Chapter 118: Pink Sheep

Terrence sighed as he faced front and walked out into the open space of the courtyard. He stretched his arms and legs casually, rotating his shoulders as if he was the one who was personally about to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

With eyes full of sharp determination, he looked straight at the old man and said, "Okay, cool with me."

Terrence had long learned not to be a people pleaser... as if he had ever truly been one before anyway. He didn’t care in the slightest about how others viewed him or what rumors circulated about his name.

What Terrence wanted was simple: to raise his growing reputation even further and completely shake the core foundation of the Lee Family.

"So, just to tell you beforehand, you don’t need that kind of determined look," Oliver spoke up, his voice dripping with condescension. "You are going to fight me with your eyes completely closed."

Terrence didn’t reply right away. He simply stood his ground and stared at the old instructor for a few quiet seconds before deciding to speak.

"Why is that? Just to prove that cultivating mind and body wasn’t necessary for a tamer? I say that’s complete bullshit." Terrence turned his gaze over to Elissandra, who was shrinking back slightly, looking thoroughly embarrassed by the entire setup.

But then, Terrence said something that instantly changed her gloomy expression.

"But it’s not entirely wrong, either. If it’s a beast that I sell, then there really is nothing to be worried about when it comes to cultivating the mind and body. My beasts are just that powerful."

Oliver smirked, shaking his head in sheer disbelief. Hearing such absurd words come out of Terrence’s mouth made his hard-earned title feel like a total joke.

To reach the rank of a Grandmaster Tamer—an unclassified title outside the standard system of the Contribution Agency, born from decades of deep combat understanding—he had spent his entire life cultivating his mind and body. He had tamed countless ferocious beasts just to prove his philosophy.

Hence, the idea of a tamer entirely relying on a beast’s raw innate strength without personal cultivation was something he found utterly ridiculous.

Terrence let out one more tired sigh, then mentally browsed through his memory to pick a pink beast straight from his Beast Sanctuary.

A soft glow flashed, and a beast with fluffy fur like cotton and the distinct physical appearance of a pink sheep materialized directly in front of Terrence, facing Oliver.

The creature was entirely light pink, looking almost identical to any standard, ordinary sheep beast. It was extremely fluffy, docile-looking, and barely reached knee-height without any formidable frame or threatening muscle mass.

However, looking at the tiny creature, the Grandmaster Tamer couldn’t help but be thoroughly amused.

"And what kind of pathetic joke is this?" Oliver scoffed loudly. "You are going to fight my beast with that kind of little creature? Anyway, whatever contracting or bonding technique you just used to summon that beast, I will be requiring you to teach it to me once I defeat you."

Terrence bit his lower lip slightly, his lips curving into a short, amused nod.

"Alright. And what do I get if I defeat you instead? Could you at least give me a generous monetary reward? I am planning on going to the main auction house of the Kinetic Alloy Beast Armory soon, and I need to buy a few things from there."

Oliver shook his head, his face twisting in annoyance.

"Typical overconfident kid. Sure, that’s a deal. Now, prepare yourself for the match."

With a short, sharp inhale, Oliver summoned his own beast using a high-grade Pocket Sanctuary Card. The glowing reader pressed against his thumb, reacting instantly to his mental connection with the spatial pocket dimension where his beast rested.

Slowly, the surrounding air in the courtyard grew heavy and thick as black spatial mana materialized into reality. Dark, swirling clouds laced with miniature crackling lightning sparks formed a small vortex right in front of him, and a beast with a terrifying, unusual appearance stepped out of the light.

It stood bipedal, possessing thick arms covered in black fur and massive spiky paws that looked as though they could slice cleanly through heavy steel plates. Its wide maws drooled heavily from an insatiable thirst for blood, and its glowing red eyes pierced forward with the predatory intensity of an absolute apex hunter.

Its height wasn’t normal at all for a standard beast. It stood well over the height of an average human, boasting a heavily muscular, bulky frame completely wrapped in dark fur and armored hide.

"What’s the exact name of that beast?" Terrence asked, his eyes narrowing as he analyzed the creature’s pressure.

"This?" Oliver raised his chin proudly. "This is a Predator Werewolf. A one-of-a-kind specimen."

Terrence gulped silently as he stared at the unusually structured form of the creature.

’Is this beast some kind of dark experiment, or was it artificially modified in a laboratory? The energy radiating off it feels incredibly weird.’

"Okay now, kid," Oliver taunted, crossing his arms tight over his chest. "Close your eyes. Or are you too terrified to even close them after laying eyes on my beast?"

"Alright, alright." Not stepping down from the challenge, Terrence closed his eyes with full trust in his merchandise. "When do we start?"

Oliver smirked, his eyes glinting with malicious confidence.

"Now!"

Terrence immediately heard a sharp snap of lightning and a violent shift in the wind direction. Oliver had already put his beast on the move, but Terrence had prepared for this exact kind of fight long ago.

He had experienced times where he had to fight with little to no visibility, relying entirely on his other senses to read the battlefield. Because of this past conditioning, he knew precisely what to do in this kind of high-stakes situation.

With complete darkness in front of his eyes, he swung his right hand smoothly to the side, commanding the Pink Sheep through a silent mental link to avoid any delay that spoken commands would cause.

The Pink Sheep skidded across the stone floor as it obeyed the directional command. Immediately after, a rapid barrage of heavy tearing sounds echoed across the courtyard, though Terrence couldn’t visually identify what kind of attacks were flying through the air. Sensing the incoming danger, he instantly commanded the Pink Sheep to raise its absolute defenses.

A massive, glowing stronghold of a holographic pink barrier materialized directly before the tiny Pink Sheep, locking into place just as a cluster of high-voltage electric attacks slammed into the shell. The explosive impact sent crackling sparks bouncing harmlessly off the shield.

Without taking a breath, Terrence took several calculated steps forward, adjusting his posture in the dark as he ordered his beast to initiate a swift counterattack.

Even without a detailed physical command from its tamer, the Pink Sheep’s internal combat instincts had already analyzed the enemy’s attack pattern from that first volley. Its fluffy pink wool began to hum with a subtle, radiant energy as it prepared to retaliate.

"Let’s do it!" Terrence muttered under his breath, leaning into his heightened hearing.

Watching the sequence unfold from a safe distance, Elissandra stood frozen with her eyes wide open in utter disbelief.

"How is that even possible?" she gasped, her hands trembling slightly against her skirt.