Chapter 157 - Fighting the Jaguars - 1

As Song Yazhu described, the place where they would take their test was a vast forest. This type of habitat was widespread in the territories of the empire because it could host numerous types of spirit beasts, including aquatic ones due to the presence of rivers and lakes that were inside. There were also other types of habitats, some very unfriendly, but the Southern Royal War Academy decided to opt for something simple as a first test for the first year.

"We are at the outer edge of the forest. Since an internal ranking hasn't yet been made among you, first-year students, you will all enter in unison this time. Once inside, you can go where you want, as long as you stay inside the forest. As I said, the period of stay is one week. I hope you have used these days well to adjust accordingly. Well then. Begin!"

At the same time, as Song Yazhu gave his signal, all the first-year students of the Southern Royal War Academy sprinted into the forest. Speed ​​in these early stages was an indispensable element. After all, the first group to finish exploring the forest would also be the first to choose their hunting spot. Finding a place full of spirit beasts that weren't too dangerous was what they were aiming for.

As for Hei, he was currently in front of his group and was leading them into the forest. With a unanimous decision, it had been decided that he would be in charge of the group. Besides his strength, it was because of his knowledge about the spirit beasts that the others had chosen him as a leader. Lang would have been a good candidate as well, but her even more reserved character than Hei made her unsuitable for leading a group.

"For the moment, we will go a few kilometers inside, starting from the outer limit. We will keep the disposition we have designed these days. I will stand in front with Ye and Xing on me. Leon and He Fen on the sides while Lang and Fenrir in the rear. Behind me, there will be Lilian, Mia, Mareo, and Haruno, while Lian will be among them, ready to protect them in case of danger. If you have questions and doubts about how to act, remember not to go on your own. And more importantly, do not attack spirit beasts for no reason, especially if they don't pose a threat to us. It isn't just for morality, but more for our survival. At the moment, nearly five thousand intruders have infiltrated this territory. There is no doubt that this will piss off the strongest spirit beasts. If we start leaving blood trails everywhere, we will soon end up being surrounded."

Hei immediately issued his orders. From the confident way in which he was proceeding in those unknown territories, and the foresight even in the smallest movements made others understand that they had made the right choice in appointing him as the leader. However, since they didn't possess his knowledge in the habitats inhabited by spirit beasts, there were still those who had questions.

"Hey, isn't it better to pick up the pace? I understand that it is better to avoid flying because of flying spirit beasts, but we can still run. The other groups have now distanced us a lot. In these initial stages, the first to finish the exploration will be in an advantageous position." He Fen asked as he looked around to see if there were any other first-year classmates.

It should be known that, except for the first dash inside the forest, Hei had ordered his group to proceed walking. Of all the groups, they were the only ones to have adopted such a method. Even the other beast tamers had preferred to run at full speed rather than walk.

"If we run, we will soon be spotted." Lang gave a concise answer from behind.

"Lang is right. The spirit beasts of the forest are examining the groups that are running. As soon as these groups start attacking, the spirit beasts will respond to the attack. Our goal isn't the spirit beasts, but our classmates. Therefore, we should save our strength in these early stages and let others weaken themselves. At that point, we will start moving. Before I continue, though, I want you to rub this on yourself. Lang, you prepared what I asked for, right?"

At Hei's question, Lang pulled glass containers, with a strange liquid inside, out of her space ring. In addition to the containers, there were also a series of bags with what looked like excrement inside. At the sight of this, all of them, excluding Hei, Lian, and Lang, were disgusted by that view.

"Spirit beasts have very high senses, superior to human ones. Even if we don't make noise, they can still identify us with their sense of smell. It is, therefore, important to mask our smell." Hei explained as he took the bags from Lang and started spreading the contents on his little sisters.

Seeing how serious Hei was about it, Lilian tried an alternative. "Can't we use anything else? I don't know, soil and foliage, for example? Not that I have something against Fenrir, but isn't this perhaps a little too much?"

"It could also be done in that way. However, before I used the term masking, not hiding. As they level up, the spirit beasts become more intelligent. If they notice the smell of earth and moving foliage, they could be suspicious since I don't know how many plant or tree type spirit beasts are present and above all which species. Therefore, it is better to use the smell of something that is already moving in itself. Besides, using all the same smell of Fenrir, meaning a wolf, we can mask ourselves for a pack. Unfortunately, spiders and snakes are more solitary creatures, and consequently, we cannot use the feces and urine of Ye and Xing."

"Well, considering we all elected him unanimously, it's too late to back down. Lang, give me one of those bags. Since we've gone this far, we might as well keep walking all the way." Leon said resignedly. However, there was a faint smile on his face as if he were amused about that situation.

Seeing that Leon had also given up, everyone else soon followed him and started to sprinkle themselves with Fenrir's urine and feces, which didn't seem very happy that his wastes were exposed to everyone. However, he also understood that it was the best method for their hunt and gave no other complaints.

'How about Fenrir? Who is more wolf-like, in your opinion? Me or Xing?'

'Don't say nonsense, Ye. Of course, it's me who looks more like a wolf. You only have fangs, but I also have claws.'

'But yours aren't claws; they are legs. And if you want to play like this, then I own a tail which you don't have.'

Ye and Xing, still in their petite form, began to quarrel over who looked more like a wolf. Even though they were arguing, it was more like one of the many sister bickering they had all the time. Unfortunately for Fenrir, though, he too had been pulled in the middle.

As for the three of them, their relationship had strangely settled despite their differences. Unlike Ye and Xing, who were lively and expansive, Fenrir was quite similar to his mistress. In fact, he had a calm and cold character and carried on himself a dignity and pride typical of his species. But facing the cheerfulness of that little spider and that little snake, even his wall of ice was melted, and he could only surrender and participate in the games of Ye and Xing.

The main reason for his surrender, however, concerned Lang, who loved to sit and observe for hours the interaction between the three spirit beasts. Seeing his mistress, who had been carrying a tremendous burden on herself since she was a child, becoming happy and carefree, made Fenrir want to do more to bring her a smile. So, soon, he too unconsciously rediscovered the happiness of playing, which he had long forgotten.

Once they had finished masking their smell, Hei and the others kept going inside. Occasionally they saw some spirit beasts, but because they were still in the outskirts, they were mostly first-level spirit beasts. These spirit beasts ran away as soon as they came into contact with that unusual group that carried the smell of wolves. Only a few reckless spirit beasts tried to show hostility towards them, but it was enough for Fenrir to uncover his teeth with a growl to chase away even the bravest of the spirit beasts.

However, things didn't go so smoothly forever. When they had walked for several kilometers, suddenly they heard the sound of hooves ringing around them.

"Be careful; it's coming," Hei whispered to his companions, who tightened the formation even more. On his shoulders, Ye and Xing were making the most of their detection capabilities to understand the noise's origin.

Suddenly, a spirit beast about a meter and a half came out of the thick foliage of the forest. It had a long neck and large ears while its fur had a reddish-brown color that contrasted with the horizontal white stripes on the four legs of the creature.

"It's an okapi," Lang exclaimed, slightly surprised as she immediately recognized the spirit beast in front of her.

Hei had recognized the okapi as well. However, his gaze was fixed on the point from which this spirit beast had come out. In fact, his little sisters had warned him that there was a whole herd of spirit beasts approaching. Even Fenrir noticed it and began to growl and howl fiercely to alert the approaching herd of spirit beasts to move away. But his warning went unheeded.

From the foliage of the forest, there was a loud roar, and a black spirit beast came out from the same direction of the okapi. It was a fierce creature of nearly three meters long.

"Black Jaguar, also known as the Black Panther," Hei commented in a guarded voice. He could easily guess the danger of such a spirit beast by merely looking.

"Is that a jaguar? Weren't they of a different color?" Haruno asked as he stood motionless in the center, awaiting instructions.

"Certain types of spirit beasts can end up developing melanism, meaning an excess of black pigmentation, including jaguars," Hei replied briefly while not taking his eyes off the black jaguar.

In the meantime, the okapi, realizing that its pursuer was stationary, used that opportunity to return into the foliage. Thanks to the particular color of its fur, the okapi could take advantage of the sun's filtered light to blend in. Quickly, it became impossible to follow it with the sight, and its smell was becoming weaker.

The black jaguar, left without his prey, turned its attention to that strange group that had the smell of wolves and yet only one of them was really a wolf.

'Filthy humans. What are you doing here? Because of you, I lost my prey.' The jaguar let out a series of roars that were understood only by Hei and Lang, who knew how to talk to the spirit beasts. Because she was bound by the spirit pact with Ye and Xing, Lian also understood what the black jaguar said after the translation of the two little divine beasts.

"We didn't mean to offend you or disturb your hunting session. We were passing here by chance. I ask you to let us go without making a fuss; we have no bad intentions against you. However, if you don't leave us other alternatives, we will respond by force if necessary." Hei replied, while with his hair, he wrote the following phrase behind his back 'get ready to fight.'

The black jaguar was surprised because the brown-skinned human answered him immediately without the interlude of a spirit beast. Furthermore, the language used was that of spiders, a language infrequent to listen to, at least by the jaguars. However, Hei's calm but firm tone irritated him, mainly because he showed no fear of it.

'Insolent! Do you think that only because you are numerous can you beat me? Then let me show you the true strength of us jaguars.'

Emitting another roar, eleven other jaguars suddenly emerged and formed a circle around Hei's group. One of them was holding by the neck, the unfortunate okapi who had tried to escape. Ten of them had the classic bronze yellow color that varied towards the reddish-brown with dark spots in the shape of a rose; the last specimen instead had a pure white color and went to position itself near the black jaguar, rubbing its head against the black jaguar

"White, albinism. A female. The black one is a male. They are a couple." Lang revealed as Fenrir stood in front of her.

"Hei, give the signal. We're ready." Lian communicated to Hei confidently. She wasn't afraid even in this situation in which they had suddenly been surrounded. The others, instead, including Lang, had a worried look because they didn't think they had to fight immediately against so many spirit beasts. However, noting Lian's full of confidence tone, their concern eased, and they reestablished their fighting spirit.

Hei took a quick look at the jaguar pack and murmured to himself.

'Aside from the groups of mothers with their cubs, jaguars are typically solitary creatures. But this applies in normal conditions. In a forest full of spirit beasts and, therefore, possible predators, variations to this rule may occur. I had to be more careful. It is my fault now if we have been surrounded.'

"Jaguar pack leader. Please calm your anger and listen to the reason. This is a clash that you don't want. Don't force me to react. I don't want to kill specimens as beautiful as you. Your companions have taken okapi, so I kindly ask you to let us go."

'Poor fool. Do you really think we will let go of the prey when it is right in front of our eyes? That miserable okapi isn't enough to satisfy us. But I have heard rumors of how delicious the flesh of you human is, especially that of martial artists.'

At that point, Hei sighed. The black jaguar had no intention of reasoning and letting them go. Even if he didn't want to, at the same time, he certainly wouldn't pull back from the fight.

"You wanted it. The only fault of it what's going to happen now is only yours, remember that. However, I will at least make sure that all your teammates will follow you. Ye, Xing, fighting mode. For today, we eat jaguar meat!"

The little spider and the small snake jumped from Hei's shoulders, and in midair, they turned into gigantic creatures of three meters in length. Seeing this, everyone pulled out their weapons and activated their spirit power. Soon the pressure of nine spirit soldiers and three second-level spirit beasts spread over the jaguars.

Nevertheless, the herd of jaguars didn't appear at all worried. They also roared and activated their spirit power, showing their strength as second-level spirit beasts. However, the biggest pressure was being emanated by the black jaguar who locked its gaze towards Hei. As the leader of its pack, it was reasonable to aim the leader of the other group.

Hei noticed its gaze and answered it with a smile. His long pitch-black hair had stood up in the air and were swaying threateningly while holding the purple spear with red veins. At the same time, Hei showed his blue teeth and green fingernails and assumed the Full Combat Mode. His target was the black jaguar.

"Do not hesitate. Kill them as fast as possible. This is the result of their own actions."

After saying this, Hei quickly sprang forward, followed by Ye and Xing, who were happy to finally be able to fight against someone they could kill and against whom they didn't have to limit themselves.