“Go! Let’s subjugate them!”
While she shouted the signal, Nisha broke through the thicket and drew all attention to herself. Usually, such a showy approach did not fit well with her stealthy hunter skills, but at the same time, a sleek golden shadow circled the surprised monsters who focused all their caution on the sudden intruder.
Unico did not remain idle either and led Lisa towards the open space on the right, almost dancing through the glade with graceful steps and plunging his ultramarine dagger deep into the fur of one sheep, drawing first blood.
The astonishment of the two creatures quickly turned into rage when a group of challengers invaded their area; the dried gore stuck to the horn of the ram paid witness to the struggle they had to go through to claim this space as their own.
This also influenced Nisha’s choice to take on the slightly stronger male as her own opponent; whether her opponent was at the peak of the first aura rank or only at the high boundary made no difference to the dragon. Compared to her own strength, at the middle of the third aura and mana rank, Unico had barely broken through to the second rank, which put him in the domain of geniuses, while Lisa remained at the high first rank, same as the time of her enrolment into the [Royal Academy]. Therefore it was safer for her teammates to take on the high first-ranked [Stone Wooled Sheep].
Thankfully, their tacit understanding reached the point where Nisha succeeded in drawing the attention of the monster she chose, while the young man with the purple hue to his skin drew away the wounded adversary.
Comparing the dark glow of her spear with the slight blue enhancement of his daggers, the second-ranked ram brayed in anger as its companion moved away from it.
A simple command ran through the contract that bound Nisha and the golden scaled wolf as Accalia obeyed and broke into a sprint from her master’s side.
Between a beast and a monster on the same rank existed a wide gulf; not to mention that a sharp-eyed predator oversaw the situation as well.
Leaving golden swirls of mana wherever the beast stepped, Little Lia gave the ram, who threatened them with its horns, almost no time to react as she clawed at the characteristically dense and hard fur which gave the monster species its name.
Blood splashed, and four deep grooves opened in the sheep’s side, who still threateningly waved the grisly horns towards the two attackers.
The speed of a wind-attributed wolf left it no chance to react or retaliate when Little Lia abruptly made a turn and started to circle her prey.
At the moment the monster flinched from the pain, the elf saw her chance to act, and the slim muscles in her legs exploded with strength, carrying her forward before the [Stone Wooled Sheep] recovered from the gap in its defense and awareness.
Nothing else mattered at this moment; the dragon did not continue to ponder whether she should attempt to further strengthen her spear with an additional fire attributed infusion or where to aim her weapon.
She saw the bare neck of weakened prey before her and instinct consumed all other thoughts; the anticipation of hunting again after such a long time burned away all hesitation.
Drawing a dark arc through the air, the spear swept in a low angle, tearing through the muscles and tendons near the left front leg of her mark.
Compared to the shallow and rather harmless wound her beast had inflicted on the monster, Nisha succeeding in disabling the mobility of the ram.
Next, the momentum carrying forward exploded through the base of her feet, changing the drive into an explosion of force, carrying the dragon to approximately half the distance of her original position. Staring at the wounded monster, Nisha had a ferocious smirk on her face as the startled [Stone Wooled Sheep] reared in terror and agony, which forced it to withdraw to the side in an attempt to preserve its life.
Admiring the crimson dew on her previously thoroughly black spear, the dragon enjoyed the deep satisfaction bubbling inside her and allowed a respite to take place.
While Nisha displayed her absolute dominance, using her stronger cultivation base and intimate connection with her contracted beast to bully a mere second aura ranked monster, neither of her two teammates had the time to appreciate her domineering exhibition of fighting prowess.
Despite ending up with the easier opponent among the [Stone Wooled Sheep], it remained true that monsters and beasts held an advantage over humans of the same rank. Unico even exceeded the sheep by a single level and some, yet the sturdy defense it got its name from proved to be entirely justified. Unless he enhanced his dagger with the same aquamarine glow he used for his first strike, his blows barely nicked the grey fur obstructing him.
Only when the youth had good luck did his weapon, provided by the academy, break through the defenses of his opponent. Even then, the small line the dagger produced hardly wounded the monster. If he was to fight on his own, there was no way he would be able to subdue the [Stone Wooled Sheep] unless he figured out a way to land a fatal blow on its vitals.
Fortunately, Unico did not have to face the monster on his own; Lisa nervously supported him by blocking the charging rush, which more or less constituted the whole attack repertoire they faced, with her shield.
Compared to her rather girly physique, the usefulness of aura became apparent when the girl relied on a fiery enhancement skill to boost the defense of her shield.
With their cooperation, the desperate fight eased to the point where they both were sure to not suffer any injuries, even in a prolonged fight.
The best aspect had to be the recoil from the girl using her shield skill to singe the [Stone Wooled Sheep] whenever it ran into her, weakening the grey fur and reducing its defense, which added more minor injuries when Unico focused on the burned areas.
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Nevertheless, it required their full attention and constant cooperation to maintain the status quo. Even a slight lapse in concentration might result in one of them taking a full body blow from the monster and interchanging the advantage they had.
Since the three of them already exchanged several tens of rounds, with small incisions piling up on the hide of the [Stone Wooled Sheep], Unico, Lisa, and the monster fell into a routine of exchanging offense and defense. The wounded animal either charged at the agile youth who kept stinging it and tried to cripple him or attempted to stomp on Lisa, who did her best to block it with her skill, although her attacks lacked the strength to deal any real injuries; at most, they sapped a bit of vital energy through blunt impact from the sheep.
On the other side, the students aimed to wear the monster down with small injuries through combat and exhaust it to death. Unless the other fight finished first, they simply lacked a decisive attack to execute the [Stone Wooled Sheep].
At one point, the monster grew even more enraged, and its eyes turned slightly red when it heard its mate roar, wounded by the elf for the first time, and enter a berserk state, wanting nothing more than to tear apart the humans before it.
Due to the circumstances, the duo had to be even more careful when dealing with the sheep. During their exchanges, both Unico and Lisa were able to get a good look at their friend fighting the other monster several times and assumed she was in a similar situation as their own. Apart from the glaring wound in the front leg of her prey, several light scratches from her contracted wolf ravaged the grey fur. Unico spared more attention on her fight since he led the assault in their fight and imagined that either group should be able to tire one of their targets to death and join the others soon.
Even Lisa grew more confident when her shield block played a major role and had a look of determination on her face. If nothing went wrong, she would never retreat.
Differing from their imagination, Nisha continued to reign supreme in the confrontation. The first slash already infused the [Shadow Clad] skill into the wound, and the resulting roars and shrieks from the ram uncovered an interesting secret. By infusing the aura into the wound, the flesh around it corroded slightly and turned dark. Testing the limits of the unexpected result, the dragon summoned more aura and infused it along her arm, into the weapon, refilling the supply to the maximal extent every time she slashed the [Stone Wooled Sheep]. Interestingly enough, the ram comprehended its own technique as a second-ranked monster and was able to reinforce its hide for a short period; her hits did not draw blood every time.
Nonetheless, the infused skill infected the opponent with dark aura after each contact, which weakened its defense, similar to Lisa’s shield skill.
To make matters worse, Accalia followed her master’s command and attacked the same spots that turned dark, ripping through the grey fur and opening wound after wound during their exchanges.
Whether the ram was fortunate or unfortunate, the presence of team members limited the dragon to weapon skills and pure technique instead of fighting as she used to do in the dungeon to acquire food.
Compared to the time she resupplied her storage to not starve, Nisha currently had a single track mind and only focused on subduing her prey in the manner of a true hunter. The joy and bloodlust bordered on madness turned her into a literal beast, hidden beneath the skin of a delicate flower, bringing about a strong camouflage that even Unico interpreted as strong concentration and focus on wearing down her target.
In her heart, the elf howled continuous dragon roars and danced around the poor monster with the spear dancing in her hand. Overall, she certainly had enough power to smash the sheep into pieces and end its life in an instant, yet that would give away her true nature. Forcing her prey into a dead end, coordinating with her contracted beast to destroy all resistance, and driving the enemy to despair fueled her role as a hunter and brought about a game of life and death.
Little Lia might also have had enough strength to contend with the [Stone Wooled Sheep] head-on, given that a beast was more powerful than a regular monster; however, the nature of these beasts also played a role in their fighting styles. The wolf was fully content to comply with her master and employ stealth tactics, rushing in and out of the fight while relying on speed to dominate their target.
Especially the azure radiance that blossomed with each step and wind blades reinforcing each claw were results of wholeheartedly hunting on this excursion; the fortuitous contracted beast managed to manifest two abilities she had not comprehended during their training in the Dungeon.
A short time afterward, the ram grew tired through their exchanges, losing strength and limping on the injured leg. The already dark flesh around the injury began to show signs of rot, festering and draining even more vitality.
The challenge began to lose difficulty, and Nisha returned from her focused state of mind.
Thinking about the possibility of her team sustaining injuries in a prolonged fight became the last factor pushing her to finish her hunt.
Giving a mental command to Accalia, the dragon increased the vitality coursing through her limbs and summoned all the strength in her spear. Before, the spear had been a dazzling dark instrument of death, tormenting the [Stone Wooled Sheep] and draining its strength through the effect caused by its strikes; now the black glow spiraled around the whole length of the weapon.
Moving faster than before, the elf sprang into the gap her prey left when dodging the green claw strike of the wolf. Her spear coiled around the still healthy right front leg and almost completely severed the limb, leaving only a thin string of skin and muscle connecting it.
The cry became a prelude to its death cry, as Little Lia already waited for her opportunity and rebounded from the faint, sinking all of her sharp teeth in the unguarded neck before her.
Without the least bit of struggle, the roar died out with a strong shake from Accalia, which broke the ram’s neck.
Unfortunately, the death throes also alarmed the mate of the deceased monster, taking it from a berserk state into downright suicidal madness.
Ignoring the glowing daggers of the young man, the remaining sheep caught Lisa, who got startled by the monster roar, off guard and threw her to the ground.
Seeing her friend in immediate danger, the dragon retrieved her spear from the dead prey before her, channeled as much aura as possible into the weapon and flinging it with all her might towards the imminent disaster.