High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 267: Chapter 191 Sand Hour and Lazy Bugs_1

Kill Time, also known as Sand Hour or Sandstone.

Magical Creatures, Magical Animal Door, Insect Class, Diptera, Phagotrophic, Hyper-dimensional, Kill Time Insects.

This is a semi-transparent magic beetle about the size of a grain of rice that feeds on the ’time’ of other creatures, especially those of wizards or other magical creatures rich in magic power.

A creature targeted by it will be robbed of most of its time in a very short period, dying of old age, which is why these insects are called ’Kill Time’ by wizards, implying ’killing time’.

In places where this magical insect nests, the ’time’ within the entire area will be ’drained’.

At first, the animals on this land will die of old age, followed by plants, microorganisms, even bacteria and viruses. When the time of all creatures is taken away, it will turn to non-living things.

Rivers dry up, stones erode, until finally, besides sand, not even slightly larger pebbles can be found in the whole area.

Desertification caused by these magical creatures is why they are duly termed ’Sandstones’ by the wizards.

Because the terms ’Kill Time’ or ’Sandstone’ are not so graceful, these insects are also called ’Sand Hour’ in some of the older magic practitioners’ manuscripts.

Sand Hour is a kind of gregarious creature.

Most sand hour societies are composed of one mother sand hour and hundreds or even thousands of ordinary sand hours; under certain extreme conditions, two or even three mother sand hours will be born in a sand hour group to maintain the survival of the whole tribe.

The mother sand hour, when compared with ordinary sand hours, could be described as terrifying. In almost all magical writings, descriptions of the mother sand hour are similar: ’the size of a fist’, ’bulky and heavy’, ’wingless but moves swiftly’.

The mother sand hour is responsible for egg-laying reproduction and at the same time maintaining the stability of the sand hour nest - as a magical creature that feeds on ’time’, any form of nest is inevitably at risk of collapsing. Only the mother sand hour can maintain the relative balance of the nest’s time.

The ordinary sand hours are tasked with collecting ’time’.

As a ’pseudo ultra-dimensional’ creature, sand hours are like the bugs clinging to the timeline, nibbling the timeline bite by bite, swallowing it into their stomachs, and turning it into the nutrients for their survival.

No one can understand how time is materialized into a mysterious ’sand hour pulp’ in the bellies of these little bugs, just like no wizard can fully understand how sand hours disconnect the timelines of creatures from the three-dimensional space.

Although sand hours have a pair of thin wings, they do not fly.

These wings seem more like their utensils and plates when they feed.

When a sand hour hangs on a person’s earlobe, a paralyzing toxin is secreted and injected into the host’s bloodstream through its sharp mouthparts. Then it vibrates its wings and makes a pleasing buzz.

When their wings vibrate, they emit a special kind of sonic wave that hypnotizes their prey - of course, some wizards suspect that the wing vibrations of sand hours can separate prey from three-dimensional space, making it easier for them to extract the timeline.

Anyway, the paralyzing toxin secreted by these little bugs suppressing some functions of the human brain.

Wizards will simply feel bored, depressed, numb, weak - such relatively negative emotions.

Then time will quickly slip away amidst these emotions.

Wizards hunted by sand hours don’t show symptoms of illness or fluctuations in magic power. They just grow accustomed to being stupefied, doodling nonsensically in their notebooks, and deriving pleasure from watching a little bug fly around.

Some wizards who are allergic to the secretions of sand hours may experience symptoms such as drowsiness and heavy, dry eyelids.

Of course, some wizards fall asleep during the hunt of sand hours - this helps the sand hours in a great way. These little bugs can safely extract the timelines from their prey without the trouble of flapping their wings or secreting large amounts of paralyzing toxins.

”The most precious wealth of humans is time, and Kill Time, makes your time slip away as if without noticing it.”

An old wizard with a gray pallor and lean figure surmises with a soft voice: ”Many hosts of Kill Time beetles are not aware they are being parasitized - they just feel they have wasted some time.”

This elderly wizard is named Drage Barton, from the Magic Creatures Research Institute of the First University. He was specially invited by the staff committee to train the patrol students on how to capture sand hour.

The crowd by the lake squeezed together, making the already somewhat dull atmosphere even hotter.

But everyone stood quietly on the lawn, not daring to make a sound.

Facing the legendary magical creatures, everyone was vigilant, fearing they might miss a single word from the old professor.

Zheng Qing touched his earlobe anxiously, twisting it, always feeling that the reason he couldn’t concentrate on his homework lately was because of these little bugs.

According to the professor’s previous explanation, Sand Hours preferred to attach themselves behind the ears of wizards.

”Perhaps you consider these cute little creatures as ’culprits’,” Professor Dorag slightly raised his voice, sounding somewhat unsettled: ”But you should note, they have not harmed any wizard... not a single one!”

”This is the First University,” a voice chuckled softly behind Zheng Qing: ”Perhaps the Sand Hour Queen knows the consequences of hurting wizards.”

Perhaps this mocking voice was too soft and the Professor Dorag’s lecture wasn’t disrupted.

”These magical insects survive by transcending the time of other beings,” the old professor emphasized: ”In this process, a great many, indeed, numerous precious derivatives are produced.”

”For instance, the paralyzing toxin secreted by Sand Hour is a superb inert additive. It can contribute to a steady effect in radical biological experiments.”

”Also, lazy bugs are a natural stimulant. Without any particular preparation, whether consumed raw, steamed, stir-fried, stewed, used in hot pot, smoked.... in any acceptable way, they allow one to maintain abundant energy and enhance focus during activities for a certain period.”

This statement entrenched in irony was truly splendid.

Zheng Qing couldn’t help but laugh.

Lazy bugs are Sand Hour larvae.

Even though Sand Hour Queens lay the eggs, they do not nurture them.

Once the larvae inside the eggs break the envelope, they need to fend for themselves.

Adult Sand Hours will leave these lazy bugs on other organisms - they prefer to place them in the corners of a wizard’s eyes or behind their ears.

These lazy bugs hide within the creases near a wizard’s eyes or the dense hair behind their ears, occasionally careful not to overconsume the wizard’s timeline, until they mature.

Unlike when being prey to Sand Hours, wizards parasitized by lazy bugs do not often blank out or wander without reason.

They mostly appear lackadaisical and listless in daily life.

If the professor hadn’t pointed it out, who could have foreseen that the culprit causing the wizards’ low spirits is, in fact, a reviving tonic?

Pondering this, Zheng Qing couldn’t help but respect the wizard who first cooked a lazy bug from the bottom of his heart.

”And the most precious gift!” Professor Dorag, still in the crowd, stressed.

”The ’Royal Jelly of the Sand Hour Queen’,” an excited and even slightly distorted expression appeared on the old professor’s face, his jugular veins bulging out: ”This is a very mild life-elongation medicine, requiring no extra additives!”

”It doesn’t require complex and profound magic processing to form like the Philosopher’s Stone; nor does it require a high-level wizard to be the main caster like the Inlaid Star Resurrection Seven Days Array, and suffer from divine punishment, and catastrophe.”

”All it requires is to be lightly heated with dew in a potion cup, and taken while warm to gently extend life.”

”Can there be any gift more precious than this?”

The crowd erupted.

Surely, these young wizards didn’t worry about their lifespan running out.

But who didn’t have elderly relatives or connections?

Even if truly alone, the Royal Jelly could be traded for jade coins or even academic credit.

No one could resist such a deal.

Everyone was avidly discussing disposal plans after finding Sand Hours, envisioning handfuls of jade coins, loads of experimental materials, treasures, beauties, academic credits.

Zheng Qing was the only one standing stunned.

He thought of the group of revived little elves in his dorm.

He finally realized where the intense sense of déjà vu had been coming from since the beginning.

During the first week of school, his Magic Potion class teacher, Li QiHuang, had mentioned these little bugs to him.