The group only began their journey toward the Aila Mountain Pass after resting for a day. While they were making their way past Black Water City, the troops bought a carriage for the Maputo, who was heavily injured, so that he could recover as soon as possible.

After witnessing the abilities of Orlando and Yuna, the soldiers had understood why the three of them would dare to camp in the wilderness.

With the female Spellcaster Lia asking, Yuna finally admitted that she was a high-level Spellcaster, tasked to defend Yang Ling, a Magical Apprentice who did not know any Battle Energy, with the help of the servant Orlando. With her explanation, the troops no longer had any suspicions, understanding why they would so heavily guard Yang Ling’s tent.

After learning of Yuna’s identity and abilities, all of the questions in the troops’ minds were answered. From their point of view, it was Yuna’s magic that had made the bandit charging toward Hans to suddenly collapse. No one could have known that it was Yang Ling that had taken action.

“Brother Yuri, even your sister has reached high-level Magical Apprentice level. why are you still a lowly Magical Apprentice?”

On that day, while they were resting behind a hill, Hans asked as he sat down beside Yang Ling. As he had been hit in the mouth with a stone by a barbarian and lost two front teeth, his words were slurred and unclear.

“I don’t know what’s going on either!” Yang Ling sighed, looking at Hans, half his face red and swollen. Yang Ling smiled and feigned regret. “It is also because of this that I had no choice but to come away and be a merchant. To think that I have accomplished nothing!”

“Why not learn Summoning Techniques from me?” Hans laughed excitedly, patting his chest. “Summoners are the troops that have the most prospects, and are the safest on the battlefield. When trained to a high level, you can even summon a giant dragon as your Magical Pet, your abilities far exceeding that of a Spellcaster or a warrior. At the very least, it is much better than you being just a measly merchant!”

Lia looked from Hans, with his plump stature and his swollen face, to Yang Ling and back. She broke into laughter, and said “You shameless Fatso. I don’t know if the Summoners are the troops with the most prospects, but they are definitely the ones with the thickest skins!”

“They are at least stronger than some lady who was still wetting her bed when she was eight!” he shot back.

“You…” All humor disappeared from Lia’s face. “Damn Fatso, don’t run, stay there!” she cried, as he scurried out of reach.

Fatso was already not fast, no matter how hard he ran, but the female Spellcaster had accidentally sprained her right foot during the battle. So that time, their speed was about equal.

It looked like they had grown up together. Even though their abilities were weak, they had a certain degree of cooperation when they were in battle!

Looking at Fatso and the female Spellcaster chasing each other, then seeing the knight Halalei and archer Lobina acting nonchalant, as if this was commonplace, Yang Ling made deductions on their identities. Even though the abilities of these newbie troops from the Dragon Slaying Troop Team were weak, they could at least deal with the average bandit or hooligan. Joining them on the journey would help him ward off unnecessary trouble.

“Yuri… Brother Yuri, as long as you help me fend off this woman lunatic, I’ll teach you Summoning Techniques right away!”

After running around for some time, Hans could no longer continue, panting and speaking as he stopped behind Yang Ling. But the female Spellcaster Lia was not doing too well herself. Her face was red, her small chest rising and falling, so tired that she nearly tripped over herself.

Understanding the Summoning Techniques of this world when he had nothing else to do was a pretty decent idea!

Seeing Fatso panting, Yang Ling smiled and shot a look at Yuna. The latter understood his intentions and immediately helped Lia up, speaking to her as she diverted her attention elsewhere.

Compared to the Tarantula King and the Evil Eye Tyrant, the Heavenly Fox Yuna could more easily understand Yang Ling’s intentions. As his mental energy got stronger, Yang Ling could quickly understand the thoughts in Yuna’s heart, and Yuna could also understand his intentions without him having to elaborate.

After drinking a few sips of water, Fatso Hans gradually calmed down and began to explain the mysterious Summoning Technique to Yang Ling.

As it turned out, the so-called Summoning Technique was a magical contract between the user and the Magical Beast to keep the latter as a Magical Pet. The Magical Beast would usually be stored in a magical space, only summoned to aid in battle during times of need.

“This badge is the magical space that my mentor gifted to me!” Fatso Hans spoke as he pulled a token-like badge from under his shirt. “The stronger a Summoner’s mental energy, the larger their magical space will grow, and the more possible it is for him to establish a contract with powerful Magical Beasts. Legend says that the Ancient Summoners that lived thousands of years ago could summon Magical Beasts to do battle for them, and possessed magical spaces as large as the Tailun Continent. But unfortunately…”

Hans shook his head regretfully, his smile turning sad and then fading. There were still several exceptional Summoners on the continent, but their overall decline was increasingly obvious as the years wore on, and when compared to the warriors, knights and Spellcasters. If not for his family forcing him, Hans himself would not have chosen to learn Summoning Techniques.

Magical spaces as large as the Tailun Continent?

That sentence meant more to Yang Ling than to Hans. Perhaps this explained the expansion the space with the Wizard’s Pagoda had undergone.

According to the ancient legends of the Tailun Continent, after the Great Battle of the Gods and Demons, the Ancient Wizards had splintered into groups of Ancient Summoners and Tree Shepherds who had briefly made their marks in history. From the angle of storing Magical Beasts, the space of the Wizard’s Pagoda did not have any fundamental differences from the magical space of a Summoner.

Without thinking, Yang Ling grabbed the badge from Fatso’s hand, secretly infusing a shred of his Wizard Power. Indeed, his mental energy detected a strange space. He could sense Fatso’s Green-skinned Condor hunched on the ground, silent and still, as if it was hibernating. But his mental energy was unable to enter the space.

Could it be that the intensity of the mental energy was not enough?

Thinking back to how he had dispelled Yuna’s Magical Illusory Spell Formation, Yang Ling thought he could increase the intensity a bit and see what effect that had. Suddenly Hans, who was sitting beside him, grabbed the sides of his head and fell to the ground, wailing pathetically. It was as if someone had clobbered him in the head!

“Hans, are you okay?”

Yang Ling quickly withdrew his mental energy, and reached out to Hans, whose face was pale with pain. The moment he mental energy disentangled from Hans’ badge, it appeared that the latter immediately felt much better.

Could it be that Summoners used their mental energy to establish a connection with the Magical Badge, and forcefully infiltrating their magical space was like attacking the Summoner’s brain?

Looking at the teary-eyed Hans still hugging his head, Yang Ling tried it again. Indeed, the moment he strengthened the intensity of his mental energy as he pushed into the badge, Hans screamed in pain, but got a little reprieve when Yang Ling toned down the intensity.

Poor Hans. He had been prepared to teach Yang Ling, the so-called Magical Apprentice, Summoning Techniques, but had unintentionally become his lab rat, his body trembling at regular intervals.

Seeing Hans in such a strange situation, Lia, Halalei and the rest crowded in close. But they were all clueless. Not even Orlando understood what they were seeing. Only Yuna seemed to have some clue.

“My god, could that hit from the Ogre’s club have damaged Hans’ brain?” Lia asked. Despite her unending quarrels with the man, Lia was worried at how pale the man had become. He could be detestable at times, but he was the only son of her aunt. She did not wish for Hans to be injured. It would break her aunt’s heart, and hurt her for the rest of her days.

“Rumor has it that there was a demon cursed by the Demon God of Hell in the Ladak Mountain Range. The demon was called Ulysses. He would cause trouble in the winter every year and can absorb someone’s brain matter from the shadows, and turn them into puppets!” After a moment’s hesitation, Orlando continued, “Could Hans have unintentionally attracted the attention of the evil demon Ulysses?”

Absorb someone’s brain matter from the shadows?

Hearing Orlando say this, the troops felt a chill in their hearts as they looked around in fear. Only Yang Ling smiled, though it was laced with frustration. He had not intended to become an evil demon in Orlando’s words.

“Relax, Hans is only physically weak and has just been through a scare!” After a pause, Yang Ling said slowly, “As long as he has a good meal and a good night’s sleep, I guarantee that he will be fine in the morning!”

After consoling the group, Yang Ling told Orlando to help Hans into the carriage so he could rest. No one knew more than him what exactly was going on. Hans had suffered from a mental attack and his mental energy had waned. He would recover after a night of rest. Of course, the situation would be much more serious if Yang Ling had broken his Magical Badge. Seeing how Hans was now, it was not impossible that he might die on the spot.

If Hans had suffered from a strong attack after my mental energy infiltrated his Magical Badge, would the same thing happen to me if someone with intense mental energy infiltrated the space of the Wizard’s Pagoda?

Sitting down in his tent, Yang Ling discovered this terrifying problem. Both the Spider Monster in Taildon Valley and the sage level Elder Klive had mental energy far superior to his own. The outcome would be disastrous if they used their mental energy to attack his space of the Wizard’s Pagoda!

In this world where the law of the jungle reigned, rapidly improving his abilities was the smartest thing he could do!

Having thought through the scenario, Yang Ling tossed away the terrifying thought and concentrated on his training, activating the Starlight Wizard Mantra, Body Honing Wizard Mantra and Psychic Spell all at once.

The Starlight Wizard Mantra was responsible for absorbing the vast energy of the stars, strengthening the Wizard Power in his body; the Body Honing Wizard Mantra used the energy he absorbed to temper his body bit by bit, strengthening him with every circulation; the Psychic Spell was responsible for absorbing the green life force, which indirectly boosted his mental energy.

The situation would be dire if the space of the Wizard’s Pagoda was ever attacked directly, but Yang Ling believed that as he continued training, and his mental energy became stronger, as he grasped more obscure Wizard Techniques, he would one day find a way to solve that problem!