Running through the Howling Forest, a group of children with ages ranging from 10 to 13 rustled inside the thick dark forest. A burly boy led the group and was followed by a young crimson-haired girl carrying a large thick sword and a curly-haired boy with a rapier.

"Hey!!! There it is!!! Run!! Catch it!!" The burly boy shouted.

They were chasing a wild blue colored spirit bull.

"Leave it to me! Come now, my oversized friend! My sword wants to meet you! Hyahhh!" the curly-haired boy said as he thrust his rapier towards the blue spirit bull.

"Milton! Stop! You didn't remove the safety cover of rapier!" the young girl cried out as she saw the curly-haired boy's weapon.

"Nguuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!"

The blue-colored spirit bull charged towards Milton. Fortunately, Milton had quick reflexes and was able to do a side step to evade the charging bull while lunging his rapier towards the bull.

Shplitch~!

But due to the safety cover, the weapon didn't do its purpose.

"Again!!" Milton shouted as he performed quick vertical and diagonal slashes.

Shing Shing Shing Shing~!

Still, Milton's attack didn't leave a scratch on the Blue Spirit Bull.

"What the!!?? I could even slice a boulder with this thing… but why can't I scratch this spirit bull?" Milton said with a confused look.

"Didn't you remember what father said?" the girl explained as they continued to chase the wild beast.

Milton uses spirit energy on his rapier to make it sharp. But the spirit bull is a spirit beast and is immune to spiritual powers. So even if he uses the sharpest spiritual sword, the spirit bull will just absorb the spirit energy and deflect the physical attack.

"Ugh… that's right… dang!... Ekk!!!" Milton's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he saw the bull charging towards him again.

"Bombs Away! Boulder Crusher!!"

Wapak!

The burly boy hits the bull with his fist and the beast got stunned, stopping it on its attack. It was surprised that someone could stop its charge. "Hahaha! Serves you right! You destroyed the town elder's house and ate the carrots in his garden. Now its time for you to feel pain. What can you say about that? Huh?" the burly boy said.

"Nguuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!" the bull roared while the burly boy concentrated on gathering physical energy on his fist.

"Milton! Alice! Distract it while I gather energy for a more powerful blow!"

"Yes, Second brother!" the curly-haired boy and the crimson-haired girl responded.

"Eldest Brother! Cast the Slow Spell!" the burly boy ordered.

"Affirmative!"

A frail-looking boy was hiding behind a large boulder. He had long white hair, blue eyes, and a trendy wooden staff.

"Wings of Lunaria, I, Gray Silverleaf invoke thee!! Remove agility!!"

A pink cloud of dust swarms around the bull's legs and slowed down its movement.

"Second Brother! I could only do half Slow Spell… The bull is immune to spirit attacks and has a high resistance to magic attacks!" the frail boy named Gray shouted.

"As I thought… even my physical blows… Spirit energy is still the main force of our combat style, so we can only do half the damage. Okay! I'm half done gathering energy!" the burly boy said.

"I'll try the new move Master taught me! Swarm Sting!" Milton roared.

Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping!

Swarm of rapier points flashed at the bull causing it to be pushed backward.

"Yes! A slight success… sigh…"

"Hahaha… Fourth Brother… Master said you can only use that skill after you become Rank 2 copper stage mortal art practitioner." Alice said. "I'll try mine! Shield Arts Buckler Bash!"

Alice gathered her energy on her left arm as she slammed her shield on the spirit beast. But then something else happened. All eyes directed at Alice and her shield. Everyone's face was showed a shocked expression while their mouths gaping wide and their jaws felt like falling on the ground.

Crack~

Alice's buckler was a magic item crafted from a spiritual wood. When it hit the spirit beast, all the spirit energy that held the wooden particles together got absorbed by the immunity. Without the spirit energy holding it together, the result was… the disintegration of materials.

"What!!! Nooooo!!!" Alice felt like crying as she saw her beloved buckler turn to dust.

"Hahahahahahaha! Third little sister, you actually forgot that spirit energy holds that buckler of yours together? Now… Out of the way!!" the burly boy shouted

Everyone evacuated 10 meters away from the bull.

The burly boy's hand now grew as large as the bull's head. It had a red glow and shone like polished steel.

"Majestic Hammer!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!

A mushroom cloud of dust rose to the sky above the Howling Forest. Some frail trees were uprooted in the process.

"No way!!" everyone exclaimed as the dust fog cleared out.

The Blue spirit bull was still standing firmly on the ground. No wounds, no bruises. Only a minuscule dent on its left horn could be considered the damage they had done after 3 hours of chasing and fighting.

"Everyone! Run!"

The burly boy distracted the spirit beast as the rest retreated after which he too ran away.

"Nyoo! Puff!" with a smirk on his face, the blue spirit bull puffed some steam showing of its pride as the winner.

The group was panting hard as they left the spirit beast's range.

"I didn't think it would be that powerful… ouch! Sprained my wrist… where's rosemary?" the burly boy asked.

"I had her hide up that big tree." Gray replied. "Let's pick her up and head for the hut. I guess my devised plan in capturing the spirit beast failed huh?

"Man! I'm glad I'm still alive… Damn that bull… Where's Gin by the way?" Milton asked.

"Picking Strawberries." Alice replied.

"Wahahahaha!! That sissy of a man! He's always doing the weak stuff." Milton laughed.

"Hahahahaha! He's different from us Milton… Gin is eccentric and does really weird things. He likes to experiment with stuff. He even made that old Cherry tree bare Strawberries… Now ain't that weird? A forb fruit bearing on a tree of a different fruit…" the burly boy said.

"No… Gin is just doing what 'he' can do since he can't cultivate due to his crippled mana vein." Alice retorted.

"There goes Third sister's maternal instincts again…" Milton asserted.

"Oh you… just shut up…"

"Hahahahahaha!"

"Elder Brothers! Elder Sister Alice! I'm here!" a soft cry was heard on top of a large tree. There sat a petite girl that looked like 6 years old but was actually 10 years old.

"There she is… Rosemary… can you fix my wrist first before we head home? Master will notice this." The burly boy asked.

"Sure thing big brother." Rosemary happily responded as she placed her hand on the burly boy's wrist.

A soothing feeling was felt by the burly boy as Rosemary's mana entered his wrist and healing any damaged tissue and bone. A light breeze carrying the little girl's mana surrounded the group as it rejuvenated their strength.