Free Web NovelJasmine and the other two did not want to give up on this trial, but they also didn’t dare to delve deeper into the dungeon.
So while praying desperately not to encounter more monsters tonight, they searched for somewhere—anywhere—they could survive the night: a cave, a dark chamber, or maybe a tent some other team had left behind...
Maixi’s family sold fish. Not rich, but definitely not poor. Her parents, not wanting her to end up like them, exhausted every connection they had to forcefully get her into the Magic Academy.
Of course, this was all thanks to the new branch campus the Magic Academy had opened in Fengxiang Town—otherwise she would’ve never had the chance to become a mage.
To the common people, a mage was synonymous with “mysterious,” “elegant,” “powerful,” and “high-status.”
Every mage was a superior of society.
Maixi worked very hard to understand magic, but her mind simply refused to cooperate. Determined before class, half-asleep during class, and full of regret clawing at her chest after class.
However—she was extremely sensitive to smells.
Growing up in a fish-selling family, the fishy scent seemed to seep into every object and never fade.
Maixi had killed fish before, but killing goblins was entirely different.
She tried pretending the goblins were fish—but when the goblin screamed sharply, pleading, and when the sword hilt in her palm transmitted that horrifyingly real sensation—she realized that what she had killed was not a dead fish, but something that could speak, something with thoughts like a person.
Blood pooled at her feet, sticky, spreading. The burnt fragments of dismembered limbs scattered before her.
She almost vomited several times. For an eleven- or twelve-year-old girl, the scene was far too much. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
But she didn’t want to cause trouble for her teammates.
Enduring the omnipresent smell of blood, she grabbed her sword, guarding her companions like a real mage-warrior.
Even so, after that battle, Maixi felt she had become stronger. Give her another goblin like the last one—she could kill it faster, cleaner!
Walking at the front as volunteer scout, Maixi asked cautiously as she moved:
“Captain Jasmine, are we heading back to the goblin battleground? The smell of blood is so strong... Wait...”
She stopped and scratched her nose, her expression growing strange. “The goblin blood smell disappeared... all of a sudden.”
A moment ago it clung to them like a shadow—yet now it had vanished as if erased.
The three girls returned to the battlefield where they had fought the goblins not long ago. It was still an absolute mess.
But—
The goblin corpses—
All gone.
Not even an extra drop of blood remained.
Then they saw the most terrifying thing of their entire lives: the three older mages who had been brutally killed by goblins earlier... were now walking out from another passage, chatting and laughing.
“Eh? Looks like we’ve got three younger schoolmates over there. Are you here for training too? You all look so tiny and adorable!” The same female mage’s voice—clear, sweet. She waved eagerly. “Little schoolmates, it’s so late—why aren’t you resting? Come stay with us for the night!”
Come stay with us for the night?
Jasmine and the others trembled violently.
They had watched this woman die horribly not long ago—yet now... now...
“C-Captain, a-are they humans or ghosts?” Rorina’s face was paper white. The horror of the moment rivaled going from an adventure film straight into a horror ghost movie.
“I... I don’t know.” Jasmine felt utterly unprepared, brain blank and helpless.
“R-run, run, RUN!”
Maixi turned into a broken record. Under the two’s stunned gazes, she hoisted Jasmine onto her shoulder and bolted.
After the brief shock, Rorina panicked like a little mouse left behind. She screamed while chasing frantically after Maixi’s silhouette:
“You dog—x human tripwire! You dare throw this lady behind as bait to distract monsters?! I’ll kill you a thousand times—AAAH!”
Her scream cut off abruptly—clean and sharp.
Thud—!
At the critical moment, Maixi made a fatal mistake—her left foot tripped her right. She fell flat on the ground, flinging Jasmine forward like a launched potato!
“No... uuu... Mama... I love you so much... I’m sorry...”
Despairing Jasmine was thrown to the ground with a smack, vision going black as she passed out, rolling down a slope into the darkness.
...
She didn’t know how much time passed.
Jasmine’s consciousness finally began to return. Faintly, she heard people talking.
“These goblins only give 3 points each, *&@ (human vulgarity). At this rate, killing a hundred goblins only gives 300 points. Forget promotion this year—we’ll have to train or wait till next time.”
“Sigh, this is only the first floor. Back in the day, I followed the Violet Hero from floor one all the way down to floor ten! From slimes to undead giants! You know that undead giant? Tens of meters tall, halo above its head, armored in purple light, shaped like an evil god, voice like thousands of ghosts wailing in the abyss. One roar killed the mid-level mage who was fighting beside me!”
“...Then why are you still a beginner?” said a familiar girl’s voice.
“That’s not the point! The point is, I fought alongside the Hero—we struck together, blow after blow—we forced that undead giant to its knees... Ah, the glory of my youth...”
“Stop bragging. If bragging could explode a minotaur’s head, yours would’ve popped by now. If even a word of what you said were true, you wouldn’t be teaming with us. You probably stared at the Hero from ten thousand miles away. Speaking of which, I heard the Violet Hero is a great beauty—you... heheh?”
“All right, enough. Quit chirping. These three kids look like they’re waking up. Wow... didn’t expect such little ones to join the trial. Judging by their faces, they’ve been scared stiff. Probably haven’t even killed fish before coming here.”
“I—I’m from a fish-killing family! You... what are you doing?!”
“Oh, you’re awake. Don’t be scared, I’m your upperclassman. I’m just a beginner mage too. Want a roasted potato? Still warm.”
“Aaah—! All of you go to h—”
“Rorina you idiot shut up!”
“You dare yell at me? Then you’re a dead little fish too!”
Noisy voices buzzed around...
Judging by the sound, they all seemed full of energy.
Good... that’s good...
Jasmine tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids were heavy as stone. Her whole body felt pinned down by a hundred kilos.
“Uh, big-sister mage, why isn’t our captain waking up?”
“No idea. Her body seems weak. Maybe you broke her when you dropped her.”
“Ah—no way!!!”
“Haha, I’m joking. She’s weak, sure, but it’s mostly mana exhaustion.”
“Mana exhaustion! Waaah, Captain don’t die! If you die I’ll be stuck alone with this dead fish—what do we do?!”
In her hazy state, Jasmine felt someone shaking her—which made her feel even worse.
“You idiot Rorina! Don’t shake the captain!”
“I’ll shake her if I want! What can you do, dead fish?!”
“Just wait! Once we get out, I’m telling Jasmine’s mama that you bullied her!”
“Hmph, Jasmine’s mama? If she comes, I’ll beat her too! Just a slightly bigger old fish. Besides—”
“I’m sorry, big-sister mage! My teammate got scared by goblins and her brain broke. She wasn’t like this before.”
Maixi cut Rorina off, stammering apologies to the strange mage team in front of them.
Sometimes, she really wished this pink-haired idiot could sleep like a dead log: wake up when monsters appear, and when there are none, sleep forever—or maybe get slapped mute by a monster.
“No worries no worries. Your teammate’s just energetic.” the female mage said, though her tone and eyes were strangely off.
Time passed slowly. The two male mages continued bragging and occasionally asked Maixi some questions.
Maixi answered smoothly, even joining the conversation once in a while.
Rorina, rarely, shut her mouth and held Jasmine’s hand without speaking. Jasmine had no idea what the pink-haired menace was trying to do.
But that debt from earlier—insulting her mother—Jasmine carved that deeply into her heart.
For the moment, the atmosphere between the two teams was strangely harmonious.
...
The campfire flickered.
The three little ones huddled together, breathing lightly, mingling with the unknown insect chirps of [N O V E L I G H T] the dungeon.
Warm firelight cast a soft orange glow on Jasmine’s face.
At this moment, the loli trio and the resurrected mage trio seemed to have formed some sort of tacit cooperation.
The male mage who had died from a pickaxe to the head sprinkled powder around the area—something to mask their scent.
The mage who had been impaled in the throat carved loose-type trap magic into the ground.
The female mage who had been eaten by goblins sat opposite the three girls, her face full of gentle warmth.
If they hadn’t witnessed their brutal deaths earlier, Maixi thought she would’ve genuinely liked them.
At this moment—
Rorina felt Jasmine trembling slightly in her arms. A sign of awakening.
Her eyes lit up, though she quickly hid the emotion, and whispered:
“Captain’s awake. As expected of the pathetic little fish whose body is worse than a three-year-old!”
“......”
Jasmine couldn’t tell whether the pink menace was mocking, or taking the chance to mix honesty with her act.
“You’re awake? Little one, your two teammates were really worried about you.”
The female mage smiled tenderly, the firelight softening her features, her voice gentle.
“Here—there’s freshly boiled hot water and roasted potatoes. Eat a bit and regain your strength, okay?”
