The black blade sliced through the neck of the hybrid beast without much difficulty. The creature's head fell to the ground with a thud, and blood gushed from its severed neck. The monster's corpse collapsed to the ground with Tristan still on its back.
Tristan stood up and began straightening his clothes and cleaning the dirt off his body.
He let out a subtle and almost imperceptible sigh of relief at his successful plan.
Taking advantage of the fact that the senior apprentice was keeping the creature occupied, he used his Shadow Aura ability to slip away silently and climbed onto the balcony of a nearby house to surprise the creature, striking its weak point.
He wrinkled his nose and furrowed his brow as he pondered something.
"Impossible!" Xiao Mei said, causing Tristan to look at her.
She was staring at the corpse of the monster near him.
The terrifying creature that had almost defeated a Third Flying Dao apprentice had just been taken down by a mere Second Dao apprentice like her.
Mei looked at him as if he were crazy. She had no idea where he'd found the courage to jump on the back of a monster that could kill him with a single blow.
She saw Tristan grab and wield his training sword. She took a step back, thinking for a second that he might use it on her, but then he crouched down and pierced the spot between the beast's chest and abdomen. Her eyes widened in understanding.
"How can you think about that at a time like this?"
His response was a shrug.
He inserted two fingers into the wound and began searching for the core. After a few seconds, he pulled out an orange gem from the corpse, inside of which an energy in the shape of mist swirled in circles.
"A Mist Orange? All that effort for a simple Mist Orange?" Xiao Mei said.
She glanced at her senior, thinking about why Ai Wen had had such difficulty facing that monster. She knew that as a Third Dao apprentice, her senior should have already reached the orange core.
She wondered if it was simply due to the difference in mass or if the beasts' techniques were far superior to those her sect used.
As Tristan held the orange core, Ai Wen's hand moved toward the gem, grabbed it, and slipped it into her pocket without saying a word.
She looked at the beast's corpse and clicked her tongue in irritation.
Then she looked at Tristan and spoke in a challenging tone.
"What?"
He merely stared at her blankly.
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Losing interest in him, she turned her gaze away.
Ai Wen raised her head and looked toward the rooftops. Tristan looked in the same direction but noticed nothing unusual. He glanced at Xiao Mei and saw a frightened expression on her face.
"Did something happen?" he asked Mei.
"I... I hear something... something is coming from the rooftops," she replied, stammering.
Tristan gripped his training sword tightly and waited for whatever was coming next.
Small shadowy figures leaped from the rooftops of the surrounding houses toward them.
One, two, six, eight... Tristan began counting.
"Eleven, eleven damn beasts."
The creatures that had just arrived were eleven beasts similar to the hybrid creature they'd faced, with the only difference being that they were much smaller, roughly the height of an adult man's leg.
"Why... why are they here?" Mei's question wasn't directed at anyone in particular; she was just questioning the reason for her current situation.
Tristan grabbed his training sword.
Ai Wen clicked her tongue and said, "Are those damn sentries asleep or what?"
She rushed toward the monsters, yellow light particles swirling with the wind around her body.
Tristan grabbed his training sword.
He decided to use his sword in this battle to conserve some essence.
His eyes briefly passed over the senior apprentice, who seemed on the verge of collapsing at any moment. 'That spinning attack from the monster really took its toll. She should be able to stand for a few more moments with the life energy she has left.'
Then he looked at his classmate.
He had expected her to remain frightened and downcast, but what he saw instead was a slight spark of determination. She gripped her sword firmly as she stared at the creatures with a serious expression.
Xiao Mei's eyes met Tristan's for a moment, and he noticed her lips tighten slightly before she quickly turned her face away.
'It seems she wants to use this as an opportunity to prove herself. Well, whatever, as long as it motivates her to help in the fight.'
He raised his sword and ran toward three beasts in front of him. Using the swordsmanship knowledge he had learned within the sect over the past few months, combined with amateur footwork he was still developing, the battle was strangely balanced.
Those creatures were extremely agile, and their claws were as sharp as the finest swords he had ever seen.
In confusion, he thought, 'Aren't they too strong for mere beasts?' He hadn't seen any evidence that these creatures could control essence, but he found their performance surprisingly good.
The combat lasted for a few minutes, and Tristan's group emerged victorious, though the marks of a tough fight were visible on their bodies.
Ai Wen was barely standing, and Mei was breathing heavily.
Now that the conflict was over, Tristan turned his head toward a sound he'd heard during the fight but had decided to ignore it to focus on his battle. In a finely crafted window adorned with intricate details made by talented artisans, a person dressed in elegant clothing watched him and his group. But when Tristan observed his surroundings, he realized that several people were also watching the scene from the rooftops of their houses.
From the looks on their faces, they were clearly shocked to see beasts here.
'This event will probably stir things up on this side of the city.'
image [https://i.imgur.com/CJALaUN.png]
When they returned to the city gate, other apprentices were already there. Xiao Ning, Jaeng, and another senior apprentice were waiting for the others to return.
From the wounds on their bodies, it was easy to deduce that they had also been attacked.
After talking, Tristan learned that the group had been luckier than his; they hadn't encountered any magical beasts, only ordinary ones. Their wounds were superficial and would heal soon, unlike Ai Wen's deep injuries, which would render her unable to fight properly for a long time.
Tristan and the others rested and recovered from their injuries.
But even after a long rest, the other group had still not arrived. The time the third team was taking to return suggested that they might have had worse luck than them.
'With two senior apprentices, that group should be the strongest. What could they have encountered to delay them this long?'