Full-Time Magister: Can My Magic Cultivate Itself?

Time is like fine sand flowing through your fingers; before you know it, a whole basketful has slipped away.

In the blink of an eye, the calendar has turned to December.

Winter in Shanghai has a unique, penetrating damp chill characteristic of the South. The cold wind, carrying moisture, seems to ignore the defenses of clothing and seep directly into one's bones.

Pedestrians on the street hunched their shoulders, wrapping themselves tightly in heavy down jackets and cashmere coats, hurrying along.

However, among this gray, bloated crowd, there was one extremely conspicuous "outlier".

Lin Chen was wearing a thin black short-sleeved shirt and loose sweatpants. He was holding a popsicle that was emitting cold air and taking bites of it, making a crisp "crunch" sound.

He walked through the howling wind on the street with a graceful and composed gait, showing no sign of shivering or dishevelment.

Her exposed skin even had a faint, warm red glow, as if she were a walking mini furnace.

Passersby cast horrified glances at him as if he were crazy, but Lin Chen simply raised an eyebrow, unconcerned.

Just a few days ago, thanks to the elemental training room and his tireless fire-elemental stardust, the "King of Involution," his fire-elemental cultivation finally broke through to the third level of the initial stage!

He was only one step away from reaching the coveted intermediate mage level.

"Now that we have the skills, it's time to put them to the test in real combat."

Lin Chen swallowed the last bite of his popsicle, then casually tossed the stick into a roadside trash can. His gaze fell on the magnificent domed building at the end of the street—the Hunter's Alliance.

Stepping into the Hunter's Alliance's hall, a rough, pungent smell, a mixture of tobacco, sweat, and blood, hits you.

On the huge holographic floating screen, bounty requests of various colors scrolled densely.

The hall was crowded with all sorts of hunters, some boasting about the thrill of hunting demons, others haggling over how to form a team.

Lin Chen weaved through the crowd and headed straight for the low-level commission area. He was well aware of his own limitations.

Although his cultivation level has reached the third stage of the initial stage, he is still a novice, and steady progress is the best approach.

The screen scrolled through numerous low-level requests, most of which were clues about suspected slave-level rat-like demons appearing in a certain area.

Logically speaking, these low-level demonic threats within the city should be the job of the city's demon-hunting team.

However, the monsters in the wilderness of Shanghai have been causing frequent disturbances recently, and the main force of the city's monster hunting team has obviously gone to carry out high-risk missions, which is why these trivial commissions have ended up in the Hunter Alliance.

Lin Chen's gaze swept quickly across the various commissions, eventually settling on one that was relatively close to his residence.

[Location of Commission: Fuyuan Food Processing Plant in the Suburbs]

[Mission Description: A suspected slave-level demon has been lurking, resulting in the deaths of three night-shift security personnel. The bodies show signs of being bitten. The mission is to investigate and eliminate the demon.]

"You're the one." Lin Chen accepted the task without hesitation.

This was the first time in his life that he had truly faced demons. To ensure that nothing went wrong, he did not go immediately, but instead turned around and went to the Hunter Alliance's logistics and trading area.

He had prepared everything: demon-finding powder, high-concentration hemostatic agents, potent antidotes, and even gas masks.

Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit, and when it comes to saving his own life, Lin Chen is absolutely uncompromising.

……

As night fell, a crescent moon was obscured by dark clouds, making the already remote suburbs appear even more eerie.

Lin Chen, carrying a tactical backpack, quietly arrived at the perimeter of Fuyuan Food Processing Plant.

Because of the fatalities and the confirmed presence of demons, the entire factory has been shut down, and yellow warning tape has been put up around it.

The vast factory area was pitch black, with only a few poorly connected streetlights flashing a pale light in the cold wind and emitting a "buzzing" electrical sound.

The air was filled with the sour smell of rotting food, and there was also a faint, nauseating stench of blood.

Lin Chen took a deep breath, his relaxed expression instantly vanishing, his eyes becoming sharp and focused like a cheetah.

He climbed over the iron gate and landed lightly in the factory area.

He took out a small leather bag from his waist, untied the knot, and evenly sprinkled the golden demon-hunting powder inside into the air.

A miraculous scene unfolded. Instead of dispersing in the wind, the golden powder gathered rapidly in mid-air and fell down, as if iron powder had encountered a powerful magnet.

Finally, on the dusty cement ground, one after another strange footprints emitting a faint glow were outlined.

"Found it." Lin Chen's gaze sharpened.

He slowed his pace and carefully groped his way forward, following the glowing footprints.

There was a deathly silence all around, with only his own extremely faint breathing and heartbeat.

His mental energy was fully deployed and highly tense, ready to meet any deadly attack that might pounce out from the darkness.

Unbeknownst to him, Lin Chen followed the footprints through the messy production workshop and arrived at a corner of an abandoned warehouse deep inside the factory.

Here, the golden footprints come to an abrupt end.

At the junction of the wall and the ground, there was a huge, dark hole with a diameter of half a meter!

The edges of the cave entrance were covered with fresh soil and deep furrows dug out by sharp claws.

"Such a huge hole! Are the people in the factory usually blind? This security is practically non-existent!"

Looking at the dark cave entrance, Lin Chen couldn't help but mutter a complaint under his breath to ease his tension.

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Chen's brows furrowed sharply, and his eyes instantly became incredibly sharp.

Something is wrong!

It's so quiet!

Demons have an extremely strong sense of territory and a bloodthirsty nature.

I am now standing at the entrance to its lair, and the human scent on my body has definitely drifted inside.

Logically speaking, that bloodthirsty rat demon should have already pounced out amidst a stench of blood!

"Something unusual must be going on."

With a thought, Lin Chen's seven crimson fire-elemental stars in his spiritual world seemed to sense their master's fighting spirit and instantly connected to form a dazzling star trail.

"Sizzle, burn!"

A ball of orange-red, first-level initial flame, like a blooming red lotus, instantly ignited in Lin Chen's right hand.

The intense firelight not only dispelled the surrounding cold and darkness, but also became his strongest insurance against unexpected situations.

Lin Chen bent down slightly, extended his right hand, which was burning with flames, towards the cave entrance, and peered inside by the light of the fire.

Upon seeing this, he was immediately stunned.

The cave wasn't deep, only about two or three meters deep, but at this moment, the bottom of the cave, which should have been spacious, was completely filled by a huge, bloated ball of flesh covered with gray barbs!

"I don't care what you are, take this sizzle!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Chen flicked his wrist and precisely threw the ball of raging fire into the depths of the cave.

"boom!"

The fire exploded violently the moment it touched the ball of flesh!

The narrow cave instantly transformed into a furnace spewing flames, with the fire licking the cave walls relentlessly.

"squeak--!!!"

The next second, an extremely shrill, painful, and even desperate roar erupted from the burning cave, making Lin Chen's eardrums ache.

Amidst the flying mud and billowing flames, a giant rat, the size of a calf and covered in sharp, steel-needle-like hairs, staggered out of its burrow, engulfed in flames!

This is the most ferocious of the slave-level rodent demons—the Claw Rat!

However, at this moment, this ferocious Claw Rat, which should have been extremely fierce, completely lacked its usual agility and ferocity.

Lin Chen's gaze was fixed on its belly—it was bulging high, disproportionately large, its fur stretched almost to the point of transparency, and it was contracting and writhing violently at an eerie frequency.

The Claw Rat rolled on the ground in agony, trying to extinguish the flames on its body while letting out a chilling wail.

Dark red blood mixed with some kind of viscous liquid flowed down its lower body and onto the ground.

Lin Chen was startled at first, then his tense nerves relaxed instantly, and he couldn't help but smile with a wild joy.

"No wonder he was hiding in the cave and wouldn't come out..."

Looking at the giant beast struggling in flames and excruciating pain, Lin Chen immediately understood.

This is a raptor about to give birth!

Demons are at their weakest and most vulnerable during the moment of reproduction, especially childbirth!

"Looks like I got lucky today." The killing intent in Lin Chen's eyes surged instantly, and he raised his right hand again, with even more violent fire elements beginning to gather wildly.

"My first commission is for a servant-level demon in a state of absolute weakness... Well then, let's give it a good beating while it's down!"