Sunset Warrior Chant - Chapter 43 - Magical Beast Grooming

A janitor from the academy stepped into the cage and cleaned up the messy scene thoroughly. As people were busy discussing the boy, a slender girl entered the cage. She had a sweet, gentle smile on her face and a calm, tranquil expression in her eyes. Standing in the center of the cage, she appeared composed and unruffled.

As the stone door on the opposite wall opened, a Fire Fox ran in. It seemed extremely hungry and took a few steps beside the girl before leaping towards her. The girl sidestepped lightly, and several shimmering Wind Blades launched from her hands.

The girl was a wind magic mage. Before the Fire Fox could land, the Wind Blades had already struck its back, sweeping off a large patch of fur. Her techniques were exquisite, controlling the Wind Blades with perfect precision, and remarkably, not harming the Fire Fox’s skin.

After its initial failed attempt, the Fire Fox leaped at the girl a few more times. The girl, seizing the opportunity, effortlessly stripped much of the fur from the Fire Fox’s body as if she were picking something out of a bag. Though the Fire Fox’s skin remained unharmed, the sensation of its fur being sliced off was painfully irritating. Initially driven by hunger to consume human flesh, the pain finally enraged it, and it let out a furious roar, lunging at the girl with a fire tongue over a meter long shooting from its mouth.

The girl, calm and composed, ducked her head and continued to dodge with ease. Her use of the Swift Wind Spell made her movements light and agile. Each time the Fire Fox attacked, it seemed it might reach her with just a bit more speed, but the girl was always just a fraction faster, leaving the Fire Fox nearly bald.

Clearly, the girl was enticing the Fire Fox to chase her, sparing herself the effort of pursuing it, showing far greater skill than the boy earlier.

After a while, the Fire Fox sensed the futility of its efforts and stopped chasing. The girl also took a break, watching the Fire Fox from a distance. After a short period, unable to withstand its hunger, the Fire Fox charged at the girl again. She continued using her proven method, meticulously shaving off the fur from the Fire Fox’s body, leaving only a few hard-to-reach spots untouched. By then, more than eighty percent of the Fire Fox’s fur was gone.

The girl was on full alert, tangled with the Fire Fox, contemplating how to remove its whiskers and eyelashes, when suddenly she heard the tinkling of bells. The stone door by the laboratory wall opened, revealing a steaming piece of cooked meat.

The delicious scent of the meat wafted through the air. The Fire Fox, with its keen nose, smelled the aroma and, overwhelmed by hunger, finally abandoned the girl and dashed towards the door. The glass door behind the girl also swung open automatically.

The proctor announced loudly, “Yun Huixin has skillfully used Elemental Manipulation, removing ninety percent of the Fire Fox’s fur without harming it in the slightest. Her intelligence is outstanding, even surpassing that of the Fire Fox. She has successfully passed the exam and will move on to the next round!”

Yun Huixin smiled sweetly, walked out the glass door, and bowed to the proctor, saying, “Thank you, Proctor!”

The proctor then called Xiao Gang’s name. Xiao Gang, carrying his Berserk Sword, entered the laboratory. At this moment, the Berserk Sword felt incredibly light and manageable to him. He had just stepped two paces into the laboratory when the glass door shut tightly behind him. Standing with his back against the glass wall, he stared at another door on the opposite wall, ready to fight, thinking, “What’s a good way to groom the Fire Fox?”

Instead of a Fire Fox, a fierce Wind Wolf burst through the opposite stone door. The Wind Wolf was covered in black fur, with its red tongue dangling out and sharp teeth exposed. Xiao Gang thought to himself, “Good thing I knew beforehand it’s a level 2 magical beast, or I would have been really scared.”

He slowly drew out his Berserk Sword, waving it at the Wind Wolf. The golden Berserk Sword flashed a brilliant light, momentarily dazzling the Wind Wolf. The beast retreated two steps, possibly smelling the intense scent of blood, sensing the threat of the extraordinary Berserk Sword that had tasted the blood of many a creature over the years.

Seeing the Wind Wolf hesitate, Xiao Gang dragged his Berserk Sword to the center of the laboratory, leaving a distinct scratch on the floor. The lab echoed with the harsh sound of metal scraping against stone. At this noise, the Wind Wolf retreated another two steps. Xiao Gang muttered to himself, wondering if the Wind Wolf had suddenly lost its appetite.

Xiao Gang stood still as the Wind Wolf hesitated, its four paws trembling, not daring to approach. Suddenly, it began circling around Xiao Gang. Having starved for several days, the Wind Wolf was reluctant to pass up a living creature in front of it.

As time ticked by in Xiao Gang’s mind, several minutes passed with the Wind Wolf circling him continuously. Xiao Gang grew anxious; if he were to strike at it with his sword, the beast might just keep dodging. Borrowing a bit of fur from it would be quite the hassle, especially after he had just witnessed a boy trying to kill a Fire Fox-an example he did not wish to follow.

Xiao Gang watched the Wind Wolf circle from front to back. Initially, he turned with it for a few rounds, but then he decided to stand still, ignoring the beast even when it ran behind him, waiting for it to pounce, since it was only a level 2 magical beast and thus inferior to him.

Once again, the Wind Wolf circled behind him. Xiao Gang expected it to emerge from the side, but he heard no footsteps, which suddenly alarmed him: “I’ve been tricked!”

Just then, he heard Fu Qiruo’s voice shouting, “Watch out! Dodge!”

Almost simultaneously, a whooshing sound erupted from behind Xiao Gang. The Wind Wolf, which had been five meters away moments earlier, now seemed poised to reach his neck with its sharp mouth. The Wind Wolf, smarter than the Fire Fox, knew that once a fight started, it would be perilous. Therefore, its attack had to be successful on the first strike. After several rounds behind Xiao Gang, it had quietly lightened its steps to approach him, crouched low, and then, springing like an arrow, leapt more than a meter high toward Xiao Gang’s shoulder.

The Wind Wolf’s pounce was anticipated by Xiao Gang, but he never expected that, under the threat of the Berserk Sword, the timid Wind Wolf could exhibit such astonishing speed-it was as rapid and fierce as a wolf lunging for its prey. Fu Qiruo, who had been positioned behind him, saw the sneak attack clearly. Just as Fu Qiruo screamed, the Wind Wolf was about to reach him; its red tongue seemed almost to touch his neck.

Startled, Xiao Gang instinctively ducked his head and leaned forward, bending deeply at the waist as a swordsman would. The Wind Wolf’s front paws grazed his shoulders, tearing off pieces of his clothing, then it dashed past him like lightning, crashing into the wall ahead.

Xiao Gang glanced at his shoulder, noticing his torn clothes revealing the magical beast leather armor beneath. He had narrowly escaped a pounce from the Wind Wolf, almost scaring his soul out of his body and breaking into a cold sweat in an instant.

As the Wind Wolf landed, Xiao Gang lifted his long sword and fiercely slashed at it, aiming to split the beast in two. However, the Wind Wolf agilely leaped away. “This Wind Wolf is incredibly fast, probably not starving yet,” Xiao Gang thought to himself as he took a deep breath and pursued it.

After its failed ambush, the Wind Wolf knew of Xiao Gang’s prowess and kept dodging around. Xiao Gang then felt the Wind Wolf resembled a panicked rabbit, reminding him of his need to “borrow” some fur. He decided not to strike too hard, so he swung the Berserk Sword towards less critical areas of the Wind Wolf. After several rounds of intense fighting, he managed to snatch a few tufts of wolf fur. He then realized using the Berserk Sword for such delicate work was an overkill, and a dagger might have been more effective.

The Wind Wolf dodged with remarkable agility, and Xiao Gang chased it for several more rounds. His efforts to collect fur were fruitless, and he nearly bisected the beast with one strike, forcing him to stop midway. Suddenly, he remembered his senior sister, Lu Xiner, possessed the Greenleaf Sword, capable of slicing through iron as if it were mud. He stopped, walked to a glass door, knocked on it, and shouted, “Senior sister, may I borrow your small knife? This big guy is a bit clumsy.”

The Wind Wolf, after being chased for dozens of rounds, seemed quite frightened. As Xiao Gang turned to speak, the wolf did not advance but crouched in a corner to observe.

Lu Xiner, pulling out the Greenleaf Sword, approached the glass enclosure and smiled, “Little Junior Brother, be careful!”

As Lu Xiner was about to hand over the Greenleaf Sword to Xiao Gang, the proctor intervened, saying sternly, “Once a candidate enters the examination hall, they must not leave midway, and outsiders must not interfere. Please let the candidate solve the problem in the laboratory on their own!”

Lu Xiner pouted and said, “My little junior brother is merely swapping a cleaver for a toy knife, what’s the big deal?”

The proctor responded, “Such behavior is considered cheating by the examination hall, please understand!”

Suddenly, Fu Qiruo chimed in, “What if my little junior brother needed to use the restroom or something similar, how would that be handled?” Lu Xiner burst out laughing at this, causing many other candidates in the magical beast laboratory to laugh uproariously.

The proctor then stated, “That too must be resolved within the examination hall. Candidates are not to step out, unless they choose to forfeit the exam.”

Hearing this, Xiao Gang felt frustrated. It was just a small knife; it wasn’t worth begging for. He turned back to the Wind Wolf and said, “Hey, Wolf Brother, let’s make a deal. If you give me your fur, I won’t hurt you.”

However, the Wind Wolf did not understand human language. It was in the cage to hunt humans, not to offer its fur. Even if it understood, it wouldn’t foolishly allow someone to shave off its fur with a sword.

Xiao Gang brandished his Berserk Sword and chased after the Wind Wolf, which kept running relentlessly. He shouted, “Can’t you stop playing hide and seek with me? Can’t you slow down a bit?” With his right hand wielding the sword and his left hand casually casting a spell of wind magic, he sent several wind blades towards the Wind Wolf, hoping that his level 2 wind magic would intimidate the beast into changing its path and moving closer to his sword.

However, the Wind Wolf was clever and completely disregarded the level 2 wind blades, sensing the real threat to be the glittering golden sword. At this moment, the Wind Wolf was a top-tier level 2 magical beast with tough skin and flesh, barely flinching as the wind blades struck its body, shedding only a bit of fur.

Xiao Gang always believed that a swordsman who fully harnesses battle energy to fight on the battlefield exhibits true heroism. Possessing the strength of a level 3 swordsman, he never thought of using level 2 magic in duels. Now, forced by circumstances, he resorted to this technique, which he thought would merely tickle the Wind Wolf. Yet, when he saw a tuft of the beast’s fur fall off, he realized he had accidentally struck gold.

Continuously driving the Wind Wolf with his Berserk Sword in his right hand and casting wind blades on the beast’s inevitable path with his left, the effect was surprisingly effective. In no time, the Wind Wolf was completely devoid of fur, and though it expended energy dodging the Berserk Sword, it lost much of its defense against the wind blade attacks, becoming blood-stained.

Xiao Gang’s deployment of wind blades was exhilaratingly effective. Suddenly, he heard a “ding ding dang dang” of bells, and the stone door by the wall of the laboratory opened, revealing a piece of cooked meat behind it.

Xiao Gang, seeing the Wind Wolf bloodied but unsure if it still had any interest in the meat, knew he had passed the test. Not waiting for the proctor to announce it, he proclaimed himself: “Xiao Gang, brave and invincible, has made the Wind Wolf utterly submissive, offering up all its fur in defeat. Congratulations to Xiao Gang for successfully passing the test and advancing to the next round of exams.”