"Urgh! Oink, oink, oink!!!"
When the Long-Spined Wild Boar saw Shi Yu and Eleven, it had already decided which parts of them to eat first.
Drool ran from the corners of its mouth, light glinted in its eyes, and its powerful limbs restlessly stamped the ground.
A headlong boar charge!
This was not a skill, but a simple, reckless rush.
The Long-Spined Wild Boar first locked onto the unknown bear cub that might pose a greater threat to it, raised its fangs, and charged in savagely.
"Be careful not to let its fangs touch your body, or you'll be petrified. Also, it mainly attacks by charging straight at you."
Shi Yu gave Eleven a few brief instructions through Telepathy, then immediately retreated beside a tree, ready to watch the show.
The boar was nearly two meters long, a big fellow compared to Eleven, who was nearly one meter tall. As it charged, Eleven felt something entirely different from when he had fought the Ice Armor Beast.
The Long-Spined Wild Boar's charging speed was no slower than the Ice Armor Beast's, and judging by its strength and build, it was even more threatening.
A week ago, Eleven might have had no choice but to harden his whole body to resist or dodge in a hurry. But now...
Standing on his hind legs, Eleven's black-and-white fur swayed in the wind. As he concentrated intently, a glimmer flashed through his eyes.
An intermediate skill, Super Vision!
With Proficient Level Super Vision, Eleven's vision was strengthened to its limits, and his ability to track movement was outstanding beyond imagination.
At that moment, it was as though the whole world had slowed down in his eyes. The boar's charge and Petrifying Fangs, which had seemed so fierce, suddenly slowed many times over in Eleven's view.
With his eyes able to track the enemy clearly, Eleven naturally had much more time to react.
Bang!!!
Because the Long-Spined Wild Boar mainly attacked by charging straight ahead, it was difficult for it to change direction while moving. By taking advantage of that, it was actually easy to dodge its attack and counter.
As the Long-Spined Wild Boar charged at him, Eleven simply turned sideways with its momentum and dodged!
Huh? Where did the prey go?
The Long-Spined Wild Boar was utterly bewildered when it sensed its prey vanish from before its eyes in an instant and realized it had missed.
The next moment, the little Iron-Eating Beast, having dodged sideways, reacted with exceptional speed and counterattacked. After all, he had begun rehearsing in his head as soon as he saw the Long-Spined Wild Boar's attack pattern. Now, his bear paw was covered in Hardening in an instant, and he swiped straight at the Long-Spined Wild Boar as it brushed past!
Crack!!
The moment the hardened bear paw touched the long spines on the boar's body, they snapped. Immediately afterward, a tremendous impact came from the side, churning the Long-Spined Wild Boar's insides like rivers and seas, and it sensed that things were going badly.
"Urgh-"
With a cry of pain, the enormous Long-Spined Wild Boar was sent tumbling diagonally away by the combined force of its own charging momentum and Eleven's blow.
"Ow, ow, ow-"
Knocked over and dazed by the fall, the Long-Spined Wild Boar rolled around on the ground. The pain kept it from getting up, and its expression was terrified. The food's hitting me-
"Eleven, finish it off."
As an outstanding Beast Tamer, Shi Yu always taught his pet beasts some outstanding qualities.
At his command, Eleven immediately dropped onto all fours, stepping forward with his left front paw and right hind paw at the same time. Slightly pigeon-toed, he charged the boar, looking even fiercer than its earlier headlong rush.
Hardening, head, impact!
Using the force of his charge, Eleven hardened his head and made intimate contact with the Long-Spined Wild Boar's head. With a bang, the boar's eyes rolled back, and it was thoroughly knocked unconscious.
"Green Silkworm, tie it up."
Shi Yu unzipped his backpack, and a little green worm came out reluctantly, using Worm Silk to bind the enormous boar.
Soon, Shi Yu and his companions had easily hunted down a Long-Spined Wild Boar worth 350 points and at growth level seven.
"Just as I thought, their combat power isn't on the same level."
Shi Yu looked at the Long-Spined Wild Boar bound in bright white silk and gained a new understanding of Eleven's combat power.
It looked like... the only ones who might threaten Eleven in his current state were those few little bosses at growth level ten.
Long-Spined Wild Boars like this one, with their limited attack patterns, were completely countered by Super Vision and Hardening!
But if it had been Chen Kai's Ice Armor Beast instead, Shi Yu thought that even if it could win one-on-one, it would have taken a great deal of effort.
"Awooo~~!!"
Eleven was basking in the joy of defeating the Long-Spined Wild Boar when Shi Yu bent down, picked up one end of the silk, and tossed it to him.
"Your favorite part of training is here. Drag the spoils along as we go. Time to march with a load."
Eleven: ∑(O_O;)!
Eleven had thought it was over once he defeated the Long-Spined Wild Boar. He had never imagined the boar's body could also serve as a training tool.
As expected of his Beast Tamer. He had thought of everything.
Eleven excitedly grabbed the Worm Silk and dragged the boar along with a rumble, his expression full of anticipation as he wondered what awaited him ahead.
"Let's go farther in."
After confirming the Long-Spined Wild Boar's combat power, Shi Yu felt reassured and led Eleven into the Wild Boar Forest, planning to cross it.
Just then, in the monitoring room of the nearest safe zone, a staff member browsing the surveillance feeds suddenly noticed something amiss and hurriedly enlarged one of the images.
"Guys, someone's already made their first kill over here."
"A trainee Beast Tamer has already taken down a Long-Spined Wild Boar and entered the Wild Boar Forest alone."
"Alone?" Hearing him, the security personnel nearby immediately leaned over to look.
In the overhead image transmitted by a mechanical bird, an Iron-Eating Beast cub was dragging the body of a Long-Spined Wild Boar with a white rope as it followed beside Shi Yu.
The man and beast boldly entered the Wild Boar Forest, a place marked on the map as somewhat dangerous, confident in their abilities.
"That Iron-Eating Beast... judging by its size, it still looks like a cub. Its growth level shouldn't be above seven. How did it defeat a Long-Spined Wild Boar so easily?"
They said it was easy because Eleven was now strolling along, leisurely dragging the boar.
If they had struggled to win, the first thing Shi Yu and his companions should have done was take a relatively safe route marked on the map to a safe zone, exchange the boar for points, and rest before doing anything else, rather than drag a boar deeper into its territory.
"I didn't see it. Let's watch the replay tonight," said the security officer who had first noticed Shi Yu and his companions.
There were so many feeds. How could he possibly have noticed them from the start?
"Keep a close eye on him for now. It's somewhat dangerous to enter the Wild Boar Forest alone, but as long as they're smart enough to climb trees, the Long-Spined Wild Boars can't hurt them," a security officer said.
Shi Yu and his companions were among the first examinees to make a major haul, so they immediately drew extra attention from the security personnel at the nearest safe zone.
Soon, under their watch, Shi Yu ventured deep into the Wild Boar Forest and stealthily found several Long-Spined Wild Boars gathered together.
Hiding behind a tree in the distance, Shi Yu and Eleven watched the four Long-Spined Wild Boars foraging in the woods ahead, different expressions on their faces.
Shi Yu was wondering whether Eleven could take on four at once... The little Iron-Eating Beast, meanwhile, was wondering why Shi Yu still wouldn't let him charge.
"Eleven, want to give it a try? You have Expert Level Hardening, so you can fight with your whole body hardened. They shouldn't be able to threaten you."
With Expert Level Hardening combined with Super Vision, Shi Yu felt there should be no problem. After all, these boars had limited moves and weren't at a high growth level.
"Awoo!!!" Eleven's wild side came out too.
One versus four!
That sounded so exciting!
"All right, then. The Green Silkworm and I will cheer you on from behind the tree. You're on your own..." Shi Yu encouraged him.
Eleven's enthusiasm deflated. All right, then.
Next, Eleven put down the boar he had been dragging as a trophy, left Shi Yu and the others, and walked toward the group of Long-Spined Wild Boars alone.
"Holy crap, how dare they?"
At this move, the security officer watching Shi Yu's group in the safe zone's monitoring room immediately shouted.
His shout once again, yet again, for who knew how many times, drew the attention of the other security personnel in the room.
"What is it?"
"That trainee Beast Tamer with the little Iron-Eating Beast-his Iron-Eating Beast is charging four Long-Spined Wild Boars on its own!"
"What? Did beating one go to his head?"
The security personnel all turned to look. How could there be an examinee so intent on getting himself killed?
Even for a level-ten pet beast, facing four Long-Spined Wild Boars alone would be difficult, wouldn't it?
Next, under their surveillance, Eleven walked into the range of the four Long-Spined Wild Boars' senses.
"Urgh, oink, oink, oink!!!!"
"Oink!! Oink!! Oink!!"
An unknown creature was approaching, and it was a bear-like creature resembling their natural enemy. The four Long-Spined Wild Boars immediately eyed him warily.
But when they discovered that Eleven was just a tiny cub less than a meter tall, their thoughts immediately underwent a few changes, just like those of the previous Long-Spined Wild Boar.
What's going on? Where did this guy come from? Is he here to give us an extra meal?
The four Long-Spined Wild Boars were still observing him when something unexpected happened.
In the distance, the little Iron-Eating Beast suddenly raised both hands to the corners of his mouth, pulled it open, and made a face to provoke them.
"Bleh, bleh, bleh, bleh~~~~"
Eleven used a tactical taunt.
"Holy crap." The security personnel were even more shocked.
Was he really asking to die?
"Urgh, oink, oink, oink!!!!"
"Oink!! Oink!! Oink!!"
The four Long-Spined Wild Boars charged at once, their sharp fangs stabbing toward Eleven.
Since the four boars were charging from different directions and Eleven's Super Vision had yet to reach the point where he could see 360 degrees without a blind spot, he didn't dare be careless and immediately hardened his entire body!
In an instant, a metallic sheen spread over his whole body!
Where his fur was black, the metallic texture was deep and dark; where it was white, the hardened surface shone like silver. Fully armored, Eleven let out a howl and, using the same method he had used against the previous boar, turned sideways and smashed the first boar to reach him flying.
The next second, the second boar slammed into Eleven's body. But the Long-Spined Wild Boar felt as though it had hit a huge lump of steel. It didn't know how its enemy felt; all it knew was that its own fangs felt as if they were about to be shattered by the impact.
"Ow-" The second boar let out what sounded like a scream. As for Eleven, who had been hit by accident, he certainly wasn't injured. His opponent hadn't even broken through his defenses; it had merely turned a little of his hardened surface to earth, which didn't hinder him.
However, the tremendous impact still made Eleven stagger, pushing his body back a little.
Being hit roused Eleven's wild side. With a particularly fierce expression, he pounced head-on at the boar beside him and knocked it over with a collision.
Then, looking fierce and cute, he searched for the remaining enemies.
As for the other two Long-Spined Wild Boars, they had been farther away to begin with and hadn't been able to reach Eleven immediately, so the first two boars had taken up the fighting space.
During that time, they had clearly seen how their two companions were knocked over by the little fellow who had suddenly turned into a lump of steel.
"Ow-"
At that moment, they had no thought of continuing the fight. Creatures in the wild were very realistic: unless driven into a corner, their first reaction upon meeting a powerful enemy was definitely to run.
However, Eleven had no intention of giving them a chance to escape. He locked onto one Long-Spined Wild Boar as it turned around and fearlessly charged into it, frightening the boar into squealing and jumping as it fled.
"Holy crap."
That was already the third "holy crap" in the safe zone's monitoring room.
The four security officers gathered around the monitor stared at the screen in disbelief and rubbed their eyes hard.
Wait, they... they weren't seeing things, were they???
An Iron-Eating Beast cub had faced four Long-Spined Wild Boars, knocked down two in two exchanges, then scared the other two into fleeing for their lives and chased after them?
He was the very image of a wild boar killer!
"Expert Level Hardening? Who is this examinee?" one security officer suddenly asked, his expression serious.