Chapter 61  Mutated Panther

Even before he shouted out, Lori, professor Nina and Julia had opened their eyes and when they saw the savage looking, over double the size of a normal black panther chomping down on their captive’s head off before chewing it and gulping it down, colour drained from their faces.

“T-This… h-how is this big…?” Julia muttered in horror. She had seen many types of animals when she was studying them for a college project in the past, even then she had found these creatures very dangerous and now that it was almost as big as a bull, she couldn’t imagine how terrifying it would be.

“Is this what he meant by animals mutating?” Lori said, fear gripping her heart as she laid eyes on the beast.

Professor Nina also had shock plastered on her face as she looked at the panther.

“No wonder he said zombies won’t be as terrifying as beasts in the near future.” She mumbled.

Luke’s expression was solemn. Among the beasts, feline beasts were the most dangerous because of their superb agility and attacks that can shred a human into pieces with a single claw strike. The combination of these two was just too deadly.

His gaze on the beast that was eating the corpse with relish, he said in a low voice, “Professor, Lori, you guys take Ben and slowly back off. Don’t stay in its sight.”

The ladies hesitated for a moment because they knew he was planning to fight the beast on his own. But knew they wouldn’t be of much help. So, they took Ben and slowly backed off.

“Luke, be careful!” Professor Nina said before moving behind a thick tree.

When they started moving back, the black panther stopped eating the corpse and raised its head to look at them with its large beady eyes before resuming its feast.

This nonchalance made Luke frown because this meant the beast had gained intelligence and could see they weren’t escaping or it was confident enough to chase them down even if they escaped.

“I just hope it hasn’t advanced to the first order… if it has, things will be too difficult.” Luke muttered. He then took a deep breath, gripped his sword tightly as his mana surged out and covered it.

He then rushed toward the beast, wanting to take advantage of it feasting.

“Grrr?” The panther’s pupil suddenly constricted as though it could feel the danger. Immediately, it slapped the corpse away and lunged at him, its maw wide open and claws outstretched.

Within a split second, the panther was upon him. The wind its large body brought pressed down on him.

Gritting his teeth, Luke slashed at the incoming paw which targeted his head.

Clank!

As the claw and sword met, a clanking sound sounded.

‘Fuck!’ Luke cursed in his heart when he noticed he couldn’t slash through its claws even though he was using [Mana Amplification] on the sword.

Swoosh!

The panther’s eyes glinted with anger when it saw its claw was stopped and it slapped at his head with its other claw.

Knowing his head would burst open like a balloon, Luke stomped his feet and jumped back, narrowly dodging the claw.

Whoosh!

Unfortunately, the panther no longer wanted to give him any chance to catch his breath and rushed at him. This time biting toward his neck.

Luke’s eyes flashed with a cold light. Since he couldn’t dodge, he stood his ground. Then his mana surged out in waves and covered the sword, amplifying its power.

He then gripped the hilt with both his hands and stabbed upwards at the panther’s neck before it could bite his neck.

Puchi!

The sword encountered some resistance despite the fact that the area under the beast’s neck was one of the most vulnerable parts, but in the end; it was just some resistance. As he put more strength in the stab, the three feet sword plunged into its neck all the way to the hilt and blood sprayed out from the entry point.

Roar~!

The beast’s eyes widened, and it let out an enraged, pained, and helpless roar. Then slowly, the light left its eyes and its body slumped down, its large head pressing down on his shoulder.

Thud!

Luke fell down with the beast on top of him. At the same time, the kill announcement sounded in his head.

[You’ve killed a level 10 mutated beast. +2 Strength, +1 agility.]

[You’ve levelled up to level 10. You get 2 skill and 2 attribute points to distribute freely.]

“Luke!” When professor Nina and other saw this, they hurriedly ran out from behind the tree.

“…I’m fine…” Luke’s muffled voice came out from under the beast which was then lifted slightly and moved to the side and Luke appeared in their view, lying on the ground with a huge grin plastered on his face.

The ladies ignored his expression and hurriedly checked his body for injuries and only sighed in relief when they didn’t find any.

Luke felt warm in his heart when he saw this and lightly said, “Don’t worry, guys. I’m—”

However,

Drip!

A water drop fell on his face, interrupting him. When he looked at the source, he found professor Nina’s beautiful eyes glistening with tears.

He hurriedly stood up and said, flustered, “H-Hey, professor. I’m perfectly fine. Don’t cry, alright?” Whoosh!

Instead of responding, Professor Nina hugged him, burying her face in his chest, and started sobbing.

Reflexively, Luke wrapped his arms around her and gently patted her back. “Shush! Don’t cry, don’t cry. Everything’s alright.”

Professor Nina continued to sob and drenched his shirt in her tears.

Meanwhile, Lori and Julia looked at this scene, their eyes flickering with a hint of envy.

After a while, professor Nina calmed down but didn’t move away, nor did Luke try to. So, they stayed like that for a while more, lost in each other’s embrace.

Cough!

Julia couldn’t continue watching this and coughed lightly, bringing them to their senses. “It’s alright, Luke. Professor Nina is good now.”

A slight blush crept up on professor Nina’s face and she pulled away from him, looking flustered.

Luke sighed, feeling slightly disappointed to part from her warmth.

Lori and Julia frowned in displeasure when they noticed his expression and quietly harrumphed.

Not paying them any attention, Luke looked at professor Nina and carefully asked, “Professor, why did you cry?”

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