Nightmare’s Call

Chapter 303: Mission: Part 1

Lin Sheng had only maintained that terrifying form for a few beats before he was exhausted. Not only he was spiritually drained, but all energy—the holy power, dark energy, and the blood power of the Rock Dragon—in his body was also emptied.

Fortunately, after the enhancement of the blood of the Rock Dragon, he could absorb the mysterious energy from the environment to replenish the consumed energy. So his strength was a one-time-use ability. But even so, Lin Sheng had spent two days to recover his strength. And during those two days, he practiced near the huge griffin’s head in his dreams.

He once tried using explosives and liquid nitrogen, the methods he previously used against the Steel Lord and the Night Lord, against the griffin’s head. But the measures did not work this time. Not that he did not use enough of them, but because the power was not adequate.

This time, Lin Sheng had secretly collected a stockpile of explosives and ammunition and placed them in a circle around the griffin’s head. The number of explosives doubled the number of explosives he used against the Night Lord.

After the explosion, not only did the griffin’s head suffer not a single scratch, even the surrounding rock wall had little damage. It was out of his expectation.

Not that Lin Sheng did not try any other methods in his dreams. He had used his holy power to the max with no avail. Not even the combination of the holy power and dark energy and driven by the blood of the Rock Dragon had produced any result. The same happened to explosives.

Lin Sheng probably knew his upper limit now. Unless he could recreate the earlier form, which had a slight possibility of hurting the griffin’s head. Otherwise, other methods were meaningless.

He knew that the form he was in when the soul of the giant attacked him was beyond his imagination. He and the three commanders had talked to each other and knew that they had suffered different degrees of injuries and needed over a month to recover. It was apparent that it was not a form that he could simply summon at whim.

While recuperating in the dormitory for three days, Lin Sheng took the opportunity to digest the alien power of the Heart of the Damned. The absorbed energy was nourishing. It could enhance the strength of his skin, muscles and internal organs. This reinforcement was comprehensive, and sometimes quite aggressive too. If Lin Sheng’s physique was any weaker, the alien power could have injured him instead.

No wonder Auldmandiller had to bring him to see Big Beardy. Perhaps he wanted Big Beardy to examine if Lin Sheng was qualified to devour the Heart of the Damned.

There was no progress in the dream. And he had not found the third Assimilation spell of the mysterious ritual array. So Lin Sheng treated the Griffin’s Morass as his practice venue. He had an advantage over the other students. Unlike Lin Sheng, they could practice their dark energy in their dreams.

Another two days had passed, and news came from the Soul Fortress. It was time for the special credit mission, which Auldmandiller requested on his behalf.

…

In Baine University Office. When Lin Sheng pushed open the door, many people already sat inside the expansive rectangular hall. There was the vice-chancellor, three professors, four mentors, and six teaching assistants, while Lin Sheng was one of the twelve candidates taking part in the assignment.

“This way,” Auldmandiller beckoned to Lin Sheng. He stood behind Auldmandiller, observing the others at the same time.

The vice-chancellor was a mature woman with a sedate face and a touch of composed temperament. She wore a pair of red-rimmed glasses, sitting at the leading seat.

The other three professors and four mentors had their own identity plates on their tables. The identity plates had the name of the places they represented. The plate in front of Auldmandiller had “Soul Fortress” written on it.

Lin Sheng glanced to the right. “Thousand Vipers” was stated on the nameplate. On the left was a wilted old man with the name “Volcanus Silentio” on his plate. He remembered very well that these two workshops were the third-class workshops like the Soul Fortress he saw when he made his selection. They were top-notch workshops.

Lin Sheng glanced at the others. In front of several other mentors, there were nameplates of Palminsar House and Secondary Crystal Wand. He could not recognize the names of others, but they were no bad workshops.

Soon, a few more students arrived. The vice-chancellor adjusted her glasses and said, “Now everyone has arrived. Let’s begin.”

She gently knocked on the table, and the sound of gold hitting an iron rang throughout the room. Her fingers were as hard as metal. The knocking sound was harsh to the ear.

“There are three special quotas allocated this year and step forward if you want one.” Her eyes fell on Auldmandiller’s three students.

“Go. Step forward.” Auldmandiller nudged Lin Sheng.

Lin Sheng nodded. Together with the other two students, he stepped forward and stood in the middle of the hall. He finally saw the nameplate of the vice-chancellor, Suna.

At that moment, he recalled the information he had seen before. Suna was one of Baine University’s extreme Six-wingers, the strongest person except for the principal.

Lin Sheng further glanced at the other two students again. Like him, the two, a man and a woman, were candidates selected for the special quota. Standing next to him was the man. Wearing square glasses, with a gentle temperament, he looked more like a high school teacher than a student. The woman had a cold disposition. She carried a short brown sheathed knife on her back, similar to a hunter who hunted in the mountains all year round.

“This year has the three of you; Fanny, Elind, and Lin Sheng. You all have the head of a third-class workshop guarantor, so you will get three first-rights to choose the special task,” Suna, the vice-chancellor said, pointing her finger.

Suddenly, a three-dimensional rectangular light-green light curtain unfolded in front of them. The list of the special missions popped up on the screen. Lin Sheng saw what seemed to be cases of the fugitive and killings, mysterious town investigation, tracking of scary monsters, and all sorts of high-risk missions.

Not wanting to be a hero, he reached out to select the easiest patrol mission, just as he had discussed with his teacher.

“The Paragon of Destiny has appeared in Pine Town. The investigation team reached the bottom of the mine, and something went wrong. A number of wild monsters secretly devour human blood.

“Mission description: Guard and patrol the land within a kilometer square of the mercury mines. Ensure the safety of the people and the normal life in Pine Town.

“Mission reward: 20 credits plus 200,000 Miga dollars. (All items got during the mission belong to the student.)

“Mission tenure: two weeks.”

Lin Sheng had noticed that the other two selections were also easy missions. Apparently, these three missions were tailored made for them. But the key to the missions was time. It was just too short. 20 credits for two weeks. If he got lucky and nothing bad happened, it would be more like taking a vacation. Getting 20 credits would be easy-peasy. Although there was a certain level of risk, it was much simpler than other missions. No matter how easy the school’s missions were, risk was an essential part of the mission and it would carry an element of test. After all, a genius would only be akin to a flower shrouded in the greenhouse without exposing it to the weather outside. He would never hold up in the face of setbacks.

Lin Sheng selected the patrol mission. On the dialog box that popped up, he clicked “OK”, and the selection was complete.