, petite, cute girls. And… someone weaker than me.”
Han Ming spouted nonsense, not even sure what his type was. He just wanted to shake off Phil’s persistence. Although he occasionally joked about being a freeloader, as a man, who would really want a girlfriend stronger than themselves?
Being the man behind a strong woman?
No thanks.
The crowd seemed to understand Han Ming’s words, nodding in agreement. It made sense. While Phil was undeniably stunning, with a devilish figure and a beautiful face, her background was too powerful, and her strength was terrifying. Few men could handle a woman like her.
Hearing Han Ming’s words, Phil chuckled. “You’ve never dated me. How do you know I’m not gentle or feminine? If you like cute, I can dress cutely. Besides, you’re a mage. Mages have high status. Of course, my strength is inferior to yours. What else can you say? Come on, let’s go on a date.”
Han Ming nearly spat blood in frustration. “You’re being unreasonable. Miss, what do you even see in me? Look at me—skinny arms and legs, pale skin, no manly charm at all. There are plenty of good men out there. Why are you fixated on me? Is it because you can’t handle rejection? If so, I’ll agree to be your boyfriend now, and then you can dump me. How about that?”
Han Ming tried to reason with the seemingly neurotic Phil.
Phil’s eyes gleamed as she stared at him. “Don’t think I don’t know. The moment I saw you, I knew you were different.”
Han Ming was startled. Did she know his secret? Impossible. No one in this world, aside from Catherine, knew his secret. Could she have sensed that he was a ninth-tier peak mage just by intuition? Although she had the terrifying strength of a fifth-tier War Madness, it was unlikely she could see through his true power.
Han Ming had once asked Catherine about this and was told that unless someone was at the sixth tier, they couldn’t see his true strength. Even though Han Ming was a ninth-tier mage, three tiers above normal, to ordinary strong individuals, he appeared as a sixth-tier peak mage. Once someone surpassed the seventh tier, humans couldn’t accurately judge their strength, and there were no clear magical imprints to indicate it. If Han Ming used magic, only a single water droplet would appear on his forehead, with no indication of his tier.
This was why Han Ming could move freely in the human world without worry. He absolutely didn’t believe Phil could see through his strength.
“You have a unique aura, different from everyone else,” Phil said, also falling into thought. She didn’t know why she had suddenly developed such strong feelings for Han Ming. If it was just about looks, she had met countless men more handsome than him, all of them prominent figures with formidable strength. Yet, she had inexplicably taken a liking to Han Ming.
She couldn’t figure it out and didn’t bother to try. Maybe it was love at first sight.
Han Ming, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. As long as she hadn’t seen through his strength, it was fine. He thought Phil’s comment about him being different might be due to the Seed of Life. But ordinary people shouldn’t be able to sense that. Han Ming was also puzzled.
Both of them fell silent, clearly at a loss to explain their feelings.
“Phil, who is this guy?”
Three young men in magic robes pushed through the crowd and stepped into the center.
The leader wore a fiery red magic robe, clearly a fire elemental mage. With a dark expression, he angrily asked, “Who is this?”
Beside him were two others. One had a playful, carefree smile and wore a white magic robe, likely a wind elemental mage. The other was silent and more muscular, dressed in an earthy yellow robe, probably an earth elemental mage.
“It’s… it’s Shangque Kadila! The top student of the Magic Academy. A first-tier Fire Archmage!”
“And Huangying Proda, a fifth-tier Wind Great Mage, and Zhanhu Maurice, a sixth-tier Earth Great Mage!”
“What… what’s going on today? The top three students of the Magic Academy are all here. Along with the top student of the Military Academy, Phil Austin.”
“This is going to be interesting. Everyone knows Shangque has been pursuing Phil. Now, he’s seeing her confess to some unknown kid. This won’t end well…”
As a member of the Magic Academy, Han Ming had naturally heard of these three. They were geniuses among geniuses. Shangque Kadila, at just 28 years old, had reached the first-tier Archmage level. His strength was monstrous.
Even the vice-principal of the Magic Academy, Fire Archmage Odonco, was only a fifth-tier mage. A student being on the same level as the vice-principal spoke volumes.
Han Ming was getting a headache. Forget Shangque; even his two close friends, Huangying and Zhanhu, were top-tier experts. Han Ming wasn’t a match for any of them.
Since arriving in Fila City, Han Ming had kept a low profile. But trouble had found him anyway.