Versatile Mage

The sky was clear and blue, not a wisp of cloud was in sight. It looked like an enormous, blue gem.

The sea was deep blue. The vast ocean made it difficult to tell the directions.

As the duo soared in the air between the sky and the ocean, the only references they could find were some islands scattered across the water. However, the islands also served as a challenge to them, as there was a chance that the Sea Monkey was hiding on one of them.

“We have to find the Sea Monkey while it’s still in the safe zone. Once it leaves the safe zone, it will be like searching for a needle in the ocean!” said Zhao Manyan.

Mo Fan nodded. He kept telling himself to think calmly.

The area below was still inside the safe zone. Apart from the islands, they also saw a few fishermen. Mo Fan felt that searching for the Sea Monkey without any clue was surely not going to work. Perhaps the experienced fishermen might give them some helpful hints.

“Zhao Manyan, let’s head down,” said Mo Fan.

Zhao Manyan picked a boat and slowly landed on it while beating his golden wings.

Surprisingly, the fisherman on the boat was neither an old man nor a young man, but a woman around the age of twenty-five. She was wearing a bamboo hat which covered her tanned face. Her physique was fit and her skin was nicely tanned.

She looked surprised when she saw Mo Fan and Zhao Manyan. It was her first time being so close to a Magician who could fly. However, she quickly collected her thoughts and greeted the two Magicians with a polite smile.

“Should we look for an older fisherman?” Zhao Manyan assumed they would be wasting their time when he realized it was a woman.

Even though the fisherwoman was attractive in her own way, he was not in the mood to flirt with her now.

“I grew up here, so feel free to ask me anything,” the fisherwoman smiled, revealing her white teeth.

Mo Fan used the shortest time possible to explain the situation to the woman, hoping that she could help them to find the Sea Monkey.

“We call the Sea Monkeys you mentioned water ghosts. We’ve been seeing them a lot in this area when we go fishing in the past few years,” said the fisherwoman.

“Can you help us to find the creature?” asked Mo Fan.

“The water ghosts mainly stay on the islands and on land. They can’t swim underwater for too long. If they are heading further away into the ocean, they would most likely rest at some bamboo shoot reefs. Besides, they like to eat the seaweed on the bamboo shoot reefs too…you can try searching for bamboo shoot reefs instead,” said the fisherwoman.

“Are there bamboo shoot reefs nearby?” asked Zhao Manyan.

“There are a bunch of them just outside the safe zone. I can contact the others from my village to tell you where they are, but we won’t dare to leave the safe zone,” said the fisherwoman.

“Alright, thanks,” Mo Fan nodded.

“Don’t mention it, I believe anyone would want to help in this situation,” said the fisherwoman.

—

Mo Fan and Zhao Manyan followed the fisher woman’s directions and headed straight to where the bamboo shoot reefs were located.

It was the only bank of bamboo shoot reefs close to the boundaries of the safe zone. As such, it was highly possible that the Sea Monkey was resting here before swimming further away into the ocean.

The bamboo shoot reefs were their only hope left. They only wished that they could make it in time!

After crossing the safe zone, Mo Fan glanced down and realized that the protection of the boundaries was almost negligible. Although larger demon creatures would trigger the alarm, agile creatures like the Sea Monkeys could easily avoid the sensors and infiltrate humans’ territories.

“It seems like it’s just ahead,” said Zhao Manyan, pointing his down.

The seawater grew clearer the further they were from the land. They could see jagged rocks above the surface of the water and giant shadows growing underneath them when looking down from above…

“Let’s take it slowly, we don’t want to alert the Sea Monkey,” said Mo Fan.

The two circled in the air, their eyes on the bamboo shoot reefs.

According to the fisherwoman, the Sea Monkeys could not stay in the water for too long. They would come up to the surface eventually to rest up. Since they were outside of the safe zone, the Sea Monkey would surely rest on these bamboo shoot reefs.

“Something is coming out!” said Zhao Manyan, pointing at a jagged rock.

Mo Fan followed the finger and saw a weird-looking monkey covered in seaweed climbing onto the reef while dragging something out of the water with it!

Zhao Manyan had yet to take a closer look at the thing. He simply dove from the sky together with Mo Fan.

Zhao Manyan withdrew his wings like a golden eagle, diving straight at the bamboo shoot reefs.

The Sea Monkey was on alert too. It immediately jumped into the water when it sensed danger approaching from above.

“Still trying to run away!”

Zhao Manyan tossed Mo Fan onto the bamboo shoot reefs and proceeded to dive into the water like a swordfish…

Mo Fan did not dare to go into the water. He stood on the bamboo shoot reef and reminded Zhao Manyan to look out for the kid.

Zhao Manyan was quite reckless when he was mad. He managed to catch the Sea Monkey in just a few seconds. The Servant-class creature did not have the ability to control water, but unlike it, Zhao Manyan was an Intermediate Water Magician. Not only was he able to move and breath underwater, he could also control the water.

Soon, Mo Fan saw Zhao Manyan jumping out from the water in drenched clothes while dragging the Sea Monkey with him.

Zhao Manyan threw the Sea Monkey at the reefs and snapped, “Damn it, the creature was holding a coconut!”

“This is bad,” Mo Fan muttered dully.

Obviously, this Sea Monkey was not the one that had snatched the kid away. It was possible that the creature had already left the reefs and gone further into the ocean.

The problem was, they would never be able to find the kid after the creature left the area!

The innocent Sea Monkey curled up in fear and let out a pitiful cry. It was begging the two humans to spare its life, as if it was aware that it was not the one that they were looking for.

“Not sure if the creature understands us, but I bet the Sea Monkeys are most likely from the same pack. Look at how terrified it is; perhaps it can tell us where the kid is?” Zhao Manyan kicked the Sea Monkey furiously.

The innocent Sea Monkey cried out in fear, as it thought the human was going to kill it. It almost fainted right on the spot.

Mo Fan was left speechless by the creature. Was there any demon creature more timid than this Sea Monkey?

However, Zhao Manyan did remind Mo Fan that he had no clue how to communicate with the demon creature… but the Flame Belle could lend them a hand!