Moon Spirit Leopard

By the time Li Si and Lunbos reached the source of the signal, Ya Er and Arsen had already arrived ahead of them.

Elena had sent the signal. Seeing that Li Si and Lunbos had arrived as well, she nodded in acknowledgment.

"I found that magical beast here—or rather, it nearly attacked me here."

Elena pointed to the top of a massive boulder in front of her and said:

"That magical beast was there at the time. It must have noticed me long ago and was probably planning to attack when I passed by."

"When I searched this area, my hunter's instincts kept warning me. I only discovered its location after deliberately observing my surroundings."

"When it saw that I had noticed it, it immediately turned and left. After sending the signal, I tried to chase it, but I couldn't catch up, so I could only come back and wait for you here."

"That magical beast is awful! It even wanted to ambush Sister Elena."

Ya Er waved her little fists indignantly, as though she would immediately charge forward and beat the magical beast senseless if it appeared before her now.

Arsen was not so impulsive. Elena was standing perfectly fine before them, so it was obvious she had not fought the magical beast at all.

"Elena, did you get a clear look at that magical beast? What was it?"

Elena seemed somewhat hesitant, but she still gritted her teeth and said:

"I saw it clearly. It was... a Moon Spirit Leopard."

A Moon Spirit Leopard. No wonder Elena's expression was so complicated.

Li Si understood. He had wondered why Elena had hesitated so much and did not want to say what kind of magical beast it was. So that was why.

Arsen quickly understood as well, while Ya Er and Lunbos still wore innocent, puzzled expressions.

Moon Spirit Leopard? What kind of magical beast was that? Why did Elena look so strange?

All one could say was that these two truly were not very gifted when it came to studying.

With his abundant experience from his previous life, Li Si naturally knew what kind of magical beast a Moon Spirit Leopard was. After all, the main storyline of Version 3.0 took place in the elves' home ground—the Navia Forest. It was then that Li Si came into contact with much secret information related to elves.

Among it was information about Moon Spirit Leopards.

Moon Spirit Leopards were an extremely rare type of leopard magical beast. They often appeared at night and were black all over, but their glossy fur emitted a faint moonlight-like radiance, which was how they got their name.

Most importantly, Moon Spirit Leopards were said to be the messengers of the Elf God System's Moon and Guardian Goddess Fenriria. They were also the finest companions and assistants for elven hunters. Nearly all Moon Spirit Leopards on the continent lived in the Navia Forest, and every elven hunter took pride in earning the recognition and companionship of one.

That showed just how highly Moon Spirit Leopards were regarded by elves and elven hunters!

As an outstanding Silver-level elven hunter, Elena naturally knew all this very well. Yet she had discovered that the magical beast attacking the territory was one of them. At the thought that her team would have to kill it, Elena found it somewhat hard to accept.

"Is it possible you saw it wrong?"

Li Si asked Elena. After all, it did seem rather unbelievable that a Moon Spirit Leopard had appeared deep within a human kingdom's territory and killed so many residents.

"No." Elena took a deep breath, calming her turbulent emotions.

"My mother's companion was a Moon Spirit Leopard. It accompanied me as I grew up, so I can't possibly mistake one."

Arsen felt a little helpless. He could tell that Elena did not want to harm this Moon Spirit Leopard. If they had encountered it during an ordinary adventure, he naturally would not have taken the initiative to attack it. He might even have helped Elena tame it.

Arsen would not have cared much even if the mission failed, since the team was not that desperate for the mission reward.

But the problem now was that this Moon Spirit Leopard in the Tony Baron Territory had already killed more than a dozen residents and fed on humans, becoming a ferocious beast. If they let it go unchecked, it might cause even more serious consequences.

Elena thought for a moment, and the expression on her face finally hardened. Gritting her teeth, she said:

"Since it has already eaten humans, it can no longer be Goddess Fenriria's messenger. Let us send this Moon Spirit Leopard to the goddess's God Kingdom."

To elves, feeding on any humanoid being was unacceptable.

Moreover, Elena had already sensed the intense malice the Moon Spirit Leopard had emitted when it lay in ambush for her. It could no longer become an elf's companion, so she naturally gave up the thought of taming it.

Arsen also let out a sigh of relief. It was best that Elena could think this way. That way, they would not have to worry about accommodating a teammate's reservations during the hunt.

Seeing that Elena had made up her mind, Li Si asked:

"How strong is that Moon Spirit Leopard?"

Elena frowned and thought for a moment before answering:

"An adult Moon Spirit Leopard should have Gold-level strength. A very small number can break through to Legendary-level, but this Moon Spirit Leopard felt like it was only at high Silver-level. It probably never received Goddess Fenriria's blessing in the Navia Forest, so its strength could not break past its bottleneck."

"That's fine. It hasn't exceeded our expectations."

Arsen sighed in relief. Now that they knew the type and strength of the magical beast, half of this hunting mission was already complete. All that remained was to find it and successfully kill it.

"Elena, you're the most familiar with Moon Spirit Leopard habits. Do you have any good way to deal with it?"

Arsen asked Elena:

"Generally speaking, Moon Spirit Leopards are active at night and excel at hiding and ambushes. Their strength drops considerably during the day."

"If a Moon Spirit Leopard has received the goddess's blessing, it will gain Moon Spirit Blessing, and its strength will not be affected during the day. But clearly, this Moon Spirit Leopard has not."

"So daytime is the best time to hunt it?" Arsen asked.

"Yes." Elena nodded. "Even though it is only high Silver-level, its speed and ability to hide are still extremely formidable at night. Its senses are also very sharp, so it will be very difficult for us to keep it from escaping."

"But the people of the baron territory said it does not appear during the day. Can you find it then?"

"I can try. Generally, Moon Spirit Leopards do not have fixed territories and usually wander around, but this one has stayed in this baron territory for a long time. It should have a fixed hiding place. Tomorrow during the day, I can try tracking its trail."

Elena laid out her analysis clearly.

"Alright, then let's go back and rest for today. Tomorrow morning, we'll come back and find this Moon Spirit Leopard!"

After listening to Elena's suggestion, Arsen made the final decision to continue searching for and hunting the magical beast tomorrow.

Ya Er and Lunbos had no objections. They would simply follow the arrangements.

Li Si was even more so. The most important thing when clinging to stronger teammates for missions was to follow instructions. If you did not behave and instead ran off from the team alone, charging around while they carried you through monsters and throwing every dungeon run, who would bring you along next time?

Please keep reading, dear readers.

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