“It might be a beast.”
Ed said gravely.
“It doesn’t feel like an ordinary cat to me.”
He stared fixedly at that beast, without any hesitation, directly beginning to chant the spell.
“(Incantation) Frenzied Wind…”
“Wait, Ed…”
The girl seemed to feel something was off, but before she could finish, that pitch-black “cat” had already pounced fiercely at the boy!
“…(Incantation) Wind Enchantment!”
The wind flow quickly adhered to the sword blade, slashing fiercely toward the direction of the incoming beast!
But the imagined scenario of the beast being cleaved in two did not occur.
It agilely turned in mid-air, and after landing, its four paws pushed off again, pouncing from another angle!
At this point, although the girl still felt this beast gave her a strange feeling, she had no choice.
“Flame!”
With a crisp low shout, the originally dim flame at the girl’s fingertip suddenly expanded, turning into a scorching fireball that thoroughly illuminated the entire passage!
“Bailis, don’t attack yet! Get behind me!”
The girl hesitated for less than half a second, seeing the seriousness in Ed’s eyes, and nodded while gritting her teeth.
“Okay!”
Ed swung again to force the beast back, and quickly instructed the girl who had run behind him:
“Listen, its movements are fast, your flames are too slow, it’s hard to hit directly—damn!”
Ed suddenly looked up, the beast flew over his head, landing behind the two.
He pulled the girl back behind him with one hand, his mouth not stopping:
“But I need your light, so you just provide illumination for me, no need for you to act, got it?”
“Got it!”
The girl nodded heavily.
Ed felt relieved and looked back at the cat-like beast.
“Hiss-roar—”
For some reason, the beast seemed very angry, continuously emitting low growls from its mouth, its green vertical pupils flashing with fierce light.
Was it because they intruded into its territory?
It wasn’t impossible.
From what he knew, many beasts had strong territorial instincts; once someone trespassed into their domain, they would basically be hunted down until the intruder completely left or died.
But in their current situation, it was impossible to leave immediately.
So the remaining choice was clear.
Ed suddenly swung his sword, a sharp giant wind blade forming in the blink of an eye, detaching from the sword and chopping toward the beast’s head at extreme speed!
The cat-like beast hissed and arched its body, suddenly leaping up, dodging this strike with a twisted posture unimaginable for humans.
But Ed’s attacks didn’t stop there.
He seized the opportunity, stepping forward, sweeping the sword from bottom to top, the whipped-up gale blowing the mid-air beast off balance, nearly crashing directly into the wall.
The girl watched from behind with extreme tension.
Would Ed win?
What if he got injured?
Or thinking worse…
No, no, no.
The girl shook her head.
How could she think like that?
She should have confidence in her companion!
But…
Watching the boy in close combat with the beast, she pursed her lips, suddenly feeling a faint awkwardness surging in her heart.
She wanted to help too.
But Ed asked her to provide light, so she could only silently maintain the fire magic in her hand.
Ed said that with her flame speed, it was hard to hit that cat.
But what if it was wind magic?
It should be useful in this situation too, right?
Using two different elemental series of magic at the same time—this idea had appeared in Bailis’s mind before, but ideals are beautiful, reality often not so wonderful—she had tried using wind and fire magic simultaneously, resulting in both magics fizzling out.
From then on, Bailis never tried again.
If she could learn it, she probably wouldn’t have to just stand behind him now, being the protected one.
She couldn’t help but yearn for the image of the two fighting side by side.
But at that moment, a twist suddenly occurred in the fight between the human and the beast.
Seeing that another attack was about to miss, Ed twisted his wrist, turning to use the flat of the sword to smack the beast flying into the wall.
It let out a miserable cry, struggled to its feet, but didn’t howl and charge at Ed again; instead, it turned its head, looking toward the girl.
“Bailis! Watch out!”
“Ah… ah?”
The girl suddenly snapped awake, and what entered her eyes was the cat-shaped beast dashing toward her.
It opened its mouth wide, seeming ready to leap at any moment and bite through her throat.
“Get away from her!”
A roar mixed with anger suddenly exploded, as the boy stepped forward in an arrow step, kicking the beast flying in mid-air!
“Are you okay?”
Ed turned back somewhat tensely, showing no trace of the earlier anger.
“No… I’m fine.”
Only now did Bailis realize what had just happened, her whole body seeming to break out in cold sweat.
If Ed had been a bit later, she might have…
“Good that you’re fine.”
The boy sighed in relief and looked back at the beast.
At this time, the beast seemed enraged to the extreme, silently hissing, its fur standing on end all over, faintly, as if electric light was swimming on it.
A lightning-affinity beast?!
Ed was startled inwardly.
He had seen in a beast compendium that a very few beasts had innate elemental affinities; unlike ordinary beasts, they could control their internal mana to release some magic, with power usually not to be underestimated.
But!
Who wrote that they were extremely rare?
He encountered one just like that?
Ed wanted to curse the author of that book a hundred times in his heart.
Seeing the lightning growing stronger, chanting Wind Shield probably wouldn’t make it in time, so he could only increase his mana output, attempting to hard-block this forming lightning magic with the wind-enchanted sword blade.
At this moment, Ed could only be glad it wasn’t some light or dark magic, but lightning magic restrained by wind; otherwise, he really wouldn’t have confidence to block this attack of unknown power with his sword.
However, after accumulating like this for a few seconds, the lightning on the beast suddenly weakened.
What’s going on?
Ed was stunned.
Although strange, it didn’t prevent him from taking the opportunity to act.
The boy took three steps in two, reaching the beast in a few breaths, swinging his sword to chop.
The beast agilely retreated to dodge, glancing at him coldly with its green vertical pupils, then without lingering, it turned on its four legs and fled into the darkness.
The girl came running up.
“It ran away. Should we chase it?”
Ed looked at the pitch-black endless path, shaking his head with a grave expression.
“No, we don’t chase.”
“I still have enough mana; I can continue to light for you, Ed.”
“It’s not about lighting.”
He sheathed his sword.
“If we chase further, we become the passive side, very likely to be ambushed by that beast from the dark.”
“Then what should we do?”
The girl asked worriedly.
“Rest well, recover stamina, mana, and magic power, and next time—”
A ruthless light flashed in the boy’s eyes.
“Deal with it directly.”
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