Versatile Mage

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

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The Half-Submerged Island was off to the west of the Thousand Islands Lake. Half of the island was under the surface, while the other half was exposed above the surface. Not many people knew about the island, since they had to travel past some dangerous waters to reach it.

The Foehn Hunter Squad was currently on the island. Zhong Li was good at looking for shortcuts and surveying terrain in the wild, and managed to find a safe path to the island.

They were on a small boat. It was safer to use primitive transportation in the territory of demon creatures. The boat glided along with the current and slowly approached the Half-Submerged Island.

“There are a lot of monsters on the island. Be extra careful when we are on it,” Zhong Li reminded the others.

Zhong Li had discovered the Half-Submerged Island about a year and a half ago. There were some hard-to-see undercurrents close to the island. A few boats had sunk for no reason around the island.

The team soon arrived at the Half-Submerged Island. They went through a dense wood with many red flowers, and noticed a slope going down the island into the lake that was covered in plants. They could see a huge shadow under the lake, most likely the other half of the island.

“Look out!” Big Nose suddenly yelled.

Zhong Li was leading the way. He quickly backed away in fear.

Gu Ying was surprisingly bold. She went forward and cleared the plants blocking the path. She glanced at the thing that made Big Nose panic and drawled, “What’s with the fuss? It’s just a carcass!”

Zhong Li took a closer look and realized it was just the remains of a Lizard Demon. There were flies circling above it. It had obviously been dead for some time.

They crossed the dead body and continued forward. They saw another dead Lizard Demon after taking a few steps. The dead body was severely rotted, and even the bones were exposed.

“What’s going on here? Why are there so many dead Lizard Demons?” Xie Hao asked with a confused face.

The closer they came to the water, the more dead Lizard Demons they saw. They could not even find enough space to stand on. The whole place was littered with dead bodies and bones!

“Holy crap, there are more in the water. They are all white!” Zhong Li leaned forward and almost jumped into the air in shock.

There was a boundary line between the upper half and the lower half of the island. The upper half consisted of rotting carcasses, but the dead Lizard Demons below the line in the water only had white bones left. The Foehn Hunter Squad had often crossed paths with the Lizard Demons, so they could identify them right away.

“I think we should leave at once. Let’s report our discovery to Yang Ning,” Gu Ying frowned.

The fact there were so many bones here indicated the existence of a terrifying creature on the island. The creature had been hunting the Lizard Demons and dragged them here to eat!

“I…I agree,” Xie Hao was a little scared.

They quickly turned around and left. When they reached the wood of red flowers, a strong and cold wind suddenly blew over them from behind.

The wind was carrying the chill from the water of the lake., and they all immediately shivered. Zhong Li looked behind and saw a wriggling body climbing out of the water.

It had a dark blue lizard’s skin, which suddenly turned blood-red after it was exposed to the air. It was like thick blood was constantly pouring down on its body.

“It’s…it’s a Carnage Poisonous Salamander! Holy shit! Run!” Zhong Li’s limbs weakened when he saw the creature.

The Carnage Poisonous Salamanders were the most vicious Commander-level creatures among the Salamander Demons. Zhong Li once had a mentor. His body had festered and his eyes were blind. Every time Zhong Li visited him, the middle-aged Hunter would be lost in thought as he recalled his painful experience, which a Carnage Poisonous Salamander was responsible for!

The creature was terrifying because it had two forms. It was in its first form whenever it was in the water. Its dark blue skin was the perfect disguise. Humans would find it hard to notice even if it was extremely close, as its skin would blend in perfectly with the water.

The creature would enter its second form whenever it was exposed to the air. Its skin would undergo remarkable changes when it made contact with the air, producing a deadly poison. With just the slightest touch, a person would feel extremely itchy. The body of Zhong Li’s mentor did not fester because of the poison, but because the man had torn apart his own skin by constantly scratching it. No one had found the antidote to the poison!

Zhong Li had seen his mentor when the poison first broke out. The man had to fight the urge to tear his skin off. Zhong Li believed that his mentor would eventually end his own life to free himself from the torture.

The Foehn Hunter Squad had no intention of turning and fighting the creature. After all, it was a Commander-level creature!

A moist gust of wind swept in from behind, following a poisonous breath exhaled by the creature. The Carnage Poisonous Salamander started crawling forward after leaving the water. Its speed was crazy. It reached the wood of red flowers in the blink of an eye!

“What now? What should we do now!?” Xie Hao screamed.

“We should have left earlier. Why were we stupid enough to venture so deep into the place? There were so many dead bodies around!” Big Nose cried.

“What’s the point of saying that now?”

There were so many carcasses. Normally, they would have left instantly when they noticed something did not feel right. However, when they thought about the handsome reward and the extra Contribution Points they would receive if they found any clues, they were unusually bold and decided to go a little further. They did not expect to provoke such a terrifying creature!

The Carnage Poisonous Salamander was pursuing them relentlessly. It had no intention of letting the Hunters go. The Foehn Hunter Squad finally reached the entrance of the island, but the Carnage Poisonous Salamander was less than two meters behind them. They could see its cheeks bloating, as if it was about to spit something at them!

“Awoo!”

The Flying Creek Snow Wolf suddenly sprang out from the woods as it howled. He spread his sharp claws and dashed past the Carnage Poisonous Salamander. The Hunters did not see the Flying Creek Snow Wolf’s actions clearly, but they could see the flickers of white light emitted by his claws!

The Flying Creek Snow Wolf executed several attacks in a row, and blood soon poured out from the wounds all over the Carnage Poisonous Salamander. The wounds were deep enough to see its bones!