Chapter 111: Narrow Path Encounter
"I have reached an agreement with the Dwarven King. They will provide us with a batch of weapons, including demon-slaying blades and firearms," Beast God Bruhman declared solemnly.
He had finally decided to deploy the weapons obtained at great cost from the dwarves for the assault on the Dofi domain.
Upon hearing this, Gunel raised his face in shock, his eyes flickering with astonishment and excitement.
He was stunned that the dwarves would actually sell weapons to the beastmen—
And exhilarated at the prospect of wielding dwarven arms.
After all, dwarven craftsmanship was renowned for its excellence.
Their forging prowess was something even humans, the race most adept at learning, could not match.
Not only were they masters of alloy forging, but they also excelled in inscribing weapons with runes, magic runes, divine patterns, enchantments, poison-tempering, blessings, and more.
They were creations of the ancient Titan gods, their small frames a stark contrast to the greed that rivaled even that of dragons.
The dwarves were also one of the few races in the multiverse that had never been conquered by the gods.
They worshipped only their creators, the ancient Titans.
After the Titans vanished, no god could ever make them submit again!
The Five Great Righteous Gods once launched a massive assault on the dwarven homeland, the medium-sized domain known as the Dark Pit—Kazad-dûm.
The result defied all expectations.
The mighty God of War's Legion, upon charging into the underground city, immediately dissolved into disarray;
Abyssal rifts, like gluttonous monsters, devoured endless waves of the Undead Legion;
Even the most resilient Undying Legion, trapped in the lightless underground tunnels, saw their morale drained to the brink of collapse;
The Earth Mother Goddess's encirclement turned into a game of cat and mouse against the underground giant worms tamed by the dwarves.
In the end, the Five Great Righteous Gods had no choice but to abandon Kazad-dûm.
Apart from them, the Beast God had also attempted to invade the dwarves.
But despite the beastmen's warlike nature and extraordinary reproductive rate, they too were ultimately defeated in the pitch-black caverns.
The reason was simple.
Beastmen were hybrid organisms, possessing both mitochondria and chloroplasts within their bodies—the very reason for their green skins.
This was also the racial trait that allowed them to thrive and maintain formidable combat prowess even under prolonged starvation.
The lightless caverns sealed away this racial advantage, and the meager mushrooms growing underground were nowhere near enough to overpower the dwarves.
In the end, the Beast God was forced to retreat as well.
It was precisely because of these past conflicts that Gunel was astonished to learn the Beast God had acquired dwarven weapons.
"Pass down the order—mobilize all tribes. In two days, we must take Duofei City!" Beast God Bruhman issued the war decree.
"The beastmen obey your will, Great Beast God!"
Gunel pounded his chest in a fervent salute, his eyes blazing with murderous intent.
……
……
"This is too hard!"
Mananxi, daughter of Duke Mallory, stood in the square of Duofei City, reviewing the contents of the apprentice mage exam, and couldn't help but wail in frustration.
She had initially been relieved that the exam was being held here, but now that relief had vanished entirely.
Because the test was too difficult.
The rules of this apprentice mage exam were simple:
Kill 100 beastmen.
However, the exam would end as soon as 70% of the magic apprentices achieved this goal.
The remaining 30% of magic apprentices, regardless of their performance, would all fail.
This effectively eliminated the possibility of magic apprentices grinding their way through the exam.
It also urged them to go all out from the very beginning of the assessment, for they would never know when it might abruptly end.
What made it worse was that despite the exam’s extreme difficulty, the Keville Empire only randomly assigned twenty high-level players as mage attendants to them.
This level of difficulty was far higher than in previous years.
“A hundred beastmen? A 70% pass rate? They’re basically denying us the chance to whittle them down slowly!”
“Exactly! Even if all our subordinates were high-level players, the chance of failure is still significant!”
“A 70% pass rate is too harsh—the lowest pass rate in previous years was 75%.”
“This is probably the price of zero mortality.”
In Duofei City’s square, magic apprentices were filled with complaints!
At this moment, some wailed in despair;
Others carefully scrutinized the exam rules, searching for loopholes.
For instance, the rules didn’t explicitly forbid magic apprentices from cooperating, meaning they could choose to work together for mutual benefit—or even pool their kills onto a single apprentice through bribery.
Still, others instinctively checked the item shop, pondering how to assemble the most suitable weapon and tool combinations within their limited budgets.
“Everyone, look at the shop!”
Suddenly, a magic apprentice exclaimed in shock.
“Are these dwarven firearms?”
“Wait, do dwarves even make revolvers like this? I don’t remember that!”
“There’s a description—read the description!”
“Oh my god!”
“Produced by the Dragon Factory?!”
“This is Lord Ajef’s business!”
“All of these are made by the Dragon Factory?”
“Wasn’t the Dragon Factory only producing bicycles before?”
The square erupted in an instant!
Everyone suddenly realized that the item shop had been updated with a slew of new items.
Among them, the most eye-catching were weapons strikingly similar to dwarven firearms.
And not just one type!
From compact revolvers;
To rugged, arm-length double-barreled shotguns;
And even single-shot hunting rifles.
The variety was dazzling, covering every conceivable type.
This left most magic apprentices—who had only seen dwarven weapons in magical recordings—stunned and drooling with envy.
“Lord Ajef is just too amazing! Did he replicate all the dwarven weapons?”
“More than that—this is like ice being colder than the water it’s born from!”
“Lord Ajef, I love you! Hahaha… With these weapons, who’s afraid of this apprentice exam now?”
“Idiot, with a 70% pass rate, having these weapons will only make the competition fiercer!”
For a moment, the square buzzed with excitement.
Countless people marveled at Lord Ajef’s influence.
Some even rushed toward the item shop building, afraid the weapons would sell out.
At this moment, the Keville Empire’s apprentice mage exam officially began!
…
Mananxi, daughter of Duke Mallory, rejected her classmates’ proposal to cooperate!
While teamwork would indeed increase their strength, it would also make them a bigger target and raise the difficulty of the exam.
With each person tasked to hunt 100 beastmen, a well-executed ambush on a single tribe could suffice—why bother cooperating with others?
Most importantly, as the daughter of a duke, she possessed an innate pride.
Of course, one could also call it arrogance.
In any case, she would not allow her apprentice mage exam to be tarnished.
After carefully assessing the twenty players assigned to her command, Mananxi felt a slight sense of relief.
The strength of these twenty players varied—some high, some low—clearly a tactic employed by the Empire to train magic apprentices.
Though the players' skill levels were uneven, Mananxi was still relieved. This was far better than being stuck with a group of weaklings.
Once she had familiarized herself with her players, Mananxi meticulously explained tactical plans and command terminology before leading the team out.
She wasted no time, heading straight for the beastmen's rear.
As they marched, she suddenly halted.
Beneath her feet, countless eyes emerged from the ground—her subordinate players.
Pushing aside the weeds in front of her, she spotted fifteen elite beastmen warriors at the foot of the mountain, mounted on native four-toed horses, reining in their steeds and scanning their surroundings warily.
Clearly, the beastmen's terrifying "beast intuition" had alerted them to something.
They just couldn’t pinpoint the enemy’s location yet.
"Captain, should we take them out?"
A player asked—none other than Xi Ze, the naturally paralyzed participant.
This mission was not only an apprentice mage exam for the magic apprentices but also a frenzied quest for ordinary players.
Once accepted, quitting midway was forbidden. Violators would face a 30-day ban and the complete erasure of their account data.
Of course, if the magic apprentice they assisted passed the exam, their rewards would be substantial.
Moreover, all Soul Power consumed during the mission would be covered by the Internet God.
This was the core motivation behind the players' enthusiasm.
After all, who wouldn’t want to slaughter to their heart’s content for three days and nights?
"These aren’t ordinary beastmen. Judging by their attire and mounts, they must be elite beastmen warriors. Taking them down won’t be easy!" Mananxi remained calm.
"Then let’s go! The exam time is tight, and wasting effort on beastmen warriors is unwise. Hunting ordinary beastmen is far more efficient!" Xi Ze suggested.
"You make a good point. But since we’ve run into them, we might as well test our firearms on them!" Mananxi said.
"But… wouldn’t that expose our weapons prematurely?"
"With nearly ten thousand exam teams, keeping secrets is pointless. Familiarizing ourselves with the weapons quickly is what matters."
"You’re right."
"Listen to my orders. Xi Ze, Yiloke, each of you take nine men and flank them in a pincer attack. Fire once at my signal, then retreat immediately."
"Understood!"
Xi Ze and Yiloke, both high-level players, nodded and led their respective groups underground, maneuvering to encircle the enemy.
By now, the beastmen at the foot of the hill had sensed something amiss. They dismounted, standing back-to-back in a defensive formation.
Once the players had flanked them from both sides, Mananxi lay prone on the ground, propped up her single-shot hunting rifle, pulled the bolt, loaded a magic rune bullet, and took aim.
As a duke’s daughter, she had seen the exceedingly rare dwarven firearms before, so such weapons were not unfamiliar to her.
But the power of the hunting rifles produced by the Dragon Factory? That was something she knew nothing about.
Due to the exorbitant cost of magic rune bullets, she had neither the time nor the heart to test them—this was the fundamental reason she decided to attempt an attack on this elite beastman warrior.
"Bang!"
With the sound of the gunshot, the beastman in her sights suddenly jerked his head to the side, evading the bullet with his formidable beast intuition.
In an instant, the magic rune bullet grazed past his cheek and buried itself into the dirt behind him, kicking up a spray of soil.
"Which shit-eating bastard fired that shot?! Who told you to shoot?! Don’t you know how precious bullets are?!"
A furious roar erupted from among the beastmen warriors.
"Huh?"
Mananxi froze at the sound.
Select a chapter to jump to.