Chapter 21: A Brother’s Responsibility
“Unlike Corrosive Hounds, Exploding Arrow Porcupines prefer to travel alone and look for food in stores.”
Austin remembered the introduction to the Exploding Arrow Porcupine in the manual.
The entire town was a giant treasure trove for Austin where his cells could evolve more.
However, in reality, at Austin’s current level, the improvement from the low-level beasts was minimal.
Although low-level beasts were powerful, they might not be as magical as insect-type magical beasts, water illusion bugs, or Green-tailed Mantis Shrimps.
Austin found another abandoned store.
The dust at the door was thick, the shutters were spoiled, the glass shattered, and some footprints were on the floor.
“There should be vicious beasts inside. I’ll go in this time. Catherine, stay on guard here and be careful.”
Austin said to his sister.
Catherine nodded with her dagger in hand.
Even though she was by her brother’s side, she had learned to be vigilant at all times, ready to enter battle mode at any time.
Austin walked into the shop alone.
The lighting in the store was dim, and most of the shelves had collapsed. All kinds of goods were scattered on the ground, covered in thick dust.
If there was something not broken in the store, it must be a magick surveillance camera.
However, there were so many magick surveillance cameras in Vicious Beast Town that the control center’s main control panel could not always watch every one of them.
Austin flicked his finger, and a sharp gust of wind shot out and shattered the camera.
Strands of invisible wind surrounded his body as he controlled the wind and the air.
With every step he took, a mild wind would blow the dust on the ground.
With his super perceptive ability and night vision, Austin was able to see through the darkness like it was daytime.
Soon, he found an Exploding Arrow Porcupine in the corner of the store. It was about the size of a calf and was eating a loaf of moldy bread.
The moment the stranger arrived, the arrow porcupine immediately let out a threatening snort as its soft spikes stood up.
Austin twirled the five fingers of his right hand and played with the delicate magic fire canister. He was in no hurry to attack.
The sharp spikes on the arrow porcupine’s body hardened, like the tail of a rattlesnake, as it shook intensely.
“Puff ~”
Suddenly, Austin unlocked the magic seal on the magic pot.
A cluster of flames shot out from the magic pot.
“Gasp!”
The arrow porcupine seemed to be under threat as the spikes on its back shot out.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
An adult Exploding Arrow Porcupine could grow close to 30,000 sharp spikes on its back, and shooting out more than half of them at once was extremely terrifying.
Austin was unmoved by the rain of arrows fired by the Exploding Arrow Porcupine. He pushed his left hand forward.
Air Control!
An invisible shield formed in front of Austin.
The oncoming rain of arrows hit the shelves with clattering sounds.
In the dark, there were even dazzling sparks.
Some of the bottles were smashed into pieces by the spikes.
However, when the dense rain of arrows arrived in front of Austin. It was as if they had fallen into a swamp as their speed decreased and finally stopped in midair.
This air shield was like a transparent mirror filled with spikes.
At the place where the needles pierced, thin cracks extended out.
The air shield in front of Austin was like a broken porcelain bottle. It was full of cracks, but it did not shatter.
“When the ability to control air reaches Lv2, I can create an air shield with a decent defense. It’s pretty good, a little like the advanced wind magic spells.”
Austin muttered to himself.
He was still experimenting with his new moves.
The air shield was similar yet different from the advanced wind magic technique of a tier-two magister.
The advanced wind magic spell of a tier-two magister consumed magic power.
Austin’s air shield did not need to consume anything.
As long as there was air, Austin could continuously mobilize the air to create an air shield!
In theory, as long as Austin’s ability to control air was high enough, it would not be a problem for him to condense an entire atmosphere!
Austin walked over to the Exploding Arrow Porcupine.
The porcupine continued to shoot out the spikes on its body, but they were all blocked by Austin’s air wall.
Austin’s eyes widened, and a great sense of intimidation erupted off him.
The Exploding Arrow Porcupine trembled as it lay on the ground.
Austin reached out and touched the porcupine.
“Ding! The host has come into contact with the Exploding Arrow Porcupine. Cell evolution. Obtained ability: Fur Hardening, Needle Rain!”
A moment later.
Seeing Austin walking out, Catherine welcomed him joyfully.
“Austin, what kind of vicious beast is inside?”
“An Exploding Arrow Porcupine.”
Austin passed the tracking device to Catherine.
An hour later, the siblings crossed several streets and hunted more low-level vicious beasts.
They also encountered some powerful apprentice magisters.
A magister named Earl used the Violent Wind Saber Art. As the autumn wind swept away the fallen leaves, the force of the saber killed the steel saber bull.
An apprentice magister named Kei killed the silverback gray wolf with one punch.
There was also the marksman, Foster, who was hiding in high ground. He used a specialized Magical Heavy Sniper Gun and shot a low-level beast in the head.
To further sharpen Catherine’s skills, Austin provoked three Shadow Cats to fight Catherine.
Shadow Cats were not strong, but they were extremely fast and agile.
As it was so quick when jumping around, it could leave behind afterimages. Hence, it was named Shadow Cat.
For some reason, Hika paid extra attention to Austin.
She made the surveillance operator find the footage of the siblings.
After watching Catherine battling the three Shadow Cats, Hika exclaimed that Austin was a freak.
It was a little strict, but the benefits were obvious.
Catherine’s movements and swordsmanship had also advanced by leaps and bounds in this battle of life and death.
Austin had trained Catherine’s level-two movement technique from an ordinary magic academy almost to the refinement stage.
It was late at night.
It was a chilling autumn night in the town in the wilderness.
A silver-backed gray wolf stood on the roof of a mall, howling at the moon that looked like a white jade plate.
There was something that Cass had not lied about as a lot of vicious beasts had the habit of hunting at night.
That was why Vicious Beast Town was especially dangerous at night.
Typically, no matter if it was a hunting team that had experienced hundreds of battles or an apprentice magister who had just killed a vicious beast for the first time, they would choose to hide and lay low for the night.
A dilapidated house.
Austin closed the rusty door, retrieved his sleeping bag from his travel bag, and laid it out on the floor.
The bed was rotting, and the blanket there would collapse with a touch. It was so thick that it looked like it snowed.
“You should sleep first, Catherine.”
Austin said.