Enchanted Gear — The Sickle-Bone Shield

Head Instructor Zhankong wore a pained smile. "Mo Fan killed the berserk Summoned Beast."

Xue Musheng, Zhang Jianguo, Luo Yunbo, Pan Lijun, Baiyang — every instructor and teacher froze with their mouths hanging open in a perfect O.

The most extreme reaction came from summoner Baiyang. He stared at this second-year student, his jaw nearly hitting the ground.

"My Gloom Wolf Beast… *you* killed it??" Baiyang asked, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"Yep." Mo Fan gave a casual nod.

Baiyang's expression twisted into something indescribable. There was no question about it — the summoner's entire inner world had just collapsed.

A Gloom Wolf Beast — proud, fearsome, with a reputation to match — solo-killed by a student on his very first Field Expedition.

*God damn it.* If he'd known it would come to this, Baiyang would rather believe his Gloom Wolf Beast had stumbled headfirst into a rock and died like a brainless rabbit. This was an absolute humiliation for the creature's dignity.

Instructor Baiyang looked like a man whose soul had vacated the premises. You could have sat him down in front of a stack of exam papers and he still wouldn't have been able to focus.

It was too devastating.

In all his life, nothing had hit him this hard.

It had taken his team two full months, enormous resources, and staggering amounts of manpower to tame the Gloom Wolf Beast. And the result? A second-year student killed it. How were they supposed to hold their heads up as instructors after this?

The students were in no better shape — every single one standing there in stunned silence.

They knew better than anyone just how terrifying the Gloom Wolf Beast was. Against them, it had been a completely one-sided slaughter.

And Mo Fan — a second-year just like them — had killed it all by himself.

Bow down. Honestly, just bow all the way down.

"One more thing," Head Instructor Zhankong announced to the assembled students. "Since Mo Fan completed the impossible bounty, every student in this year's Elite Class will receive an A grade for the Field Expedition."

"R-really??"

"That's incredible! With an A, I can definitely get into a top magic university!"

"Mo Fan, you're literally my guardian angel — the only repayment I can think of is a bar of soap!"

"Mo Fan, do you have a girlfriend??" a girl whose life had just been saved asked in a tiny, red-faced voice.

"Mo Fan, do you need a boyfriend?"

In an instant, Mo Fan became everyone's hero.

After all, he hadn't just saved their lives — he'd delivered every single one of them the most coveted A grade on the Field Expedition.

Zhao Kunsan had instinctively been about to fire off a few snide remarks, but found himself abruptly surrounded by a ring of murderous glares and swallowed every word back down.

Mu Bai's expression remained as dark as ever.

He had been the first to Release his magic — and it hadn't made the slightest difference. He'd been knocked unconscious by the Gloom Wolf Beast's opening attack, and in the end Mo Fan had walked away with every shred of glory.

"You hear the news? Some student actually finished that bounty. Word is Baiyang's Gloom Wolf Beast got killed by the kid."

"Bullshit." A powerfully built hunting squad leader scoffed. "We all know what a Gloom Wolf Beast is worth. If a student actually pulled that off, I'll eat the bounty board — LCD screen and all."

"Then go eat it." Pan Lijun glanced sidelong at the large man, her voice completely deadpan.

"Go look for yourself. The bounty is complete."

The veterans at the Waystation looked up, and sure enough the bounty was marked "Completed," with a notation beneath it: *Tianlan Magic High School, Second Year — Mo Fan!*

"What the — holy hell. This kid's got some nerve."

Every veteran at the Waystation was struck dumb.

The man who'd promised to eat the LCD board looked like he'd swallowed something considerably worse.

A student had actually completed a bounty that even seasoned professionals like themselves might not have managed?

The news swept through the Waystation within moments. Apart from Bo City's military mages, most of the people there were roving hunter-mages who made their living taking bounties and hunting Demon-Beasts. As the news broke, the Waystation's old hands found themselves wanting to disappear — they'd been the ones laughing loudest when the bounty was first posted.

"What about the reward, though — the defensive Enchanted Gear?" a peddler called Ertuzi asked urgently.

"Boss Zhankong's got a headache over that one," Pan Lijun said. "He never actually prepared any Enchanted Gear — everyone assumed no student could ever complete it. But Zhankong is a man of his word. He's probably off somewhere right now buying a piece of defensive gear out of his own pocket."

"That student hit the jackpot. Boss Zhankong must be bleeding from the wallet!"

"We risk our lives every day and most of us have never even laid hands on a piece of defensive Enchanted Gear… what a world."

"Think about it, though — bet that kid's some rich family's golden boy, decked out head to toe in premium gear. How else could he hold up against a Demon-Beast?"

"Nah. He's just an ordinary student. I heard his dad is literally a supply driver for this Waystation."

"That… that's genuinely insane."

"We always tackle Demon-Beasts in a full squad."

Inside one of the Waystation's stone rooms, Head Instructor Zhankong stood holding a box with the expression of a man watching his life savings evaporate.

"Goddamn highway robbery," Zhankong muttered, letting fly a string of curses. "Five hundred and fifty thousand for one Sickle-Bone Shield — who does this merchant think he is?!"

Luo Yunbo, Pan Lijun, and Baiyang stood nearby and said absolutely nothing.

A few military mages in the corner were barely suppressing their laughter. Boss Zhankong was usually the one running them into the ground — who knew he could ever end up on the receiving end?

The Sickle-Bone Shield wasn't cheap by any measure, and nobody could guess how many months' salary Zhankong had just handed over. He'd made the promise himself, and the government certainly wasn't going to reimburse him.

"Go get that kid. Hmph." Zhankong said, his displeasure plain.

"Brother, I've been standing right here the whole time," Mo Fan said, raising a hand toward the distracted Head Instructor.

The moment Zhankong laid eyes on Mo Fan, irritation flickered across his face. He still couldn't wrap his head around how the kid had actually killed the Gloom Wolf Beast.

"Take it. Go on, take it." Zhankong thrust the Sickle-Bone Shield toward Mo Fan.

"Head Instructor — would you mind letting go?" Mo Fan asked.

Zhankong's cheek twitched. At last, he released his grip.

The moment the treasure landed in his hands, Mo Fan's whole face lit up.

His first real head-on confrontation with a Demon-Beast had taught him something important: pure offensive power wasn't enough. Any mage who knew only how to attack would be cut down the instant a Demon-Beast landed a single blow.

*With a piece of defensive Enchanted Gear — at least until I learn actual defensive magic — this thing could save my life.*

"Kid," Zhankong said, almost casually, "if you can't find decent work after graduation, come find me."

For all his reluctance, he couldn't help but admire the young man's nerve and ingenuity.

Many mages who died fighting Demon-Beasts fell because they were locked into rigid thinking — unable to make full use of whatever limited skills they had available.

At the Basic-level mage tier, every mage possessed only a single skill. But there were many ways to use one skill, and this kid had grasped truths that plenty of seasoned veterans had never managed to figure out.