Chapter 20 High-Risk Zone Entered
At the same time as Ancia arrived at Villa No. 11, a reminder letter from the academy arrived.
"Dear Miss Ancia, please enter the botanical garden after the moon rises tomorrow. A teacher will accompany you to complete the clearing of plants in the high-risk restricted area. Don't worry, no student has ever died while accompanied by a teacher. —Dean"
Lulu flew over and read the letter, then covered her mouth with both hands, frantically flying around, "What to do! What to do! Ancia, the high-risk restricted area is very dangerous! There are ferocious plants inside that eat fairies without spitting out the bones, and a mist that devours memories..."
Ancia held up a finger and let the flustered Lulu lie on it. "It's okay, Lulu. The academy won't take students' safety lightly. Since a teacher is with you, nothing should happen. Besides, it was indeed my fault that caused the accident, and I should be punished according to school rules."
Lulu sighed sadly, "Alright then, what does Ancia want to eat tomorrow? I'll definitely make the most delicious food to comfort poor Ancia."
Ancia was indeed craving a certain food, "Hmm... Finger-licking egg flavor, ultra-thin shredded vegetable pancake sandwiched with a soul-stirring wheat crispy pancake."
Lulu patted her chest. "No problem, leave it to me! What kind of sauce does Ancia like? Does she want a cool soybean sauce or a fiery chili sauce?"
Ancia laughed, "Half and half, thank you, Lulu."
Although she had comforted Lulu, Ancia herself was not confident about the Night of the Forbidden Zone. Her teacher would protect her life, but there was no guarantee that she wouldn't get hurt. She could only be more vigilant and be prepared to use her damage reflection shield and healing spell at any time.
During the afternoon assassination lesson, Ancia diligently practiced her dagger skills and then began to continuously cast her counter-damage shield to improve her feel for the weapon.
Her slight nervousness was noticed by Murtrie, who asked in a low voice, "Ancia, you seem to have something on your mind."
Ancia sensed someone approaching and reflexively activated her damage reflection shield. Only when she saw it was Mortley did she dispel the magic. "Excuse me, Professor Mortley, what were you asking just now? I wasn't paying attention. Could you repeat it?"
“Tell me what’s bothering you.” Murtrie’s fingers twitched slightly, and a dim shadow enveloped him and Ancia, making them undetectable to others.
There were other students practicing in the classroom, but in this small space, there were only the two of them. Everything that happened inside would be unknown to outsiders, making it an absolutely safe place.
It's easier to let your guard down in dimly lit places. Ancia told her about the trouble she had caused and the punishment the academy had given her. "Because high-risk restricted areas sound dangerous, and they're places I've never seen before, I couldn't help but feel anxious about mysterious and unknown forbidden areas."
Merri nodded slightly. "Yes, I know."
Ancia smiled and said, "But I feel much better after telling you. Thank you, Mr. Murtrie. I'm going to continue practicing. I feel more at ease relying on myself."
As the shadows dissipated, Mortley stood beside Ancia, slowing down his attacks and occasionally pointing out the timing of her damage reflection shield to help her adjust her technique.
The dagger's unpredictable angles of attack always came from unexpected directions, making it either too early or too late for Ancia to release her counter-damage shield.
The damage reflection shield cannot be maintained indefinitely; she must get used to developing the instinct to protect herself before danger arrives.
“Trust your intuition; your mental power is more reliable than your eyes.” Murtrie pointed to his brain.
Ancia closed her eyes, unleashing her full mental power. After a moment of silence, she suddenly turned to face the side, raised her staff to release a damage reflection shield, and the golden light perfectly blocked the chill of the dagger.
"Remember this feeling, and do it again." A deep voice, tinged with amusement, disappeared back into the shadows.
Once you've succeeded once, it's much easier to capture the same feeling again.
Time flew by, and as dusk approached, Ancia's mood grew heavier. She didn't head towards the botanical garden until the sun had just dipped below the horizon.
What's meant to happen will happen eventually. Taking the first step won't be difficult, Ancia!
Standing at the entrance of the botanical garden, Ancia took a deep breath and skillfully calmed herself before entering the gate. From afar, she saw a dark figure standing next to a guide lily that emitted a faint glow.
"Is this the teacher? I'm An...Mertri, the teacher who's going to enter the high-risk restricted area today?" Ancia exclaimed in shock as she approached.
"Good night." Murtrie stood at the boundary between light and shadow, taking a step back to completely blend into the shadows.
"Is the teacher accompanying you today? I didn't expect Ms. Murtley to participate in this kind of work of accompanying students who have been punished. I thought Ms. Murtley didn't care about anything except teaching." Ancia smiled gently.
“…Yes, I care about my students.” Murtrie touched his nose and stuffed the botanical garden key that he had forcibly taken from Yesika into his spatial ring.
The two women looked at each other for a moment, and then Ancia couldn't help but ask, "Ms. Murtrie, which way do you usually take the students who are being punished?"
Merriel was standing right below the map of the botanical garden. He casually glanced at it, "High-risk restricted area..."
The guiding lily at my feet trembled, and its leaves all pointed in one direction.
“The guiding lily has shown us the way; Professor Mortley is really skilled,” Ancia said respectfully.
Murtrie is the strongest fighter among the five male protagonists. With such a morally upright teacher by her side, she should be safe tonight!
"It's alright, let's go." Merriel's hands were empty; he hadn't even prepared a lantern.
Ancia naturally stood beside him, the white gem at the top of her staff emitting a soft glow that illuminated the path beneath their feet.
“You’ve changed your staff.” Mortley’s voice was deep. He noticed at a glance that the staff in Ancia’s hand was slightly different from the one before.
“Yes, because I’ve been promoted to a one-star priest, this staff suits me better now. I’ll change it again when I’m promoted to a higher star level.” Ancia shook the staff in her hand slightly.
"Fish... The Dean is giving the first-place winner of the competition a weapon that can be upgraded," Murtrie said calmly.
"An upgradeable weapon?" Anxi paused. The weapon that could only be obtained by spending 100,000 RMB in the game store was actually the reward for winning the competition.
“Well, how far a staff can grow depends on the level of its bound master. If the user breaks through to a higher star level, the staff will also grow along with its master.” Mortley glanced at the staff in Ancia’s hand, “It’s better than the one you’re using now.”
“I will get it.” Ancia smiled slightly, her tone calm.
Following the direction indicated by the lily, the two finally arrived at the edge of the high-risk restricted area.
The high-risk restricted area is located at the very back of the botanical garden. Unlike other areas that students can freely enter, the entrance is tightly sealed and shrouded in a pale green light membrane, making it impossible to see anything inside from the outside.
Merri took out the key he had stolen from Yesika, pressed it close to the light membrane, and drew a vertical mark on it.
The light membrane opened a slit along this mark, just wide enough for one person to pass through, and closed automatically after they entered.
As soon as Ancia entered, she sensed the active wood element in the air, which was almost comparable to the concentration of light element in the Holy See of Light in the Eternal City.
"Mr. Murtrie, which plants do we need to clear?" The comfortable environment eased Ancia's anxiety, and she was less worried about the dangerous plants she was about to face.
“One really small, one really big, one really ugly.” Merri tried his best to recall Yesika’s nagging instructions and extracted the keywords of the mission objective from them.
“?” Ancia couldn’t help but begin to doubt Merri’s reliability.
“Yesika said you’ll understand once you see it; it’s easy to find.” Mert’s expression remained unchanged.
I can't feel nervous at all.
Ancia said helplessly, "Then let's just go in."
Fortunately, dangerous magical plants are planted separately in high-risk restricted areas because some magical plants can strangle other plants. Each small planting area is separated by shrubs, making them much easier to find.
“Let’s start by looking for the very small magical plants. I see that most of the small magical plants are planted in this area.” Ancia walked towards the glass flower stand.
The flower stand was filled with crystal-clear flower pots, allowing a clear view of the plants growing inside.
Ancia thought for a moment, then carefully put on the botany mask she used in botany class before approaching the flower stand, just in case. She checked the rows from top to bottom and finally saw the mushroom caps, which were as small as fingernails, on the bottom row.
“Found it! It’s so small…” Before Ancia could finish calling out to Mertri, a streak of light flashed across the pinkish-red, translucent canopy, and the spores flew into Ancia’s eyes following the light.
Before losing consciousness, Ancia had only one thought in her mind: Why can the spores of magical plants spread through sight? Is this scientifically possible?
Merriel was drawn by Ancia's abruptly stopped voice and turned around to see Ancia slumped to the ground.
"What's wrong? Can you stand up?" Mertri reached out his hand to Ancia.
With her head bowed, Ancia slowly took his hand, but instead of using it to stand up, she gently pressed her fingers against Murtrie's hand and intertwined them.
“Mertri, your hands are so big…” Ancia looked up, her eyes, stained with rose red, were empty and lifeless, and a nonchalant smile appeared on her lips.
"Ancia?" Murtrie tried to pull his hand back, but Ancia held on tightly. Helpless, he had no choice but to lift Ancia off the ground with one hand.
Ancia leaned lazily against his lap, brought her ear close to her ear and sniffed, her breath hot enough to make him shudder. "Morley, you smell so good."
It's the smell of sunshine that she likes.
Mortley patted Ancia, who was wriggling in his arms. Magical plants weren't his area of expertise; it would be better to wake Yesika up and deal with it.
As he prepared to turn back the way he came, a haughty but extremely displeased voice rang out behind him.
"Ancia? Hey, what did you do to her?"
A note from the author:
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