Chapter 13: The Fairy Legion of the Forest

Just as the keepers by the pool had said, after taking two steps before Li Mingxing, the giant bear spun around and instantly reverted to Aisha’s original form. Although she still appeared in her spectral guise, her body unclothed but thoroughly covered by green leaves, even her golden hair was now veiled beneath violet foliage.

Li Mingxing hadn’t even approached to say anything before Aisha was dragged aside by two of the keepers, who began peppering her with questions.

Finally, one of the keepers turned and addressed Li Mingxing, “You’re quite lucky. Your subordinate has three skills: O-level Soul Strength (that’s the butterfly mark), a passive skill granting an extraordinarily powerful soul, making her less susceptible to soul magic and reducing backlash when casting spells or using arcane arts by 15%.

O-level Natural Magic, a magic skill, allows her to learn and use nature spells. Nature spells are primarily various summoning and shapeshifting magics, from the lowest fairies to the highest phoenixes and fairy dragons. Other practical magics include swarms, quicksand, and mass enhancements. The highest power, Dragon’s Strength, can double the attack and health of a single friendly unit.

O-level Frost Enhancement, a passive skill, imbues her magic with a cold attribute by default, unless otherwise specified.”

After listing these abilities, the keeper continued, “Since your subordinate possesses a magic skill, she now has a profession: Druid. With the frost enhancement, her class has advanced to Frost Druid, a variant among Druids. With some training, she’ll make quite a formidable subordinate.”

Li Mingxing scrutinized Aisha in her current form, then suddenly asked, “Does she have the potential to become an **mage?”

“A **mage? Just give her some math problems and see. If she can solve them—about the level of higher mathematics, if I remember right—then there’s a fifty percent chance she could become a **mage,” answered the keeper.

Hearing this, Li Mingxing didn’t dare test her further. Having only recently graduated from university, he knew well enough what advanced mathematics entailed; in college, just attending lectures was usually enough to pass.

So, he abandoned the idea of having Aisha study Order Magic for now, preferring to observe her further.

After bringing Aisha back to the real world, she realized that the puzzle that had long troubled her had just been resolved. Moreover, Li Mingxing also had a way to save her sisters.

This news thrilled Aisha. She promised Li Mingxing that if he would help, she and her sisters would offer him their complete loyalty.

Li Mingxing was deeply tempted by this. Spectral units were considered the finest kind; they possessed intelligence and their own ambitions. Although their races and professions started the same, they would eventually diversify into many different kinds of troops.

Even if that weren’t the case, just having forty-nine of them was enough to satisfy Li Mingxing. So, when Aisha conveyed the news to the Russian girls, Li Mingxing began considering what professions to assign these young women.

After questioning Aisha and the girls in detail, Li Mingxing realized he had underestimated them. Though they were only sixteen or seventeen, all of them had received professional military training.

Even if they were made warriors, they would do excellently. But Li Mingxing didn’t intend to waste such potential. After carefully considering their abilities, he decided to assign them a highly versatile profession: Druid.

Among all the professions, the Druid was both adept at melee and magic, could heal, and could summon creatures for battle. As they leveled up, they could choose their own paths for specialization, thereby strengthening the entire group’s combat power.

Once their roles were decided, Li Mingxing didn’t let the girls linger. The city was hot on the trail of these missing girls, and he worried that if he delayed, they’d be found.

After everything was explained, Li Mingxing led them to the mysterious bar.

This caused quite a stir among the patrons. Usually, a trainee hero might bring one or two people to the bar for spectral conversion, but Li Mingxing arrived with fifty striking young women. The shock was palpable.

Li Mingxing, however, said little. He led the girls straight to the Demonization Pool. The two keepers promptly cleared out the other trainee heroes in line and closed off the pool, not wanting outsiders to discover the use of Blood Soul Crystals for spectral transformation.

With only Li Mingxing, the two keepers, and the girls present, Li Mingxing explained his plan and handed a Blood Soul Crystal to one of the keepers.

The keeper nodded. “So it’s settled. The profession will be Druid. They’ll have two skills: O-level Nature Affinity, a passive skill that enhances their connection to nature, increasing the success rate of nature spells. And O-level Natural Magic, a magic skill that allows them to learn and use nature spells…”

After this explanation, the keeper instructed the girls to enter the pool, while Li Mingxing witnessed a most spectacular sight: nearly fifty ethereal maidens bathing in the pool.

The sight nearly overwhelmed Li Mingxing’s own dragon-like appetites, making it almost impossible to restrain his impulses.

Before long, the transformation of the forty-nine girls was complete. Unlike Aisha, their transformation wasn’t as extravagant. Afterward, they stepped out, clothed in leaf garments like Aisha, though less thoroughly, each now holding a staff identical in design.

When all was done, Li Mingxing asked after their condition. They were now Druid apprentices, each with 20 points of magical energy. They could cast spells such as Lightning for offense, Summon Fairy and Wolf for summoning, Life Supplement for healing, Werewolf Transformation for shapeshifting, and Endurance Blessing for support.

With their current energy, they could manage one or two spells before having to wait until the next day to recharge.

However, they could also use their staves to fire small bolts of lightning—though weaker than their spells, their numbers would make up for it. Even high-level units would struggle against so many simultaneous attacks.

Once he confirmed the skills of his Druidic maidens, Li Mingxing grouped them into squads of seven, forming small phalanxes. He considered saying a few words, but the keepers reminded him that, with their transformation complete, they shouldn’t take up the space.

Li Mingxing couldn’t object; after all, the keepers had already cleared the others out for him. With a wave of his hand, he sent the unit off to his city. Before doing so, he bestowed a fitting name upon this all-girl force: “The Sylvan Nymph Legion.”

Thanks to the mysterious bar’s spatial properties, Li Mingxing could dispatch the Sylvan Nymph Legion directly to his city. He himself, however, had to leave by the normal route.

No sooner had he left the Demonization Pool than he found himself surrounded by a throng of trainee heroes. Nearly everyone had heard about Li Mingxing bringing forty-nine girls into the bar, and now, with the girls nowhere to be seen, their curiosity was piqued.

Naturally, Li Mingxing didn’t reveal that he’d converted them all into spectral troops; that would require explaining the method itself. Instead, he simply lied, saying he’d brought the girls in as sacrifices.

Most people laughed off his explanation, but one person took note—one of the quartet who had previously clashed with Li Mingxing.

For now, though, Li Mingxing ignored the matter and hurried to meet Midalin to see what she had collected over the past few days.

As soon as she saw him, Midalin exclaimed excitedly, “Master, look what I’ve found!”

In her hands was a set of bronze scales. At first glance, they looked ancient, but curiously, they had no weights.

Seeing his expression, Midalin said proudly, “This is the Soul Scale, a tool of the Reaper. It doesn’t use weights—it uses souls. So, is this the measuring instrument you’ve been wanting?”