Aya Tone lifted her gaze, offered a greeting, then immediately cut to the chase.
“Care to join me for two days of unpaid labor? There’s no salary, but food and lodging are covered.”
She made sure to clarify the terms upfront, aiming to prevent any disputes over spoils later on.
Countless fictional brethren had turned against each other for profit, a lesson she keenly remembered.
Such wisdom came from experience!
Upon hearing this, the four young women exchanged glances.
Perplexity shimmered in each of their eyes. “Teacher, do you mean for us to join you in clearing a dungeon?” they inquired.
When the word “work” was mentioned, their minds immediately conjured images of dungeons.
Teacher Aya Tone, an S-rank adventurer, wouldn’t visit during non-class hours merely for instruction.
The conclusion was self-evident.
“Clever girls. What do you say?”
“I’m in!” Lin Ling declared first, as indecision was simply not in her nature.
To be called upon personally by their teacher surely meant this was no ordinary E-rank dungeon. Such an opportunity could not be forsaken.
Ye Liu and the other student quickly agreed as well; the three of them were a united front, after all.
“What about you, sis?” Aya Tone wasn’t surprised by the trio’s acceptance. She turned her head towards Fire Wushuang, who had remained silent.
Fire Wushuang pondered for a moment before finally nodding her assent.
“Alright then! Let’s go. I’ve already arranged for your leave.”
The four young women gasped, “Huh?”
Even Fire Wushuang, whose expressions were usually reserved, couldn’t help but widen her eyes at this revelation.
‘It seems you never even considered us refusing!’ they thought.
Faced with their endearing, yet somewhat exasperating, teacher, what else could they do?
Naturally, they decided to find a suitable time to ‘show her some love.’
After a quick pack, the group grandly boarded the high-speed rail, heading back to Yan’an City.
****
Yan’an City, Vermilion Bird Guild.
“Didn’t you say you were only bringing four? Was he a lottery prize? Or did you just pick him up on the road?” Fire Finch asked, seated formally at her desk.
With outsiders present, she needed to maintain the dignity befitting a guild master.
Following Fire Finch’s gaze, Aya Tone looked a little sheepish.
“Well, I just happened to run into Xiao Ming on the way back,” she argued, “and I thought he might be homesick, so I brought him along.”
“If it’s really not okay, we can always kick him out,” she added.
By the end, her voice had dwindled to a whisper.
Meanwhile, Li Huaiming, standing nearby, hadn’t expected to be so easily dismissed by his senior.
A pang of sorrow struck him!
With a theatrical sigh, he said, “It’s alright, Senior. If Sister Finch doesn’t agree, I simply won’t go.”
As he spoke, he even feigned wiping a tear from the corner of his eye with his sleeve.
Such a pose could only be perfected by someone who had watched hundreds of ‘green tea b*tch’ dramas.
Even Lin Ling and the others instinctively recoiled from him.
They feared that if they got too close, they wouldn’t be able to resist hitting him.
“Alright, stop acting. Keep it up, and I’ll call your sister over,” Fire Finch bluntly exposed Li Huaiming.
She admitted that Li Jia’s younger brother truly disgusted her.
‘Be as “green tea” as you like,’ she thought, ‘but must you make such nauseating expressions with a six-foot-tall, muscular physique?’
It was genuinely revolting to witness.
“Then, Sister Finch, may I please~”
“Scram!” Fire Finch felt as though her soul had suffered a critical mental blow, one that even her Undying Flame couldn’t heal.
‘The Guild Master is angry!?’
‘Run!’
Seeing his objective achieved, Li Huaiming dared not linger or provoke Fire Finch further.
If he stayed any longer, he genuinely feared his sister would arrive and beat him black and blue.
He had lived under Li Jia’s shadow since childhood, completely suppressed by her overwhelming presence, with no chance of ever rising above it.
“Um, Guild Master, we’ll be heading off now,” Aya Tone chuckled awkwardly.
“Wait,” Fire Finch interjected. “Give me their information. I’ll process temporary adventurer identities for them.”
‘Temporary adventurers!?’
Aya Tone was slightly startled.
‘This is to prepare a rather impressive resume for these three girls in advance.’
****
“Senior Aya, I performed quite well, didn’t I?”
En route to the dangerous dungeon specified in the commission, Li Huaiming shamelessly sought praise from Aya Tone, who was in the passenger seat.
Aya Tone merely replied, “Heh, you just disgusted me.”
“Later, go clear that B-rank dungeon and tell the soldiers guarding outside to help you gather the resources within.”
Normally, the military wouldn’t participate in resource collection.
However, with the current exceptional circumstances, such protocols could be disregarded.
“The enhancement I gave you was based on your physical strength. You’ve broken through to B-rank, haven’t you?”
Li Huaiming’s gaze remained fixed straight ahead. “Of course! I certainly haven’t been slacking off lately!”
Having trained with Ying Li, an S-rank martial artist, for so long, any lack of progress would be a laughingstock.
“Good.”
After applying ‘Full Body Enhancement’ and several layers of life-saving defensive magic to Li Huaiming, Aya Tone took the steering wheel and drove towards their destination.
While she had told Lin Ling and the others they were working for free, this was, in fact, a completely hands-off trial.
The Guild would not permit students who had only awakened for a year to enter dungeons above C-rank.
Even in Nan’an City, it was only out of respect for Aya Tone that they were exceptionally allowed into a resource dungeon.
Yet, even then, Li Hongxiang and his group of seasoned adventurers had been arranged as escorts.
This time, Aya Tone wanted to test their limits.
Only by understanding their limits could they truly break through them!
****
“Boom!!!”
On the desolate battlefield, shrouded in smoke and magical aftershocks, the three young women knelt on the scorched earth.
Their once splendid and shining magical battle suits were now tattered, burned through in multiple places, and stained with grime and blood.
Their long hair fell messily around their cheeks, some strands still bearing the charred smell of burns.
Lin Ling’s injuries were particularly gruesome; a jagged wound sliced diagonally from her left shoulder to her right hip, gushing blood that dyed her clothes crimson.
Liu Fei’s condition was hardly better. A deep gash marred her right knee, causing her to tremble slightly with every movement.
For her, renowned for her swiftness, this injury effectively crippled half of her abilities.
Gritting her teeth against the excruciating pain, she braced her hands on the ground, attempting to stand.
Yet, with the slightest effort, a wave of dizziness swept over her, nearly sending her tumbling back down.
Ye Liu, whose condition was comparatively better, quickly moved to support her.
Though her eyes were heavy with exhaustion and pain, they still burned with a resolute light.
On their journey, their teacher had explicitly stated she would not intervene to help them.
Reality had proven her words true.
From the moment they entered the dungeon, they had lost all trace of Aya Tone and Fire Wushuang.
Throughout their perilous journey, relying on their combined magical enhancements, they had faced numerous life-threatening situations yet ultimately managed to defeat their foes with minimal losses.
They were so close to successfully shattering the dungeon core!
However, an enemy figure reappeared nearby, exuding malice and arrogance.
The young woman took a deep breath, recalling her scattered thoughts, and mustered every last ounce of her strength to gather magic.
“Ling Ling! Fei Fei!”
She chanted a spell, slowly raising her hands, and the air around her began to subtly vibrate. Though faint, magical light struggled to shimmer.
However.
Severely wounded, she found it difficult to unleash her full power, and her magic flowed only intermittently.