It wasn't until he got on the Shore and rested for a few minutes that the paleness on Xiao Xiao's face gradually faded.
“You can try to take a few more boat rides in the future; maybe it will help you develop some resistance to seasickness.” Nicholas looked at him with some concern, “At First University, not being able to take a boat is a terrible problem.”
Xiao Xiao grunted and said nothing.
“Monster!” a voice shrieked in terror nearby.
Zheng Qing looked in the direction of the sound, and a dozen meters away on Linzhong Lake, a monster was slowly revealing its hideous face.
The monster had a fish head and a human body, with bluish-black scales covering its chest and abdomen, and sharp fins standing upright on its head and between its spine. Its limbs were short but appeared strong and powerful, with three toes on each hand and foot, and a thin web of flesh between the toes.
At this moment, it was staring with a pair of pale, dead fish eyes, ferociously scanning the students on the Shore. Its fish mouth opened and closed slightly, and its sharp teeth looked terrifyingly hideous in the gradually dimming light.
“Merman!” The boy in front of Nicholas shrieked, his voice sounding somewhat distorted.
Zheng Qing suddenly understood.
This was a merman!
Thomas had once helped him borrow a wizarding world encyclopedia from the University Library. Zheng Qing remembered that the book contained a clear and complete classification of the intelligent creatures in the Wizarding World.
Among them, aquatic intelligent creatures, as one of the three original intelligent species, were given a dedicated chapter in the Encyclopedia.
Merfolk, Sirens, and sea demons were the three races with the most complete social structures among aquatic intelligent creatures.
Sea demons, also called Sirens, had beautiful singing voices and were skilled in illusion magic. Their forms were a mystery to many Wizards, but it was certain that they all had beautiful wings.
Merfolk were also called mermaids. As the name suggested, they were beautiful creatures. They wore light veils, had fish tails and human faces, and enjoyed playing in clear water.
Only merfolk were completely different from the other two major races.
Merfolk were also called Naga. They were ugly in appearance, brutal in nature, lacked intelligence, and were not skilled in magic, but they possessed immense strength. These creatures lived in murky, stagnant water, raised water ghosts as livestock, and enjoyed eating human flesh.
In the war between Wizards and demons, merfolk served as vassals of the demons and fought against the Wizard army multiple times. Therefore, during the Second Wizard-Demon War over a hundred years ago, this race was almost on the verge of extinction.
Now, only a few hundred weak merfolk remained in a few designated reserves by the Wizard Alliance.
The merman before them was a member of the Linzhong Lake reserve.
This was Zheng Qing's first time seeing a live merman.
He clutched the grey cloth bag, his eyes shining and his breathing rapid.
He really wanted to observe it up close.
“Get back!” Nicholas raised his spell book, vigilantly shielding the freshmen behind him.
His spell book trembled slightly, and sparks intensely shot out from between its pages, making crackling sounds.
Xiao Xiao dragged Zheng Qing to move under the plane tree nearby.
Zheng Qing looked at him in confusion.
“I don't want to get punched by a merman, but I also don't want to be blown up by an out-of-control spell book,” Xiao Xiao whispered to him, his lips moving.
Zheng Qing watched Nicholas's spell book with trepidation.
He seemed to smell a scorching odor.
“What are they doing!” a short girl behind Nicholas cried out in alarm.
Zheng Qing turned his head.
The merman was pulling a cloth strap, dragging it forcefully underwater.
The other end of the cloth strap was a girl's schoolbag.
“Hiss… My… hiss… it’s mine!” the merman hissed in broken language.
The girl seemed to be scared stiff, simply clutching her schoolbag tightly in her arms, letting the merman slowly drag her into the water. A Cobra was coiled around her neck, raising its head, flicking its tongue, and hissing back at the merman.
“Hiss… fell into… hiss… the Lake… hiss… mine!” the merman glared viciously at the girl.
Its arm muscles bulged, effortlessly winding the cloth strap little by little around its arm.
“Hiss hiss…” The Cobra couldn't speak, only hissed continuously. Its young owner had already collapsed to the ground, allowing the merman to drag her forward.
“Hiss!” Zheng Qing also gasped, taking a cold breath.
He turned to Xiao Xiao and asked in an uncertain tone, “That girl?”
“Liu Feifei, also a freshman in Nine Provinces Astronomy 08-1 Class, and that Cobra is named Little Dragon,” Xiao Xiao sighed.
“Quick, help!” Zheng Qing shouted, pulling Xiao Xiao and rushing forward.
Several students around them swarmed forward, grabbing the girl who was sliding towards the Lake's Shore with all hands, while shouting loudly to intimidate the ferocious-looking merman.
The merman, holding the cloth strap, stared with dull eyes, unhurriedly retreating step by step into the Lake.
The group of freshmen being dragged by the cloth strap stumbled and swayed like balls.
“Dew Soaked Path!” Nicholas finally opened his spell book and roared.
His spell book no longer shot out sparks.
Four runic characters shot out from the pages, flying quickly towards the water surface.
Zheng Qing was dumbfounded, stumbling and nearly falling to the ground.
He recognized all of these runic characters.
He also roughly guessed the effect of the Spell they formed: probably to make the path wet with dew.
Nicholas might have wanted to make the sturdy merman slip.
Undeniably, this was a very creative idea.
But why didn't he try to cut the cloth strap!
A small knife would be more effective than this grand Spell! Zheng Qing roared in his heart.
The Spell fell into the Lake, the water surface violently churned, and thick mist rose.
The four runic characters, enveloped in mist, surged onto the embankment, spreading out and quickly submerging half of the merman's body.
The merman's dull eyes rolled, and it grinned, laughing happily.
As an aquatic intelligent life form, it greatly disliked the terrestrial environment. After only a few minutes on the Shore, its throat was already dry, and every breath felt like a burning sensation.
This mist came just in time!
It stopped, bent down, buried its head in the thick mist, and took a few deep breaths.
A cool sensation spread, and it felt its entire body filled with strength again.
It flexed its muscles, stood up, grinned, and showed its sharp teeth to the ignorant freshmen.
The mist churned, rapidly contracted, settled, and turned into drops of dew, falling to the ground.
The ground around the Lake was paved with huge stone slabs.
When the dew drops fell on them, the stone slabs immediately became wet and slippery.
The merman was very accustomed to this slippery environment.
It moved its sturdy short legs, its large webbed feet slapping on the stone slabs, making squelching sounds. The tiny barbs on its feet tightly gripped the slippery ground, allowing it to walk effortlessly step by step into the Lake.
The students, however, were very unaccustomed to this sudden change.
Zheng Qing was still wearing the sneakers he brought from home. The rubber soles rubbed against the slippery stone slabs, emitting a grating, teeth-grinding noise. What was even more frustrating was that the freshmen simply couldn't stand steadily on the slippery stone slabs.
The girls watching from nearby shrieked.
Nicholas seemed to be frantically swatting at his burning spell book nearby.
A bitter smile appeared on Zheng Qing's lips.
His wish from a minute ago was about to come true.
He would soon be able to observe the merman up close.
No one let go.
The cloth strap slowly stretched forward, and their distance from the merman grew shorter and shorter.