All-Class Anti-Mage - - - - -

Compared to traveling by carriage, Yang Zhen preferred walking. It allowed him to recapture the feeling he had when he was with Roland, and back when he spent all his time in the Mage Tower without going out, the girl was always nagging in his ear… that life is movement.

However, Bidel City was more than a thousand kilometers away from the Beast Language Forest, and he couldn’t possibly walk all the way there. Even if there were teleportation arrays in the Mage Guilds of the second-level cities along the way, merely walking would consume a significant amount of precious time.

So Yang Zhen decided… to start running! He would head to the Mage Guild in the closest second-level city, Peterburg, then teleport to Agada, which was nearest to the Nobi River, and finally run to the Beast Language Forest. This was the route Yang Zhen had devised to be the quickest, but plans never survive contact with change.

No matter how much his physique had been enhanced by the cool aura, there would be moments of fatigue. Just as he was nearing Peterburg, he finally found himself unable to run anymore. This was actually a form of indirect willpower cultivation; after running nearly a hundred kilometers, the sixth halo-normally unresponsive even at the sixth level of the Mage Tower-had actually slightly tinged with a faint golden color.

Not far ahead, he spotted a small village, and Yang Zhen thought he would go there to ask a villager for a drink of water. However, this small village, which had about a dozen households, seemed deserted. Wasn’t that a bit too strange? Moreover, each courtyard and house appeared very clean, as if someone had tidied up.

It wasn’t until Yang Zhen was about to leave the village that he heard the sound of sweeping coming from the last family’s yard. When he approached, he saw a towering barbarian, muscular and imposing, sweeping the ground with a broom. With his dry, yellowish hair and flattened nose, there was no doubt he was a barbarian!

“Excuse me, are you the master of this place?” Yang Zhen asked, curious. Peterburg was just fifteen kilometers away, and it was quite surprising to encounter a barbarian so close to human territory. To be honest, this was the first time Yang Zhen had ever seen a barbarian.

“Yeah, this whole little village belongs to Babala. What brings you here?” The barbarian spoke in a deep, rumbling voice that perfectly matched his muscular appearance, and his demeanor fit the typical temperament of a barbarian; whatever he said felt like an argument.

“Ah… nothing much, I just came to ask for a bowl of water,” Yang Zhen replied, further puzzled. If this entire village belonged to him, then where were the others? Not wanting to dwell on the bizarre question, Yang Zhen decided to let it go.

“Haha, so that’s it! Come on in, human guest; Babala welcomes you to the village of the barbarians.”

Like the Dwarves, barbarians were also quite hearty in nature. However, compared to the Dwarves, who were known for their smithing skills, barbarians seemed to have muscle where their brains should be. Aside from their exceptional strength, they had little to show for achievements in subclasses.

“Thank you,” Yang Zhen nodded in appreciation. Babala reminded him of the half-blood dwarf Gu Pan; it seemed their personalities were quite similar. However, Babala lacked the smoothness that Gu Pan possessed, as the wisdom of the Dwarves rivaled that of elves and humans.

“You’re heading to Peterburg, right? What’s your main class?” Babala asked abruptly as he brought a bowl of water to Yang Zhen. It was understandable given that Yang Zhen was wearing a simple coarse cloth outfit with no class badge in sight.

Yang Zhen paused slightly, not because he found the question impolite, but because he was pondering how to respond. If he said he was a sword cultivator, his swordsmanship was poor, and the anti-mage was rather obscure. If he claimed to be a mage, stepping out of the Mage Tower wouldn’t produce a single spell. After some thought, he replied.

“I’m an assassin, planning to use the teleportation array in Peterburg to get to Agada.” If barbarians could enact schemes, even the gods would smile in approval. Yang Zhen didn’t hide his destination; he wouldn’t lie to someone who treated him sincerely.

“Then you should be cautious. There’s a small group of bandits around here who specialize in robbing solitary travelers,” Babala said with a cautious expression. “I’ve been robbed before, but I managed to scare them off.”

If you can scare them off, I can too, Yang Zhen thought but didn’t voice it. After finishing the water, he placed the bowl down and thanked him again, saying, “Thank you for the water; I need to continue my journey.”

Seeing Babala’s dazed expression as if he was contemplating something, Yang Zhen had just stepped out of the small yard when he heard him call out loudly, “Human guest, for safety’s sake, why don’t you come with Babala? I’ll be going to Nobi City soon; I can take you to Agada on the way.”

Yang Zhen stopped in his tracks. Nobi City? Isn’t that the territory of the Blue Moon Legion? What would he want to go there for? After some consideration, Yang Zhen declined Babala’s kind offer. His goal was the Beast Language Forest, and it was best to avoid crossing paths with the Blue Moon Legion for now.

“Thank you for your kindness, but it’s not necessary. It’s not far to Peterburg, and once I get to the Mage Guild there, I can transfer to the teleportation array to Agada.”

However, when Babala heard this, he became displeased, his face darkening as he said, “The Mage Guild isn’t trustworthy; you’d rather believe them than Lulu! You don’t really think of Babala as a good friend!”

Yang Zhen couldn’t help but laugh, bemused. Why was the Mage Guild considered untrustworthy? And who was Lulu? He simply didn’t want to trouble Babala; was that reason enough to get angry? When did we become good friends? It wasn’t surprising that he didn’t understand Babala’s actions; barbarians were more straightforward than dwarves. If they decided to help someone and were turned down, they would feel quite embarrassed.

“Alright, I’ll go with you; now we should be good friends,” Yang Zhen finally conceded to Babala’s invitation. He had met someone even more stubborn than himself, and in the end, he agreed to Babala’s offer. Yang Zhen appreciated this straightforward nature, as Babala seemed to never scheme or plot against others. Besides, having a companion made the journey far more enjoyable than traveling alone.

“You have earned the friendship of a barbarian; you are Babala’s best friend. Once I finish cleaning up this place, Lulu will take us to Nobi City,” Babala said happily, giving Yang Zhen a bear hug. If it weren’t for Yang Zhen’s extraordinary physique, an ordinary person might have had a few bones broken from that embrace.

“Babala, why is there such a large village and you’re the only one here? And what are you going to Nobi City for?” Yang Zhen asked directly, not one to beat around the bush when faced with the straightforward barbarian.

“They all answered the call of the War God and left. Every year, tribe members come to clean this place, and this time it was my turn. I’m part of the Blue Moon Legion in Nobi City, and I’ve just received word that the legion is planning a major operation, so I have to return immediately.”

Babala revealed everything without holding back, quickly laying bare his situation.

Yang Zhen’s expression turned slightly cold, then shifted to one of confusion. Wasn’t the Blue Moon Legion a human army? Since when did they have barbarians in their ranks? And from what Babala said, it seemed there were quite a few barbarians in the Blue Moon Legion. Without needing to ask, Babala continued to divulge more details.

“A thousand years ago, our tribe failed to invade the East Continent, and not many returned. Fortunately, the Blue Moon leader accepted us, but barbarians can’t become a burden to others. Young barbarians join the Blue Moon, while the older ones come back here to establish a small village.”

Yang Zhen nearly choked on his water at this revelation. Had the barbarians really become so straightforward that they were willing to send their young warriors to the Blue Moon just to avoid being a burden, leaving the elders to wait here for death? It was all too easy to imagine what roles they played during the invasion of the East Continent-cannon fodder!

Moreover, they seemed to regard this small village of barbarians as a reserve for the Blue Moon. The young warriors regarded joining the Blue Moon as an honor, while the elders stayed behind in the small village, defenseless. After hundreds of years, the young would grow old and return, only to die here-oh no, they’d all be summoned by the War God.

Faced with such a blunt yet foolish barbarian, even if he was part of the Blue Moon magical beast hunting legion, how could Yang Zhen hate him? This was the spirit of a tribe; even if it was ignorant, Yang Zhen felt a deep respect. Compared to the deceit and manipulation among humans, the barbarians appeared so much more pure.

Unfortunately, such people were destined to be eliminated by the Firmament Continent, as they simply did not fit the rules of survival! This was also the reason why the barbarian tribes on the Firmament Continent were dwindling. Who wouldn’t want to take advantage of someone whose nature was so straightforward? So, did the Blue Moon Legion accept them to protect the barbarian tribes, or to use them?

Babala moved quickly, and soon he had cleaned up the small courtyard. Then he went to clear the weeds from the countless graves behind the courtyard. While he was busy, Yang Zhen took the opportunity to stroll through the small village again. Each small courtyard had a burial mound behind it, and judging by the neatness of the graves and the surrounding environment, it was clear that Babala had taken care of them.

Countless warriors from the barbarian tribes were at rest here, and even the barbarians in the Blue Moon Legion in Nobi City had not forgotten this place. Each year, they sent someone to guard it, and this year it was Babala’s turn, especially since he had just sent off the last elder in the village. The reserves for the Blue Moon had finally emptied…

“We’ll be leaving soon. Babala just needs to wash up and change into his legion uniform,” Babala said as he finished cleaning the last courtyard. He worried that Yang Zhen might be getting anxious, so he took the time to inform him. Yang Zhen smiled and nodded, watching as Babala, like an iron tower, went into the house.

Before long, Babala emerged, having changed from his coarse clothes into the Blue Moon Legion uniform. The transformation gave him a more menacing presence. This was the aura developed through years of life and death training in the Beast Language Forest. If Babala didn’t speak, who would know that he was a straightforward and naive person?

“Babala is ready; we can set off now.” Unfortunately, as soon as he spoke, a good deal of his intimidating presence dissipated. Yang Zhen stood up, brushing the dirt from his clothes, eager to see what this Lulu that Babala mentioned could be, and how it could help them on their journey.

But before Babala could make any move, the sound of numerous approaching footsteps filled the air. The small courtyard was surrounded by over a hundred barbarian bandits, all radiating a menacing aura. They wielded various weapons: some had pitchforks for gathering fodder, others wielded axes for chopping wood, and there was only one human-made greatsword among them, notably rusty and pockmarked.

Yet, Yang Zhen remained unfazed, gazing at Babala with a smile as he asked casually, “Are you sure this is the ‘small group’ of bandits you mentioned?”

It was hard to imagine what a shy barbarian, towering over two meters and covered in muscles, might look like; indeed, they could blush. Under Yang Zhen’s amused gaze, Babala’s face turned as red as blood, and finally, flustered by Yang Zhen’s reaction, he bellowed, “Alright, Babala lied. They aren’t a small group; they’re a large one, and they’re a disgrace to barbarians!”

“Ha ha…” Yang Zhen burst into laughter. He had never expected that barbarians could have such an endearing side. Now he understood why Babala had invited him along: it was because Babala feared Yang Zhen would encounter this “small group” of barbarian disgrace.

If he had said there was a large group of bandits, Yang Zhen might have hesitated. But for the sake of barbarian honor and face, Babala insisted they were merely a small group. Do you think that would scare anyone off? If it weren’t for Yang Zhen’s goodwill towards him, he wouldn’t have disregarded Babala’s insistence and simply turned to leave.