Science/Magic

The group advanced gradually in the forest. Blood Wolf walked ahead, scouting the path and searching for signs of the lightning cat.

Bloed and the girls were at the back of the group.

After Liu Ying's attack, the atmosphere of the party had been tense. Blood Wolf's men were constantly shooting menacing looks to Bloed and the girls. Erika was doing the same, but with worried looks instead of menacing ones.

At that moment, Gerald approached Bloed and the girls.

"… Bloed, miss Liu Ying, miss Regina, sorry for the trouble Harold's men caused. It was my fault. Next time, I'll make sure of contracting a better party. I hope this incident doesn't affect our friendship."

Bloed snorted in disdain inwardly facing this fake apology, but he did not show anything in his face. Instead, he smiled and shook his head.

"Don't worry, I know it's not your fault, young master Gerald. Besides, we don't care much about it, for us, they are not more than a joke."

Gerald frowned. For an instant, he felt as though something was wrong, but he could not put a finger on it. In the end, he blamed it on his imagination.

After Gerald returned to Erika and Sara's side, Liu Ying snorted in disdain.

"Bah, hypocrite. I don't understand why you still tolerate him."

"I explained to you the reason last night, Liu Ying." Bloed said with a shrug. "I need to know the reason behind this situation."

"You are right, but I truly want to kill him. I hate backstabbing bastards like him the most. People like him were the ones that killed my family."

"… It's not so easy." Bloed said with a bitter smile. He could understand Liu Ying's feelings. When you trust someone completely, but that person betrays you, it's the worst feeling.

... Such as when his family exiled him.

But he knew he could not simply kill the son of a city lord. Not only because if he died now, Bloed would be the most likely suspect, but also due to the consequences of it.

Bloed did not fear the city lord in the slightest, but he did not want to be wanted for the kingdom his family ruled just after he exited the exiled lands.

No matter how he thought about it, that was not a good idea.

Even if he changed his hair, eyes, and grew a bit after the years in the exiled lands, if he is wanted for the kingdom, it will be just a matter of time before he gets recognized.

Thus, even if Bloed ends killing Gerald or the city lord, he must do it without leaving behind any clue.

The group walked for a while. From time on time, they were attacked by beasts, but the strongest was just at the C-Rank, and the group killed it easily.

Gerald looked at the beast that Bloed just bisected and whistled.

"One-hit kill, again. You seem like someone used to hunt beasts, Bloed."

"I am." Bloed said. "I have killed many more beasts than you think."

Gerald nodded. He then looked at Bloed saber with a curious light.

"Your saber is a magic weapon, right? Does it has a sharpness enchantment?"

"Something like that." Bloed replied without caring too much. Gerald saw it and narrowed his eyes deep in thoughts.

After almost half an hour walking, one of Harold's men stopped in his tracks. One second later, he raised a hand.

Understanding the signal, the entire group stopped and fell silent. The man actin as scout closed his eyes and concentrated in the sounds on the surroundings.

Almost three seconds later, he opened his eyes with a grave look.

"It's here! Protect miss Erika!"

Almost instantly, a shadow jumped from the trees!

The shadow moved incredibly quickly. One second, it was in the branch of a tree, and in the next second, it was in front of the weakest member of the group, Erika.

But before it could touch her, a dagger suddenly appeared in front of its eyes.

It was Sara!

At some point, she had disappeared from the group's perception, only to reappear when her dagger was to stab the cat.

The lightning cat's fur stood up. Its black eyes shone with a surprised glow and its body tensed up.

Facing the unavoidable attack, lightning surged out of its body, engulfing it completely.

The next instant, its body accelerated suddenly, bypassing Sara's dagger and raising its claw to kill Erika.

But–

*Bam!*

A barrier appeared suddenly, stopping its attack.

Erika turned pale. Despite the barrier on her necklace activating, the fact that the lightning cat managed to reach her frightened the young girl.

"Damn beast!"

Gerald's expression turned ugly. He raised his sword and slashed towards the cat, but the cat just jumped slightly, evading the blow.

Then, it looked at Gerald with a mocking look.

Gerald's expression darkened. He looked at Harold and bellowed.

"Harold, what in the hell are you doing!?"

"Sorry, young master." Harold apologized in a hurry and stood in front of Erika. At the same time, his three subordinates surrounded the cat, blocking its escape routes.

The cat just narrowed its eyes. It looked at the group with a mocking-like expression.

Bloed observed the beast carefully. The lightning cat was not big, around Tito's size, but its body exuded powerful waves of energy. It had lightning-like patterns on its back fur, and its eyes showed wisdom seldomly seen in animals.

Just with a look, Bloed knew it was one of the strongest beasts in the B-Rank. Moreover, as a beast focused on speed, it could easily escape even if it could not win.

But Harold had come prepared to hunt this beast.

"Donald, do it!" Harold shouted.

"I know, boss!" One of the men nodded and sent mana into a magic crystal on his waist.

Instantly, the spell engraved on the stone was activated.

With a swoosh, a mana barrier was activated, surrounded the lightning cat together with the group.

"Nice!" Harold smiled. He then looked at the cat with scornful eyes.

The cat noticed that something was wrong. It immediately charged towards the barrier, trying to escape, but–

*Bam!*

The barrier just shook briefly, stopping the cat's escape.

"Stupid beast, it's a restriction barrier. Even a B-Rank needs a bit of effort to break it. And do you think we will give you that time? Arnold!"

Arnold, the weakest man of the party and a C-Rank practitioner, smirked. He aimed the bow on his hand towards the cat and shot an arrow!

*Woosh!*

*Meow!*

The cat evaded the arrow and looked at Arnold angrily. It then rushed towards him, but Harold appeared in front of it and raised his shield!

*Clang!*

The shield and the claw clashed. But in the end, the shield won. In the end, the cat was a speed-focused beast, so its strength could not compare to the B-Rank shieldwarrior.

*Meow!*

The cat cried in rage. It moved its body around the four men, trying to attack them, but the men cooperated flawlessly, attacking the cat without rushing and slowly tiring it out.

After almost two minutes, the cat started to panic.

His attacks became wilder and wilder, but at the same time, they became less effective.

After a while, the cat was injured for the first time.

It was just a scratch caused by an arrow, but it was followed by another wound, and another, and another.

In despair, the cat tried to find a way to escape. Unfortunately, the barrier stopped it from running away.

When the lightning cat realized it was going to die, its eyes turned red. It then looked at the group hunting it with hatred in its eyes.

If it was going to die, it was going to bring some of its enemies with it!

So, when it saw a gap in the four men's formation, it did not hesitate to rush through it.

Straight towards Bloed and girls!

A shrewd light flashed through Harold's eyes. He looked back towards Bloed and smirked.

In an instant, the cat had appeared in front of Bloed and the others!

...

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