My Summons Are Mythical Beasts

"Bugs?"

"Yes. My garden has been infested by bugs during the past few days; your mission is to search and exterminate them."

"I have already posted this to the mission hall, but no one has accepted it yet, probably because they are grossed out by the bugs." As she said so, she swiped the screen on her phone and showed the mission to Lucas.

[Mission Name: Bug Eradication Task

Mission Description: Search and exterminate the Vinecrawler caterpillars that have infested a teacher's magical garden. The pests, Vinecrawler caterpillars that feed on magical plants' leaves, must be eliminated. The task is to locate and kill each caterpillar before it evolves and transforms into a Greenthorn Locust.

Mission Type: Hunting

Difficulty: Easy-Medium(Depend on how many Vinecrawler caterpillars you can spot)

Reward: 1 Starlight Coin per caterpillar eradicated

Time Limit: No limit (can be repeated multiple times until all the Vinecrawler caterpillars are already eliminated)

Mission Location: Faculty Building (report to Ethan Silverwind for more details)]

Looking over the mission details, Lucas could finally understand why most students did not want to do such a mission.

First, just like the beast cage cleaning mission, this one also pays according to the quantity of work and not by the hours you've spent on the work. And second, like the beast cage cleaning mission, most students would also think that this mission was disgusting and unhygienic.

"The reward you see there is just the normal rate. But since you need the Starlight Coins, I will make it as 2 Starlight Coins for each Vinecrawler Caterpillar you exterminate; that way, you can easily save up for the dungeon fee as long as you work hard enough."

Teacher Christie retrieved her phone and allowed Lucas to decide.

"For someone like you, every hour and second wasted in doing missions for the dungeon fee is also every hour and second wasted from earning experience points, right?" She said softly.

Lucas nodded his head and pondered over Teacher Christie's words; it seemed that she already knew of his current circumstances.

As for how she knew that he was in need of Starlight Coins for the dungeon fee, it should be Ethan who told her about it. Lucas had talked with Ethan about this after all.

Recalling the bottom part of the mission where it said that he must look for Ethan Silverwind, Lucas made a bold guess that it was also him who tried to recommend him to this mission.

As for the Vinecrawler Caterpillars, Lucas had read a thread about them before.

They were just unranked-grade beasts and had no star rank. They do not have any combat ability, but they have one skill that allows them to camouflage perfectly to their surroundings, making them hard to spot and locate.

From what he knows, the Vinecrawler caterpillars feed on the leaves of magical plants. Upon satiation, they would immediately encase themselves with a cocoon and then evolve into a Greenthorn Locust, which would then propagate to spread more Vinecrawler caterpillars in the area, making them a headache for magical garden owners.

After pondering over the mission details, Lucas thought that it was not that difficult and was much better compared to the beast cage cleaning mission he did before.

Like what Teacher Christie had said, he truly needed such a mission right now. One where he could easily amass Starlight Coins for the dungeon fee.

Teacher Christie was even giving him more help by doubling the payment for him.

In fact, this felt too good to be true and even made him wonder if this mature beauty actually had a crush on him.

In any case, since there was nothing to lose, Lucas no longer hesitated and finally nodded his head and accepted the mission.

Teacher Christie was visibly elated after hearing his nod that she even clapped her hands together.

"Let's consider this a private transaction. I need to pay some fee if I use the mission hall anyway; it's better if I gave the Starlight Coins to you directly instead."

Since the Starlight Coins were the internal currency of the Starlight Academy, transactions like this were alright. Even some students also trade with each other; how much more if it was a teacher?

Lucas nodded his head; it doesn't matter to him anyway. As long as the payment was there, that was all that matters.

"It's settled then. Ethan, can you lead Lucas to the garden and brief him on what he should do?"

Ethan nodded his head and called for Lucas to follow him.

Lucas bowed gratefully to the mature beauty before he followed behind Lucas.

The Starlight Academy was a big place.

After walking for a while, Ethan finally led Lucas to a spacious garden enclosed within a wide white net.

"I know what you're thinking," Ethan suddenly said, prompting Lucas to turn his head toward the senior.

"You must be thinking that Teacher Christie has a crush on you, right?" Ethan said with a chuckle.

Lucas almost choked on his own saliva after hearing his words. He scratched his chin awkwardly, as he indeed thought so earlier.

"Hah, don't flatter yourself, young man," Ethan stated.

Although his tone did not change, Lucas could somehow feel that this senior had turned hostile.

"Teacher Christie is just that way. She just likes to help the less talented students. Like you, I also received a lot of her help back then. Not only us, there are also a lot of others that had once received her help," Ethan continued, a hint of reverence and appreciation contained in his voice.

Ehemm!

Ethan cleared his throat before he continued, "And just like you, we all thought that Teacher Christie had a crush on us as well. After all, how could someone offer some help so casually, right?"

"She's basically an angel sent from heaven to help untalented poor souls like us, right?"

Hearing his words, Lucas could get where he was coming from.

Being helped during times of need, one would truly feel deep appreciation toward the helper, just like what Lucas was feeling right now.

But as a bronze-grade Grimoire user, how does this senior of his have the nerve to say that he was untalented?

Lucas wanted to refute the senior's contradictory words but decided against it a moment later.

"Anyway, don't think too much about it. All you need to know is that unfortunate souls like us should be grateful that she's here."

"Come inside," Ethan said as he opened the door to the garden enclosed with the white net.

Upon coming in, the green and huge leaves of a plant immediately attracted his attention.

"Those are the Soulshade leaves, a magical plant. Be careful not to damage any of them; Teacher Christie had personally planted and cared for each of them." Ethan introduced the plant to him.

Lucas nodded his head and asked, "Senior, what is the use of this Soulshade Leaf?"

It was a known fact that each magical plant has its own sets of uses and effects.

Wilderness survival was part of their subjects in the academy. Part of the lesson was for them to recognize plants and differentiate if any of them were edible or poisonous, especially magical plants that can take the form of almost anything.

This was not the first time that Lucas had seen a magical plant, but this was the first time that he had heard of this one called Soulshade Leaf.

"I don't know the details myself. But I once asked Teacher Christie, and she only said that it's about nourishing the soul or something," Ethan answered.

"Anyway, while inside, make sure not to summon your beast, lest it damage the Soulshade Leaf. They are fragile and very expensive after all. And don't even think about stealing any either. Don't even think about wasting this opportunity that Teacher Christie had given to you," he warned with a stern tone.

Lucas nodded his head. He was not foolish enough to steal something like this. He had no use for it, and he guessed that this place was heavily monitored as well.

In any case, he should just do honest work, and he would be honestly rewarded.

"Good." Ethan then went over to one corner to fetch a small basket and a black knife and handed it over to Lucas.

"Since this is your first mission to catch and hunt the Vinecrawler Caterpillar, I'll demonstrate how to spot and kill them for you here. Watch carefully!"