Chapter 480: Chapter 247: Dragon Breath, Heavenly Fire
Ang——
The sharp, piercing cry of a bird echoed through the cold, moist air.
Tawny feathers floated down, and the eyes, usually filled with the sharp, cruel gaze unique to avian predators, were now in utter panic.
This was a recently matured adult Highcliff Griffon.
As a variant of the demon species known as "griffons," its size was noticeably smaller than its kin typically found in forests and skies over plains.
But the peculiar body structure resembling a combination of "giant eagle" and "lion" still endowed it with attributes of both creatures, making it a terrifying predator feared by countless ordinary beings.
The curved, sharp beak and iron hook-like claws could easily pierce through steel, while eyes sharp as telescopes and wings with a nearly ten-meter wingspan allowed it to clearly see prey on the ground even from thousands of meters up in the air.
And beneath its wings and head, the robust lion-like body enabled it to possess movement and attack capabilities far beyond that of ordinary animals even on all fours, unlike common birds that can only flap their wings awkwardly once they land.
A creature with a shoulder height of 1.5 meters, a body length of over three meters, and a wingspan wider than the main road of some small towns.
No detailed introduction is needed; just by looking at its combined lion and eagle appearance, one could judge its status as a top predator.
And indeed, with a challenge level as high as "2," it was capable of making 95% of ground creatures part of its diet.
Its fondness for cattle and sheep made it a hated creature among countless herders, second only to the kingdom’s harsh taxes.
But now, this creature that should have been peacefully preening its feathers in its nest on a towering cliff during the rainfall, or soaring the skies in search of prey in a predator’s stance,
was like a drowning person who couldn’t swim, or a fish out of water.
Its limbs struggled and twitched, while its massive wings flapped frantically in the air.
As if it suddenly lost its instinctual ability to fly.
And the reason... likely came from the chaotic circle of airflows surrounding its body.
——Transformation System · Trick (Zero Ring) · Dancing Wind
This spell that should only cause leaves to rustle and doors and windows to creak under the control of a mage with numerous casting specializations and extraordinary level spell experience,
directly caused a powerful demon with a challenge level of "2" to lose its prized flight capability.
"Plop."
The griffon, losing its balance and making an emergency descent, landed heavily on the ground, wrapped in its own falling feathers.
The powerful impact made its limbs sink deeply into the mud.
It let out an angry cry, pushed off the ground with its hind legs, but hadn’t had the chance to pull its eagle claw-like front limbs from the earth.
A fierce, fiery howl erupted in its ears.
Ang-Ong——
A high, long wolf howl, mingled with the sharp screech of blades slicing through the air, rushed past with a gale.
A phantom winter wolf with iron-gray fangs swept past in the air, vanishing in an instant.
"Shhh."
The dull sound of flesh being sliced by a blade.
The eagle’s cry came to an abrupt halt.
In its place spurted blinding blood from its severed neck, and the spinning, falling head of the giant eagle.
The phantom wolf head made of broken leaves and twigs silently dissipated.
Xia Nan stood in place, blood droplets remained on the surface of the beheading longsword in his hand.
Behind him, the griffon’s robust body slowly collapsed to the sound of surging blood.
In front of him, translucent characters quietly flashed by:
"Skill Level +1"
"[Teeth Hunting]lv4: (52/100)"
Even before this escort mission began, after killing the beastman girl and the dark-skinned drow half-elf over those two months, the level-up progress for [Teeth Hunting]had nearly reached halfway.
After leaving River Valley Town with Hai’an, Wood, and the others, due to the influence of his teammates and the lack of battles on the journey, the speed of skill level acquisition had obviously slowed.
Until now, the progress bar had just crossed fifty.
Speaking of which, the upgrade from lv3 to lv4 for [Teeth Hunting]did not, like the transition from lv2 to lv3, provide him valuable attribute points.
It only gave a degree of enhancement in skill proficiency, power, and utilization efficiency.
It precisely confirmed his previous speculation.
For battle skills of [Teeth Hunting]’s quality, the key nodes should be "lv1," "lv3," and "lv5," representing "Beginner," "Skill," and "Master" respectively.
The intermediary "lv2" and "lv4" served as relatively weaker transitions.
If nothing unexpected happens, when Xia Nan raises [Teeth Hunting]’s skill level to lv5 and his professional level naturally reaches level 2 in the near future,
he could likely gain pretty decent attribute point benefits.
Considering that at that time [Vortex Slash] directly gave him a total of two points in strength and agility, [Teeth Hunting] will only give more rather than less.
"Wasn’t it said that this area is all under that red dragon’s domain, why is there still a griffon?"
Beside him, the dragon descendant Sava briskly approached, the glow of flame on her fine sword gradually dissipating.
Though complaining, her lizard-like vertical pupils couldn’t help but glance at Xia Nan.
She had underestimated the black-haired young man’s strength.
Despite being on the same team for several tens of days, and her fairly rich experience in assessing people and a certain perceptual ability, had made her vaguely perceive Xia Nan’s capabilities at first sight.