Mystery: But the Witch's Path

Chapter 30 Black Panther

After the banquet, Altair stayed behind to discuss the implementation of the "plan" with his Uncle Rafe for a long time before leaving his uncle's house at 10 p.m.

The basic plan has been finalized, and Altair will invite them to participate in a banquet the day after tomorrow.

.......

The following morning.

In a training room at her Sheffield home, Altair, who had just finished a temporary 'Fighting Jiu-Jitsu' training session, was tidying up her clothes when she heard Anastasia, her 'Fighting Arts Instructor,' speaking behind her.

"It seems you're about to surpass me in Jiu-Jitsu."

Looking at his teacher, Altair smiled and said, "I don't feel that I have reached the standard you mentioned."

The main reason you have this misconception is that when we met, I knew nothing, and now I'm just starting to master some skills.

"If you give it your all, I don't think I can hold out for long against you."

Altair's words did not change Anastasia's expression; she remained silent as always. "You are the noble I have taught who has persisted the longest and is the most dedicated."

Altair didn't feel proud upon hearing this. "I'm learning these things not to prove anything, but because I need them myself. Other people's affairs are irrelevant to me. I only need to know my own needs."

Perhaps it was because of this sentence that Anastasia, who was indifferent to everything, glanced at it a couple more times, but only twice, before crossing her arms and saying, "Actually, there's no point in you learning all this."

"This is no longer the era of the past. No matter how well you learn martial arts now, it will only be an auxiliary skill in the future. In the future, it will also enter the museum and become history, just like those cold weapons. This is the era of firearms."

"And since you are a noblewoman, or even a 'female' noblewoman, you need even less."

Listening to Anastasia's words, Altair looked at the walls of the training room, where all kinds of weapons were displayed, such as longswords, greatswords, lances, spears, and so on.

Anastasia's words were neither denied nor desired. The superiority of firearms over melee weapons was a generally accepted fact in this world, but this world was far from ordinary.

Altair slowly walked to the wall, touching the melee weapons with his hands, and said, "Professor Anastasia, I remember you're also an 'Extraordinary,' right? Do you completely agree with what you said?"

"You should have seen high-sequence beings, or even demigods, take action. Do you think current technology can handle such beings?"

"Undeniably, the advent of firearms allows for overwhelming dominance against lower-tier enemies. However, against mid-tier enemies, if they don't want to prolong the fight, they can't be kept alive. Of course, there's also the possibility that a mid-tier enemy has lost their mind and wants to fight the army head-on. As for high-tier enemies, it requires the army to deploy its war machine on a large scale. Demigods and angels, strictly speaking, are no longer within the realm of humanity..."

"This only works against extraordinary individuals without special abilities. If you encounter an extraordinary individual with bizarre abilities, the advantage of firearms will be greatly reduced, or even eliminated."

Altair's words did not soften Anastasia's heart when she was training herself; she continued to train as before.

.........

When he finished his morning practice, his body was soaked, as if he had just been caught in a downpour. After showering and changing, he had lunch with Anastasia before seeing her off.

Watching the carriage disappear into the distance, Altair, who had been brutally beaten, finally breathed a sigh of relief. He realized he had spoken too loudly that morning; he had only asked for trouble by trying to show off.

Alter felt his body aches all over, and his hands were trembling while he was eating. He just wanted to go back to his room and take a medicinal bath to relieve the pain.

.........

After seeing Anastasia off at noon, Altair went back to his room for a nap and didn't wake up until 2 p.m.

Perhaps due to improved recovery ability, after less than two hours of rest, his body has now returned to normal, at least his hands no longer tremble.

After going downstairs, he saw the little maid Vera teasing the "gift from his cousin" that he had brought back yesterday.

This gift is indeed special: a leopard cub named "Black Panther" with a mutated coat color. As its name suggests, the leopard is entirely black, just like a large black cat.

As for which family it belonged to, Altair wasn't sure. Seeing that no patterns appeared under the sunlight, it was difficult to determine. Perhaps it was a completely new species; after all, so much time had passed since the era she knew.

Perhaps it was because the little black panther was newly born, or perhaps it was the innate ability of a 'tamer,' but as soon as Altair let her out of the cage, she clung to him desperately, wanting him to play with her. Last night, it took a lot of effort for him to feel tired before he could finally rest.

As for whether it has undergone professional training, a leopard the size of a normal domestic cat is still a cub, so how could it have undergone professional training?

Perhaps because he spends a lot of time with the little maids, the little black panther now only allows those two to touch him; he won't let anyone else, and sometimes he even attacks others.

Altair really likes this black panther. Because it's still a cub, it looks like a little black bear that stole a monk's robe, which is very endearing.

Because leopards are essentially felines, they possess most of the habits of cats. When she massages him, he makes low growling noises. He likes to have me massage him whenever he has free time.

A name? Altair hadn't thought of one yet, so for now he just kept calling out, "Black Panther, Black Panther."

After walking down the stairs, Altair clapped his hands, and the black panther, hearing the sound, ran to him and climbed up by hooking its claws onto his clothes.

Altair, carrying the black panther, said as they walked, "Looks like I need to trim your nails regularly. Look how much you've torn my clothes."

At this moment, the black panther bent its head slightly in Altair's arms, pretending to be stupid, and made "humphs" in an attempt to deceive him.

Looking at her, Altair knew she understood what he meant. It seemed he had perfectly inherited the power of the 'Beastmaster' potion.

I'll wait a few more months until she's a bit older, then I can give her potions. But I'm a little confused about what kind of potion to give her.

Of the five omniscient and omnipotent families, most don't need to be considered. The audience leopard, the sailor leopard, and the knowledge-type leopard are simply not suitable.

The three families—diviners, gatekeepers, and thieves—are also unsuitable.

The Mother Nest, Demons, Order, Fate—these aren't all that great either.

Only the methods of time-space unification and natural disasters are worth considering.