Chapter 4: The Beast Attack?

It was already the third day since they arrived in the village of Rio. Jiang Zhe had originally thought Professor Hod would teach him something special—after all, oral knowledge was far more appealing than dull, boring textbooks. But he was disappointed.
Since arriving here, Professor Hod had not mentioned magic at all, nor had he cast a single spell in those two days. Could you imagine a powerful magician skilled in fire magic relying on two ugly flint stones to light a fireplace?
Could you?
Listening to the “clicking” sound, Jiang Zhe sitting at the long table felt quite speechless.
“This is strange!” The professor seemed puzzled by his inability to start a fire and muttered to himself.
At that moment, Jiang Zhe stood up, walked over to the fireplace, pointed at the wood with his right hand, and after a few seconds, green smoke began to rise from the wood. Soon, flames burst forth with a “whoosh.”
“Professor… isn’t this faster?”
“You little rascal!” Professor Hod was both amused and exasperated. He shook his head, threw the flint stones aside, stood up, dusted off his hands, and said helplessly, “Sos, we’re not in Riox now. Can’t you forget the magic you’ve learned for now? Act like a normal person.” He paused then added earnestly, “Remember, child, while magic can make your life more exciting, it isn’t a part of it. It shouldn’t be necessary! Magic is a tool for magicians, but it shouldn’t become a dependency!”
“Hm?” Hearing the professor’s words, Jiang Zhe suddenly found them familiar, as if he had heard them somewhere before.
Smiling, the professor rubbed Jiang Zhe’s head and said, “I’ve met many famous great magicians. They are powerful and respected, but in everyday life, you hardly ever see them use magic. Instead of magic, they prefer to use ordinary matches to light their tobacco—of course, assuming they have matches with them… Hehe!” Noticing Jiang Zhe’s confused expression, the professor patted his head and said with a smile, “It might be too early for you to understand this. You’ll figure it out eventually… By the way, why hasn’t Allen come back yet?” The professor looked at the half-closed door in surprise.
At that moment, the door creaked open as Allen entered, carrying two buckets of water. He asked the professor, “Professor, the water is here!”

“Oh, thank you for your effort. Here, take it!” With that, the professor took the bucket from Allen’s hands and headed toward the kitchen, seemingly preparing lunch.
Noticing Jiang Zhe staring blankly, Allen rubbed his hands together and said in a trembling voice, “It’s so cold. What are you thinking about, buddy?”
“Hm?” Jiang Zhe snapped out of his thoughts, shook his head, and glanced at Allen. Only then did he notice that Allen’s right hand was swollen and red. He asked curiously, “What happened?”
“Nothing,” Allen shrugged nonchalantly. “The river was frozen, quite thick too. I had to punch it several times before I could make a hole.”
“P- Punch it?” Jiang Zhe’s eyes widened in shock.
Seemingly amused by Jiang Zhe’s reaction, Allen replied irritably, “Are you suggesting I use a bucket?”
Rolling his eyes, Jiang Zhe gave up. Looking around, he asked, “Where’s Scott?”
At that moment, Allen was drinking water from a cup. Hearing this, he coughed twice, pointed upstairs, and said, “He’s probably still studying something about illusions. You know how proud he is. Ever since he fell for Lailira’s illusion last time, he’s been secretly researching illusions on his own…”
Suddenly, Jiang Zhe saw Scott coming down the stairs behind Allen. He quickly coughed to get Allen’s attention.
Unfortunately, Allen was too engrossed in his story to notice Jiang Zhe’s signal. Winking and smiling, he said, “Buddy, I bet he’s still upset about losing to Lailira! You didn’t see his ugly face when he glared at that beautiful lady… Good heavens! As a knight, I can’t just stand by…”
“Oh? So what do you plan to do, future great knight?” A light but threatening voice came from behind.
“It’s a battle mage!” Allen instinctively turned around. After a long silence, he suddenly raised his hand and said with a smile, “Hey, buddy, good morning! You look great today!”
“Hmph!” Scott snorted coldly. Clearly aware of Allen’s personality, he gave him a disdainful look before turning to Jiang Zhe and asking, “Is Professor Hode not going to teach you any special techniques today either, Sos?”
“I guess not,” Jiang Zhe said, amused by Allen’s pitiful expression. He sat down at the long table, resting his chin in his hand. “The professor’s point is, ‘Magic isn’t a necessity in life.’ I understand what he means, but it’s still a bit hard to grasp…”

“Oh, I see. So what the professor means is to firm up our beliefs—why we study magic in the first place…” As he spoke, Scott reached for the teapot on the long table and poured himself a cup, but the temperature of the tea made him frown.
“Firm up beliefs?” Jiang Zhe asked doubtfully, reaching out and tapping Scott’s cup with his right finger. Immediately, the cold tea began to emit steam.
“When did you learn that trick?” Not only Allen but even Scott was extremely surprised, as temperature control is a rather complex skill.
“I figured it out in my free time. For now, it can only be used to heat tea…”
“Heh, thanks,” Scott said with a faint smile. He picked up his cup, blew on the steaming liquid, and took a small sip. His frown gradually faded as he smiled and said, “It’s a bit hot… I remember the great mage Beverly Kibble once saying, ‘Magic is a weapon—a spear, spurs—but mages are not knights!’ Alasdair Cash, a mage who suffered severe psychological trauma from failed experiments, also left behind a famous saying: ‘Belief is the mage’s strongest weapon!’ I think what the professor means is to always keep in mind the purpose of studying magic. It’s easy for humans to get lost under such powerful forces…”
“Hehe!” Allen sat down beside Scott with a grin and teased, “Scott, you say that now, but what if it’s you who gets lost later?”
“Me?” Scott glanced at Allen briefly, pushed his glasses up, and said in a solemn tone, “My purpose for studying magic has never changed!”
“Hey…” Looking at Scott, who had his head slightly lowered, Allen murmured, “That’s dangerous… your expression right now…”
At that moment, light footsteps came from the hallway. A few girls came down. Ravia, walking at the front, looked at Jiang Zhe and the others curiously and asked, “What are you doing?”
Glancing at Ravia, Jiang Zhe held his cup and said calmly, “Drinking tea. Can’t you tell?”
“…” Ravia felt a sense of frustration. Her good mood from waking up vanished instantly. Behind her, Lisa stepped forward, rubbed her eyes, and said to Allen, “You guys are already up? I’m so sleepy!”
While Allen was joking with Lisa, Jiang Zhe said oddly to Ravia, “Surely you didn’t stay up until dawn before going to bed again?”

Hearing the hint of laughter in his words, Lavia’s face turned slightly warm. She poured a glass of water and said, “We like to chat at night. What’s wrong?” As she spoke, she seemed to realize the tea was too cold as well; she frowned slightly and used the cup to heat it up. Clearly, she also knew how to use such techniques.

Before long, Lailira and Dia came down as well. It was obvious they hadn’t slept well, probably due to the scare caused by that “white ghost” a few days ago.

Jiang Zhe was about to greet Dia when voices came from outside the door.

“Excuse me… is Mr. Hodd here?”

The children looked outside in the direction of the voice and saw the old village chief they had met a few days ago standing there, his face filled with anxiety and unease.

Since he was closest to the door, Jiang Zhe stood up and stepped forward politely, saying, “Professor, um… yes, he’s here. What can I do for you?”

“I… there’s something I’d like to discuss with Mr. Hodd…”

The old village chief looked extremely anxious, nodding repeatedly. Perhaps he knew Professor Hodd’s identity, which made him treat these young people with great respect.

Seeing the chief’s anxious expression, Jiang Zhe wanted to ask what had happened, but since he didn’t want to press him, he decided not to inquire. Just as he hesitated, Professor Hodd came out, looking puzzled and asking, “Hm? What’s going on?”

Upon seeing Professor Hodd, the old village chief’s eyes lit up. He wanted to step inside but hesitated before staying where he was.

Seeing this, Professor Hodd stepped outside and, noticing the chief’s anxiety, asked softly, “What’s happened?”

The old village chief nodded repeatedly, his wrinkled face filled with fear—though, of course, it wasn’t directed at the professor.

“Sir, a village nearby has been attacked by wild beasts…”

“Wild beasts?” Professor Hodd frowned and asked, “How many people were injured?”

The old village chief shook his head and sighed, “All of them… everyone in the village was killed…”

“What?!” The professor was shocked. His expression grew serious as he asked repeatedly, “Everyone killed? By wild beasts? Which village?”

The old village chief looked around and pointed in a direction, saying, “It’s to the east, about five or six miles from here. It’s a village called Asher. You’ve been there before, sir…”

“I’ve been there?” The professor was stunned. He thought for a moment before suddenly raising his head and saying, “Is it the village that was attacked by wolves a year ago?”

“That’s the place!” The old village chief nodded, then shook his head and sighed. “Early in the morning, I sent a few young men from the village with their homemade barley beer to Asher to exchange for some goods. It’s always been like this in the nearby villages. But those young men rushed back to the village in a panic, saying that everyone in Asher’s village had been killed…”
“Well…” Professor Hod shook his head slowly, puzzled. “There can’t be any bandits in this area! As for mercenaries, no matter what, they wouldn’t kill everyone in the village…”
“It wasn’t humans! It wasn’t humans!” The old village chief waved his hands repeatedly, explaining, “The young men from the village said that they were bitten to death by wild beasts, and their blood was drained…”
“What?” Professor Hod exclaimed. “Their blood was drained…” At that moment, he suddenly came to his senses, pulled the old village chief aside, and asked in a low voice, “Was their blood really completely drained?”
“Yes, indeed!” The old village chief nodded shakily, his face filled with fear. “Those were the best young men in the village; they would never lie. That’s why I felt I had to tell you, Professor Hod… Asher is only five or six miles away. If those wild beasts come here, then… then, respected Professor Hod, this matter…”
“This is troublesome. I have a few restless kids with me,” Professor Hod said, frowning and speaking softly. “How about this? Tonight, after the kids in my house fall asleep, I’ll go to your place. You send a few people to show me the way, and I’ll go to that village to take a look… By the way, where are the bodies of those villagers?”
“No,” the old village chief sighed and shook his head. “The young men from the village are usually quite brave, but they’ve never encountered such a thing before. They didn’t dare to look closely and rushed back in panic. If Professor Hod doesn’t mind, let me show you the way. Those young men are probably too scared…”
“Hmm, I see…”
While Professor Hod and the old village chief were whispering to each other, the children by the long table were also whispering among themselves.
“Did you hear that, guys?” Allen said in a low voice, winking at Jiang Zhe and Scott. “Their blood was drained. It happened on a full moon yesterday, and there have been howls of wolves every night in this area these past couple of days. It might well be werewolves at work!”

“That’s impossible!” Scott pushed his glasses up, frowning with slight disgust. “After all, werewolves are just ancient legends. Since the empire was formed, such things have never happened…”
“It doesn’t mean it didn’t happen just because it’s not recorded in documents, buddy! Maybe some idiot couldn’t resist the temptation of demons?” Allen shrugged.
“That doesn’t make sense either,” Scott muttered, frowning. Suddenly, he looked up at Allen and said, “You don’t mean…”
Sure enough, before Scott could finish, Allen said cheerfully, “Well, ladies and gentlemen? How about we go take a look? Maybe it really is a werewolf from the legend!”
“No!” Scott was the first to object. “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Allen!”
“I think it’s a great idea,” Ravia said in a provocative tone, casting a mocking glance at Jiang Zhe. “Didn’t someone say he was missing a wolf pelt for a coat?”
“Hehe,” under everyone’s curious gazes, Jiang Zhe remained unfazed by Ravia’s provocation and said with a light laugh, “That’s nice, but… it’s not necessarily werewolves that drink human blood. Maybe some other creature, like vampires? I heard vampires love to drink the blood of young and beautiful girls!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lisa looked terrified and shook her head repeatedly. “R-really, Thors? Then… we’d better not go…”
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Allen said while comforting Lisa. “Is it true or not, buddy?” Before he could finish, Ravia’s mocking voice came from across.
“It must be a lie. That guy just pretends to practice fireballs and spends his days dozing off. Do you think he’d know anything?!”
Jiang Zhe shrugged casually. “Believe it or not. Anyway, don’t blame me if I don’t warn you… Oh, right, what did you say a few days ago? If your blood is drained and your soul is given to demons, becoming their plaything, you can never escape and can only be entangled with other souls, tearing at each other forever, right? Once the demons get tired of your soul, they’ll tear it apart and swallow it. You can’t resist their power, not even scream. You can only endure the pain of your soul being torn apart, feeling it swallow you bit by bit… Tsk tsk tsk, how tragic…”

“Soo… Sosso…” Lisa, who had just been calmed down by Allen’s words, was so scared that she couldn’t even speak, which left Allen helpless. Pointing at the girl beside him, he said irritably, “Hey, buddy! It’s not right to intimidate pretty ladies!”
Jiang Zhe smiled faintly.
Although Jiang Zhe’s words made her heart race with fear, no trace of fear could be seen on Lavia’s face.
“I’m not afraid of those guys at all! If I meet them, I’ll make them taste the power of my Fire Wave spell!”
Fire Wave spell?
Recalling Lavia’s magic, whose power was even lower than his own fireballs, Jiang Zhe really didn’t feel like punishing her any further. He casually replied, “Yeah, yeah. I’m really curious to see if those guys are immortal. Oh, and don’t forget to recite the spell then…”
“What do you mean by that?!” Seemingly afraid that the guy might detect her fear, Lavia became angry.
“I’m just giving you a friendly reminder…”
“Shh!” Interrupting Jiang Zhe, Allen whispered to the two of them, “The professor is back!”
Sure enough, after saying goodbye to the old village chief, Professor Hod returned inside. Rubbing his hands together, he said with a smile, “You must be hungry. Lunch is ready. Girls, please help set the table!”
As the professor passed by, Scott asked, “Professor, what happened?”
“Hmm,” the professor said with a smile, “A nearby village was attacked by wild beasts. The old village chief was worried that our village might also be attacked, so he told me. I told him to go to the nearby watchtower for help. Well, nothing serious. Girls, please help set the table. Boys, go to the kitchen and bring out today’s lunch…”
“Yes, Professor!”
Finally, night fell. After chatting and laughing with the children for a while, Professor Hod urged them to go back to their rooms to sleep. He himself remained sitting on the leather sofa in the living room. That’s how the professor had been resting these past two days—after all, for a magician, meditation was the best form of rest.

To be honest, Professor Hodde wasn’t very confident about those kids around him. In his view, Jiang Zhe, Allen, Scott, and Raviya were all highly subjective children who would stick to their own opinions and find it hard to listen to others’ advice. Compared to them, Raviya being a girl, Professor Hodde was sure he could persuade her to stay, but he wasn’t sure about the boys. This was why he didn’t reveal the truth. On the other hand, Lisa, Lailira, and Dia from the third grade were less subjective; as long as the boys didn’t encourage them, they would stay inside obediently.

So, even late at night, Professor Hodde still hadn’t set off. He repeatedly used techniques to amplify magical waves to check whether the three boys had fallen asleep. Of course, the professor could have used [Eye of Truth], but if that happened and they noticed, he would have no easy explanation.

Through prolonged interaction, Professor Hodde had learned that Jiang Zhe and Scott were very sensitive to such spying magic.

Thus, after waiting for over an hour, Professor Hodde finally sighed in relief in secret. He stood up quietly, walked to the door, took down his magic cloak from the hook, put it on, felt the wand already placed inside the cloak, and quietly opened the door.

“Creak…”

What used to seem fine to him now made him wish he could use magic to blow that old door apart. After muttering a few words, he listened for any noise upstairs. A minute later, satisfied, he nodded, put on his wizard hat, carefully closed the door with his wand, and headed toward the village chief’s house.

But Professor Hodde still made a mistake…