Starting With an SSS-Rank Swordsmanship Talent

Chapter 113: Owen’s Timely Arrival

”Letʼs go with Formation B!” Renante could only hope that his teammates could perform their respective roles.

They had trained to fight in different formations before and each individual had a crucial role. A slight error could destroy their formation.

The Blue-ringed White Puma growled at them. Its legs were taut as if it was prepared take action at any second.

Renante stared deeply at the creature. He didnʼt dare blink his eyes, afraid that he would miss its attack.

There wasnʼt anyone in his team who could follow the beastʼs movements, not even him.

Formation B focuses on defense, but there are two sides that are intentionally left open to serve as bait.

Since they couldnʼt match its speed, they could only try to predict its action.

With its natural instincts, it will definitely attack the sides that are left open. My job is to predict where it will go.

Renante took a deep breath as he narrowed his eyes.

After a few seconds of deadlock, the puma finally lost patience and pounced at their formation with a growl.

Growl!

Its figure blurred as it rushed towards them in a flash.

”Left hole, sword out!” Renante shouted almost instantly.

One of his teammates stuck his sword to the left opening upon hearing his commands.

By some stroke of luck, the swordʼs blade stabbed into the pumaʼs paws, making it whimper in pain. However, the force of its claws still broke their formation apart and the shield bearer who took most of the damage crashed into the ground with a ʼbangʼ.

Bang!

In its rage, the puma swiped its claws sending half of Renanteʼs group flying into the air, leaving deep claw marks on their bodies.

When the enemy is too strong, no amount of strategy can stop them.

Renante thought bitterly when he saw the creature destroy their formation like it was nothing.

Just when the beast was about to attack the remaining half of Renanteʼs team, a figure suddenly appeared to block its path.

”Instructor Owen!”

The traineesʼ eyes flashed with relief when they saw this man appear.

”Go tend to the wounded. Leave this monster to me.” Owen instructed with a stern voice as he pulled the sword tied to his waist.

In the next moment, Owen and the Blue-ringed White Puma engaged in a fierce battle.

Bang! Bang!

”So thatʼs how powerful Knights are when they are serious,” Renante muttered in awe as he watched Owen fight the puma without being at a disadvantage.

They had been taught that monsters at the Fatal-grade were mostly more powerful than Knights. However, their instructor seemed to have the upper hand and he even managed to land a few hits on the puma.

Instructor Owen is not an ordinary Knight.

This was everyoneʼs thought as they watched the battle unfold.

After more than a minute, Owenʼs sword slashed into the pumaʼs neck, causing a spray of blood that left the creature severely wounded.

It swayed awkwardly as it tried to escape, but Owen stabbed straight into his heart and killed the creature immediately.

After killing the puma, Owen made a cut on its body and dug into the creatureʼs chest.

A few seconds later, he found its beast soul crystal and pulled it out from its corpse.

”Are you guys alright?” Owen turned his head over to Renanteʼs group.

”Everyone is alive, sir, but one needs immediate medical attention,” Renante reported with a grim look. He felt that he was responsible for his teammatesʼ injuries.

Owen approached him and tapped his shoulder. ”Donʼt blame yourself. You did the right thing. If not for your instructions, some of your teammates would have died.”

His words comforted Renante.

”Patch up the wounded. We will return to the estate once the other groups are here.” Owen uttered.

The four groups had mostly eliminated the wild beasts and monsters that had crossed the periphery of the Evergreen Forest so it could be said that they had already accomplished their mission.

The remaining wild beasts would be taken care of by the local hunters and wandering warriors.

The death of the Blue-ringed White Puma marked the end of the traineesʼ first mission.

Soon, the medical personnel on standby at the entrance of the town arrived to provide treatment to the injured trainees.

At this moment, Renante was watching the doctors administer treatment to his teammates.

”Itʼs not your fault, Renante. No one here is blaming you. In fact, Iʼm sure everyone is thankful that you are our leader. It would have been pure chaos if you werenʼt there.” His injured teammate chuckled while grimacing in pain.

Hearing this, Renante forced a smile. ”You guys better heal up soon if you donʼt want the others to overtake you.” He jokingly said.

While the injured trainees were being treated, Owen and Arthur exchanged viewpoints about the four groupsʼ performance.

”How is Renanteʼs team?” Arthur asked.

He had sensed the fluctuation of mana when the Blue-ringed White Puma appeared, but he didnʼt go to the location since he knew that Owen was there.

However, he felt a bit regretful that he didnʼt see the action.

”They are doing fine. One of them broke his arms, but he should recover in a few weeks.” Owen replied.

He then took out the beast soul crystal and handed it to Arthur.

”By the way, sir. I got this from the monsterʼs body. What should we do with it?”

Arthur inspected the crystal before giving it back to him. ”You killed it so it should naturally belong to you. However, those kids managed to wound the creature so you must give them a little something.”

Owen nodded. ”I will report this to Lord Alaric. I also believe that they deserve to be rewarded for their excellent performance.”

He had seen Renanteʼs team fight the Blue-ringed White Puma. With Renanteʼs strategy, they were even able to wound the monster.

”Then letʼs do that.” Arthur nodded in agreement.

Half an hour later, they all returned to the estate to report the situation to Alaric.