I only know one move

When Wallace mentioned that the young girl was formidable, a strange expression crossed Roland's face. The magic aura on that girl was the weakest... Could it be some kind of disguise?

Upon learning that these new students intended to return to the academy, Wallace stroked his beard and asked, "Which department are you from?"

"The Arcane Department, My Lord, we are from the Arcane Department," replied the sturdiest young man in the group.

Wallace's eyes lit up, and he said to Roland, "Young Master Roland, they are going to be your future classmates."

The Black Abyss Academy was nominally an arcane academy. Catherine had originally intended to arrange for Roland to join the Arcane Department.

Wallace transmitted a mental message: [“I plan to look up some old friends in the town and pull a few strings. If you feel it would be troublesome to travel with them, wait for me.”]

Roland pondered for a moment. He felt that traveling back in company with these people wouldn't be a bad idea.

Besides, he had spent quite enough time with this old man Wallace and didn't wish to lay eyes on him anymore.

Roland carefully scrutinized his four classmates.

They had just introduced themselves. Among these four—three males and one female—the oldest was sixteen, a boy named Adam, and the youngest was the girl, fourteen, named Helena.

People in this world matured early, however, so the young men already had stubble on their chins.

Judging by their appearances, the three boys were tall and well-built, with the tallest one standing only slightly shorter than Roland. As for the young girl, her height was close to one hundred and seventy centimeters as well.

In this world, the average human height was one hundred and seventy centimeters; most commoners were short and thin, while nobles tended to be taller and sturdier.

All four of them had fine facial features, with clean and neat teeth, suggesting they came from noble families. It was just unclear whether they hailed from worldly noble houses or aristocratic lineages within the wizarding world.

At a glance, Roland could tell that all four had practiced swordsmanship and had seen bloodshed.

Among them, the tallest young man possessed excellent bone structure and arm span, making him prime material for a swordsman. Judging by his aura, he should be an intermediate knight, acting as the de facto leader of the group.

He was sixteen years old, and achieving the rank of an intermediate knight at sixteen showed extraordinary talent.

Regardless of their proficiency in magic, these four were not dead weight.

Roland looked at the tall, sturdy young man and asked, "What is your name?"

"Adam, My Lord. My name is Adam," Adam replied respectfully.

Adam was a rather prideful young man. In his heart, he held no favorable impression of this gambling scion of a wealthy family, but the disparity in status was too great, so he concealed his impatience deep within.

Roland gave a faint nod and asked further, "Do you know the way? On the way back, what specific tasks do you plan to undertake?"

Adam explained the situation.

In fact, they had arrived yesterday and even caught sight of that giant from the mountain peak, but the road ahead was blocked. Having purchased intelligence regarding that giant yesterday, they would forfeit money if they abandoned the quest.

Upon hearing that it was a mountain troll, Roland couldn't help but frown.

Coming from a worldly background, Roland was quite familiar by reputation with monsters of this sort. It could be said that the children of Valeria grew up listening to the terrifying tales of trolls from a very young age.

That creature belonged to the troll family, but its size was in a completely different league from ordinary trolls.

Their standard height was three and a half meters—about as tall as Anna—yet they weighed more than twice as much as Anna!

Furthermore, those things were nothing like a fool like Anna who only knew how to bite with her mouth; they threw boulders!

Setting aside their use of weapons, even bare-handed, tearing two ordinary trolls apart was child's play for them. Moreover, they possessed thick hides and extremely high defensive capabilities. In the mortal realm, without a dozen formal knights coupled with a dozen elite adventurers skilled in trap-making, no one would dare entertain the thought of hunting such a monster.

Not to mention that this particular one was a mutant.

This was a Tier 2 magical creature, one that even intermediate apprentices had to handle with utmost caution!

He had no idea whether other low-level apprentices could deal with such a mutated entity single-handedly, but at any rate, Roland had no confidence in doing so.

Roland cast a peculiar look at the new recruits before him.

For these four to dare challenge such a creature meant they had immense courage.

Still, if these individuals proved reliable, then with the addition of himself and the Wind Prince, this mission should be manageable.

Roland stroked his chin and muttered to himself, "Eight magic stones per person... Not bad at all, and it's on the way. But let's make it clear beforehand: if it's visibly beyond us, I'm turning around and leaving."

The four classmates wore strange expressions, and the young girl timidly offered a reminder: "It's eight magic stones in total. If the spoils are processed properly, we can earn two more—that's five people, so at most two magic stones each."

Roland's expression stiffened slightly. The wizard who posted the quest was rather hard-hearted; that was a mutated giant, yet the total bounty was only eight magic stones.

Adam, the tallest of them, spoke up, "My Lord, it's not like we're dead set on fighting it to the death. If it's clearly unbeatable, gathering information on its mutation can also net us two magic stones... I mean in total. We already spent two magic stones buying a piece of intelligence earlier, so if we don't kill it, that money cannot be split."

After a brief pause, Adam added, "Killing it shouldn't be a problem. If its mutation proves valuable, the corpse can also be sold for materials. Combined with foraging for some magical herbs along the road, everything put together should yield four or five magic stones per person... That's quite a lot."

Roland hesitated, rubbing his chin.

He was desperately short of money right now, and four or five magic stones was indeed a substantial sum. However, this bunch seemed utterly determined to slay that monster.

Therefore, Roland worried that upon encountering the creature, these fellows might deliberately lure it toward them and forcefully drag him into the fray.

Unaware of Roland's inner thoughts, the others assumed he simply looked down on such a meager sum.

Wallace advised from the side, "Come now, don't bite once and be shy of ropes for ten years. You will have plenty of opportunities to take on missions with your classmates in the future; you can't just skip every single one of them, can you?"

There was a deeper meaning to Wallace's words. On one hand, he meant that White Chess wizard apprentices rarely sabotaged their teammates. On the other hand, he implied that Roland would encounter all sorts of people in the future, and he couldn't afford to stop gathering herbs and seeking treasures simply because of a concern like this.

Roland thought to himself: *Indeed, I am dirt poor right now. If I refuse even a quest like this that lies right along the path back to the academy, I might as well never take on any quests at all!*

Wallace added, "Go ahead, Young Master. Consider it your first trial."

Hearing this, the others stared blankly at Roland.

It seemed this young lord hadn't participated in a single trial until now?!

They had originally hoped to find a powerful teammate, only to end up inviting a living ancestor along.

They would have to protect this young lord properly all the way!

Roland glared at Wallace and snapped, "Off with you, you old fool."

The corners of Wallace's mouth twitched slightly, yet he bowed respectfully to Roland like an aged butler.

He said, "Young Master, once you return, stop gambling."

Deep resentment flared in Roland's heart: *I've marked this down! The very first time I meet my classmates, you roast me over an open fire and make me famous throughout the entire faction!*

*I'll—*

*Well... cough, never mind, I'll spare you today.*

Wallace transmitted a mental message to Roland: [“Oh, Roland, the Black Forest is still somewhat dangerous. Be careful on your way; if things get too tough, head straight back to the academy.”]

Wallace kept recalling the news from three months ago and thus felt a bit worried. But that was already three months ago.

Yet, he had heard just last night that someone had reported him as a demon!

Even the Alaka wizards had come to investigate!

Although the whistleblower was merely trying to cause disgust, the report was actually spot-on!

So if this matter wasn't handled properly, it would spell catastrophic trouble! A whole bunch of people would end up being dragged down!

This was of paramount importance, and he had to deal with it immediately, which meant the two of them had to part ways.

Wallace added: [“They shouldn't cause you any trouble, so if possible, don't just think about running away alone when you encounter problems.”]

Roland replied: [‘You bastard, escorting new students is clearly your job, yet you dumped it on me. You swindled my money and now you're making me do your chores. You'd better arrange a private residence for me at the academy, the kind with an alchemy lab and a magic herb garden! And equip me with servants as well!’]

Wallace: [“No problem at all! Rest assured, my young master. The academy has plenty of open land; I'll arrange a manor with a herb garden for you!”]

Roland was finally satisfied.

After sending Wallace away, Roland set off on the road together with the others.

"Um... Senior Roland," the girl named Helena asked cautiously, "you know formal magic spells, right?"

Roland raised a single finger: "I only know one trick, and one sword technique."