Versatile Mage: White Tiger Pendant

Chapter 10: Abnormalities in the Sewers

In a remote commercial street, Lu Jun took a deep breath, relaxing his previously tense muscles due to excitement.

With his average level of strength, dealing with the giant-eyed gorilla rat should be easy. Unless it was the one-eyed demon wolf, Bo City's greatest nemesis. Even the ordinary wolves in its pack were slave-level creatures, which implied they possessed the strength of higher-level slaves.

The magical world was far from peaceful. There were monsters and enemies like the undead in the ancient capital, sea monsters in the magic capital, and the wolves of Bo City. Under the command of the Wolf Lord from Nanling, these forces crushed Bo City, threatening several cities in Zhejiang Province.

If it weren't for the invention of barriers by humans, powered by some divine materials and objects, emitting an energy wave that deterred monsters, lower-ranking minsters would never steer clear. Even monarch-level minsters would think twice before challenging the barrier.

This barrier technology had secured humanity's living space, preventing it from shrinking by more than half.

Li Xia glanced at the dark alleyway nestled between two rows of high-rise buildings. The entrance was stained with blood. She asked, "Who's going in first to assess the situation and bait the monster?"

Originally, this role would have fallen to a wind mage, as scouts often led the way. However, since Lu Mei had been promoted to an intermediate mage, it wasn't suitable for her to take on such a dangerous task. She was better off positioning herself towards the rear and using mid-level magic.

Xu Yan raised his hand and volunteered, "How about I go? The earth element's basic ground wave moves quite swiftly."

However, before Lu Mei could refuse and take on the task herself, Lu Jun spoke up and offered, "Sister, I'll do it!"

His declaration elicited raised eyebrows and puzzledexpressions from the rest of the team. Li Xia teased, "Can you handle it, little brother?"

Lu Mei, however, looked at her brother's determined eyes and, recalling his training results, made a resolute decision. "Alright, you can handle it."

This response surprised the others. They believed Lu Jun was just here to observe and gain some knowledge while building his qualifications. They hadn't expected a sixteen-year-old to step up to such a heavy responsibility.

The team members tried to persuade their captain otherwise, saying, "Captain, he's just trying to show off. Don't take it seriously."

Lu Mei responded firmly, "Since he's here to hunt monsters, he'll be treated the same as the rest of us. I let him do it because he's stronger than most of you and has better self-protection skills."

This silenced the team members, as they couldn't refute her logic.

However, their shock intensified when they witnessed Lu Jun's impressive control of the stars and the swift release of the elementary water magic, Water Control, in just two and a half seconds.

Li Xia expressed disbelief, exclaiming, "He's just a high school freshman! How can his spellcasting speed surpass us veterans?"

For a typical student, they would barely master spellcasting by the end of their first year of high school. They would fumble with controlling the stars, taking about four or five seconds to complete a spell. Lu Jun's exceptional talent was unparalleled.

Lu Mei disclosed the reason for her brother's proficiency with a nonchalant remark, "I helped him awaken during the summer after he graduated from junior high school."

Understanding dawned on the team members as they realized that Lu Jun's rapid progress was due to his talent and the intensive training during the ten-month period between junior high school graduation and the current moment.

Lu Jun chuckled, knowing that having a sister with intermediate-level abilities made it easy to explain his extraordinary skills.

With the water mist surrounding him, a bright blue water ribbon entwined him, forming a protective arc that spanned a significant area. His jet-black heavy sword, summoned a few minutes earlier, was already in hand. Its dark blade was intertwined with strands of water, making him fully armed.

With resolve in his eyes, Lu Jun stepped into the old alley, sword in hand, his face showing no fear. Armed with his knowledge, he knew that the crimson rays emitted by the giant-eyed gorilla rat could be resisted once by the first-level water defense – nothing he couldn't handle.

As Lu Jun moved further into the alley, he noticed small traces of blood on the ground leading towards the dark depths, accompanied by an eerie vibration, like the sound of tunneling.

"Wait a minute, could it be that a tunnel has been dug?" Lu Jun recalled an incident in Bo City two and a half years later. Considering the presence of a protective barrier, it was unlikely that the one-eyed demon wolf tribe could invade the city in the wild.

Even if they somehow breached the barrier, the city wouldn't fall in a single blow if it were well-protected.

It was the Black Vatican that had ordered the digging of tunnels within various sewers in Bo City in advance. These tunnels were used to introduce external wolves, cooperating with outsiders to deliver a decisive blow.

The primary aim of tunneling was to gain access to the Holy Spring, which happened to be located underground beneath the Bank Trade Building in Bo City.

"Is there already a sign? I remember the first strange vibrations in the sewers. One or two people died at the Girls' Magic High School's cafeteria where Mo Fan was present with the hunting team, a year and a half later," Lu Jun recalled, realizing that this location might indeed be a tunnel.

However, he didn't plan to report this discovery to the Magic Association after dealing with the giant-eyed orangutan, as that would alert the enemy. 

He couldn't forget that Mu He of the Mu family in Bo City held significant influence and was secretly connected to the Black Vatican. If one tunnel was discovered today, it would only prompt the Black Vatican to work more covertly, making it harder to expose their activities.

Lu Jun weighed the risks and benefits in his mind. Ever since he discovered he was in Bo City, he had harbored the goal of dismantling the Black Vatican's operations. 

To him, the tunnels were the key. Once the demons pouring out of the city were blocked, Bo City's military forces could erect a defensive barrier to repel foreign threats. It was a domino effect, with everything falling into place.

The best strategy was to locate dozens of tunnels in advance and destroy them simultaneously a few days before disaster struck, so the Black Vatican would have no choice but to launch its attack prematurely, making it less effective.

As for finding the right moment to initiate the attack, that was related to an iconic scene from the original work. Lu Jun looked forward to witnessing it during the first semester of high school, after winter vacation.

With a composed demeanor, Lu Jun made a mental note of the situation. He planned to return and review the city's demon hunting team's case files for any keywords such as "shock" and "giant-eyed gorilla rat," which would provide valuable insights.

As he moved deeper into the alley, he suddenly heard the strange noises cease, replaced by a stifling silence that enveloped him. The darkness ahead grew even more impenetrable, and the noxious stench of the sewers hung heavily in the air.

Then, in the darkness, Lu Jun spotted a colossal dark blue eye emerging. The eye was the size of a basketball, and the grotesque tumors covering it shifted in a way that sent shivers down his spine.

The creature took a step forward, revealing half of its massive body. It possessed a neck as thick as a tree, and its head and neck seemed indistinguishable. What stood out were its enormous basketball-sized eyes and a gaping, bloody mouth on top.

The creature's body extended nearly three meters in length, reaching an adult's chest.

Buzz! Almost simultaneously with Lu Jun's sighting of the creature, the basketball-sized pupils within its enormous eye began to shrink rapidly, as if focusing on something. They swiftly turned scarlet, reaching a critical point before a bright red beam shot out from the creature's eye.

Boom! Lu Jun, well-trained and agile, reacted instantly. He leaned his body to the side, narrowly evading the scarlet beam. Instead, the beam struck the wall on his left, leaving behind a charred black hole.

The acrid scent of burnt matter filled the air. Lu Jun's blood simmered with excitement, his face contorted with a mix of fear and determination in the face of danger.