41: Chapter 41 Both Potter and Hagrid were confident

Hager was a bit stunned by Potter's bold words.

After a moment of hesitation, Hager stared at him: "What kind of bet does Mr. Potter want to make? I'll state this in advance: if it's something like a duel between the two of us, I won't agree."

"You aren't even worthy of dueling me." Potter returned a look of disdain.

To this, Hager remained silent.

Potter looked toward the forest, where the howling of wolves was becoming increasingly dense and frequent: "A beast tide only gathers when a leader is born among the herd of magical beasts."

Smiling, he raised his hand and pointed at Avril and Zhang Mu: "Let's bet on whether my two students can repel the beast tide, how about it?"

Hager perceived the Mental Energy fluctuations of the two and was even more stunned.

The leader of a beast tide is at least Tier 3, which is equivalent to a Beginner Magician, one tier higher than a Magic Apprentice or Apprentice Magician.

Potter's two students, one heretic is a Magic Apprentice, and the other is an Apprentice Magician.

Even if the two of them fought together, they would be no match for a Tier 3 leader-level magical beast, let alone the fact that the leader in the forest might be higher than Tier 3, combined with the massive number of magical beasts.

Where did he get the guts to bet his own life?

Could he have some hidden means?

With a suspicious look in his eyes, Hager perceived them carefully once more, confirming that they were indeed just a Magic Apprentice and an Apprentice Magician, and that there were no buffing spells on them.

Of course, it was also possible that Potter's magic techniques were superb, and he simply couldn't perceive them.

Unable to fathom the other party's true strength, Hager still wanted to agree.

Without needing to sacrifice a high-ranking bishop to use a True Word Spell, he could take down the number one magician of the Lake Kingdom; such a monumental contribution would be enough to secure his promotion.

After pondering for a long time, Hager looked at Potter: "I'm not sure if they are carrying any items imbued with high-level magic."

"You brought a magic detection crystal, didn't you?"

A magic detection crystal—it can detect magic fluctuations above the Beginner Magician level.

Understanding his meaning, Hager took a crystal ball out from his white robe and controlled it with his Mental Energy to circle around the two of them.

It did not emit any light.

The corners of Hager's mouth slowly curled upward: "Mr. Potter, I greatly admire your heroic feat of being willing to sacrifice your life to secure a path of survival for your students."

"I agree, but we must set a time limit. Otherwise, if they stay in there for a hundred years, do I have to wait for them?"

Worried about falling into a verbal trap, Hager added the condition, believing it to be appropriate.

Potter shook his head speechlessly, thinking this guy was full of tricks and assumed everyone else was the same: "Three days."

"Good!" Hager seemed worried that he would go back on his word and agreed immediately.

Over here, Zhang Mu frowned and lifted his foot, wanting to step forward to stop their bet.

He did not deny that his panel had infinite potential, but growth required time.

His current strength was still far from being able to "traverse the continent."

If it were just one Tier 3 magical beast, he could wear it down using the resurrection function.

But this was a beast tide; the reason it was called a tide was because the terrifying number of beasts gathering and moving was comparable to a surging river tide.

In three days, it was questionable whether they could even break through the protection of the magical beasts to see the leader.

However, just as he lifted his foot, his wrist was grabbed by Avril.

Looking sideways, she shook her head slightly, then looked at Potter, also using her eyes to stop his actions.

Seeing this, he had to stand still.

Hager didn't pay attention to their small movements and ordered the Fanatics to surround the pile of townspeople again, incidentally driving the mayor in as well.

The bet could not be revealed. If he silenced the townspeople now, Potter would definitely stop him. Hmph, he would wait until Potter committed suicide before making a move.

Regarding the outcome of the bet between the two sides, Hager was firmly confident.

A combination of a Magic Apprentice and an Apprentice Magician, not carrying any items imbued with high-level magic, facing an enemy that was at least a Tier 3 magical beast leader plus a terrifying number of magical beasts.

He couldn't think of any reason why he would lose.

The matter was settled, and Zhang Mu was not one to dawdle, so he headed straight toward the forest north of the town where the magical beasts were gathering.

Avril and Potter exchanged a glance, nodded imperceptibly, and turned to follow.

Potter stared at their backs as they were swallowed by the thick night: "If you really fail, Avril, leave a spark for me. Take him and run, run to a very far place."

"In the future, he will lead the Lake Kingdom onto a different path, one with more hope of success than my path."

Seeing everything that happened and hearing everything, some of the townspeople began to tremble even more violently.

"That is a beast tide. Two people, even if they are magicians... it's impossible..."

The younger townspeople were still bewildered; they had never experienced a beast tide.

But for the older townspeople, the catastrophe of the beast tide attacking Kas Town thirty years ago was still fresh in their minds.

That time, more than a dozen magicians with gray hair and beards lost their lives in the ferocious maws of the magical beasts.

For the townspeople of Kas Town, who didn't have much worldly experience, the older one was, the more abundant their experience and knowledge, and the stronger their magic techniques were.

Look, wheat seedlings all take time to grow tall and then form ears.

They assumed magicians must be the same; the longer they lived, the more magic knowledge they absorbed, and the more powerful their magic became.

They had almost never spoken face-to-face with a magician and did not know that truly capable magicians would never bother to take on garbage quests like "repelling a low-level beast tide," which had low pay and were time-consuming.

Those willing to take them were all mediocre people who had spent decades accomplishing nothing and hadn't even broken through to High-level Magician by the time they became old men.

Therefore, the older townspeople were desperate inside.

Two young people who looked about twenty—what magic could they possibly know?

If it were wheat, they would be just newly planted wheat seedlings; how could they possibly form ears?

Beside the mayor, a townsperson who was trembling while standing sobbed: "Mr. Mayor, I am already old; it doesn't matter if I die in the beast tide."

He slowly turned his head left and right, scanning the surrounding young and small townspeople: "Can you ask the Bishop to let those two young people come back? They only look twenty, the same age as my granddaughter; they are still children."

As he spoke, he couldn't help it and squeezed out of the crowd of townspeople, wanting to go before Hager, but was kicked back by a Fanatic.

He was helped up by a nearby townsperson, caught his breath that had almost failed him, pushed away the hand supporting him, and knelt on the spot: "Bishop, sirs, can you please let the children go? I am willing to offer everything I have; I beg you, sirs."

Kneeling, he took a piece of black bread out of the pocket of his linen jacket and handed it toward the Fanatic.

"Go back!" The Fanatic kicked the black bread away, shouting as he drew his sword, "If you come any closer, judgment!"

"Thump—" Not far away, Potter tapped his staff lightly against the ground. The Fanatic, who had only drawn his sword halfway, fell to the ground spitting blood, without even seeing any magic strike him.

Attacking a Believer was, by reason, something that had to be punished, but Hager only glanced at it: "Give him a bottle of healing potion and help him to the side to rest."

Being powerful always came with privileges; there was no need to get into a dispute with Potter over a piece of cannon fodder Fanatic, of whom there were plenty.

"Mr. Mayor." The old man picked up the black bread, wiped the dust off with his sleeve, tucked it into his bosom, and went to the mayor's side, "We..."

"Don't be afraid." Patting the back of his withered hand, the mayor looked toward the direction where the two figures had disappeared, "Believe in Mr. Zhang Mu."

"Mr. Zhang Mu will definitely succeed!" A few meters away, Lia, her cat ears hidden under her gray robe twitching a few times, clenched her small fists and agreed with the mayor in a low voice.