This wizard only wishes to be a teacher

"Damn it..." Lucien realized the severity of the situation upon seeing the Soul Hunter.

Even now, his body experienced an instinctual fear, a racial subconscious terror of a natural enemy, causing Lucien’s breath to become slightly strained, which indirectly affected Lurah whom he was impersonating. Her breathing became somewhat labored, and in her sleep, she slightly twisted her body.

This slight movement was sharply captured by the Soul Hunter, which stepped closer and then extended its long, hook-like fingers, caressing Lurah’s face with its icy nails.

The icy touch caused Lucien’s soul to feel sluggish since these hook-like claws were the Soul Hunter’s most formidable weapons. They could easily penetrate the skulls of sapient beings and directly extract the souls within.

However, relying on Lurah’s "Perception" talent, Lucien sensed that although the Soul Hunter harbored deep malice towards him, it did not possess that blood-red desire for slaughter. Hence, Lucien focused on stabilizing his emotions, letting the creature probe in this manner.

"What... does it want to do?" Lucien felt uneasy. Under such close proximity, he was in a very disadvantageous position. If a battle were to break out, he would inevitably be restricted by the need to ensure Lurah’s safety.

Moreover, given the current distance between the Soul Hunter’s claws and himself, if it were to suddenly strike, he would likely be in grave danger.

"Endure... endure..." Lucien silently hypnotized himself while controlling his emotions, trying not to let them influence Lurah’s state further.

The icy touch of the claws constantly stimulated Lucien’s nerves. He even vaguely sensed the soul-piercing wails and screams of other humans who had died by these claws.

"It... is this a test? No, it seems to be preparing some kind of bizarre ’dining ritual.’ It wants to bind me in the Dream World to gain an absolutely loyal servant!"

Cold sweat broke out on Lucien’s back. At the moment the Soul Hunter retracted its fingers, he could no longer concern himself with exposure. Controlling Lurah, he erupted into action, rolling off the bed and unleashing a Spiritual Field typical of a Formal Wizard.

The Soul Hunter retracted its fingers and watched Lucien with interest. Its octopus-like head slowly squirmed, but it spoke in a light tone using very standard Wizard’s language, "Oh, it turns out to be a wizard... Such a nostalgic taste. Pity, I thought you would bring your companion along as well."

Lucien’s pupils slightly dilated.

No wonder he hadn’t noticed its presence initially, and no wonder it had discovered his secret. Perhaps when he first communicated with "Thunder," it had already captured the fluctuations of his spiritual power?

And it hadn’t dealt with him immediately because it wanted to capture "Thunder" as well?

"I never expected to encounter an extinct ’Soul Hunter’ here," Lucien casually responded, although speaking the somewhat cumbersome Wizard’s language using Lurah’s youthful, childish voice seemed a bit bizarre. However, he dared not leave Lurah’s body at this time.

"Extinct? Ha, ha." The Soul Hunter’s octopus-like head slightly contracted, and its skin showed patches of black and blue. Around its neck, several human faces twisted and wailed, their sharp, horrific voices made Lucien shudder.

When they noticed Lucien’s presence, the faces stopped wailing and struggling, smiling at Lucien as if longing for his rescue, or maybe they were welcoming a new victim in advance.

"According to the books, Soul Hunters possess incredibly powerful soul bodies. They excel in spiritual attacks, and their special claws can pierce directly into the skulls of sapient species, altering or even twisting their memories and souls, and can also function as ’straws’ to rapidly absorb the souls of their prey... Their weakness is their relatively fragile bodies..."

Lucien’s mind quickly processed this information about the Soul Hunter. But even then, the Soul Hunter already made the first move, swinging its massive tentacles topped with ghastly, constantly snapping human faces towards him.

—Whoosh— 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Along with the silent chants from the faces on the tentacle, a terrifying Spiritual Shock erupted inside Lucien’s spirit core. This voice, laden with chaos and destructive desires, made Lucien’s spirit core feel on the verge of collapse.

This was the most common and effective trick used by Soul Hunters against wizards, who relied on spiritual power for attacks—Spiritual Chaos!

Under such powerful interference, a wizard of the same level could hardly construct a potent witchcraft model, only managing to cast some elementary spells typical of an apprentice level.

During this time, the Soul Hunter’s tentacles could easily entangle and capture the "prey," starting to feast and savor the soul!

In most cases, a first-tier Soul Hunter could finish off a Formal Wizard in one encounter, then proceed to the "dining" phase.

However, Lucien still had other ways to counterattack.

Rustle, rustle—

In Lucien’s right hand appeared the Wizard’s Notes, which rapidly flipped through its pages. Shortly, a parchment densely scribed with witchcraft runes flew out. In the blink of an eye, it shattered into fragments that attached themselves to Lucien’s body, veiling him with a layer of moonlight.

This was the most abundant first-tier witchcraft in Lucien’s Wizard’s Notes, primarily used for life preservation— the Golden Body!

Under the cover of the moonlight, Lucien’s body became semi-translucent. The crazed screaming within his spirit core grew weaker, much like wearing a set of noise-canceling headphones. While he could still hear some lingering voices, they no longer greatly disturbed Lucien, enabling him to commence the battle normally.

Retreat.

Lucien instinctively stepped back, dodging two tentacles that almost entangled him. Since the duration of the Golden Body’s protection was extremely limited and required a certain interval before it could be used again, Lucien had to seize the moment to gain an advantage, at least enough to inhibit the Soul Hunter from continuing to emit noise and disturb him before the protection wore off.

The next moment, a cold, icy scepter appeared in Lucien’s left hand.

This was the magical artifact, comparable to a second-tier Witch Tool, he had acquired through a trade with the Raven at a gathering. However, Lucien did not intend to create an extensive freeze but rather to use its negative effects to maintain his composure for a short duration!

The moment he grasped the ice scepter, Lucien allowed the frosty aura to affect him without hesitation. The bone-chilling sensation soon enveloped his entire body, calming his emotions instantly and placing him in an undisturbed state.

Cold, rational, like a human-shaped block of ice.

The roaring that nearly drove Lucien to rage had returned but now only provoked a slight irritation in him, quickly neutralized by the icy touch of the scepter.

"Hmm?" The Soul Hunter evidently did not expect its usually foolproof strategy to falter against Lucien. Its brain, akin to that of an octopus, slightly squirmed, but in the next moment, its body began to rapidly wriggle.

At the same time, more tentacles bearing twisted human faces screaming in agony grew from its torso, including two non-human spirits also bellowing. However, their cries had little effect on Lucien.

Lucien gripped the ice scepter tightly. Inside his spirit core, the cold sensation and the mad roaring now balanced dynamically, keeping his mind relatively stable.

He watched the Soul Hunter, clearly preparing to make a move, and without hesitation, Lucien flipped through the Wizard’s Notes again. Three parchment sheets flew out, morphing into three identical frost blades in midair.

Enhanced by the ice scepter, the icy force of the three witchcraft increased significantly. The frost that speckled the blades became tougher and sharper. Even as they spun, they emitted hardly any faint sounds of slicing through the air.

First-tier witchcraft, Frost Blade Dance·Revised!

This was Lucien’s most commonly used first-tier witchcraft. In this confined space, the multitude of frost blades worked together to surround and potentially shred the enemy into pieces—a perfect match against the Soul Hunter, known for its mental attacks and relatively weak physique!

But just then, Lucien noticed a strange glint in the Soul Hunter’s eyes, a look that seemed to carry a bit of pity or maybe the condescending amusement of a cat toying with a mouse.

"Don’t forget, this isn’t the first night I’ve come for you." The Soul Hunter looked at Lucien, its eyes now revealing a trace of greed.

Lucien was taken aback, but soon, he felt resistance from "Lurah."

It was as though "Lurah" had suddenly come to life, rejecting the "player" that inhabited its body and trying to invade Lucien’s original body in return.

Bang—

Under this intense interference, the frost blades controlled by Lucien began to collide with each other due to the lack of unified command. Some of them disintegrated due to internal structure collapse.

"I was also here last night, but it seemed you were out," the Soul Hunter slowly and elegantly squatted down, its movements not ferocious but rather graceful. "The rules say that I must not physically attack a non-player’s identity, but it does not specify that I can’t strike against a player’s identity, does it?"

At that moment, Lucien felt "Lurah" continually vying for control over his body. He lowered his head, a flash of madness crossing his eyes. On the other side, the Wizard’s Notes flipped rapidly, the rustling of the pages alerting the Soul Hunter. It swiftly extended a tentacle, ready to capture Lucien directly.

But just then, the Wizard’s Notes finally flipped to the page Lucien was looking for. Inside this crimson page was a barely visible small snake frantically slithering through the pages.