36 Unexpected (1/2)

With no attention on him whatsoever, Aaron had a clear view of everything on the tree, from where he kept watching along with Woof, ready to jump in if there was a need.

Most of his attention was on Edmond, as he had to wait for the signal.

The rest of it was on the deformed Tera, and as he saw it, a strange feeling welled up inside Aaron.

Curious, he asked Woof about it, and got the confirmation.

Indeed, this Tera was in constant pain.

From its expression and the way it was acting very aggressively, Aaron had felt that it looked a lot like a Bewitching Fox, or some other Tera which have been injured gravely and was in immense pain, but didn't want to go down without a fight.

Such a thing in a Tera which was obviously not injured was really weird, but Aaron thought back to what AA had just said.

Illegal inter-breeding of Teras.

He got a faint suspicion regarding what that might mean, and if it was what he was thinking, Aaron felt that it was just…wrong.

Maybe it was because he had seen many families of Teras where genuine emotions of love and care had been displayed, which might be torn apart to make something like this happen, as such an activity would require Teras to be captured and possibly tortured into doing what the perpetrators wanted. Or maybe it was just because he felt pity for the Tera in front of him.

Regardless, Aaron felt slight anger rise inside him which was directed at the cloaked man.

However, he controlled himself, as the man also gave him a feeling of danger that stopped him from entering a direct confrontation.

Meanwhile, after the statement from that man, the surroundings had quieted down while everyone seemed to be waiting for the fight to start.

Edmond only 'humphed' in reply, and pointed his right hand forward to make his Core appear and unleash his Bewitching Fox.

There was none of that flourish from before, which was a clear indication of just how serious he was.

This battle would apparently decide the fate of his father, and Aaron wanted him to win, too, because of the interest he had taken in this case, that had stemmed from the hobby he usually indulged in in the forest.

As soon as the small Bewitching Fox, which was barely the size of two fists put together, alighted on the battleground, leers and ridicule started to be heard from the audience, who pointed at it and laughed between themselves.

Edmond was unaffected by all these. He just waited confidently for the Fox to use its signature move, after which the opposing Tera would definitely fall asleep, just like the butterfly had done before.

Yet, even Aaron could tell that things might not be that simple, and, in fact, Edmond was also just wishing for that to happen, while ignoring the fear that it might not be the case.

The Fox looked around at the audience lazily, before focusing its eyes on the Tera in front of it, which was at least 4 times its size.

The large, deformed jaw of the dog with sharp, pointed teeth was quite a terrifying sight but the Fox wasn't too perturbed, as it, too, had gained a lot of confidence from its last fight.

So, not liking the atmosphere, it immediately released the pheromones it was famous for.

However, to the shock of both Edmond and to a lesser extent, Aaron, the Great Dane just stood there, growling, without being affected by all.

Both of them guessed that it might take time, but even though they waited, all they saw was the deformed Tera shaking its head once, before starting to circle around the Fox, ready to pounce.

This made the Bewitching Fox turn around and shoot a worried look in Edmond's direction, who was similarly clueless regarding what he was supposed to do.

Was this it? Were all his efforts going to go to waste? Should he surrender?

Before he could give an answer to any of these questions, the cloaked man spoke.

”Good try, boy. But this thing is already very adept at resisting sleep-inducing agents. I should know. I had to resort to knocking it out using a hammer after the drugs stopped working during my experiments.”

The statement made a dark look pass across Aaron's face, while panic started to appear in Edmond.

However, before he could give any sort of command or even react in any way, the dog opened its mouth wide and lunged, ready to devour the cute little Fox.

Indeed, its mouth had opened wide enough to be able to swallow the Tera whole, and if it weren't for the agility of the Fox which allowed it to escape at the last moment, it might have departed from this world, already.