Hate me, Miss Witch!
Chapter 47 - 38 Art is... Patrick Star! (Please follow)

Chapter 47: Chapter 38 Art is... Patrick Star! (Please follow)

"It can’t be! Even a High Order Extraordinary Gale Wolf was defeated earlier, and he just sent out such a Pet Beast?"

"Is this really a combat Pet Beast? It feels more like it’s for show."

As the little snub-nosed monkey took the stage, a collective murmur, fitting for their status as nameless extras, arose from the audience of defeated challengers.

On the other side of the arena, the silver-haired elder watched the little snub-nosed monkey confronting the Silver Spirit in the middle of the field, his aged eyes narrowing slightly.

Though old, his spiritual power was that of a 4-Ring Beastmaster, so his observations were naturally not as superficial as those of the 1-Ring and 2-Ring examinees.

Just entered Commander Rank... Is its master a 3-Ring high-order Beastmaster?

To think such exceptional talent has emerged among the younger generation of our family...

Subsequently, the silver-haired elder’s gaze locked onto a black-haired youth not far away, who was absentmindedly playing with a little white ferret on his shoulder.

Shiayar Egutt.

Ordinarily, given his role supervising the habitat of the Silver Spirit species, he wasn’t very familiar with the family’s younger generation. Apart from Silvia, the notorious sole daughter of the Family Head, he didn’t recognize anyone from this group participating in the coming-of-age ceremony. The reason he knew of Shiayar was that Norton, the acting Family Head and a fellow elder, had specifically spoken to him. Norton had asked him to give this youngster with a non-family surname some extra consideration during the ceremony.

But now, it seemed this young prodigy named Shiayar hardly needed his particular attention.

"Not bad," the silver-haired elder said, nodding at Shiayar. "You have the best qualities among these newcomers."

"There’s no need for a practical assessment. At your level, you are already qualified to contract with a Silver Spirit."

These were the silver-haired elder’s true thoughts. Even if Elder Norton had reached out, he wouldn’t necessarily have gone easy. As a family elder, he had the right to disregard any displeasure from others. The higher the Species Rank of a Pet Beast, the more difficult its propagation, so the population of Silver Spirits had always been small. Consequently, selecting contractors was naturally a strict process, and it was his duty to weed out the vast majority of mediocre individuals.

However, this seemingly harsh threshold held no meaning before a seventeen-year-old who had reached the level of a 3-Ring high-order Beastmaster. After all, the last person in the Brunestadt family to reach 3-Ring before their coming-of-age ceremony was the current Grand Duke Brunestadt. He was now a 6-Ring powerful pro at the Titled Rank. Given the Grand Duke was still in his prime, aspiring to the Legendary seat wasn’t impossible for him.

As the silver-haired elder’s words echoed, the defeated challengers at the side could hardly contain themselves. They wanted to stand up and question the fairness of the assessment...

But in the next moment, the little snub-nosed monkey still in the arena was the first to disagree.

"CHITTER CHITTER CHITTER! (I’ve been looking forward to my first battle for so long!!!)"

"CHITTER CHITTER CHITTER! (I don’t want that sort of thing!!)"

"I’m sorry, Elder..." the silver-haired elder heard the young man named Shiayar Egutt speak up.

"My Pet Beast has been looking forward to this battle for a long time. It might destroy the house if it doesn’t get to fight."

"Besides..."

"I also want to assess through actual combat."

"Whether the Silver Spirit species is truly worthy of my 3rd Soul Pact."

Assess whether the Brunestadt’s guardian species is worthy of being contracted?

Upon hearing Shiayar’s words, a hint of anger rose in the silver-haired elder’s heart, but it quickly subsided.

After all, he’s not a member of the main family; it’s normal for him to lack understanding of the Silver Spirits.

Geniuses, after all, always had certain privileges.

"That’s acceptable."

The silver-haired elder nodded and said no more.

Three breaths later—

Around the Cangyin humanoid figure, countless illusory, silver-white specks of light began to slowly converge.

Then, they shot out suddenly.

Silver Spirits are Element Lifeforms of the metal attribute. This unique dual attribute had brought an extremely diverse range of possibilities to the species. Element Lifeforms are innately highly compatible with natural elements, so Silver Spirits are adaptable to most elemental Skills. If one takes this spellcasting route, they can evolve into a "Silver Robed Phantom Spirit" or an "Eye of Silver". Alternatively, if one chooses to develop the "metal" racial attribute, then by enhancing characteristics such as "Sharpness" and "Hardening," physical evolutionary types can be developed.

The Trial Elder’s Silver Spirit was proficient in both aspects but leaned more towards spellcasting overall.

Countless silver-white specks of light fell like meteors, their presence astonishing. This was the "Silver Meteor" skill, mastered to "Perfection".

Most previous trial participants and their Pet Beasts hadn’t lasted even five seconds against this High Order skill before being defeated.

However, just as the dense, silvery lights were about to touch Shiny, the little snub-nosed monkey’s form shattered like a mirage.

The next instant, Shiny appeared behind the Silver Spirit without any warning.

"CHITTER CHITTER CHITTER! (Have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?)"

A giant rock slammed into the Silver Spirit’s body, causing it to stagger, but that was all. This Silver Spirit was also physically strengthened. Combined with the rank disparity, its steel-like body naturally couldn’t be breached by Shiny’s "Falling Rocks" skill used with "Fling".

It struck back swiftly, a Slash aimed straight at Shiny, but it missed due to "Flash".

Within the arena, Elements Fluctuation intertwined with massive stones. But even after more than twenty seconds, neither side had managed to inflict any actual damage on the other.

"Let’s call it quits."

The silver-haired elder looked at Shiayar, now completely acknowledging his level. Not only had Shiayar reached 3-Ring at such a young age, but he had also raised an extremely rare spatial attribute Pet Beast. Before reaching Sovereign Rank or possessing corresponding counter abilities, a skill like Space Leap was a pure cheat. Even with a significant disparity in direct combat strength, you simply couldn’t hit your opponent. How frustrating was that?

If this were a true life-or-death battle, he might have adopted a strategy of relentless pressure. After all, each Space Leap consumed spiritual power, which would eventually be depleted. But this was merely an internal family assessment, with a thirty-second time limit.

However, the Trial Elder then heard Shiayar’s voice, tinged with apology, speak again.

"The battle hasn’t been decided yet. It seems a bit premature to stop now."

"Actually... although I failed to create Explosive Talismans at the Alchemy Academy, I eventually found a substitute with a similar function..."

"I call it—’Explosive Clay’."

A vague premonition rose in the silver-haired elder’s heart.

He looked toward the center of the battlefield and saw the Silver Spirit and the little snub-nosed monkey complete another exchange. The flung rock left some dust and sand on the Silver Spirit’s body, while Shiny used "Flash" to move away once again. Only this time, the little snub-nosed monkey’s "Flash" seemed to take it a bit further away.

The elder’s gaze fixed on the clay now covering the Silver Spirit’s entire body. He had initially thought it was merely dust kicked up by the rock’s impact. But now, after several exchanges, gray-white clay had spread over the Silver Spirit’s entire torso. Even more puzzling, the clay was arranged in an extremely regular pattern, seemingly an array designed to maximize its effect.

The elder’s pupils contracted slightly.

Then, Shiayar’s voice suddenly resonated in his ear.

"Elder, have you ever heard this saying..."

"Art—"

"Is an explosion!"

In the next moment, a torrent of fiery light engulfed the Silver Spirit’s massive form.

The entire ground trembled.