Chapter 243: Dragon Breath, Heavenly Fire

Caw—

The sharp and ear-piercing cry of a bird echoed in the cold and humid air.

Yellowish-brown down feathers drifted away, and the eagle eyes, which should have been filled with the sharpness and coldness unique to avian predators, were now incomparably flustered.

This was a High Cliff Shijiu that had just reached adulthood not long ago.

As a variant of the monster species "Shijiu," its body size was significantly smaller than those relatives commonly seen in the sky above forests and plains.

But the strange body structure, which was like a combination of a "Giant Eagle" and a "Lion," still endowed it with the advantages of both creatures, becoming a terrifying predator that made countless ordinary creatures look on with fear.

The curved and sharp bird beak and iron-hook-like claws could easily pierce through steel, and the eagle eyes, which were like high-altitude telescopes, and the huge wings with a wingspan of nearly ten meters, allowed it to see the prey on the ground clearly even from several thousand meters in the air.

And under the wings and head, the lion-like sturdy body structure also made it possess attack and movement capabilities far exceeding ordinary animals even when on all fours, so it wouldn't be like common birds that could only flap their wings and jump around on the ground like ground chickens once they fell from the air.

This creature, which had a shoulder height of 1.5 meters, a body length of more than three meters, and a wingspan even wider than the main roads of some small towns.

Even without a detailed introduction, just looking at its "Lion" and "Eagle" combined appearance, it was enough to judge its identity as a top predator.

And the facts were indeed so; a challenge rating as high as "2" was enough for it to include 95% of the creatures on the ground into its dinner plate.

Its preference for cattle, sheep, and horse-like animals made it the most disgusting thing in the eyes of countless herders, second only to the kingdom's harsh taxes.

But right now, this powerful creature, which should have been curled up safely in its nest on a towering cliff to tidy its feathers when the rain fell; or soaring in the sky as a predator to search for prey.

Was like a drowning person who couldn't swim, a fish on the shore.

Its limbs struggled and twitched, and a pair of huge wings flapped flusteredly in the air.

As if it had lost its instinctual ability to fly in an instant.

And the reason... probably came from the circle upon circle of chaotic and disorderly airflow around its body.

——Transmutation School · Cantrip (Zero-ring) · Wind Servant

That harmless spell, which should only have made leaves rustle and doors and windows creak, was manipulated by a mage who had mastered many spellcasting-related feats and had Transcendent-level spell experience.

It directly caused a powerful monster with a challenge rating of "2" to lose its proud ability to fly.

"Thump."

With an unstable center of gravity, the Shijiu, which was like an emergency landing, fell heavily to the ground, carrying the down feathers drifting around it.

The strong impact caused its limbs to sink deeply into the soil.

It cried out angrily, its hind legs kicked the ground, and it hadn't had time to pull its two eagle-claw-like forelimbs out of the ground.

Beside its ear, a scorching whistling sound had already erupted.

Caw hum—

A high-pitched and long wolf howl, mixed with the shrill sharp sound of a sharp blade tearing through the air, whistled past with the surging wind behind it.

A phantom Winter Wolf with iron-gray fangs and swaying mane flashed by in the air.

"Slash."

It was the sluggish sound of a sharp blade cutting through flesh and blood.

The eagle cry stopped abruptly.

Replacing it was the eye-catching fresh blood gushing from the broken neck, and the giant eagle head that flew high and rotated as it fell.

The phantom wolf head made of broken leaves and branches dissipated silently.

Xia Nan stood still in place, blood beads remaining on the surface of the decapitation longsword in his hand.

Behind him, the Shijiu's sturdy body slowly fell to the ground amidst the sound of gushing blood.

In front of him, semi-transparent characters flashed quietly:

"Proficiency +1"

"【Tooth Hunter】 level 4: (52/100)"

Long before this escort mission started, during the two months after killing the beast-kin girl and the drow half-elf, the upgrade progress of 【Tooth Hunter】 had already approached halfway.

After leaving River Valley Town with Haian, Wood, and the others, because of the relationship with the teammates around him, and because there were no battles on the road, the speed of acquiring proficiency dropped significantly.

Until now, the upgrade progress bar was only a little over fifty points.

Speaking of which, 【Tooth Hunter】 combat technique from level 3 to level 4 did not provide him with precious attribute points like it did from level 2 to level 3 before.

It only gained a certain degree of improvement in combat technique proficiency, power, and operational efficiency.

This just happened to prove his previous guess.

For a combat technique of the quality of 【Tooth Hunter】, its key nodes should be "level 1," "level 3," and "level 5," representing "Beginner," "Proficient," and "Mastered" respectively.

The "level 2" and "level 4" in the middle are transitions with relatively weak effects.

If there are no accidents, when Xia Nan raises the proficiency of 【Tooth Hunter】 to level 5 in the near future, and at the same time his professional level also reaches level 2 on its own.

He will likely be able to obtain quite good attribute point gains.

Considering that 【Circle Slash】 gave him a total of two points in strength and agility, 【Tooth Hunter】 will only have more, not less.

"Didn't they say that the vicinity is the territory of that Red Dragon, how come there are still monsters like Griffins?"

Beside him, the Dragonborn Sawa walked over quickly, the flame light condensed on the surface of the thin sword in her hand gradually dissipating.

Although she complained like this, her lizard-like vertical pupils couldn't stop glancing at Xia Nan.

She had underestimated the strength of this black-haired young man.

Although they had been in the same team for dozens of days, and her fairly rich experience in recognizing people and a certain perception ability also allowed her to vaguely perceive the other party's strength the first time she saw Xia Nan.

But after all, they hadn't experienced any decent battles, and for this young man who was too young, she ultimately held a skeptical attitude in her heart.

Right now, all the doubts and speculations were swept away.

Sawa clearly knew the difficulty of monsters like "Shijiu."

A long time ago, when she had just become a professional, she had encountered one.

The body size was slightly larger than the one in front of her, and the caravan she was responsible for escorting paid the price of three professionals and two transport horses to drive it away.

Of course, it sounded better to say "drive away," but in reality, it was just that the other party had completed the hunt and left on its own.

Now her strength was different from the past; she was no longer a novice who had just obtained a professional level, and she didn't have the confidence to retreat unscathed, let alone defeat and kill an adult Shijiu in a head-on battle.

But now...

Her gaze swept inadvertently over the Shijiu's head that had rolled to the ground and the smooth cut on its neck.

Even though Weirouer's spell caused the Shijiu to lose its most annoying ability to fly, and it could only fight with a few people on the ground.

But the speed and explosive power displayed by the black-haired young man in an instant just now had completely exceeded the scope of a novice professional.

At this moment, Sawa even substituted herself into the position of that Shijiu in her heart.

If the person standing on the field just now was her, could she have blocked that sword?

Before she had time to think more, Wood's voice came from beside her:

"Well done!" ===== CHAPTER 244 =====