Versatile Mage

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

—

Banks of white clouds were setting off the sapphire-blue sky. The green mountains were at a closer distance, with purple peaks further away. The parabolic line of the mountains breezed past as the train headed south.

Mo Fan could not help but recall the time he first left Bo City.

Now he was coming back to Bo City alone.

Mu Bai was busy familiarizing himself with the white brush Mo Fan had given him. He would have to cultivate in seclusion for some time.

Zhao Manyan had also gotten a new toy and was concentrating all his attention on learning how to use it to improve the defense of his Water Magic.

Tomb Sweeping Day was around the corner. Mo Fan happened to be bringing the culprit responsible for the Calamity of Bo City here, to South Mountain. South Mountain held the cemetery with the tombs of those who had died in the calamity.

The weather was great when Mo Fan arrived back in Bo City. At this time of the year, the mountain and the sky were normally damp and gray.

Many of the residents had moved away from Bo City, leaving only a fifth of its population behind.

Bo City had been transformed into a military fortress in the south of the country. It was no longer a lively city.

——

“Father!” Mo Fan knocked on the door of the old address he used to live at.

The old streets had been rebuilt with standard two-and-a-half-story townhouses. The walls were painted light blue, while the glazed roof tiles were darker. The roof tiles were replicas of the Chinese glazed roof tiles that were common in the past, adding a historical feel to the houses.

“Come in, I’ve just prepared some dumplings. We can eat them soon. Go make some sauce in the kitchen,” Mo Jiaxin greeted him with a smile.

Mo Fan had spent his time overseas or running some dangerous missions lately. Mo Jiaxin had been to Shanghai a few times, but Mo Fan was rarely around. Mo Jiaxin had ended up going around the city on his own.

Since Fanxue Mountain had started providing the old residents of Bo City with special privileges, Mo Jiaxin would occasionally visit there, too. Not only was Fanxue Mountain closer to Bo City, he also had a lot of old friends there.

“It smells nice!” Mo Fan was starving.

—

They had a pleasant meal of dumplings. He looked out of the window while picking his teeth and noticed a new red wall had been built along the mountain around a few kilometers away, setting up a new boundary.

“Did they upgrade the fortress’ defenses again?” Mo Fan asked in surprise.

“Yeah, the demon creatures are more active this time of the year. The military is running short on hands, having to handle both the threat of sea monsters along the coastline and the danger posed by the demon creatures in the mountains. The same guy has been guarding the entrance to the fortress for a week when I deliver goods there. They don’t have enough soldiers to arrange proper shifts,” Mo Jiaxin answered as he was washing the plates.

“It sounds grim,” Mo Fan observed. He felt like there was no place that was perfectly safe and peaceful anymore.

“Old Mo, time to play some Mahjong!” an old man’s voice came from outside.

“My son is back. I won’t be there today!” Mo Jiaxin called back.

“Your son? Which one?”

“Are you serious? Don’t you know I only have one child!?” Mo Jiaxin exclaimed.

“Is it Mo Fan? Where is he? Let me see him!” The old man barged into the house and immediately saw Mo Fan, who was seated at the dining table.

“Old Man Zhang!” Mo Fan greeted him with a smile.

“It really is Mo Fan. You are famous now. I keep telling my relatives in Xiamen I once beat you up when you tried to steal my pumpkins when you were younger, but they didn’t believe me. Here, I’ll send a voice message to them on WeChat!” Old Man Zhang exclaimed.

Mo Fan quickly explained with an awkward face, “It was Zhang Xiaohou provoking me! Otherwise, why would I do something mischievous like that?”

“HAHAHA, the two of you weren’t just artificial leather when you were young, you were real leather!” Old Man Zhang said.

{TL Note: The Chinese word for leather is a slang term to describe someone who is naughty.}

“Ugh…Old Man Zhang, you are familiar with the modern slang…?”

“Of course, one must keep up with the times, right? I have been watching a lot of live streams recently, too. Some of them are quite interesting,” Old Man Zhang answered happily.

“You should go easy on your body and eat more protein then,” Mo Fan advised him.

“What are you talking about? I’m not referring to those kinds of live streams. I’m watching the Hunters’ ones where they go into the wild. They are exciting! A lot of Hunters have come to our city recently. They seem to be doing an S-rank quest. Huge groups are going into the mountains to look for demon wolves!” Old Man Zhang showed his phone to Mo Fan.

Mo Fan was astounded. How coincidental was this?

However, on second thought, demon wolves were a common species in the mountains in the south of China. The Bo City Fortress was mainly built to defend the people from the Magic Wolf Horde near here. It made sense for the Hunters to come to Bo City to look for Ruler-level Wolves!

“This group is a bunch of Hunter Masters. They seem to be looking for the footprints of a Ruler-level Wolf. They have even crossed Baoya Mountain,” Old Man Zhang showed him.

“Won’t the demon creatures sense their presence while they are using communication devices?” Mo Fan asked curiously.

Normally, people would stay at the edge of a safe zone when doing live broadcasts of the wild. Doing a live broadcast in the demon creatures’ territory was suicide!

It was similar to sending a text message or making a phone call. Demon creatures could pick up on the signals from communication devices. It was like sending a GPS signal to all the demon creatures within several kilometers!

Even recording in the wild was a risky action, let alone doing a live stream!

“Apparently, it’s a new technology the military has invented, making it possible to conceal the signals of communication devices, so we can now use phones in the wild!” Old Man Zhang explained to him.

Mo Fan browsed through the channels.

In the past, live streams were more related to lifestyles. There were almost no live streams related to magic. One reason was the difficulty of recording magic, but the main reason was that they were forbidden by the Magic Association and the government.

However, the situation was totally different now.

There were surprisingly a lot of live streams educating people about magic. Some Hunters were even doing live streams in the wild with professional crews. They even broadcast their fights with demon creatures.

Mo Fan thought about all these changes.

The government might have been less strict recently, but this was also hinting at a bigger problem.

The government was no longer crafting the image of a peaceful world. It was purposely showing the truth to the people.

There was only one reason to do so: letting people learn the cruelty of the world, so they were mentally prepared for disasters that might happen soon!

The situation was grim!

“The older local Mages told us this is Baoya Mountain. We’ll be entering the Magic Wolf Horde’s territory after crossing it. Wolves have a sharp sense of smell. Even after several hours, the high-level Magic Wolves can still pick up the scent of our trail…” a Hunter was saying in the live stream.

“But don’t worry, we have a lot of strong Mages in our group.. They can handle any danger with ease.”