Magic Beast: Seven-Headed Demonic Sheep

ROAR!

Several kilometers away from Richard, a bizarre-looking Magic Beast was chasing a group of Wizard Apprentices.

"What the hell is that thing?!" one Wizard Apprentice shouted in panic. He had been resting peacefully in the woods when he suddenly saw a crowd rushing toward him, with a monster following behind them.

"Are you an idiot? That's the Magic Beast the academy put in the examination grounds!" another apprentice roared back.

Before they became apprentices, Magic Beasts had been nothing more than creatures of legend.

According to those legends, Magic Beasts came in countless forms, committed every kind of evil, and killed without number, but in the end, they would always be slain by knights and become the spoils of heroes.

But when these monsters truly stepped out of legend, people realized just how laughable those tales were.

This monstrosity of flesh stood over two meters at the shoulder and stretched over four meters long. With seven heads and eight legs, it could smash an entire squad of knights to death through nothing more than its weight and momentum.

Even more terrifyingly, of the Magic Beast's seven heads, only the central one was that of a sheep. The other six had been sewn on with stitches.

It was an artificial monster.

The stitched-on heads howled madly from the creature's body, spewing acid and fire. Every now and then, they lowered their heads and swallowed nearby apprentices whole.

Apprentices cast spells from time to time, but some lost their aim in their panic, while others were too weak, leaving only fleeting wounds on the Magic Beast's body.

Severed limbs, blood, screams, and roars.

The entire forest seemed like hell brought into the world.

Inside the Central Black Tower of Black Tower Wizard Academy, two wizards stared at the Crystal Ball before them.

The Crystal Ball was broadcasting the scene of the Seven-Headed Demonic Sheep rampaging.

"Vice Dean, the Magic Beasts we released this time worked out well, didn't they? I made every one of them myself—the quality is absolutely guaranteed," one wizard said smugly.

Beside the Crystal Ball, Alex, who was serving as an examiner for the entrance examination, raised his head at those words and adjusted the glasses on his nose.

"Gerald, you made this thing yourself? A lazy bum like you would actually get your hands dirty making such little toys?"

The wizard called Gerald stiffened.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Alex looked at Gerald with a smiling gaze. "Just show me proof that this isn't your apprentice's work, and in the next planar war, I'll serve as your foot soldier."

"A Third-Ring Wizard serving as your foot soldier—I guarantee you'll make a fortune in the next war."

"Cough, cough, cough. Dean, let's just watch the Magic Beast," Gerald coughed twice, casually changing the subject.

"By the way, why did the Dean suddenly decide to alter the examination this year? We did take a loss last time, but we still earned plenty. There's no need to replenish wizards so urgently, is there?"

Vice Dean Alex shook his head. "I don't know either."

Although he was the Dean's deputy, he and the Dean held different opinions on this matter. Black Tower Wizard Academy's standard for graduating wizards had always been better lacking than indiscriminate. Elite cultivation of wizards was the fundamental strategy that had allowed Black Tower Wizard Academy, a new academy established less than an epoch ago, to gain a firm foothold and develop so rapidly.

"But since the Dean has done this, he must have his reasons. He is a Fourth-Ring Great Wizard and can directly receive news from the Truth Council.

"We little wizards only need to quietly follow his will."

As the beast's roars drew closer and closer, Richard's meditation plans were completely ruined.

He climbed a tree, intending to use the moonlight to see what was happening in the distance. But before he could get up there, a dazzling blaze erupted from the nearby woods.

BOOM!

The thunderous explosion was deafening even to Richard, hundreds of meters away.

"Looks like someone used a high-powered magical item. That Magic Beast should have been dealt with."

Richard jumped down from the tree, intending to continue meditating.

But it seemed the heavens were determined to pick a fight with him today. Not long after he landed, that beastly roar, like the howl of a hungry ghost from hell, rang out once more.

And it sounded like it was getting closer and closer.

"Can't even have a moment of peace."

Richard frowned and immediately cast Light Body Technique and Silence Spell on himself.

The Silence Spell was of little use to Richard during the day, but in the dim light of night, this Zero-Ring Spell was practically equivalent to invisibility.

Once the spells were cast, Richard found a bush and hid inside it.

He had no intention of picking up scraps. Though the Magic Beast had been wounded by a magical item, even a rotten ship still had three pounds of nails. As long as he proceeded steadily and carefully, he would definitely pass the entrance examination. There was no need to risk his life over a magical item.

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

The Magic Beast drew ever closer, and its heavy footsteps only strengthened Richard's resolve to hide.

It sounded like a big one. If he failed to kill it in a single strike, he would be in serious trouble.

ROAR!

The Seven-Headed Demonic Sheep burst from the woods. Of the seven heads it had once possessed, only three remained. Where the other four had been, the wounds were charred black, as though they had been blasted apart by bombs.

"So this is the Magic Beast? Why does it look like some kind of experimental specimen?"

Richard looked at the thick stitches beneath the Seven-Headed Demonic Sheep's heads, and a suspicion flashed through his mind.

This Magic Beast might have been nothing more than some wizard's experiment—perhaps even the experiment of a Wizard Apprentice!

If this thing had been made by human hands, then could he use the Miracle Furnace to extract the process used to create Magic Beasts?

If he could, then could he make a Magic Beast like this himself?

A flicker of burning greed flashed through Richard's heart, but his reason stopped him in an instant.

"No need to stir up trouble. I'll pass the exam first."

Richard suppressed his greed and intended to wait quietly for the Magic Beast to leave. But at that moment, one of the three remaining heads of the demonic sheep—a wolf's head—suddenly twitched twice.

A wolf's sense of smell was hundreds of thousands of times sharper than a human's. Even within the odor-choked primeval forest, the scent of humanity on Richard stood out as clearly as the sun.

"Awoo!"

The wolf head let out a howl and strained to turn toward Richard's direction.

"I've been discovered!"

Richard's heart tightened. He immediately took out an intact Magic Stone and replaced the one on the Ice Cone Ring.

The Magic Stone in the ring had been used down to one-fifth by its previous owner, and this Magic Beast was clearly not something a single ice cone could deal with.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Having discovered traces of a human, the Seven-Headed Demonic Sheep immediately charged at Richard. Human flesh and blood were both its most delicious food and its most effective medicine.

The demonic sheep thundered forward.

Its hooves were as large as bowls, its bleats boomed like thunder, earth, stones, and turf flew beneath its feet, while dead branches and fallen leaves danced in the wake of its cries.

It was like the Eight-legged Pegasus of myth—unstoppable and unmatched.

But then, with a boom, the demonic sheep suddenly lost its balance and plunged headfirst into the ground. Its massive body plowed out a strip of bare earth like a bulldozer.

Two ice cones, each over a meter long and as thick as an arm, had forcibly severed both its front legs.

Thump, thump, thump, thump...

Richard clutched his chest. Under the surge of adrenaline, his heart hammered like a war drum, and blood roared through his veins like a crashing flood.

If he had been even one second slower—just one second—he would already have died in the demonic sheep's jaws.

And this was a severely wounded Magic Beast. If it had not been badly injured, Richard did not dare imagine how terrifying it would have been.

Richard steadied himself and fired another ice cone, splitting open the only head on the demonic sheep that bore no stitches as it tried to rise.

The demonic sheep's body convulsed for a while before finally falling still.

"It's finally dead."

Richard carefully stepped forward. After confirming that the demonic sheep was completely dead, he placed his hand on it.

But the result was deeply disappointing.

The Miracle Furnace showed no reaction whatsoever to this Magic Beast.

"Was I wrong?"

Richard frowned slightly. After thinking for a moment, he drew the Magic Dagger from his waist and cut open the demonic sheep's belly.

Empowered by magic, the dagger cut through iron as though it were mud. As Richard opened its stomach and tore through its abdomen, he felt no resistance at all.

As the demonic sheep's belly was split open, a pool of foul-smelling bloody fluid immediately poured out.

The organs and glands inside its body were rotting at a visible rate.

Looking at the thick, black, putrid blood, Richard gritted his teeth and reached into the demonic sheep's abdomen without caring about anything else.

When his hand touched something that was still beating, the Miracle Furnace finally trembled.

[Material: Low-Level Synthetic Beast Core]

[Extractable Skill: Low-Level Synthetic Beast Core Crafting]

[Extraction Cost: 15 Spiritual Power]

[Extract?]

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