Chapter 7: Mental Storm

"Sent, watch out!"

The mercenary was only in his twenties, relatively new to this line of work and a bit lacking in experience. Faced with the magical beast's gaping maw, he could almost smell its foul breath. A flicker of panic crossed his face. It was too late to dodge; in his panic, he could only desperately bring his sword down in a wild slash.

But this strike was wild and without technique, naturally missing its mark. The Swordscale Tiger moved like the wind, sidestepping to avoid it, then extended its sharp claws. *Squelch!* Blood sprayed as the mercenary's chest was pierced.

He coughed up blood; the claw had struck a vital point. Sent closed his eyes forever. Witnessing their comrade killed before their eyes, the other mercenaries could hold back no longer. With a flash of steel, they all charged at the magical beast.

Human roars and the Swordscale Tiger's roars filled the air, making the entire forest shudder. This was Xu Feng's first time witnessing death's cruelty firsthand. Blood splattered everywhere as two more mercenaries were hurled from the fray. The Swordscale Tiger was more formidable than they'd thought. Besides its sharp fangs and claws, its defense was the biggest headache. This magical beast's body was covered in a layer of hard scales. Not quite invulnerable, ordinary blades and swords could hardly harm it. The only things that gave it pause were Captain Nate's Battle Aura and the giant axe of another burly man. The creature was almost immune to the other mercenaries' swords and blades.

"Damn it!"

The mercenaries fought in a blazing fury, but the gap in strength led to mounting casualties. Nate saw red. As the captain, seeing his companions fall one after another sent him into a frenzy.

"Kill!"

Nate roared, his Battle Aura flaring violently, its intensity far greater than before. Facing the beast's claws, he didn't choose to retreat, simply ducking low while thrusting his sword forward with all his might.

Blood welled from the wound as Nate's shoulder was torn open, but his bravery paid off. The beast was struck by the sword. Battle Aura was not to be trifled with; even the hard scales were pierced. The arrogant Swordscale Tiger was wounded.

The situation seemed to be improving, but then, an unexpected twist. The force of that thrust was a bit too strong, and the magical beast was sent flying by the momentum. Originally, this was a good thing—the greater the force, the more severe its injury. But by sheer coincidence, the Swordscale Tiger flew towards the direction where the merchants had gathered.

"Ah!"

A young girl let out a terrified scream. Seeing the magical beast crashing towards her, looming larger in her vision, she was so terrified her legs went weak, completely forgetting to dodge. The people around stood frozen; they had never seen such a scene. Being too far from the mercenaries, Nate and the others were unable to rescue them in time.

The situation was desperately critical. It seemed a beautiful flower was about to wither. The girl closed her eyes in despair. Yet, at that moment, she felt a force push her, snatched from the jaws of death.

*Boom!*

The Swordscale Tiger landed at her feet, smashing a crater into the hard earth. *Roar!* The magical beast quickly stood up, glaring ferociously at the human before it.

Xu Feng gave a wry smile. He was the one who had just performed the heroic rescue, but now... he was in a tight spot.

"Don't move!"

Nate shouted a warning. The situation was bad, but they were too far away. Any action by this youth could provoke the beast, leading to irreversible consequences...

What could he do?

Xu Feng was also very nervous. The excitement of first seeing the magical beast had completely vanished, replaced by a flicker of fear in his eyes. It wasn't that he was cowardly; just think, facing a magical beast twice the size of a tiger and covered in spikes, it'd be weird *not* to be scared. All that talk about becoming invincibly heroic after transmigrating, casually taming dragons as lackeys, was utter nonsense. Xu Feng felt that not having his legs go weak and collapsing to the ground was already quite brave.

By the firelight, one could see the beast's teeth, finger-length and heart-stoppingly sharp.

*Roar!*

The piercing roar made people's heads spin. The Swordscale Tiger was clearly growing impatient; it was about to attack...

Would he die here?

Xu Feng's mind went blank. Amidst the fear was a tinge of sorrow. As a Transmigrant, was his luck really this rotten?

A wave of fetid air washed over him; the beast had pounced. Its teeth grew larger in his vision. But Xu Feng refused! The instinct for survival made him roar in defiance.

*Boom!*

Something unexpected happened. A whirlwind appeared out of thin air. Though not very large and its area of effect not wide, merely enveloping Xu Feng, its power was astonishing. The Swordscale Tiger that had pounced upon him, upon contact, let out a shriek of pain and was thrown far away, crashing heavily to the ground, motionless.

The entire process happened in a flash, completely unexpected. Everyone was stunned. After a long while, Nate finally came to his senses and cautiously approached with another mercenary, only to be shocked to discover the Swordscale Tiger was already dead. Strangely, there were no obvious wounds on its body surface.

Nothing but confusion. Nate was an experienced mercenary, but such a thing, he had neither seen nor even heard of. The Swordscale Tiger was a fourth-tier magical beast. How exactly did it die? He glanced at Xu Feng. Could this youth be a master hiding his true strength?

But the panicked expression on his face didn't look like an act.

What exactly happened?

Unfortunately, there were no mages present, or they would surely worship Xu Feng like a god. That so-called whirlwind was actually a storm generated by mental power. Just think, merely through mental power, a storm that seemed almost solid was produced. Without using magic, mental power instantly killed a fourth-tier magical beast. Such a feat, let alone ordinary people, even the strongest mages, the legendary Archmages, definitely couldn't achieve it.

Although they didn't understand the difficulty, the way everyone looked at Xu Feng changed, regarding him as a powerful figure hiding his identity.

Actually... the man himself had no idea what happened.

At the time, he was merely unwilling to be eaten by the beast, instinctively roaring out loud, and then the ferocious Swordscale Tiger died. Could it be... this was an ability he gained during the transmigration process?

This guess, by a stroke of luck, hit the mark. The heavens were fair. Since they made Xu Feng a Transmigrant, how could they not give him some compensation?

Besides fusing with the supercomputer of the Terrad Colonial Army, at that time, everything was sucked into the black hole. Many mages desperately resisted. Though futile, much of their mental power overflowed as a result and was fused with Xu Feng. He was unaware of all this.

Now, Xu Feng's body was like a container, storing the functions of the supercomputer and a vast amount of mental power. However, he currently didn't know how to use it. Like a child sitting on a treasure mountain but not knowing how to spend money, everything, everything, had to wait for him to explore, discover, and master on his own.