9

Ray didn't run often, but when he did, he gave it his all. His legs were pumping, and his arms swung in a hypnotizing motion. Every muscle fiber was recruited to its utmost capacity to propel his body forward.

With a potential necromancer on his ass, Ray paid no attention to his surroundings. Let any nearby monster be damned—nothing was stopping him from escaping the forest.

"ROAR"

He heard the sound of an enraged monster in the distance, but he paid it no further attention. With his enhanced soul, he had finer control over his body, so he could utilize its maximum potential. Using his experience from his past life, he could outrun similar-level beasts despite having a weaker body.

Sure enough, the monster's howls quickly faded into the distance. The edge of the forest was also getting close when Ray realized that something was following him.

Ray could hear the sharp noise of branches cracking and leaves crunching behind him. The pattern was irregular, so he knew it wasn't his own.

Ray took a quick peek behind him, which confirmed his suspicions. A large zombie wolf was chasing him down with a bloodthirsty look on its face. One of its eyeballs hung loose, and its skin was close to falling off. However, this only proved to increase its ferocious aura.

Ray had a feeling that if he fought the wolf, he would die within seconds. Its decaying body couldn't hide the sharp power coming from its claws.

'It's getting closer!'

With every passing second, Ray could feel the wolf closing the distance. His stamina was also starting to fade since his body was untrained.

Tension was high, but the forest's border enforced Ray's spirit. Most of the forest was dense enough that the sun couldn't pierce its leaves, so the border was like the light at the end of a tunnel.

A few seconds later, Ray's figure came bursting out of the forest. His face looked strained, and his breathing was heavy. He knew he couldn't go much longer, but his goal was within sight.

The horse that he had arrived on was strapped to a tree a few hundred feet away. Fortunately, it didn't escape from Ray's entrapment while he was hunting Blood Rabbits. It was peacefully grazing on grass, unaware of a zombie sprinting in its direction.

It wasn't just one wolf that was chasing Ray. Once he looked back to check the wolf's location, he realized there was an entire pack of zombie wolves emerging from the forest. The sight almost made him startle, but he caught his breath and continued sprinting.

The closest wolf, which also seemed to be the leader, was less than 10 feet behind him. There was still a distance between him and the horse, so Ray knew he had to do something about it. Otherwise, it would either catch up before he reached the horse or catch up while he mantled the horse. Either way, he needed to slow it down for at least a moment.

Because his soul force was only 2, his mana recovery was similarly slow. His remaining mana could only cast one more spell, so he couldn't mess it up.

He carefully positioned the Wind Blade so that it distracted the wolf for the longest time. The strain on his soul was nearing its limits as he cast a spell while maintaining adequate focus on running. Luckily, casting a spell doesn't take long, so the mental burden was short-lived.

The wind blade spawned horizontally, then rushed toward the wolf's throat. The wolf knew it couldn't run through it, so it was forced to change directions.

It was a small interaction, but it bought enough time for Ray to get on the horse. The horse was already panicked, so it had no qualms about moving once Ray climbed on top of it.

Ray breathed a sigh of relief, then wiped the sweat off his forehead. He watched the wolf pack try to catch up, but run out of stamina and fade into the distance.

'Close… that was close.'

If the necromancer was any stronger, they could have strengthened the wolves and killed Ray. Fortunately, the necromancer was weak, so he had a chance at outrunning the zombies. He also managed to escape without injury, which was rare in higher-ranked battles.

Ray was deep in thought the entire ride back to school. What was the underlying meaning behind the necromancer's appearance? Should he worry about it or continue as if nothing happened? These questions weren't easy to answer.

If he were strong, he would have killed the undead; if he were strong, he could have fled the school without issue. It was only because he was weak that every choice was a gamble.

'Now, the main problem is contribution points.'

If he had the contribution points, he could be a couch potato and meditate the whole day. His meditation technique was good enough that he only needed a meditation room to reach the peak of rank-3 apprentice. Of course, breaking through to Official Magus was a bit more complex, but the soul force requirement could be met with a simple meditation room. Even without the consumption of external resources, Ray could comfortably break through with plenty of lifespan to spare.

A few hours later, Ray was only a mile away from the school. Unexpectedly, he saw two teenage boys hiding behind a bush.

Initially, he thought they were clueless bandits who stumbled too close to a Wizarding School. However, after getting closer to them, he realized they were both rank-1 apprentices.

Ray frowned, since he knew the two apprentices should have sensed him by now.

'Mage bandits?' Ray thought to himself.

You didn't see magi resorting to robbery around schools since they were usually heavily punished. However, seeing the desolate state of this area, Ray wouldn't be surprised if it was common practice here.