Book 8, The Ten Thousand Kilometer Journey – Chapter 5, The Mysterious Black Panther

Linley was beginning to frown.

He, too, had never heard of such a creature. There were several types of panther-type magical beasts, but one which was entirely pitch-black and covered with dense black wavy lines which formed decorative patterns, was totally unheard of.

Generally speaking, creatures that one had never heard of must not be underestimated.

The one-eyed bald man said, “That monster decided to eat the meat on the face and the legs of our magus right in front of us, one large bite at a time. Watching this, we were all furious, and we instantly charged forward to attack it.

“However…”

The bald man shook his head. “What we didn’t expect was that the monster was far too powerful. We originally thought that the reason it attacked from ambush, then slipped away was because it was weak. However…when our entire group attacked it, it only heavily wounded us.”

“Heavily wounded?” Linley questioned suspiciously.

“Right.” The one-eyed bald man said in fear and anger. “That monster definitely was capable of killing us all, but it didn’t. It only heavily wounded us.

“We originally thought that we still had a chance of living, only to find that the monster was focused on us now. Each day, it would take away two of our people. Sometimes, it would take them away, while other...