Two of the students stumbled as they dashed out the forest and almost cried out loud when they saw the silhouette of the city.

There were six of them when they came in, but only two of them came out of the forest.

"But Zhou Xiao did escape before we could. It wouldn't be a problem for him to return to the city with his doll monkey," one of them, a girl, said.

"That stupid Wang Hao… if he hadn't wronged that the man, he might have brought us back."

"Did you see him anywhere?"

"No… but I think I heard his screams while we were running. The gunshot must have drawn some magical beasts and they must have killed him."

"From where I'm standing, the man was quite forgiving—he merely killed one of Wang Hao's summoned beast as punishment... talk about being merciful!"

Both students conversed softly as they returned to the city, never once mentioning any sort of reprisals against Chen Yining.

In the end, there was no argument between both sides, and it was only that fool Wang Hao who had ended up provoking the man.

There was no way they would bear ill-will towards a superior player over a dead man.

How were they supposed to confront an elite who had gathered such powerful summoned beasts in this early phase anyway?

Moreover, Chen Yining was their savior and they owed their lives to him, which was why they would not really hold a grudge against him.

Nonetheless, as the pair reached the city, a man behind a nearby wall was watching them.

It was Zhou Xiao, the one who had fled earlier.

He glowered at them from behind, while studying them suspiciously.

Two of them escaped? How did they manage it?

Once he thought that those two might spread the word that he had abandoned his teammates, his mood soured.

***

Chen Yining patted his red-caped fowl's head in praise.

It lowered its head, appearing as tame as a rabbit in front of Chen Yining despite its sheer ruthlessness an instant ago.

The bird was actually cooing from the throat too, the feathers around its neck ruffling gently in tandem with the low-pitch sound—just like a gentle giant.

For his part, Chen Yining did not regret using a bullet—firing the handgun was exhilarating, though it would soon not matter once his summoned beasts evolved twice more.

Returning to the lake, he found Chen Jing working diligently with his two gnomes.

As if they were playing whack-a-mole, Chen Jing would fish out water demons. Beside him, both gnomes that were holding clubs would smash it together, just like little runts helping their mother clean their laundry.

Thud—

Thud—

Thud—

They were certainly enjoying themselves as they clubbed away and the water demon soon stopped moving after twenty or so hits.

Twitching as it died, it turned into a streak of white light, absorbed by Chen Jing's Summoner's Grimoire.

He stood up in delight when he saw Chen Yining return. "Brother, my gnomes are at Level 2 now."

Chen Yining was quite surprised. "So soon?"

Chen Jing nodded. "I had no idea there were that many water demons in the lake—it's as if one would bite right after I throw in my hook. I think the bottom of the lake must be flooding with them."

"What would they even eat… is the whole lake full of them?" Chen Yining wondered.

If the bottom of the lake was filled such frightening masses of water demons…

It was possible that one high-ranked magical beast or two would be born.

Staring at the deep lake, Chen Yining decided that if they have the chance in the future, they should bring a waterproof camera to photograph the depths of the lake.

That being said, waterproof cameras were rare and they would be even rarer now in Mountain Water City.

"Master, I think we could hang a goblin from a stick, put a glass helmet over its head, and lower it into the water. With that, it could see what's beneath the water," Big Head suggested wisely then.

Being an intelligent gnome, Big Head's brain was highly effective in this very moment.

Green Skin, however, was upset. It retorted, "Why goblins? Why not gnomes?"

"Because gnomes are smarter!" Big Head said confidently.

"Which is why smart gnomes should go under the lake. Wouldn't you be able to explain things better, after all?" Green Skin reasoned with logic.

"???"

Big Head was stumped, unsure how to counter that just then.

He looked in confusion at Green Skin—was that really a goblin?

"Goblins are never stupid," Green Skin suddenly spoke with composure.

Big Head patted its own head that was twice larger than normal goblins', but said nothing in response.

"Brother, it seems that the gnomes' crafting abilities improved after they reached Level 2. I find this fishing rod much better after they've strengthened it," Chen Jing said then, and offered it to his brother

When Chen Yining took the fishing rod, he found that there was a layer of vines wrapped around the grip that prevented slipping, and had been processed so that it didn't sting the hand.

While the fishing line was still the old nylon rope, the knot was changed in favor of a more complex one, and the reach of the line had also been extended. It was a setup that distributed strength more evenly.

At the same time, the fishing hook was fashioned out of some exquisite white fragments of an animal bone, and the unknown bone appeared much sturdier.

The bait was processed as well—the gnomes' crafting abilities had definitely increased significantly after reaching Level 2.

Chen Yining even wondered if they would become polymath after they leveled up a few more times.

Either way, it was very convenient to have these gnomes with them in the forest.

Chen Yining handed the fishing rod to Green Skin, who put bait on the hook before throwing it in the lake…

Suddenly, a humongous shadow flashed in the distant surface of the lake.

It was not only Chen Yining—everyone else could see it very clearly.

The shadow did not breach the surface, however, and merely disappeared in a flash right after showing up just underneath it.

Green Skin steadied its arms, staring fixedly at the fishing rod.

In three minutes, the fishing rod moved.

The fishing float sank and the fishing rod tightened into a round arc.

"You can rein it in now," Chen Jing quickly said.

Green Skin promptly pulled the fishing rod with a loud whoop.

The fishing rod arced elegantly through the air, dragging out a messy pile that was another water demon, and Green Skin earned 11 EXP after killing it.

In truth, Chen Yining wondered if he should capture a water demon himself. Since the water demon was an aquatic magical beast, he would increase the type of enemies he could handle, and it seemed that there was no lack of water demon in the lake either.

However, he had not encountered the evolved form of the water demon, and they were a little ugly.

In fact, they were basically a pile of tangled ropes, and those countless diminutive snakes kept extending their tongue.

It was so ugly to the point that Chen Yining could not ignore its unruly appearance.

Chen Yining looked at the lake for a while more. Just as he was about to remind Chen Jing to be careful while he returned to the forest to finish his other two quests, he suddenly saw another group of explorers who had ventured into the forest and were settling down by the lake as well.

Those people appeared to have seen them as well and were waving at them.