Slaughtering Magic Beasts

Erika truly was a good person. On the third day, she found Charles a suitable job.

Slaughtering small magic beasts.

This job could only be done by Third-Rank Wizard Apprentices who also possessed a knight-level physique.

Early in the morning, Charles headed to the workplace.

It was inside a great tower in District Eleven.

From far away, he could already smell a powerful stench of blood and animal musk, along with the clamor of voices.

Several apprentices from Fenny's Hand had come with Charles, all believing themselves qualified for the job.

After they found a staff member and explained why they had come, a supervisor soon emerged.

He too was a wizard apprentice, and judging by the badge hanging from his chest, he was a First-Rank Wizard Apprentice.

The wizard apprentice came before Charles and the others and said, "To work at the magic beast slaughterhouse, you must be a Third-Rank Wizard Apprentice and possess the physical strength of a knight."

"Do you all meet the requirements?"

Charles and the others honestly answered, "Yes, sir, we do!"

The supervisor swept his gaze over them and continued, "Too many people have come. This time, I only need three. The rest can go back the way they came."

The people from Fenny's Hand exchanged glances.

Five people had come for this job, but only three would be hired. That made them competitors.

They had not been particularly familiar with one another to begin with, and now that the supervisor had pulled this move, Charles secretly raised his guard.

"Come in!"

"I'll pick three of you to stay."

Upon hearing this, one apprentice hesitated before saying, "Sir, I won't take part."

The supervisor nodded, utterly unconcerned about having one less person.

Charles and the remaining three did not have that sort of confidence. They followed the supervisor into the slaughterhouse.

The pungent animal stench had already been overwhelming outside, but inside, it shot straight up from their noses to the crowns of their heads.

The supervisor led the way, speaking as he walked. "Everyone who works here is a wizard apprentice."

"Slaughtering magic beasts differs from slaughtering other things. Although these magic beasts have already been restrained, the magic power within their bodies is still circulating."

"Ordinary people and knights may be able to kill these restrained magic beasts, but they would waste the beasts' magic power."

"Before killing a magic beast, we must guide its magic power into a small portion of flesh and blood before killing it. Only then can we maximize the profit."

The supervisor led them onward, passing many slaughtering workshops.

At last, he brought Charles and the others to a workshop with relatively few people.

The supervisor called out, "Bring over a horned sheep!"

Before long, someone pushed over a yellow horned sheep with all four legs tied up.

The supervisor introduced it. "This is a low-level magic beast, a horned sheep. It is also the assessment task for the four of you."

"Use your own magic power, whether to stimulate or guide it, to gather the horned sheep's magic power together."

"I will decide whom to keep based on the performances of the four of you."

Charles and the other three looked at one another.

No one wanted to go first.

Guiding and stimulating were easy enough to say, but who knew how one was supposed to gather a magic beast's power together?

After all, no one had ever taught them before.

Seeing that no one stepped forward voluntarily, the supervisor pointed according to where they stood. "Go in this order. You go first!"

The chosen apprentice knitted his brows tightly, but he had no choice. He could only drag his feet over to the horned sheep.

Yet even after reaching it, he still had no idea what to do.

After fumbling around for quite a while, he had the horned sheep bleating miserably while he himself sweated profusely in panic.

However, judging from the supervisor's expression, the apprentice's method was clearly wrong.

"All right, step down."

To that apprentice's ears, the supervisor's words were nothing less than heavenly music.

He hurriedly backed away, and then the supervisor's gaze fell upon Charles.

Charles inwardly groaned and walked over to the horned sheep as well.

He pressed his hand against the sheep's abdomen and gradually sent his spiritual power into its body.

Sure enough, he sensed the magic power inside the beast, but how to guide that magic power was a major problem.

He could easily guide his own magic power with spiritual power, but a magic beast's was clearly different.

Since guidance would not work, Charles decided to stimulate it instead.

He fed his own magic power into the horned sheep's body through his hand.

"Baa! Baa!"

The bound horned sheep began struggling. The sensation of foreign magic power entering its body was far from pleasant.

And in that state, Charles finally found a way to gather its magic power.

Once the foreign magic power entered the horned sheep's body, it naturally triggered a backlash from the sheep's own magic power.

As soon as that backlash began, the horned sheep's magic power started gathering of its own accord.

Charles repeatedly slapped the horned sheep's body. With every slap, he injected a thread of magic power, stirring up the sheep's entire body.

In the end, Charles gathered the horned sheep's magic power in the area of its chest and abdomen.

Seeing Charles's method, the supervisor's eyes lit up. He said approvingly, "Not bad! Not bad!"

"Stand beside me!"

Charles's heart abruptly loosened, and he quickly stepped back.

After witnessing Charles's method, the two wizard apprentices behind him were still uncertain, but each gained a spark of inspiration.

Their subsequent attempts were not as flawless as Charles's, but they were still better than the first apprentice's.

The supervisor immediately said, "The three of you stay. You can leave."

The eliminated wizard apprentice lowered his head. He felt indignant, but did not dare argue, and obediently withdrew.

The supervisor called over three veteran workers and instructed them, "From now on, follow them and learn how to slaughter magic beasts!"

"Yes, sir!"

The supervisor left, and the three remaining newcomers divided themselves among the veterans.

Charles followed an old worker who had to be at least thirty, though he too was only a Third-Rank Wizard Apprentice.

"I'm Marsil. From now on, you'll follow me. What's your name?" the old worker asked.

Charles quickly introduced himself. "I'm Charles."

Marsil led Charles to an area filled with tools.

All kinds of knives, hooks, chains, and more.

"Slaughtering magic beasts is no simple task. You need the physique of a knight, and you also need to know how to wield magic power."

"After slaughtering a magic beast, we must process it as well, removing its hide, scales, flesh, and even bones one by one. Only then can a magic beast be considered properly processed."

"I watched how you handled that horned sheep just now. You've got some talent. Work hard under me from now on, and when the chance comes, I'll let you try your hand at it!"

"Thank you, big brother!"

Not long afterward, another magic beast was delivered. It was a wild boar covered in scales, with grim tusks and a thick shell of hardened mud over its body.

The entire magic beast was bound in chains and delivered onto the worktable before them.