She Is Not a Witch

Pullman swept his sword through thorns and underbrush as he made his way through the forest. Unlike Loranhil, who moved effortlessly through the woods, he had to forge his own path, occasionally climbing rocks using both hands and feet.

Since becoming Supernatural Sequence 2, his stamina had greatly increased, and his strength had grown considerably. Traversing the mountains no longer tired him.

After half a day’s journey, he reached the location the girl had indicated.

Moss-covered slanted rocks led to a cave below, where underground water flowed out. The dragon blood bat was likely inside.

Pullman first cleared away nearby stones to avoid tripping during battle. Then he pulled down and secured some tree branches to create small enclosed spaces, which would hinder the bat’s evasion or at least provide cover from rear attacks.

Finally, he gathered dry branches and leaves, placed them at the cave entrance, and lit them to drive smoke into the cave, hoping to flush out the bat.

As wisps of smoke rose, Pullman stood to the side of the cave opening, sword in both hands, fully alert and listening carefully, ready to strike hard as soon as the bat emerged.

After a while, just as Pullman’s focus began to waver, gusts of wind from inside the cave dispersed the thick smoke.

Here it comes.

Pullman’s fingers tightened on the sword hilt.

A black shape shot out of the cave at high speed. Without time to clearly see the magical beast, Pullman swung his sword in a diagonal slash from left to right.

The black shape screeched, its sharp cry making Pullman dizzy as it rapidly ascended into the sky.

Damn it!

The black shape flew so fast that Pullman had only managed a shallow cut on its back, failing to seriously wound it.

From a distant large tree, Loranhil observed the developments as if watching a live-action movie.

The bat’s information appeared before her eyes:

Species: Modified Bat

Status: Injured (Light wound)

Sequence: Demon Sequence 3 · Dragon Blood Bat (Overall rating: Flawed Bronze grade)

Talents:

[Blood Wings] (Outstanding): Extremely fast flight ability, but with a flaw – prolonged high-intensity flight causes wing blood vessels to rupture.

[Ultrasonic Perception] (Normal): Can perceive environment using sound waves, unhindered by darkness or fog.

Abilities:

[Poison Fangs] (Excellent): Jet-black fangs with decay poison, causing strong paralysis and various hard-to-treat viral infections.

[Blood Sucking] (Excellent): Can replenish strength and heal itself by drinking other creatures’ blood.

[Wind-Splitting Flight] (Outstanding): Ability to split air currents during flight, greatly reducing air resistance and enhancing flight speed. (Blood Wings -1, originally a Rare ability, but due to the talent’s flaw, only reaches Outstanding grade)

Skills: [Air Slash] (Normal): Tears through air to form blades.

Loranhil recalled Trina’s records. The dragon blood bat was a failed creation of the True Red Empire around 6300 of the First Era.

This species was originally developed to mimic the flight ability of Dragon Sequence 6 · Wind-Splitting Giant Dragon, intended for scouting and message delivery in prolonged wars. The empire’s opponent, the Beast-men’s Wild Wind Empire, had many winged tribes, putting the empire at a great disadvantage in reconnaissance.

Unfortunately, it failed. The dragon blood bat’s wings couldn’t withstand the strain of wind-splitting flight, and the empire eventually abandoned further development in this direction.

So if Pullman could persist in a prolonged fight with the bat, its speed would eventually decrease.

However, the young man lacked the patience to wait. His current thought was that his teacher must be watching from afar, and he had to show his most excellent and powerful side by defeating the enemy swiftly and cleanly.

He shouted loudly to attract the bat’s attention, luring it towards the area he had prepared earlier.

The black bat screeched sharply in the air, then dove down in a great arc, reaching Pullman in the blink of an eye, almost silently.

Its speed was too fast to react. Pullman hadn’t reached his intended position and could only respond hastily, thrusting his sword upward diagonally.

Sharp claws scraped against the black blade, producing sparks. Pullman barely managed to parry the poisonous fangs, preventing them from biting him.

However, the foul stench hit him full in the face, making him dizzy.

Not good, this stench is poisonous.

Pullman realized the danger and retreated, his back against a large tree, only then searching for the bat’s silhouette.

The bat circled overhead for a while before diving again. As it traced a rapid arc through the air, several wind blades accompanied its wing beats, shooting towards Pullman.

This disrupted Pullman’s rhythm. With limited combat experience and lacking Loranhil’s precise perception and movement, he could only block a few crucial wind blades, immediately sustaining injuries.

“How weak,” Loranhil mused, sitting on a distant tree branch with her hands propping up her head, watching her foolish student fight clumsily.

Is it because I taught poorly? She began to doubt herself.

In truth, while not a genius, Pullman had progressed remarkably fast for someone who had never systematically studied and was previously a malnourished poor boy.

In just three short months, learning various subjects daily while finding time to practice swordsmanship, he had improved rapidly. In the current Western Wind Kingdom, he would be considered a rare young talent for his age group.

However, Loranhil, trained by a witch of the Mercury Dynasty and possessing terrifying talents herself, simply had too high standards.

After several exchanges, Pullman began to grasp the giant bat’s patterns and stabilized his footing. He continuously adjusted his position and direction, gradually wearing down the bat’s stamina while luring it towards his prepared location.

After circling for some time, the dragon blood bat’s wings began to redden, and its speed decreased slightly. As it dove down again, Pullman gripped his sword with one hand and swept horizontally. The dragon blood bat dodged by rolling to the side. At that moment, Pullman’s left fist, held at his waist, suddenly struck out, hitting the bat and knocking it into the prepared web of tree branches.

The bat couldn’t turn in time and crashed into the tangle of branches. However, its wings were made of tough flesh and weren’t seriously injured. It could have adjusted its posture and taken flight again after a brief tumble.

But Pullman wouldn’t give it that chance. He grabbed one of its wings, ignoring the claws that left bloody scratches on his arm. With his right hand holding the sword, he thrust it into the bat’s chest, pinning it to the tree trunk.

The dragon blood bat struggled briefly, blood flowing freely, before slowly dying.

Wiping sweat from his brow, Pullman finally felt the pain of his wounds. Grimacing, he opened his clothes, took out the water pouch from his pack, cleaned his wounds, and bandaged them before finally sighing in relief and sitting on a rock to rest.

“A bit rough, wasn’t it?” Loranhil’s voice came from above.

Pullman looked up to see the girl’s figure slowly floating down from the sky, landing beside the bat.

Streams of light particles flew out from the bat’s body, continuously condensing until finally, a beautiful red jewel appeared in her hand.

[Blood Red Jewel] (Perfect Black Iron grade): Perfectly preserved most of its power during collection, gaining a boost, but limited by the original core’s flaws, it could only be downgraded to Black Iron grade.