Elite Mages’ Academy

"I told them we were adventurers passing by and needed a place to stay for the night. I asked if they could spare us some food and water as well," Gu Xiaoyue whispered to Xiao Lin.

"What did she say?"

Gu Xiaoyue tilted her head and thought for a bit, "There were some phrases I couldn’t quite understand, but the general meaning was that this isn’t just a simple supply depot. It seems to have been built specifically for the troops nearby, and would provide them with regular supplies."

Xiao Lin was suddenly very anxious. He whispered in an even lower tone, "Could they be soldiers of the Thunder Kingdom?"

"I don’t think so; they seem to just be merchants." Gu Xiaoyue adjusted her glasses, and had a hint of confusion in her eyes. "I find it odd too that an army garrisoned in the borders of a country would actually need merchants to provide them with supplies. However, it doesn’t seem like they are lying."

Xiao Lin raised his head and measured the few people. There was a whole group behind the woman, and they were also looking at them both curiously and cautiously. They wore all sorts of clothes, which did not make them seem like an army. Of course, he did not dare to be sure that Planet Norma had uniforms for its soldiers as a custom. In the end, they had way too little information, but it was way too late to regret not studying up on history.

Xiao Lin asked, "Since they’re merchants, would they be willing to provide food and water?"

Gu Xiaoyue had a strange expression on her face, "She said they were merchants, and only accept deals."

Xiao Lin was stumped, he obviously knew what a deal was, but what did they have to trade? He did not think Normans would accept currency from Earth.

Gu Xiaoyue added, "Planet Norma’s human countries use gold as their primary currency; they also use barter trade."

"F*ck! We should just take it for ourselves!" Lu Renyi had a murderous expression on his face.

Xiao Lin shook his head. They were at a disadvantage in numbers and did not know how strong their opponents were. They had just gone through a full day’s journey, and had a few injured people among them, so the odds of victory were not clear. Furthermore, their objectives did not say they needed to fight these merchants, so it would be best to avoid any deaths or injuries that they could.

Probably guessing their predicament, the Norman woman pointed at Lu Renyi and muttered some words at him.

Lu Renyi jumped in fright and gulped as he frantically looked to Gu Xiaoyue. "What...what is she saying? Does she want my body as compensation? She’s too ugly!"

Xiao Lin rolled his eyes, managing to somewhat understand what the woman meant. Gu Xiaoyue carefully dissected the words and slowly translated, "She seems to be saying something can be used to trade with them, but I don’t understand what she’s referring to."

"No way! They’re mine!" Lu Renyi said unhappily.

Xiao Lin snatched the two jet-black blades from Lu Renyi, saying, "It’s fine, you can’t even bring anything from here back to the academy!"

The Norman woman took the blades and had a happy expression on her face. She said some more words, then turned around and left. Gu Xiaoyue softly said, "She has agreed. She wants us to wait here; they will divide a portion of water and food for us."

Xiao Lin let out a breath. No matter what, avoiding battle was a decent result. At the thought of food and drink, everyone had relieved expressions.

"Let’s bring in the injured first," Xiao Lin said. They were worried there would be some conflict, so did not bring the few injured students in with them.

The ones that were injured by the iguana did not have huge problems, but the one who accidentally ate wild fruit was still in a powerless state. The poison was not fatal, but it seemed like the effects lasted for a long time. After entering the cave, he lied down on the cold rock wall and licked his dry lips, blushing in shame as he said, "I’m really sorry for dragging everyone down like this."

"It’s okay. You must be really thirsty. Don’t worry, we’ll have water soon."

After a few minutes, a few men carried a few jars of water and some bowls; they also brought a few slabs of dried meat. They left quickly after placing the things on the floor. Even though both sides had a successful deal, they were still cautious of each other, and neither side would willingly go near the other.

The clear water felt like ambrosia at that moment; everyone’s eyes shone brightly as they rushed to the jars, fighting for a drink. There were very limited bowls available and the ones who did not manage to get a bowl would just drink straight from the jars.

"D*mn! How disgusting can you get!" A girl shouted out in horror. However, she could not hold herself back and followed suit as well.

Xiao Lin shook his head; he carefully rationed his water the entire journey. Even though he was thirsty as well, he still had some water in his canteen, so he was not pressed to fight with everyone else. He took a piece of dried meat and sat on the side, looking at Gu Xiaoyue, who was not fighting for the water either. He tore his meat in half and offered it. "Eat some. I saw that you didn’t touch the biscuits in your bag at all during the journey."

Gu Xiaoyue accepted the meat, and took a small bite, taking her time before swallowing. She said softly, "If we did not find the supply depot, the biscuits would have been our last resort, so it obviously needed to be saved."

Xiao Lin smiled and took a bite as well. He could not tell what sort of meat it was; the texture was very dry and the taste was not great either. It felt a little like rotten meat, he almost spat it out after he swallowed it, but looking at the girl in front of him who was the epitome of calm, he forced himself to keep it down.

That meat tasted horrible, but it was very filling. After a few mouthfuls, Xiao Lin felt like his stomach was full. Looking at the meat they had left, he estimated that the 20 of them could make it last for about two days if it was properly rationed.

As he thought about how they could get even more food, Xiao Lin gulped down the last bits of water in his canteen before getting up and refilling it. He suddenly heard a cry of pain from Lu Renyi, and he fell right onto the floor, clutching his stomach in pain. Everyone else started to drop down as well.

Xiao Lin was extremely surprised, and he could make out a few shadowy figures rushing toward them in the dim light. He took out his wand with his left hand in realization and fired two ice bullets.

Light was limited in the cave, and Xiao Lin could not concentrate properly before firing. However, the enemies were numerous and all close to each other; two flowing ice bullets flew toward the opponents with unsteady trajectories and he could hear two cries in agony and a clear sound of impact, telling him his two spells did not miss.

Gu Xiaoyue was on the alert as well; after the ice bullets, she fired three energy bombs as well. She targeted the enemy crowd, and when the explosion cleared, three enemies had turned into mush right on the spot. The ones next to them were also hit by some of the impact, and even though they did not die, they still cried out in pain as they suffered injuries.

The sudden counterattack caused a lot of confusion; Xiao Lin and Gu Xiaoyue’s speedy retaliation did not manage to completely stop the assault from the Normans, but both of their spells seemed to have been out of the enemy’s expectations. The sneak attack was halted, everyone who was not injured on the enemy’s side began to get up, each of them grasping their own weapons. However, they seemed to be afraid of Xiao Lin and Gu Xiaoyue, temporarily too afraid to advance.