Commanding Wind and Cloud
chapter-169

Boss Leong quickly wiped off the cold sweat oozing out of his forehead. He was secretly glad that there was still a Demon Fighter here to hold the Level 3 Mage in check. He was afraid to deal with the parents of the spoiled Abela since they were both the Vice Presidents of the Yulee Crystal Magic Tower, one of the Eight Forces in the Yulee State. What’s more, it ranked higher in the various leagues and it really was an existence that ordinary people couldn't afford to offend.

After the Abela scene passed, everyone began to worry about the eagle above. It would cause more trouble if not shot down as soon as possible.

"Don’t look at me!"Abela raised her head proudly, neglecting the earnest face of Boss Leong: "You want me to use my magic to help these mercenaries? Alright, send them over to beg me!"

"Right!" Abela extended her white tender index finger, "And the attacker! Turn him in! Otherwise...hmph..."

Bang!

A bowstring buzzing interrupted the sneer and a light whistle sounded as the sharp arrow grated against the air. The cold arrow flashed in the sky and the hovering eagle suddenly stiffened. After a bit of flopping, it fell down heavily right next to the carriage. The muffled "boom" made the mage's face freeze.

Qian Jin withdrew the bow, looked at Boss Leong and said in a casual tone, "Move on and be careful."

"Hmph!"Abela broke into another sneer chasing away the stiffness on her face, "Brute force! Such a vulgar warrior who even doesn’t possess warrior power!"

The mercenaries, who were pale, turned paler while blankly watching the archer. Living with their lives on the line all the time equipped those mercenaries with better insights. The shot was so out of the blue that not a single person had figured out how he did it! Not to mention the time he needed to aim at the prey.

And the accuracy! It would take ordinary people quite a long time just to aim at the fist-sized body of the circling eagle! But this young man, he didn’t even bother to look. He just raised his hand and let go the arrow, which directly pierced the eagle’s heart. It was obviously not a wild guess and this archery deserved some respect even if he was not a Demon Fighter!

No wonder an archer was called a mage's nemesis! Few mages could survive an attack from this archer if encountered!

While on the carriage, Zachery was more shocked than the mercenaries. What the shot had meant was something beyond what the mercenaries perceived! The bow had not been bent to its full extension! That was to say, it was anything but ordinary!

Right! Zachery quickly turned to Fanta Kunge! This young Demon Fighter had always shown great respect to the archer all this time! It seemed that he had known this capable archer warrior for a long time!

Zachery slightly pondered! He had planned a covert strategy to protect the spoiled daughter but was exposed. He could do nothing but call it off even there were no outsiders around.

He jumped off the carriage and walked to Qian Jin. He gently stroked the rotten side of his straw hat and asked in a bass voice, "Who did you learn your archery from? I suppose you just graduated from a novice warrior academy, right? Have you decided which war academy you would apply to for further study?"

Feeling no hostility from this Zachery, Qian Jin quietly replied, "No, I haven’t decided yet."

"You haven't?" Zachery did not care if Qian Jin had avoided some of his questions. He fished out a dark iron tag and handed it out. "Are you interested in the Punitive Expedition War Academy? I'm from the Torrent Battle Fort and if you are interested, I can..."

Qian Jin's pupils dilated! Was this man from the Torrent Battle Fort? Was that not the other name of the Warrior Union of Yulee State?

"The Punitive Expedition War Academy?"

Though Zachery had sensed a trace of doubt, he laughed, "That is what you usually call Punitive Expedition Academy. Because it is an advanced academy, we call it War Academy! After all..."

Qian Jin nodded in acknowledge. After all, those studying in advanced academies would normally enlist in the army, and even some people would be dedicated to the armed forces of the Zence Empire. It was fairly appropriate to call them that since they were established for war.

"Take it!" Zachery moved the tag a little closer, "Even if you're not interested in the academy, I'd also like to invite you to join the Torrent Battle Fort. It is always better to join the Warrior Union as soon as possible where you can get much more resources and information than any other places."

"Torrent Battle Fort?" Abela curled her thin red lips and looked at Qian Jin up and down with her arms folded across her chest: "Sure enough, it can only receive this inferior kind who can hardly become a Demon Fighter."

A trace of anger flashed through the broken edge of the straw hat...Zachery’s chest heaved as he breathed deeply and he gained calmness again after a few seconds. But the hand hesitated in the air and drew back since the pride had already left with the sarcasm.

Watching this, Boss Leong could not help but shake his head in a sigh. Without Fabreidis, the Yulee Warrior Union had been on the decline. Being one of the eight forces, it had now been driven into body-guarding a baby mage from the Crystal Magic Tower. No wonder rumor had it that the Torrent Battle Fort was the easiest to pick a fight with among the eight forces.

Sensing the altered mood, Qian Jin suddenly felt a jolt and subconsciously he grabbed the iron tag and smiled. "Well, I was going to attend the Punitive Expedition Academy anyway."

"Hmph..."Abela covered her mouth with a small hand and made out a sneer once again: "Do you really think you can enter the academy? Hmph, I will just wait there to see how you will be denied outside the door!"

Qian Jin shrugged with indifference as if what she had said was of no importance. In fact, he had already thought about going to the Punitive Expedition Academy. The decision was absolutely not a spur of the moment choice. The Holy Capital was too far away, and if he went there, Rosella was definitely gonna follow him around, which would cause great harm to Rollin’s business.

Rollin had already passed on and the loss of his family business now would be the last thing Qian Jin could bare. Fabreidis had once expressed that the Punitive Expedition Academy would be a good choice although it ranked lower than some other advanced institutions. But it was truly a very prestigious academy in terms of library holdings and study on warrior power!

Zachery forced a laugh to his shaking lips, pulled his hat down over his eyes and then returned to the carriage. Being a Torrent Battle Fort fighter, it was, in fact, a disgrace to be a bodyguard of such a prodigal mage from the Crystal Magic Tower! But he had to do this for the future development of the fort. The vice president parents were too powerful, not to mention the president, who was actually the brother of this young girl’s grandfather.

Qian Jin flipped through the black iron, on which was engraved a vigorous and powerful word, [Torrent]! On the back, there was "Zachery", the name of the owner and "Manager", the position he held in the fort.

A series of bustling horse hooves drew near from the distance. Two scouts rushed back followed by a dozen fast horses. And from time to time there were arrows shooting towards the scouts.

"F**k...Defense..." The scouts bent down on the horse, buried their heads deep into the saddle and the body moved up and down with the horse running! They shouted, "Black Wind...Black Wind..."

"Black Wind?" The plump shadowed face of Boss Leong suddenly became sullen and his short legs turned to jelly! He fell down on the ground in terror, and blankly asked, "Black Wind? The eighth of the Top Ten Bandit Groups in the Frontier? The one who robs everything including life? The one that only leaves written letters of their name?"

The mercenaries looked all serious! The bandit groups had always been the dominant force of the Frontier and it was also the top ten groups that had always been a pain in the ass. But the mercenaries had not expected to run into the robbers in such a remote area!

After a short silence, there sounded a series of metal collisions in the team and sharp swords were all taken out from the long sheath! The mercenaries looked at each other and all got a message from their eyes: This time they really had to risk their lives! Black Wind had left nothing standing! Since surrender also meant death, why not fight back? Maybe they would survive!

The mercenaries quickly pulled the carriages around to form a simple circular formation. Each one of them all took a defensive posture; even the horses had become somewhat restless. The proud small face of Abela glowed with some flush and the sapphire eyes flashed a hint of excitement. She tightly held her ruby [Raging Fire] magic wand and inwardly pondered how to beat the group. Once she saved the asses of those shabby mercenaries, they would no longer dare to look down upon her!

The scouts quickly reached the periphery of the circle formation and four mercenaries hurriedly reached out of the horse carriage. Suddenly two cold and fast arrows brushed against their heads! In two puffs, blood trickled through the trembling arrows to the ground. The scouts were shot dead on their horses.

All the mercenaries turned to Qian Jin in rage! The bow that had shot the eagle was now trembling with the blood stimulant!

"What the f**k?"

"You sick of living?"

"What? Are they enemies?"

More than a dozen knives and swords all aimed at Qian Jin! They all gazed at the young man as if they would like to turn the hostility into nails to crucify him!

Paying no attention to the outrageous crowd, Qian Jin slowly reached his quiver and said, "Take a look. The two on the horse, are they really your buddies?"