pjbooks Chapter 19 Showing off Gets You Struck by Lightning!
Chapter 19 Showing off Gets You Struck by Lightning!
"There's a monster!" Zhou Minglang instantly drew his sword, his eyes fixed on the direction of the forest.
The students around him also quickly went into battle mode. Flames danced at their fingertips, arcs of electricity crackled in their hair, and wind blades condensed in their palms.
The bushes at the edge of the forest shook violently.
The next moment, three gray-black shadows suddenly darted out.
Those were three shadow wolves, a full size larger than ordinary wolves, covered in dark gray fur, with eyes that gleamed with an eerie green light. They were incredibly fast, leaving afterimages in the air as they pounced on the group in the center of the clearing.
"spread!"
Zhou Minglang shouted and took the lead in going forward.
Perhaps because his awakened ability is also related to swordsmanship, Zhou Minglang is now more powerful than the clumsy man Jiang Chen remembered. His sword drew sharp trajectories in the air, forcing the shadow wolf at the front to dodge to the side.
The other two shadow wolves pounced on the other students.
The boy with the pointed face and monkey-like features waved his hands, and a wall of fire rose in front of him, forcing back a shadow wolf.
Another girl made a fist with both hands, and several wind blades whistled out, slashing towards the third shadow wolf.
The battle began instantly.
The students who have just awakened are far from having mastered enough power. Although they have some moves, their power is not great. However, they are more than enough to deal with the lowest level E-rank magical beasts.
Jiang Chen stood at the edge of the open space, quietly watching everything.
Wang Kai nervously tugged at his sleeve, "Brother Chen, let's run!"
"No rush," Jiang Chen said calmly.
His gaze fell on the three shadow wolves, and he raised an eyebrow slightly.
E-rank monsters are indeed not strong.
But the way these shadow wolves act is a bit strange.
Although their attacks were fierce, they lacked the bloodthirsty madness of ordinary monsters. Instead, they seemed to be testing, driving, and forcing these people in a certain direction.
Jiang Chen's gaze passed over the fighting crowd and looked into the depths of the forest.
There, a pair of eyes are watching everything here.
Zhou Minglang pierced the throat of a shadow wolf with his sword. The shadow wolf let out a mournful howl, fell to the ground, twitched a few times, and then lay still.
"First one!" he shouted, his body flashing with blue light, as the recording crystal automatically recorded the information.
Seeing that things were not going well, the other two shadow wolves turned and fled, disappearing into the shadows of the forest.
"Chase!" The boy with the pointed mouth and monkey-like face was about to rush into the forest.
"stop!"
Zhou Minglang sternly shouted to stop him.
"Don't chase after them! The teacher said we can't go deep into the forest."
The students then stopped and stood there, panting.
"Awesome!" The boy with the pointed mouth and monkey-like face excitedly waved his fist.
"This is my first time killing a monster! Even though it was only Rank E, it was so exciting!"
"Me too!" another student laughed.
"I didn't even expect to land that wind blade so accurately!"
The group huddled together, excitedly discussing the battle they had just fought.
Zhou Minglang sheathed his sword, turned around, and looked at Jiang Chen, who was standing at the edge of the open space.
A smile appeared on his lips.
"Jiang Chen, did you see that?"
He walked over and looked down at Jiang Chen.
"That's the difference between an awakened person and a piece of trash. You can only watch from the sidelines, you don't even have the courage to run away."
The surrounding students burst into laughter again.
Jiang Chen looked at him without saying a word.
His gaze passed over Zhou Minglang and landed deep in the forest.
There, that faint, eerie aura was slowly approaching.
Moreover, it's very fast.
"Brother Chen?" Wang Kai noticed Jiang Chen's unusual behavior and asked in a low voice.
Jiang Chen withdrew his gaze and glanced at Zhou Minglang.
That look in his eyes was so calm it was unsettling.
"If I were you, I would take your people and leave here right now."
Zhou Minglang was taken aback for a moment, then laughed.
"What, scared out of your wits? You think you can get rid of us this way? Jiang Chen, you don't still think you're the top student you used to be, do you? Now it's my turn to protect you, understand?"
"Exactly!" The boy with the pointed face and monkey-like features chimed in, "Brother Minglang, ignore him, let's keep going in and kill a few more monsters."
Zhou Minglang nodded and turned to greet the others.
Jiang Chen didn't say anything more.
He simply looked into the depths of the forest, where the aura was already very close.
Three seconds later—
"Awooo—!!!"
A deafening roar echoed throughout the entire forest.
The sound was a hundred times more terrifying than the previous wolf howl, carrying a visible shockwave that caused the surrounding leaves to fall in a rustling sound.
The smiles on Zhou Minglang and the others' faces froze instantly.
The bushes at the edge of the forest suddenly exploded, sending countless pieces of wood flying everywhere.
A huge black shadow rushed out of the forest.
It was a wolf.
But it's completely different from the Shadow Wolf we just saw.
It was three times the size of a shadow wolf, its body covered in jet-black scales, and its eyes were blood-red. With each step it took, the ground trembled slightly. Foul-smelling saliva dripped from its mouth, corroding the ground and creating charred pits.
C-rank monster.
Blackscaled Wolf.
Zhou Minglang's face turned deathly pale in an instant.
He recognized the monster.
Last semester in the Monster Encyclopedia class, the teacher specifically talked about the Blackscale Wolf—a C-rank monster. Adults can reach four meters in length and are covered in hard black scales that are difficult for ordinary swords to penetrate. Its claws and teeth contain potent venom; if you are cut, the toxin will enter your bloodstream within ten seconds, and without an antidote within three minutes, you will certainly die.
What's even more terrifying is its speed.
The burst speed of a C-rank Blackscale Wolf is enough to tear apart an unsuspecting B-rank Awakener in an instant.
Among these high school seniors who had only awakened their talents less than a week ago, even the strongest, Zhou Minglang, was only at the A-level talent level.
Note that it's talent, not ability.
Awakened individuals have two different things: strength and talent.
Awakened individuals are divided into six levels: S, A, B, C, D, and E, which represent their strength.
Although they have awakened S-level or A-level talents, most of them are still at the E-level in terms of strength, at most touching the edge of the D-level.
It's like the difference between a novice driver who just got their license and a professional race car driver.
And now, standing before them is a genuine C-rank monster.
"How...how is this possible!"
The boy with the pointed face and monkey-like features was trembling in his voice.
"Weren't all the monsters here supposed to be tamed? Why are there C-rank monsters in the training ground?! Weren't there only E-rank and D-rank monsters?!"
No one answered him.
Everyone was trembling.
The black-scaled wolf stood at the edge of the clearing, its crimson eyes slowly sweeping over everyone present.
His gaze was cold and bloodthirsty, as if he were eyeing a flock of lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
Its mouth parted, revealing a row of gleaming white fangs. Saliva dripped down, corroding the ground into charred pits, from which wisps of white smoke rose.
Zhou Minglang's hand holding the sword trembled.
He wanted to run, but his legs felt as heavy as lead.
He has A-level talent, he's a genius who's going to get first place in the whole school in this year's college entrance exam, and he's a future star who's going to the front lines to kill the apostles and make a name for himself!
How could this happen? How could you die here?!
"Send... a teleportation scroll!"
He finally shouted, his voice hoarse and unlike his own.
Yes! A teleportation scroll!
The boy with the pointed face and monkey-like features seemed to snap out of a daze, frantically reaching for his waist. Each of them had received a teleportation talisman, which hung on their belts. In case of danger, they could crush it and be teleported back to school in three seconds.
His hand touched the warm jade talisman, and he squeezed it hard—
Nothing happened.
The jade talisman was intact and did not react at all.
"How...how could this be?!"
He frantically squeezed it a few more times, drawing blood with his fingernails, but the jade talisman remained motionless, like an ordinary stone.
Other students also reached out to touch their teleportation scrolls.
Then, their faces turned utterly despairing.
All teleportation tokens are now invalid.
"No, it's impossible!" A girl collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face.
"How could this happen... I don't want to die... I don't want to die..."
The black-scaled wolves seemed to enjoy their fear.
Instead of attacking immediately, it slowly took a step forward.
The ground trembled the moment that step was taken.
Countless thoughts flashed through Zhou Minglang's mind.
He recalled the points his teacher had made—the black-scaled wolf's weak point is its belly, where the scales are thinnest; its eyesight is average, but its sense of smell is extremely keen; black-scaled wolves are accustomed to hunting alone, and once they have their eyes on their prey, they will pursue it relentlessly…
But what's the use of knowing all this?
He can't even stand up straight now.
"Ming... Brother Minglang..." The boy with the pointed mouth and monkey-like face grabbed Zhou Minglang's arm, his voice trembling with tears.
"What do we do? Are we going to die?"
"Run! We have to run! This is beyond our capabilities! Tell the teacher right now!!"
After saying that, Zhou Minglang got up and ran back first, and the classmates who had been with him earlier followed suit.
However, as they turned around, they saw Jiang Chen standing behind them with a faint, mocking smile.
He has always been here and has never left. Even now that a C-level magical beast has appeared, he doesn't seem to have any intention of escaping.
Are you scared out of your wits?
Why pretend to be cool at a time like this?
What an idiot.
Zhou Minglang ran forward without looking back.