Chapter 310 – Who Gets to Be the Bait

Chapter 310 – Who Gets to Be the Bait

Back then, Iris had thought Alba was a bright and cheerful little witch, as warm as the light-element magic she wielded. It was only after getting to know her better that she realized this girl was rotten to the core.

“Hey! How can you be so prejudiced against certain types of magic?” Alba pouted. “Besides, my dark-element magic talent is actually pretty decent too—Intermediate level, you know! Though becoming a Black Witch is out of the question, unless I could find a way to boost my magical talent at the Well of the Sky like Lady Amisha did!”

“Then allow me to ask, Lady Alba—if you could boost your magical talent, which element would you enhance first?” Iris asked with a perfectly straight face.

“Curse? No, dark-element would be better! Curse involves the power of fate, and if a curse backfired on me, that would be terrible.” Alba said with a troubled expression. “Actually, I want both.”

Mo Lan, Vasida, Sylph, and Cheryl in unison: “So this is the real you, Alba!”

Iris was overjoyed: “Thank heavens, everyone finally knows your true nature.”

Alba: “(⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)"

How embarrassing!

“So, um, are we heading out to hunt Red-Eyed Birds now? I’ve heard they’re the kind of beast that once they lock onto prey, they chase it to the death. Why don’t I be the ‘bait’!” Alba volunteered eagerly. “Once I lure them over, I’ll hit them with a super flash spell and blind them. They won’t be able to recover their vision for a full minute, and then everyone can attack together and beat them senseless. How does that sound?”

“Just a moment ago you were saying that elemental force of light is insufficient at night, that your magic effectiveness would be impacted, that you wouldn’t dare camp outside at night—and now you want to be the bait? It’s already getting late!” Iris said. “I should be the bait instead. All my high-damage spells are fire-element magic anyway, and if I burn the Red-Eyed Birds’ wings in advance, they won’t be good for curing anymore. Might as well put my efforts into being the bait.”

“If you’re going to do it, I might as well do it instead. Fire-element magic is my specialty too, and for the sake of the wings’ texture, I probably can’t help much with the attacking. Being the bait suits me perfectly! Besides, my Art of Flight is excellent—there absolutely won’t be any problems!” Cheryl said.

“You three can forget it! I’m the obvious choice! Which of you has defense as high as mine? The other day a gold-striped leopard tried to bite me and chipped its tooth!” Vasida rolled up her sleeves, revealing her plump but astonishingly well-defended forearms.

“I…” Sylph thought it over. Compared to Vasida, she really didn’t have any particular advantage. “(｀⌒メ)!”

Mo Lan: “…”

Sure enough, even the most harmless-looking little witches had a ferocious and reckless side!

Understanding was one thing, but Mo Lan couldn’t agree:

“Don’t any of you even think about it!

When you’re alone, every single one of you is cautious beyond belief, with self-preservation practically carved into your bones. But the moment we’re all together, suddenly everyone’s fighting to be the most dangerous bait!”

“Then what do we do?” Sylph asked.

“I’ll be responsible for luring and shooting down the Red-Eyed Birds. You all are responsible for picking up the carcasses!” Mo Lan said.

“Wait, isn’t that just you being the bait yourself?” Vasida said, displeased.

“That’s completely different!” Mo Lan said. “I’ve hunted Red-Eyed Birds before, and I used the exact same method! The only thing was, that time I only managed to retrieve the last bird I shot down—I didn’t have time to pick up the earlier ones.”

“I have experience hunting Red-Eyed Birds. I can guarantee I’ll be able to lead them on a chase. Can any of you say the same?”

The five little witches lowered their eyes: “No…”

They had only ever seen Red-Eyed Birds in books.

“I’m familiar with this surrounding area, and I’m familiar with the forest where the Red-Eyed Birds roost. Are any of you?”

The five little witches hung their heads: “No…”

“Or does any of you have more mana than me, higher spell precision than me, and can guarantee shooting down every single Red-Eyed Bird? We’re not talking about one or two—it’s going to be several dozen!”

Iris, Alba, and Cheryl: “…”

They couldn’t compete. They truly couldn’t compete. Even now their magical power was only at the Beginner level, while Mo Lan had already been at the Intermediate level when she enrolled.

Even Sylph and Vasida knew that whether in terms of Sorceress Magic proficiency or spell precision, they were far, far behind Mo Lan.

“So having me do it is the safest approach,” Mo Lan said. “Even though there are six of us, even though we’re only facing ordinary wild beasts, we must never let our guard down or take reckless risks! While we’re at the Academy it’s one thing, but out in the Wilds, even your traveling companions could be a source of danger.”

“Alright…” The little witches reluctantly agreed to this plan, though it was a shame they wouldn’t get to show off their skills.

Mo Lan looked at their dejected expressions and shook her head with a smile:

“Don’t underestimate the task of retrieving Red-Eyed Bird carcasses. Why do you think I only managed to recover the very last one that time? It’s because all the earlier ones were eaten by other beasts!

I was hunting in broad daylight back then, and by the time I killed all the Red-Eyed Birds and retraced my route, the spots where the earlier carcasses had fallen didn’t have so much as a single feather left. The beasts in the forest react to this kind of manna from heaven far faster than you’d expect! And at night, there are even more beasts out foraging!

If you run into a tough opponent, you might have quite a hard fight on your hands.

So we need to plan out the route for leading the Red-Eyed Birds in advance. That way, if you fall behind, you can take shortcuts to catch up. And I won’t shoot down the next Red-Eyed Bird until you’ve caught up, otherwise it’ll be another pair of wings wasted!

If you’ve ever tasted Red-Eyed Bird wings, you’d be just as unwilling as me to waste even a single one!”

The moment they heard there would be fights during the carcass retrieval, the girls perked right back up.

“Don’t worry, we won’t let a single Red-Eyed Bird go to waste!” Vasida guaranteed.

“Right! I think two of us little witches should be more than enough to handle the various beasts in the mountains and forest,” Alba said. “Why don’t we split into groups? That way we’ll be more efficient.”

“You pair up in teams of two. I can handle things alone—beasts basically can’t break through my defense anymore, so there’ll absolutely be no problem,” Vasida said.

This time Mo Lan didn’t object. This arrangement was indeed better.

They opened the map, discussed the route for leading the Red-Eyed Birds and the approximate locations for shooting them down, then set out while there was still daylight.

The three groups of carcass-retrieval witches took up positions near the first three anticipated drop points in advance, lying in wait. Mo Lan flew alone to the Ink-Leaf Tree forest where the Red-Eyed Bird flock roosted, circled once, and drew out a large swarm of Red-Eyed Birds.

She accelerated first to open up some distance, and when she reached the first drop point, she slowed down to aim at the birds’ heads and cast her spell.

Her Metal Arrow spell was far more powerful now than before—she could fire six golden arrows at once, taking down six Red-Eyed Birds in a single volley.