Chapter 187: Who Exactly Is the Monster

The moment she thought of that, the frustration in Ayla’s heart instantly eased considerably.

Her previously stiff expression immediately brightened, and she even proactively revealed a rather brilliant smile toward Lance.

As the corners of her mouth lifted, two sharp little canine teeth were exposed to the air, somehow giving her a strangely adorable appearance.

This was the first time Lance had ever seen Ayla display such a deceptively cute expression.

“Ryan went out to prepare ritual materials for you.”

Ayla’s voice suddenly became cheerful.

“Oh, right…”

She deliberately dragged out the final syllable, pretending to have just remembered something in an exaggerated manner.

“Uncle specifically told me before leaving that since you’re about to officially undergo class advancement, I should spare some time to teach you a few practical close-combat techniques.”

As Ayla spoke, she slowly walked down the stairs toward the kitchen.

“Don’t underestimate me just because I haven’t officially advanced yet. In terms of close-combat destructive power, us werewolves are way stronger than ordinary humans like you.”

This time, Ayla actually was not lying.

On the continent, this was basically common knowledge. The physical explosiveness and combat instincts of werewolves were naturally overwhelming compared to humans at the non-Professional stage, not to mention that royal Azure Moon blood flowed through her veins.

Her attribute panel upon reaching adulthood was already comparable to those monstrously talented humans.

So despite how casually Ryan had suspended her from the ceiling beams twice earlier.

That was purely because Ryan possessed alchemical tools specifically designed to counter demi-humans.

Combined with the fact that the veteran himself had once been a high-level Professional whose strength had merely declined.

Although his attributes had fallen, the specialties and experience he had solidified had not completely vanished.

In Ayla’s understanding, human geniuses capable of defeating her at this stage were absolutely as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

At the very least, she firmly believed such monsters could never possibly appear in a tiny place like Graystone Town.

“What an incredibly clumsy lie.”

Looking at her exaggerated acting that was trying way too hard, Lance could not help viciously complaining inwardly.

Even now, he still had no idea how he had offended this little princess. Ever since their first meeting, she had seemed to constantly suppress the urge to beat him up.

Still, Ayla’s words did remind him of something: if close combat inevitably involved physical contact, then could his 【Biological Research】 unlock a new codex again?

The few traits he had farmed from Cecilia previously might not have looked particularly proper, but they genuinely did provide beneficial effects.

If he switched to a werewolf race specialized purely toward physical combat, what kind of strange new traits might he extract from her?

Judging from the pattern shown by the panel earlier, the level 1 and level 2 Biological Research traits were all specifically generated according to the racial genetic characteristics of demi-human species themselves.

Werewolf traits would definitely differ completely from Half-Elves.

‘How about… taking the opportunity to test out a level 1 trait on her?’ Lance secretly calculated.

If the resulting trait turned out absurd, he could always stop in time.

Besides, he would be moving out after completing his class advancement in a few days anyway. Even if the effect ended up bizarre, it would not affect anyone else.

But after the thought circled through his mind twice, he still forcibly suppressed his curiosity.

This wolf girl was clearly planning to use sparring as an excuse to vent her anger by beating him up.

Ryan had strictly forbidden her from going outside. If they really fought seriously inside the house, all the furniture in the room would definitely be destroyed.

He had not forgotten the tragic consequences from his previous conflict with that Elven female mage.

An entire house had directly exploded into flying wooden debris.

“Better not.” Lance quickly shook his head and obediently backed down. “Fighting here would easily damage the furniture. We can find a spacious outdoor area another time.”

“That’s alright.”

Not only did Ayla not stop approaching, the smile on her face instead became more dangerous. “Fighting in confined spaces is exactly a required lesson for close combat. You need to learn how to control your output.”

Of course, she did not dare damage Ryan’s house either, but she had secretly tested it before. The wooden furniture in this place was absurdly sturdy, definitely reinforced throughout with alchemical spell formations by Ryan. Physical attacks below the Professional level simply could not leave marks.

This time, she did not intend to give Lance any chance to refuse.

Before her words had even fully fallen.

Ayla’s legs suddenly exploded with force.

Accompanied by the deep scraping sound of friction from the wooden floorboards beneath her feet.

The werewolf girl’s figure instantly transformed into a gray gale as she directly lunged toward Lance standing at the kitchen entrance.

Too fast.

The explosive power of agile-focused demi-humans truly was terrifying, nearly breaching Lance’s defensive range in an instant.

That long leg dragged out a gray afterimage, carrying an air-rending shriek as it lashed straight toward Lance’s left ribs like a steel whip.

Ayla even felt somewhat smug internally.

She had deliberately restrained the sharpness of this strike, using only seventy percent of her strength.

After all, her intention had merely been teaching this ignorant Dragon-blooded a lesson and venting the frustration in her chest. She had never intended to truly injure him.

However.

Bang!

A heavy collision sound echoed throughout the living room.

Ayla felt as though her kick had not struck flesh at all, but had instead smashed solidly into steel!

Lance had not even moved his feet. He had merely casually raised his left arm to block.

That arm remained as stable as a mountain. Under the tremendous impact, it did not even display the slightest sign of shaking.

Instead, Ayla herself—

A violent counterforce surged fiercely back along her shinbone, numbing her entire leg.

Borrowing the rebound force, she quickly withdrew her leg while skillfully swinging her large tail midair to stabilize her balance, flipping backward twice before landing in a crouch atop the sturdy oak dining table nearby.

“You were hiding your strength?!”

Crouched atop the table, Ayla clenched her white teeth tightly while her amber eyes filled with shock as though she had seen a ghost.

So hard!

How could this poor-looking Dragon-blooded’s body possibly be this absurdly durable?!

She realized she had severely underestimated him.

At this point, forget beating him up to vent frustration. If she did not reveal some genuine ability today, the dignity of the Azure Moon royal family might truly be disgraced in Graystone Town.

However, having her attack so casually blocked by someone her own age also completely ignited the ferocity belonging to a canine predator deep within her bones.

Within the clan, she had always been publicly acknowledged as the genius most resembling her aunt. She had always been the one relying on talent to bully others—how could she possibly swallow this humiliation?!

Since he had not used dragon transformation, she would not use bloodline abilities either. They would simply see whose fundamental strength was superior!

Meanwhile, Lance remained standing calmly in place.

He casually shook the arm he had just used to block while internally making a precise assessment of Ayla’s strength.

“The force evaluation of that whip kick earlier was roughly around 10 points.”

Lance estimated that she had not used her full power. Ayla’s Strength Attribute was probably around 15 points, which was already extremely powerful at the non-Professional level.

Previously, even the Professional-level Buck only possessed around 14 Strength while maintaining his Breathing Technique.

Objectively speaking, against ordinary humans who had not yet established a Source Furnace.

The explosive force contained within that whip kick genuinely was enough to knock down a fully grown man.

But unfortunately for her, she had chosen the wrong opponent today.

What she faced.

Was a monster permanently maintaining a Breathing Technique state while possessing a body strengthened multiple times over.

Lance’s current normal Strength Attribute was infinitely close to the terrifying threshold of 20 points.

This sort of absolute numerical suppression simply could not be compensated for through technique alone.