Chapter 478: The Sudden Arrival of the Afuhemi Forest Elf
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 478: The Sudden Arrival of the Afuhemi Forest Elf
The Witches responsible for scouting the surrounding affiliated islands began to return one after another.
"Sister Tan Han, I'm back. Currently, in the direction I scouted, there are no signs of other academies arriving in large numbers. However, on a distant island, I spotted elven creations. That island across from us should be where the Elf Academy is located."
"Is that so?" Tan Han looked at the prepared map of the Bobapus Archipelago, picked up a pen, and began marking it.
As the girl continued her report, Tan Han marked down more information.
Based on their current position and the location of the Main Island, she quickly identified which affiliated island the Witch Academy had first landed on.
She immediately began numbering these affiliated islands. Theirs was Island No. 1. Next, she marked the adjacent affiliated island with the word "Elf."
"Did you see any other academies landing?"
"No. The distance was too great, and we didn't dare cross the sea recklessly. We couldn't even see how they arrived, let alone analyze which academy they belonged to."
"It's right to be cautious. Did you encounter the monsters mentioned in the rules while flying? What were they like?" Tan Han continued her questioning. As the absolute core of the largest group currently gathered by the Witch Academy, she didn't need to do everything personally. However, to understand the situation, she had to constantly inquire, summarize intelligence, and analyze the current state of affairs.
"We did. And we discovered they aren't just on land; those things are in the sky too. Several of our sisters were nearly ambushed by those insidious things mid-air."
"Are they alright?"
"Everyone is fine. The most serious case was just a minor injury, and it's already mostly healed with a potion."
"That's good. Did you bring back any monster corpses? I want to see what they are," Tan Han said.
"We don't know what they are either, but many of the corpses were huge—too big for our storage equipment. Also... those monsters felt more like stitched-together creatures from animal experiments. It fits my understanding of the animal modification methods used by the Wizard Academy."
"What about their strength? Are they easy to deal with?"
"Quite easy. I could heavily injure them with a random spell. Their main threat is their massive numbers and their tendency to launch surprise attacks."
After hearing this, Tan Han did some mental calculations. She couldn't fully trust this subjective information and needed to think for herself. For instance, the number and strength of monsters on their island might differ significantly from other islands. Furthermore... the Main Island would surely be even more terrifying.
"Can the meat of these monsters be eaten?" Tan Han asked next.
The island where the Witch Academy had spawned hadn't yielded any clear Resource Points yet. Setting aside points for a moment, resources were essential. Food and water were the top priorities. The supplies they brought initially would be consumed quickly. Even with small alchemy items for desalination, the amount of water produced was a mere drop in the bucket.
However, no one answered her question. It wasn't their fault; the rules hadn't specified this, and after seeing those monsters in person, they had lost their appetites instantly, let alone wanting to risk seeing if they were edible.
"Um... probably not... those things are so ugly..." Finally, one of the returning girls broke the awkward silence.
"We have to stay in the Bobapus Archipelago for at least a week. We don't know how many supplies are at the Resource Points, so some things must be confirmed. By the way, have you had contact with the Patrol Teachers? Did you get any information from them?" Tan Han glanced at everyone. She didn't blame them but gave a slight reminder before shifting the topic.
"We had contact, but they only responded to basic questions. They wouldn't say a word about anything else."
"The teachers are likely restricted as well, unable to provide information support beyond the rules. Never mind that. Tell me everything you've learned so far; I'll consolidate the information."
Tan Han wasn't surprised by this answer and accepted the situation.
After spending some time, she quickly consolidated the basic information she had gathered.
Once finished, she prepared to take the field herself.
This was a Joint Exam. She couldn't just sit securely in the rear as a commander. Given that points were non-transferable, staying in the back to command a large group was a dead end.
Tan Han's Fan Club didn't just consist of people from her own class; it included many from other classes as well.
Seeing Tan Han gather so many people naturally attracted students from other classes to join. This union was almost uncontrollable; as long as she didn't explicitly refuse them, members of the Tan Han Fan Club would spontaneously organize themselves.
After all, the idea that "there is strength in numbers" was a lingering habit from their days as ordinary people. But Tan Han knew this wasn't necessarily true; a large group could also be wiped out in one fell swoop.
She had to remain calm. She needed to spend more energy fully utilizing the forces she currently commanded.
She took out her phone. The phones issued by the Witch Academy were functional here, but they couldn't connect to the internal academy network. It wasn't a lack of signal; rather, a notification stated that logins were disabled during the Joint Exam.
This wasn't surprising. They were currently on a Live Broadcast. If they could connect, the Witch Academy back home could use their "god's eye view" to strategize for them. Having an entire academy's brain trust helping would be a massive loophole that no academy would allow.
Unfortunately, they couldn't do that. However, she could still contact people on her friend list via phone—but only within this archipelago. She suspected something was covering the islands to allow this limited communication.
Fortunately, with this means of communication, they didn't have to worry about information transfer after dispersing over long distances.
"I'll start a group chat. You all add everyone else to it. Remember, divide them into small teams. The team captains will join the main chat, and then we'll establish a large group to unite everyone from the Witch Academy for information sharing."
"Information sharing? Won't that just benefit other teams?"
"But others are thinking the same thing. The group we've gathered doesn't represent the entire Witch Academy. Information sharing at least provides a platform. As long as we maintain an information advantage, we can exchange what we know for other intelligence." Clearly, in Tan Han's judgment, knowing the overall situation was better than being secretive. All she had to sacrifice was information she already possessed.
After explaining some precautions, people quickly went out to execute the plan.
Tan Han was right; the Tan Han Fan Club couldn't make decisions for the entire Witch Academy. Her group wasn't the only one formed around a Child of Destiny.
The remaining students mostly formed cooperative teams of three to five, pushing toward the outskirts of the affiliated island and the other side until the island was completely secured by the Witch Academy.
Ultimately, the island wouldn't belong to any one group but to the Witch Academy as a whole. The only concern was whether a Resource Point on this island would cause the students to come to blows.
Although the Joint Exam emphasized individual points and encouraged teaming up, it was both a conflict between academies and a personal war.
Prioritizing the "big picture" meant little in the face of personal gain.
The only solution was for Tan Han herself or her Fan Club to find the resources. This would minimize internal strife caused by greed, as currently, no one dared to openly provoke her Fan Club.
Of course... after settling these trifles, she needed to personally find a mentor to ask about the situation. The first person she thought of was that familiar figure. Given that "riddler's" way of speaking... she might reveal some subtle information.
Tan Han had studied the rules thoroughly, so she knew there were many loopholes to exploit when it came to the Patrol Teachers.
While no other academies had interfered yet, she had to seize the opportunity to gather more information. The only trouble might be the Live Broadcast.
In front of the cameras, the other party certainly wouldn't reveal any advantageous information.
* * *
After receiving over a hundred classes, our Teaching Assistant quartet had more or less finished this stage of our task.
The Joint Exam officially began the moment they stepped onto the Bobapus Archipelago. The only variable was whether they would play it aggressively or cautiously.
I wasn't in a hurry to leave and explore elsewhere. Instead, I stayed to answer basic questions for the newly arrived students, though I couldn't be bothered with the more ridiculous ones.
Just a moment ago, a student actually asked if I could tell her where the Resource Points were because they forgot to bring food and water.
Honestly... that was absurd. Didn't she see Tan Han and the others setting up tents?
Speaking of food, besides what's provided at Resource Points, the released animals are actually edible. Those seem to be the work of the Wizard Academy—biological witchcraft experiments. It's not unusual; the Witch Academy has Biological Alchemy, which is essentially the same thing.
Food is easy to solve, but water is the real priority. You can't drink seawater; most people have that much common sense. As for those who don't, reality will teach them soon enough.
Actually, the most important thing at a Resource Point isn't the supplies. Those supplies would only last a large team of a dozen people a few days.
That's right—by definition, a dozen people gathered together is considered a large team. The academy encourages cooperation in small groups: two or three, at most five or six. That's the most efficient configuration. Any more becomes bloated.
But Tan Han and her group went big right from the start, showing the other academies the meaning of a coalition!
However, Tan Han reacted quickly, sorting this massive crowd into small teams as basic units and using phone group chats for information exchange to achieve remote command.
In truth, there's only one Resource Point on the starting island. This is to force everyone toward the Main Island, which is the largest area—its landmass is even greater than the thirteen permanent islands combined.
But you can't say the Resource Points on these affiliated islands are useless. Each Resource Point contains a stationary, extra-large desalination alchemy item. The fresh water it produces is enough to supply many people.
Used well, it grants significant leverage. Used poorly... it becomes a target for everyone, leading to internal strife and self-depletion.
"Hey, Xiao Han~ I'm planning to head out and check on the other academies on the other islands." After getting annoyed by the constant questions, Lifaeya was the first to lose patience and prepared to leave.
"Okay, stay safe," I told her, not stopping her.
"I'll be fine~ No one dares to attack a Patrol Teacher. Xiao Han, want to come with me? We can scout some intel on the other academies and see how they're doing."
"Me?"
Lifaeya's suggestion was tempting. We had said all that needed to be said, and I was tired of repeating the same answers. It was better to let the students spread the basic info themselves. But then, I spotted a familiar figure emerging from a tent in the distance. As soon as she came out, her gaze fixed on me, and we locked eyes for a brief moment.
"I'd like to, but it looks like I have something to attend to. You go ahead. Where are you headed?" I asked.
"Over there, of course. That was the Afuhemi Forest Elves' Tree of Life's Ebb and Flow earlier, wasn't it? I haven't seen one up close before. I'm going to see if they're still there."
"Is that so? Well, good luck. If you run into trouble, you can try summoning me, but I might not answer." I gave her a simple farewell.
"Fine then. Not answering is so cold~"
Lifaeya departed on her flying broom. Today, she wore her iconic Witch outfit. With her large Witch hat and flying broom, she perfectly fit the outside world's stereotype of a Witch.
I hoped the sea breeze wouldn't blow her hat away.
After seeing Lifaeya off, Tan Han walked over from the distance.
As the academy's legendary figure approached, the surrounding students grew quiet. Clearly, these people felt a deep sense of dread toward Tan Han, who had rallied a thousand-person group the moment she hit the Bobapus Archipelago.
Fortunately, she hadn't started any internal conflicts.
Of course, there was an even more terrifying existence right in front of them—me. But I was currently bound by the shackles of being a Patrol Teacher and wouldn't harm them. The difference in our levels made them subconsciously ignore the possibility of me attacking, but Tan Han could actually make a move on them!
The game had just started; they hadn't even left the "newbie village." Being forced out now would mean waiting for a make-up exam!
"Long time no see... Teacher Xiao Han?"
"I like that title. Do you have questions for me? Personally, I think you should have gathered plenty of information from your companions already." I greeted Tan Han's arrival and her pleasantries with a calm, even slightly smiling expression.
"No, I still have many details I'd like to ask about." After a simple greeting, Tan Han had gauged my attitude. It was more or less... impartial?
Just then, a figure suddenly appeared on the distant horizon. Ignoring Tan Han's words, I focused on the anomaly. The arrival of this figure immediately commanded my attention.
Seeing the distinct elven features, the single lock of green hair on her forehead, and the chest badge identifying her as a Patrol Teacher, I guessed her identity.
The badge was essentially a Wizard Tool combined with alchemy, allowing anyone to use it. it represented the status of a Patrol Teacher and served as a credential for the False World Space Great Witchcraft.
"Welcome... Elf of the Afuhemi World Tree Guardian Team. To what do we owe the honor of your visit to the Witch Academy's territory?"
"I am merely here to check if the Witch Academy's Teaching Assistant has violated the Joint Exam patrol rules by providing information beyond what is permitted. Furthermore... since when did this become the Witch Academy's territory? Do you truly believe that because you arrived first, this affiliated island belongs to you?" the elf said, her tone unfriendly from the start.
"Is that so? I feel the same way. Your elven island is very close to ours, yet it doesn't have the name of the Afuhemi Academy written on it either," I countered sharply. "On the other hand, you were so eager to scout the Witch Academy's situation. Are you planning to go back and 'quietly' leak intelligence? What a coincidence—one of our Teaching Assistants just left for your Elf Academy. From the look of you, you didn't run into her? Your eyesight must be quite poor."