High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1995: Chapter 216: Fringe Hunting Team

After the selection task began, Zheng Qing felt a vague and inexplicable sense of conflict deep in his heart.

This feeling gradually became clearer as Absolution started looking for mentors, and news spread of other hunting teams doing the same—that is, the school could not possibly allow hundreds of hunting teams to pass the selection task.

Firstly, the school’s hunting party has limited resources and can’t support the consumption of hundreds of hunting teams; secondly, allowing inexperienced, newly formed hunting teams to compete alongside seasoned ones like Judgement, Hemophilia, and You Yao Qi would likely cause significant psychological and physical damage to many young hunters.

This was not the original intention of the school hosting the hunting party.

Especially after the class meeting on Sunday evening, when Zheng Qing failed in inviting Old Yao to be Absolution’s mentor, it made him recognize the current situation and added a lot of urgency in his heart.

The next day, which was early Monday morning, before the Curse Course began, the young cost student dragged Xiao Xiao and Xin Fat Man straight to the professors’ office building.

However, Absolution’s three hunters were forced to stop in the lobby on the first floor of the office building.

Because besides them, there were dozens of students in various colored robes gathered together, clamoring and blocking the entrance to the hallway.

”Don’t push! Don’t push!”

”Register one by one, enter in order... Don’t you all have classes? It’s clearly our breakfast time now!”

Under the ceiling, several large parrots responsible for reception flapped their wings, flying around to maintain order while angrily shouting, and occasionally, one or two green feathers floated and swayed down from above.

Zheng Qing suspected there might be maliciously thrown bird droppings mixed in by the receptionists.

However, with all the noise, no one paid attention to these small details.

”Excuse me!”

The young cost student held a soy milk in one hand, grabbed Xiao Xiao with the other, and had a bun in his mouth as breakfast—this made his voice particularly muffled and inconspicuous in the noisy lobby—as he tried hard to squeeze towards the hallway entrance:

”Excuse me, please make way... Sorry for the disturbance... Please, let me through... Excuse me, excuse me, thank you!”

But everyone around seemed to be pushing forward, which made his efforts rather ineffective. After struggling for four or five minutes, he was still hovering on the outermost layer.

Just then, he saw a familiar face.

”Brother Qing?”

Nicholas’ tall and thin figure slipped out of the crowd like a fish, waving his arms at Zheng Qing: ”Don’t go in, it’s gone!”

Then he turned to look at the other two classmates, nodding: ”Doctor... Brother Xin.”

Zheng Qing stopped suspiciously, glanced at the ruby ring on Nicholas’ hand, and absentmindedly questioned while surveying the gaps in the crowd: ”What’s gone?”

”You’re here to find a mentor, right?” Nicholas asked confidently.

Absolution’s three hunters looked at him in unison.

”Don’t look at me like that,” the tall and thin warlock quickly waved his hand, pointed at the crowded people in the lobby, and grinned: ”Including me... Everyone else is also here to find a mentor... Do you know how many hunting teams signed up for this preliminary competition?”

”I remember over two hundred?” Zheng Qing finally swallowed the meat bun in his mouth, gulped down some soy milk, then reacted as he looked around: ”You mean there’s none inside...”

”The professors have all been ’reserved’.” Nicholas interrupted Zheng Qing, nodding.

”As expected.” Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses, his eyes flashed with a trace of understanding.

”As expected? Did you divine it before?” Xin Fat Man was furious upon hearing this, grabbed the Doctor’s collar and shouted: ”Since you divined it, why didn’t you say earlier? It made me run like a fool, almost giving me a heart attack!”

Zheng Qing doubted if Fat Man was truly that angry—he glanced at the Fat Man’s hand on the Doctor’s collar, guessing he was just taking the opportunity to wipe off the grease from his hands.

”Any divination results only possess limited guiding significance.”

Xiao Xiao tapped Fat Man’s paw with a bamboo slip—obviously, this action was well-prepared—and calmly explained: ”If one believes that divination can replace the efforts of subjective initiative, then it’s a big mistake... As the saying goes, effort doesn’t necessarily lead to results, but without effort, there are no results.”

Xin Fat Man gasped as he withdrew his hand, momentarily forgetting to continue nitpicking.

”Since there’s no chance, let’s go out first, no need to crowd inside.” The young cost student beckoned the two companions and Nicholas, heading outside: ”... It’s almost class time, let’s talk as we walk.”

Upon hearing ’class’, the Fat Wizard finally stopped making trouble, muttering complaints as he followed Zheng Qing out of the office building.

”You’re here to find a mentor too?” On the way back to the teaching building, Zheng Qing initiated the conversation, examining the tall and thin warlock beside him.

Although they were classmates and Nicholas was his guide when he entered the school, compared to the companions of the Absolution Hunting Team, Zheng Qing’s interaction with him was ultimately less, so before entering the formal topic, both sides inevitably needed some simple warming up.

”What else?” Nicholas casually combed his ponytail and then shrugged: ”I came to queue in front of the office building at six o’clock... This was after Fifi reminded me that there might be a lot of people today... Even then, when I was queuing, there were already several hunting teams registering ahead.”

”No wonder those parrots are so grumpy today.” Xin Fat Man couldn’t help but complain.

”What’s your hunting team called?” Zheng Qing asked curiously. He had heard before that Nicholas had formed his own hunting team but hadn’t seen them training, and now having the opportunity to dig a little deeper was certainly desirable.

”Fringe Hunting Team.”

Without waiting for Zheng Qing’s follow-up questions, Nicholas, full of expression, quickly added: ”Besides me, the members include Fifi, Carmen, Iseni, and Lin Yan... Do you know Lin Yan? He’s a new first-year student at Alpha Academy this year and has a good grasp of Potion Making.”

”Carmen?”

”Iseni?”

”Lin Yan?”

Zheng Qing, Xiao Xiao, and Xin Fat Man all spoke almost simultaneously, and interestingly, their focus points were entirely different, which made Nicholas unable to hold back his laughter.

”Iseni and Lin Yan are from the Serpents Tail Hunting Team, aren’t they?”

Xiao Xiao was the first to pose his query, frowning slowly: ”Did the little master from the Taylor family agree to them joining your hunting team? Of course, I understand for non-formal hunting teams, the rules don’t limit a hunter from serving multiple teams simultaneously... But Sepulano isn’t known for being generous.”