Around ten in the morning, Caius arrived at Grilla City. It was as bustling and prosperous as ever.

  Caius drove the carriage into the unloading area of Hydis Magic Academy and then helped Belle unload a large pile of packages.

  "By the way, Belle's dormitory is a single room, right?" Caius asked while carrying a package, following behind Holan and Belle.

  Kiki sat on his shoulder, lazily flicking her cat tail back and forth.

  "Mhm." Holan nodded. "I have three spots for magical research personnel dormitories, all of which are single rooms, so you don't have to worry."

  She naturally understood what Caius was concerned about—whether Belle's roommates would bully her.

  Holan had, of course, already considered this.

  "That's good." Caius nodded, then followed Holan toward the women's dormitory.

  Of course, he didn't enter.

  Because Holan smirked and said, "What, you want to go in and take a look?"

  Caius immediately declared righteously, "Not at all! I'm just worried that you two little girls might not be able to carry all these packages."

  Hearing Caius call her a little girl, Holan was in a great mood. She flicked her fingers, and magic power emerged, lifting the packages from Caius's hands and storing them in her spatial ring.

  "No need to worry about that. Go handle your business~"

  Caius: "..."

  "Alright then." Caius nodded and looked at Belle. "If someone bullies you again, just tell Instructor Holan. If she can't handle it, I will."

  "And if one day you get bullied and don't tell me, but I find out anyway, I'll have to take some unconventional measures. Got it?"

  Belle nodded. "Mhm."

  "Don't just 'mhm.' Say you understand."

  "I understand."

  "Alright, off you go."

  Watching the two girls disappear into the mysterious depths of the women's dormitory, Caius turned and headed out of the academy.

  He planned to take advantage of this time to complete that Platinum-level mission.

  The commissions Holan issued were mostly material collection tasks, which were relatively simple.

  Of the six Gold-level missions, four involved gathering medicinal herbs, likely for making magic potions.

  The remaining two required collecting materials from Gold-level Magic Beasts, which meant hunting them. However, both were herbivorous creatures.

  So these six Gold-level missions had a fair amount of leeway—they carried the Gold-level title but were barely harder than Silver-level tasks.

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  As for the Platinum-level mission of hunting the Crystalith Serpent, its location was in Nofalark Forest.

  Nofalark Forest was a massive woodland, far larger than places like Nemo Forest.

  From Grilla City, it was closer to Nofalark Forest than from Ocean City, at a distance of about 190 kilometers.

  If he rushed there now, took down the Crystalith Serpent, and returned, he would probably be back by the afternoon.

  He could then present the Crystalith Serpent's magic crystal as a gift to Holan.

  Though it was technically part of the mission, it was still better than preparing some meaningless flowers.

  A mercenary’s idea of romance wasn’t flowers.

  Moreover, of the six Gold-level missions assigned by Holan, five of the required materials could be found in Nofalark Forest. With some luck, he might complete all six missions in one go.

  That efficiency? Off the charts.

  To prepare, Caius stopped by a magic potion shop in Grilla City to replenish his stock of stamina potions, getting ready for a big day ahead.

  And to clarify—when he said "big day ahead," he meant battling the Crystalith Serpent, not... Holan.

  Uh... never mind, no need to explain.

  With preparations complete, Caius took Kiki and sprinted off.

  After his recent rank advancement, Caius was even faster. Covering nearly 200 kilometers, he reached his destination in under an hour.

  Though it was tough on the little catgirl—her fur was all fluffed up from the wind.

  "Big guy, I’m so dizzy, meow..." Kiki whimpered pitifully, clinging to Caius’s shoulder.

  "Alright, let’s rest for a bit." Caius felt a bit guilty and also thought to himself—if only he could fly, it would be much faster and less bumpy.

  Magic was definitely something worth learning.

  After a ten-minute break at the forest’s edge, Kiki was full of energy again.

  Catfolk were truly full of vitality.

  Caius then led her deeper into the forest.

  Luck was on their side. Less than ten kilometers in, they completed their first material collection task, finding an herb Holan needed.

  And it was Kiki who found it—her sharp eyes spotted it in a dense patch of undergrowth.

  Plucking the herb and storing it in his spatial ring, Caius pressed on.

  For some reason, luck seemed to be in full swing. Kiki soon found three more of the required herbs, completing four out of the six Gold-level missions.

  Of course, Holan had designed these missions to be relatively easy, but Caius wasn’t stingy with his praise.

  He ruffled Kiki’s head, smiling. "You really are my lucky star."

  "Hehe~" Kiki was overjoyed—she finally felt useful.

  Motivated, she hopped around energetically, scanning for more mission targets.

  In addition to mission-related herbs, Caius also collected any valuable herbs he recognized, ensuring he had a stockpile for future commissions.

  Even without an immediate use, these Gold-tier herbs could fetch a good price.

  Of course, they encountered dangers along the way.

  The forest was teeming with Magic Beasts, and even in the outer areas, plenty of Gold-level creatures roamed. In less than an hour, Caius had encountered seven.

  A normal Gold-rank mercenary would likely be exhausted or injured by now.

  But was Caius just any ordinary Gold-rank?

  Obviously not.

  These Gold-tier Magic Beasts barely lasted a punch against him before realizing this massive two-legged beast wasn’t someone to mess with and scurried away.

  Two particularly stubborn ones insisted on challenging him and were promptly knocked out cold by Caius’s fists.

  He didn’t even bother using his prized weapon—the Angel Warhammer.

  By noon, Caius had roasted a leg from a Gold-tier Magic Beast over a fire and enjoyed a good meal with Kiki.

  After their feast, Caius and Kiki resumed their search for the Crystalith Serpent.

  However, whether due to bad luck or some other reason, he failed to find any trace of it, even by 4 PM.

  If he didn’t return by 5 PM, he’d miss dinner.

  So, after another half-hour of searching with no results, Caius decided to head back.

  Although he wouldn’t be able to present the Crystalith Serpent’s magic crystal to Holan, the collected herbs should be sufficient.

  Just as he was about to turn back, a loud commotion erupted in the distance, followed by a sharp hiss.

  Caius raised an eyebrow. That hiss sounded very much like a serpent-type Magic Beast.

  Could it be the Crystalith Serpent?

  With that thought, he immediately dashed toward the source of the noise with Kiki in tow.

  Crossing a small hill and sprinting several kilometers, he reached a basin and finally saw the source of the commotion.

  Just as he suspected, it was indeed a massive Crystalith Serpent, stretching 30 to 40 meters long.

  But it wasn’t alone.

  As he scanned the basin, Caius’s expression gradually darkened.

  Because besides the Crystalith Serpent, he also spotted a human—and eight Wolf Demons!