"Stay here and don't move, if something shows up Sir Howard will warn me." Night Fang said with a voice that brokered no argument before merging in the shadows.
So at the top a small pile of what was once a house Zatu and Sir Howard watched in the distance as Illya fought a massive wolf-looking beast.
Or at least whatever they could see from dozens of meters away.
With the size of a car and filled with scales that glinted in a metallic brown, the creature that was walking towards Unbreon's walls just a moment ago started to circle around itself at fast speeds.
It appeared lost and panicked, like a dog that had forgotten his own tail existed, but Zatu and the black cat at his side knew what it was doing.
The creature was desperately trying to find and atack Night Fang.
A feat that this beast simply didn't have the tools to execute.
From Zatu's knowledge, which is pretty sharp in this area, the beast is a Scaled wolf.
A name that irked Zatu a little, since with its cold blood, metal scales and a reproduction cycle based on eggs made it technically a lizard.
This 'wolf' was of a simple bloodline, with their only blood skills being their though earth type scales and above average physical strength.
Skills that made it a wall in battle, capable of tanking hits like a drunk downs shots, but also with little to none versatility.
The sound of metal colliding echoes from the fight, as a dark green blur jumps out of a shadow and strikes the beast's scales before disappearing once again.
'What is she trying to do?' Zatu watched as the beast went ballistic on the rubble surrounding it.
Till now there had been no hit from Illya that penetrated the creature's skin and from his count the hits already went well over a dozen at this point.
At this point it was clear her atack could not quite penetrate the scales, but was also strong enough for the beast to worry.
'Is she trying to tire it out?' Zatu wondered as another strike fueled the scaled wolf's frenzy.
It could also be that the attacks were working but the wounds were small making them hard for him to see from this distance.
Either way it looked like it would take quite some time to take down the beast.
A situation Zatu was more than pleased to watch unfold.
Another strike rings out and the beast loses it completely.
With a fury it hadn't shown till now it jumps around attacking every shadow that rests nearby.
'Why is it this desperate?' Zatu questions, frowning a little, when suddenly something takes a hold of his shoulders.
"Missed me?" A coquettish voice says in his ear, relieving a bit of his panic but still keeping the hairs on the back of his neck standing.
"Aren't you busy fighting that scaled wolf right now?" He scoffs, looking away to hide his blushing cheeks.
"It's dead already." She states calmly, causing Zatu to give the beast a look.
"Doesn't look dead to me." He raises an eyebrow behind the mask, glancing at the beast as its rampage turns the rubble around it into a cloud of dust.
Illya answers only with a smile, taking the black cat from the ground and standing besides Zatu.
Watching the riot happen in the distance.
When he looked back at the scaled wolf he noticed a shift.
Though its screams echoed loud and its movements looked desperate, the shadow inside the dirt cloud had clearly slowed down.
"What did you do?"
Hearing his answer she giggles and walks forward.
"Come, I'll show you." she answers with a proud smile.
*
Seconds later they reached the 'wolf', now struggling to breath as it lay on its side.
Getting confirmation it was safe to approach the beast from Illya he walked closer.
With each step forward he felt something funny, his mana seemed to be reacting in weird ways to the beast's mana.
His heart skipped a beat as the struggling creature locked eyes on him.
'Is this fear that I feel?' He questioned for a moment before shaking his head.
This feeling of impending doom, of being right at the edge of a cliff and staring down to the bottom was not normal fear, but instead power suppression.
It was his body warning that what lay in front of him could kill him as easily as it breathed.
Thankfully, at this point the scaled wolf could barely even do that.
'It sure feels different from beast corpses.' He noted in his mind, forcing his body to step forward and looking around its scales for any signs of damage.
'So she can penetrate its scales.' He pondered looking closer at a tiny wound from where blood dripped in small drops.
Stepping closer he reaches for it intending to take a drop to smell and taste it, before Illya stops his hand.
"Don't touch it." She states matter of factly, pulling his hand away.
Her grip just firm enough for him to feel the calluses on her palm press against his skin.
"It is fine, scaled wolf blood is safe for both touch and consumption." He argues back, but takes no action to free his wrist from her grasp.
'I wanted to see him baffled a bit more, but who would have thought he lacks a sense of danger so much.'
Illya thinks to herself as a sigh escapes her lips.
"Not this one, not anymore." With her other hand she pulls out a dagger before a vibrant emerald colored mana covers its surface, the same color as her eyes. "I use a poison type of mana, tier 3 poison type mana."
Hearing that cold sweat forms at the back of his head.
He didn't need her to tell him that touching something like that could very well kill him in an instant.
And losing an arm would be a best case scenario, which could be fixed with healing magic…. but would also mean weeks of sitting on his ass waiting for it to grow back.
'Fuck, I'm too used to dealing with pre-cleaned beast bodies.' He reproached himself in his mind.
At the end of the day, training and studying in a controlled environment could only prepare him so much.
"Meow, meow meow meow." Sir Howard stated confidently in Illya's arms, before hissing at the surroundings.
Illya nodded and patted the cat, her glance jumping towards three different directions.
"I know guiding will only officially start tomorrow, but you wanna give it a try today?"
Zatu paused in thought, he knew he shouldn't… but he kinda wanted to.
"Yeah, I'm up for it." He said, as three small scaled wolves appeared from behind the rubble and surrounded him and Illya.
Though small and young for their species their sizes were that of grown german shepherds.
With muscles tense and scales shaking the beasts snarled at them.
Though suppressed by Illya's mere presence their eyes shone with such hostility and anger that almost felt… human.
A thought Zatu squashed down in a matter of moments as he pulled his sword from his sword pouch.
Glancing at the scales on the now completely dead scaled wolf and at the enraged trio of beasts a series of thoughts flashed through his mind.
'Not much stronger than me individually, so young, maybe months of life?'
'Recently born should mean a second large one.'
He glances at Sir Howard, now arching his back on Illya's shoulder, still hissing but nothing compared to the warning it gave in relation to the tier 3.
'Either dead or really far away.' He concludes in his mind as his eyes stare as the young beasts slowly move forward.
Circling, growling and baring their teeth, but not making a move just yet.
'Cautious, they've hunted things before.' Zatu starts to connect with his sword through his sword intent, tensing his leg muscles he prepares to launch himself to the closest one.
Still a small frown full of doubt forms behind the mask.
'There should be more.'
A pack of scaled wolves with a tier 3 as their leader could reach dozens of members… at a minimum.
"How many do you think you can take on?" Illya asks from the side, curious about his self assessment.
Watching intently with those vivid emerald eyes as Zatu's presence shifted greatly once the small beasts appeared.
"All three." He states, though he did not have either the experience or the knowledge to be so sure.
But somewhere deep within his gut there was something that almost whispered in his ear the answer.
That just like he could never win against the dead scaled wolf at the moment, these young beasts could never beat him in a straightforward fight.
"I'll be watching then." Illya says while she gives a nod and merges into his shadow.
His word shifts through the air pointing at the scaly beast in front of him.
Small electric arcs spread through the blade's body as his ears pick up on the sound of rushed steps behind him.
Without Illya as a deterrent the beasts make their move.