My Summons Are Mythical Beasts

Standing three meters away from him, Ethan looked at Lucas and then the basket with an aghast expression.

"How were you able to find so many?" Ethan asked with a dire tone after a few seconds of silence.

When he was tasked by Teacher Christie to supervise this mission, he did not think that the Soulshade garden was infested by that many Vinecrawler Caterpillars.

And most of all, he did not think that Lucas would be able to find that many in a span of a few hours. At most, he estimated that he would be able to catch and kill at least 30 before the day ends.

Ethan stared at the basket and involuntarily shivered once more. He still felt uncomfortable seeing that many caterpillars in one basket.

"It's a freaking whole basket of caterpillars!"

"Where did you find so many?" Ethan asked once more.

Lucas grew confused upon hearing his words.

"In the Soulshade leaves?" Lucas answered; a hint of uncertainty was mixed in his voice as he stared at Ethan's expression.

'Is it bad that I got so many?'

Ethan rolled his eyes and said, "I'd be damned if you did not find it in there. What I meant is, how are there so many? And how did you find so much in a short period of time?"

Finally taking the courage, Ethan closed in toward him and looked at the Vinecrawler Caterpillars up close, wanting to verify if they were real or not.

After confirming that they were indeed real, Ethan could not help but shiver once more.

Lucas realized that this senior of his might have a mild lepidopterophobia.

Realizing that, Lucas decided to move the basket away from him, not wanting to traumatize the senior even more.

"Senior, aren't there usually not this many?"

Ethan frowned before shaking his head, "No. At least, not to this extent. How many Soulshade leaves have you inspected yet?"

"A third?"

"Well, this is bad indeed. If you found that many in such a small area, we can assume that there are many more of them hidden in those leaves. If this is not resolved, the whole Soulshade leaf garden will become desolate," he said with a grim expression on his face.

Ethan did not expect for the infestation to be that bad either, hence his unusual reaction to the situation.

"So, what should we do, seniors?" Lucas asked.

"Let's report it to Teacher Christie first. Bring that and follow me," Ethan said as he began walking back.

He paused for a moment and then said, "Cover that thing with a cloth or something, will you?"

Lucas nodded his head and found an item in his backpack that he could use to cover the basket's mouth.

As they were walking, Lucas thought about his confusion earlier and asked, "Senior, with the garden being enclosed with the net, how was it possible for the Vinecrawler or the Greenthron locust to come inside and propagate?"

"I was confused about this as well. However, according to Teacher Christie, it was possible that the eggs of the Greenthorn Locust were carried over from the saplings of the Soulshade leaf. A Greenthorn Locust egg is usually very small and only hatches about three months, so it is possible that she did not notice it while planting."

Lucas thought and realized that it was indeed possible. He thought that there was some foul play going on, but it seems that he was just overthinking it.

Well, the fact that this type of locust undergoes a caterpillar stage is already unusual enough; how much more of a locust's egg that hatches after three months?

After a while, the two of them finally returned to the faculty area.

Dodging the suspicious gazes of the people they passed by, Ethan knocked on the door to Teacher Christie's office.

The gentle voice of Teacher Christie entered their ears, telling them to come in.

Upon entering, Ethan did not waste time and immediately reported everything to Teacher Christie.

As they were talking, Lucas saw that a hint of worry appeared on Teacher Christie's face the more Ethan spoke.

"Lucas, can you let me see them?"

Lucas nodded his head and pushed the basket toward her.

Ethan took a slight step back as Teacher Christie took the cover off the basket's mouth, revealing the hideous Vinecrawler Caterpillars underneath.

A frown appeared on her gentle face before she closed the makeshift cover.

"Don't worry about this anymore; I'll think of a solution," she said with a sigh.

"Right, have you counted how many Vinecrawler Caterpillars you've caught?" She said, back in her usual gentle tone.

Lucas nodded his head and stated, "There's a total of a hundred and sixty-two Vinecrawler Caterpillars in there. Teacher Christie, we can also count it here again if you don't believe me."

Teacher Christie chuckled before shaking her head, "No need. I trust you."

"Give me your ID number, and I'll send the Starlight Coins to your account," she said.

Lucas nodded his head and then allowed her to scan his ID through his phone. Although he memorized his ID number, doing it this way was way faster and more efficient.

A notification then popped up on his screen, showing that he had received the Starlight Coins.

Upon seeing it, though, Lucas was immediately confused.

"Teacher, I think you've sent the wrong amount of Starlight Coins?"

On his screen, it showed that he received 500 Starlight Coins. He only caught a total of a hundred and sixty-two Vinecrawler Caterpillars so he should've only received 324.

"Don't mention it. I appreciate your help and dedication. If you did not manage to get that many, and the Vinecrawler Caterpillars were left alone, my Soulshade Leaf garden would surely be doomed in four days at most."

"Now that I know that the infestation was this bad, though, I can still use some extreme method to eliminate them, although doing it this way would damage my Soulshade Leaf garden as well. But so be it," she sighed dejectedly.

It seems that the Soulshade Leaf was indeed that important for her.

As for Lucas, he did not decline the generous reward and simply bowed to express his gratitude.

With this, he would be able to enter the dungeon twice.

Teacher Christie looked at him and smiled, "Continue with your dedication and continue working hard, Lucas. One day, such effort would surely be rewarded; even if just by a small amount, everything will be worth it in the end."

Hearing those words, Lucas involuntarily clenched his fist.

Although it might not seem like a lot, those words were truly what he needed at the moment.

Although he might seem stable, he was also equally pressured due to what he had seen last night on their group chat.

The thought of working hard tirelessly only to be beaten by the others with less effort disheartened him.

He was unwilling to lag behind others, especially when others did not put the same effort as him toward something.

However, hearing Teacher Christie's words, Lucas' mind and horizons were broadened.

'Right. Who said that what I'm doing is not enough?'

'Success isn't measured by the speed of others but by my own perseverance. As long as I keep pushing forward, I'll eventually reach my destination.'

"Thank you!" He said, his tone carrying more gratitude than usual.

Teacher Christie just smiled and told him that he could come back if he ever needed help.

She dismissed the two of them a while later.

As their figure disappeared from her view, her gaze shifted toward the basket of Vinecrawler Caterpillars as she released a dejected sigh.

…

Outside of the faculty building.

"Are you going to do the beast cage cleaning mission anytime soon?"

Lucas thought for a moment and asked in return, "Will the bug eradication task still be available?"

Shrugging his shoulders while continuing to walk, Ethan replied, "I don't know about that. It depends on Teacher Christie, really."

"If the bug eradication task is still there after two days, then I might not go back to cleaning cages yet," Lucas answered.

"Understandable. In fact, now that you're already acquainted with Teacher Christie, it's better that you go to her directly if you need help regarding missions. As I said before, Teacher Christie liked to help untalented people like us. There is no shame in trying to get her help either; others even consider it their blessing to be helped by her."

Ethan paused for a moment before continuing, "A word of advice, though. Just don't overdo it; else, if those guys know, they would surely hunt you down to the ends of the earth."

Lucas tilted his head in confusion hearing his words. Although he did not understand its full meaning, Lucas still nodded his head in agreement.

Arriving at the academy's exit, Ethan was about to walk away from Lucas when the latter spoke.

"Ahh, senior, I think you forgot something?"

Hearing that, Ethan's expression darkened.

'You brat!'

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