Chapter 100: Go to the lakeside to do a quest with the little fairy "Making Trouble at the Lake"...

Shu Li spent the entire week in utter torment.

The newborn cubs were fascinated by his "adventure story." The moment class ended, they visited his classroom, surrounded him, and peppered him with questions about every detail of the adventure.

Did the Fairy cubs’ introductory teachers use him as "teaching material" every single day?

What could Shu Li possibly do?

The little cubs were so adorable, so innocent, and so wonderfully squishable. He could only indulge them!

They could listen to his story, but every single one had to let him thoroughly cuddle and squish them first! Hmph!

To hear the story, the little cubs obediently lined up for their turn. Shu Li did not know whether to laugh or cry, but that did not stop him from mercilessly squeezing each one.

When the weekend finally arrived, he hurriedly formed a team with his friends and escaped on a mission.

Shu Li prepared all the tools they would need in the wild a day in advance. Early the next morning, he went to the small plaza in the residential district to meet the others.

He was the first to arrive, with Disio second. Angel and Lois arrived together. Unsurprisingly, Budno was late.

"Who’s going to knock on Budno’s door?" Shu Li asked helplessly.

"I’ll go." Disio flexed his fingers, making his knuckles crack, and pulled a ferocious expression. "I specifically told him yesterday that he had to wake up early today, and he still slept in!"

With a flap of his cicada-like wings, he flew furiously toward Budno’s cottage, raised his arm, and pounded on the door.

"Budno, you lazy little pig! Get up!"

Inside, Budno was sprawled across his soft quilt, sleeping soundly. He did not hear the knocking or shouting at all.

Disio gave a cold laugh, took out his magic staff, and began chanting a spell on the spot. "Great Fire God Afama Cheeps, please command the fire elements to gather into bursting flames and awaken the sleepy Little Fairy inside!"

The instant the incantation ended, a series of crackling explosions erupted inside the cottage. Budno jolted awake and leaped out of bed.

"Aaah! What’s happening?" His eyes flew wide as a string of tiny sparks exploded beside his bed, producing a succession of piercing bangs.

Clutching his quilt, he retreated until his back struck the wall.

Fortunately, the sparks soon finished exploding and vanished without a trace, leaving his cottage completely unharmed.

"Budno, are you awake yet?" Disio called from outside.

"I-I’m awake!" Budno knocked himself on the head and finally remembered that they were leaving on a mission today.

This was terrible! Why had he overslept again?

He had clearly set an alarm.

Reaching out, he grabbed the magic alarm clock beside his bed and was shocked to discover that although he had set the time correctly, he had forgotten to switch it on.

"Budno! If you don’t get up now, we’re leaving without you—"

Disio called again. Budno hurriedly tossed aside the magic alarm clock and shouted back, "I’m up! I’m up!"

He jumped out of bed and swiftly washed, tied his hair, and got dressed.

Now that he had lost weight, he could move much more nimbly and no longer had to rush around in frantic circles as he once had.

Fortunately, he had packed all their mission equipment into his storage ring yesterday.

When he reached the plaza, he apologized in embarrassment. "I’m sorry. I overslept."

Shu Li curled a finger and lightly tapped him on the forehead. "Budno, you’re older now. You need to work hard to correct your little faults."

They were good friends and brothers. They knew about his habit of sleeping in, so they would forgive him endlessly, tolerate it, and wait patiently for him.

But if he continued doing this after leaving the Faerie Forest to gain experience in the outside world, he would probably suffer for it.

Strangers would not indulge him.

Budno stared blankly for a moment before lowering his head in dejection. "I understand."

Sperien was right. He was already ten years old, no longer the ignorant little cub he had once been. He had to overcome his carelessness and his habit of sleeping in.

Angel wrapped an arm around his shoulders and encouraged him. "You even managed to stop overeating. You’ll definitely be able to correct a small problem like sleeping in. You have to believe in yourself!"

Budno sniffed, clenched his fist, and nodded firmly. "I can do it!"

Angel nuzzled his cheek and said sincerely, "Don’t worry. I’ll supervise you."

Budno’s body immediately stiffened. Unease appeared in his brown eyes as he began imagining how miserable his life would become under Angel’s supervision.

Back when Angel had helped him correct his overeating, he had employed more than a few underhanded tricks.

"Th-thank you," Budno said tearfully.

"You’re welcome. What else are good brothers for?" Scheming little Angel smiled sweetly.

Disio grinned with undisguised schadenfreude. Lois was considerably more refined and turned away to laugh in secret.

Shu Li cleared his throat and announced, "Let’s go!"

The five Little Fairies spread their wings in unison, left the plaza, and set out for Lake Pogaman in the Faerie Forest.

Lake Pogaman lay northeast of the divine tree. At a Little Fairy’s speed, the flight would take at least five hours.

To save time, Shu Li cast wind magic to accelerate the entire group throughout the journey, shortening it to three and a half hours as much as possible.

The five Little Fairies sped purposefully through the dense forest. Along the way, they witnessed magical beasts hunting in bloody scenes, yet none of them so much as flinched.

For the past five years, they had entered the forest to carry out missions almost every weekend. Such sights had long since become commonplace.

Shu Li had not forgotten to gather herbs for the Dark Elf Efit. He had asked the herb shop’s owner in advance where several of the herbs grew and stopped to collect them whenever they passed those locations.

His friends enthusiastically helped him.

With all five Little Fairies working together, they accomplished twice as much with half the effort.

At noon, they reached Lake Pogaman.

"Wow! It’s so beautiful!"

Standing upon a huge boulder beside the lake, the Little Fairies exclaimed in wonder at the magnificent view before them.

The lake was as clear as sapphire and glittered beneath the sunlight. Crystal ores and aquatic plants were clearly visible beneath the water in the shallows. Unfamiliar waterfowl glided leisurely across the surface, while all manner of animals and magical beasts crouched at the shore and drank cautiously, constantly alert for predators lunging from beneath the water.

Wildflowers of every color covered the lakeshore, swaying gracefully in the breeze. The sight was breathtaking.

Though this was not their first visit to Lake Pogaman, its beauty captivated them every time.

After admiring the scenery for quite a while, the Little Fairies took out their tent and erected it on a level section of the enormous boulder. They laid down a waterproof mat first, then covered it with soft blankets.

The tent was large enough for all five adolescent Fairies to sleep side by side.

Shu Li placed a stove in the open space before the tent. He easily filled a kettle with clean water using water magic, ignited a fire-element magic stone, and left the water to boil.

A caterpillar crawled past the stove. Calmly, he swept his magic staff through the air and chanted a wind spell, instantly blowing it away.

After putting away his magic staff, he entered the tent and took out the food containers he had prepared in advance from his storage ring. He and his friends ate lunch and chatted together.

"Are we going into the water as soon as we finish eating?" Lois, the only girl, asked Shu Li, blinking her light brown eyes.

"We’ll rest first." Shu Li took a bite of his wheat cake. "Going into the water immediately after eating is bad for your health."

It could chill their stomachs and cause vomiting, diarrhea, acid reflux, and other unpleasant symptoms.

"Why don’t we gather herbs nearby first?" Angel suggested.

"All right." Shu Li nodded. That was exactly what he wanted.

"Mushrooms! Let’s gather mushrooms!" Budno cried enthusiastically. When Kumandi had mentioned the delicious mushrooms growing near Lake Pogaman, he had secretly committed the information to memory.

"Look how eager you are. Honestly!" Disio scoffed when Budno’s gluttonous nature revealed itself again.

Budno speared a piece of fruit with his fork, stuffed it into his mouth, and retorted indistinctly, "Then when we cook the mushrooms, don’t eat any!"

"I’ll eat them if I want!" Disio declared haughtily.

"Bleh, bleh, bleh!" Budno pulled a face at him.

Not to be outdone, Disio immediately retaliated.

Shu Li and the other two Little Fairies watched the show with great interest as they ate, their appetites better than ever.

After lunch, Shu Li brewed a pot of tea for his friends to quench their thirst.

Then he released his innate power and enlarged his body, making his friends gaze at him with envy.

Gathering herbs was much easier at a larger size. He could dig up one plant with every thrust of his shovel, saving both time and effort. In a Little Fairy’s body, digging up even a single plant took an exhausting amount of work.

Herbs grew everywhere in the Faerie Forest, with large patches appearing every few steps. As soon as Shu Li found the herbs he needed, he crouched down, quickly dug them up, and stuffed them into a cloth sack reserved specifically for medicinal herbs.

Four Little Fairies trailed behind him, wielding miniature shovels and grunting with exertion as they struggled to dig.

"Mushrooms! I see white mushrooms!" Budno shouted excitedly, pointing ahead.

Shu Li looked up and saw a large patch of white mushrooms growing near the roots of a tree three yards away.

He took out the sample Quiet Top Student had given him and moved closer to compare them.

White caps, white stems, no spots, thick and tender. They looked delicious.

There was no mistake. These were the mushrooms.

After confirming their identity, Shu Li beckoned to his friends. "Come gather them with me!"

"All right!" Budno was the most enthusiastic. He charged forward first, but he was moving too quickly to stop and crashed headfirst into a mushroom as tall as he was, leaving him dazed.

"Hahahaha!" Disio laughed at him without mercy.

Budno’s face flushed crimson. Pouting, he picked up his little shovel and furiously began digging up the mushroom he had collided with.

Unfortunately, its roots extended deep into the soil. He dug for a long time, but the mushroom did not budge.

"I’ll help you." Lois flew over and began digging beside him.

"Thank you." Budno secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Disio brandished his shovel and thrust it deep into the earth. "Watch me!"

He planted his little feet on the shovel’s handle and tried to use his body weight to lever the mushroom out of the ground.

Unfortunately, while his idea was excellent, reality was cruel.

The mushroom completely disregarded his weight.

"Hahahaha!" This time, it was Budno’s turn to laugh at him.

Disio’s face turned scarlet.

Shu Li shook his head and made one gentle sweep with his large shovel, effortlessly digging up four mushrooms.

After laboriously extracting two mushrooms between them, the other four Little Fairies gave up. They sprawled across the mushroom caps, panting for breath.

Shu Li told them to rest and harvested the entire patch by himself.

After spending more than half an hour gathering herbs and mushrooms, they had exercised enough and decided to enter the water. They each took out the water-repelling magic pearls the Mermaid King had given them.

The pearl-like magic orbs were still rather large for the Little Fairies. They had to place them inside cloth pouches designed like backpacks and hang them against their chests.

Shu Li was larger, so he had fashioned his water-repelling magic pearl into a bracelet and wore it around his wrist.

Folding away his wings, he entered the water first.

Splash!

The instant he plunged in, the water-repelling magic pearl took effect. A thin membrane of air formed around his body, keeping out the lake water while allowing him to breathe freely.

Wow. This was wonderful.

He moved his arms and legs and swam around the shallows.

Seeing that he had entered safely, his friends eagerly jumped into the lake.

They were so small that they fell into the water like tiny stones, barely producing a splash.

Speaking underwater was inconvenient, so Shu Li gestured for them to stay close and never separate from the group.

Quiet Top Student had warned them that the magical beasts at the bottom of the lake were not as friendly as those on land. If the Little Fairies accidentally angered them, something unpleasant might happen.

Unless absolutely necessary, Shu Li did not want to come into conflict with any magical beasts.

After all, they were still too weak to contend with high-ranking magical beasts.

As the thought crossed his mind, a white fish half a foot long swam past them. Its bean-sized eyes turned, curiously inspecting Shu Li and the four tiny figures beside him.

Shu Li met its gaze and gave it a friendly wave.

The white fish froze for a moment, then flicked its tail and swiftly swam away.

Shu Li remained frozen mid-wave, watching helplessly as the fish vanished into the distance.

The creatures in the lake really were difficult to get along with!

He shrugged, then gestured for his friends to descend to the bottom of the shallows and begin extracting ore.

Mining was far more difficult than gathering herbs. They could not dig the ore out by hand and had to use magic.

The five Fairies took out their magic staffs and displayed their respective abilities. In moments, the water throughout the shallows began surging violently.

Disio used fire magic, but fire and water opposed each other. He tried four or five spells in succession, only for every attempt to fail, leaving him so anxious that he spun in circles.

Angel used light magic, but light refracted and scattered underwater, leaving him equally overwhelmed.

Lois used wood magic. She scattered several seeds and attempted to collect the ore by making plants take root and split it apart. Unfortunately, the ore was too hard for the plants’ roots to penetrate.

Budno used water magic and was completely in his element inside the lake. He used the current as a cutting blade and successfully sliced off a small piece of ore, then waved his arms and legs in excitement.

As for Shu Li, he simply used earth magic and effortlessly extracted a large chunk of ore. The sight ignited his friends’ competitive spirit. They redoubled their efforts, chanting incantations and trying every spell they had learned.

Before long, all the creatures in the shallows had been frightened away. Entire schools of fish fled toward the deeper water in a panic.

Shu Li and the other Little Fairies were so absorbed in their work that they had no idea their magic had disturbed a high-ranking magical beast at the bottom of the lake.

An enormous shadow gradually rose through the water and silently approached the shallows. Its colossal eye turned, fixing a cold stare upon the five little land creatures wreaking havoc in its lake.