The Cornflower Witch Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Giant Wild Boar in the Forest

Perhaps the food they brought was too good, or they had ventured too deep into the forest. As the group rested in the shade of a tree, a snorting sound came from the distant bushes, growing closer and closer.

Such unconcealed movement naturally attracted the attention of the five. They stood up and quickly discovered that what emerged from the woods was a gray-brown wild boar.

“About 400 catties,” Mick licked his lips, excitement in his eyes.

“I’ll handle it,” he said, stopping Kaelen and Hylial who were preparing to shoot arrows.

“Okay,” Hylial put down her longbow.

With permission and approval, Mick took his sword and stealthily approached, careful not to startle it.

Soon, under the gaze of the others, Mick got close to the wild boar, then suddenly leaped up, using several tree trunks to propel himself in the air, avoiding the complex and rugged stones and branches below, and thrusting his sword directly at the wild boar.

Startled, the wild boar frantically tried to turn and escape, but its four hooves slipped, preventing it from immediately regaining its balance. Instead, it stumbled to the ground, losing its footing.

Seizing this excellent opportunity, Mick thrust his sword diagonally into the wild boar’s side neck, directly piercing its trachea.

Upon being attacked, the wild boar struggled desperately. Even Mick couldn’t control the force of a 400-catty beast and had to avoid it for a moment. With its trachea damaged, the wild boar bled profusely, running deeper into the forest.

“It won’t get far,” Mick quickly followed, with the others close behind.

They pursued the tenacious wild boar through the forest, and it was more than ten minutes later when it finally collapsed from exhaustion.

“Phew, this guy finally died,” Komia said, indicating that hunting was exhausting.

“How are we going to get such a big wild boar back?” Hylial pressed her finger to her chin, feeling it was a tricky situation.

“Mick and Lei will just have to drag it,” Kaelen thought.

“We’ll probably need to put something underneath to reduce friction,” she now understood some basic physics.

The group walked towards the dead wild boar, ready to process their prey.

“No,” Hylial suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong, Lia?” Komia asked, puzzled.

“Things aren’t good,” the girl in the black hunting skirt gripped her longbow, her gaze fixed on one side of the forest.

Sure enough, not long after she spoke, a heavy thudding sound approached, accompanied by the crashing of breaking trees.

“What is that?” Kaelen also noticed the anomaly.

“Let’s go!” Hylial warned, urging everyone to leave quickly.

The group also realized something was wrong and began to retreat, but before they could run far, a gigantic wild boar suddenly burst out of the woods and into their sight.

This enormous wild boar had coarse, dense bristles and was as tall as an elephant Hylial remembered, weighing perhaps several tons. Its two long tusks protruded, covered in mud and grass, and with a simple shake, it knocked down trees and flung up stones in its path.

When the massive wild boar spotted the deceased ‘small’ wild boar in the clearing, its eyes turned red, and it let out a low growl. A surge of hot air escaped its mouth, like a steam whistle.

“Oh no, that wild boar earlier might have been its baby,” Komia cried out.

“A 400-catty baby is indeed quite small,” Mick retorted.

“There’s no point talking about that now. I killed the boar, so I’ll distract it. You all get away quickly.”

“No, it’s too dangerous for you alone. This is an awakened beast,” Kaelen stopped him.

Awakened Beast: If a wild beast awakens a first-order aspect, it is called an Awakened Beast, often because such beasts possess powerful tusks or sharp teeth.

—

Species: Wild Boar (Mutated)

Status: Healthy (Enraged)

Talents:

– Thick Hide [Good Grade]: Tough and thick hide, can be coated with resin or mud to further enhance defense. A common talent for porcine creatures.

Aspect Card: [Giant Wild Boar] (First-Order · Beast Fang)

‘A wild beast in the mountains, under an unexpected opportunity, awakened the power of its inherent aspect and gradually grew stronger, until it fully transformed into an Awakened Beast.’

– Effect [Sturdy Physique Lv.2]: The power of the ‘Beast Fang’ aspect awakens within, comprehensively strengthening bone integrity and muscle power, allowing it to support a powerful physique. This brute force is the lingering glory of past land dominators.

Ability Card: –

[Long Tusks Lv.3] (Beast Fang): Possesses powerful long tusks far exceeding those of ordinary wild beasts, capable of breaking trees and rivaling large stones. They can independently solidify and regenerate. (Most beastly creatures acquire abilities related to fangs/horns/claws, which originate from the instinctive ‘Beast Fang’ aspect flowing in their bloodline.) –

[Bristly Thick Hide Lv.3] (Beast Fang): An instinct awakened in the porcine bloodline, greatly enhancing the toughness and defensive power of the epidermis, making it resistant to crossbow bolts and impervious to common sword cuts.

—

Although both it and the Red Wolf Hylial had encountered were first-order beasts, she clearly felt that the giant wild boar in front of her was even more terrifying. Especially its mountain-like figure, when this wild boar started running, she felt a tremor and vibration beneath her feet.

This was trouble, the girl thought to herself. She wanted a formidable opponent to practice with, but this wild boar was clearly beyond her limits. She suspected that her short sword at her waist wouldn’t even be able to breach its defense and would be easily snapped like a matchstick by this wild boar.

“Hmph—”

The giant boar exerted its strength, its front hooves, thicker than Hylial herself, pawed the ground, advancing like a towering mountain, knocking down all sorts of trees and obstacles in its path.

The five had to hastily evade, avoiding its charge path, and ran back the way they came.

The good news was that they did run faster than the boar; the bad news was, not by much.

The boar’s relentless charge didn’t give them a moment’s rest or pause.

Hylial, at this point, was also holding her longbow, swiftly moving through the forest, constantly thinking of countermeasures.

To be honest, they currently lacked the strength to face this giant boar head-on. Their only options were to either find an opportunity to completely escape or continuously search for weak points to wound the wild boar.

Its thick hide could deflect most attacks. Their only chance was the giant boar’s eyes, but hitting a giant boar’s eyes while rapidly moving was not easy, and ordinary arrows might not be enough to kill it.

Perhaps sensing that running like this would eventually lead to trouble, Mick abruptly jumped out mid-run. He threw the pebbles he had in his hand, attempting to divert the giant boar in another direction.

“You guys go!” Among them, Komia was almost out of breath and was only able to keep up because Kaelen was pulling her.

Kaelen, without time to express her gratitude, nodded at Mick as he passed, then pulled Komia and strained to get away.

On the other hand, Lei also struggled intensely. He was naturally large and heavy, so running was not as nimble for him as for the girls, especially on the complicated mountain path. If Mick hadn’t distracted the giant boar at this moment, he would likely have been the first to be attacked by it, simply because of his large and conspicuous size.

Gasping for breath, Lei knew there was nothing he could do if he stayed, so he could only huff and puff and run forward.

Finally, the only one with enough energy to assist Mick was Hylial. She no longer concealed her ability to use breathing techniques. Her steps lightly leaped over stones, the rhythm of her blood flowing, an invisible power surging through her body, granting her strength and speed far beyond her usual.

Then the girl pushed off a tree trunk, leaped, then stepped onto an airy branch, and leaped a second time, until her light body reached the upper canopy of the trees.

This height was sufficient to avoid the giant boar’s attacks, and it was then that she finally had the opportunity to draw her bow and shoot.

(End of Chapter)