Chapter 63: Ambush Battle, the Girls' Team is Surrounded

The rising sun cast long shadows from the east. Stepping out of the tent and standing in the shade of the cliff, it felt a bit chilly, so he quickly packed up the sleeping bag and tent and ran to the warm sunlight to be 'caressed' by it.

From around 10 PM to 6 AM, during these 8 hours, each of the four students had to take a 2-hour night watch, leaving less than 6 hours for sleep.

Many were restless, unable to fall asleep all night, fantasizing about what new things they would encounter tomorrow and what exciting adventures they would experience, with a strong urge to go exploring right away. This impulse lasted until morning, but was then defeated by fatigue. Standing in the sunlight, their eyes were lifeless, and they had no energy at all, regretting why they had let their thoughts wander all night and wishing they could now snuggle in a big bed for a good sleep.

Of course, the teacher would not cater to these students' wishes. They hadn't yet entered the truly dangerous area, and once they got there, they could sleep as they pleased, as long as they could fall asleep.

After organizing the team, Kanieya and her group were full of spirit, but they were just discussing whether the lack of sleep would be bad for their skin.

Daisy clapped her hands to get their attention: "Starting today, each group of students will officially begin independent operations, heading in different directions towards the heart of the Dattam Canyon. So you need to work closely together. This canyon is vast, don't imagine you'll run into other group members for help. Everything depends on your joint efforts, understand?"

"Understood!" Kanieya, Boya, Dor, and Dodoris shouted in unison.

"Good, you have the spirit, let's go!" Led by Daisy, Kanieya waved to Wayne and parted ways.

Wayne also followed his group members in another direction.

In the vast and flat canyon, apart from large rocks and scattered trees, there was nothing else, which made these scattered students wonder if it was really that dangerous.

The sun was scorching, and the barren canyon offered no respite. They had been walking for almost three hours, sweating profusely, and frequently wiping their foreheads with handkerchiefs. Dor was so hot that sweat rolled down her face, dripping onto her clothes. She simply unbuttoned her shirt and walked with her chest exposed. If there were any boys around, they would have been treated to quite a sight.

Dodoris even took out sunscreen and applied it, asking Kanieya and the others if they wanted some.

Only Boya felt fine, not feeling the heat. Her ice element kept the surroundings cool, making the other companions want to stay close to her.

Daisy could only smile and shake her head at their leisurely appearance, but she didn't say anything. She was only responsible for protecting them in critical moments; they had to deal with any difficulties on their own.

Dor and Dororis appeared relaxed, but they were secretly alert to their surroundings. They weren't first-timers in the practical exam, and Dor had been at the academy for several years, making them experienced in survival exams.

As they walked, Dor, who was leading, suddenly stopped. Kanieya thought a monster had appeared, but looking around, she saw only a few large rocks and nothing else.

Boya, a new student selected for this session, had only been at Kulantin for a little over a month and hadn't participated in a practical exam before. She thought Dor had stopped because she was tired and wanted to rest under a large rock. Just as she was about to walk forward, Dororis pulled her back.

Dor slowly drew a two-foot-long, diamond-shaped spike from the sheath on her calf and said, "Be on guard, there's a monster, be careful."

The two new students, Kanieya and Boya, were startled. They saw nothing, so how could there be a monster? But they quickly grabbed their wands.

Dodoris put on a metal wire thorn glove and clenched her fist, making a 'crack' sound.

Kanieya and Boya looked at each other, surprised that this seemingly delicate and soft-skinned noblewoman was actually a combat knight.

Several large lizards crawled out from behind the large rocks, along with many smaller lizards and venomous snakes, revealing themselves.

"Large python lizards, split-mouth lizards, liquid-shooting venomous lizards..." About seven or eight different types of lizards and large snakes showed their fierce faces. Boya exclaimed, "Aren't some of these lizards natural enemies? Why aren't they attacking each other?"

Just as they were focusing on the dozens of lizards in front of them, several large millstone-sized rocks suddenly leaped up, opening their mouths and pouncing on them.

In the panic, Dor had already thrust the spike into the body of the monster pouncing at her. She then turned her body and struck the monster attacking from behind with her left elbow, and almost simultaneously, she drew the spike with her right hand, turning it and thrusting it diagonally, piercing another monster from below. In an instant, she had killed two and injured one, demonstrating the abilities of a mid-level knight.

Dodoris didn't lag behind, using her fists and feet to crush the monsters' brains and break their bones. Kanieya and Boya were so shocked that they stood there, unable to react.

Daisy watched from a distance, seeing the dozens of monsters charging, and shouted, "What are you standing there for? Start fighting!" but she didn't move to help.

The two regained their senses and quickly used their most skilled magic to support Dor and Dororis.

The battle didn't last long. After two or three minutes, the remaining dozen lizards fled.

Dor was panting heavily, her chest heaving, and she had several injuries. For convenience, she wore soft armor. In this battle, she had done the most, almost single-handedly killing most of the monsters. Dororis was also exhausted, taking several deep breaths to calm down, drinking some water, and quickly taking out bandages and basic first-aid supplies from her waist bag to treat her injuries. Fortunately, neither of them had been hit by the liquid-shooting venomous lizards' poison and were not poisoned.

Kanieya and Boya were unharmed but felt ashamed for killing the fewest monsters, standing there with their heads down, their faces red.

Dor scolded, "What are you two mages doing? Aren't you going to help?"

"Yes!" The two, who had been like sisters earlier, now felt a bit wronged by Dor's temper. But they didn't dare to hesitate and quickly went to help them with the medicine and treatment.

Dodoris smiled at Kanieya and said, "Thanks, but you don't need to help. Go help her."

Kanieya turned to help Dor, but by then, Dor had already finished.

Dor glared at them, "At your slow pace, by the time you get here, everyone will be dead."

Hearing this, Kanieya's eyes welled up with tears. Boya, feeling uncomfortable with the scolding, retorted, "It's our first time. It's just a minor injury, why are you so anxious?"

Dor was about to scold her but held back, quickly putting down her bag, forming an array, and summoning her guardian beast, then picking up the spike, ready for another battle.

Kanieya, seeing Dororis also preparing for battle, was puzzled. They had just driven away the monsters, so why would there be more? As she thought this, she saw dust rising in the distance, and upon closer inspection, hundreds of different lizard monsters had surrounded them in a circle, launching a sudden attack.

"How can this be?" Boya was also terrified. She had never seen so many monsters, especially in the wild, attacking them. She wondered if the ones that had fled had called for reinforcements.

Dor shouted, "Get ready, it's starting!" Her guardian beast 'Kuro' let out a low growl, its brown fur standing on end.

This small wild pig, which looked like a barrel, seemed clumsy, with a small head and tusks less than 20 centimeters long, not at all fierce but rather cute. However, its subsequent killing power was shocking.

Boya didn't have her own guardian beast, so she gathered her magic power to prepare for battle. Kanieya hadn't even had time to recite the summoning spell when the monsters attacked. Boya and Kanieya alternately recited magic incantations, casting various attack spells to block the monsters' movements.

Neither of them had the strength of a junior mage. In the past two months, Kanieya had advanced from a second-level magic apprentice to a first-level apprentice mage, which wasn't due to rapid improvement but rather her pre-existing strength before entering Kulantin. Boya was still a third-level ice apprentice mage, as she had been two months ago when she met Bingzhiye. They couldn't, or hadn't learned, to control elements by reciting magic incantations.

Boya continuously used ice magic, combining it with other spells. Although her current magic power couldn't form effective attacks, it could still hinder the monsters' movements.

Kanieya specialized in spatial magic, which couldn't be used effectively until a certain level. She could only use non-elemental magic, which is pure magic power. However, pure magic power required strong magic power, which she couldn't achieve with her current abilities. She hadn't studied other elemental magic, focusing all her energy on spatial magic. She could crudely gather elements but couldn't form spells. The only exception was fire magic, where she could create a fist-sized fireball, but this was only effective against the tame 'animals' in the 'Phantom Beast Garden,' not against these fierce monsters, which it barely scratched.

On the other hand, summoning more powerful monsters required even more powerful magic power and time, which the continuous attacks of the monsters didn't allow. Because the previous battle ended quickly, she hadn't noticed this, but now she felt useless.

Dor killed a golden-crowned snake with a single strike, and another wolf-sized jumping lizard pounced at her. She ducked to avoid the attack. Her guardian Kuro nimbly leaped up, forming a ball in the air and spinning, with three narrow 'wind ports' on its back shooting out strong wind, slicing open the jumping lizard's belly.